The Sinfulness Of Sin - Preach The Word

The Sinfulness Of SinRalph Venningwords of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, OLord' (Psalm 19.14), of which I have just spoken. Say, 'O Lord, open thou my lips,and my mouth shall show forth thy praise' (Psalm 51.15). 'Let my mouth be filledwith thy praise and with thy honour all the day' (Psalm 71.8). 'Set a watch, O Lord,before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing'(Psalm 141.3,4). That which God keeps is well kept, and if he does not keep thecity, the watchmen watch in vain. Commit yourself to the Keeper of Israel, and allwill be well (Proverbs 16.1-3).3. Beware of sinning in deed.Before I speak directly about living in the practice of any sin, I crave leave to saysome things about and against sins of omission. This is a thing too seldom treatedor taken notice of, though there is scarcely any guilt more common than this.(i) Take heed of sins of omission. It is a sin to omit any good which is commanded,as well (or ill) as to commit any evil which is forbidden; not to do what we ought,as well as to do what we ought not. We are not only to eschew evil, but to do goodalso (1 Peter 3.11). I insist on this the rather because many are more apt andprone to omit duties, to be negligent at doing good, than to commit gross andpalpable evils. Withal, they look upon it as a less evil, if any at all, for there are somany trifling excuses ready for it, as you may see (Luke 14.18-20). I would urgeyou therefore to consider these things:(a) Some of the best men have been guilty of this, and have suffered by it. I willgive but two examples. First is Jacob, who was most tender of telling a lie,although it was to get a blessing (Genesis 27.11, I2). Yet this same Jacob was soforgetful of, and for so long neglected and omitted to pay his vow, which he hadmade at Bethel, that God reminds him of it (Genesis 35.1), and for the omission ofwhich it is supposed that the afflictions mentioned in the former chapter befell him.The other instance is Hezekiah, a good man and a good king, who did not render tothe Lord according to the benefit he had received, nor answered the end of it, butwas guilty of not being humble or thankful enough, though he sang a song ofpraise, it would seem annually, to God. Therefore wrath was upon him (2Chronicles 32.25 with Isaiah 38.20). Alas, how prone good men are to neglectduties, and especially that of returning thanks! For the sake of these things thewrath of God comes on his own children, as it comes on the children ofdisobedience for gross sins (Ephesians 5.5,6). How dearly it cost the spouse whenshe did not open to her beloved (Canticles 5.6,7)!(b) Yet generally it is a great affliction to good and godly men to be forced to omitduties, though the omission of them in this instance is no sin of theirs, as in time ofsickness or in case of flight. How David mourns while he is in the wilderness,having been persecuted and driven there! How he laments his absence from theassemblies of them that kept holy day (Psalm 42.1-4). Though God in such casesof necessity dispenses with his Sabbath, and consequently his instituted worship onthat day, holy men will still lament this necessity and mourn that they arerestrained from sharing with others, and that they are forced to do that whichotherwise would not be lawful to do on a Sabbath day. It is for that reason (not toexclude others) that, I conceive, our Saviour bade the disciples pray that their138