When I saw the white Lincoln on the freeway, flames were shooting skyward above the hood. The driver pulled the car off to the side of the highway. Wisps of black smoke curled from the front of the car. When the driver opened the hood of the car, the flames exploded upward and began working their way toward the rear passenger seats. An older pickup truck pulled in behind the Lincoln as smoke billowed upward. A man in work clothes jumped out and began to help a child and woman from the rear passenger seat of the burning car.
In the distance could be heard sirens from the fire trucks, still five minutes away, trapped in freeway traffic. Soon it was finished. The car was nothing but a blackened twisted hulk. A shivering child clung to a frightened grandparent. An unbelieving driver stared in shock at the smoldering remains of his expensive luxury car.
Last year I was talking with three men who had enjoyed a meal and listened to a speaker talk about "winning the lost for Jesus Christ." We finished reviewing a Membership Application in the Christian organization, and two of the men were in the process of filling out the information. After a moment, I went over to the third man and asked if I could help him. He pointed to the question on page one, "Do you believe in the endless lake of fire for the unsaved?" (Rev. 20:10, 14-15). He said to me, "Do you mean that I have to believe 'that' in order to join?" The man was interested in our work and considered it a wonderful thing for folks to do, but he could not bring himself to face the fire.
I wish that I could take that man back to the freeway on the day that I saw a car burn. I wish that I could infuse him with the sense of urgency and desperation we must have in rescuing helpless people trapped in the fires of eternity, swiftly destroyed and lost. He reminded me of the hundreds of people who drove by on the other side of the road that day, unable or unwilling to help. At that dinner meeting I was looking for a person like the man on his way home from work who disregarded his own safety, left his comfort zone, and saved two lives from the flames because he knew the danger of fire.
What is it that motivates us to go to lost people who do not know Jesus as their personal Savior? To distribute scriptures, to speak in churches, to go to distant locations, to witness in prisons and jails, to travel endless miles at all hours of the day and night? Is it that we enjoy eating one more meal, seeing new landscapes, socializing with friends, or that we enjoy rising early in the morning and getting to bed late at night?
No, no, no - a thousand times no! It is because we "believe in the endless lake of fire for the unsaved (Rev. 20:10, 14-15)" - - and because we believe, we are gripped with the necessity of rescuing lost men and women who are trapped in the flames and cannot save themselves.
In the distance could be heard sirens from the fire trucks, still five minutes away, trapped in freeway traffic. Soon it was finished. The car was nothing but a blackened twisted hulk. A shivering child clung to a frightened grandparent. An unbelieving driver stared in shock at the smoldering remains of his expensive luxury car.
Last year I was talking with three men who had enjoyed a meal and listened to a speaker talk about "winning the lost for Jesus Christ." We finished reviewing a Membership Application in the Christian organization, and two of the men were in the process of filling out the information. After a moment, I went over to the third man and asked if I could help him. He pointed to the question on page one, "Do you believe in the endless lake of fire for the unsaved?" (Rev. 20:10, 14-15). He said to me, "Do you mean that I have to believe 'that' in order to join?" The man was interested in our work and considered it a wonderful thing for folks to do, but he could not bring himself to face the fire.
I wish that I could take that man back to the freeway on the day that I saw a car burn. I wish that I could infuse him with the sense of urgency and desperation we must have in rescuing helpless people trapped in the fires of eternity, swiftly destroyed and lost. He reminded me of the hundreds of people who drove by on the other side of the road that day, unable or unwilling to help. At that dinner meeting I was looking for a person like the man on his way home from work who disregarded his own safety, left his comfort zone, and saved two lives from the flames because he knew the danger of fire.
What is it that motivates us to go to lost people who do not know Jesus as their personal Savior? To distribute scriptures, to speak in churches, to go to distant locations, to witness in prisons and jails, to travel endless miles at all hours of the day and night? Is it that we enjoy eating one more meal, seeing new landscapes, socializing with friends, or that we enjoy rising early in the morning and getting to bed late at night?
No, no, no - a thousand times no! It is because we "believe in the endless lake of fire for the unsaved (Rev. 20:10, 14-15)" - - and because we believe, we are gripped with the necessity of rescuing lost men and women who are trapped in the flames and cannot save themselves.
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