Sin

“The besetting sin is of all others most dangerous. As Samson’s strength lay in his hair, so the strength of sin lies in this beloved sin. This is like a poison striking the heart, which brings death. A godly man will lay the axe of repentance to this sin and hew it down. He sets this sin, like Uriah, in the forefront of battle, so that it may be slain. He will sacrifice this Isaac, he will pluck out this right eye, so that he may see better to go to heaven. “ The Godly Man’s Picture ” pg. 150”

“Discontent is a sin which puts us upon sin. ‘Fret not thyself to do evil’ (Psalm 37:8). He that frets will be ready to do evil: fretting Jonah was a sinning Jonah (Jonah 4:9). The devil blows the coals of passion and discontent, and then warms himself by the fire. Oh, let us not nourish this angry viper in our breast. Let this text produce patience, ‘All things work together for good to them that love God’ (Rom. 8:28). “ All Things for Good pg. 61”

“There is more malignity in a drop of sin than in a sea of affliction, for sin is the cause of affliction, and the cause is more than the effect. The sword of God’s justice lies quiet in the scabbard till sin draws it out. Affliction is good for us: ‘It is good for me that I have been afflicted’ (Psa. 119:71). Affliction causes repentance (II Chron. 33:12). The viper, being stricken, casts up its poison; so, God’s rod striking us, we spit away the poison of sin. Affliction betters our grace. Gold is purest, and juniper sweetest, in the fire. Affliction prevents damnation (I Cor. 11:32). “ Doctrine of Repentance ” pg. 49”

“Pharaoh confessed he had sinned (Exod. 9:27), but when the thunder ceased he fell to his sin again: ‘he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart’ (Exod. 9:34). Origen calls confession the vomit of the soul whereby the conscience is eased of that burden which did lie upon it. Now, when we have vomited up sin by confession we must not return to this vomit. What king will pardon that man who, after he has confessed his treason, practices new treason? “ Doctrine of Repentance ” pg. 32”

“Those iniquities which men hide in their hearts shall be written one day on their foreheads as with the point of a diamond. They who will not confess their sin as David did, that they may be pardoned, shall confess their sins as Achan did, that they may be stoned. It is dangerous to keep the devil’s counsel; ‘He that covers his sins shall not prosper’ (Prov. 28:13). “ Doctrine of Repentance ” pg. 32”

“Is it not strange that two should live together, and eat and drink together, yet not know each other? Such is the case of a sinner. His body and soul live together, work together, yet he is unacquainted with himself. He knows not his own heart, nor what a hell he carries about him. Under a veil a deformed face is hid. Persons are veiled over with ignorance and self-love; therefore they see not what deformed souls they have. The devil does with them as the falconer with the hawk. He blinds them and carries them hooded to hell. “ Doctrine of Repentance ” pg. 19”

“"Tremble at sinful thoughts. We startle at gross sin, but we are not troubled so much for sinful thoughts. Know firstly, that sin may be committed in the thoughts, though it never blossom into outward act: 'The thought of foolishness is sin. (Prov. 24:9)'" ~ The Great Gain of Godliness , pg. 81”

“Original sin may be compared to that fish Pliny speaks of, a sea-lamprey, which cleaves to the keel of the ship and hinders it when it is under sail. Sin hangs weights upon us so that we move but slowly to heaven. O this adherence of sin! Paul shook the viper which was on his hand into the fire (Acts 28:5), but we cannot shake off original corruption in this life. Sin does not come as a lodger for a night, but as an indweller: ‘sin that dwelleth in me’ (Rom. 7:17). It is with us as with one who has a hectic fever upon him; though he changes the air, yet still he carries his disease with him. Original sin is inexhaustible. This ocean cannot be emptied. Though the stock of sin spends, yet it is not at all diminished. The more we sin, the fuller we are of sin. Original corruption is like the widow’s oil which increased by pouring out. " Doctrine of Repentance " pg. 73”

“The devil, if he cannot hinder us from duty, will hinder us in duty. When we come before the Lord, he is at our right hand to resist us (Zech. 3:1). Like when a man is going to write, and another stands at his elbow and jogs him, so that he cannot write evenly. Satan will set vain objects before the fancy to cause a diversion. The devil does not oppose formality but fervency. If he sees that we are setting ourselves in good earnest to seek God, he will be whispering things in our ears, so that we can scarcely attend to what we are doing. “ The Godly Man’s Picture ” pgs. 162-163”

“Every man is by is bound in fetters. A man that is in fetters, if you use arguments, and persuade him to go, is that sufficient? There must be a breaking of his fetters, and setting him free, before he can walk. So it is with every natural man; he is fettered with corruption; now the Lord by converting grace must file off his fetters, nay, give him legs to run too, or he can never obtain salvation. “ All Things for Good ” pg. 113”

“The power of God subdues our corruptions. " He will subdue our iniquities " (Micah vii. 19). Is your sin strong? God is powerful, He will break the head of this leviathan. Is your heart hard? God will dissolve that stone in Christ's blood. " The Almighty maketh my heart soft " (Job xxiii. 16). When we say as Jehoshaphat, " We have no might against this great army " ; the Lord goes up with us, and helps us to fight our battles. He strikes off the heads of those goliath lusts which are too strong for us. “ All Things for Good ””

“A humble soul thinks better of others than of himself: `let each esteem other better than themselves' (Phil. 2:3). A humble man values others at a higher rate than himself, and the reason is because he can see his own heart better than he can another's. He sees his own corruption and thinks surely it is not so with others; their graces are not so weak as his; their corruptions are not so strong. `Surely', he thinks, `they have better hearts than I.' A humble Christian studies his own infirmities and another's excellences and that makes him put a higher value upon others than himself. `Surely I am more brutish than any man' (Prov. 30:2). And Paul, though he was the chief of the apostles, still calls himself `less than the least of all saints' (Eph. 3:8). “ The Godly Man’s Picture ””

“"Sin is worse than hell, but yet God, by His mighty over ruling power, makes sin turn to the good of His people. Hence that golden saying of Augustine, 'God would never permit evil, if He could not bring good out of evil.'" ~ “ Doctrine of Repentance ””

“The goodness of God works for good to the godly. God's goodness is a means to make us good. " The goodness of God leadeth to repentance " (Rom. ii. 4). The goodness of God is a spiritual sunbeam to melt the heart into tears. Oh, says the soul, has God been so good to me? Has He reprieved me so long from hell, and shall I grieve His Spirit any more? Shall I sin against goodness? The goodness of God works for good, as it ushers in all blessings. The favours we receive, are the silver streams which flow from the fountain of God's goodness. “ All Things for Good ””

“Are we under the guilt of sin? There is a promise, " The Lord merciful and gracious " (Exod. xxiv. 6), where God as it were puts on His glorious embroidery, and holds out the golden scepter, to encourage poor trembling sinners to come to Him. " The Lord, merciful. " God is more willing to pardon than to punish. Mercy does more multiply in Him than sin in us. Mercy is His nature... He shows mercy, not because we deserve mercy, but because He delights in mercy. “ All Things for Good ””

“Sin is a mere cheat. While it pretends to please us, it beguiles us! Sin does as Jael did. First she brought the milk and butter to Sisera, then she struck the nail through his temples so that he died (Judg. 5:26). Sin first courts, and then kills. It is first a fox and then a lion. Whoever sin kills it betrays. . . Sin is like the usurer who feeds a man with money and then makes him mortgage his land. Sin feeds the sinner with delightful objects and then makes him mortgage his soul. Judas please himself with thirty pieces of silver, but they proved deceitful riches. Ask him now how he likes his bargain. “ Doctrine of Repentance ” pg. 110”

“Surely, there is not a greater sign of a man ripe for hell, than this, not only to lack grace, but to hate it. " All Things for Good " pg. 83”

“Christian, if you mourn for hypocrisy, yet find this sin so potent that you cannot get the mastery of it, go to Christ. Beg of him that He would exercise His kingly office in your soul, that He would subdue this sin, and put it under the yoke. Beg of Christ to exercise His spiritual surgery upon you. Desire Him to lance your heart and cut out the rotten flesh, and that He would apply the medicine of His blood to heal you of your hypocrisy. " The Godly Man’s Picture " pg. 19”

“This, then, it is to have the heart broken; namely, to have it lamed, disabled, and taken off by sense of God's wrath due to sin, from that course of life it formerly was conversant in; and to show that this work is no fancy, nor done but with great trouble to the soul, it is compared to the putting the bones out of joint, the breaking of the bones, the burning of the bones with fire, or as the taking the natural moisture from the bones, the vexing of the bones, &c. (Psa 23:14; Jer 20:9; Lam 1:13; Psa 6:2; Prov 17:22). All which are expressions adorned with such similitudes, as do undeniably declare that to sense and feeling a broken heart is a grievous thing. ~ The Acceptable Sacrifice by John Bunyan”

“As a man that has by his folly procured a broken leg or arm, is heartily sorry that ever he was so foolish as to be engaged in such foolish ways of idleness and vanity; so he whose heart is broken with a sense of God's wrath due to his sin, hath deep sorrow in his soul, and is greatly repentant that ever he should be such a fool, as by rebellious doings to bring himself and his soul to so much sharp affliction. Hence, while others are sporting themselves in vanity, such a one doth call his sin his greatest folly. 'My wounds stink, and are corrupt, ' saith David, 'because of my foolishness.' And again, 'O God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from thee' (Psa 38:5, 69:5). ~ The Acceptable Sacrifice by John Bunyan”

“Many are sorry for actual transgressions, because they do oft bring them to shame before men; but few are sorry for the defects that sin has made in nature, because they see not those defects themselves. A man cannot be sorry for the sinful defects of nature, till he sees they have rendered him contemptible to God; nor is it any thing but a sight of God that can make him truly see what he is, and so be heartily sorry for being so. ~ The Acceptable Sacrifice by John Bunyan”

“It is a shame for a man to behave himself irreverently before a king, but a sin to do so before God. And as a king, if wise, is not pleased with an oration made up with unseemly words and gestures, so God takes no pleasure in the sacrifice of fools (Eccl 5:1, 4). It is not long discourses, nor eloquent tongues, that are the things which are pleasing in the ears of the Lord; but a humble, broken, and contrite heart, that is sweet in the nostrils of the heavenly Majesty (Psa 51:17; Isa 57:15). ~ Prayer by John Bunyan”

“The snow covers many a dunghill . A snowy white profession covers many a foul heart! The sins of professors are more odious. Thistles are bad in a field —but worse in a garden . The sins of the wicked anger God—but the sins of professing Christians grieve him. ~ The Great Gain of Godliness”

“Sin doth not only still abide in us, but is still acting , still labouring to bring forth the deeds of the flesh. When sin lets us alone we may let sin alone; but as sin is never less quiet than when it seems to be most quiet, and its waters are for the most part deep when they are still, so ought our contrivances against it to be vigorous at all times and in all conditions, even where there is least suspicion. Sin doth not only abide in us, but “the law of the members is still rebelling against the law of the mind,” Rom. vii. 23; and “the spirit that dwells in us lusteth to envy,” James iv. 5. It is always in continual work; “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,” Gal. v. 17; lust is still tempting and conceiving sin, James i. 14; in every moral action it is always either inclining to evil, or hindering from that which is good, or disframing the spirit from communion with God. ~ The Mortification of Sin by John Owen”

“Others think that because they have given up their riotous ways, and are broken off from evil company or some particular lust, and are reduced to sobriety and civility, they are now real converts. They forget that there is a vast difference between being sanctified and civilized. They forget that many seek to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and are not far from it, and arrive to the almost of Christianity, and yet fall short at last. While conscience holds the whip over them, many will pray, hear, read, and forbear their delightful sins; but no sooner is the lion asleep than they are at their sins again. Who more religious than the Jews when God's hand was upon them? Yet no sooner was the affliction over, than they forgot God. You may have forsaken a troublesome sin, and have escaped the gross pollutions of the world, and yet in all this not have changed your carnal nature. ~ A Sure Guide to Heaven by Joseph Alleine”

“In time of temptation, apprehensive consciences look so much to the present trouble they are in that they need to be roused up to behold him in whom they may find rest for their distressed souls. In temptations it is safest to behold nothing but Christ the true brazen serpent, the true `Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world', (John 1:29). This saving object has a special influence of comfort to the soul, especially if we look not only on Christ, but upon the Father's authority and love in him. For in all that Christ did and suffered as Mediator, we must see God in him reconciling the world unto himself (2 Cor. 5:19). ~ The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes”

“What a support to our faith is this, that God the Father, the party offended by our sins, is so well pleased with the work of redemption! And what a comfort is this, that, seeing God's love rests on Christ, as well pleased in him, we may gather that he is as well pleased with us, if we be in Christ! For his love rests in a whole Christ, in Christ mystical, as well as Christ natural, because he loves him and us with one love. Let us, therefore, embrace Christ, and in him God's love, and build our faith safely on such a Saviour that is furnished with so high a commission. ~ The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes”

“Shall our sins discourage us, when he appears there only for sinners? Are you bruised? Be of good comfort, he calls you. Conceal not your wounds, open all before him and take not Satan's counsel. Go to Christ, although trembling, as the poor woman who said, 'If I may but touch his garment' (Matt. 9:21). We shall be healed and have a gracious answer. Go boldly to God in our flesh; he is flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone for this reason, that we might go boldly to him. Never fear to go to God, since we have such a Mediator with him, who is not only our friend but our brother and husband. ~ The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes”

“When conscience is under the guilt of sin, then every judgment brings a report of God's anger to the soul, and all lesser troubles run into this great trouble of conscience for sin. As all corrupt humours run to the diseased and bruised part of the body, and as every creditor falls upon the debtor when he is once arrested, so when conscience is once awakened, all former sins and present crosses join together to make the bruise the more painful. ~ The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes”

“Let us justify Christ in all his chastisements, knowing that all his dealing towards us is to cause us to return into our own hearts. His work in bruising tends to our work in bruising ourselves. Let us lament our own perversity, and say: Lord, what a heart have I that needs all this, that none of this could be spared! We must lay siege to the hardness of our own hearts, and aggravate sin all we can. We must look on Christ, who was bruised for us, look on him whom we have pierced with our sins. But all directions will not prevail, unless God by his Spirit convinces us deeply, setting our sins before us, and driving us to a standstill. Then we will cry out for mercy. Conviction will breed contrition, and this leads to humiliation. Therefore desire God that he would bring a clear and a strong light into all the corners of our souls, and accompany it with a spirit of power to lay our hearts low. ~ The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes”

“It is better to go bruised to heaven than sound to hell. Therefore let us not take off ourselves too soon, nor pull off the plaster before the cure be wrought, but keep ourselves under this work till sin be the sourest, and Christ the sweetest, of all things. And when God's hand is upon us in any way, it is good to divert our sorrow for other things to the root of all, which is sin. Let our grief run most in that channel, that as sin bred grief, so grief may consume sin. ~ The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes”

“The purest actions of the purest men need Christ to perfume them; and this is his office. When we pray, we need to pray again for Christ to pardon the defects of our prayers. ~ The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes”

“It is hard to prescribe a just measure of humiliation. It is the same in the new birth as in the natural. Some give birth with more pangs, and some with fewer. But would you like to know when you are bruised enough? When your spirit is so troubled that you are willing to let go those lusts which brought in the greatest income of pleasure and delight. When not only is sin discarded but you are disgusted with it, then you have been bruised enough. The medicine is strong enough when it has purged out the disease. The soul is bruised enough when the love of sin is purged out. “ The Godly Man’s Picture ” pg. 227”

“Beloved, do not be your own betrayers. Do not deceive your own hearts, nor set your hands to your own ruin by a willful blinding of yourselves. Set up a tribunal in your own breasts. Bring the Word and conscience together. 'To the law and to the testimony.' [Isa 8:20] Hear what the Word concludes of your state. Oh follow the search until you find how the case stands. Make a mistake here—and you perish! And, such is the treachery of the heart, the subtlety of the temper, and the deceitfulness of sin—all conspiring to flatter and deceive the poor soul; and so common and easy it is to make a mistake, that it is a thousand to one that you will be deceived, unless you are very careful and thorough and impartial in the inquiry into your spiritual condition. ~ A Sure Guide to Heaven by Joseph Alleine”

“When men trust in their own righteousness they do indeed reject Christ's. Beloved, you had need be watchful on every hand, for not only your sins—but your duties may undo you. ~ A Sure Guide to Heaven by Joseph Alleine”

“Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

“He that hath slight thoughts of sin never had great thoughts of God.”

“Indwelling sin always abides whilst we are in this world; therefore it is always to be mortified.”

“Sin will be always acting, if we be not always mortifying, we are lost creatures.”

“A man may easier see without eyes, speak without a tongue, than truly mortify one sin without the Spirit.”

“To kill sin is the work of living men; where men are dead, sin is alive, and will live.”

“Let no man think to kill sin with few, easy, or gentle strokes.”

“Sin aims always at the utmost; every time it rises up to tempt or entice, might it have its own course, it would go out the utmost sin in that kind.”

“Let no man pretend to fear sin that does not fear temptation also!”

“I do not understand how a man can be a true believer unto whom sin is not the greatest burden, sorrow, and trouble.”

“Think of the guilt of sin, that you may be humbled. Think of the power of sin, that you may seek strength against it.”

“The most tremendous judgment of God in this world is the hardening of the hearts of men.”

“There is more evil in a drop of sin than in a sea of affliction!”

“The pleasure of sin is soon gone but the sting remains!”

“Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.”

“Sin has the devil for its father, shame for its companion, and death for its wages.”

“What fools are they who, for a drop of pleasure, drink a sea of wrath.”

“First we practice sin, then defend it, then boast of it.”

“It is easier to cry against one thousand sins of others than to kill one of your own.”

“It is the greatest judgment in the world to be left to sin.”

“There is a great difference between a sheep which falls into the mire and a swine which delights to wallow in it.”

“Sin is the worst and most infectious plague in the world.”

“Men think God's laws too many and too strict, and yet make more of their own.”

“Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.”

“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.”

“Thou hast an art above God Himself, if thou canst fetch any true pleasure out of unholiness.”

“God's wounds cure, sin's kisses kill.”

“Sin aims not only that man should not be well, but that man should not be at all.”

“We may be tempted, yet not enter into temptation.”

“He that would be little in temptation, let him be much in prayer.”

“God can make a way for a man to escape; when he is in, he can break the snare, tread down Satan, and make the soul more than a conqueror, though it have entered into temptation.”

“The best course to prevent falling into the pit is to keep at the greatest distance from it. He who will be so bold as to dance upon the brink of the pit, may find by woeful experience that it is a righteous thing with God that he should fall into the pit.”

“There is more evil in the least sin than in the greatest affliction.”

“Christ is the crown of crowns, the glory of glories, and the heaven of heavens.”

“It is better to go with difficulty to heaven, than with ease to hell.”

“Faith and repentance preserve the spiritual life, as heat and water preserve the physical life.”