Our sense organs 45

en, but only he who does the will of my Father
who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that
day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your
name, and in your name drive out devils and perform
many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly,
’I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
(Matt 7:21-23).
Isn’t this remarkable? There are people who
have acted in the name of Jesus, and still they
are lost. We can summarise the above words of
Jesus in terms of our parable: You have never left
the ship of death! That is the reason why you will
also perish like the unbelievers travelling on the
same ship.
It is obvious that there are different groups on
the ship of doom; these will now be discussed.
The fate of every one of us is tied to this ship. In
all, four groups of people can be distinguished
(P1 to P4), and you, the reader of this book,
inevitably belong to one of these groups:
P1. You are one of those who already, at some
point in your life, understood your position and
confessed. You have stepped over and you can
say with great certainty that you have boarded
the lifeboat. In this lifeboat there is a list of passengers,
comprising the names of all those who
boarded. The Bible calls this list the “Book of Life”.
Only those persons whose names appear in this
book will reach the safe shore, heaven. Jesus
once told such people “rejoice that your names
are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). If your name
is included, I rejoice with you!
P2. Up to this point you did not know where you
were, but it has now become clear to you that
you are still on the doomed ship. If you leave the
ship of death forthwith by accepting Jesus right
now, you are rescued immediately. The simple
and practical way of doing this is explained fully
below in the chapter “Getting your name in the
’Book of Life’”. The conversion of all persons mentioned
in the New Testament always takes place
at a specific time and place.
Right now, wherever you are, note the date from
a calendar or your watch. Nobody ever moves
gradually from the doomed ship to the lifeboat.
The actual decision and the transfer is always
instantaneous, although it may be based on previous
knowledge and belief. Today may become
the greatest day of your life. The only requirement
is that you must make a real decision and
act accordingly. The example of the prodigal son
illustrates this. The moment he realises his lost
state, he says “I will set out and go back...”
(Luke 15:18).
P3. You are one of those who thought they were
safely in a lifeboat, but were not. Through the
Holy Spirit, you have been made aware of your
true situation. If you are one of these, confess
your error and change today. As established earlier
in T2, this group may include people who serve
Jesus and consequently assume that they cannot
be on the ship of death (see T2 and the Sermon
on the Mount, Matthew 7:21-23). The Gustloff
did not sink immediately, but it took 62 minutes
after the torpedoes had hit. Rescue was only
possible during this period. In the same way God
grants us our entire life for conversion, but no
one knows how long that will be. In biblical language
this is known as the time of grace.
P4. You are one of those who think the ship is
not in danger. So why would you climb aboard a
lifeboat? I sincerely wish that none of the readers
of this book belongs to this group. Why not?
People in this fourth group have even developed
a scientific theory (or accepted it ready-made
from others), which asserts that the doomed ship
cannot go down. They have declared it to be
unsinkable. This was also said of the Titanic
which sank on its maiden voyage. The following
two examples may clarify the issue:
– Recently after a lecture a student told me that
there was no hell. When I asked him how he
knew this, he replied that that was what his
pastor taught. In other words, the doomed
ship can’t sink. What a tragic fallacy!
– When Jesus cried out on the cross: “It is finished”
(John 19:30), it meant that the lifeboat
was ready. The requirements for the salvation
125