The uplifted horn and the stiff neck.
These are two formidable enemies of God and the soul. They are generally found together, as in nature, so in the soul. They help one another in doing evil. They are metaphors derived from the tossing horn and the sturdy neck of the fierce wild bull found in the forests of Palestine. They represent severally the haughty spirit,—that is the uplifted horn; and the stubborn will,—that is the stiff neck. Let us speak of—
I. THEIR ORIGINS.
1. The haughty spirit. Many are its roots. The evil heart, seeing the wicked prosper, worldly success, God's delay of judgment, ill example, and often the possession of a naturally strong will to which other men, as is usual, yield.
2. The stubborn will. This partly natural, partly acquired, and ever fostered by the haughty spirit. Pride cherishes it, and encourages it always.
II. THEIR EVIL WORK. God's Spirit, his Word, his ministers, his providence, Christ's love, plead, threaten, and warn in vain, and the man dies in his sins.
III. THEIR DESTRUCTION. This wrought by:
1. The final awful judgment of God.
2. His providence.
3. His Spirit's power.
They come in reverse order. But they are effectual, one or other of them. Which shall be so with us?—S.C.