The Sinfulness Of Sin - Preach The Word

The Sinfulness Of SinRalph Venningg. Apostasy (John 8.44). The Devil did not abide in the truth but left his first love,life and state (2 Peter 2.4; Jude 6). Hence Judas is called devil (John 6.70) andapostates are said to turn aside after Satan (1 Timothy 5.15). As converts areturned from Satan to God, so apostates return from God to Satan. He who does notabide in the truth is like the Devil. I will mention only one more sin in this list:h. Persecuting the righteous for righteousness' sake is the Devil's work (1 John3.12; Matthew 25.35). They who do it are of the Devil and are called devils. Somehe oppresses, some he possesses; and where he is dispossessed there he turnspersecutor: 'The devil shall cast some of you into prison' (Revelation 2.10); thiswas a persecuting devil incarnate.Thus sin is the work of the Devil, which is a great witness against it. I may add atthis point that in some ways the sin of man is more horrible and heinous than thatof devils. I do not mean the first sins of either, but the sins since the time whenGod revealed his pleasure concerning the disposal of devils and men. The devil hassome sort of gratification in tempting man, for it is a kind of victory or revenge; butmen only wrong and torment themselves. Moreover the devils are past hope andhave grown desperate, being rejected of God (2 Peter 2.4); for Christ Jesus did nottake them on him (Hebrews 2.16). They are hardened against God who punishesthem, and have grown so envious that they will be avenged on man seeing theycannot be on God. If only they had a door of hope opened, it is probable theywould not be so wicked as they are. When there is no hope, persons are moreresolute (Jeremiah 2.25). But for men to sin whom God has spared, for whomindeed he spared not his own Son, whom he calls and woos and even begs to bereconciled and happy--for these men to sin, what horrible ingratitude is this! Whatan aggravating and inexcusable sin it is! It is worse than the Devil's sin, for devilsdo not sin against second mercy and offers of grace as men do. But I must hastento sin's second name:2. Sin is all filthiness of flesh and spirit (2 Corinthians 7.1). This denotes itsloathsomeness and its infectiousness.a. Sin is a loathsome thing. This is clear when we begin to consider that which sinresembles, unto which it is likened, as the most offensive and most loathsomediseases: a canker or gangrene (2 Timothy 2.17). Now men are loath to eat anddrink with those who have these diseases. Sin is likened to the rot, to the filth andcorruption of the foulest disease, which is so foul and rotten that one would nottouch it with a pair of tongs, as the proverb goes. The Apostle tells us that some,like Jannes and Jambres, resist the truth; he calls them men of corrupt or rottenminds. And Solomon would have us know that just as a sound heart is the life ofthe flesh, so envy (anything opposed to the sound heart) is the rottenness of thebones (Proverbs 14.30). Indeed, sin is likened to the plague from which everyoneflies. It is so offensive and loathsome that it separates the nearest relations. Nowsin is called the plague of the heart (1 Kings 8.38, 39) which is much worse thanany sore of the body.And this is not all. Sin is not only likened to the most loathsome diseases, but alsoto the other most loathsome things there are. It is likened to the blood in which88