SOME weeks have elapsed since the awful catastrophe on the Metropolitan Railway in Paris. The train service has been resumed, and already the world has forgotten that nearly one hundred souls were then ushered into eternity. We do not know how many of them went to be with Christ in paradise, but we do know that the eternal doom of each one of them is now irrevocably fixed.
It seems too terrible to relate what passed during the brief moments when escape was possible. One of the guards in the ill-fated train gave a sad account of the utter indifference of the passengers to their imminent danger, and it is certain that many more could have escaped had they obeyed his orders.
The carriages were crowded, for many who had been turned out of the first and second trains had taken their seats in this one, and when it too came to a standstill, it was the passengers who called out, “All change here!” with shouts of laughter. Those who were not joking, were storming at the delay. The guard, perceiving that volumes of smoke were coming towards them, shouted to the passengers to alight, and other officials joined with him in imploring them not to delay. “We’ve already been made to get down at Barbes,” was the reply, “and we’re not going to do so again.” Seeing that the smoke grew denser, the guard laid hold of those who were nearest to the doors and tried to drag them forth, shouting, “Get out, will you!” but in their insane folly, they only clamored to have the worth of their tickets refunded. “By-and-by,” he said, “but escape while you can.” Still they would not listen, threatening him even with their fists, and thus cruelly hindering those behind from escaping.
Then suddenly the electric light went out. This was succeeded by fearful confusion and pushing, when nothing was heard save the piercing screams of these very mockers, mingled with those of the other poor victims, until the smoke stifled their voices forever.
It is not my object to describe what has probably been read by all in the newspapers. I merely call attention to these few facts, as being illustrative of what is going on around us daily in a world doomed to the judgment which will sooner or later overtake it unawares. Christians see the danger ahead, and believe God’s Word that foretells it, but still man refuses to acknowledge it. The number of mockers and procrastinators is increasing, and warnings seem to be of no avail. “Sudden destruction” will come, and they too will be launched into eternity, where every warning will be remembered.
What can these poor creatures in Paris have felt as they struggled through the blinding smoke to reach an exit, and then fell down suffocated by the fumes, never to rise again? They sacrificed their lives, not to speak of their souls, to a few paltry pence. “What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”
What will you feel, dear unsaved reader, when, overtaken by “sudden destruction,” you are enveloped in “blackness of darkness” forever, with no chance of escape, for Scripture says, “They shall not escape”?
“The night cometh,” but now, yea, now at this moment, there is light and life for you, everlasting life in Christ if you will only trust Him. “I am the light of the world,” He says; “he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” He is the Saviour of all those who believe, for His blood shed on Calvary can wash away the foulest stains. Let Him change your night to day. “While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.” “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.” Do you know whither you are going?
What must it have been to those mockers in the train, when the lights went out, and they found themselves in darkness and smoke unable to find an exit, unable to escape?
What will it be to the wicked dead when they are brought forth from the darkness of the tomb to the judgment of the great day, when, as some one has said, “the wheels of burning fire of that throne on which sits the Ancient of days begin to move,” and when those Almighty eyes which are as a flame of fire will search them through and through, only to discover that they stand there naked in their sins, without a Saviour?
Scripture is full of warnings, and although you may say now, that no one has come back to tell us that there is a hereafter, God has said, “Neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Your unbelief is mere disobedience to God. It would be far better to be like Paul, who could say, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,” or to be like a little girl of whom I recently heard, who heeded the warning she received.
A servant of the Lord had made an earnest appeal at the close of his preaching. He had depicted the terror of those who would find themselves left behind if the Lord came to take His own. Amongst the congregation was a little girl of eleven years of age. She knew that she was unsaved, and her heart quivered with fear as she listened to the solemn warnings. The following evening, the preacher was sitting with her parents after she had gone to bed.
They were talking together of the things of God and of His Word, and had not realized how late it was. Suddenly they heard the most piercing screams, and the door was burst open by the little girl. She stopped dead on seeing them, and said, “I thought the Lord had come, and that I was left behind.” Awaking from her first sleep, and hearing no sound in the house, she had thought the preacher’s words had come true. “I shall never forget those heartrending screams, nor the look of terror on the child’s face,” said one who had been present.
Dear reader, will you not heed God’s warnings lest He should have to say to you, “I would, but ye would not.”
G. P. V.