Homilist Ezra 9:13-14 And after all that is come on us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass… Under the influence of a great grief we have here the soul uttering two voices. I. THE VOICE OF CONSCIENCE IN VIEW OF SIN. Conscience says — 1. That man himself is responsible for his sins. "Our evil deeds and our great trespass." There is a strong tendency in man to charge his sins on others. (1) Sometimes on God Himself. (2) Sometimes on his fellow human creatures, as Adam did (Genesis 3:12). (3) Sometimes on the devil (Genesis 3:13).But an awakened conscience says with emphasis, "Our evil deeds and our great trespass." Conscience speaks — 2. Of the great evil of sin. Man is prone to make his sins look less than they really are. Conscience, like the Divine commandment, shows the "exceeding sinfulness of sin." Conscience says — 3. That punishment is connected with sin. There is punishment connected with the transgression of every law of God, both in the natural and in the moral world. God has so made His laws that they punish every one that transgresseth them themselves. Punishment may also follow sin in the world to come without the direct interposition of God. Conscience says — 4. That sin is not punished in this world according to its in desert. This is accounted for — (1) Because this is a world in which good and evil exist. (2) Because there is more mercy than justice in this world.The scale is never level when there is more weight in one end than in the other. The cause of the lightning and thundering in the natural world is the loss of the equilibrium in the air. So in the moral world, we see it sometimes much disturbed, and that in consequence of there being more mercy here than justice. Justice in this life is like an eternal sea kept within its bounds with only a few stria running over its banks just to show that it exists, while mercy is like an eternal ocean deluging the world. II. THE VOICE OF WONDER IN VIEW OF GOD'S SALVATION FROM SIN. This wonder is caused by. two things. 1. By the greatness of the deliverance. This is seen — (1) In its origin : (2) In the way in which it has been brought about. (3) In the vastness of the blessings which it brings to man. 2. By looking at the awful consequences of rejecting this salvation. Ezra is confounded here by thinking of the people's transgression and the awful consequences that would follow if they would not repent and seek forgiveness (ver. 14). "But what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?" (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; |
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