“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with Me.” Revelation 3:2020Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)
“High Drama” was what the headline called it, and it truly was “high” drama. An old, five-story factory was being remodeled into apartments when a fire broke out. Flames and smoke were shooting high into the air.
A construction crane was in place 250 feet above the building to demolish two high smokestacks. Through the rising smoke the cab of the crane was sometimes visible, and in the cab was a man. The operator of the crane, Ivers Sims, was trapped.
He must be rescued - he couldn’t be left like a piece of meat over a grill! But how to do it? Flames were roaring through the building at the base of the crane; to come down from there would have delivered him straight into the inferno.
Firemen fought to “knock down” the fire, but raging flames drove them back. Helicopters tried to blow the flame and smoke away, but with no success.
It grew hotter and hotter in the cab, and the heat was coming through the thick soles of Sims’ shoes. Abandoning the cab, he moved along the arm of the crane to the cement balance weight. That put eight feet of concrete between him and the flame, but it did not lessen the danger that the whole crane assembly might be toppled and fall into the fire.
After trying fruitlessly for over an hour to save Sims, firefighter Sam Mosely turned again to the helicopters. Tethering himself to a helicopter, he dangled in the air by a rope and was able at last to reach Sims on the crane. Quickly fastening him into a harness, the two men clung together as the helicopter lifted them away and circled slowly before bringing them to safety.
It is a picture, a faint picture, but still a little illustration of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. From the unimaginable heights of His glory He looked down on a world of humanity headed straight for destruction - a world poised above an abyss far, far worse than a burning building.
As Sims was helpless atop the crane - there was nothing he could do to escape a dreadful fate - so is the whole human race unable in itself to avert a final fiery judgment. Help for Sims could only come from above, and only from above has help come for us. The Lord Jesus came down to rescue souls in danger of hell fire and gave His life to save them. (Sam Mosely only risked his life.)
How thankful Sims felt as he was held fast by the strong arms of Mosely as they swung precariously away from danger! And that is how the Lord will hold tightly, strongly and safely everyone who has put their trust in Him. His promise is, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father . . . is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:2829).
What security!