Is There Hope?

Full Text of Is There Hope?

The seas were rough and frigid that afternoon of December 17. After checking the surface for ships in her vicinity, the crew of the 800 ton submarine USS S-4 ended her run by bringing up her periscope directly in the path of an onrushing former US naval destroyer. The destroyer’s Officer-of-the-Deck immediately ordered the engines reversed at full throttle and jammed the rudder over trying to pass over the still-submerged portion of the rising sub. They joined in a jarring collision ripping a gash 4 feet long and 2 feet wide in a central ballast tank of the USS S-4. Nothing could stop the surge of icy water racing in to fill the ballast tank. The sub spun hard, dipped its nose and headed back toward the ocean depths. Inside, six bruised submariners picked themselves out of the rising waters and scrambled for the torpedo room where they jammed the door closed and locked out the rising waters. The remainder scrambled up the increasingly steep floor to the control room shutting it behind the last submariner. It didn’t leak much as the sub settled onto the mud 102 feet down. They had at most 72 hours of oxygen, but each breath sucked the limited oxygen from the air.

Sound Familiar?

No doubt you’ve never been trapped on the sea floor, but you’ve probably had rising hopes that suddenly were sent spinning out of control. Perhaps you’ve been trapped in a prison of dwindling hope. Worse yet is there a chance that you have “no hope” and are “without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12)?

Rescue Attempts

On the surface the destroyer waited, but only oil and bubbles, bubbles of precious oxygen, made their way to the surface. Three deep-sea divers and lots of rescue equipment rode the deck of the USS Bushnell as it raced for the crash site, but they wouldn’t arrive until the next morning. Upon arrival they were met by gale force winds, heaving seas and bitterly cold water. Down went the divers trying to attach oxygen lines to the sub. Heavy seas battered the divers, ripped the lines free and sent them back to the surface. More dives failed. The next morning two divers heard a message tapped out on the hull above the torpedo room, “Is there hope? Please hurry, please!” Time after time the sea tore the oxygen lines free. One month later the bodies of the submariners were taken out to be buried with military honors.

Another Rescue Attempt

Jesus Christ said, while suffering on a cross on Calvary’s hill outside Jerusalem, “All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me” (Psalm 42:7). He died to pay the penalty for sin that you and I are trapped under in order to bring the breath of life to us. He brings with Him the “hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Perhaps as you read you felt the tension of the trapped submariners’ desperate cry for help. Your situation, if you don’t know Christ as Saviour, is far more serious. The submariners begged for hope that couldn’t be given. Will you ignore the message of “hope in Christ” that’s reached you today? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Gospel tract.
Pages: 4
Size: 89 x 139mm
Bible Truth Publishers
Pack quantity: 100

Bible Version: KJV

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