Several miles above Milton, Pennsylvania, in spring when the ice was breaking up, a farmer got into one of his boats, purposing to pull it out of the river. A floating mass of ice struck it, breaking it loose from the bank, and carrying it and him out into the current. A neighbor, seeing the danger, mounted a horse and with all speed rode down to the city of Milton. The people of the town gathered all the ropes they could secure, went out on the bridge, and suspended a line of dangling ropes from the bridge across the river. They could not tell at just what point the boat with the farmer would pass under, so they put a rope down every two or three feet clear across. By and by the farmer was seen, wet and cold, standing in the boat half full of water, drifting down the rapid current. When he saw the ropes dangling within reach, he seized the nearest one, was drawn up and saved. You see, if they only hung one rope out the chances would be slim that the farmer would be rescued.

Every Sunday in pulpits across the America pastors hang the rope of salvation from the pulpit, and unbelievers who might be present may or may not get near it; but, what if Christians throughout town, business men and women, factory and retail employees, young men and women, mothers and wives, hang out ropes everywhere, the chance of unbelievers receiving Christ will increase greatly. If the church is not careful it can have the “one rope” mentality. Every Sunday morning, we hang out one rope hoping and praying that a lost person will come and grab that rope.

This world is floating down a dangerous stream and heading for destruction and they are in desperate need for someone to hang out a rope. Lost people are in a crisis in this world as they face heartache and heartbreak without the grace of God and they face a hopeless eternity a part from Christ. Similar to what took place in the great “unsinkable ship” the Titanic, people feel secure that everything is well while an iceberg of destruction looms ahead. When the passengers of the Titanic found themselves afloat in the chilly waters, they needed more than a life boat they needed someone to dangle them a spiritual rope of deliverance. A most striking example of the urge to win souls triumphing over even imminent death, is that of John Harper, a Baptist minister of London, England, who was lost with the Titanic.

At a conference held in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, a man rose and gave the following testimony: “Four years ago, when I left England on board the Titanic, I was a careless, godless sinner. I was in this condition on the night when the terrible catastrophe took place. Very soon, with hundreds more, I found myself struggling in the cold, dark waters of the Atlantic. I caught hold of something and clung to it for dear life. The wail of awful distress from the perishing all around was ringing in my ears, when there floated nearby me a man who, too, seemed to be clinging to something. He called to me: ‘Is your soul saved?’ I replied: ‘No, it is not.’ ‘Then,’ said he, ‘Believe on The Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’ We drifted apart for a few minutes, then we seemed to be driven together once more. ‘Is your soul saved?’ again he cried out. ‘I fear it is not,’ I replied. ‘Then if you will but believe on the Lord Jesus Christ your soul shall be saved,’ was his further message of intense appeal to me. But again we were separated by the rolling currents. I heard him call out this message to others as they sank beneath the waters into eternity. There and then, with two miles of water beneath me, in my desperation I cried unto Christ to save me. I believed upon Him and I was saved. In a few minutes I heard this man of God say: ‘I’m going down, I’m going down’; then ‘No, no, I’m going up, I’m going up.’ That man was John Harper.”

As Christians and churches we must maintain a balance of sound doctrine and yet at the same time keep a high evangelistic temperature. It is not enough to just be evangelical. We must be evangelistic. If we are not careful the church will become a reservoir of pure water without a pipe running anywhere. If you will take the trouble to go to it and climb the embankment, you will get a good drink. The evangelistic church is a reservoir of pure water with a pipe to every heart in the community, and every nation in the world. We must fulfill the “Great Commission” that Jesus gave to his disciples, and rescue the perishing.