St. Peter Preaching the Gospel in the Catacombs by Jan Styka
With many other words he (Peter) testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation.
Acts 2:40.
On the 28th November 1951 the English steamship “Teeswood” ran aground on a sandbank off the Frisian island of Borkum in a hurricane of up to wind force 11. It was only a matter of time before the heavy ship would break up under the powerful breakers of the churned up sea. In extreme desperation SOS was radioed. The lifeboat “Borkum” immediately set out to rescue the crew.
There was only one possibility to rescue them: The “Borkum” passed close to the steamer repeatedly, and the English sailors had to jump on the smaller lifeboat at the right moment. After twenty such risky ventures alongside the stranded ship thirteen sailors were eventually rescued. Two, however, would not dare to jump despite shouts of encouragement from their captain. They had watched others doing so and being saved, but they themselves could not pluck up sufficient courage. The next breakers washed them off the deck, and the search for them proved unsuccessful.
“Be saved from this perverse generation!” was once the apostle Peter’s appeal to people. Whoever is one of those who reject God and His Son and comes under the wrath of God is heading for eternal condemnation (Romans 1:18). “Be saved!” God calls to all mankind. Everyone who puts his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. It is not a leap into the unknown that might deter us. Christ went to the cross and into death for us. He is worthy of our trust.
Images: By Jan Styka – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:JanStyka-SaintPeter.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1181389
