The Crime of Degrading Men
Matthew 18:6
But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me…


I. Parents are frequently the cause of many of the faults which grow into great depravities in their children.

II. Our pride and inconsideration may, and often do, result in a train of evils to the character of our servants, of our clerks, and of the working men that are under our care.

III. By the inconsiderate use of our liberty we are in danger of causing men to offend, and of essentially damaging human nature.

IV. Men deteriorate their fellow-men, and weaken society, by such conduct as puts men in their commercial intercourse into very tempting relations to each other.

V. Avarice — and that, too, in its rues: ignoble forms — is continually tempting so-called good men to the injury of their fellow-men.

VI. Great damage is done by men professing godliness, as well as men professing honesty, though not avowedly Christian, by the injustice which lurks, and is almost inherent, in their vanity.

(H. W. Beecher.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

WEB: but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a huge millstone should be hung around his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea.




The Claimers of the Young Upon the Church
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