The Fool. By Charles Spurgeon. Psalm chapter 14, verse 1. The fool says in his heart, there is no God. There are no infidels anywhere but on earth. There are none in heaven, and there are none in hell. In heaven they see his face, and in hell they feel his justice and power. But on earth men dream and doubt and defy their God.

There is no greater folly than to deny the existence of the One who made us. This is not the voice of rational doubt, but of moral rebellion. It is not reason that rejects God. It is the sinful heart that refuses to bow before Him. To deny God is to deny the foundation of all truth, justice, and meaning. Without God, there can be no moral standards, no true purpose in life. and no hope beyond the grave. The fool tears down, the only shelter from the storm of sin, the only light in the darkness of this world, the only Savior from the wrath to come.

The consequences of such foolishness are severe. Psalm 14 goes on to say, They are corrupt, their deeds are vile, there is no one who does good. To cast off God is to plunge into moral decadence. When the fear of the Lord is absent, then wickedness abounds. To say in the heart there is no God is to utter a lie which is fraught with the most deadly consequences.

Atheism is self-deception, a soul-damning self-deception. The fool chooses to believe there is no God simply because this suits his lusts and quiets his conscience. Because he loves his sin, the fool willfully deceives himself into believing that there is no God who sees his sin or will judge and punish him for his sin.

Atheism is a strange thing. Even the demons never fell into that wickedness, for the demons believe and tremble. and yet there are found among men such monsters in iniquity who will mock the holy and righteous God to His face. No man is born an atheist. Men become atheists by hardening their hearts and searing their consciences. He who denies God is not mentally deficient, he is morally debased. It is not a lack of intelligence but a love of sin that leads men to atheism.

The fool wishes that there were no God, for then he could sin with impunity. If there is no God, then there is no punishment for sin, and the pit of hell is a fable. The willful and foolish denial of God is the first link in a long chain that ends in eternal damnation. A man may live like a beast and die like a fiend, all because he hopes that there is no God. But when he stands before the throne of judgment, he will know, too late, how great his folly was.

Atheists will not doubt God's existence in hell. They will weep and wail and gnash their teeth, but they will not question His existence. On earth there are atheists many, in hell there are not any.