On the Injurious and Dangerous Effects of Sin Lying upon the Conscience Unlamented
It is a dangerous thing to fall into sin, whether secretly or openly, and the effects of it, sooner or later, will certainly be felt; but to continue in it is much more so. A very heavy threatening is denounced against God’s open enemies for their persisting in sin: God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses* But the same thing in persons who have known the way of righteousness, must be abundantly more offensive. He that chastise th the heathen, shall not He correct.’f. There is a remedy at hand of God’s providing; a propitiation for our sins; and
Psal. lxviii. 21. t Psal. xciv. 10.
6* it is declared, If any man sin, we have an advocate loith the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. But if instead of confessing our sins on the head of this propitiation, and imploring mercy in his name, we sink into hardness of heart, neglect prayer, shun the company of the faithful, and efface the remembrance of one sin only by the commission of another, what have we to expect? I am aware that it is one of the devices of Satan, after having drawn a soul from God, and entangled him in the net of his own corruptions, to persuade him that the prayer of faith in his circumstances would be presumption; and that it is much more modest and becoming for him to stand aloof both from God and his people. And if by faith were meant, what some would seem to understand by it, a working up ourselves into a persuasion that owing to the immutability of God all is safe and right, whatever be our spirit or conduct, it would be presumptuous enough: but genuine faith in Christ is never out of season. The greater our sin has been, the greater reason there is for us to confess it upon the head of the gospel sacrifice, and to plead for mercy in his name. We may not be able to go, considering ourselves as christians: but this affords no reason why we should not go as sinners.
The injury and danger of such a state of mind will appear from a consideration of the effects which it produces; and must continue to produce, if not healed by a return to God by Jesus Christ.
Firsts It will necessarily deprive us op
ALL TRUE ENJOYMENT IN RELIGION, AND BY CONSEQUENCE, OF ALL THAT PRESERVATION TO THE HEART AND MIND WHICH SUCH ENJOY-MENT AFFORDS. — The principal sources of enjoyment to a christian that walketh spiritually, are, communion with God and his people: but to him that is out of the way these streams are dried up: or, which is the same thing in effect to him, they are so impeded as not to reach him. Guilt, shame, darkness, ami defilement have taken possession of the soul: love is quenched, hope clouded, joy fled, prayer restrained, and every other grace enervated. It becomes the holiness of God to frown upon us under such a state of mind, by withholding the light of his countenance; and if it were otherwise, we have no manner of desire after it. Such was the state of David after he had sinned, and before he had repented: the joys of God’s salvation were far from him. The thirty-second and thirty-eighth Psalms appear to have been written, as has already been observed, after his recovery: but he there describes what was the state of his mind previous to it. There is much meaning in what he sets out with in the first of these psalms: Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered — Blessed is the man to lohom the Lord impiUcth not iniquity, and in lohose spirit there is no guile! He knew, the contrary of this by bitter experience. Guilt and defilement had eaten up all his enjoyment. V/hcn I kept silence, saith he, ?ni, bones waxed old, through my roaring all the day long: for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. It does not appear that he fully desisted from prayer; but there was none of that freedom in it which he was wont to enjoy. It was roaring rather than praying; aijd God is represented as disregarding it. In the thirty-eighth psalm he speaks of the rebukes of God’s wrath, and the f hastening of his hot displeasure; of his arrows sticking fast in him and his hand pressing him sore: of there being no soundness in his flesh because of his anger, nor rest in his bones because of his sin. There is one expression exceedingly appropriate: Mi, wounds stink and arc corrupt because of my foolishness. A wound may be dangerous at the time of its being received; but much more so if it be neglected till the humours of the body are drawn towards it. In this case it is hard to be healed; and the patient has not only to reflect on his heedlessness in first exposing himself to danger, but on his foolishness in so long neglecting the prescribed remedy. Such was the state of his mind, till, as he informs us, he acknowledged his transgressions, and was sorry for his sin.
And as there can be no communion with God, so neither can there be any with his people. If our sin be^Jinown, it must naturally have occasioned a reservedness, if not an exclusion from their society. Or if it be unknown, we shall be equally unable to enjoy communion with them. Guilt in our consciences will beget shame, and incline us rather to stand aloof than to come near them; or if we go into their company, it will prove a bar to freedom. There is something at first si’ght rather singular in the language of the apostle John; but upon close inspection, it will be found to be perfectly just: If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have felloioship one tvith another.
But if we are deprived of fellowship with God and his people, from what can we derive consolation 1 If we have only had a name to live, and been dead, the joy arising from vain hope may possibly be supplied by carnal pleasures. We may drown reflection by busying ourselves in worldly pursuits, mingling with worldly company, and in short, returning like the dog to his vomit, and the sow thatioas washed to her wallowing in the mire: but if we have any true religion in us, we cannot do this; and then what is there under the sun that can yield relief!
Nor shall we be deprived merely of the enjoy-DANGEROUS EFFECTSments of religion, but of all that preservation io the soul which they afford. The peace of God is represented as that which keeps or fortifies our hearts and minds.* Without this the heart will be in continual danger of being seduced by the wiles,, or sunk by the pressures of this world; and the mindoi being drawn aside from the simplicity of the gospel.
Secondly It will render us useless i?^ our GENERATION. — The great end of existence with a good man, is to live to him who died for us and rose again. If God bless us, it is that like Abraham we may be blessings to others. Christians are said to be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world; but while we are in the state above described, we are as salt that has lost its savour, whkh is good for nothing; or as a light that is hid under a vessel. Of what use with respect to religion are we in our families, while this is the case? Neither
* Phil. iv. 7.
servants nor children think well of religion from any thing they see in us; and when we go into the world, and mingle among mankind in our dealings, in whose conscience does our conver. sation or behaviour plant conviction? Where is the man, who, on leaving our company, has been compelled by it to acknowledge the reality of religion? Or if we occupy a station in the church of God (and this character may belong to a minister no less than to another man) we shall do little or no good in it; but be as vessels in tcliich the Lord taketh no pleasure. There is a threatening directed against vain pastors, vi’hich ought to malie a minister tremble. Woe to the idol shepherd, that leave th the Jlock! The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried vp, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened* Perhaps one of the greatest temptations to backsliding in min
* Zech. xi. 17.
74 DAJiGEROUS EFFECTS
isters may lie in this way: being selected from their brethren, and chosen to the ofnce of public instructors, they are in danger of indulging in self-valuation. A man may labour night and day in his study, and all to get accomplished, that he may shine before the people. ^Vhen this is the case, the preacher is his own idol, and it may be, that of the people. He feels little or no regard to the charge which he has undertaken, but is ready to desert it whenever a difficulty arises, or any opportunity offers of improving his circumstances. The consequence is, the sword of the Lord is upon his arm — he does no manner of execution in his work: and upon his right eye — whatever proficiency he may make in science, or polite accomplishments, he has but little, if any, spiritual understanding in the things of God. This character may respect ungodly preachers, such to whom the Jewish nation were given up for their rejection of Christ; but there is no sin committed by the most ungodly man, of which the most godly is not in danger.
Thirdly, We shall not only be useless, but INJURIOUS to the cause OF Christ. — Indeed it is impossible to stand neuter in this cause. If we do no good, we shall do harm; not only as cumberers of the ground, occupying that place in society which might be better filled by others, but as giving a false representation of religion, and diffusing a savour of death among mankind. If our domestics infer nothing favourable to religion from our conduct in the family, they will infer something unfavourable; and if there be but little good to be seen in our example, it is well if there bo not much evil; and this will surely be imitated. Who can calculate what influence the treachery, unchastity, and murder committed by David, had upon his family? We know that each was acted over again by
Aramon and Absalom. And thus many a parent has seen his own sins repeated in his posterity; and perhaps, if he had lived longer might have seen them multiplied still more to his shame and confusion.
The servants of God are called to bear testimony for hi rn: Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord of HostsJ* This is not done merely by words, but by deeds. There is a way of bearing witness to the reality and importance of religion by a zealous perseverance in it, to its dignity by our firmness, to its happy influence by content, edness and cheerfulness, and to its purity by being holy in all manner of conversation: and this is a kind of testimony which is more regarded than any other. Men in common form their judgments of religion more by what they see in the professors of it, than by the profes-
* Isaiah, xliv. 8.
sion itself. Hence it was that David by his deed is said to have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme * They were not contented with reproaching him, but must speak against God and religion on his account. In this view he considered his sin when he was brought to repentance for it. Against thee, THEE only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. — Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. If his sin had not greatly dishonoured God’s name, and, as it were, broken down the walls of Zion, such language would not have appeared among his lamentations. Things operate much the same to this day. Whatever evil is done by a professor, it is ascribed to his religion. In this view we may justly consider our unchristian conduct as bearing false witness of God; for it is giving
2 Sam. xii. 14.
false representations of his gospel and govern, ment to the world. A grasping selfish spirit is saying to those around us, that, after all which we have professed of living by faith in a portion beyond death, the present world is the best, and therefore we are for making sure of that, and running all hazards as to the other. In like manner a cruel and revengeful disposition towards those who have offended us, is saying, that Christianity, after all its professions of meekness and forgiveness of injuries, renders its adherents no better than others. And when a christian professor is detected of having privately indulged in the lusts of the flesh, the conclusion that is drawn from it is, that there is nothing in religion but outside appearance, and that religious people are the same as others in secret. It is impossible to say how much such conduct operates to the hardening of men in sin, to the quenching of their convictions, to the weakening of the hands of God’s servants, and to tho stumbling of persons who are inquiring the way to Zion.
These things, if we be mere professors, may have but little efiect upon us. We may not care for God’s being dishonoured, provided we do but get pardoned at last: but if there be any true religion about us, it will be otherwise. An ingenu. ous mind will feel more for the dishonour which he has done to Christ, and injury to his fellow creatures, than for the reproach which he has brought upon himself.
Fourthly, We are in the utmost danger of
FALLING INTO FUTURE TEMPTATIONS, AND SO OP SINKING DEEPER, AND FALLING FARTHER FROM
GOD. — So long as sin remains upon the conscience unlamented, it is like poison in the constitution: it will be certain to operate; and that in a way that shall go on more and more to kill all holy resolution, to harden the heart, and to
80 1>ANGER0US EFFECTS 0
defile the imaginations and desires. Whoredo?n and wine, and new wine, take away the heart* It is from sad experience of the defiling nature of post sin, that David when he came to himself prayed as he did; Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.]
A mind thus enfeebled, stupified, and defiled, must needs be in a very unfit condition to resist new temptations. The inhabitants of a besieged city, who are weakened by famine and disease, and discouraged by a number of disaffected persons within their walls, have no heart to resist, but stand ready to listen to the first proposals of the besiegers.
And in proportion as we are disabled for resistance it may be expected that the tempter will renew his attempts upon us. If Satan have any influence on the human mind, it may be sup-
Hos. iv. 11, t Psal. li. 10.
posed that he acts Vvith design, and knows how to avail himself of the most favourable seasons to effect his purpose. And this we find to be true by experience. In proportion as we have yielded to temptation, it will rise in its demands; solicitations, greater in number and in force, will ply our minds. As a resistance of the devil will be followed by his fleeing from us so, on the contrary, a non-resistance of him will be followed by renewed and stronger attempts upon us. One sin makes way for another, and renders us less able to resist, or to return to God by repentance. When once the thief has gained admission into our habitation, he will- bid us defiance. InnumeraUe evils will compass us about, and our iniquities take hold upon us, so that we shall not be able to look up: they will be more than the hairs cf our heads; therefore our hearts unll fail us*
Psal. xl, 12.
Sampson first yielded to his sensual desires; after this, to the intreaties of his Delilah, who in proportion as she saw him pliant to her wishes, increased in her assiduousness, till at length he lost his hair, his liberty, his eyes, and his life.
If we be mere professors, these considerations may effect us but little: we shall continue the willing slaves of our own corruptions, hoping, it may be, nevertheless, that we shall sometime be brought back again, till at some unexpected hour we are taken out of the world. But if there be any good thing in us towards the Lord God of Israel, this part of the subject alarms us: for of all the methods which God takes to punish sin, there is none more awful and more dreaded by a good man, than that of being given up to sin.
Fifthly., So LONG AS sin remains upon the
CONSCIENCE UNLAMENTED, WE ARE IN DANGER
OF ETERNAL DAMNATION. — It may be thought by some that such language is inconsistent with the final perseverance of believers: but it is manifest that our Lord did not so teach the doctrine of perseverance as to render cautions of this nature unneccessary. He did not scruple to declare, even to his own diciples, that, “Whosoever should say to his brother, thou fool, should be in danger of hell-fire. — That if they forgave not men their trespasses, neither would God forgive theirs — and if a right hand, or a right eye, caused them to offend, it must be cut off, or plucked out, and that lest the whole body should be cast into hell.”^==
The object at which sin aims, whether in believers or unbelievers, is death, eternal death; and to this it hath a natural and direct tendency. The apostle James in a very affecting manner describes its process.” Let no man say when
* Matt. V.
he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished bringeth forth death.”* If it does not in all cases come to this issue, it is not because of its being different as to its nature or tendency in some persons from what it is in others, but because a timely stop is put to its operations. Only let it go on without repentance till it htis finished its work, and eternal death will be the issue.
Whatever we are, so long as sin lies unlamented upon the conscience, we can have no scriptural foundation to conclude that we are christians. No real christian, it is true, will prove an apostate; yet while we are under the influ
* James i. 13 — 15.
ence of sin, we are moving in the direction which leads to apostacy. If we are contented with a relapsed state of mind, what grounds can we have to conclude that it is not our element, or that we have ever been the subjects of true religion? If the waters continue to be naught, it is a sign that the spring has not been healed. There is no reason to think that Judas himself laid his accounts with such an issue as things actually came to. During the ministry of our Lord, while he kept the bag, and sometimes made free with its contents, it is probable he nevertheless reckoned himself a good man. He saw many failings in his fellow-disciples, and in all other good men; and he might think this to be his. When he had covenanted with the chief priests, it does not appear that he expected his master would be eventually taken and crucified. When they were about to lay hands on him, he had often passed through the midst of them and went his way; and he might suppose that it would be so again. When therefore he saw that he was condemned he was thrown into a state of terrible amazement, and in the issue went and hanged himself. Such was the process of an ypostate; and such his end. Surely it behoves us to take heed how we trifle with those thino;s, the end of which is death?