The Sinfulness Of Sin - Preach The Word

The Sinfulness Of SinRalph VenningGodly men rejoice with trembling, but some ungodly men sin without trembling andrejoice at it too.There is a sad and dreadful judgment upon them, worse than any affliction thatcould befall them; it is of all judgments the most terrible, for it belongs to thesuburbs of hell itself. To be punished for sin by sin is the worst of punishments.When God says of a person or people, that he will let them go, that they shall taketheir course and not be punished, that is by bodily and felt plagues, then hepunishes them most and worst of all. To denote the greatness of it, it is three timessaid in Scripture that God gave them up, and gave them over (Romans1,24,26,28). It is no wonder that men act the Devil's part when they are under theDevil's doom.This therefore is no more a commendation of sin than a madman's going naked andenduring the pricks of a pin in his flesh without feeling anything, commends hiscondition. Is it any par of handsomeness to have a whore's forehead! Shall wemake blind men judges of colours, or dead men judges of the affairs of the livingand their concerns? Who would accept the judgment of those who are void ofjudgment and are given up to a reprobate mind? If men have lost their senses andwill say that snow is black or that honey is bitter, shall we believe them?But even so, there is none of these hardened sinners who will not at one time oranother bear witness against sin, and blush at their own impudence. We hearPharaoh saying, who is the Lord? And yet, hardened as he was, the same Pharaohsays, I have sinned against the Lord. God has ways enough to bring them toconfession. They who once were so wild as to call the saints' lives madness were atlast tame enough to call themselves fools for it. There is a time coming when allsuch impudent and daring sinners will sneak and be ashamed. Either the grace orthe judgment of God will awaken them out of their dead sleep; and then, thoughthey dreamt of a feast, they will be hungry; and the mouth will confess, the eyesweep, the cheeks blush, the hands smite on the thigh, and the heart bleed andbreak. Cain felt little till he heard God calling from heaven and telling him he wascursed, and then sin became heavy in its punishment, even intolerable (Genesis4.9-13). Judas makes merry a while and chinks his thirty pieces, but soon cannotendure the money nor himself but went to his own place. The prodigal livedwantonly for a long time but yet at the last cries, I have sinned. And I find threeoccasions when hundreds of sinners have confessed their sins.(a) In a day of affliction. When the plagues of God have taken hold of them and thejudgments of God have been heavy upon them, then they confess. The story ofPharaoh is too long to rehearse; likewise that of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4). Buthow God made their stout hearts stoop and brought them to their knees! Sinnerswho are shameless, and seem to dare heaven and challenge God himself and scoffat his threatenings, will then be made to change their tune, and to weep instead ofsinging. Joseph's brethren who were shameless in Canaan were ashamed in Egypt,and cried out, 'Verily we are guilty concerning our brother'. The cruel Adonibezekacknowledged the justice of God's retribution. Tell me what your desperadoes willsay in distress and on a deathbed!73