In early April 1912, 2,223 people boarded the largest, safest, most luxurious passenger steamship in the world for a trip from Europe to America.

The British ocean liner Titanic, making its very first voyage, was advertised as a technological wonder. Its planners, architects, and engineers had incorporated into it all the latest improvements in ship-building, making it, according to the publicity of the time, virtually unsinkable.

Over 100 years later, as a result of numerous best-selling books and movies (and endless documentaries on television) about the Titanic’s first—and last—voyage , the vast majority of  Americans know that those planners, architects, and engineers were wrong. For shortly before midnight on April 14, just east of Newfoundland, the ship struck an iceberg and sank in less than three hours.

And the people on board were forced to trade the luxurious surroundings of the elegant state rooms, the Turkish baths, the swimming pool, the sumptuous lounges and dining rooms, and the magnificent ball room for the slim hope of bobbing about in tiny lifeboats in the icy waters of the North Atlantic.

Most didn’t even have that hope—those  planners, architects, and engineers were so sure of the safety of the craft that they didn’t think it necessary (and the British government didn’t require them) to provide enough lifeboats to match the number of passengers and crew. The twenty lifeboats on board only had a capacity of 1,178, and most weren’t even full of passengers when launched after the collision with the iceberg.

Over 1,500 people died that night. Barely 700 were rescued a few hours later when another ship, the Carpathia, arrived to pluck the survivors from the water.

     Titanic survivors approach the Carpathia   

The deaths included both poor immigrants who bought tickets for the third class accommodations on the boat, and some of the wealthiest people in America, who had been enjoying the finest of first class amenities.

The richest man on the ship, millionaire John Jacob Astor IV (founder of New York*s Waldorf Astoria hotel) went to the same watery grave as the poorest peasant family who had hoped to start a new life in America.

 

As women and children were being loaded onto the few lifeboats first, Astor had asked if he could accompany his 19-year-old new wife Madeleine because she was pregnant and would particularly need care, but he was denied. He was reported by survivors to have calmly stepped back, tossed his gloves to his wife in the boat, lit a cigarette, and watched as she disappeared into the night. Less than two hours later, he was dead. All his millions could not save him.

 

 

And at the same time, Astor*s wife and unborn child, along with the rest of the survivors of that traumatic night, did not pay for the salvation that eventually came to them through the efforts of the Carpathia.

The survivors were rescued not because of their social standing, how much wealth they had, or what they had accomplished by the standards of the world*s society, but simply because * they needed saving. And the crew of the Carpathia didn*t save them because they were paid to do so, but because they saw that need and were willing to reach out and meet it.

It was indeed a tragedy for the 1,500+ people who died that night and their loved ones back home. Yet it was, at the same time, a great relief to the families and loved ones back home of the 700+ survivors. Some of those survivors no doubt viewed their rescue as a miraculous intervention by God, or at least *Fate.* And some turned the tragedy into a triumph of the spirit of concern for others.

For instance, there was socialite Margaret Brown:

“When the ship collided with the iceberg and began to sink, she helped many others to lifeboats before being forced into one herself. Once in the water, she and the other women in the lifeboat worked together to row and keep spirits up, despite the alleged panic and gloom of Quartermaster Robert Hichens.”

“When the RMS Carpathia arrived to rescue the survivors, Margaret assisted with the rescue efforts; her proficiency in languages was an asset, she helped prepare survivor lists for outside communication and raised funds with other rich survivors to help those less fortunate among surviving passengers and crew, collecting $10,000 by the time the ship made port in New York City.”

“For her calm action in the disaster, the media acclaimed her as one of the heroines of the hour. She was quoted as saying that her survival was attributable to “typical Brown luck... we're unsinkable”. She became known as the Unsinkable Mrs. Brown for the rest of her life. [A 1964 movie of her life, dubbing her The Unsinkable Molly Brown, starred Debbie Reynolds.]”

“She went on to head the Titanic Survivors' Committee, participated in fundraising for victims of the sinking and helped to get a memorial to the Titanic erected in Washington, D.C. Margaret also published her account of the sinking in newspapers.”

“Her fame helped her promote the issues she felt deeply about - the rights of workers and women, education and literacy for children, and historic preservation. During World War I in France she worked with the American Committee for Devastated France to rebuild areas behind the front line, and helped wounded French and American soldiers. Shortly before her death in 1932 from a brain tumor, she was awarded the French Legion of Honour for her “overall good citizenship” including her relief work in France, her efforts for Titanic survivors and her other activism and philanthropy at home in America.” (Wikipedia.com article: “Margaret Brown”)

The physical salvation of the survivors of the Titanic was a marvelous thing. But it was only temporary. In spite of all her good works, the Unsinkable Molly didn’t live forever, and is no longer helping people. The youngest survivor of the tragedy was likely Madeleine Astor*s unborn child, whose birth came in August, four months after the sinking. That child, John Jacob Astor VI, lived a full, long life, but even he died, in 1992.

Our physical bodies just are not designed for permanence. Some people in the 21st century are trying to “cheat death,” by arranging ahead of time to have their bodies--or perhaps just their heads!--flash-frozen immediately at the time of death by a cryonics laboratory. They expect literally to be “kept on ice” in the hope that some day science will have a way to revive them, and—even more hopefully—cure whatever it was that took their life.

Up to six severed heads and four bodies
can be stored  at -320° Fahrenheit in this
huge canister that is filled with liquid nitrogen.

 

 

 

Yet, even if such a procedure was discovered some day, this solution would only be temporary. They would be brought back to life at the same stage of aging that they left with. It is highly unlikely that the most advanced human science is ever going to discover an actual physical “Fountain of Youth” that can turn back the clock on aging cells.

The Bible tells in the book of Genesis about a time when ancient people had much longer life spans than we do now. Perhaps different atmospheric and other conditions on Earth at the time contributed to their longevity. It’s astonishing to consider that some people may really have lived hundreds of years. The aging process may have been slower back then, but it was just as inevitable eventually as it is today. The oldest of those men, Methuselah, who is reported to have lived 969 years, is now long gone.

And even the physical salvation that comes from Divine intervention is only temporary! In the time of the huge flood described in the book of Genesis, God rescued Noah and his family and all the animals in the ark, a type of boat that was huge like the Titanic. It was perfect for its purpose. Unlike the Titanic, it didn’t have design flaws. And it wasn't smashed by any of the huge amount of debris that surely was floating in the waters at the time--because of God's promise of protection for all on board, it really was the safest place to be on Earth at the time. But Noah and all his family and all those animals are now dead too, just as dead as the victims of the Titanic sinking—and just as dead as all but three of the Titanic survivors are now. (Even those three will likely be gone soon. Lillian Gertrud Asplund was 99 at the beginning of 2006; Barbara Joyce West was 94; Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean was 93.)

In other words, people can experience salvation from an untimely death once, or even many times, during their life span, but that salvation is only temporary.

 

Looking at a tragedy like the sinking of the Titanic, we can easily understand the importance of physical salvation. Except perhaps for those experiencing severe and chronic physical or mental pain, most people don*t want to die. Strangely enough, even the majority of those in the most dire of circumstances, whether in a concentration camp in World War II or in a famine-ravaged country in Africa now, seldom attempt suicide. The human “will to live” is extremely strong. And thus when in danger of that life ending, men will grasp at any hope that they can be saved.

When everything is going well in a person’s life, he may not even think about death—or what may happen after death. But there are various times in most people’s lives when they quietly wonder, even if they don’t voice the thought out loud to anyone, “I'm going to die someday—Is this lifetime all there is?” And when rough times come; when it seems like the circumstances of life are extremely unfair; when it may seem like, as an old song put it, “The rich get rich, and the poor get poorer,” it can be very tempting for some people to wonder if the Bible stories they vaguely remember from their childhood Sunday School days might be right after all.  Maybe there will be a time when those who have lived selfless lives of service to others, but have suffered for it, will get their “payday.” And maybe there will be a time when evil people get their “payback” for a life of causing harm to others.

Yet this has obviously not been true for the past 6000 years of recorded history. If there is such a time of justice, punishment, and reward for all the people who have lived and died during all that time, it is obviously going to have to be in a “time” outside the life-span of everyone who has ever lived.

 

The Bible does, indeed, speak of just such a time. But if it is only a normal physical time, some historical era in the future of the Earth, that isn’t going to do all those billions of people who lived and died any good. The only solution to this problem is for there to be a time after our life-span has ended, and we've gone to our grave, when we live again. And indeed the Bible speaks of just such a reality. The Bible calls this the resurrection. That means a “bringing back to life”—but not the kind of bringing back to life you see pictured on a hospital drama on TV, when someone’s heart stops momentarily and they are revived in the hospital. That kind of revival is only temporary.

 

The Bible speaks of a kind of revival to life that will happen long after medical resuscitation is possible. And it declares that many who receive this revival will be saved from ever having to face death again. They will receive a new kind of body that is permanent, and doesn't decay like the old one did.

 

 

Just like the survivors of the Titanic, no matter how many times you personally may cheat physical death, you are going to die some day. It may be tomorrow, it may be decades from now. But 150 years from now, your physical body will be no more. You may be saved from a number of physical accidents between now and then. But if you want to be part of that promised time when God rights all wrongs, when, as the book of Revelation in the Bible puts it, “God shall wipe away all tears,” you need more than salvation from sinking ships and other physical dangers.

 

You need salvation from the permanence of death.

 

Many on the Titanic, including women (who were given first priority, with children, to board the lifeboats after the collision with the iceberg) were not convinced at first that the ship could sink, and thus refused early on to get in those lifeboats. The powerful ship looked so massive and sturdy while it was still afloat, the lifeboats looked so tiny and flimsy, and the waters were so cold and dark.

Lowering of the Titanic lifeboats, before inevitable sinking was evident.

 

Wikipedia.com: “Titanic” article:

 At first, passengers were reluctant to leave the ostensibly safe Titanic, which showed no outward signs of being in imminent danger, and board small lifeboats. As a result, most of the boats were launched partially empty. One boat, boat number one, meant to hold 40 people, left the Titanic with only 12 people on board. With "Women and children first" the imperative for loading lifeboats, Second Officer Lightoller, who was loading boats on the port side, allowed men on only if oarsmen were needed and for no other reason, even if there was room. First Officer Murdoch, who was loading boats on the starboard side, let men on board if women were absent. As the ship's tilt became more apparent, people started to become nervous, and some lifeboats began leaving fully loaded. Shortly after 2:00 AM the waterline had reached the forward boat deck, and all the lifeboats, save for Collapsibles A and B, had been lowered. Collapsible D was the last lifeboat to be lowered from the davits with 44 of its 47 seats filled.

 Around 2:10 AM, the stern rose out of the water exposing the propellers and the forward boat deck was flooding. Events began to transpire rapidly as the last two lifeboats floated right off the deck, collapsible lifeboat B upside down, and collapsible lifeboat A half-filled with water. Shortly afterwards the forwardmost funnel collapsed, crushing part of the bridge and many of those struggling in the water. On deck, people were scrambling towards the stern or jumping overboard in hopes of reaching a lifeboat. The ship's stern slowly rose into the air, and everything not secured crashed towards the bow. While the stern rose, the electrical system finally failed and the lights went out. Shortly thereafter the stress on the hull caused Titanic to break apart into two large pieces, between the third and fourth funnels, and the bow section went completely under. The stern section briefly righted itself on the water before rising back up vertically. After a few moments, at 2:20 AM, the stern section also sank into the ocean.

Of a total of 2,223 people, only 706 survived; 1,517 perished. If the lifeboats were filled to capacity 1,178 people would have been saved. Of the First Class, 199 were saved and 130 died. Of the Second Class, 119 were saved and 166 were lost. Of the Third Class, 214 were saved and 536 perished. Of the crew, 214 were saved and 685 perished. The majority of deaths were caused by victims succumbing to hypothermia in the 28° F (-2° C) water. Out of the 16 lifeboats and 4 collaspsibles launched only one came back. Another boat helped. Lifeboat 4 was close by and picked up eight crewman, two of whom later died. Close to an hour later, Lifeboat 14, under the command of fifth officer Harold Lowe, went back and rescued four people, one of whom died afterwards. Other people managed to climb onto the two collapsible lifeboats that floated off the deck. There were some arguments in some of the other lifeboats about going back, but many survivors were afraid of being swamped by people trying to climb into the lifeboat or being pulled down by the anticipated suction from the sinking ship, though this turned out not to be severe. Only 12 people were picked up from the water.

IF THERE IS NO GOD, mankind’s civilization is just like the Titanic on its way inexorably to hit an iceberg and sink. No one can predict when, but even normally optimistic scientists are more and more concerned about both “natural” (asteroids, earthquakes, volcanoes, pandemics) and political (nuclear warfare) ways that the demise of “the world as we know it” may be brought about.

And yet it actually doesn’t make any difference to individuals whether this demise of civilization is in the next decade, the next century, the next millennium, or later. For every person alive today will meet their own iceberg before 150 years are past. We are each on a collision course with our own death.

 

 Actual iceberg that collided with the Titanic on April 14, 1912                  

Our civilization needs physical salvation, and each of us as individuals need both physical salvation--and spiritual salvation. The wreckage of the Titanic was found at the bottom of the ocean in 1985. It is in its own shadowy grave, and beyond salvage. It will never float again. And that is metaphorically how and where we are all individually going to end up if we don't find the way to the spiritual salvation--the promise of the "resurrection"--that the Bible speaks about.

Yet, just like those women and men on the Titanic who refused for a time to get into the lifeboats, many people absolutely refuse to face the reality of their own coming collision with death. In fact, many even refuse to fully face the reality that their lives are already a disaster in desperate need of intervention. They not only need salvation from eternal death, they need salvation from many things that are destroying the fabric of their existence even now. The lives of many young people--even from "solid middle class families"--are characterized by lawless behavior, unwanted pregnancy, drug addiction, suicidal thoughts, and more. Many of their parents are caught up in broken marriages, alcoholism, mental and emotional disorders, and lack of any sense of personal fulfillment in their jobs and daily lives. It may never even occur to them that many of these things have been brought on by their own poor decisions and choices in life. They may feel that they are victims, just like those on the Titanic, of a capricious Fate. And they may think that the only answer to their emptiness is an endless quest for pleasure, or perhaps chemical escape through legal or illegal drugs--which in the end never brings permanent relief. They don't understand that there is a "lifesaving" option open to them right now--as well as on into eternity.  

Mankind needs a Savior,
the Earth itself needs a Savior,
and YOU need a Savior.

 

In a strange twist of fate, there is a popular hymn that was written in 1912, the same year as the sinking of the Titanic--about people far from a safe shore who are about to drown. There is no historical evidence that the writers were inspired by the circumstances surrounding that great tragedy, but the poignancy of the analogy is certainly there.

Love Lifted Me

Words by James Rowe, Music by Howard E. Smith

You can hear the music to this hymn online at: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/l/lliftdme.htm

 

I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more,
But the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me, now safe am I. 

Love lifted me! Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help, Love lifted me!
Love lifted me! Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help ...
Love lifted me!

Souls in danger look above, Jesus completely saves,
He will lift you by His love, out of the angry waves.
He's the Master of the sea, billows His will obey,
He your Savior wants to be, be saved today.

 

The lyrics of this song are not about drowning in water. They are a metaphor about individuals “drowning in sins.” And the promise of the song is not about being physically saved, to continue a normal life span. It is about escaping the inevitability of permanent death. Although the word is not used in the song, the real topic is being saved and promised the resurrection to everlasting life.

And the song makes clear who provides this rescue, this salvation from eternal death--Jesus. The song addresses those “in danger” and encourages them to look up to Him for rescue.  

But for those who have never read the Bible, who may have never attended a church--at least not since some pious relative dragged them to Sunday School when they were little children--this may sound like merely some sanctimonious, sicky-sweet, religious gobbledygook.

Perhaps they can vaguely remember hearing one morning in that far-off Sunday School a story about Jesus taking people who had been good in their lives (maybe even good little boys and girls who died in youth) off to a pretty place called Heaven, where they would lounge around on clouds for eternity playing harps and strolling on streets paved with bricks of gold.

Is that what salvation is all about--people being saved so that after the end of this life they can begin a new life and live eternally in ... a “Heavenly Old Folks' Home In the Clouds”?

Indeed, some descriptions of Heaven are almost bland enough that one might expect the Saved People to be playing Heavenly Shuffleboard tournaments with the Angels!

Many of the hymns of the 1800s and early 1900s were based on a theme related to the dangers of being in ships and boats in dangerous waters. Just a small sampling:

“Let the lower lights be burning, send a beam across the waves.
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue,
you may save.” (“Let the Lower Lights Be Burning”)

“I’ve anchored my soul in the Haven of Rest,
I’ll sail the wide seas no more; The tempest may sweep
o’er the  wild, stormy, deep.
In Jesus I’m safe evermore.” (“The Haven of Rest”)

“O Savior! whose almighty word
the winds and waves submissive heard,
who walkedst on the foaming deep,
and calm amid its rage didst sleep:
O hear us when we cry to thee for those in peril on the sea!”
("Navy Hymn”)

“Jesus, Savior, pilot me over life’s tempestuous sea:
unknown waves before me roll, hiding rock and treacherous shoal.
Chart and compass come from Thee;
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.” (“Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me”)

“When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
count your many blessings, name them one by one,
and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”
(“Count Your Blessings”)

Is that what salvation is all about--people being saved so that after the end of this life they can begin a new life and live eternally in ... a “Heavenly Old Folks' Home In the Clouds”?

There are two primary reasons for this frequent choice of metaphor. First: In the 21st century, one of many people's worst fears is a fear of flying. The thought of being in a hijacked airplane, or in a plane that has lost an engine and is about to plunge to earth in a fiery crash, is enough to keep many people from ever buying an airline ticket.

But throughout history, up to the early part of the 20th century, one of the most dangerous circumstances, one of the worst nightmares, that the average person could ever encounter would be finding himself trapped in a vessel far from shore in a great storm.

Even being a soldier in a military battle would in some ways be less dangerous and terrifying--at least in that circumstance, you had weapons with which to defend yourself, and in the worst of situations, you might be able to flee from the enemy.  But in a ship in a storm—or on a collision course with an iceberg—there is no weapon powerful enough to offer any aid at all against the forces of nature. And there is nowhere to flee.

 So when looking for a metaphor for the physical trials and fears and dangers of life, and an analogy to use to exemplify spiritual turmoil, potential sea disasters were particularly appealing to many hymn writers of the time. 

But there was a second, even more practical reason that hymn writers of the 19th and early 20th centuries might use this theme. Not a whole lot had changed in long distance travel in the 1,800 years from the first century AD, the time when Jesus was on Earth. Back then, the dangers of life on the open water were equally a significant part of the experience of people. Thus there are a number of stories in the Bible that draw upon this theme. And a couple of very famous such stories are recorded about incidents in the life of Jesus:

Then he [Jesus] got int

warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We're going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:23-27)

And in another incident:

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.

Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:22-33)

Obviously, these are incidents of physical salvation. Jesus performed as a physical savior, rescuing these men from drowning. So where did the hymn writers get the idea to apply the stories metaphorically to spiritual salvation, to rescuing people from the permanence of death? What made them conclude that Jesus was not sent to Earth by God just to save some people physically, but that He was to be the Savior who granted eternal life?

They came to this conclusion not just by their own speculations, but because there are specific passages in the Bible that directly address this role of Jesus.

John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  

Acts 4:12
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name [other than Jesus Christ of Nazareth] under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. 

In other words, as mentioned earlier, the whole world of mankind needs salvation, because all people are ultimately going to die. And these passages clarify that only those who receive the kind of salvation available through Jesus are going to be resurrected to eternal life. How does this kind of salvation become available?

Remember those perishing people from the Titanic who were drifting aimlessly in tiny lifeboats in the North Atlantic? They had no idea in the dark of night how to get from where they were to safety. Even if someone in one of the boats had a compass, it wasn't clear where they were, and where safety would be. And even if they had gotten their bearings and known where a safe harbor was, the chances of surviving in the cold North Atlantic long enough to row there would be virtually non-existent—the nearest harbor would have been St. John's, Newfoundland, 375 miles away. They needed some source more powerful than they to come to them and rescue them before they perished.

The captain and crew of the Carpathia knew of their plight, and that ship became the source of their salvation that night.

 In the same way, all mankind is drifting toward death. Some may hold out longer than others, but eventually all will experience eternal death if a source more powerful than any on earth doesn't rescue them. The Bible says Jesus is that Source.  

Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man [a title for Jesus] came to seek and to save what was lost.

The Greek word in the New Testament that is translated here as “lost” does not refer to the English use of that word that means "something that you have misplaced." Jesus hasn't somehow “misplaced” people and can't find them for a while! It is a word that means “perishing.”  We use lost in this way in such phrases as “a lost cause.” We haven't misplaced the cause. It is a cause that is perishing, coming to an unavoidable end. In fact, this is the same Greek word that was translated in John 3:17 as perish.

So Jesus came to Earth from Heaven to reach out to and provide salvation to those who are perishing, in the same way that the crew of the Carpathia reached down to those in the cold waters and pulled them to safety:

http://www.titanic-titanic.com/carpathia.shtm

By 3.30am, Carpathia had reached the exact position given by Titanic’s radio operator, but sickeningly, there was nothing to see. No ship. No lights. No lifeboats. Nothing.

At 4.00am, Captain Rostron ordered the engines of his ship stopped. All of Carpathia’s crew and officers were desperately straining to see some clues, some wreckage, or even some survivors, in the early morning light. Suddenly, one of the crew spotted a green light low down ahead in the water. It was a flare from one of the lifeboats! Boat No. 2, under command of Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall, was spotted moments later, and after a little maneouvering from Carpathia, the tiny lifeboat came alongside her starboard gangway doors. First Class passenger Elizabeth Allen was the first to be taken aboard at 4.10a.m., and she confirmed to Carpathia’s stunned purser that Titanic had indeed sunk.

Eventually, other lifeboats approached the side of the liner, and more and more survivors began to come aboard, many of them sobbing pitifully, many in shock, some just quietly reflecting on what they had witnessed in the last few terrible hours. Many of the female survivors were firmly under the belief that their husbands, fathers, grandfathers and uncles had been rescued by other vessels, or indeed could be aboard Carpathia.

 

 

 

 

The last lifeboat to be picked-up was No. 12, seen here in this dramatic photograph on the left. It was overloaded, and Second Officer Herbert Lightoller was using all of his sea-faring skills to sail the boat towards the safety of Carpathia. It eventually pulled alongside at 8.30a.m., and 30 minutes later, the final person to be rescued stepped aboard Carpathia.

 

 

The Bible makes it clear that, even before you may recognize that you are perishing, even before you know that Jesus is the source of ultimate salvation, He is already seeking you out, and is ready at any moment to reach out and rescue you from perishing. This is another metaphor that is popular with hymn writers. One of the most moving such hymns was written in 1971 by Ralph Carmichael.

(You can hear Elvis Presley sing this hymn at

http://my.homewithgod.com/andrea/ReachouttoJesus.html )

Reach Out to Jesus

Is your burden heavy as you bear it all alone?
Does the road you travel harbor dangers yet unknown?
Are you growin’ weary in the struggle of it all?
Jesus will help you when on His name you call. 

Chorus:

He is always there hearing every prayer, faithful and true
Walking by our side, in His love we hide all the day through.
When you get discouraged just remember what to do--
Reach out to Jesus, He’s reaching out to you. 

Is the life you're living filled with sorrow and despair?
Does the future press you with its worries and its care?
Are you tired and friendless, have you almost lost your way?
Jesus will help you, just come to him today.

 He is always there hearing every prayer, faithful and true
Walking by our side, in His love we hide all the day through
When you get discouraged just remember what to do
Reach out to Jesus, He’s reaching out to you.

You might even put it—

Reach out for the Lifesaver--He's reaching out to you.

 

The Bible says the Lord is ultimately reaching out to everyone. If He is reaching out to you, personally, are there any things you have to do in order to be saved? Yes. First, just as in the sinking of the Titanic, if you refuse to admit that you are perishing you could end up just like those who refused to get on the lifeboats until it was too late.

 Second, if you do not believe that He is reaching out to you, you will also not be able to receive that salvation.

Third, even if you do believe that He is there, you need to believe the promise about His ability to save you.

Fourth, you have to be willing to reach back to Him. 

And fifth, you have to do what the Bible calls “repent” and put your trust in Him to guide you from then on.

The Bible puts it this way:

Romans 10:9-13
... if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

If you recognize that you are perishing; come to believe that salvation is available through Jesus; realize that He is reaching out to you and offering you, personally, that salvation; actively “call on the name of the Lord”—“Help me!”; repent, and put your trust fully in Him, you will be saved. 

 

But there are several aspects to this process that need further clarification.

First of all, how can you come to believe in a Savior you can't really see with your own physical eyes? The Apostles called out to Jesus to save them in the storms described above. But He was right in front of their eyes as a human at that time. And they had already seen Him perform a number of astonishing miracles, and thus were convinced He had amazing powers.

We are asked to put our trust in that same Jesus, but He is no longer living “in the flesh” among us on this Earth. Christians believe that He now exists in a “supernatural world,” out of the sight of humans but just as real. And they believe that He has unlimited power, including power to help them in their physical lives now as well as guarantee them that, just as He was resurrected from the dead, they will be too some day.  

But if Jesus hasn't spoken to you directly, if you haven't seen Him with your own eyes, how can you come to believe in Him as your Savior? The Bible addresses that problem:

Romans 10:14-15, 17
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” … Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

You may have heard the term “the Gospel,” and wondered what it means. It is an old English word that translates a Greek word that means “Good News.” This Bible passage is saying that Jesus Christ has given people the job to share the Good News—the Gospel—with everyone that salvation is available through Him. And the basic message of that Gospel is in the Bible. That is where you can read about the promise that is made through Jesus that this life is not all there is, that you can be resurrected to a new life some day if you put your trust in Jesus and accept the salvation He offers.

The books that are combined into the collection that we call “The New Testament” of the Bible were written by at least eight different authors. Each of these men was either a direct associate of Jesus when He was on the earth in the first century, or someone who had access to many eye-witnesses who did know Him. They offer testimony of what Jesus said and did and taught while He was on the Earth. And they offer testimony that He Himself was resurrected from the grave after He was killed, and that He promised that He could and would do the same for all who put their trust in Him.

Here is one description of these eyewitness accounts, from an incident that happened right after Jesus' death and resurrection:

John 20:19-31
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.  

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

So we have the testimony of the Bible authors about these things. But, after all, they all died almost 2,000 years ago. Many people are skeptical regarding having confidence in the reliability of testimony that is so old. But there is another source of testimony that should be considered by those wondering about the salvation offered through Jesus. Jesus spoke to His followers after His resurrection and before He returned to Heaven:

Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In other words, Jesus didn't just go far away never to be heard from again. He promised to be “with” His followers in a very real way from then on, in every generation, all the way up until the very End of time. Until modern means of communication, it was perhaps difficult for people to understand how someone could “be with” you if they weren't physically present. But now, even on the simplest physical level, we can talk instantaneously with loved ones on the phone, see them on Internet hookups, and they can interact with our environment in a wide variety of ways—even when they live clear on the other side of the Earth! If a young man has lost a job and needs to be “rescued” by Dad from having his electricity in his apartment turned off because he is out of cash, Dad can “wire” money instantaneously from his own bank account into Son's account. By analogy, it should be no problem for Someone in the supernatural realm to interact with us continuously, even if we can't quite understand the specific methods He might use. 

And indeed, Christians throughout the ages from the first century to the present are able to share their own testimonies of ways in which Jesus has shown that He is with them throughout life. Thus these testimonies can be added to the testimonies written by the Bible authors, as part of the way new believers can come to have confidence in a Savior that they cannot see with their eyes.

But how can we "prove" whether the claims and promises of the Bible are true—is this  testimony by others enough?

That depends on what you think the word “prove” means. We tend to use the term “prove” these days to mean to come to a conclusion by such technical processes as mathematics.  The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary notes that the very first definition of the word, one that is now “archaic”—but that was typical at the time the King James translation of the Bible was made—is:

1 archaic : to learn or find out by experience 

The King James Bible translators used the word in this way in a number of passages, such as this one, which describes a story Jesus told:

Luke 14:16-19
Then said he [Jesus] unto him, “A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, ‘Come; for all things are now ready.’ And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, “I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.’”

Obviously, this isn't meaning that the fellow was going to try to prove whether or not the animals he bought were really oxen! The meaning is clearer in a modern translation, the NIV:

Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'’”

In other words, “prove” in this instance means something like to “try something out—test it—to see if and how well it works.”

We can even “prove” ourselves:

2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates. (KJV) 

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you*unless, of course, you fail the test? (NIV)

And we can prove things about God:

Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (KJV) 

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (NIV)

And this is how a new believer can “prove” many of the statements in the Bible. Jesus says that if you come to Him for salvation, you will not only be part of a resurrection to eternal life, but you will have many blessings in this lifetime that are the result of your relationship with Him. His words in the Bible will give you guidance, and He will help you follow that guidance. And the results will be changes in your life for the better. How can you know this is true? By “proving” His words ... by trying them out in your own life and seeing the results yourself!

And then, as you become more and more confident in the things He says about this lifetime, you can also have more and more assurance of the promises of the resurrection and the life to come.

Of course, you can't be expected to have a totally perfect, unshakable faith when you first start on the journey to a saving relationship with Jesus. Everyone takes baby steps at first ... that's how you learn to walk both physically and spiritually. It is indeed possible to have faith and believe the promises of Jesus, and act on that faith and belief, yet still yearn to grow stronger in that faith and belief.

 

But don't forget—it all starts when you ...

Reach for the Lifesaver, Who is reaching out to you!

 

 

If you would like to know more details about the salvation offered through Jesus Christ, you are encouraged to read the next booklet in this Steps to Salvation series:

On Your Mark...

 

 

Biblical Quotations:

Unless otherwise noted, all Biblical quotations in this article are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.