View source for The Bitterness of Sin!

<p>&quot;Your ways and your deeds have procured these things unto you! This is your wickedness — <em>it is bitter, because it reaches unto your heart!&quot; </em>Jeremiah 4:18<br><br>
  Sin is the most dark subject that can engage our attention — but we have become so familiar with it, that it scarcely affects us at all. Not so the Lord — he calls it <em>'that abominable thing which he hates</em>.<em>'</em> Yes, God hates nothing but sin — and no one, but for sin. God never hated a sinless being — and he never can. If we could get rid of sin, we would have nothing to fear; therefore we bless God that <em>deliverance </em>from sin is promised.<br><br>
  But sin is not only <em>dangerous</em> — it is <strong><em>bitter</em></strong>, and is the prodigious source of all bitterness! Hence the language of the prophet,<em> &quot;It is bitter, because it reaches unto your heart!&quot; </em>Jeremiah 4:18. It is called the <em>root of bitterness</em>. It may appear <em>pleasant</em> at present, and may taste <em>sweet</em> to the depraved palate of the sinner; but as Joab said of war, <em>&quot;It will be bitterness in the end!&quot;</em> Let us therefore think of:<br><br>
  <strong></strong>
  <strong>The Bitterness of Sin: </strong>Sin is bitter in its NATURE, as it is . . .<br>
    a <em>departure from God</em>, the source of all real happiness;<em><br>
      opposition to God</em>, the giver of all true pleasure;<em><br>
        rebellion against God</em>, the righteous ruler, who is pledged to punish it;<br>
    the <em>degradation of man</em>, who was made in the image of the holy and happy God.<br><br>
  Sin is bitter in its EFFECTS:<br><br>
  Look over the <em>world</em> — all its divisions, confusions, wars, diseases, bloodshed, and cruelties — are but the effects of sin.<br><br>
  Look into <em>families</em> — all the anger, envy, jealousy, enmity, and lack of love — are but the effects of sin.<br><br>
  Look at <em>individuals</em> — all the sufferings of the body, and all the tortures of the soul; all the sorrows of time, and all the agonies of eternity — are but the fruits of sin.<br><br>
  Look at the <em>seeking soul</em> — all his cutting convictions, bitter reflections, stinging remorse, gloomy despondency, and slavish fears — are but the effects of sin.<br><br>
  Look at the <em>believer</em> — all his terrible conflicts, deep depression, gloomy foreboding, and soul-distressing fears — are all the effects of sin.<br><br>
  Indeed whatever is . . .<br>
    dark and dreary, <br>
    distressing and painful, <br>
    alarming and terrible — <br>
    is to be traced up to sin!<br><br>
  Every <em>sigh </em>that ever heaved the bosom, <br>
    every <em>groan </em>that ever indicated a breaking heart, <br>
    every <em>exclamation </em>produced by violent pain<br>
    — all, all are the fruits of sin!<br><br>
  Think of . . .<br>
    the millions who have suffered, and are suffering;<br>
    the fearful nature and extent of their sufferings; <br>
    the agonies experienced on earth;<br>
    the horrors endured in Hell — and say, <br>
    must not sin, from which all these proceeded, be a bitter thing! But here is:<br><br>
  <strong></strong>
  <strong>A Season Assigned: </strong>&quot;It reaches unto your heart!&quot; <br>
    Sin is not a <em>wound in the flesh</em> — but a <em>disease in the heart! <br>
    </em>There it was conceived, there it is nourished, and from thence it flows.<br><br>
  Sin reaches to the heart — and <em>defiles and pollutes it! <br>
    </em>Indeed, man's heart is one of the most loathsome and polluted things in God's universe! <br>
    There is pollution enough in one human heart, to corrupt and defile the universe! <br>
    There is nothing so foul, base, or abominable, in earth or in Hell — but its counterpart is to be found in man's heart!<br><br>
  Sin reaches to the heart — and <em>alienates it from God</em>. It has now . . .<br>
    no sympathy with God, <br>
    no desire to please him, <br>
    no fear of offending him!<br>
    Man fears <em>punishment</em> — but he does not fear <em>sin!</em><br><br>
  Sin reaches to the heart — and <em>distracts it. </em>It has . . .<br>
    no settled peace, <br>
    no holy calm, <br>
    no quiet satisfaction.<br><br>
  The <em>passions </em>are turbulent.<br><br>
  The <em>conscience </em>is defiled.<br><br>
  The <em>will </em>is depraved.<br><br>
  The <em>understanding </em>is darkened.<br><br>
  The <em>memory </em>is a store-house of evil!<br><br>
  Indeed every power and faculty of the soul is injured, perverted, and wrongly influenced — by sin!<br><br>
  Sin reaches to the heart — and <em>damns </em>it! It is condemned already, and if grace does not prevent it — the sentence of condemnation will be executed, and the heart will become the seat of . . .<br>
    the most terrible agony, <br>
    the most torturing pain, and <br>
    the most dreadful despair<br>
    — and that forever!<br><br>
  No lake of fire and brimstone, <br>
    no bottomless pit, <br>
    no horrible tempest — <br>
    can convey to the mind any adequate idea of the <em>horrors of damnation</em> — which are <em>the just desert of sin.</em><br><br>
  Truly, <em>&quot;it is bitter, and it reaches unto the heart!&quot;</em><br><br>
  Reader, see how God speaks of sin, your darling sin, that sin which you now value so highly, and enjoy so much: &quot;It is bitter!&quot; Your sin is so bitter, that no tongue or pen can describe it. And what makes it so bitter is that &quot;it reaches to the heart,&quot; the seat of life, the source of action, and therefore . . .<br>
    defiles the whole person, <br>
    misdirects the whole life; and <br>
    exposes the whole man to the wrath and curse of God — and to that wrath and curse, forever!<br><br>
  From this bitter root, proceeds . . .<br>
    all the bitter words, <br>
    all the bitter tempers, and <br>
    all the bitter actions — <br>
    which make men miserable on <em>earth</em>, and <br>
    will make the lost eternally miserable in<em> Hell!</em><br><br>
  Our one great business therefore, should be to get rid of sin — this <em>root</em> of bitterness! And by faith in the Lord Jesus, which purifies the heart; and by the work of the Holy Spirit, which cleanses and sanctifies the nature — we <em>may</em> get rid of it. Let us therefore seek first, and <em>before </em>anything else — first, and <em>more </em>than everything else — that we may be washed, and sanctified, and justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.<br><br>
  Holy Spirit, convince us of the <em>bitterness of sin! </em>May it . . .<br>
    be bitter to our taste, <br>
    lead us to forsake it in practice, and<br>
    seek to be delivered from its <em>love </em>and <em>power </em>in our experience![[Category:Lifestyle]]