Not only in the gambling dens and casinos has the devil placed his deceiving demons to wreck lives and ruin home, damning souls to hell. The devil has also positioned these demons of chance in places where many others are endangered and can be hurt.

Several years ago there was an accident which made headlines and radio news reporting. A number of young men were having a drinking party in a cheap West Coast hotel room when someone made the remark that he would bet anyone $10.00 that no one was brave enough to hang by his fingertips for 2 minutes from the open window of their room. The room was situated on the 18th floor of the hotel. A discussion arose and a strong young man about 22 years of age defied the challenger, announcing that he was not chicken and that he would show them. The young man had been suspended in the air for just a few seconds when suddenly, to the horror of the crowd which had gathered beneath and the other men in the room, his fingers slipped and he plunged 18 stories to the pavement below and to his death. This is the result of his being under the influence of alcohol and the deceiving demons of chance that convinced him he was invincible. The destructive, deceiving soul destroying demons of chance, pride and stubbornness had done their demonic work and accomplished their goal. A healthy strong man in the bloom of manhood had joined the "ranks of the dead."

This is not an isolated case, but hundreds of similar cases happen each year around the world. You may say it just happened that way and you may feel that you are absolutely right, but I believe these things don’t JUST HAPPEN. I believe it was pre-planned by some evil, wicked demon spirits whose job it is to steal, kill and destroy. (Read John 10:10 and John 8:44) The devil has sent these lying evil demons to bring misery, heartbreak and ruination upon the human race.

WE’LL TAKE OUR CHANCE

In the month of January 1965 there was a terrible tragedy that took place in my own fair province of British Columbia, Canada. It had been snowing and raining heavily and the weather conditions continued until 1 1/2 miles of mountain side began to slide. One of the worst rock slides ever to happen, took place 8 miles east of Hope, B.C., burying the highway and miles of valley area. This caused the drying up of a large creek in its onward rush and changing its course, sending it back in another direction. A new road was soon constructed and the bare mountain side only acts as a grim reminder of the gigantic slide which took place.

Under the giant boulders of rock which are strewn in every direction of the newly constructed highway, however, lie buried 2 young bodies as a grim reminder of the mountain slide. Here is the story:

Apparently a veteran truck driver was making his way toward Hope with a tank load of petroleum products when he noticed a few boulders on the highway in front of him. He quickly got out of the truck and notice more boulders rolling onto the road behind him. Unable to go ahead or back the truck driver decided to walk back 4-5 miles to a service station to telephone for help. While he thought on this, suddenly he heard a rumble. "Yes, there will be a great slide here tonight" he said to himself. "I must not stay here long, I must go back to the service station.

As he was planning to leave, a pickup truck drove up with a young couple in it. The truck driver began immediately to warn them, telling him he had heard a rumble and that he was sure there would be a slide there that night. The couple in the pickup truck were light hearted, carefree and not worried one bit. Finally after begging them not to stay and asking them to come back with him to the service station the couple became a little irritated and said, "We’ll take our chances don’t you worry about us."

Reluctantly the truck driver left the scene alone and retraced his way to the small service station. Within a few hours, suddenly, without warning, the whole side of the mountain gave out and millions of tons of rocks, trees, dirt, snow and debris came crashing down the mountain side and the 2 young people were buried alive under approximately 400 feet of slide material.

This story is unfortunate, yes, very unfortunate, but they were given sufficient warning, but alas the warning went unheeded. There is no doubt in my mind that it was the work of demons of chance causing the frivolous, carefree and stubborn spirit in the people to neglect the warnings of the truck driver.

But what about you, as you read these lines and have heard the Gospel message over and over again. After hearing and knowing the truth of the Gospel message, will you also take the carefree attitude of chance and reject Jesus Christ. Knowing deep in your heart that by heeding the warning that eventually you will be lost and doomed forever in an "Eternity without God?"

Will you like these young people who rejected the warning given to them, reject the Holy Spirit of God. There is a reason you are reading these words and the Holy Spirit is giving you the warning and also the opportunity to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit. You can say an eternal yes to God and let Him rule and reign in your heart and life from this moment on. Eternity and where you will spend it is not something you want to take a chance on.