WE remember meeting somewhere a very striking incident which occurred on one of those vast and trackless prairies which abound on the continent of America.
A party of travelers were making their journey under the conduct of an experienced guide, when suddenly they perceived him halting, and looking very anxiously behind him.
He stooped down, and put his ear to the ground, that he might assure himself of the true state of the case. That practiced ear had caught the dreadful sound of flames. The prairie was on fire behind them; and, what was most appalling, the wind was rapidly driving the flames after them, so that in a few minutes they might be consumed.
Quick as thought the intelligent guide struck a light, and set fire to the prairie in front of his party, thus clearing a space on which he placed every one of them. There they were perfectly safe from the devouring flames, for the simplest of all reasons, that they were standing on ground already cleared by fire. They had been transferred in a moment from a place of imminent danger to a place of perfect safety; from a place in the which they were of necessity filled with anxiety and terror, to a place in which they might lie down and sleep in repose and security. It was impossible that the fire could touch them, inasmuch as it had already done its work. The very flames which they once dreaded had cleared for them a place of safety. The once dreaded enemy had become their best friend. The danger was past and gone.
In all this, we have a beautiful illustration of that true place of safety in which the believer stands. He too, like the travelers on the prairie, has been in a place of danger. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment "(Heb. 9:27). HEB 9:27 "Every one shall be salted with fire" (Mark 9:49). MAR 9:49
There is judgment coming. The flames of divine wrath are rolling on in terrible volume, and must before long overtake all who are in their sins.
Men may not believe this: but it is true.
They may seek to forget all about it; but that in no wise alters the weighty fact. They may try to put off the solemn moment; but it is of no use. Every throb of the pulse brings them nearer and nearer to that terrible hour in which "the dead, small and great,” shall "stand before God" (Rev. 20:12). REV 20:12
The great day of reckoning is at hand; the day of vengeance must come. It is only a question of time. The acceptable year, the day of salvation will soon close. The door of mercy will be shut, and shut forever; and the devouring flame of God's righteous indignation shall roll over all who died in their sins.
Reader, where art thou? On what ground?
Art thou on the ground of judgment, or on the ground of safety? Art thou in thy sins, or in Christ? Do not turn aside the question.
Look it full in the face, just now. It must be met. Meet it now. Do not put it off for a single hour. You know not the moment when you may be summoned away into eternity; and if you die in your sins, the flames of hell must be your everlasting portion. Escape for thy life!
Dost thou inquire as to the way of escape?
Hast thou been brought to ask, from the very depths of a broken and repentant heart, “What must I do to be saved?" If so, we have good news to tell thee; balmy tidings to bring to thine ear and to thine heart. Christ Jesus has cleared the ground for His people.
He has met the fire of divine wrath, and quenched, on their behalf, the flames of divine judgment. He took the sinner's place, died the sinner's death, bore the sinner's judgment, paid the sinner's penalty. He was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). 2 COR 5:21 All who simply and heartily believe in Him are as safe as He is. There is no judgment for them, because the judgment has clone its work on Him in their stead.
Thus it stands. Here is the place of safety, the only place. “There is... no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). How can there be, seeing that He was condemned in their stead? He went down under the full weight of their sins, and has taken them clean off the ground of judgment, and placed them on the ground of divine and eternal security. He has settled every question that could possibly he raised between God and the believing soul; and, having done so, He has become our subsisting righteousness before God. It is as impossible that any charge of guilt could he made good against the believer as against the risen Saviour. He did once stand charged with guilt; but He has put it away forever; and now all who believe in Him are in a place of perfect safety, where judgment can never overtake them, because the judgment is past and gone forever (John 5:24; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18). JOH 5:24 1 PET 2:24 1 PET 3:18
All those who trust in Christ alone,
The Lamb who once was slain,
And nature's purest works disown,
A welcome will obtain;
For God, who knows a sinner's needs,
Accepts the Lamb in lieu of deeds.