Witnesses in Horsham Township, Philadelphia, were stunned one Sunday afternoon when the “warhorse” of the Navy’s carrier fleet, the F-14, crashed in a residential area. The $38 million, sophisticated F-14 jets (nicknamed the “Tomcats”) were capable of flying at twice the speed of sound. They had been used effectively in “Desert Storm” and the Bosnian crisis.
Only highly skilled pilots were assigned to these jets, and the two who were flying today were among the most highly rated. Each had more than 1000 hours in that aircraft.
These officers were part of the VF-101 Squadron called the “Grim Reapers,” stationed at Oceana Naval Air Station at Virginia Beach. Little did they realize how soon they would meet the Grim Reaper—death!
The supersonic jets were part of the annual “Sounds of Freedom” Willow Grove Naval Air Station Air Show and were performing simulated carrier landings. This particular maneuver was called a “wave off.” The pilots had performed this same routine many times in practice, and in the show as recently as Friday and Saturday.
As the jet approached a landing, they slowed their speed slightly. They were waved off and sped away in a climbing turn to make another landing. As more than 120,000 watched, it banked steeply, wavered and plunged upside down into a wooded area in a ball of fire and smoke.
This event reminds us vividly of the uncertainty of this life. The Word of God makes it crystal clear that we have an allotted time upon this earth. God gives to all life, breath and all things, and there is no one who knows when his or her last moment will come. It is the Apostle James who says, “What is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:1414Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:14)).
Each of us inherits a sinful nature because of our fall in Adam (read Gen. 3). Because of our sinful nature, we practice sin in thought, word and deed and are accountable to our Creator.
There are just two destinies, heaven for those who know the Lord Jesus as Savior and hell for those who do not know Him. Perhaps you are asking, “How can I be assured of being in heaven and know that all will be well when life is over?”
It is with joy that we can tell you the Word of God has the answer. The moment the sinner realizes that his greatest need is to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his own personal Savior and to trust Him, depending only upon His finished work upon the cross, he can be assured of heaven.
We turn again to the Bible and learn that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son”...to die upon the cross at Calvary. There, after men had shown all the enmity of their hearts by crucifying the Lord Jesus, God accepted the sacrifice of that perfect One in the place of the sinner. This is the truth of John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16). The moment the sinner places his trust in what God has done, he has the assurance from the Word of God that “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
May you know today the joy that God’s salvation brings through faith in the work of the Lord Jesus when He died as our substitute upon the cross of Calvary. He satisfied all the claims of God’s righteousness that were against us because of sin. We can commend the Savior to you as the One who not only saves but keeps, and He satisfies the longings of the heart.
In view of the uncertainty of life, we urge you to make preparation for eternity. It is just ahead for all of us.