Puritan Nuggets of Gold # 83

Sin (continued)

For if the guilt of sin be so great that nothing can satisfy it but the blood of Jesus; and the filth of sin be so great that nothing can fetch out the stain thereof but the blood of Jesus, how great, how heinous, how sinful must the evil of sin be! (William Bridge)

Pollution is the forerunner of perdition. (John Trapp)

And they are as mighty as they are many. The sands are many, but then they are not great; the mountains great but then they are not many. But woe is man, my sins are as many as the sands, and as mighty as the mountains. Their weight is greater than their number. (Joseph Alleine)

I think this should be a terror to an unconverted soul, to think he is a burden to the creation. "Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground" (Luke 13:7). If inanimate creatures could but speak, your food would say, "Lord, must I nourish such a wretch as this, and yield forth my strength for him, to dishonor Thee" No, I will choke him rather, if Thou wilt give commission." The very air would say, "Lord, must I give this man breath, to set his tongue against heaven, and scorn Thy people, and vent his pride and wrath, and filthy talk, and belch out oaths and blasphemy against Thee? No, if thou wilt but say the say, he shall be breathless for me." His poor beast would say, "Lord, must I carry him upon his wicked designs? No, I will break his bones, I will end his days rather, if I may have but leave from Thee." A wicked man; the earth groans under him, and hell groans for him, till death satisfies both. While the Lord of hosts is against you, be sure the host of the Lord is against you. (Joseph Alleine)

Every creature has a quarrel with a sinner. (Thomas Watson)

Take heed an hour produce not that which may shame us for ever. (George Hutcheson)

If the best man's faults were written in his forehead, it would make him pull his hat over his eyes. (John Trapp)

Sin may be the occasion of great sorrow, when there is no sorrow for sin. (John Owen)

There are three false notions whereby the deceitfulness of sin deludes the souls of men:

1. That it is one sin alone wherein alone they would be indulged. Let them be spared in this one thing, and in all others they will be exact enough. One sin willingly lived in is as able to destroy a man's soul as a thousand.

2. They judge that although they cannot shake off their sin, yet they will continue still to love God and abound in the duties of His worship. Where God is not loved above all, He is not loved at all.

3. They determine that at such or such a season or time, after such satisfaction given unto their lusts or pleasures, they will utterly give over, so as that iniquity shall not be their ruin. He that will not now give over, say what he will and pretend what he will, never intends to give over, nor is it probable, in an ordinary way, that ever he will do so. (John Owen)

But sin goeth in a disguise, and thence is welcome; like Judas, it kisseth and kills; like Joab, it salutes and slays. (George Swinnock)