Evening, May 30
Go To Morning Reading
“That henceforth we should not serve sin.”
Romans 6:6
Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already ? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou hast
already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second
time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did
he not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole
of the asp, and put thy hand upon the cockatrice’s den a second time? Oh, be not so mad! so foolish! Did sin ever yield
thee real pleasure? Didst thou find solid satisfaction in it? If so,
go back to thine old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delight
thee. But inasmuch as sin did never give thee what it promised to
bestow, but deluded thee with lies, be not a second time snared by
the old fowler—be free, and let the remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee
to enter the net again! It is contrary to the designs of eternal love , which all have an eye to thy purity and holiness; therefore run
not counter to the purposes of thy Lord. Another thought should restrain
thee from sin. Christians can never sin cheaply ; they pay a heavy price for iniquity. Transgression destroys peace
of mind, obscures fellowship with Jesus, hinders prayer, brings darkness
over the soul; therefore be not the serf and bondman of sin. There
is yet a higher argument: each time you “serve sin” you have “ Crucified the Lord afresh, and put him to an open shame .” Can you bear that thought? Oh! if you have fallen into any special
sin during this day, it may be my Master has sent this admonition
this evening, to bring you back before you have backslidden very far.
Turn thee to Jesus anew; he has not forgotten his love to thee; his
grace is still the same. With weeping and repentance, come thou to
his footstool, and thou shalt be once more received into his heart;
thou shalt be set upon a rock again, and thy goings shall be established.