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Amazing Facts

Joe Crews

Last Night

A sleeping volcano exploded and a city died.

The last night on earth came for 16, 000 people.

I'll be back in a moment to talk about blazing destruction and no place to hide.

Hello, this is Joe Cruz and the Amazing Facts broadcast, Facts which affect you.

On the morning of August 24 in the year AD 79, the citizens of Pompeii, Italy awakened to an ordinary summer day.

The city, with a population of almost 20, 000, was among the larger cities of that century.

Pompeii was located near the west coast of Italy, about 125 miles southeast of Rome.

About 6 miles to the north of Pompeii, the beautiful volcanic Mount Vesuvius towered above the city into the beautiful sunlit sky.

This appeared to be the beginning of just another ordinary day for the people of this thriving pleasure city in Italy.

Suddenly what appeared to be a loud thunder clap split the unclouded heavens as if the voice of God had spoken.

This was followed immediately by a great explosion as though the entire mountaintop on old Vesuvius would crack wide open.

In shorter time than it takes to tell the story, a rain of death began to fall on the 20, 000 inhabitants of Pompeii.

Great bomb-like formations of pumice forged in the volcano's fiery furnace dropped like rain on the doomed city.

Walls were smashed, roofs splintered, and streets were buried in the avalanche.

It appeared that the mountain would destroy the entire world.

The inhabitants fled through the city streets.

The bright noonday sun was hidden by the continuing rain of volcanic pumice and ash.

They would take refuge within the city, counting on their homes to save them, but the effort proved futile.

Those in the streets found the going almost impossible.

The rocks and ash were falling faster, and the streets and walkways soon became piled high.

Like snow in a blizzard, the ashes soon piled itself against doors and in passageways.

Soon the sea of rock was piled higher than the windows, then past the eaves, then over the rooftops.

Within 3 days the proud, prosperous city was transformed into a huge burial vault, sealed beneath more than 20 feet of rock and ash.

In this silent tomb lay 16, 000 of the inhabitants of the city.

For centuries the city lay buried, almost forgotten.

About 200 Years ago, though, French workmen accidentally came across some of the ruins of the city.

However, it was not until the past half-century that the full story has been known.

Today, the archaeologist is finding the remains of this civilization of nearly 2, 000 years ago preserved in their molten tomb.

Almost as though the judgment books of heaven had been opened before the eyes of men, the inhabitants of Pompeii have been preserved in their last act of life, even to the very expressions on their face.

The businessman, the rich man clutching his gold in a vain attempt to take it with him, a mother attempting to shield her child from the fall of ashes and rocks, the last frenzied moment of a man who crouched beside the door that would not open and set him free, the beast of burden laden with a few possessions as a family attempted to find some place of safety.

Yes, the entire picture is still preserved across 2 millenniums of time.

For the 16, 000 who perished, that day in August so long ago there was no place to hide.

In a moment when they least expected it, judgment had come to them.

There was no escape, no place to hide from its result.

The few who escaped could count their safety to the fact that they had made their move at the very first sign of trouble.

They had not tarried or waited for a more convenient time.

They had moved forward and their lives were spared.

But how tragically few they were who escaped.

I wonder how Paul felt as he visited Pompeii to preach the gospel.

We know that Paul ranged up and down the Roman Empire with his message, and doubtless he visited that ancient pleasure city of Pompeii.

As the center of Roman festivity and sin, it would have resisted, I believe, the preaching of Paul.

I can imagine that he turned away from it with sorrow.

History tells us that many of the soldiers of Titus' army had made their way home in Pompeii.

And only 9 years before the Great Destruction, they had marched on Jerusalem, desolating and destroying the holy city.

Yes, surely the Spirit of God must have worked with greater power in the city of Pompeii on that night of destruction than ever before.

Many were probably unable to sleep comfortably because of the pricking of conscience.

But finally the voice of the Spirit was drowned in the hilarity of sin.

You know, we have another Bible example of the last night on earth and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

In this case, God sent 2 angels to warn the inhabitants of that city.

They were committing the most flagrant sins of immorality and blasphemy that could be imagined.

Only 1 man believed the message of the angel, and that man, Lot, hurried to the homes of his children, you remember, and he told them the startling news, the message that had come from God, that they were to get out of that place and save themselves immediately.

They actually mocked at the fears of their old father.

So in anguish of heart, Lot had to abandon his daughters to the fate of that fire.

Oh, I tell you, friends, what a difference it would have made if those daughters had only believed that it was their last night on earth.

You see, friends, we will probably never know when we come to that time.

Millions of people enter that last 24 hours of life on this earth, and they do not even realize that this is their final day.

The Word of God is filled with examples of those who were almost persuaded to make a decision to do right.

So many have been on the verge of the kingdom but were yet lost.

You see, in the Bible, King Agrippa was almost persuaded, and so was Felix the governor, remember?

And there comes a time in many lives when everything depends on the decision of the next 5 minutes.

In fact, I can look back and remember very clearly when I had a decision to make, And I had to do it in the next 5 minutes.

And that decision was going to determine the entire direction of my future life.

In fact, in truth, it was to determine my eternal salvation.

Now, when Paul reasoned with Felix about the judgment to come, Felix trembled as the Spirit of God spoke to his heart.

For a moment the scales were balanced delicately.

Slowly the scales tilt down on the wrong side, and Felix said, Go thy way for now, Paul.

But friends, there's no better and more convenient season than today.

We can only prove our love by doing the things that Jesus asked us to do.

If we keep on lingering, we're making the worst mistake of our lives.

It's better never to hear the truth than to understand it and then turn away from it.

You remember those solemn words of Peter in 2 Peter 2.21, For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, and after they've known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

Oh, I tell you, I've had too many experiences with procrastination, and I know what happens when a person continues to neglect the truth.

As a farmer, and I was a farmer once, I know that there is a certain period of the year when we can plant and expect to reap a harvest.

I know also that there's a time when we can plant and no harvest will come.

And as an evangelist, I know there's a certain time for us to accept the truth and say yes to Christ and decide for Him.

And there's another time when we can't choose and make that decision.

By neglecting and disobeying, we actually lose the power to turn away from transgression.

We can persist in sin until our case becomes hopeless and we're immune to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Is it not too important a matter to trifle with the call of God, friends?

Is it not too vital to neglect to obey God?

Are we arguing with Him and with the Holy Spirit about keeping His commandments?

You know, Satan has built up an imaginary wall of obstacles for every person, I suppose, when it comes to making this great final decision.

He has convinced you that it'll be very hard to do the right thing.

The fact is that the obstacles, of course, will fade away as you step out in faith to obey the Lord.

When the children of Israel came to the Red Sea, there was no way to get across that body of water.

The Lord told them to go forward, but there was no way to go forward.

There was no boat, there was no pontoon bridge, and it took great faith to step out into that water for the first time without knowing how they would manage to cross over.

But I'm glad somebody at the head of the line had a little faith, friends, and as soon as they went forward at the command of God, a plain path was opened up before their feet, and they went over dry shod, the Bible says.

Now just suppose for a moment that they had stopped and said, well now look, we'll obey this command, but let's take our time, there's no hurry, we'll wait and consider this matter.

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Last Night

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