By Weldon E. Warnock
There are many things we can know. We can know the doctrine of Christ (John 7:16), what is truth (John 8:32), whether we know God (1 John 2:3) and if we have passed from death unto life (1 John 3:14) to name a few. On the other hand, there are some things we cannot know. Let us notice some of them.
1. No man knows when Jesus is coming again. While on earth Jesus said, “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32). As the year 2000 draws near, preachers are saying that Jesus is coming shortly, within the next several months. Well, they are just “whistling in the dark” because they don’t know.
2. No man knows the length of his life. We read, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (Jas. 4:14). Yesterday is only a memory and tomorrow a dream. We have only today. In view of the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death we need to get ready for death and the judgment, and stay ready!
3. No man knows he will have a second chance to be saved. When Jesus comes he will take vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 1:8). Now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2), not after Jesus returns. At the second coming of Christ all in the graves shall hear his voice and come forth. They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5:28-29).
4. No man knows that he can be saved without accepting Jesus. The apostle Peter said, “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). No other can give salvation. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by him (John 14:6). Jesus is not one of the ways to God, but the way. If we believe not that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, we shall die in our sins (John 8:24).
5. No man knows that a person can be saved without water baptism. Every place where baptism and salvation or forgiveness of sins appear together, baptism always precedes salvation. Note the following Scriptures: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). “And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us” (1 Pet. 3:21). In the preceding texts, faith, repentance, and baptism come before salvation or the remission of sins. Each one is just as important as the other. We just as well may say that an alien sinner could be saved without faith or repentance as to say he can be saved without water baptism.
Yes, there are some things that no man knows! Many think they know but they do not.