Mark 14:68-72 But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what you say. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.… He who once cracks his conscience will not much strain at it the second time. 1. Sin is very bold when once it is bid welcome. If it once enter, it knows the way again, and once admitted will plead, not possession, but prescription. An army is easier kept out than beaten out. 2. The sinner is less able to resist the second time than he was the first. Grace is weakened and decayed by yielding to the first temptation, and the strength of God, which only makes the way of grace easy, is plucked away by grieving His Holy Spirit. 3. The way of sin once set open, is as the gates of a city thrown open for an enemy, by which Satan bringing in his forces, strongly plants them, and quickly so fortifies them, that it will require great strength to remove them. 4. Every sin admitted, not only weakens, but corrupts the faculties of the soul by which it is upheld. It darkens the understanding, corrupts the will, disturbs the affections, and raises a cloud of passions to dazzle reason. (Dr. Thomas Taylor.) Parallel Verses KJV: But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew. |
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