Right across the road from where I live, men are busy digging a foundation for the building of a new home. What a great deal of noise they are making! They are boring holes in the rock with noisy drills, and they are filling those holes with dynamite. Then comes the greatest noise of all. The rock is piled high with logs to keep it from flying, and then a great, low, “BOOM” is heard and the rock is splintered into pieces.
It reminds me of an experience I had some years ago when we were building roads in northern Ontario. There were no houses or buildings of any kind nearby, so it was not necessary for us to cover the dynamite blast with great logs. We simply laid our charges of dynamite, set the fuse, and then turned in every direction shouting “Fire!” at the top of our lungs.
At the sound of the word “Fire” all the workmen would immediately put down their tools and run down the road. They knew well that in just a certain number of seconds there would be a terrific explosion, and huge quantities of rock would fly in all directions. Some of the workmen took shelter under bridges, some behind great big trees, but each and every man ran as fast as he could, and found the very best shelter that he could, for all knew the danger.
May I ask what you would have done if you had heard the cry of “Fire”? Would you have stood quietly by and laughed at the rest of the workmen as they ran down the road? No, I feel quite sure you would have run along with the rest of them, and found shelter as quickly as you could. Perhaps you look up from reading this gospel paper and think, “I don’t see any danger around me here.” No, my dear reader, you may not see any danger from where you are, but let me assure you that Word of God speaks again and again of the dreadful judgment that is going to fall upon this whole world. Is there any hiding place? Oh, how glad I am to be able to tell you that the same blessed Book which tells us of the coming day of judgment, tells us of an absolutely sure place of shelter and hiding.
If you have not yet accepted the Lord Jesus as your Saviour and found a safe shelter in Him, you are much more foolish than a workman who would stand near the blast without seeking safety.
Every moment that you linger in this world without Jesus Christ as your hiding place, you are in danger. This little paper is like the voice of the one who called out “Fire” so that everyone might take shelter. Once again we would warn you in the words of Jesus Christ Himself: “Flee from the wrath to come.” Matthew 3:77But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Matthew 3:7).
ML 09/09/1956