“No,” said John Fowler to his family, “you must not cross the Tay Bridge.”
It was wintertime in Scotland, almost the end of December a hundred years ago. Crossing the river by ferryboat was a long, chilly trip, while the trains whizzed across the new bridge in half an hour. But John Fowler was an excellent engineer, and he had his own ideas about the new bridge. His family understood that “no” meant NO.
The truth is that I have a much wiser Father than John Fowler, and when He says that salvation is “not of works, lest any man should boast,” then I will not try that bridge to heaven. When God plainly says that our good works cannot build a trustworthy bridge to heaven, why would anyone try that bridge? “No” means NO.
The great engineer Thomas Bouch was very proud of his bridge across the Tay River, and so was everyone else, including Queen Victoria. On the beautiful day that she rode across the new bridge she was so impressed with it that she gave him a new title -Sir Thomas Bouch.
But good weather doesn’t last and storms come. The long train that steamed across the bridge on that windy December night suddenly disappeared into the dark waters below, bridge and all. There were no survivors.
A hundred homes had lost family members, and everyone was shocked. The new bridge couldn’t collapse! But it did.
Sir Thomas Bouch found that he had questions to answer. “Why did you not plan your bridge strong enough to withstand the wind?” asked the judges. His answer was that although he had some inward doubts about it, the Royal Astronomer had assured him that ten pounds per square foot would be its greatest pressure.
Disastrous advice! Why would anyone trust a stargazer for such an important engineering matter? Do you at this moment have some inward doubts that your plan for eternity might not work? There is no second try. The advice you accept on this subject MUST be perfectly true and right. If you are not sure, then listen like John Fowler’s children, and don’t try any man’s bridge. If it isn’t straight from God’s Word, it cannot be trusted.
John Fowler used great steel girders and, with his associate Benjamin Baker, built a much stronger bridge across the Forth River. It has stood the test of time, with its storms and howling winds, and those men have been rightly honored. Storms are a great tester, but who wants to be on a new bridge for the test, since there is always a “maybe.”
There is no “maybe” when God speaks. God says “that Christ died for our sins . . . and . . . He rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3434Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. (1 Corinthians 15:34)). This fact will stand the test of any storm yet to come, because Christ Himself has endured ALL the storms of God’s judgment against sin at Calvary nearly 2000 years ago. Take God’s word for it and no one else’s. He loves you. If you trust the word of any person, whoever he may be, who may tell you something not based on God’s Word, there is no hope and no survivors. God’s judgment for your sins is either before you or behind you. You can rest your whole eternity upon these five words: “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:33For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; (1 Corinthians 15:3)).
ML-07/13/1997