ONE day whilst looking through a column of advertisements, the above words caught my eye. I read no more, but often since I have been reminded by those words, of a world of sinners traveling to eternity by various “unsafe ways.” Let me speak of four.
The first is the Way of Unbelief.
Infidelity is doubtless on the increase. Thousands are openly infidel today whose fathers would have died, if need be, for the faith their children now deny. These unbelievers joke of days gone by, when the “old folks” read and received the Scriptures as the very word of God. They speak jestingly of the faithful preachers, long gone to rest, who once thundered from their pulpits of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. And if they go to church, to while away an hour, they are relieved and gratified to hear some learned essay read on the “explosion of eternal torment theories,” or perhaps, the “recent remarkable discoveries of science.” They think the world has grown much wiser since their childhood’s days, and imagine that only a few weak women, with the ignorant and the poor, believe the Bible now.
Alas! poor souls, they little dream that they are being blinded by the devil. The Apostle Paul reveals the secret of their unbelief. “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of a this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:3, 43But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:3‑4)).
Reader, is the bandage on your eyes? You are lost, remember, if an unbeliever. You are on your way to hell, if your feet are in the way of unbelief. I do not wish to argue with you, though I do not think it would require a sage to answer your objections. Just the other day a friend of mine was speaking with an infidel, who said he would not believe in anything he could not see. “Do you believe that you have any brains within your head?” inquired my friend. “Brains! of course I have,” he answered. “But you cannot see them. Why do you believe that you have any?” “Oh, that is another thing,” said he, a little taken aback.
Be wise, and, like a little child, believe the Word of God. You imagine you are very wise, perhaps, but Scripture says you are a fool. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psa. 53:11<<To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.>> The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. (Psalm 53:1)). It tells us, too, just why you love the darkness of your infidelity. “Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:1919And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)).
Beware and hasten from this “unsafe way.” It is dark and slippery. May you never reach its end.
Another “unsafe way” is the Way of Unconcern.
You may not be an infidel. The Bible may be true or it may only be a fable. It does not much concern you. You want a good time in this present evil world, and are content to leave “the world to come whereof we speak” alone. You do not wish to be bothered with such questions. There is a verse of Scripture that describes your case exactly. “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace” (Luke 11:2121When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: (Luke 11:21)). That “strong man armed” is Satan, and “his goods” are just such people as yourself. You may not like to admit this, but you are not Christ’s; and so you must belong to Satan. I carry two coins in my pocket. One is a genuine American silver dollar, the other is a counterfeit. There is no neutral coin, partly good and partly bad. And you are saved or lost-glory-bound or journeying towards the lake of fire your sins deserve. The “way of unconcern” will surely lead you there. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Heb. 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3)).
How can you be indifferent with eternity before you―that long forever that will never know an end? Unconcern is suicidal when your never-dying soul is in the balance. You may get concerned too late. God by His Spirit rouse you now from your lethargy.
God is not indifferent to your fate. “Why will ye die?” He calls beseechingly. He gave His only begotten Son, that you might not perish, but have everlasting life.
Satan is concerned. He wants you for his prey forever. He plans and schemes to keep you unconcerned. “His goods” are precious, and he fears to lose you. And the Christian friend who placed this magazine in your hand is not indifferent either. You alone are unconcerned.
A sight of your sins would wake you up. A good square look at yourself, in the light of the Word of God, would rouse you from your apathy. It declares, “We are all as an unclean thing.” Where, then, must you go when you die? To hell. Yes, friend, make no mistake. Unless you arc cleansed by the blood of Christ, your sins must shut you out of heaven forever.
Yet another “unsafe way” is the Way of Unreality, in other words hypocrisy.
We are living in a day of shams. Unreality seems stamped on almost everything we see or hear. There are social shams, political shams, and worst of all, religious shams. I once stopped at a Christian lady’s house, and when the time came to retire she said, “You need not look for pillow shams in my house, as I hate shams of every kind.” And what honest soul does not?
Professing Christian, have you been converted, are you born again? Remember, masks are coming off some day. You may masquerade today and palm yourself off as a Christian, but God knows you, and will some day search you out. “The hypocrite’s hope shall perish” (Job 8:1313So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish: (Job 8:13)). May your false hope perish now, in time, ere you perish with it in that lake of fire and brimstone where “all liars” have their part. Counterfeit coins may pass for a time as genuine, but they are at last discovered.
Two things prove bad coins to be but imitations.
First, they are light, not heavy or so solid as the genuine. And unreal souls are nearly always light. They may, of course, on Sundays pull a long face, but through the week they dance, sing comic songs, read romances, crack jokes, and in every possible way enjoy a Christless world. Saved souls are solemnized. They are like persons who have just narrowly escaped some frightful accident. They know that they are brands plucked by God’s mighty arm of love from the everlasting burnings. They know the awful cost of their salvation was the sufferings of the Son of God on Calvary’s tree. This makes them sober. I do not mean it sours their faces, but it takes a deal of nonsense from their hearts.
Second, counterfeits have not the ring of honest coins. Some experts can tell them by their ring alone, and counterfeits in spiritual things have got a tell-tale ring. If you ask them when they were converted they will say they always were converted, or they were brought up Christians. Most of them deny that you can know in this life that you are saved. They will justify themselves if cornered, and delight to tell what they have, done, are doing, or intend to do. They leave Christ out, or make Him a sort of makeweight towards salvation, if they speak of Him at all.
How different with souls that really know salvation. Question them, and you will find that if they speak of self at all it is to own that they are vile and undeserving in themselves. They will not speak of anything that they have done (unless it be their sins). They love to tell what Christ the Lord has done for them, and give Him all the praise and glory for their sours salvation.
Be real, my reader. Do not deceive yourself and think because your name is on some church book it is in “the book of life.” “Ye must be born again” (John 3:33Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)).
The last “unsafe way” is the Way of Uncertainty.
Some who read these lines, perhaps, would like to know for certain they are saved. They are not infidels, neither are they unconcerned. They may fear, at times, that they are hypocrites, but do not wish to be. They are honest in their hearts, but lack assurance; in other words, they are in the “way of uncertainty.” And it is an “unsafe way,” because they may discover in the end that they were self-deceived.
Now, how can any one be sure that they are saved and not deceived? By trusting Christ and just believing what God says of those who do. If they, are trusting Christ alone they cannot be deceived. Their faith may not be very strong, but if its object be the Son of God, the sinner’s friend and Saviour, all is well: their souls are saved. They may know it, too, because God says, “All that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:3939And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:39)).
Reader, are you longing for assurance? Listen! God says, “Ye may know.” Not “hope,” “think,” or “feel,” but “know.” Know what? “That ye have eternal life.” And how? By what is “written.” Not by feelings, emotions, or experiences, but by the Word of God. And who may “know” that they possess “eternal life”? Poor sinners, all unworthy in themselves, who from their hearts “believe on the name of the Son of God.” “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:1313These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13)).
One safe way and one alone is spoken of in Scripture. It is Christ. Hear His words, “I am the way.”
C. K.