John 3:16

The Ultimate Testimony

The church's pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit and,
before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister
who was in the service that evening.

In the introduction, the pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was
one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few
moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate
for the service.

With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak.

"A father, his son, and a friend of his son were Sailing off the Pacific coast,
" he began, "when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to the shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced
sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the
ocean as the boat capsized."

The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers
who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat
interested in his story. The aged minister continued with his story,
"grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating
decision of his life: To which boy he would throw the other end of the life line.
He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son's friend was not. The agony of his
decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves.

"As the father yelled out, 'I love you, son!' he threw out the lifeline to his son's
friend. By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his
son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of night. His body
was never recovered."

By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously
waiting for the next words to come out of the old man. He continued, "the father
knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and he could not bear the
thought of his son's friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save the son's friend. How great is the love of God that He
should do the same for us. Our heavenly Father sacrificed His only begotten
Son that we could be saved. I urge you to accept his offer to rescue you and
take a hold of the life line he is throwing out to you in this service."

With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the
room. The pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon
with an invitation at the end. However, no one responded to the appeal. Within
minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man's side.
"That was a nice story," politely stated one of the boys, "but I don't think it was very realistic for a father to give up his only son's life in hopes that the other boy
would become a Christian."

"Well, you've got a point there," the old man replied, glancing down at his worn
bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face as he once again looked up at the
boys and said, "it sure isn't very realistic, is it? But I'm standing here today to
tell you that story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to
give up his son for me. You see---I was that father and your pastor is my son's friend."

Isn't this wonderful!!