1 Corinthians 14:24-25 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believes not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: I. THE HEART IS THE DEPOSITORY OF MANY SECRETS. The assumption of knowledge is one of our most besetting and perilous weaknesses; how little we really know of the world around us! We know far less of that within. Note some of the secrets of the heart of an unbelieving man. 1. There is hidden within him an immense amount of ignorance and conceit of which he knows nothing. He has no true knowledge of himself as a sinner. Had he such knowledge he would apply at once for salvation, and not pharisaically congratulate himself that he is not as other men. 2. A deep and inexhaustible depravity which alienates him from God. Of this he knows nothing, or the knowledge would be such a misery as would give him no rest until a remedy was discovered. 3. Many unremembered and unthought-of sins. Sin unknowingly committed as well as those willingly forgotten lie buried deep in the memory till the hour of revival. 4. Numerous latent fears. The child that is happy in the broad daylight knows nothing of those fears which the dark and lonely night will awaken. Even in this world the unbeliever's fears may emerge from the caverns in which they lie concealed; but in the hereafter who can prognosticate the fears which will be awakened by the consciousness of unforgiven guilt? 5. A sense of God, right, truth, and immortality. No one is so utterly degraded as to have no traces of those radical principles. Not that we are born with any positive ideas of them, but we are born with certain capacities which infallibly secure to us impressions of the invisible, infinite, and eternal. And there will come a time when these will be the grand all-absorbing truths. II. THE MANIFESTATION OF THOSE SECRETS. Ignorant as we are of the depths of our own nature there is a limited but sufficient knowledge that we may obtain of ourselves. By the light of God's Word and the teaching of His Spirit we may learn so much as to see the necessity and suitableness of God's provision for our salvation. And oftentimes it pleases God — as in the case before us — to lead the unbeliever to the assembly of His people, and by the truth published and the Spirit given there, to shed light into the heart. As psalm and prayer uprise, as the Scriptures are read and explained, new and surprising revelations are vouchsafed. The slumbering conscience is aroused, memory is quickened, the consciousness of God, judgment, and eternity becomes vivid, and the once unbeliever is overpowered, and confesses to the Divine revelation made to his heart. Conclusion: If you have not seen any of these things, consider — 1. Your fearful and benighted ignorance. 2. The danger of this revelation when it will be of no avail. 3. The necessity of the prayer, "Lord, that I may receive my sight." (W. T. Bull, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: |
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