"Lest You Be Consumed" -- The Tragedy in Minneapolis

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 10:03:41 GMT

The scenes from Minneapolis are frightening, tragic, and sobering. In this age of technological marvels and engineering achievements we expect buildings to stay on the ground, airplanes to stay in the air, and bridges to stay in place. The sudden and catastrophic collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis -- just as rush hour was coming to a close -- challenges some of our most comforting assumptions.

We drive across bridges, enter tall skyscrapers, board commercial aircraft, and perform any number of daily tasks as if there was no danger involved in the equation. We have come to trust architects and engineers to do their jobs and we place a great deal of confidence in inspectors, standards, and testing. Those driving across that bridge on Wednesday evening had every reason to give the bridge itself little thought . . . until it fell.

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Piper on the Bridge Collapse

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 07:05:04 GMT

John Piper reflects on the bridge collapse in Minneapolis today. For some reason this paragraph (near the end) stood out to me...

The word “bridge” does not occur in the Bible. There may be two reasons. One is that God doesn’t build bridges, he divides seas. The other is that usually his people must pass through the deadly currents of suffering and death, not simply ride over them. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you” (Isaiah 43:2). They may drown you. But I will be with you in life and death.

Piper Writes About the Bridge Collapse

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 06:34:00 GMT

Piper notes that many Desiring God and Bethlehem Baptist Church staff cross the collapse bridge several times each week. He offers theological reflection at the Desiring God website.

Lesson of the Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 04:38:38 GMT

Jesus said in Luke 13:4-5 - "Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Remember those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell. Do not think, then, that this is an age in which God is dealing more hardly with us than of old. Do not think that God’s providence has become more lax than it was, there always were sudden deaths, and there always will be.

There always were seasons when death’s wolves hunted in hungry packs, and, probably, until the end of this dispensation, the last enemy will hold his periodic festivals, and glut the worms with the flesh of men. Be not, therefore, cast down with any sudden fear, neither be ye troubled by these calamities. God has not thrown up the reins of the world, he has not taken off his hand from the helm of the great ship, still

“He everywhere hath sway,
And all things serve His might;
His every act pure blessing is,
His path unsullied light.”

Only learn to trust him, and thou shalt not be afraid of sudden fear; “thy soul shall dwell at ease, and thy seed shall inherit the earth.”

The particular subject of this morning, however, is this — the use which we ought to make of these fearful texts which God is writing in capital letters upon the history of the world... let us do two things.

First, let us not be so foolish as to draw the conclusion of superstitious and ignorant persons — that conclusions which is hinted at in the text, namely, that those who are thus destroyed by accident are sinners above all the sinners that be in the land.

And, secondly, let us draw the right and proper inference, let us make practical use of all these events for our own personal improvement, let us hear the voice of the Savior saying, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

I. First, then, Let Us Take Heed That We Do Not Draw The Rash And Hasty Conclusion From Terrible Accidents, That Those Who Suffer By Them Suffer On Account Of Their Sins.

Brethren, we assert daily, with Scripture for our warrant, that God is just, and inasmuch as he is just, he must punish sin, and reward the righteous. Manifestly he does not do it in this world. I think I have plainly shown that in this world, one event happens to both; that the righteous man is poor as well as the wicked, and that he dies suddenly as well as the most graceless. Very well, then, the inference is natural and clear, that there most be a next world in which these things must be righted.

If there be a God, he must be just; and if he be just, he must punish sin; and since he does not do it in this world, there therefore must be another state in which men shall receive the due reward of their works, and they that have sown to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, while they that have sown to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Make this world the reaping place, and you have taken the sting out of sin.

II. Now to our second point. What Use, Then, Ought We To Make Of This Voice Of God As Heard Amidst The Shrieks And Groans Of Dying Men?

Two uses; first, inquiry, and secondly, warning.

The first inquiry we should put to ourselves is this: “Why may it not be my case that I may very soon and suddenly be cut off? Have I a lease of my life? Have I any special guardianship which ensures me that I shall not suddenly pass the portals of the tomb? Have I received a charter of longevity? Have I been covered with such a coat of armor that I am invulnerable to the arrows of death? Why am not I to die?”

And the next question it should suggest is this: “Are not I as great a sinner as those who died? Are there not with me, even with me, sins against the Lord my God? If in outward sin others have exceeded me, are not the thoughts of my heart evil? Does not the same law which curses them curse me? I have not continued in all the things that are written in the book of the law to do them. It is as impossible that I should be saved by my works as that they should be. Am not I under the law as well as they by nature, and therefore am not I as well as they under the curse? That question should arise. Instead of thinking of their sins which would make me proud, I should think of my own which will make me humble. Instead of speculating upon their guilt, which is no business of mine, I should turn my eyes within and think upon my own transgression, for which I must personally answer before the Most High God.”

Then the next question is, “Have I repented of my sin? I need not be inquiring whether they have or not: have I? Since I am liable to the same calamity, am I prepared to meet it? Have I felt, through the Holy Spirit’s convincing power, the blackness and depravity of my heart? Have I been led to confess before God that I deserve his wrath, and that his displeasure, if it light on me, will be my just due? Do I hate sin? Have I learned to abhor it? Have I, through the Holy Spirit, turned away from it as from a deadly poison, and do I seek now to honor Christ my Master? Am I washed in his blood? Do I bear his likeness? Do I reflect his character? Do I seek to live to his praise? For if not, I am in as great danger as they were, and may quite as suddenly be cut off, and then where am I? I will not ask where are they?

And then, again, instead of prying into the future destiny of these unhappy men and women, how much better to inquire into our own destiny and our own state!

“What am I? my soul, awake,
And an impartial survey take.”

Am I prepared to die? If now the gates of hell should be opened, shall I enter there? if now beneath me the wide jaws of death should gape, am I prepared with confidence to walk through the midst of them, fearing no evil, because God is with me?

This is the proper use to make of these accidents; this is the wisest way to apply the judgments of God to our own selves and to our own condition.

(The above sermon, entitled Accidents, Not Punishments, was preached by Charles Spurgeon on September 8, 1861)

Minneapolis bridge collapses

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 02:28:49 GMT

I've only heard of one fatality so far but if cars are landing on the ground and in the Mississippi river, there must be more fatalities. I'm praying for a low death count: The entire span of an interstate bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour Wednesday, sending vehicles, tons of concrete and twisted metal crashing into the water. The Interstate 35W bridge, a

Castle Church Discussion on Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

"Lest You Be Consumed" -- The Tragedy in Minneapolis

Piper on the Bridge Collapse

Piper Writes About the Bridge Collapse

Lesson of the Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

Minneapolis bridge collapses