A good many years ago, commenting upon this habit of some unbelievers, a Scotsman said, "It is very easy to solve an insoluble problem if you begin by taking all the insoluble elements out of it. And that is how a great deal of modern thinking does with Christianity. Knock out all the miracles; pooh–pooh all Christ’s claims; say nothing about Incarnation; declare Resurrection to be entirely unhistorical, and you will not have much difficulty in accounting for the rest; and it will not be worth the accounting for. . ."
We have never found an honest skeptic. Some men claim to be honest skeptics, but before probing very deep the truth comes out. If a man is an honest skeptic he will soon cease to be a skeptic. A man might claim to be a skeptic about the multiplication table, but if he were an honest skeptic, he would soon learn that six times seven are always forty–two… and his honesty would lead him to certain definite fixed conclusions, and he would find himself no longer a skeptic. With the dishonest skeptic, it is quite another matter. If you ask him to count out the eight times seven to see for himself, he will add a piece from his pocket or do away with a piece to make the answer come out according to his preconceived bias.

In the twenty–second to thirty–second verses of Matthew twelve, we are faced with one of the greatest contrasts in the Bible. God Almighty arrays Heaven and Hell in one scene and lets us look at the two. He demonstrates that His ways are not our ways and that His thoughts are not our thoughts. We see that His ways and thoughts are, indeed, above ours, as the heavens are high above the earth.

For at the same moment that our Lord took the measure of the Pharisees and withdrew from them, He also announced that the days of His humility would not last forever. The evil heart of man will take advantage of the one who does not strive or cry, and whose voice is not heard. The world has learned to call the tempered steel of the sword of the Lord "softness," simply because He does not flash its cutting blade as the world would do in His place. But listen to these words that at the same time strike terror and bring joy: "A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, UNTIL . . ." Ah! So there is to be an end of His patience! He shall not act in full strength "until He send forth judgment unto victory." Listen to those two words: judgment, victory. They sound out like the ringing of a death knell, or they peal forth with the joy of the wedding. It all depends where you stand in relation to this Man, the Christ of God. You must have Him in one of these two ways—judgment or victory. We thank God that we know forever just what our situation is with reference to this Man. He has taken our judgment, that is past forever. There is nothing left for us but His victory. You can know this too.