Proverbs 5:22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be held with the cords of his sins. The first sentence of this verse has reference to a net, in which birds or beasts are taken. That which first attracted the sinner afterwards detains him. This first sentence may have reference to an arrest by an officer of law. The transgressor's own sin shall take him, shall seize him; they bear a warrant for arresting him, they shall judge him, they shall even execute him. The second sentence speaks of the sinner being holden with cords. The lifelong occupation of the ungodly man is to twist ropes of sin. The binding meant is that of a culprit pinioned for execution. Iniquity pinions a man. Make a man's will a prisoner, and he is a captive indeed. Who would not scorn to make himself a slave to his baser passions? And yet the mass of men are such — the cords of their sins bind them. I. THE CAPTIVATING, ENSLAVING POWER OF SIN IS A SOLUTION TO A GREAT MYSTERY. 1. Is it not mysterious that men should be content to abide in a state of imminent peril? 2. Before long unconverted men and women will be in a state whose wretchedness it is not possible for language fully to express. 3. Is it not a wonder that men do not receive the gospel of Jesus Christ, seeing that the gospel is so plain? 4. Nay, moreover, so infinitely attractive. 5. The commandment of the gospel is not burdensome. 6. And, according to the confession of most sinners, the pleasures of sin are by no means great. Here stands the riddle, man is so set against God and His Christ that he never will accept eternal salvation until the Holy Spirit, by a supernatural work, overcomes his will and turns the current of his affections. II. THOUGH THIS IS THE SOLUTION OF ONE MYSTERY, IT IS IN ITSELF A GREATER MYSTERY. One reason why men receive not Christ is, that they are hampered by the sin of forgetting God. Another sin binds all unregenerate hearts; it is the sin of not loving the Christ of God. What a mystery it is that men should be held by the sin of neglecting their souls! ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.WEB: The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly. |
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