SHORT while ago the telegraph flashed the news far and wide of a terrible catastrophe in Spain. The following is an abridged account by an eye-witness:” At eight o’clock in the morning of the 11th September, I was on duty at the Town Hall at Consuegra, when a terrific storm, accompanied by thunder and lightning and torrents of rain burst upon the town. When the storm was at its height, the mayor startled me and my comrades by appearing in the balcony of his residence, and shouting, ‘Guards, guards, hurry down to the river; the waters have overflowed, and are inundating the houses.’
“We ran down, and succeeded in saving some thirty persons, the water being up to the neck in some instances, and continuing to rise with frightful rapidity.
“Many people in the houses through which it was rushing in angry torrents did not seem to realize the full extent of their danger. It was in vain that we begged and prayed them to abandon their dwellings. The storm and rainfall having somewhat abated, they seemed to believe that the worst was past, and steadily refused to follow our advice, though we insisted all we could.
“We knew by this time that a fearful disaster was impending, as the water was rushing down into the valley in all directions from the mountain gorges. Thus the day passed, and when night fell, many of the people, in spite of all our warnings, went to sleep as usual in the threatened houses all along the banks of the swollen river. The flood continued to rise by leaps and bounds, and carrying everything before it with resistless fury, overwhelmed nearly the whole town. Houses were swept away before their sleeping occupants could make any effort to save themselves. It was an awful sight to see the now thoroughly terrified people climbing on to the roofs of the houses, and shrieking for help, which it was then impossible to render. The houses collapsed one after another, and with their occupants were swept away.
“In one of the public halls, sixty persons were found dead They had been overtaken by the flood in the midst of the festivities of a wedding.”
Thus, dear reader, were hundreds of our fellow beings suddenly ushered from time into eternity to meet God. Surely so solemn an event should lead those who remain to earnestly consider their latter end. You, too, if unconverted, are exposed to danger, and a far more awful one than the inhabitants of this Spanish town. The judgment of God is already resting upon the world, and its execution will not be long delayed. The day is at hand. Now is the time to escape from it Warning after warning was given from morning to night to the infatuated inhabitants of Consuegra, but, alas! many paid no heed, and reaped on that dreadful night the fruit of their own folly and unbelief Those who realized the danger to which the others were exposed used their utmost efforts to convince them of it, but in vain. Deaf to the warning voice of the heralds of safety, some even, in their infatuation, went fast asleep on the very eve of the dire calamity, and in a moment were overwhelmed.
What a picture of the way thousands treat the momentous question of their eternal salvation today! Judgment threatens the world of the ungodly. God has sent forth the heralds of His great salvation to warn sinners to flee from the wrath to come. For hundreds of years past the Gospel trumpet has been sounded, and sinners exhorted and persuaded to flee for refuge to the only place of safety―to Christ. But tens of thousands turn a deaf ear to the message of grace. Infatuated with the world, its pleasures, follies, rewards, the voice of the servants of God is unheeded, and judgment oft scoffed at. Men, lulled last asleep by the enemy of souls, daily pursue their ordinary course of life, with scarce a thought as to the dread future at their doors. Sinner, arouse thee, judgment is at hand. Awake! awake I or thou wilt be lost eternally. God is about to fulfill His word. Now only is the day of salvation. An irremediable disaster is impending, and there is but one way of escape. Salvation full and free is offered thee now in Christ. How wilt thou escape if thou dost still neglect it?
We beseech you by the mercies of God give heed to the voice of warning while you may. The day of grace is fleeting past. God in mercy holds back the judgment stroke. But soon will it fall. The flood came at last in Noah’s day; the flood came at Consuegra; the flood of God’s wrath is about to come on this poor world. Unsaved and careless one, you are sleeping in the threatened house. Awake! Awake! Flee to the mountain top―flee to Christ. With outstretched arms of love He waits to receive you. His voice of love invites you, ―Come unto Me. Come then to the Saviour; make no delay. Tomorrow may be too late.
Many at the last moment at Consuegra climbed to the tops of their houses, shrieking for help, when the flood came; but alas! it was too late. The hour of grace and warning had passed. They had turned a deaf ear when entreated to flee, and now there was none to help. It was too late. Those that would yet have helped to save them, if they could, were powerless. The affrighted people clambered to every point of vantage they could find, but all was in vain. The rushing waters covered all. Houses and families were swept away by the remorseless torrent.
And many a careless sinner of today will seek a refuge in vain in the awful day of judgment. No cry for mercy will then be answered It will be too late.
“Too late! too late! how sad the cry
For anxious human ears!”
None will be able to save his fellow in that day. Many shall cry, “Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them... and they shall not escape” (1 Thess. 5:33For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3)). Dare you, dear reader, run the awful risk? Dare you leave the voice of warning unheeded and let another day pass, without thinking sincerely of your eternal salvation? God has provided a refuge in Christ, His Son. A triumphant Saviour in glory will meet your deep need. His precious blood, shed upon the cross, cleanseth us from all sin (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)). And in Him there is no condemnation (Rom. 8:11There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)) Bow, then, now to Him. Believe on His blessed name, and you shall never come into the judgment of God. It has fallen already upon Christ for every one that believeth.
“In one of the public halls sixty were found dead. They had been overtaken by the flood in the midst of the festivities of a wedding.” Alas! how forcibly this reminds us of the solemn words of our Lord Jesus Christ, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and tool them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matt. 24:37-3937But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:37‑39)).
It was so in Noah’s day. It was so at Consuegra. It will be so again when the Son of Man cometh. Little did the joyous party assembled to celebrate the marriage at Consuegra think that their end was so near. And little do thousands today, assembled for such-like, and other festivities, think of or realize the danger that threatens them. We do not suppose that those who were thus overtaken were greater sinners than others, any more than those upon whom the tower of Siloam fell; but the hand of God is over all. And if, in His inscrutable wisdom, He allows so solemn an event to happen, surely it is that others may take warning from it, and be found in Christ, ere it be too late.
Once again, therefore, dear reader, we warn you to flee from the wrath to come. “God 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 17:3131Because 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)). But the risen One is a Saviour still, a Saviour for you. Will you receive Him, or will you refuse Him? You will refuse Him at your peril. To live another day without Him is to run the risk of eternal judgment. To die without Him is to come into that judgment for certain after. We beseech you, then, to receive Christ now. He is the One you need. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:1212But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12)). And once you are a child of God, you may take to your comfort and joy the blessed Scripture, “Herein is our love (or love with us) made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:1717Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17)). E. H. C.