59 Sermon Illustrations on Decision

Chances are you have seen the Hollywood movie TITANIC, which has been seen by more people around the world than any other movie in history. What most people do not know is that there was a godly Christian man on board the Titanic named John Harper....

John Harper was born to a pair of solid Christian parents on May 29, 1872. It was on the last Sunday of March 1886, when he was 13 years old, that he received Jesus as the Lord of his life. He began to preach about four years later at the ripe old age of 17 years old by going down to the streets of his village and pouring out his soul for men to be reconciled to God.

As John Harper's life unfolded, one thing was apparent - he was consumed by the word of God. When asked by various ministers what his doctrine consisted of, he was known to reply, "The Word of God!" Soon, John Harper started his own church in September of 1896 (now known as the Harper Memorial Church.) This church started with just 25 members, but had grown to over 500 members when he left 13 years later.

Ironically, John Harper almost drowned several times during his life. When he was two-and-a-half years of age, he almost drowned when he fell into a well but was resuscitated by his mother. At the age of 26, he was swept out to sea by a reverse current and barely survived, and at thirty-two he faced death on a leaking ship in the Mediterranean. Perhaps God used these experiences to prepare this servant for what he faced next....

It was the night of April 14, 1912. The RMS Titanic sailed swiftly on the bitterly cold ocean waters heading unknowingly into the pages of history. On board this luxurious ocean liner were many rich and famous people. At the time of the ship's launch, it was the world's largest man-made moveable object. At 11:40 p.m. on that fateful night, an iceberg scraped the ship's starboard side, showering the decks with ice and ripping open six watertight compartments. The sea poured in. On board the ship was John Harper and his much-beloved six-year-old daughter, Nana. According to documented reports, as soon as it was apparent that the ship was going to sink, Harper immediately took his daughter to a lifeboat. It is reasonable to assume that this widowed preacher could have easily gotten on board this boat to safety; however, it never seems to have crossed his mind. He bent down and kissed his precious little girl; looking into her eyes he told her that she would see him again someday.

The flares going off in the dark sky above reflected the tears on his face as he turned and headed toward the crowd of desperate humanity on the sinking ocean liner. As the rear of the huge ship began to lurch upwards, it was reported that Harper was seen making his way up the deck yelling, "Women, children and unsaved into the lifeboats!" It was only minutes later that the Titanic began to rumble deep within. Most people thought it was an explosion; actually the ship was literally breaking in half. At this point, many people jumped off the decks and into the icy, dark waters below. John Harper was one of these people.

That night 1,528 people went into the frigid waters. John Harper was seen swimming frantically to people in the water leading them to Jesus before the hypothermia became fatal. Mr. Harper swam up to one young man who had climbed up on a piece of debris. Harper asked him between breaths, "Are you saved?" The young man replied that he was not. Harper then tried to lead him to Christ only to have the young man who was near shock, reply no. John Harper then took off his life jacket and threw it to the man and said "Here then, you need this more than I do..." and swam away to other people. A few minutes later Harper swam back to the young man and succeeded in leading him to salvation. Of the 1,528 people that went into the water that night, six were rescued by the lifeboats. One of them was this young man on the debris.

Four years later, at a survivors meeting, this young man stood up and in tears recounted how that after John Harper had led him to Christ, Harper had tried to swim back to help other people, yet because of the intense cold, had grown too weak to swim. His last words before going under in the frigid waters were, "Believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." [see also #13299]

Does Hollywood remember this man? No. Oh well, it doesn't matter. This servant of God did what he had to do. While other people were trying to buy their way onto the lifeboats and selfishly trying to save their own lives, John Harper gave up his life so that others could be saved.

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Source: "The Titanic's Last Hero" by Moody Press, 1997

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Version from Christian History magazine at http://chi.gospelcom.net:

The clear April night sky was filled with sparkling stars as the largest and finest steamship in the world sped through the calm seas of the icy North Atlantic. Many of the passengers had gone to bed, but some still could be found in the lounges, enjoying the TITANIC’S luxury. No one was alarmed by the slight jar felt around 11:15, but many noticed when they no longer felt the vibrations of the engines.

Ignoring iceberg warnings, the TITANIC had been steaming full speed ahead. Suddenly she struck a large iceberg which ripped her side. Within fifteen minutes the captain realized the danger of the situation, and the wireless operator put out a call for assistance. Sailors made lifeboats ready and ordered women and children to get into them first (Christian culture had stamped the ideas of chivalry into men, making them willing to give up their lives for women and children as their protectors, something rarely seen in other cultures). There were 12 honeymooning couples on board the ship. Though all of the brides were saved, only one of the grooms survived.

The captain ordered the band to play to keep up the spirits of the passengers. It began playing a rag-time tune, but soon was playing hymns.

There were only twenty lifeboats on the huge ocean liner -- barely enough for 1/3 of the passengers and crew. Not all of them could be lowered. All 85 engineers continued to work to keep the ship afloat as long as possible. At the end many people knelt together in prayer until the waters covered them.

Throughout the mournful, evacuation, with loved ones being tearfully separated, the band continued to play. There is some dispute about what was played that night. Several people in the life boats heard “Nearer My God to Thee.”

One of the passengers traveling on the ship was evangelist John Harper. He put his six-year old daughter into a life boat and then ran through the ship warning others of the danger and talking to them about the eternal destiny of their souls. When he was finally forced to jump into the icy water, he clung to a piece of wreckage and asked another man “Are you saved?” When the man answered no, John said to him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

When the TITANIC sank early in the morning on this day, April 15, 1912, John Harper was among the 1,522 people who died. The band went down with the ship. The last hymn they played was “Autumn,” which concludes with the prayer

Hold me up in mighty waters

Keep my eyes on things above,

Righteousness, divine Atonement,

Peace, and everlasting Love.

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Bibliography:

1. Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute Story.

2. Adams, Moody. THE TITANIC’S LAST HERO. Moody Press, 1997.

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A third version:

Reverend John Harper, a Baptist minister, traveled with his daughter Nina Harper and Miss Jessie Leitch from London enroute to Chicago. Rev. Harper was on his way to Chicago to begin a series of revival meetings at the Moody church located on West Chicago and La Salle Avenue. He had been at the church during November, December and January of 1911/12 and his success there resulted in his being recalled to conduct a second series of meetings.

On the evening of April 14th Rev. Harper and Miss Leitch were standing on deck admiring the sunset. “It will be beautiful in the morning,” remarked Rev. Harper before retiring for the night. After the collision, Rev. Harper awakened his daughter, picked her up and wrapped her in a blanket before carrying her up to a deck. There he kissed her goodbye and handed her to a crewman, who put her into lifeboat 11 with Miss Leitch. Rev. Harper went down with the ship.

Nina recalled that she was sitting on her aunt's lap when she saw the Titanic sink. She remembered watching the lights go out and hearing the screams of the drowning.

In New York, little Nan couldn't understand why her father did not come to her in this strange new land. “I left Papa on the big boat, and he told me to go with Aunt Jessie,” she said. “Now I want Papa.” But Papa never came, and Nan and Miss Leitch returned to England a week later.

Out of tragedy, however, God can still bring triumph. John Harper ended up in the water and as he tried to stay afloat he drifted toward a young man holding onto a plank. Harper asked, “Young man, are you saved?” The man said, “no.” A wave separated them. After a few minutes they drifted within speaking distance of each other, and again Harper called to him, “Have you made your peace with God?” The young man said, “not yet.” A wave overwhelmed John Harper and he was seen no more, but the words, “Are you saved?” kept ringing in the young man's ears.

Two weeks later a youth stood up in a Christian Endeavor meeting in New York, told his story and said, “I am John Harper's last convert.”

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Source: http://www.rmplc.co.uk/eduweb/sites/phind/html/jharper.html}, and Classic writings of Billy Graham

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Fourth version, from Baptist Press, by Douglas W. Mize, April 13, 2012. (Hundredth anniversary was April 15, 2012)

It has been 100 years since Titanic, the greatest ship of its time, sank on its maiden voyage, killing more than 1,500 passengers. The “unsinkable ship” had done just that, and on the tragedy’s centennial we stand captivated by the story. Many movies, documentaries and books have familiarized us with some of the passengers, such as entrepreneur John Jacob Astor IV or the “Unsinkable” Molly Brown. Yet one of the supreme stories of the Titanic involves a heroic pastor and his passion to save lives and souls.

When pastor and preacher John Harper and six year old daughter boarded the Titanic it was for the privilege of preaching at one of the greatest churches in America, Moody Church in Chicago, named for its famous founder Dwight L. Moody. The church was anxiously awaiting his arrival not only because of the pending services, but to meet their next pastor, as Harper planned to accept their invitation. Harper was known as an engaging preacher and had pastored two churches in Glasgow and London. His preaching style was suited for an evangelist as testified by the words of another local pastor. “He was a great open-air preacher and could always command large and appreciative audiences. ... He could deal with all kinds of interrupters, his great and intelligent grasp of Bible truths enabling him to successfully combat all assailants.”

When the Titanic hit the iceberg, Harper successfully led his daughter to a lifeboat. Being a widower he may have been allowed to join her but instead forsook his own rescue, choosing to provide the masses with one more chance to know Christ. Harper ran person to person, passionately telling others about Christ. As the water began to submerge the “unsinkable” ship, Harper was heard shouting, “women, children, and the unsaved into the lifeboats.” Rebuffed by a certain man at the offer of salvation Harper gave him his own life vest, saying, “you need this more than I do.” Up until the last moment on the ship Harper pleaded with people to give their lives to Jesus.

The ship disappeared beneath the deep frigid waters leaving hundreds floundering in its wake with no realistic chance for rescue. Harper struggled through hyperthermia to swim to as many people as he could, still sharing the Gospel. Harper evidentially would lose his battle with hypothermia but not before giving many people one last glorious Gospel witness.

Four years after the tragedy at a Titanic survivor’s meeting in Ontario, Canada, one survivor recounted his interaction with Harper in the middle of the icy waters of the Atlantic. He testified he was clinging to ship debris when Harper swam up to him, twice challenging him with a biblical invitation to “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” He rejected the offer once. Yet given the second chance and with miles of water beneath his feet, the man gave his life to Christ. Then as Harper succumbed to his watery grave, this new believer was rescued by a returning lifeboat. As he concluded his remarks at the Ontario meeting of survivors he simply stated, “I am the last convert of John Harper.”

When the Titanic set sail there were delineations of three classes of passengers. Yet immediately after the tragedy, the White Star Line in Liverpool, England placed a board outside its office with only two classes of passengers reading, KNOWN TO BE SAVED and KNOWN TO BE LOST. The owners of the Titanic had simply reaffirmed what John Harper already knew. There are people who know Christ and will spend eternity with God in heaven and many others who will not.

For us, 100 years after the Titanic, may we be as zealous as Harper was with every opportunity to share Christ with the perishing.

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[see also HolwickID #13299 & #18347]

Since both justification and sanctification are the work of the Holy Spirit, parents should not expect of themselves what only God can do. God does not require results. Prov. 22:6 is not a blanket promise from God because if it were, the effects of sin could be wiped out by using correct child-rearing techniques; there would be no need of the atonement. Responses vary to God’s Word (parable of seeds). Parents must sow seed and prepare the soil the best they can, but the child has free will to accept or reject the seed.

Good parenting is an imitation of how God relates to us as His children. Parents have a large impact on the religious beliefs of their children. One study found that fathers who attend church at least three times a month, discuss religion at home, and are committed to their beliefs have sons who follow the same pattern. Fathers who do not follow these 3 things have an inconsistent impact. God Himself will take on the role of father when none is present (Psalm 68:5).

Parents can make mistakes and still be successful.

In the opening pages of the Bible we read the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Having been given all good things to enjoy, God makes it clear that there is one thing they are not to enjoy: the fruit from a certain tree. He says, "When you eat of it, you will surely die." In the Hebrew, it reads literally, "Dying, you shall die." God could not have made his intentions any clearer.

Albert Camus once said that death was philosophy's only problem. The apostle Paul said unequivocally, "If ... Christ has not been raised ... [And] if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." As you may know, Saul (whose name was changed to Paul) was willing to put his life on the line for what he believed, and had committed himself to the eradication of what he then considered the "myth" of the gospel. His Damascus Road encounter is now proverbial, signifying a radical change.

Again, the easy way out is to make a sweeping generalization and, with the wave of a hand, dismiss the historical facts. But to this very day, on Mars Hill in Athens stands the message etched in stone that Paul delivered before a crowd whose philosophical bent was equally proverbial. The message Paul brought was literally and figuratively a message of life and death, founded upon the contention that God had raised Jesus from the dead. In turning our backs upon Him, death is not only a moment, it is a way of life. In knowing Him, life is not only temporary, it is eternal.

You know what the Bible says about Paul's address on Mars Hill in which he spoke to the Athenian philosophers and the common person? He said that among those who responded to his invitation to follow Jesus Christ was a man named Dionysius the Areopagite. Today if you go to Mars Hill, you will see that the street that runs right along the Areopagus and Mars Hill where Paul spoke, is called Dionysius Areopagatos. How incredible. Two thousand years after a sermon was preached, the man who made a commitment has his name memorialized right there.

Friend, the resurrection of Jesus carries its truth across time and may I ask you if you have made that commitment to trust Him? You may not get a street named after you but your name will be written in God's book of life. That is ineradicable.

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Copyright © 2002 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

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I feel that I would like to be like the heroes of the Alamo. When their intrepid leader explained that it would be impossible to hold the fort against the superior forces of the enemy, he said it was possible to surrender, to seek to escape, or to fight and finally die. Said he, "I have chosen to do the latter." And, making a mark on the floor with his sword, he asked that all who elected to stand with him in this decision come across to his side of that line.

All the able-bodied came across at once, while one who was sick of fever and too weak to cross cried to his comrades not to forsake him, but to lift his cot across the line, that he might die even though he could not fight.

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

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Another version from www.sermoncentral.com newsletter:

THE ALAMO

In American history, the Battle of the Alamo stands as a prime example of the kind of decisiveness Jesus calls for. In 1836 a band of fewer than 200 men defended the little mission in San Antonio, against General Santa Anna's 6,000 Mexican troops. For two weeks they held the Alamo against impossible odds. Then, on March 5, the night before what would surely be the final assault, William Barret Travis, the commander of the Texans, called a meeting of his men. Telling them he knew the enemy would break through the walls on the morrow, he drew his sword and cut a line in the sand. He invited those who wanted to stay and defend to the death to cross the line. Jim Bowie, who was sick on a pallet, asked to be carried across the line.

And so today Jesus has drawn a line in the sand and he asks you to cross it. Will you stand united with him?

Contributed by: Mike Jeffress

In the ancient world there were no bottles, no recyclable cans. They would put liquids into animal skins that were tied together and used like canteens. Obviously, as time went on, the skins would become brittle, and they would eventually break, spilling out the liquid.

When Jesus told the parable of the wineskins, He said, "New wine must be poured into new wineskins." [Luke 5:38] New situations require new structures. You get a new job and you've got to learn new skills. New relationships require new ways of relating.

What are your wineskins? Maybe old ways of thinking? Or acting, talking, listening, responding in ways that worked well in the past, but now they just don't cut it.

It's a new year with the challenges of new wine -- Will you reach for the old wineskins or will you abandon them for new ones?

Even though I am not a prophet, I can predict three things that you will face this year: new problems, new pressures, new possibilities. And the new wineskins you'll need to face these challenges are: creativity, conviction, courage.

-- New problems will require creativity.

The bad news is you'll have more problems in 2002. The good news is they're not the same problems you had in 2001. You get a whole new set.

-- New problems require new solutions.

The old ways of thinking and relating, your old attitudes may not work. The Bible says, "The intelligent man is always open to new ideas. In fact, he looks for them."

Most people spend more time and energy trying to get around problems than they do solving them. Yet, you're made by the Creator. You're creative. The biggest block to your creativity is your attitude: "Your attitudes and thoughts must be constantly changing for the better. You must be a new and different person, holy and good." Eph. 4:23-24.

I heard about an old man -- 105 years old -- who was interviewed on The Today Show. The reporter asked, "In 105 years, I'll bet you've seen a lot of change." The man replied, "Yes, and I've been against every one of them."

This year [2002] you cannot have a hardening of the attitudes. You've got to keep going, growing, and developing. Attitudes are like diapers: every once in a while they need to be changed or the place starts to stink!

-- New pressures will require conviction.

Conviction is a willingness to stand up for what you believe.

Romans 12:2 "Don't let the world squeeze you in its mold, but let God remake you so your whole attitude of mind is changed." Have you decided what values you're going to base your life on this year? If you haven't, you need to decide what you're going to do. Write out what values are important to you.

One of the most popular songs in the 1980's was Boy George's Karma Chameleon, "I'm a man without conviction." What we need today are men and women of conviction, men and women who are not wishy-washy, men and women who say, "I don't care if everybody's doing it. It's not right, and I'm not going to get caught up in this materialistic binge. I'll do what's right and not let the world squeeze me into its mold."

-- New possibilities will require courage.

The year 2002 is going to be full of God's wonderful plans for you. I don't know a more exciting time to be alive. There are great possibilities! God wants to do great things in your life in this year, but it won't happen automatically. You've got to step out in faith. There's an element of risk.

Hosea 10:12 "Plow new ground for yourselves, plant righteousness, and reap the blessing your devotion to me will produce! It's time for you to turn to me, your Lord, and I will come and pour out blessings on you."

What are you planning to harvest this year? Three hundred sixty five days from today, how are you going to be any different? If you plan to have differences in your life a year from now, you've got to start cultivating now! You need to cultivate some new habits. You need to cultivate some new relationships. You need to cultivate some new activities. It just doesn't happen.

What do I want different in my family? What do I want different in my finances? What do I want different in my personal walk with Christ? What do I want different in my relationship to my children? You've got to start cultivating now. Whatever you sow you're going to reap. If you don't sow anything, you won't reap anything.

I dare you to do something different with your life this year! Get off the bench and get in the game. What could hold you back?

One of the biggest mistakes that Christians make -- even ministers -- is they think they can live their life off of a single commitment they made back in 1976. My spiritual birthday is Jan. 23, 1960. I'm 31 years old spiritually. The first 10 years of my spiritual life, I tried to live on the basis of that one decision. I thought it was enough to carry me the rest of my life. I wondered why I wasn't growing as a Christian -- why I wasn't developing; becoming all that God wanted me to be. I prayed, but I didn't see that many answers. In 1970, I discovered that the Christian life is a continual renewal and a deepening of the commitment -- not just a once-for-all decision -- but an ongoing commitment and daily renewal.

Romans 7:6 "Now you can really serve God; not in the old way mechanically obeying a set of rules, but in a new way." The new way is serving God through a relationship. Some of you are stuck in legalism. You thought that was pleasing to God. God says, "No. I want you to serve me in a new way. Love me and be loved by me."

God wants to do such great things through you in 2002. I don't know a better time to say, "Jesus Christ, I personally commit my life to you. I open it to you. I recommit it to you."

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