The Sinfulness Of Sin - Preach The Word

The Sinfulness Of SinRalph Venningguilty, I have not condemned you, but I speak thus that you may not be guilty, andthat you may pray to God to be kept from, and praise him if you have been keptfrom, such crying sins.(e) Beware of such sins as the world calls little sins, peccadilloes. Some men reckongreat sins to be only little ones, and little ones to be none at all or very venial.They say, what harm is there in an innocent lie or a pious fraud? Alas, what acontradiction this is! Can a lie be innocent, and fraud pious? Woe to them who callevil good, and join good and evil as if they were one, or agreed in one! Mothersays, oh, it is only a trick of youth. Yes, but it is such a trick as may cost you agoing to Hell. Another deceives his neighbour and, laughing while he strikes, says,'Am not I in sport?' (Proverbs 26.19). Yes, but he who sins in jest or makes a jestof sin may be damned in earnest.Consider that no sin against a great God can be strictly a little sin, thoughcompared with a greater one it may be. But however little it is, to account it somakes it greater. And the nature of the greater sin is in the least; a spark of fire, adrop of poison have the nature of much more, indeed, of all (James 2.10). God hasseverely punished sins that have been looked upon as little sins, indeed, some ofthem well-meant sins, as when Uzzah took hold of the Ark when the cart shook (2Samuel 6.6,7). When men only looked into the Ark, it cost them dear (1 Samuel6.19). Gathering a few sticks on the Sabbath was severely punished (Numbers15.32-36). These seem to be small matters, but in sin we must not consider somuch what is forbidden as why it is forbidden, and who forbids it.Besides, a little sin makes way for a greater, as a little boy-thief entering a house,makes way for a man-thief to enter. It is hard to sin once and only once, to commitone little sin and only one. Give the devil and sin an inch, and they will take an ell.Vain babbling increases to more ungodliness. A little leak in a ship may by degreesfill it with water and sink it. The Devil does not much care by what sins we go toHell, whether small or great, formality or profaneness.To conclude--he who makes no conscience of little sins makes conscience of nosins. He who breaks the least of God's commandments has none or very little lovefor God; for herein is love that we keep his commandments, and they are notgrievous, no, not the greatest of them, much less the least (1 John 5.3). To haverespect to all the commandments of God is a proof of a sound heart, and excludesshame (Psalm 119.6,80). A good conscience is a universal conscience. If a manmakes no conscience of little sins, to which the temptations can be only little, howlittle conscience is he likely to make of great sins, to which there are greatertemptations? If Judas betrays his Lord for thirty pieces, what would he not do formore? Consider what our blessed Saviour said, 'He that is faithful in that which isleast is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also inmuch' (Luke 16.10). Beware then of little sins.(f) Take heed of what men call secret sins. There are only too many who blessthemselves in their wickedness because, as they think, no one knows how wickedthey are. They are drunkards, but it is in the night; they are unclean, but it is inthe dark. Their mystery of iniquity trades in the works of darkness and in the dark.Indeed, if men could sin and no eye see them, they might seem to sin securely;149