FIFTEEN thousand souls, in one brief moment, frail one small spot of the earth, swept into eternity. Such was the appalling news that came from the ill-fated valley in Pennsylvania. “It was late in the afternoon, says the report,” when the Conemaugh Lake burst through its restraint, and swept through the valley in a resistless torrent. Populous towns and thriving villages were in a moment overwhelmed by the irresistible flood. Nothing could withstand the force of the raging mass of waters. “Locomotives were swept along like pebbles; bridges, whether of wood or stone, did not totter or fall, they instantly became a floating mass of shapeless debris.” Fire added to the horror of the scene, many of the floating masses of wreckage bursting into flames. Thus, while hundreds of human beings were drowned in the flood, hundreds who escaped the waters perished in the flames; others, too, were crushed to death in the fall of their own homes.
The water and the flames were merciless; rich and poor, tender women and strong men, boys and girls, and old men and women, the new-born and the gray-headed, alike were overwhelmed in the floods, or perished in the flames. Just as they were, saved or lost; believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, or unbelievers; acceptors or rejectors of the gospel; ready or not ready―they passed into eternity. Death claimed them, life closed upon them, time finished with them, eternity opened to them, heaven or hell received each soul of them. They have done with the passing things of time; they have entered the fixed realities of eternity. As they entered, so will they spend eternity. “In the place where the tree falleth, there it shall lie” (Eccl. 11:33If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. (Ecclesiastes 11:3)). How many ways can men fall? Only two, either saved or lost. How many places can men fall into? Only two, either heaven or hell; either the place Christ has gone to prepare (John 14:44And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. (John 14:4)), or the place “prepared for the devil and his angels.” Death for the believer is merely absent from the body, “present with the Lord”; for the unbeliever it is “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.”
Some of the victims of this terrible disaster have, thank God, entered upon a bright eternity with Christ in glory; others, alas, have passed from a lost life into a lost eternity. “The Lord knoweth them that are his,” and the day alone will declare the sum of the lost.
But was there no place of safety from the flood of waters? Was there no time for escape from the rushing tide? Was there no warning voice raised ere the torrent of waters burst on the unfortunate people? Yes, high lands on either side of the valley offered a refuge from the flood.
Time, also, was given the inhabitants to flee from the ill-fated valley to the safety of the hills. Many a warning voice, too, was raised ere they were overwhelmed. We read, “It seems strange, but it is quite true, that-ample warning of the coming disaster was given.” And again, “Early in the morning the people were told that the embankment showed signs of giving way.” How did they receive the ominous news? Alas, the report continues, “not much attention was paid to the warning.” Later on we hear of an unknown horseman “who rode madly to save the people,” and as he rode frantically through villages and towns he raised the warning cry, “To the hills!” How did they receive the message of the horseman? Did they awaken at last to a sense of their critical position, and immediately flee from the doomed valley? Was there a rush for their one hope—the hills? Alas, no! we are told, “They laughed at his warning cry, To the hills! and replied, ‘We will wait till we see the water.’”
Then the horseman passed on with his solemn warning unheeded, and the people who laughed and mocked were left behind. Was this their last warning? No! once again they were warned; and this time― the last time―it was their very doom―the flood of waters―that raised the warning. “A confused noise,” says the report, “accompanied the advance of the water.” How was the last warning received? Were the people terrified by the distant roar of the on-coming waters as they burst through their restraint, and poured in a mighty torrent into the valley below? Did they at last realize their impending doom? Did they, at the eleventh hour, seek the refuge of the hills? Alas we can scarce credit the report that tells us of the last warning― “no one heeded it.”
Thus the day wore on; and while the people laughed and mocked at the repeated warnings, their awful doom was drawing nearer and nearer, until at last―the warnings all unheeded, and time passed away― the on-coming torrent burst with resistless fury on the doomed city. “The waters rushed into the streets several feet deep, and rocked the houses from side to side with the power of an earthquake. Finally, the current carried the buildings across the streets and vacant lots, dashing them together and breaking them into fragments, while the people inside, many of whom had shortly before laughed at the cry of danger, were unable to do anything to help themselves.” Thus it came to pass that nearly fifteen thousand lives were lost in the calamity of May 31St, 1889.
More than three thousand five hundred years ago, Abraham, from the heights of Mamre, beheld the awful doom of Sodom and Gomorrah. “These cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground,” were overthrown and destroyed by sheets of living fire “rained down from the Lord out of heaven.” This was the awful sight that met the gaze of Abraham when on that solemn morning he “got up early... and looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah.” The great plain that lay at his feet, and stretched far away into the distance, was one vast smoking furnace. “He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace” (Gen. 19:24-2824Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; 25And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. 26But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. 27And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord: 28And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. (Genesis 19:24‑28)).
But were the guilty inhabitants of the plain not warned ere judgment overtook them? Was there no place of refuge to which they could flee from the righteous wrath of God? Was there no time to reach the place of safety? Yes; they were warned of judgment to come; they were told of the place of safety; they had time to flee from the doomed cities. The night preceding the solemn day of their visitation, we read, “There went two angels to Sodom at even.” They entered into the house of Lot. Outside “the men of Sodom compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter.” The angels warn Lot of their solemn mission. Then in the nighttime Lot “went out and spake unto his sons-in-law” ―men of Sodom. He warns them of coming judgment, and pleads earnestly with them to escape for their lives. “Up,” says he, “get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city.” What effect did Lot’s preaching have upon the men of Sodom? Did they flee that very moment from the place of judgment? Alas, no! They made light of Lot’s preaching. “He seemed as one that mocked.”
So the night wore on, ―Lot pleading, his sons refusing, ―until at last the morning breaks. Then the angels speak again to Lot, this time telling him to “arise,” lest he be consumed. No longer now telling him to warn others, but to escape himself. The last warning has been heard and refused; the interval of grace has passed; and the day of judgment has at last dawned upon the guilty cities of the plain.
Lot still lingers, until he, his wife, and two daughters are dragged out by the hand, and told to “escape to the mountain.” The heights above the plain become the alone place of safety. Lot escapes first to Zoar, but finally has to flee to the “mountain” (vs. 20).
But what of the cities of the plain? Lot has gone, his preaching done. The Sodomites are left alone, and the moment of their doom is closing in upon them. How do they spend the last few moments ere judgment overtakes them. We read, “they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded” (Luke 17:2828Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; (Luke 17:28)). The sun had risen as usual, the sky is cloudless; there is not the slightest appearance of anything unusual about to take place; so they go on with their business, their pleasure, and their sin, until at length, the warning to escape rejected, the plan of escape refused, and the time for escape frittered away, the moment of judgment has come. The cloudless sky is suddenly lit up with an unearthly glare, the dazzling splendor of the sun is changed to blood-red, and the cities of the plain are wrapt about in flames of lurid fire, rained down from the livings God. The fire of judgment does its awful work. The godless inhabitants are overwhelmed. Not one escapes; the fire and brimstone “destroyed them all.” Never again will there be any more eating and drinking, buying and selling, or building and planting, in the cities of the plain. Their “small day” is done; they have entered God’s eternity. Their once fair plain is now an arid desert, and over the very site of Sodom and Gomorrah there flows the water of death.
Has not the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah spoken with solemn voice of warning to all succeeding generations for nearly four thousand years? Does it not yet speak in these the last closing days? Again are we not reminded afresh, by the recent awful catastrophe, of the terrible judgment that hangs like a thunder-cloud, ready to burst, over this Christless scene? Reader, has it no voice for thee? Is thy heart still in this poor world, and art thou yet a stranger to Christ? Remember the world in which you live, and which you love so well, ―for the love of which you are bartering away your precious soul, ―is under the sentence of judgment far more awful than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Says Paul, writing to the Hebrews, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Death, then, and after death the judgment, is thine “appointed” lot, Christless soul. And, moreover, not only is judgment “appointed,” but this same apostle tells us that the very day is “appointed.” And not only is the day appointed, but the judge is ordained. Think then of thine awful position, unsaved soul, ― “dead in trespasses and sins;” “in the flesh;” “in the world;” “without Christ;” “having no hope, and without God” (Eph. 2:1, 11, 121And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (Ephesians 2:1)
11Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (Ephesians 2:11‑12)), ― appointed for death and judgment, and the day of judgment appointed for thee, and thy judge ordained!
But, stop; is thy case hopeless? Is there no place of refuge to which thou mist flee from coming judgment? Is there no time for thee to escape? Is there not one clear voice, above all the babel of discordant sounds, warning thee of judgment to come and the way of escape? Thank God, there is one warning voice, the Word of God, that tells thee of one place of refuge―Christ in the glory; and holds out to thee, the only time for escape―now! “Now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)). How does the world treat the voice of warning? How have you treated it, reader? How did the people of Paul’s day treat the warning of judgment to come? We read, “Some mocked, and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter; howbeit certain men slave unto him, and believed” (Acts 17:30-3430And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. 32And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. 33So Paul departed from among them. 34Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (Acts 17:30‑34)). Reader, which are you, a “mocker,” a “procrastinator,” or a “believer”?
Art thou a mocker? Then may God in His grace stop thy mouth now, in this day of grace, and lead thee to “confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus.” Be assured of this, mocker, thine impudent mouth will be stopped, either now in the day of grace, or then in the coming day of judgment. For God has said,—and God’s word will stand good in spite of all the mockers and their mockings,― “Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Art thou a procrastinator? Remember, then, that thou art in a world of death, and Christ is coming. Death may overtake thee any moment, and cut thee off from salvation; or Christ—the master of the house—may rise up and “shut to the door,” and thus cut salvation off from thee. Procrastinator, put off no longer the question of thy soul’s salvation. Time presses; death is coming; judgment is coming; eternity, with its heaven and hell, is coming; Christ is coming; the world is passing; time is passing; and thou art passing on―but where?
Art thou one of the third, the blessed class―a believer―every moment taking thee nearer to thine eternal rest with Christ in glory? or art thou an unbeliever, every moment speeding thee on to the judgment and the lake of fire? Soon the day of grace will be finished; the preaching all done; the warnings all passed; the time gone; the believers caught away, like Lot from Sodom; and then the awful day of judgment will fall upon a Christless world.
Reader, once again we entreat you to “neglect” no longer this “great salvation.” Turn no longer a deaf ear to God’s solemn warnings and loving entreaties, but come, just as thou art, ―now, this very moment. Flee from the wrath to come; “escape for thy life,” escape to the mountain―Christ in the glory.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). God says it. Now come, dear reader, you believe it? We do not ask you to accept the words of a fellow-mortal, but the words of the living God, who cannot lie, “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” To reject them, will be your eternal ruin. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Heb. 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3).)
H. S.