I SHALL never forget an incident which occurred when I was a young boy on my way to Australia. We were almost becalmed when close to the equator; there was hardly a breath of wind, and the ship was proceeding at only about one mile an hour.
When standing on the deck I saw a line of clothes which had been washed and put out to dry. These fell into the sea. A sailor who was close to me made some inquiries about them and, taking off his straw hat, he handed it to me to hold. Then he also took off his shoes and, quietly slipping into the water, he swam towards where the clothes were floating in the sea.
On the other side of the ship there were several people standing anxiously watching a large object some distance away. It was a very large shark; and one of the sailors, seeing the danger to which the man in the water was exposed, ran to a barrel of pork and took out two pieces which he threw, one after the other, overboard as far as he could, so as to attract the shark and gain time for the man to get back to the ship. The captain also had shouted to him to hurry back on board and leave the clothes. Dropping these, he immediately swam towards the ship, where several sailors were standing, holding two ropes which were hanging down into the water.
A shark always turns over when about to devour its prey, and this one turned and got hold of the clothes as they floated in the water, thus, mercifully, giving the man time to seize the ropes. The men on deck then pulled him up. But his feet had not been long out of the water when the shark, which had pursued him, made one spring, but just missed the man; so he was hauled up safe and sound on deck.
I stood there watching that incident with intense anxiety all the time, and it has remained vividly impressed on my memory ever since. In reflecting upon it now, I marvel at the hair-breadth escape which this man had from an awful death, and it has been suggestive to my mind of many serious thoughts.
The man was on the brink of destruction and absolutely incapable of delivering himself. Had help not come from out side he must have met a dreadful death in the jaws of the great fish. The whole scene, and the lessons it conveys, made such a deep impression upon me that I feel constrained to ask my reader,
Has it ever struck you that you too are in danger of perishing, and that you are as helpless to deliver yourself as the man of whom I have told you?
Perishing? you say—yes, perishing—not by a fate such as seemed to await the subject of my story— but perishing eternally as to your soul, if still unsaved. And, though you may not think so, deliverance must come to you from outside. You are, at this very moment, in worse danger than was the man in the water, because it is a question of your immortal, never-dying soul.
But those on the deck of the vessel were perfectly free from the danger, and the man was saved—not by his own powers, but by the means provided by others. He did not provide the ropes which were let down, nor did he put it into the hearts of the men who, with willing hands, pulled him up out of the water. The act was theirs, not his.
And is no one interested in the deliverance of the poor sinner from an everlasting hell? I tell you, God Himself is ten thousand times more interested in your deliverance than were these sailors in the deliverance of this man. Has He not proved it when He spared not His own beloved Son, but delivered Him up for us all? What love! —what grace! —and it was for you, for me.
But the man of whom I have told you did not neglect or refuse the means provided for his escape. O no I—the matter was far too serious—he availed himself of it at once; he firmly seized those ropes and was thus enabled to find a resting-place on the solid deck of the ship, away from danger and harm. Indeed the whole transaction is written indelibly on one’s mind in all its details, and I have frequently used it as an illustration when speaking to others. It reminds one so vividly of the provision God has made for the sinner through Christ, the great Deliverer, who gave His blood upon the cross, who died and rose again, so that a full and complete salvation might be the portion of all who believe on Him.
The man’s hands which gripped the rope remind us of faith—that faith which lays hold on the salvation of God and makes it one’s own. Once the man was on board he was no longer afraid; his fears were all gone, and he could look with calmness at that terrible fish in the water, which, only a few minutes before, threatened to swallow him up. He was saved and he knew it.
Thank God, so it is with the believer in Jesus: he is saved and delivered, and now he can thank his Deliverer. He can look death, that terrible enemy, in the face without a quiver, for it has been robbed of its sting; Christ having paid the full penalty for him by His blood shed upon the cross. Yea, he can even raise a note of triumph and say,
“Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Reader, bear with me while I ask, How do you stand as to these things? Are you saved, delivered from the wrath to come and set free? If not, come by simple faith to Christ now, trust Him as your Saviour now, and you too will be able to join in the note of praise and thanksgiving to His blessed name.
Just as I am—without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
Lamb of God, I come!
Just as I am—and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
Lamb of God, I come!
Just as I am—Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe:
Lamb of God, I come!
ML 06/12/1927