I remember how shocked all of us were to learn of the collapse of the bridge on the Connecticut Turnpike over the Mianus River some years ago. As a bus driver, I had driven over that bridge many times before it collapsed, and I never once questioned the safety of the bridge.
It took many months of study to find out exactly what caused the bridge to collapse. But one thing became clear - there were warning signs before it collapsed, and those warning signs were ignored. How solemn to think that if the warnings had been taken seriously, the terrible disaster and loss of life could have been avoided.
Boys and girls, all around us are warning signs that this world full of sin is headed for punishment by a holy God. And what is so sad is that people do not take the warnings seriously. Some mock the Bible and others simply ignore what God says about the coming judgment.
After the bridge disaster, I heard something very sad. At the time the bridge collapsed, one driver was able to stop his car, and he parked it at an angle across the roadway. He hoped to block others from going over the edge of the roadway into the river. Soon another car approached fast what was now the end of the roadway. The man tried to flag the car down to warn the driver, but the car simply swerved around him and his car. As it passed, the driver cursed at the man and then suddenly plunged over the edge to an almost instant death!
It is sad to know that had the driver stopped to hear the warning, he would be alive today. How sad to know that there are people rushing on to the awfulness of an eternity in hell without Christ! Some mock or curse the person who faithfully brings the warning, then hurry on, not believing or caring about the awful end ahead of them.
ML-06/19/2005