SIN by Messiah's Herald

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 6, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 39.

SIN.

By Messiah's Herald

SIN always causes loss. It is never profitable. It is the highwayman that stands beside the path and robs you of whatever of value you may possess. It is the sly thief that intercepts that which was intended for you, so that you do not receive it. It is both a thief and a robber. Sin well understands this art. It does not take the whole at first, but, like the dishonest clerk, it begins by taking a little here and a little there, and so very often carries on its dishonest dealing a long time before it is detected.

The Christian is not led to commit some great sin first of all; the enemy is too crafty for that. It is by littles that the soul is led astray. A little sin is presented at first. But that forms the beginning. It is the starting of the train, on the down grade, to gather speed and momentum as it goes on.

That sin has to some extent robbed the soul of the conscious help and joy of God. It has benumbed the spiritual sensibilities; it has perverted the judgment and the sense of right. Hence the soul is not in the condition to discriminate between right and wrong that it was before. Because of this, the second sin becomes easier than the first, and the third easier than the second. And the further you proceed, the easier sin becomes, because of this loss of sensibility and the power of discrimination. And this means that the soul has been gradually growing unsusceptible to the voice and the touch of God. This explains the indifference and worldliness on the part of members of churches, and their forgetfulness of their covenant obligations.

Put it down as a fact always to be remembered, sin is a robber. And that which is a robber in time becomes the source of ruin in eternity. Let us turn away from sin, knowing that a holy, godly life is always pleasing unto God.—Messiah’s Herald.