Homilist 2 Corinthians 1:6-11 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation… — Death a sentence: — Death is — I. A SENTENCE. 1. Universal. 2. Just. 3. Irrevocable. II. As a sentence IN MAN. "We have the sentence of death in ourselves." 1. The sentence of death is in man's body. It is born with him, and it continues to work within until the organisation falls back to its original dust. "The moment we begin to live we all begin to die." 2. The sentence of death is in man's mind. There it dwells as a dark thought spreading a gloom over the whole of his life. It haunts the memory, it terrifies the conscience. It is in us, we cannot get rid of it. No science can expel it from the body, no reason can argue it from the soul. III. As a sentence in man for USEFUL ENDS. What are the spiritual uses it is designed to answer? 1. Nontrust in self. "Not trust in ourselves." There is a self-reliance that is a duty. But there is a self-confidence that is sinful and ruinous. Now the sentence of death tends to check this. It makes man feel his frailty. Thank God for death, it keeps down the arrogant spirit of humanity. 2. Devout trust in God. "But in God that raiseth the dead." Man's well-being is essentially dependent upon trust in God. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. |
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