The Sinfulness Of Sin - Preach The Word

The Sinfulness Of SinRalph Venningpleasures as he could not have enjoyed without committing the great sin ofafflicting the people of God, which the Egyptians did, and of being cruel to them,instead of delivering them. So this scripture says nothing in favour of sin, or thatthere are any pleasures to be had by or from it.Yet even if we were to take this text as they interpret it, all that can be said of it isthis, that it speaks as they think; not that there are, but that there are thought tobe, pleasures of sin. It is a common thing for a scripture to speak of a certain thingas if it were, and to say that it is, when it is only supposed to be so by others. Forexample, 'There be gods many, and lords many' (1 Corinthians 8.5); not that therereally were any such gods, but that by others they were reckoned so to be.Similarly in this text, he speaks according to the manner of men concerning thepleasures of sin, as they are reputed. This is confirmed by a passage of the ApostlePeter, 'They count it pleasure to riot in the daytime' (2 Peter 2.13). It is nopleasure, but they accounted it a pleasure. Certainly, it was no pleasure, for theyonly enjoyed a mock-sport or pleasure, while they sported themselves in their owndeceivings. So in counting it pleasure to riot, they deceived themselves; theysupposed it sport and pleasure, but it is not so.Yet again, if there is any pleasure, it can only be to the physical and sensual part ofthe man, which is a pleasure to the beast, not to the man. The body is only thecase of man, a mud-walled cottage thatched over with hair. It is the soul that is theexcellency and glory of the man, the man of the man. Whoever, then, would take aright measure of what is good or evil to man must take it especially with respectand relation to the soul. That man who bade his soul take its ease in eating anddrinking greatly mistook its nature. Alas! The soul cannot feed on flesh, for it is aspirit and must have a diet peculiar and proper to a spirit, that is spiritual. Quiteoften the pleasure of the body proves to be the soul's pain. To eat and drink is thebody's pleasure, but gluttony and drunkenness, which are the sins of eating anddrinking, are the soul's pain, and many times the body's too. To rest when one isweary is the body's pleasure, but to be idle, which is the sin of rest and ease, is anaffliction and trouble to the soul.Furthermore, that which men call the pleasure of sin is both their dying andpunishment. Many laugh and are merry because of the sickness and disorder fromwhich they are suffering they say of those who are bitten by the tarantula that theywill laugh themselves to death. Some people are so ticklish that they will laugh atthe waving of a feather, but this is a proof of their weakness and folly, two illdiseases. Many people take pleasure in eating lime, mortar, coals and such-liketrash, but it is from a sickness which vitiates and corrupts their palate. Would theyotherwise feed on ashes if they did not suffer from the disease of green sickness?So whoever pretends to find pleasure in sin proves himself to be distempered anddiseased, and suffering from the old and deeply-rooted disease of being in sin,indeed dead in sin.Sin is a punishment as well as a disease. It is false pleasure, and what truer miseryis there than false joy? It is like the pleasure of the man who receives muchmoney, but it is all counterfeit, or the pleasure of the man who dreams of a feastand awakes so hungry and vexed that he could eat his dream. For this reason sin116