Snatch Them Out of The Fire
Jude 23 “Save others, snatching them out of the fire…”
This is not talking about a physical fire.

Introduction
To understand our duty to our fellow man, we must be reminded about how precious life is.
We must be reminded about how valuable God considers each soul.
Often, we experience things in life that will cause us to reflect upon the importance of life and especially each soul.
As we go through life we realize that there are reminders everywhere around us where we can construct a spiritual lesson.
Jesus used parables to explain the unknown by comparing to something that was known.
We read stories and make a spiritual application out of them.
Events happen; and if we are spiritually minded, we could make a spiritual application based upon actual events.
Sometimes tragedy is a great teacher.

Several years ago, an event happened not far from where I lived.
During the morning rush hour a bus filled with passengers was traveling in the HOV (a special lane designed for multiple passenger vehicles).
The driver might have been distracted, because he did not notice the traffic ahead had slowed down to a very slow pace.
The bus plowed into the back end of an SUV containing a mother and her children.
By the time onlookers and fellow motorist got to the scene to render aid, the gas tank began to burn.
The mother was helped out and someone pulled the little boy out, but the nine-year old girl was trapped.
About ten to twenty people tried to help get the girl out, yet without success.
After fifteen or twenty fire extinguishers were exhausted, the flames finally overtook the vehicle and the little girl burned to death.
All this happened within a few minutes.
It was a horrible tragedy.
I can only imagine the horror that was going through the minds of those people standing by and watching this little girl perish.
The pain of a mother watching her child die cannot be put into words.
The driver who caused the accident must have been devastated.
Just knowing that he killed a person will haunt him for life.
I watched the news report and they showed the burnt SUV being loaded onto a wrecker and hauled away.
They showed all the exhausted fire-extinguishers laying on the ground.
They interviewed a couple of onlookers.
It was very sad. I remember shedding some tears.

After several hours of reflection on what had happened, other things came to my mind.
I can only imagine the cursing and swearing by the thousands of motorists on their way to work because they were inconvenienced by this event.
They were fussing and fuming about the traffic and their being late to work.
They probably did not realize a life had been lost.
I am sure the Lord's name was used in vain on numerous occasions, as our society has no problem with such language.
I can try to imagine the desperate efforts that several were putting forth in running around and asking for fire extinguishers and any assistance at all.
I commend those who rushed upon the burning vehicle and put their own life in a perilous situation because of their concern for a fellow human being.
I would imagine that all of them would question their own actions for years to come with the thoughts of "If only I had…"
I feel sorrow for the mother who will miss her daughter and the brother who will miss his sister.
I do not know how she could call her husband to tell him the daughter was dead.
We will never know if this little girl would have grown up to make an impact upon the world.
And the reality is that this kind of loss can never be regained.

In view of all these events, I am reminded of a passage in Jude 23.
"Save others, snatching them out of the fire;.."
I know that the fire in Jude is not a physical fire, but I think it appropriate to bring it up.
There are many that wear the name of Christ who are in many ways similar to those described above.
Many brethren appear to get upset that someone else has a problem and that they ask for help.
It is as if it sometimes gets in their way of doing things.
No one likes to be inconvenienced at any time.
Even though God calls us to serve one another, most would rather that nobody bothers them about anything.
Commendably, some would certainly be concerned and do what they could to help, even at the risk of hurting themselves or by providing a necessary need in an emergency.
Sadly, many brethren would show great courage to save a human from a gasoline fire, but would not put forth any effort at all to save a soul from an eternal fire.

Do you know any souls heading for an eternal fire?
Yes, you do!! And what are you doing to help them?
The real lesson is in the overall picture of these events.

Until we Christians can look upon souls of men as being lost, we will not make any effort at all to save them or attempt to snatch them out of the fire.
As His disciples, we are given the great commission to go make other disciples.
We are to teach others about God and His laws and His grace.
We are to do this because we love souls and each other.
Yet, without love, we are just wasting our time (1 Corinthians 13:2-3).

We need to remind ourselves of the great blessings that God has provided for us.
We must try and not be so selfish as to keep those blessings from others.
For if we do, we will have failed to snatch them from the fire and we will have failed in capturing the essence of Jesus in our lives.
Almighty God responded to the cries of help and despair offered by those who had been separated from Him by sin (Isaiah 59:2).
He provided a means of salvation.
His grace is the gospel message of salvation offered to ALL men (Titus 2:11).
Jesus Christ is the means and method of salvation today.
The Holy Spirit revealed the good news so that souls could be saved.
The gospel was preached so that souls could be saved.
The church was built and designed to effect the salvation of souls.

Conclusion
The only way to come into a relationship with God is THROUGH Jesus (John 14:6).
The only way to have spiritual blessings is to be IN Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3).
It is all about saving souls.
Brethren, if we do not try to save souls, we WILL NOT ENTER HEAVEN (Matthew 7:21-23).
Think on these things (Philippians 4:8).

By Carey Scott

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