Excuses
FOREWORD
The author has sought out and compiled the answers that God gives to the excuses made by many for not believing in… Jesus Christ.
“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.
“There Are Too Many Hypocrites In The Church.”
The man who sees the shortcomings of others before he sees his own is the real hypocrite.
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”—Matt. 7:1-5.
Even though there may be hypocrites in the church, that does not excuse you. There are hypocrites in every other profession, but this is no argument against the profession; nor is it any argument against Christ because a hypocrite is discovered in the church. You will not have to answer for the sins of the hypocrite at the judgment but for your own.
“Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?”—Rom. 2:1-3.
“But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”—Rom. 14:10-12.
One thing is certain, though hypocrites may be in the church here on earth, they will not enter Heaven. If you do not want to spend eternity in Hell with them you had better become a Christian now.
“But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”—Matt. 23:13 and 33.
“And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”—Matt. 24:51.
(Arthur J. Smith, Without Excuse, Chicago, Illinois: Glad Tidings Publishing Co., 1907, 2-4)