The Sinfulness Of Sin - Preach The Word

The Sinfulness Of SinRalph Venningthey go about their work because God is just in judging ungodly men (Revelation16.1,5). At the end of the world the angels will be the reapers and will gather outall that doth offend (Matthew 13.39-4I). The Lord will come with his holy andmighty angels and take vengeance on them that know not God and that obey notthe gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1.7,8).I could give other examples of how the angels bear testimony against sin. They arepresent at our worship and observe us, which is a great obligation to reverence anda witness against immodesty (1 Corinthians 11.10). They take account of ourvows: it is better that you should not vow, than vow and not pay, because it isbefore the angel (Ecclesiastes 5.5,6). The Apostle charges Timothy not only beforeGod but before the elect angels, to be strictly conscientious (1 Timothy 5.21). Theyare witnesses of what we do, and shall be witnesses of what God will do; for hewho confesses Christ shall be owned by him, and he who denies Christ shall bedenied by him and that before the angels (Luke 12.8,9). It will be one part of gloryhereafter to be like angels; then let us be like them here in witnessing against sin,and doing the will of God on earth as they do it in heaven.(2) Evil angels witness that sin is sinfulEvil angels, that is, the Devil and his angels. They do this not only in being devilsby sin and suffering for it, but in many other ways as I shall show. We have asaying that virtues confessed by foes, and vices confessed by friends, are true.Surely then, by the Devil we shall find that vice and sin is as we have declared it tobe. And if such a friend of sin as the Devil is will confess it to be sinful we maybelieve him. For though he is the father of lies, yet in this he speaks truth, a greatand clear truth.a. The Devil witnesses against sin by his trembling. A devil trembles that there is aGod (James 2.19). Now God was never terrible to the angels until they sinned;then they saw and trembled at the terror of God. Sin brought judgment on thedevils {2 Peter 2.4); judgment is what they tremble at. So sin is the first cause ofthe devils' trembling. So I conclude that whatever makes devils tremble at thebelief of a God, who will be a God of Judgment, is exceedingly sinful.b. However great that judgment, they acknowledge it to be just and so, byconsequence, sin to be unjust and sinful. The justness of judgment confessed is aconfession of the vileness of the sin which brings the judgment. The devils say 'Artthou come to torment us before the time'? (Matthew 8.29). They confess that theSon of God was to consign them to torment and they had no exception to makeagainst their being tormented except as to the time. They are reserved in chains tojudgment (2 Peter 2.4; Jude 6) and they say 'Art thou come to torment us beforethe time?' that is, before the Judgment of the great day to which we are reserved.And they do not deny that they are worthy of this death or that their damnation isjust, and therefore they confess the ugliness and filthiness of sin.c. They tempt men to sin. In so doing they witness that sin is sinful. It used to besaid that surely they must be good men whom Nero hated and persecuted. In thesame way we may say, that that must be evil which the Evil One tempts men to,just as that is good which he hates and persecutes. I ask you, can that be good59