On making the gentle descent towards the causeway that leads to La Corbière Lighthouse, in Jersey, I noticed a small monument featuring two clasped hands. It had not been there when I had visited the island previously and I was interested to read the inscription underneath. It informed of the rescue of the passengers and crew of the French catamaran ‘St. Malo’ which began to sink after it struck a rock known as Le Frouquie nine hundred metres north of the lighthouse. This occurred during the morning of Monday the seventeenth of April 1995 whilst on passage from Jersey to Sark. Visibility was good at the time but with a Spring tide ebbing to the west and a westerly Force five wind, the sea conditions were moderate to rough.
The emergency services were hastily scrambled and nearby ships came to the assistance of the stricken vessel. In the goodness of God all three hundred and seven passengers and crew were saved from the partially submerged catamaran.
I walked on and just before commencing the short walk on the causeway I saw another notice on the stone wall on my right. It is ‘in memory of Peter Edwin Larbalestier, assistant keeper at the lighthouse, who on 28th. May 1946 gave his life to rescue a visitor cut off by the incoming tide.’ The first monument told of many who were saved, this inscription told the sad story of a brave man who was lost.
My mind was turned to the intensely real and serious thought of being saved for eternity. My dear friend, if you could only be persuaded of the unspeakable aftermath, the horrendous sequel to a Christless life, you would begin to understand that being saved is a priority, a necessity, transcending every other consideration and greater by far than all your other needs. ‘And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:’ Hebrews 9.27 ‘the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments’ Luke 16.22,23. Truly the title of this article must be the most important question you will ever have to answer.
So, ‘Are you saved?’ If not, let me introduce One who is both able and willing to save you from the endless judgment and unquenchable fire which will envelop your soul forever if you continue as you are. Without Christ and faith in Him, these consequences will be inescapable. The inscription underneath the monument referred to ‘the help of God and many strong arms’ that ensured the rescue and safe return of all on board. But alas, the brave man who attempted to rescue the visitor in danger, discovered that his arms were simply not strong enough to battle the waves and effect the rescue of the stranded tourist.
The Word of God says of Christ in Hebrews 7.25, ‘Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him …’
The Lord Jesus Himself said in Luke 19.10, ‘For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’
1Timothy 1.15 states that ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’
‘For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.’ John 3.17
In John 17.12 we read the Saviour’s own words as He prayed to His Father, ‘those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost.’
My friend, there is nothing you can do or give to obtain your salvation but you can trust Christ. None but He can save your soul eternally. Fear not then to trust Him.