Throughout the spring and early summer of 1993 record rainfall fell on the Midwest. Torrential rains caused billions of dollars worth of damage and the loss of 42 lives. If you turned on a radio anywhere in the United States, the broadcast might have sounded something like this:
The flood conditions along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers worsened today. Record crests are expected all along these waterways following the heavy rains of yesterday. Throughout the flooded region neighbors worked feverishly filling sandbags to protect their houses. More heavy rains are expected this afternoon. Experts are calling the flood of ’93 the worst of the century.
The reporters often sounded like preachers, proclaiming great truths from the Bible. For instance:
Residents along the banks of the Illinois River were forced to flee to higher ground today before the flooding river overtakes them.
Change a few words in this broadcast and it sounds like a message the Lord of life would have delivered to every person. “Sinners in this world need to flee to higher ground before God’s judgment overtakes them.”
What is the higher ground that sinners need to flee to? It is resurrection ground.
When the Lord Jesus hung on the cross, He became the sin-bearer for all those who would afterwards believe on Him. In an overwhelming flood, God’s judgment against sin was poured out on Him. He cried to God, saying, “All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over Me” (Psalm 42:77Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. (Psalm 42:7)). No human being will ever be able to understand the depth of suffering that the Lord Jesus went through for sinners. Then He cried out, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head in death.
Before evening His body was taken from the cross and laid in a tomb. It was sealed, and Roman soldiers were ordered to watch so that no one could steal the body. There it lay for three days. Early Sunday morning Mary Magdalene came to the grave and made a startling discovery. The rock had been rolled away and the tomb was empty. The Lord Jesus was victorious over death. He had risen from the grave.
The sins of everyone who receives the Lord Jesus as Saviour are gone. Jesus died, suffering for them as His own. When He died, not a sin remained on Him or God could never have raised Him from the dead. Therefore, the sins of every believer are gone forever.
If you are a believer, then you are on higher ground—resurrection ground. You are safe from the punishment that will overtake everyone who dies in their sins. If you have not yet come to Christ, you need to do so at once. Flee to higher ground!
Another news flash went something like this:
Tonight suspense grows for the townspeople living below the Richfield dam. The water has been rising all evening. It is predicted that at any moment the bank of earth will give way, causing unprecedented damage and misery.
This report illustrates a solemn truth about sin and judgment. Sinners are in a dangerous position. Like the water rising below the dam, they are storing up God’s anger against themselves. God warns: “[Thou] after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath” (Romans 2:55But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; (Romans 2:5)).
God would lead you by His goodness to repentance and faith in Christ. Right now He is waiting for you to acknowledge that you are a sinner and need the Saviour. However, if you continue to reject the Lord Jesus, God’s anger against sin will surpass His patience towards you. The people who lived near Richfield dam didn’t know when it might break, and you don’t know when God’s righteous anger will come upon all who refuse His goodness. God’s patience is great, but He will not keep His anger against sin in check forever. “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)).
One of the most chilling stories about the flood concerned Gary Mahr. It might have been broadcast something like this:
Today the death toll rose by six to a total of forty-two. Two adults and four children were drowned in a cave which they had entered to find shelter from the heavy rains. The group had ignored the warning signs at the entrance of the cave. Gary Mahr, a thirteen-year-old boy, was the only survivor. For eighteen hours he clung to a rock ledge as the waters, carrying the bodies of his dead friends, swirled around him.
If they had paid attention to the warning signs, the tragedy would have been avoided. Yet, like them, many people today ignore God’s warning about the judgment to come.
An underground cave was no place to seek shelter at such a time. And there is no place to seek shelter from judgment for sin except in Christ. Long ago the prophet Isaiah said, “A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest” (Isaiah 32:22And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. (Isaiah 32:2)). Now we know that that Man is Christ the Saviour. Sadly, instead of coming to the Saviour, some seek a refuge in good works of some kind. There is no refuge apart from Christ. Only He can save. Those who have trusted Him as Saviour have found the one refuge which will never fail. Will you not receive Him as the one and only Saviour of sinners—the one and only Saviour for you?