Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation… I. THE LOSS OF AN EXALTED STATE. 1. By whom lost. 2. What they lost. An "estate" of spotless purity, exalted dignity, supreme felicity. 3. How they lost it. By rebellion against God. Probably pride was their special sin (1 Timothy 3:6). Beware of this sin; it is the first of which we have any knowledge, and I may say the dread parent of every other. Unbelief is a great sin, but the hidden germ of that sin is pride. Old Quarles says, "It hates superiors, it scorns inferiors, its owns — no equals;... till thou hate it God hates thee." II. THE WITHHOLDING OF SAVING GRACE. Angels sinned and were destroyed, then let men beware. III. THE SEALING OF AN AWFUL DOOM. Notice the contrast — angels yet in chains, under darkness. Beings once of supernal light now dwelling in infernal gloom. 1. Observe that punishment is according to abused privileges. This is not a mere arbitrary law. Privileges create a capacity for suffering. To confine a poor beggar in prison for a year would not be a tenth so irksome as a year's imprisonment to a prince. 2. The punishment of the wicked is not intended to be disciplinary. At least six thousand years have already hovered over these fallen angels since first they fell. But no reformation has been wrought in their characters. Hell is not the place to burn the rebellious spirit out of fallen angels, nor yet of lost men. 3. The punishment of such as rebel against God is not at its worst until the judgment-day. 4. The punishment of apostate angels will be side by side with that of unsaved sinners. They shall be companions in misery. (W. Williams.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. |
    |