The Sinfulness Of Sin - Preach The Word

The Sinfulness Of SinRalph Venning2. There is no honour to be gained by sin. Sin is not a creditable thing. Granted,there are some who glory in and boast of their sin, but they glory in their shame(Philippians 3.19), and surely sooner or later they will be ashamed of their glory!Sin is not a thing of good report; it hears badly of itself and has a bad namethroughout the whole world. Can that be honourable which is unreasonable? Canthat be an honour to man which debases and degrades him? The unreasonablenessof sin is apparent from the reasonableness of the law; sin has no reason for it, forthe law is against it. That sin degrades men I have showed already. Take the finestthings of this world, in which men pride themselves; they cannot cover thenakedness of sinners, much less be an ornament or honour to them; for that whichis a disgrace to the soul can never be an honour or grace to the body. That whichmen, generally, are ashamed to own, at least under its own name, cannot be anhonour to them. Yet even if all the world were to admire and celebrate thegrandeur of sinners, God counts them vile, though they are exalted in the world,and God is doubtless the best judge of honour. That which is abominable to Godcannot be honourable to man. Even an appearance of righteousness, which ishighly esteemed among men, is an abomination in the sight of God, much morethen is sin itself (Luke 16.15).3. There is no pleasure to be had from sin. It is true, indeed, that the pleasures ofsin are much talked about. We read of some who take pleasure in unrighteousness(2 Thessalonians 2.12) and of some so impudent and brazen-faced that, thoughthey knew the judgment of God, yet they took pleasure in doing, and in them thatdid, such things as were worthy of death (Romans 1.32). There have been those,too, who have lived in pleasure on the earth, and seemed to grow fat by it,nourishing themselves, but it was only for the day of slaughter (James 5.5).Notwithstanding all this, we do not doubt that we shall make it evident that there isno such thing as men talk and dream of, that is, pleasure in, from or by sin.Pleasure is the contentment and satisfaction of a man's mind in what he does orhas; but sinners have none of this from sin.a. There is no peace to the wicked. This is told us by the God who searches theirhearts and knows what is there (Isaiah 57.21). The Septuagint reads this verse:There is no joy, no peace, nor pleasure, no serenity, nor one halcyon-day, for theyare like the raging sea, casting up mire and dirt by reason of its rolling anddisquiet. To appearance, men seem to laugh and be merry, but God sees that theyhave no peace within. And I would rather believe the God of truth than lying men,for lie they do when they say that they have peace or pleasure in sin. Solomon'said of laughter, It is mad, and of mirth, What doeth it?' And in the midst or heartof laughter, the heart is sad.b. Sin in its very nature cannot afford pleasure, since it is contra-natural to Man.Therefore the heathen philosophers could say that punishment follows on the heelsof guilt, as the Scripture says, If thou doest not well, sin lieth (like a dog) at thedoor (Genesis 4.7). Another writer says more expressly that punishment not onlysucceeds sin but that they are born together and are twins. For they who deservepunishment expect it, and whoever expects punishment suffers it in a degree. Thusthe sinner is his own tormentor and sin his torment. Our knowledge of having erredkeeps returning and complaining of the faults, and the impression of the fault willbring fear, which fear has torment, even if there were no more torment to come.114