The Sinfulness Of Sin - Preach The Word

The Sinfulness Of SinRalph Venning(1) Against the good of man's body. It has corrupted man's blood, and made hisbody mortal, thereby rendering it a vile body. Our bodies, though made of dust,were more precious than the fine gold; but when we sinned, they became vilebodies. Before sin our bodies were immortal (for death and mortality came in bysin), but now alas they must return to dust. It is appointed to all men once to die,and it is well if they die but once, and the second death have no power over them.They must see corruption, or the equivalent of death, i.e. a change; for this fleshand blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, as that with which we were createdmight possibly have done (1 Corinthians I5.50). Our body is sown in corruption, indishonour, in weakness (I Corinthians 15.42-43), and is therefore called vile(Philippians 3.21). Before this body is laid in the grave, it is languishing, in acontinual consumption, and dying daily, besides all the dangers that attend it fromwithout.(2) Against the good of man's soul. The soul is transcendently excellent beyond thebody, and its good is beyond that of the body; so that a wrong done to the soul ismuch more to man's hurt than a wrong done to the body. Therefore our Savioursays, Fear not them that can kill the body, and do no more (which is little incomparison of what God can do to the soul, if it sins), but fear him that candestroy, i.e. damn, soul and body in hell (Matthew 10.28). It is not very ill with aman if it is well with his soul. We can more easily and cheaply die than be damned,and may better venture our bodies to suffering than our souls to sinning, for hethat sinneth wrongs his soul (Proverbs 8.36). Nothing but sin wrongs a man's soul,and there is no sin which does not do so.Thus we see in a general way that sin is against the good of man's body and soul.But in order to exhibit this more clearly and fully, I shall consider and speak of man(1) in a natural sense, (2) in a moral sense.(1) In a natural senseIf we consider man in a natural or physical state, we shall find sin to be (i) againstthe well-being, and (ii) against the very being of man. It will not suffer him to bewell or long in the world, nor if possible to be at all.(i) It is against man's well-being in this life. Well-being is the life of life, and sinbears us so much ill-will, that it deprives us of our livelihood, and of that whichmakes it worth our while to live. Man was born to a great estate, but by sin, whichwas and is treason against God, he forfeited all. Man came into the world as into ahouse ready furnished; he had all things prepared and ready to hand. All thecreatures came to wait on him and pay him homage; but when man sinned, Godturned him out of house and home, and all his lands, goods and chattels weretaken from him. Paradise was man's inheritance, where he had everything pleasantto the eye and good for food (he needed no clothes while innocent). But when hesinned, God dispossessed him of all, and drove him out into the wide world, like apilgrim or a beggar, to live by his own hands and to earn his meat by the sweat ofhis brow, as you may read at length in Genesis 3.Thus, by sin, man, who was the Emperor of Eden, is banished from his nativecountry, and must never see it again but in a new and living way; for the old is14