Proverbs 14:9 Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favor. I. THE FOOLISHNESS IN ITSELF. Sin is really a very terrible thing: nothing is so terrible. Ask its slave and its victim. If you look from its work within you to its work around you, is the foolishness much less manifest? What but sin is the cause of all the misery around us? II. THE CONSEQUENCES OF MOCKING AT SIN. 1. The effects of this mocking on the mocker himself. Nothing can be so deadening to the soul. Because laughing at sin relieves us of fear of it. Such mocking is altogether alien from, and contrary to, the mind of Christ. Moreover, it must quench the Spirit. It must kill the first beginnings of repentance. 2. Consequences upon others. There is nothing more corrupting of others than this mocking at sin. Such men may be found doing their deadly work everywhere, and in every rank of society. The young are their peculiar victims. The mocker's work is often irretrievable. No one who has led another to laugh at sin can ever calculate or undo the work he may have done.Learn — 1. To fly from the very first beginnings of this sin, whether in yourself or in others. 2. Understand the real value of that in which you are tempted to join. 3. If you are tempted to envy sinners their laugh, or to shrink from their mockeries, seek the defence, relief, and strengthening of prayer. (Bishop S. Wilberforce.) Parallel Verses KJV: Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.WEB: Fools mock at making atonement for sins, but among the upright there is good will. |
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