AN INKLING OF THE JUDGMENT.
By F. F. Fry
The clouds of the recent storm and awful disaster of St. Pierre, Martinique, have scarcely floated away. The rumblings and the quaking of old mother earth have scarcely ceased. The fumes of the smoke and of the sulphuric discharges are yet fresh in the nostrils of those who escaped a doom common to almost 40,000 souls. Yet the world moves on in its same mad rush toward fame, fortune, and pleasure,—never stopping, never heeding this emphatic note of warning. Thousands who read the awful story of death and disaster, have thrown aside the paper, dismissed the subject from their minds, turned again to the various pursuits of life, to the amusements and pleasures of the world, as though nothing had happened. But can we learn of such wonderful manifestations of the power of God, and not be moved? Is there no way by which the Almighty Himself can call a halt in the headlong plunges that men and women are making on the downward road to ruin? In all the realm and recesses of nature, is there no voice through which a loving Creator can speak to the multitudes in sin? “God works in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.” “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto his servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7. According to this statement from Holy Writ, can we consistently look to the writings of the prophets for a prediction of this terrible calamity? In Isa. 64: 1–3, we read as follows:— “O that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, that Thou wouldst come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make Thy name known to Thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Thy presence! When Thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, Thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at Thy presence.” All who have heard of this terrible calamity—these “terrible things which we looked not for”—will admit that this prayer of the prophet has been in a measure answered. The mountains have flowed down. The melting fires have burned, and in molten streams reached the waters of the ocean, and caused them to boil. And what was all this for?—To make His name known to His adversaries, that the nations may tremble at His presence. Is it not plain that the Lord had an object in this mighty display of power? This is only an inkling of the mighty display of His power and of the vengeance that will befall the wicked in the day of judgment. As in the judgments that came upon the antediluvians, when the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened, and the earth was destroyed by water, so, again, in the end of this world, the fountains of the great deep will be broken up, and fire will come up from beneath, and the windows of heaven will be opened and fire will come down from above, and the earth and the works (of sin) that are therein will be burned up, and destroyed forever. Dear readers, you who know not the name of the Lord, do you hear in this remarkable event the voice of God calling you? The Lord your Creator is already acquainted with you. He knows every fiber of your being. He knows every blemish in your character. But He wants you to become better acquainted with Him. He wants you to know that His name is above every name that is named in heaven and in earth, and that it is comprehended in the one single word, Love. The Word says: “Since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen.” Will5you, my friend, fulfil this prophecy, and turn a deaf ear to this note of warning? Will you close your ears to His voice calling you from the wrath to come? O, turn again, and follow on to know the Lord. Let us apply our hearts to wisdom, and increase in the knowledge of God. His desire is that we become better acquainted with His name. We can understand His character through His revealed Word. When Moses prayed, “Show me Thy glory,” the Lord answered, “I will make all My goodness pass before thee.” And as the Lord passed before Moses, He proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” “He is slow to anger and of great kindness, because He delighteth in mercy.” Let us train our spiritual sensibilities to that delicate degree that these wonderful manifestations of nature will preach whole sermons to us. We will have reached a hopeful point in this training, when we can readily recognize that all nature joins in the solemn proclamation, “Prepare to meet thy God.” F. F. FRY.