LOST!
(Arthur Pink, 1951)
it is hid to those who are LOST!
The god of this age has blinded
the minds of unbelievers!"
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
What multitudes of people there are
who have no concern over, in fact, no
consciousness of, their woeful condition!
While they do not regard themselves as
perfect, yet they are not aware that there
is anything seriously wrong with them.
They are respectable people, law-
abiding citizens, and nothing particular
ever troubles their conscience. They
consider that they are certainly no
worse than their religious neighbors,
and though they scarcely ever read
the Bible or enter a church, they fully
expect to go to Heaven when they die.
Some of them will indeed admit that
they are sinners, but imagine that their
good works far outnumber their bad ones.
Some of them were sprinkled as infants,
attended a Sunday school class as
children, said their prayers each night,
and later joined the church.
Nevertheless, to this moment, they
have never realized that they are
the enemies of GOD, an abomination
in the eyes of HIS holiness, and that
Hell is their just deserts!
They see no beauty or glory in
the Gospel, no suitableness in it
unto their case, and therefore do
they despise and reject it.
they are sinners, but imagine that their
good works far outnumber their bad ones.
Some of them were sprinkled as infants,
attended a Sunday school class as
children, said their prayers each night,
and later joined the church.
Nevertheless, to this moment, they
have never realized that they are
the enemies of GOD, an abomination
in the eyes of HIS holiness, and that
Hell is their just deserts!
They see no beauty or glory in
the Gospel, no suitableness in it
unto their case, and therefore do
they despise and reject it.
Though satan rules in their hearts and
lives (Ephesians 2:2), yet it is by their
own free consent. They voluntarily obey
him and submit to his will. His dominion
over them is maintained by . . .
lives (Ephesians 2:2), yet it is by their
own free consent. They voluntarily obey
him and submit to his will. His dominion
over them is maintained by . . .
keeping their minds in darkness,
deceiving and deluding them,
blinding them by pride, prejudice, and
the workings of their own corruptions.
the workings of their own corruptions.
Nowhere but in the Scriptures, can
we learn what is the real condition
of the natural man. There his case is
diagnosed with unerring precision by
the divine Physician. Many are the terms
used therein by the HOLY SPIRIT to
describe the solemn and direful state
to which the fall has reduced every
descendant of Adam; and among
them probably none is more pointed
and awesome than is the term LOST!
How dismal is its sound!
How much is summed up in that
single word! It signifies . . .
we learn what is the real condition
of the natural man. There his case is
diagnosed with unerring precision by
the divine Physician. Many are the terms
used therein by the HOLY SPIRIT to
describe the solemn and direful state
to which the fall has reduced every
descendant of Adam; and among
them probably none is more pointed
and awesome than is the term LOST!
How dismal is its sound!
How much is summed up in that
single word! It signifies . . .
that the natural man is in a sinful,
wretched, and perilous state,
wretched, and perilous state,
that he is far astray from GOD,
that he has willfully and wantonly
forsaken the path of duty.
forsaken the path of duty.
Lost! A traveler from time to eternity,
treading the road that leads to certain
and everlasting destruction!
treading the road that leads to certain
and everlasting destruction!
Lost! A creature who has forfeited
the approbation and favor of his MAKER,
and is now an outcast from HIM!
the approbation and favor of his MAKER,
and is now an outcast from HIM!
Lost! One who has squandered his
substance in riotous living, and is
now a spiritual bankrupt and pauper.
He is out of the way of peace and
blessing, and utterly incapable
of finding his way back to it!
substance in riotous living, and is
now a spiritual bankrupt and pauper.
He is out of the way of peace and
blessing, and utterly incapable
of finding his way back to it!
Fearful beyond words, is the condition
of fallen man. His case is as hopeless
as that of a dying person whose disease
is incurable. A lost child is a pitiful object--
but what mind can estimate or pen depict
the tragedy of a lost soul?
Lost now, lost forever--
unless a sovereign GOD intervenes and
performs a miracle of mercy for its recovery!
Man is lost positively, in that he is not
what he should be. He is . . .
a defiled creature,
a guilty criminal,
a child of disobedience!
Lost judicially, under the curse
of GOD'S broken Law, sentenced
to death, "condemned already"
(John 3:18), the wrath of GOD
abiding on him! (John 3:36)
Lost meritoriously, for his transgressions
deserve eternal death, which is the wages of sin--
and fully has he earned them.
Lost experientially in point of ability
or power to recover himself, he is
neither indeed can he be"
(Romans 8:7).
The moral impotency of man
is such that he is utterly incapable
of performing a single spiritual act:
or the leopard its spots? Neither can
you do good who are accustomed
to doing evil! (Jeremiah 13:23)
None will know how utterly man is lost,
until they experience GOD'S wrath in
Hell, and can then measure the fearful
distance they have departed from HIM!
Thus man is lost in every way,
and in every sense!
Federally, by the imputation to him
of the guilt of his representative's offense.
Effectually, by the transmission
of a corrupt nature from his parents.
Actually, by his own evil conduct,
(Hosea 13:9).
Practically, by the forming of evil habits,
so that now he is
(Proverbs 5:22).
Lost to GOD, for HE has no love, no
service, no glory from the unregenerate,
so that they deprive HIM of the honor
of their creation.
Man is lost to himself . . .
to all reason and rational inducements,
to right conceptions and perceptions,
to every consideration of GOD'S claims upon him.
Lost to all sense of shame for his horrible
condition in the eyes of the HOLY ONE.
So lost as to have
(2 Thessalonians 2:12).
Lost to piety and true happiness.
Out of the way of holiness,
peace, and security.
Lost in sin, in ignorance, and error.
Lost irretrievably, like a sheep that
wanders farther and farther astray,
until it perishes. Man is utterly
unable to find his way back to GOD,
for he is in total darkness--
a wanderer in a pathless desert,
perishing in a howling wilderness.
What makes man's case yet worse, is
that he has no desire to be recovered!
He has perversely set himself up to be
his own master, and stubbornly determines
to please himself and carve out his own career.
peace, and security.
Lost in sin, in ignorance, and error.
Lost irretrievably, like a sheep that
wanders farther and farther astray,
until it perishes. Man is utterly
unable to find his way back to GOD,
for he is in total darkness--
a wanderer in a pathless desert,
perishing in a howling wilderness.
What makes man's case yet worse, is
that he has no desire to be recovered!
He has perversely set himself up to be
his own master, and stubbornly determines
to please himself and carve out his own career.
Rather than return unto GOD, the unregenerate
would take any road which leads farther away
from HIM. They resent HIS expostulations
and resist the strivings of HIS SPIRIT.
If not with their lips, with their hearts,
they say unto GOD:
for we have no desire to know
YOUR ways!" (Job 21:14).
Yes, they would much prefer to be
annihilated than yet meet GOD face
to face, and have to give an account
of themselves to HIM (Romans 14:12).
They hate HIS holiness and dread HIS
justice, while despising HIS goodness
and abusing HIS mercies!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
GraceGems has published Newman Hall's superb and comforting article,
"The Voice of JESUS in the Storm!"
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