November 17, 2020
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It was an amazing exhibit - the Titanic exhibit. At that time it had been in a lot of museums in the United States. Actually, what they did was they re-created the Titanic's grand staircase, they got a simulation of one of the ship's cabins, they had artifacts that were retrieved right from the watery grave around the Titanic. And as you enter the exhibit, they would give you this ticket with the name of one of the ship's passengers or crewmen on it. I was one of the crewmen. At the end of the tour there was this large wall. They had two lists of names; a long list and a relatively short list. Next to each name was one of four designations: first class, second class, third class, and crew. But no matter what your class, your name ultimately appeared on one of those two lists, which were under one of two headings: "Saved"..."Lost."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Which List Is Your Name On?"
Tragically, that short list is the one that says "saved." The long list was the "lost." As you read the Bible, you begin to realize that all of humanity is divided into those same two lists: "saved" and "lost." There's no third list. You're on one or the other.
Our word for today from the Word of God is one of those passages that helps us determine which list we're on. John 3:36 says, "Whoever believes in the Son (that's Jesus Christ, God's Son) has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." That's saved or lost. Earlier in the same chapter, God says, "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son" (John 3:18).
One thing is very clear. Which list your name is on depends on your personal response to Jesus Christ. That's because He's the One that God sent to rescue us from the death penalty of all the things we've done wrong. Nobody else died in our place, so nobody else can save us. We tend to divide people up by what class they're in, what race they're in, what religion they're from. But God only sees two kinds of people: saved and lost.
And today could be your day to move from one list to the other. What sentences us to being "lost" forever is that we simply, in the words of the Bible, "do not believe in Jesus." You don't have to openly reject Him, you can just passively miss Him. And "believing" in the Bible doesn't mean just agreeing with Jesus or giving mental assent. It's grabbing Him to pull you into the lifeboat and holding onto Him like He's your only hope. He is. And it may be you've never really put yourself completely into His hands to be your Rescuer from your sin.
This could be your day to do that. You just tell Jesus that you're putting all your trust in Him to save you from a spiritual death penalty that you could never save yourself from. You're doing that based on what He did on the cross for you; taking your place...being your substitute...carrying your penalty. And then conquering death by walking out of His grave under His own power so He could walk into your life today.
Just say, "Lord, I'm ready to turn from the sin that nailed you to that cross and let you drive from now on. At the moment you put your total trust in Him, you've become someone who is guaranteed eternal life; who can say from this day on, "I know when I die, I am going to heaven because the sin that would keep me out has been erased by Jesus Christ." Don't you want this?
If you're ready to begin this relationship with Him, to secure a place in heaven forever, there's information that will help you make that choice and nail it down today at our website. And that website is ANewStory.com.
At that moment you open your heart to Jesus, you have literally in the Bible's words, "crossed over from death to life" (John 5:24). Forever. That's ANewStory.com. God will move your name from "lost" to "saved."