Message From The MessengerThe Three Kinds of People

... a Message from the Messenger
Bible 1611.Com / Sluice Box Adventures.com / Old Paths Baptist Mission © 2014

There are only three kinds of people in the world that will ever repent of their sins, and come to Jesus Christ to receive by faith his gift of eternal life.

In this message they are identified.

• The Sin Darkened Minds
• The Light Of The World
• The Three Kinds Of People
• The Distressed
• Those In Debt
• The Discontent

The Three Kinds Of People!

1 Samuel 22:2

"And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men."

The Sin Darkened Minds

When Adam sinned almost six thousand years ago, the human mind was darkened.

That is what sin does.

To disobey God... is to turn from God with the tragic result that the human heart (that part of the mind) becomes darkened.

 Satan is the one who "blinds" or darkens the mind.

He is the master of this.  "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" [II Corinthians 4:4].

Why has Satan been given permission to do this?  "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened" [Romans 1:21].

Concerning Israel: "According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear; unto this day" [Romans 11:8].  And in verse ten of this same chapter: "Let their eyes be darkened."

Sad, but this is true.  God's word (which in the English language is the Authorized Version of the Bible (The A.V.1611) commonly called the King James Version) teaches as inviolate truth, the following principle.

TURN FROM GOD... AND GOD WILL GIVE YOU UP!

 Do not believe me.  Read it for yourself in Romans 1:21-26.

Paired with this principle is this one.

TURN TO GOD AND GOD WILL MEET WITH YOU!

See Revelation 3:20 for the most wonderful invitation ever given!

For six thousand years, men with sin-darkened eyes have loved the darkness. This brings the question: why do they love the darkness? "And this is the condemnation, that the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" [John 3:19].  Have you got that?  Their deeds were evil!  That means you and I love the darkness because our deeds are evil.

Come on now, do you believe the Book?  It is the truth!  This brings to mind an illustration.

The Light Of The World

Years ago while I was attending Bible college, we lived in a little mobile home.  Let me tell you something.  Though that mobile home was as neat as a pin during the day, it had turned into a veritable zoo at night.

 I would get up at night and turn on the light to check on my daughter who was sleeping in the next room in her crib.  In that first instant of brilliant light, which drove the darkness out of that room, something was revealed.  Myriads of huge orange-brown cockroaches were scurrying everywhere to get out from under the light.  Cockroaches hate the light!

WE are like the cockroaches in this way.  We would rather run from the light.

Now what is this light?  The incarnate and almighty Son of God is THE LIGHT! Amen! Amen! Praise God!  Jesus Christ is THE LIGHT!

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" [John 1:1-5].

The darkness comprehended it not! Adam's sin has darkened our eyes (passed from generation to generation).  We are as dead men walking around. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" [Romans 5:12].

One day, Old DEATH will grab you by the shoulder for a little journey.  Are you ready?

What direction are you going, my friend?  That BOOK (The A.V.1611) is God's word in the English language.  You can count on it. Jesus Christ is THE LIGHT.  Jesus Christ came to this earth two thousand years ago so that men … like you and I … might believe.  This was the witness of John the Baptist. "The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe" [John 1:7].

Every man and woman will have no excuse at the Great White Throne Judgment.  Romans 1:20 makes that plain.  Do you want to argue with God over the matter?  Go ahead if you want to, but I will fear for you, my friend.

The very creation of the world which is understood "by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead" renders man, so that he "is without excuse" concerning Jesus Christ being that light. "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" [John 1:9].  Every man has had that light, and every man has the responsibility about what he does, concerning THAT LIGHT.

What will you do with Jesus Christ? That is the big question, and it is the most important question you and I will ever face in this life.

Now, we have come to the chief issue and purpose of life, and to repeat: that the heart of every man and woman and child in the world who ever lived, or now lives, must deal with that number ONE ISSUE:

What is to be done with JESUS CHRIST?

The requirement for you ... is to go through the narrow gate ... which is the Son of God.  This will require you … to put your trust in the shed blood of the Lamb of God who was slain on Mt. Calvary almost two thousand years ago. 

This will require you … to put your trust in Him to save you from the wrath of God to be revealed at the end of this age.

This will require you … to put your trust in Him to keep you from the eternal blackness and torment of Hell, which will be thrown in the Lake of Fire. (There will be no light from this fire!)

The Big Question is, Will you come to Jesus Christ, THE SON OF GOD, for the gift of eternal life?

This is ... THE SO GREAT SALVATION ... of Hebrews chapter two!

Listen.  There is no other way to be saved. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" [Acts 4:12]. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" [Ephesians 2:8].

Yet, what ... is a free gift to all men, cost so much to The Son Of God, Jesus Christ!

Then, why do men everywhere, and every day, refuse to believe The Gospel given so clearly in I Corinthians 15:1-4, and so simply and sweetly in John 3:16? "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

They refuse to come because they love darkness.  They refuse to come because their deeds are evil. "And this is the condemnation, that the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

They would rather lap up all the fun and pleasure of sin for a season.  They would rather GO FOR IT!

If this is true that men would rather avoid God, because they are HATERS of God, [Romans 1:30] then what kind of person would ever come to Jesus Christ?   Does THE BOOK tell us who will come?  It certainly does.

Our text is found in 1 Samuel 22:2. "And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men."

The Three Kinds Of People

The BOOK that God has written is so absolutely marvelous and perfect.  It reveals to men great truths.  Do you see the kind of men coming to David?  They are the down-and-outers of that day.

 Now David himself was on the run from Saul and was forced to live as an outcast, or as a criminal.  (We find this narrative in I Samuel chapters 21-26.) "David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam..." [I Samuel 22:1].

David was certainly feeling at his lowest point and was keenly aware of the danger of being set upon and killed in a jealous rage by Saul. He was in fact on "The Most Wanted Dead" list posted on the city walls of Jerusalem.  David had to lay low!  If you wanted to find him, you would have had to go outside the city gate and go to the cave ... to the cave Adullam.  It was a lowly and dank place.

Now doesn't this story of David sound like the story of someone else? Of whom was it said that he suffered outside the gate?  Was it not The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ? "Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate."

Listen friend, if we ever decide to go to the Savior, we will need to go outside of the city gate to find Him. "Let us go therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach" [Hebrews 13:12-13].  Yet who would ever decide to go and be with Jesus outside the camp?  There are three kinds of people who come to Jesus Christ by faith.

I. THE DISTRESSED

"And every one that was in distress..."

This is the first kind of person that will go to the cave of Adullam.  It will be someone who is troubled on every side ... someone who knows anguish of mind ... someone that is afflicted and miserable inside, and loaded down with the painful weight of sin.  In The Acts Of The Apostles is the account of a man and his family that came to the true salvation through the hearing of The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He is the Philippian jailer.  In distress he came!

"And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here."

In great distress (he is "trembling") the Philippian jailer takes a dive for the floor, and lies prostrate before Paul and Silas. "Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas," (It is in his distress, that he brings them out.) "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

That is the right question!  Do you see how he got there?  The Philippian jailer sees "the strait gate" and desires to go in thereat.  He sees "the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."

"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

That jailer moves with deliberate and breathtaking speed into the kingdom of His dear Son ... Jesus Christ!

"And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house" [Acts 16:25-34].

Listen!  Listen!  A person that is distressed concerning the fear of death... and what is beyond death ... is in a place somewhat akin to being in the birth canal.

As I have heard it said, "They are on the way!"   The heart is open and prepared for the seed of The Gospel ... ready to hear ... ready to receive ... and eyes open, and able to see the invisible things through faith.  The Philippian jailer therefore, is representative of the first kind of person who will come to Jesus Christ by faith.

II. THOSE IN DEBT

"And every one that was in debt… "

The downward spiral from material prosperity to an impoverished state can drive a person to tremendous desperation.  The second kind of person that will come to Jesus Christ by faith is someone who is in debt.  It is true today what was true two thousand years ago.  The medical bills from hospitals and doctors can quickly, even in a heartbeat put one into deep debt.  The despair from overwhelming debt can do one of two things.

1. It can drive a person from 20 floors high to jump to their death on the street below.  That is what happened in The Great October 1929, Stock Market Crash, when many crashed from their wealth on high to the sudden throes of debt. Not only was it an economic depression for the United States of America, but for the many who lost their belongings, homes and savings, it was a true depression in the hope of the heart. DESPAIR can do that.

2. The second thing that despair from debt can do is, drive a person to the SAVIOR, The LORD JESUS CHRIST! 

Listen, my friend, being in debt may be the very best thing for you, it may put you in a state of mind of being very disposed to go ...to go to THE CAVE, and seek THE SON OF GOD who outside the gate, and flee from the bondage of a life of seeking the happiness and pleasure this old world can offer you.

Debt can drive you this way!  For "a certain woman" (in Mark 5:24) her medical condition became the big drain on all her finances, and it drove her in great desperation to seek by faith Jesus Christ.  "And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague."

Jesus Christ has the remedy! Jesus Christ is the great physician! He can make you whole! 

Debt can be a friend!  Amen! Amen! Amen!  "And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."

Instead of being in debt, she is now rich in Christ, an inheritor of "the unsearchable riches of Christ" [Ephesians 3:8].

 This woman went to the cave Adullam.  She is representative of the second kind of person who will come to Jesus Christ by faith.

III. THE DISCONTENTED

"And every one that was discontented..."

The third kind of person that will come to Jesus Christ by faith is someone discontented.  It is someone who comes to the end of it, who realizes that all this, the Flesh, the World and The Devil can offer will just come up dry. This person will come to discontentment. Discontentment is really another friend in disguise. The dissatisfaction a person may experience with the present state of things may move him (or her) to an uneasiness or inquietude of mind. Oh, for the blessing that can bring!

In the moments of this inquietude of mind and spirit, a person may be in the proper place to hear The Spirit Of God calling with the sweet gospel call of Revelation 3:20. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me."

This is the place where The Lord found Simon and his brother Andrew, and James and John.  The situation was like this.  They were a little burned-out with their fishing career.  I mean, all the excitement and fun was gone.  I believe, by what we read in Luke chapter five that Peter must have come to it something like this. "Surely, there has got to be more to life than this."

Now, let's go to the passage, starting with verse one. "And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net." [Peter is ready to go to the cave Adullam].

"And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

(Do you see how the discontented heart here is burdened over the load of sin to the point of sinking?) "For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him."

Peter, Andrew, James and John "forsook all, and followed Jesus Christ."

Their discontentment with that whole thing, the rat-race that the world offers as a reward, was the very means to the necessary preparation of the heart, that desire to go outside the gate, and on down the narrow road to THE CAVE!  "And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men."

There, we have it ... the beautiful picture framed by The Holy Ghost in the Book He wrote (and preserved perfectly in the Authorized Version of The Bible) in I Samuel, ... hundreds of years before the Son Of God came into the world ... to be rejected by His own. David is, therefore, shown to be a type of Christ ... forced to live outside the gate!

And he is made a captain over all who come to him for protection ... just as the individual that comes to be hid in the cleft of the rock ... which is Christ Jesus, by the blood of The Lamb of God. Amen!

"For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." [Hebrews 2: 10]

These are three kinds of people who come to Jesus Christ by faith:

1. The distressed

2. Those in debt

3. The discontented

Friend, Are You One Of These?

What will you do with Jesus Christ?

Come to Jesus Christ Now!

TURN TO GOD AND GOD WILL MEET WITH YOU!

"That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Amen!