“As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God―Rom. 14:11
GOD even now gives us in His Word His estimate of the different classes of men that make up the human family. So that even before we reach the place where every knee has to bow, and every tongue has to confess, we may know how we stand before Him And this He does that our consciences may be reached, and in His goodness led to repentance, or our souls, already feeling their need, may find peace in believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
We will briefly look at a few of those classes
1St The Atheist―An atheist is one who denies the existence of God. The testimony of God in creation, in government, in redemption, is all deliberately rejected, which leaves the individual to the workings of his own mind, and the conceit of his own heart. A man that closes his eyes to everything, as a natural consequence, can see nothing.
“The owlet atheism,
Sailing on obscene wings athwart art the noon,
Drops his blue fanged lids, and holds them close,
And hooting at the glorious sun in heaven,
Cries out, ‘Where is it?’”
God specially designates that man a fool― “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psa. 14:1).
2nd. The Infidel―An infidel is one who, though he may believe in the existence of a God, does not believe that anything can be known of Him, or that He has revealed His mind to us in any way. He is to such the unknown and the unknowable. Atheism is Satan’s attack upon the Being of God; while in infidelity the chief point of attack is the Word as the revelation of God to us.
Thus all the past acts of God, as stated in the Scriptures, are denied, ―such as creation, the flood, and His dealings with Israel; while the incarnation death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, are ridiculed. But as there can be no honest atheists, neither can there be any honest infidels.
Of the former, it is written, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). Of the latter, it is written, “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water; whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:4-7).
Solemn words these. Thus we see the poor atheist to be without excuse, and the infidel to be willingly ignorant. But the time is fast approaching, when “they shall know whose words shall stand, mine or theirs” (Jer. 44:28).
In the scripture just quoted, we find a clear statement of creation by the Word of God, of the flood by the Word of God, of the dissolution of the heavens and the earth, and the judgment and perdition of ungodly men, by the Word of God. The Christian judges already whose word will stand, “Mine or theirs”; for he knows that the “word of our God shall stand forever” (Isa. 40:6-8),
“A glory gilds the sacred page,
Majestic as the sun,
It gives a light to every age,
It gives, but borrows none.”
3rd The Covetous. ― “Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth” (Isa. 5:8); “I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool! this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:19, 20); “For this ye know that no covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 5:5).
4th The Loose Liver. ― “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! and the harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts” (Isa. 5:11, 12).
5th. The Unconverted Church Member. ― “If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matt. 15:14); “Except a man be born again (from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3); “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32). Dear friend, let no such delusion as joining a Church lead you to suppose that you are all right. “Ye must be born again” of God, in order to see and enter the kingdom of God. Let no blind leader lead you blindly to hell. There are thousands today who are going religiously to hell. Beware! Remember that Lot’s wife had an outward religion, and was connected with a saint of God, but perished with the Sodomites.
6th The Self-righteous. ―The following verse will describe the awful consequence of a sinner refusing the salvation of God through Christ, and trusting to his own righteousness: ― “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: and he said unto him, Friend, how earnest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 22:11-13).
7th The Doubting Christian. ―Hear ye the word of the Lord “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth, my word, and believeth on him that sent me, HATH everlasting life, and SHALL NOT come into condemnation (or judgment), but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).
Friend, do you hear this word of the Son of God? Is it not enough to scatter to the winds all your doubts and fears, and give you blessed peace with God, and assurance that you are saved? Look at the blessed consequence of hearing and believing―1st, “Hath everlasting life;” 2nd, “shall not come into judgment,” 3rd, “but is passed from death unto life.”
Do you believe what the Son of God says? You say you saw yourself a sinner years ago, and looked away to Jesus for salvation, but all along you have lacked the peace and assurance that some have. Your cry is, “I find myself just as bad as ever!”
Yes, dear friend, and I can answer, You will never find self any better. You have yet to learn that faith is an outward, and not an inward, look. It looks to Christ, and trusts Him who died, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. It believes His blessed Word, and rests assured of pardon, and present and eternal acceptance in Christ God looks at the blood of Jesus, and sees our sins washed away; He looks at Christ, and sees us accepted in Him,― “made the righteousness of God in Him,”―in Him, where there is no condemnation, and from whom there is no separation.
“Christ is all”―Christ who became incarnate, who died, and in death made atonement for sin, and in doing so, accomplished our redemption; Christ risen again from the dead, and glorified at the right hand of God. I repeat, it is not the improvement of self, or works of righteousness, that saves, but this blessed Christ. Faith in Him secures all the blessed results of his death, and the believer is “accepted in the Beloved: in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:6, 7).
To His blessed worthy name be all the praise!
E. A.