I
t was a calm, clear and beautiful evening in Mexico City on November 4, 2008. In the heart of the city’s financial district, the streets were clogged with rush-hour traffic. Everything seemed normal as people made their way home from a busy day of work. No one could have foreseen the fiery disaster that was soon to overtake them.
At about 6:45 p.m., a Learjet 45 was coming in for a landing at the nearby airport when it suddenly flipped over and plummeted from the sky, crashing to the ground among cars, pedestrians and buildings in a blaze of fire. Witnesses stated that the flames rose above the tops of the skyscrapers in the inferno and carnage that followed. All eight people aboard the Learjet were killed, along with six people on the ground. Forty bystanders were seriously injured, 1,200 residents had to be evacuated, and 30 cars were destroyed. It was a dreadful disaster!
The nation and world were shocked to learn that the Learjet had been carrying the Secretary of the Interior (with similar duties to the Vice President of the U.S.) along with five other high-level officials, who had been involved in Mexico’s battle against powerful drug cartel lords. Was the plane sabotaged? Was there a bomb on board? The pressure was intense to quickly find the cause of this catastrophe.
Surprising Discovery
After a careful and thorough investigation, it was determined that the Learjet was following too close behind a Mexicana Boeing 767, which was a much heavier plane. Because the weather was so calm, there was no wind to dissipate the wake turbulence from the Mexicana plane, causing it to linger in the air much longer than usual, creating a “wall” for the smaller plane to fly into. The crew of the Learjet had neither the experience nor the altitude to recover their plane — they barely had time to realize that they were going to die! They ended up hitting the ground at over 300 miles per hour.
But why were the pilots not more cautious, especially considering the high-level officials they were responsible for? After further investigation, including listening to the cockpit voice recorder, several factors were revealed:
• The pilots didn’t successfully control their speed or their altitude.
• The pilots didn’t seem to know how to operate the plane’s controls.
• They flew faster than the speed given by the air-traffic controller, causing them to come too close to the Mexicana plane.
• Several times proper information was not entered into the cockpit instruments.
• They did not follow a proper flight plan, and they had navigational difficulties.
• Most shockingly of all, the real reason for the confusion in the cockpit was that neither pilot had the proper certification; therefore they were not qualified to fly the plane! Certification forms were missing or unsigned by their flight school. The commanding pilot claimed to have taken training flights he hadn’t taken; he claimed to be a Learjet instructor when he wasn’t and part of a Learjet training team when he wasn’t. He was a fraud!
It was the pilots’ own fraud and deception that led to a fatal outcome. The prospect of a special government charter job might have seemed like a good enough reason to fake their competence, but it led them into a situation which they couldn’t handle — with dire consequences. Not only did they lose their lives, but their deceitfulness also caused the deaths of other innocent people.
What About You?
What about you? Are you deceiving yourself about your eternal well-being? If you are, you will suffer the consequences in a lost eternity, forever. God has clearly told us the way of salvation; none of us will be able to deceive the Lord or fake our salvation when we stand before Him. “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). No doubt the crew of the Learjet convinced themselves that deception and fraud was the right thing to do considering the circumstances, but they found out that they were wrong ... too late, too late! “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:1212There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12)).
The Lord Jesus told a parable (a simple story to illustrate a moral or spiritual truth) about a man who was a fraud. But he was found out. Here is the story that Jesus told: “When the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless” (Matthew 22:11-1211And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. (Matthew 22:11‑12)). You, like this man, will have no excuse for rejecting God’s offer of salvation. Jesus, who is faithful to warn us, tells us what happened to this man. “Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:1313Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 22:13)). What a horrible and terrifying end for this man to come to!
While you now have time and life, make the choice to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, for God “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Because God does not want to see anyone perish, He “now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:3030And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (Acts 17:30)). “The wages of sin is death [hell]; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). Like the man in the parable, we cannot enter into God’s presence with our sins unforgiven; we all need a garment of salvation. Here is a promise from God: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:99That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:9)). Your choice WILL have eternal consequences — accept God’s gracious offer of salvation today, while you are able!
Our time is limited, but God’s resources to pay our debt of sin are not. Find out the details in Bankruptcy.