John 8:21-24 Then said Jesus again to them, I go my way, and you shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: where I go, you cannot come.… I. TO DIE IN ONE'S SINS IS THE GREATEST CALAMITY. To die is a terribly solemn thing, for it involves separation from home, business, acquaintance, world, the very body itself, and introduction into a mysterious, untried, spiritual state of retribution. But to die in sin adds immeasurably to its solemnity. Sin is the sting of death. To die in one's sins means — 1. To die having misused this life with all its blessings. Life's grand purpose is the cultivation of a holy character. For this — (1) All physical blessings are given: health, time, nature. (2) All social pleasures and happy interchanges of thought, feeling, and soul(3) All mental blessings, literature, science, poetry, schools, etc. (4) All redemptive blessings — the gospel with its soul-saving appliances. He who dies in his sins has abused all. 2. To die with all the conditions of misery-conflicting passions, tormenting conscience, a dreaded God, foreboding anguish. It this is not hell, what is it? Better a thousand times to die in a pauper's hovel or in a martyr's tortures than to die in sin. II. UNBELIEF IS CHRIST READERS THIS GREATEST OF CALAMITIES INEVITABLE. Belief in Christ, as the Revealer of God, is essential to the deliverance of man from the guilt, power, and consequence of sins. 1. This deliverance requires the awaking in the soul of a supreme affection for God. Love to God only can destroy the old man. 2. A supreme affection for God requires a certain revelation of Him. In what aspects must the Eternal appear to man before this love can be awakened? He must appear personally, forgivingly, and sublimely perfect. 3. This certain revelation is nowhere but in Christ. Belief in Him therefore is essential to a deliverance of the soul from sin. (D. Thomas, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come. |
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