But there is
something among us sinful men far more awful than even that, and that is
to hate God. The carnal mind, writes the apostle Paul to the Romans--and
it is surely the most terrible sentence that often terrible enough
apostle ever wrote--the carnal mind is enmity against God. And Dr. John
Owen annotating on that sentence is equally terrible. The carnal mind,
he says, has 'chosen a great enemy indeed.' And having mentioned John
Owen, will you let me once more beseech all students of divinity, that
is, all students, amongst other things, of the desperate depravity of the
human heart, to read John Owen's sixth volume till they have it by
heart,--by a broken, believing heart. Owen _On Indwelling Sin_ is one of
the greatest works of the great Puritan period. It is a really great,
and as we nowadays say, a truly scientific work to the bargain. But all
that by the way. Yes, this carnal heart that is still left in every one
of us has chosen a great enemy, and it would need both strong and
faithful allies in order to fight him. The hatred that His Son also met
with when He was in this world is one of the most hateful pages of this
hateful world's hateful history.
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