Which side of the Gospel are you on?
Before Jesus ascended to Heaven, He gave the disciples the Great Commission and sent them out into the world to share the Gospel of grace.
The Gospel is still the single most important truth in the world today. You are impacted by the Gospel whether you understand it or not. The truth is you stand today on one side of the Gospel or the other. The following story will illustrate what I am trying to say.
The R.M.S. Titanic, the ship that was called unsinkable, sank on April 14, 1912. There were 2,223 passengers on board. Only 706 survived, 1,523 people ended up in the freezing water and only six were rescued. Did you know that one of those six was actually saved twice that night? His story is inspiring but to tell his story, I must tell you about a Scottish preacher named John Harper.
Harper boarded the Titanic with his 6-year-old daughter, Nana. He was traveling to the Moody Church in Chicago to preach for three months. When the ship struck the iceberg and began to sink, Harper made sure his daughter was placed into one of the lifeboats. He then began what would be the last evangelistic work of his life.
As the freezing waters began to fill the ship, survivors reported Harper took off his own life jacket and gave it to another man. “Don't worry about me,” he reportedly said, “I'm not going down, I'm going up.” As the ship sink, passengers jumped or fell into the icy water. Harper was seen swimming from one passenger to another, pleading with them to accept Christ. Only six of the 1,523 people struggling in the water were rescued, including a man who identified himself as Harper's last convert.
This man was on a piece of debris. Harper, who was near him, shouted out, “Are you saved?” The man replied, “No!” The preacher then shouted: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). The man didn’t answer and he drifted away, but the current brought the two back together. Again Harper asked, “Are you saved?” Once again, the answer was “No.” With his dying breath, Harper shouted, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” He then slipped under the water for the last time. Right then, the man surrendered his life to Jesus.
Four years later, at a Titanic survivors' gathering, this man tearfully gave his testimony of how John Harper had led him to the Lord. Not surprising, his dramatic story never made it into the movie. Every person reading this column is either like John Harper or the man he witnessed to. We are either sharing the Gospel to the world or we’re clinging to life needing someone to bring the Gospel to us.
If you’re lost, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Come to Jesus, He will save your soul.
The Rev. J. Patrick Street is the lead pastor of Redeemer Church in Marion. He can be reached at coachpatstreet@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Which side of the Gospel are you on?
