The Sinfulness Of Sin - Preach The Word

The Sinfulness Of SinRalph Venninghis bed of idleness, and yet he is loth to rise, and therefore he turns this way andthat. And if after much ado and many a yawn he does get up, he 'hideth his handin his bosom (it is cold weather); it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth'(verse 15). He is grieved to bring it twice to his mouth, though it is to feed himself.This is the guise of idle and slothful people, indeed of professors. We are to dowhat we do with our might, and how can that be while our hand is in our bosom?Take it out for shame! For as is the case with the man who, having put his hand tothe plough, looks back, so also with the man who does not put his hand to theplough at all. Both will be found unfit for the work and kingdom of God; they shallbeg in harvest but have nothing. In the great day of recompense, these slothfulones will learn to pray and beg, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us, but they shall havenothing, that is, of that which they beg; no door will open to let them into theHouse of God, where there is bread enough.I remember I said that sins of omission make way for sins of commission, and it isonly too true. When Job's friends heard such unbecoming language from him ascursing, they concluded that he omitted praying: 'Thou restrainest prayer beforeGod' (Job 15.4). When men neglect duty, they usually fall into sin. Let us continuewith the story of the slothful: 'I went by the field of the slothful, and by thevineyard of the man void of understanding' (Proverbs 24.30). And what did heobserve? 'And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered theface thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down' (verse 31). Alas, Edenbecomes a wilderness, and Paradise a desert; the poor soil is under the curse; itbrings forth grieving thorns and pricking briars and stinging nettles, and is againnigh unto more cursing for bringing this forth (Hebrews 6.8). Sin advances bydegrees; it seems modest at first: just omit, then it grows bold and bids youcommit, and so from omission to commission, until at last the man becomes a manof sin and a son of perdition, a hopeless, desperate, lost and undone man.Moreover, such people are frequently given up (Romans 1.21). Their first sin was anot glorifying God as God; and then, not being thankful, they became vain; beingvain they were darkened; from that they became fools, and so on to abominableidolatries, and at last it came to this, that God gave them up (verse 24). Such isthe danger of sins of omission! One makes way for another, and from that theyproceed to commission, until they are given up and cursed.(e) The more knowledge of any duty we have, the more clear it is and the more weare convinced of it, the more aggravated is the omission of that duty. The clearerthe light is, the greater the sin of not receiving it; this is the condemnation (John3.19). If Christ had not come, their sin had not been so great; but now not tobelieve is to be without excuse (John 15.22,24). If God had not told us what weought to do, we might have made excuse and said that had we known better wewould have done better. But God hath shown thee, O man, what is good (Micah6.8), and that not only by his works, but by his Word. And If the knowledge of himby them only aggravated men's sin, as it did (Romans 1.21), how greatly will theirsin be aggravated who neglect so great salvation, which at first was preached bythe Lord Jesus Christ, and afterward confirmed by them that heard him, Godbearing them witness with signs and wonders, divers miracles and gifts of the HolyGhost (Hebrews 2.3,4).140