P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

FEARING THE FLAMES

I don’t know if it was a one-way road out of hell, or into it, but here in Southern California, the name “Muth Valley Road” will forever live in infamy. Lake View Hills Estates was a small collection of homes in rural San Diego County, and back in late October, 2003, the horrific Santa Ana fires were bearing down hard on them. It was about 3:15 in the morning on the first Sunday of the holocaust, and out of these 10 custom homes, the McLean family had the clearest view of the rapidly approaching horror. There wasn’t even time to collect valuables. In fact, at around 3:05 firefighters had been ordered to evacuate the area themselves because the firewall had them virtually surrounded; there wasn’t even time to issue a warning except for some frantic horn-honking.

Jumping into their three family cars, the McLeans headed down the hill over this small, single-lane trail: Muth Valley Road. The Weichelt family was right behind them. Stephen Shacklett had his four Irish wolfhounds in his RV, and he was hightailing it out as well.

Other families, though, were still trying to decide. Should they go? Was there time to wait? Was it already too late? Around 3:30 a.m., four other families caravaned down to the gate at the end of Muth Valley Road, and it was already impossible to get out. A huge wall of flames blocked their escape. Terrified, they turned around and tried to decide what else to do.

The Daly family went home and got into their pool, trying to keep even their heads under as much as possible as burning embers pelted them in the water. When it finally got too hot, they jumped out and managed to dash across the street to a spot where the fire had already passed through. Jodi Hamilton, sure she was about to die, called her mom from a cell phone in her car to say goodbye. Larry Reddon stood his ground and fought the fire himself, slopping water from his pool onto the rushing flames. Incredibly, they all survived.

But Stephen Shacklett died in his RV. The Shohara family, trying to drive a car over a quarter mile of rough terrain to the San Vicente Reservoir, also perished in their vehicle. Four people died; five of the ten homes were destroyed.

Well, friend, it’s a heartbreaking story . . . and believe me, a preacher of the gospel would rather find his illustrations in more peaceful ways. But as we study in this radio series the powerful doctrine of grace, and what it means in our lives, I want you to think with me of that first family, the McLeans. Joe McLean knew that all he could do was to get his wife and his daughter Jennifer out of there. The house was insured; financially they would be taken care of. The policy was firmly in place. The important thing now was to GO. Trust that the signature on that Allstate form – or whatever company it was – was valid, that the promises were binding and true. Their job now was to get down Muth Valley Road to safety.

And here’s why I borrow such a wrenching story on this Monday, friend. We have this gift of grace; it’s a reality in the life of a Christian man or woman. And even though the flames of Satan’s trials are all about us, even though temptations are sore and vexing, even though we’re tempted to entertain doubts, the reality is that grace is in place! The policy is in God’s safety deposit box, and we don’t have to wonder whether or not God is going to give us a fireproof mansion in that City that is made foursquare.

All last week we enjoyed dipping into a great recent issue – a special Week of Prayer edition – of the Adventist Review, worldwide paper for my own denomination. And the lead article, “Meaningful Grace,” I’m proud to say, was written by the president of our world body: Jan Paulsen. And one paragraph here is just fantastic; listen to this:

“Paul presents salvation as an accomplished fact. Through God’s grace WE ARE ALREADY SAVED. We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. We have been raised up and seated in heavenly places.” Now notice this next point: “What God has done for believers and what is a present reality will be fully known only in the ages to come. Although we are ALREADY SAVED, the final salvation still awaits us, when we will not only be freed from the power of sin but also from the presence of sin.” No more wildfires; won’t that be something? And he concludes: “It is that final consummation to which we are looking forward.”

Friend, I think that is such a powerful and important truth. For the believer, grace is a done deal. It is settled. It is written in the stone of God’s own determined love.

“[Nothing] will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Paul writes in Romans 8.

And by the way, let’s look up a couple of the verses that Pastor Paulsen uses here in this article to buttress the teaching that the grace of God is an accomplished, guaranteed reality in the life of a believer. Of course, if you want to study grace, you can hardly do better than Ephesians chapter two, which every good Voice of Prophecy listener knows well! Notice – and of course, this is Paul again:

“It is by grace YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED.” That’s verse 5. In verse 8, the same thing again: “For it is by grace YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED – not by works.”

Back just one chapter Paul asserts boldly that “in Him” – Jesus – we absolutely HAVE two things: redemption, and the forgiveness of sins. And why?

“In accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

In my own years of ministry, I think of many times when people in my church flock were filled with anxiety about their salvation. They were worried about it; they honestly were not sure that Jesus had saved them. It would be like living in that house on Muth Valley Road and looking at approaching flames all the time. Being filled with trepidation, 24/7, regarding your house and your SELF. What a contrast with the powerful comfort we find in the writings of Paul, where he always encourages God’s people to rejoice, to celebrate, to be at peace, to have confidence in our mighty Savior.

“Do not be anxious about ANYTHING,” he writes, “but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

The epistle of First John talks warmly about people who just KNOW – they absolutely KNOW – that grace has been made effective in their lives, and that they HAVE eternal life. They don’t wonder if the paperwork has been filled out; they don’t fret in fear that their agent has let a deadline slip. No, they believe in the name of the Son of God – this is 5:13 – and so they HAVE eternal life. One verse earlier, John gladly locks in the good news:

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

One thing I immediately appreciated so much about this special edition of the Adventist Review is how it painted a consistent, confident picture of God’s people who have an abiding trust in heaven’s grace. They know it is a real and lasting and permanent gift; they know that their promised place in God’s kingdom is secure.

It’s wonderfully appropriate that this same magazine also lifts up and exalts the importance of obedience and faithful living. Friend, it’s such a vital part of discipleship to honor God by how we live and witness, the way we treat our neighbors and grow in the fruits of the Spirit. But all through the magazine, and certainly all through the writings of Scripture, our RESPONSE to grace is not grace itself! And our faults and our falls do not negate the promise, or jeopardize our standing in heaven’s roll book. John Fowler, another of the authors in this masterpiece magazine, discusses Paul’s admonition to the Galatians, who were tempted to leave the security of grace and go back to the Plan B of earning their own way. Here’s his comment:

“Legalism can never be the good news of salvation. It is indeed the sad news of adding to the burden a sinner already bears. The antidote to the Galatian heresy must ever be to keep before the Christian the FINALITY of the cross.”

And he quotes for us from II Thessalonians 2:16, where we receive this good word:

“May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and BY HIS GRACE gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

For just one moment, let’s return to the memory of those Southern California fires. I picture a person who faces the prospect of losing their house. But, you know, their insurance policy is safely in place. They don’t have to worry, because a kind agent has already paid the premiums, and the promises are good. What’s more, this person knows that their own life is safe as well; the Bank of Calvary has locked in their salvation. If for a few months or years here, they sleep in the strong arms of the Lord, this divine policy guarantees that God will rebuild and give them a glorified, resurrected body, sown in dishonor and raised in glory, transformed from perishable to imperishable.

Like I think I heard said once on TV: “You’re in good hands.”