1 Corinthians 10:12 Why let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. I. MAN IS EVER IN DANGER OF A MORAL "FALL" Whatever else the record of "the Fall" may teach us, it is certainly an instructive warning that no state on earth places us above the reach of temptation and the possibility of fall. The Jews spelt that awful word in the desert; Adam and Eve spelt it in Paradise. To all it meant the same. 1. A. departure from the morally erect attitude of heart that God designed for man. 2. A prostration of the manhood that was meant to be upright, vigorous in goodness. There is no garden here, be it church, college, or even home, that has not a serpent in it. II. THERE ARE MEN WHO CONSIDER THEMSELVES ABOVE THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH A MORAL "FALL." They consider themselves as safe whoever is in peril; as "standing," whoever is falling. This misconception arises — 1. From a faulty moral standard. If that is flexible he cannot tell whether or no he is standing or falling. A ship at sea does not measure her course by another ship in motion, or still less by ever restless waves, but by star, or headland, or lighthouse. So we must measure our moral distances by the inflexible and inviolable. 2. From inattention to the true standard, even though it be recognised. 3. From self-delusion as to one's own condition. There are moral intoxicants, and under their influence many a backslider is unconscious of his egregious lapses from right, and so considers himself in no danger, though at the very moment he is falling. III. SUCH MEN ARE IN THE GREATEST DANGER OF A MORAL FALL. All are, even those who really are standing, but especially those who "think" they are standing. It is the self-consciousness that this "thinking " involves, the self-satisfaction it implies, the self-gratulation it engenders that is the source of peril. No traveller is so likely to stumble as the Pharisee. His whole attitude and temper conspire to imperil his spiritual safety. "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (U.R. Thomas.) Parallel Verses KJV: Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.WEB: Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn't fall. |
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