Proverbs 8:36 But he that sins against me wrongs his own soul: all they that hate me love death. I. WHAT ARE WE TO UNDERSTAND BY A MAN SINNING AGAINST CHRIST? 1. To take partial views of His glorious gospel. 2. When He would wreathe His gentle yoke about our necks, to kick at the restraint, and refuse it. 3. To coldly hear the offers of His grace, and grieve His Holy Spirit in not fully and spiritually accepting them. II. HOW CAN WE BE SAID TO HATE THE ONLY BEING WHO CAN SAVE US? This expression seems wholly inconsistent with the natural dispositions of men. Yet as a fact, men may be seen all around us loving the ways of death. 1. We may be said to love death when we suffer and encourage our desires to go forth and loiter about the precincts of it. The thoughts and desires of a man tell us what he is. 2. We love the captivity of death when we make but few and faint efforts to break the chains of it. III. HOW DOES A SINNER WHO LOVES DEATH WRONG HIS OWN SOUL? 1. He does it by choosing to be a beggar in the midst of riches. 2. He does it when he treats his soul as a fleeting mortal thing. We do it great wrong when we labour to fill it with too much of the creature, and with too little of Christ. (F. G. Crossman.) Parallel Verses KJV: But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.WEB: But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death." |
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