I WAS IN the north of England preaching when a fearful storm swept that part of the country. A friend used to preach the gospel to the people in a small town on the coast and many fishermen attended his meetings. It had been stormy weather and the fishermen had been detained in the harbor for a week. One day, however, the sun shone out in a clear blue sky. It seemed as if the storm had passed away, and the boats started for the fishing ground. Forty-one boats left the harbor that day.
Before they started, however, the harbor-master hoisted the storm signal, and warned them of a coming tempest. He begged the fishermen not to go; but they disregarded his warning, and away they went. They saw no sign of the coming calamity. Yet in a few hours a terrible storm swept down on that coast, and very few of those fishermen returned. There were five or six men in each boat, and nearly all were lost in that dreadful gale.
Those men were ushered into eternity because they did not give heed to the warning. Scripture warns of the awful storm of judgment that is coming on this godless world which crucified the Son of God: “Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness.” Acts 17:3131Because 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. (Acts 17:31).
The gospel proclaims to all the only way of escape, the harbor of eternal safety. “For 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 3:1616For 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).
ML-09/22/1963