HEB. xi. 25. “The pleasures of sin.”
SlN has pleasures. This must be true, otherwise men
would not commit it. Sin is at first indulged in for
pleasure. But my contention is, that its value is a
negative quantity, that “it costs more than it comes to,”
and I will give you the data from which I have worked
out this result.
I. The pleasures of sin are short lived. There is in them
at best only a temporary thrill which vibrates for a moment,
and needs to be reproduced again and again. Take in-
temperance for example.
Pleasure in sin is external and evanescent, Christian
happiness is internal and permanent.
II. The pleasures of sin leave a sting behind, and will
not bear after reflection. There is guilt in them, and there
never can be happiness in contemplating that.
But the Christian’s happiness will bear reflection. His
yesterdays look backward with a smile, and do not, Par-
thian-like, wound him as they fly.
III. The pleasures of sin are such that the oftener they
are enjoyed there is the less enjoyment in them.
But Jesus keeps the good wine till the end.
IV. The pleasures of sin are expensive. I refer not to
money though that is by no means unimportant, but the
expense of the man’s own nature. The sinner is old before
his time. His physical power is gone. His intellect has
lost its freshness.
Far otherwise is it with the Christian. The more he
knows of Christ, the more does he learn to use his body
as a temple of the Holy Ghost, his intellect as an instru-
ment of serving God, and his will in choosing to run in the
way of the Divine commands.
W. M. Taylor, D.D.