THE UNPLEASANT TRUTH ABOUT THE NATURE OF MAN THAT NO FAITHFUL PREACHER SHOULD EVER CONCEAL

Pastor Peter Simpson, a Christian Watch committee member, was recently setting forth in the centre of Redcar on the northeast coast the necessity for all people to consider the spiritual danger which they are in, to examine their hearts, and to realise that without faith in Christ they are separated from God and are in fact His enemies (Colossians 1:21).

A number of conversations took place with supportive passing Christians, although in one or two cases it was felt that there was a trust in the act of churchgoing, rather than in a personal fleeing to Christ for mercy. Attending a church to engage in public worship and to feed on God’s word is of course vital, but the mere act of attendance is not in itself a meritorious good work gaining access into God’s presence, nor is it necessarily an indication of true saving faith.

Pastor Simpson, as he often does, asked a young man walking past, “Are you a good person? He replied that he was, to which the preacher said, “Well I am not – I am a hopeless sinner, which is why I am a Christian”.

He was trying to enforce the vital truth set forth by King Solomon, namely that “there is no man that sinneth not” (1 Kings 8:46). Yet so many appear to have no apprehension of the innate corruption of the human heart, which makes the concept of innate human goodness a complete impossibility. Man’s depravity by nature is a truth which the Bible unequivocally teaches in, for example, the following verses :

“Their inward part is very wickedness” (Psalm 5:9).

“The wicked … flattereth himself in his own eyes” (Psalm 36:1-2).

“He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:26).

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt” (Jeremiah 17:9)

Another passer-by refused a tract, saying in jest, “No thanks; I am going to hell”, to which Pastor Simpson responded, “You will not be joking about it on the Day of Judgement”. How tragic it is to hear people being so flippant about their spiritual condition, which again brings home to us the urgency of getting out there into the public places to warn people of their danger out of love for them. As Charles Wesley once put it,

“I would the precious time redeem,

And longer live for this alone,

To spend, and to be spent, for them

Who have not yet my Saviour known;

Fully on these my mission prove,

And only breathe, to breathe Thy love”.

During his preaching, Pastor Simpson asked the question, “If man is basically good, how do you explain all the shoplifting, the knife crime, the drug-taking, or the horror and tragedy which is abortion? Why is it that mankind in the 21st century with all his modern education and ‘progressive’ insights has not so upwardly evolved so as to abolish all war and all crime?

The answer to these questions is that man is not basically good at all, but is governed by a corrupted heart. He is in fact blinded by Satan himself (2 Corinthians 4:4), yet he imagines that he is good-hearted! Pastor Simpson went on to declare to any who were humble enough to listen,

“The Word of God tells us that we all have a sinful nature, and only Jesus Christ can give to us a new nature. That is why He said, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). To be born again is to receive a brand new nature from Jesus Christ, because otherwise all are weighed down by a sinful and polluted heart.

If you think you are a good person, I do ask you to re-examine yourself, because you are disagreeing with God Himself. The Bible tells us that “we are all as an unclean thing” (Isaiah 64:6). All our attempts at being good are polluted and corrupted in God’s sight. We all need to be made clean on the inside; we all need an inward washing. God’s word calls this “the washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5). When you turn from sin and believe in Jesus Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit to dwell within you, who washes you clean on the inside, and gives you new and holy desires.

Have you ever stopped to think about heaven and hell? All without faith in Jesus Christ, says the Bible, are actually on their way to hell. All without faith in Him are actually condemned already (John 3:18). Therefore, come to the Saviour, whilst there is time”.

May there be those who heard this message in Redcar who use this God-given opportunity and take seriously these words about the depravity of their hearts. May they realise the reality of this unpleasant fact and come to the Lord Jesus Christ for new hearts and for inward washing, doing so as a matter of the gravest urgency.