During the past week two very different items of interest were brought to our attention. They were different in character and style, in the people concerned, and in the far-reaching results that will extend into eternity.
One was the case of a young mother who had many troubles in her family, and at times became quite despondent. In her distress she often turned to a Christian woman who was her neighbor, and from her received words of comfort and many exhibitions of practical Christianity.
The Christian neighbor welcomed the opportunity to lend a helping hand so that she might testify for the Lord Jesus in what He was to her, and be able to tell the needy one that she could have the same peace and joy through believing in Him. Time after time the gospel was presented to the one who had religion but not Christ, and many prayers went up on her behalf.
After a time the Christian woman moved to another city, but before doing so she gave a Bible to her neighbor and urged her to read it. Six long years went by before there was any evidence of bread being found after its having been cast upon the waters (Eccles. 11:11Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. (Ecclesiastes 11:1)). Then a few weeks ago her Christian friend received a telephone call from the one whose salvation she longed after. She had come to the same city and soon called her friend and said:
"Oh, I found it; I've got it. The Lord Jesus died to put away my sins." This was a time of mutual rejoicing, and of praise to God who gave His only begotten Son that they might have eternal life through believing in Him and His finished work on the cross.
This little narrative should serve as an encouragement to us to witness for our Lord and Savior as we have opportunity. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." Eccles. 11:66In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. (Ecclesiastes 11:6). Many have sowed the seed and never knew in this world that it had brought forth good fruit, but the day is coming when it will be declared. "Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters." Isa. 32:2020Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass. (Isaiah 32:20).
The other story is as sad as this one is happy, for it is the melancholy recital of the darkness of unbelief in a professed minister of the gospel.
A highly placed clergyman of the Church of England, William Ralph Inge, formerly Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, at the ripe age of 93, gave expression to the doubts and uncertainty of a man shrouded in the dismal hopelessness of those who reject the truth of God.
Think of a man who for many years took the place of being "a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness," saying at the end of life's journey: "I have tried to answer three problems which always seemed to me to be fundamental: the problem of eternity, the problem of human personality and the problem of evil. I have failed. I have solved none of them, and I know no more now than when I started." What a confession, "I have failed"! Failed in what? first, in fathoming eternity. What did he expect? he a creature of time and, comparatively speaking, only an infinitesimal speck in the vast universe of God. The human mind cannot comprehend that which has no beginning and no ending, but God in His Word takes us back into the past and lets us know of that Son who was in the bosom of the Father in that distant, unknowable past. Then He brings us down to the creation, and tells us all that we need to know of how all came into being at His word. He also takes us forward into the eternity of the future, and shows us the blessed scene of bliss when God shall dwell with men (Rev. 21:33And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)) in a state of permanent righteousness; and He faithfully tells us of the eternity of woe for those who reject the Christ of God. Is there room for any uncertainty here? None whatever except for those who refuse the testimony of God.
It is difficult to see why "human personality" should have been such a lifelong unproductive study. Is it not the aggregate of an individual's mental, moral, physical and emotional being which distinguishes him as an individual? These are generally inherited, but may be developed or altered by circumstances in life. It is certain that an unbeliever who finds Christ as his Savior and henceforth has a new life, with a pure object (Christ) before him, and a pure motive (to please Christ), will manifest some change in personality. The beloved, tenderhearted Apostle Paul certainly manifested a different personality from that displayed in the uncompromising foe of Christ, Saul of Tarsus.
The third thing that the great churchman failed to comprehend (sin), is fully stated in the Word of God-"sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:44Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4); J.N.D. Trans.; also 1885 Revised Version and others). It is the creature's exercise of his own will independently of God. Our first parents sinned in the Garden of Eden, and so have all their posterity from that day to this. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:1212Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12). God has left us in no doubt as to what sin is, its origin, its dreadful consequences in death and ruin here. He shows us His own way to cleanse the guilty sinner righteously, of life and eternal felicity for those who believe in His Son, and the blackness of darkness forever and ever for those who reject or neglect His great salvation.
But Dean Inge did not stop there. He went on to say to his interrogator, "I know as much about the after life as you-nothing. I don't even know there is one-in the sense the church teaches it." Why does he not know? God has spoken in unmistakable language. It is self-evident that he does not believe God and His Word. The Lord Jesus met a similar class of clerics when He was on earth, and of them said, "I thank Thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." Matt. 11:2525At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. (Matthew 11:25).
The dear young woman we have previously mentioned knows much more than the man who claims the title of "Very Reverend."
"I know... nothing... I don't know," is the language of unbelief, of the infidel. The language of faith is "I know," and "we know." Such is the portion of the simplest believer in the Lord Jesus. "We know that the Son of God is come." "We know that we are of God." "For we know 'that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (1 John 5:19, 2019And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 20And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. (1 John 5:19‑20) Cor. 5:1.) The Apostle Paul was certain of what lay ahead; he knew so well that he desired to depart and be with Christ, which he said was very much better. And when the end came he said, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." 2 Tim. 1:1212For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2 Timothy 1:12).
Perhaps the greatest clue to the Dean's morass of uncertainty is this statement: "I have no vision of 'heaven' or a 'welcoming God'." I do not know what I shall find and I must wait and see." How similar this is to the utterance of the wicked servant who said, "I knew thee that thou art a hard man." This parable describes one who never knew the grace of God; one who never "tasted that the Lord is gracious." No one could know the grace of God and say, "I have no vision of a 'welcoming God'." Could he ever have read the 15th of Luke? Think of the welcome that the poor, wayward prodigal got! The father ran down the road to meet the one who had signally dishonored him. Oh! the manifold grace of God. Yet here is a blind leader of the blind who knows nothing of it. And he is only one of thousands upon thousands who preach to others and whose hearts are estranged from God.
An infidel said as he was about to pass from this world, "I am taking a leap in the dark," but here is a supposed minister of the gospel saying practically the same thing. Well did the Lord say: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness... How great is that darkness!" Matt. 6:22, 2322The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:22‑23). The eye is either single or evil. And if we do not have light from God, received through a single eye, then all we have is the light of nature, and in the fallen creature it is darkness. Man in his present state is away from God; he is darkness and is in darkness. No amount of culture, education, or even preparation for the ministry (as some call it), will change nature's darkness into light. It is only as we come by faith to God as sinners and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, that we can receive the true light.
In the first of these two cases we have mentioned there is the demonstration of the light of
God coming into a soul that takes God at His word, making it unspeakably happy. In the second there is one who knows theology and the outward form of religion, but has nothing more than the mere light of a fallen nature, and so is about to leave the world, in darkness, not knowing where he is going. "How great is that darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" Matt. 6:2222The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. (Matthew 6:22),