“Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.”–Rom. 7:13
Read the newspaper on any given day and you will see something that breaks your heart. Bad and sad news attracts lots of attention. As unpleasant as it is we can’t seem to ignore it–we are drawn to it as a moth to the light. We all read things that make us shudder, to think about being in another person’s shoes. But there is something worse.
What is the most heinous, terrible, horrible, vile, vulgar, filthy, sickening, harmful thing you can think of? Let your imagination run wild. Think about the Nazi concentration camps– smell the flesh burning in the furnace, the POW horror stories, murder, torture, rape, your most vile thoughts–whatever comes to your mind, real or imagined. Whatever you put on your list, if the answer isn’t sin it is wrong. Absolutely nothing is worse than sin. A. W. Pink said: “If we took a survey of everything on the earth — we could not find anything so vile as sin. The basest and most contemptible thing in this world, has some degree of worth in it, as being the workmanship of God. But sin and its foul streams have not the least part of worth in them. Sin is wholly evil without the least mixture of good — it is vileness in the abstract….All comparisons fail to set forth the horrible malignity in that abominable thing which God hates. We can say nothing more evil of sin, than to term it what it is!“
Sin’s heinousness is seen in its author– the Devil. Sin’s enormity is is revealed in the ruin it has brought to man–the source of all our suffering and maker of all our misery. Sin’s malignity is seen in that it is an offense to God’s holiness and hated by Him. And yet we coddle it as a baby, embrace it as a friend, love it as a spouse, entertain it as a welcomed guest, pursue it as a treasure, and excuse it as child’s play. What is wrong with us? We are deceived by it, dominated by it, driven by it, depraved because of it, defiled by it, depressed over it, divided due to it, destitute because of it, dead in it, and destroyed by it– yet we delight in it! What could be more foolish?
We love what is loathsome to God
We delight in what is detestable to God
We admire what is an abomination to God
We honor what is hated by God
We pursue what is prohibited by God
We revel in what is repulsive to God
We desire what is denounced by God
We do what is dishonoring to God
And then we have the audacity to wonder why things are as they are, complain about our hardships, excuse ourselves from guilt, blame others, even God, brag about ourselves, reject God’s demands, and ignore God’s warnings.—HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
