The Sinfulness Of Sin - Preach The Word

The Sinfulness Of SinRalph Venninghis days and yielded not because the grace of God was sufficient for him, he might,as St. Paul did, glory in his infirmities and triumph over the messenger of Satan (2Corinthians 12). The Devil gives up for a season; but sinful lusts scarcely ever doso, for they haunt men more than the Devil does. The serpent beguiled me and Idid eat, was no excuse. The Devil had a spite against me and paid it, will not do foran apology. It is man who sins, and sin that damns, neither of which can the Devilforce upon man.2. Sin is worse than the devil as a tempter and it is a worse tormentor. The Devil iscruel enough, a roaring lion. Many times he takes possession of men and handlesthem most unmercifully. And he will torment them much more in Hell. But duringall this the Devil is outside a man's spirit; but sin is there, taking possession of andtormenting that. It is a sorrowful thing to be tempted to sin, but it is a torment tobe a sinner. God does more for us, for our ease and refreshment, when he pardonsus than if he cast out of us as many devils as he cast out of Mary Magdalene or outof the man called Legion (Mark 5.9). Yea, in Hell the gnawing worm of a guilty andupbraiding conscience torments man more than devils do. It would be a relief to aman in Hell if he could only have peace in his conscience, or if he could say that hewas there without his fault, and that his perdition were not of himself.(4) Sin is worse than Hell.Hell is only a punishment, but sin is a crime. It is more evil than the punishment,and it is that of which Hell is the punishment. The very greatness of thispunishment argues the greatness of the crime and the sinfulness of sin. That God isglorified on men in such a way is a clear and full proof what an evil thing it is to sinagainst and dishonour God. Consequently Hell itself does not inflict so much hurt assin does. Hell, indeed, is a dismal place of horror and torment, the extremity ofsuffering, but it never had any existence till sin had. Nor could Hell have suchnames and such torments as it does now if sin were not there. It is reported as asaying of Anselm that if sin and Hell were set before him and he must go throughone of them, he would choose to go through Hell rather than sin. Sin is the worst ofHell and worse than Hell. It is what makes sinners cry out for the uninhabitablenessof devouring fire and everlasting burnings, which are no terror to righteous andupright souls (Isaiah 33.14,15). It is sin that makes Hell to be Hell. God was neverangry until sin made him so; his wrath was never kindled except by sin. Now justas sin made Hell, so the more sin the more Hell, as Tyre and Sidon suffer morethan Sodom and Gomorrah. Even if there were no Hell but such as Cain and Judasfelt within them, it would still be a great one. They would tell you that it isdamnation enough to be a sinner and to feel the horrors of a guilty and accusingconscience.(5) In every way sin is the worst of evils. I will show this yet a little more:1. There is more evil in it than there is good in the whole creation. That is, it doesus more hurt than all the creation can do us good. When we are sick or wounded,many of God's creatures of a medicinal nature can help to recover and cure us.There is no cure, however, for this evil of sin by any or all of the creatures. Sin wastoo much for that good in which we were created, and all created good ever sincehas not been able to recover us from it. No! It is only by God that we can be either103