View source for Bitten by this serpent's tooth'

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<p>No man has ever sounded the depths of the fall. <br />
  <br />
  The children of God have indeed discoveries of the <br />
  evil of sin. And they have such views at times of <br />
  the desperate wickedness and awful depravity of <br />
  human nature, that they seem as if filled with <br />
  unspeakable horror at the hideous enormity of <br />
  the corruption that works in their carnal mind. <br />
  <br />
  But no man has ever seen, as no man ever can see, <br />
  in this time-state, what sin is to its full extent, and <br />
  as it will be hereafter developed in the depths of hell. <br />
  <br />
  We may indeed in our own experience see something <br />
  of its <strong>commencement</strong>; but we can form little idea of <br />
  its <strong>progress</strong>, and still less of its <strong>termination</strong>. For sin <br />
  has this peculiar feature attending it, that <strong>it ever <br />
    spreads and spreads until it involves everything <br />
    that it touches in utter ruin.</strong> <br />
  <br />
  We may compare it in this point of view to the <br />
  venom-fang of a serpent. There are serpents of <br />
  so venomous a kind, as for instance the Cobra <br />
  de Capello, or hooded snake, that the introduction <br />
  of the minutest portion of venom from their poison <br />
  tooth will in a few hours convert all the fluids of <br />
  the body into a mass of putrefaction. A man shall <br />
  be in perfect health one hour, and<strong> bitten by this <br />
    serpent's tooth</strong> shall in the next, be a loathsome <br />
  mass of rottenness and corruption.<strong> Such is sin. <br />
    </strong><br />
  The introduction of sin into the nature of Adam at <br />
  the fall was like the introduction of poison from the <br />
  fang of a deadly serpent into the human body. It at <br />
  once penetrated into his soul and body, and filled <br />
  both with death and corruption.<br />
  <br />
  Or, to use a more scriptural figure, sin may be <br />
  compared to the disease of <strong>leprosy</strong>, which usually <br />
  began with a &quot;bright spot,&quot; or &quot;rising in the skin&quot;, <br />
  scarcely perceptible, and yet spread and spread <br />
  until it enveloped every member, and the whole <br />
  body becoming a mass of putrefying hideous <br />
  corruption.<br />
  <br />
  Or sin may be compared to a <strong>cancer</strong>, which begins <br />
  perhaps with a little lump causing a slight itching, <br />
  but goes on feeding upon the part which it attacks, <br />
  until the patient dies worn out with pain and suffering. <br />
  <br />
  Now if sin be . . .<br />
  this <strong>venom fang,<br />
    </strong>this<strong> spreading leprosy,<br />
      </strong>this<strong> loathsome cancer</strong>; <br />
  if its destructive power be so great that, unless <br />
  arrested and healed, it will destroy body and soul <br />
  alike in hell, the remedy for it, if remedy there be, <br />
  must be as great as the malady. Thus if there be . . .<br />
  a cure for sin,<br />
  a remedy for the fall,<br />
  a deliverance from the wrath to come, <br />
  it must be at least as full and as complete <br />
  as the ruin which sin has entailed upon us.<br />
  <br />
  The man who has slight, superficial views and feelings <br />
  of <strong>sin </strong>will have equally slight and superficial views of <br />
  the <strong>atonement </strong>made for sin. The groans of Christ will <br />
  never sound in his ears as the dolorous groans of an <br />
  agonizing Lord; the sufferings of Christ will never be <br />
  opened up to his soul as the sorrows of Immanuel, God <br />
  with us; the death of Christ will never be viewed by him, <br />
  as the blood shedding of the darling Son of God. While <br />
  he has such slight, superficial views of the <strong>malady</strong>, his <br />
  views of the <strong>remedy </strong>will be equally slight and superficial. <br />
  <br />
  As we are led down into a spiritual knowledge of <strong>self <br />
    </strong>and <strong>sin</strong>, so we are led up into a gracious knowledge <br />
  of the Lord Jesus Christ.<br />
  <br />
  By suffering all the penalties of our sin, Jesus redeems <br />
  us from the lowest hell and raises us up to the highest <br />
  heaven—empowering poor worms of earth to soar above <br />
  the skies and live forever in the presence of Him who <br />
  is a consuming fire!<br />
  <br />
  &quot;And she will have a son, and you are to name Him <br />
  Jesus, for <strong>He will save His people from their sins</strong>.&quot; <br />
  Matthew 1:21
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