Friday, September 16, 2005
For a long time, I've been fascinated with the story of the Titanic. The sinking of that seemingly "unsinkable" ship after a collision with an iceberg is filled with human drama that has inspired endless movies, books, and documentaries. Finding the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic fueled greater interest - and greater information - than ever before. Some of the drama of those discoveries has been within our reach as the Titanic artifacts exhibit has been on display in some of America's leading museums. You can see many personal items recovered from the Titanic's debris field along with displays that recreate the feeling of being a passenger on that doomed ship. When I went in, I was given a boarding pass with the name of a real person who had been aboard that awful night. At the end of the exhibit, there's this big wall with the names of everyone aboard - first class, second class, third class, crew. Every person is either on the list that says "saved" or "lost." I looked hard for my name - and I discovered that I was one of the few crewmen who was "saved."
A pastor I know, who I had told about my experience there, well, he went to see the exhibit for himself. But he told me about it. He looked me in the eye and said very soberly, "Except I was lost."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Shock at the End."
One of the most sobering truths in the Bible is this: God has two lists. Each of us is on one of those two lists. Everyone we know, everyone we care about, is on one of those two lists. In 1 John 5:10-11, God plainly says, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." There it is - the "saved" and the "lost." And it all depends on one thing - whether or not you have Jesus in your heart.
It doesn't say, "Whoever has religion has life" or "whoever lives a good life has life." No, it's all about Jesus and whether or not you've ever begun a personal relationship with Him. That life-saving relationship begins when you realize that Jesus' dying on that cross was the only thing that can pay the death penalty that you deserve for running your own life and when you put all your trust in the only One who can save you.
For my pastor friend, it was a shock to get to the end and find out he was "lost." That's the shock so many are going to experience when they meet God. My friend didn't know until the end. But we can know right now which list we're on - depending on whether or not we've ever given ourselves to Jesus. If you know you've done that, you are among God's rescued.
But now it's up to you to rescue those around you who are still "lost." The "saved" and "lost" list from the Titanic can never be changed. But there's still time for people that you know to be moved from God's "lost" list to His list of those who are "saved." But you'll have to do something about their lostness. You'll have to step up to tell them about Jesus, to be their rescuer.
The devil - who wants as many lost as possible - is working hard to keep people on both lists preoccupied with something other than eternity. If you're lost, he's trying desperately to keep you from Jesus until time runs out. If you're saved, he's trying desperately to keep you from reaching out to rescue the people around you until time runs out.
If you've never reached out to Jesus to rescue you, and if you want to go to sleep tonight knowing you belong to Jesus, tell Him right now, "Jesus, I'm Yours." If that's what you want, then I'd like to send you Yours For Life, the booklet I wrote about beginning your relationship with Jesus. Just let me know you want it.
When you've taken your last breath, lost is forever; but not yet. This very day, you can move from death to life, and from lost to saved.