August 20, 2008

The Sinfulness of Sin

We don't get it. That is, we do not come close to fully grasping the fallenness of this world, the awfulness of sin, the power of the evil one. Why is this on my mind?
Yesterday, I spoke with a young pastor who was in the midst of dealing with a college couple who had admitted to committing sexual sin. The temporary tantalizing pleasure was long gone; they were now in the ugly reality of what sin does to those who commit it and also to the rest who are impacted by it. I prayed with this young pastor, for his own protection and that the Lord would give him wisdom in counselling these young people and their families.
Just this morning, a pastor visited us here at Banner of Truth to check out our ever-so-slightly-damaged books (50% off). He shared with me that his brother had committed suicide just three weeks ago, and that he was the one who officiated at his own brother's funeral. We stood together at the bottom of our steps as I prayed for him and his family, dealing with the pain.
Have any of you read Ralph Venning's, "The Sinfulness of Sin"? It was first published in 1669 and available as a Banner of Truth Puritan Paperback. Venning writes, "Nothing is so evil as sin; nothing is evil but sin. As the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us, so neither the sufferings of this life nor of that to come are worthy to be compared as evil with the evil of sin. No evil is displeasing to God or destructive to man but the evil of sin. Sin is worse than affliction, than death, than Devil, than Hell. Affliction is not so afflictive, death is not so deadly, the Devil not so devilish, Hell not so hellish as sin is. This will help to fill up the charge against its sinfulness, especially as it is contrary to and against the good of man. The four evils I have just named are truly terrible, and from all of them everyone is ready to say, Good Lord, deliver us! Yet none of these, nor all of them together, are as bad as sin. Therefore our prayers should be more to be delivered from sin, and if God hear no prayer else, yet as to this we should say, We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord!"
Indeed, we beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord! Deliver us from sin.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent book! I have been slowly working through this one for some time. Highly recommended.


JDF

pilgrim said...

I own this book, and I recommend it as well.

If I ever post in my blog again, a review/recommendation of this book is a possibility.

If you haven't read it, do so.