Fire Escape
Today’s Verse:
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. ~Jude 1:23
Modern-day building codes require that commercial buildings have clearly marked and identifiable fire escapes. When a fire is raging in a building, trained firefighters move with urgency in getting people out of the burning structure. Sometimes in a high-rise building, a person might get trapped by the flames and heat. The firefighters pull out all the stops in pulling them out of the fire. Jude strongly describes to us how the soulwinning work of a Christian is to help a sinner find their fire escape through the Lord Jesus Christ.
We see the doomed.
The first thing we see is that every sinner is in grave, eternal danger. They are doomed to spending eternity in Hell. “Hell and destruction are never full.” Hell is a place of fire, suffering, and torment. In Luke 16, we read of a rich man who died in his sins and went to Hell. The Bible says, “In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments.” He testified that he was tormented in the flame. It is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Sinners are under condemnation to Hell and must seek to avoid it at all cost.
We see the duty.
“And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire.” Every Christian has a duty in seeking to win sinners to Christ and out of the fiery condemnation of Hell. Our soulwinning must be with compassion. “And of some have compassion, making a difference....” We should be moved in our heart to lovingly reach the unsaved. Our soulwinning must be compelling. Pulling them out of the fire means to snatch someone out of imminent peril. It’s as if we snatched them out before the fire engulfs them. The word pull implies exertion, effort, and using every ounce of strength in us. It is our duty to win souls actively and aggressively.
We see the dread.
“And others save with fear....” Our outreach effort should be prompted by a fear of losing the sinner to Satan and Hell. We should be moved by fear because of what the Bible says about Hell. We should be moved by fear because the blood of those whom we the have responsibility to reach will be on our hands. We should be moved with fear because winning a soul to Christ is a life-and-death ministry. Paul said, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:11a).
We see the disdain.
“...Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” This is a caution to every soulwinner on how we reach the sinner. We must be careful of using compromise in reaching a sinner. Compromise is when we use worldly means to reach them. We must be careful of contamination. Contamination is being so close to the sinner that we take on his sinful habits. The garment spotted by the flesh is a warning for us to hate allowing our Christian testimony to become defiled and, as a result, the sinner is lost. We must maintain a keen focus on winning sinners to Christ. C.T. Studd said, “Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell.” Let’s be moved with urgency in helping sinners find their fire escape through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Have a soul-conscious God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Joshua 5-8