Many of us who are trying to get rid of sin are like housewives who destroy the spiders’ webs without destroying the spiders.1280 What would you think of a doctor who, on discovering you had a tumor buried deep in your body, responded, “Take two aspirin and you’ll be just fine”? How about a fireman … Continue reading “SIN, RESPONSE TO”
SIN, ORIGINAL
A young boy and his father were walking in an apple orchard. The father pulled an apple from a tree and, cupping his hands around it, asked his son what he saw. The son replied, “A beautiful red apple. May I have it?” The father then handed the apple to his son for examination. The … Continue reading “SIN, ORIGINAL”
SIN, IMPUTATION OF
If one football player jumps offside, the whole team is penalized. So it is with sin. Because one man, Adam, sinned, the whole human race was penalized.1272
SIN, ILLUSTRATION OF
If there are mice or rats in a cellar, you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. The suddenness of your entry did not create the rodents, it only prevented them from hiding. In the same way, the best evidence for what sort of person you (or anyone else) are … Continue reading “SIN, ILLUSTRATION OF”
SIN, EVIDENCE OF
It is always a somewhat surprising characteristic for believers who have grown in holiness to increasingly feel themselves to be sinners. Why? Consider the air in a room. It looks fresh and clean, but when it is penetrated by the sunlight we see that in reality it is full of dust and other impurities. In … Continue reading “SIN, EVIDENCE OF”
SIN, EFFECTS OF
A famous preacher of many years ago had a clock in his church that was well known for its inability to keep the time accurately. Sometimes too fast, sometimes too slow, it resisted all attempts to solve the problem. Finally, after its dubious fame became widespread, the preacher put a sign over the clock, reading, … Continue reading “SIN, EFFECTS OF”
SIN, DEFINITION OF
The story is told of two men who were trying to escape from an erupting volcano. As the fiery molten rock gushed out of its gaping crater, they fled in the only direction open to them. All went well until they came to a stream of hot, smoking lava about thirty feet across. Sizing up … Continue reading “SIN, DEFINITION OF”
SIN, CONFESSION OF
A college freshman went to the dorm laundry room with his dirty clothes bundled into an old sweatshirt. But he was so embarrassed by how dirty his clothes were that he never opened the bundle. He merely pushed it into a washing machine and when the machine stopped pushed the bundle into a dryer and … Continue reading “SIN, CONFESSION OF”
SIN, AVOIDANCE OF
A wife came to the conclusion that carbonated drinks were having negative physical effects on her family and herself and so decided that they should give them up. But how would she convince her three-year-old daughter, who liked them so much, that it was necessary to stop drinking them? As the wife was telling her … Continue reading “SIN, AVOIDANCE OF”
SERVICE, REWARDS OF
Many years ago a humble pastor served a church in a little country town. His ministry was quiet, and few souls were brought to Christ there. Year in and year out, the work became more and more discouraging. It was only years later that the faithful minister found great joy in the knowledge that one … Continue reading “SERVICE, REWARDS OF”