Son 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
Resolve at once, by God's help, to break off every known sin,
however small.
Look within, each one of you.
Examine your own hearts.
Do you see
there any habit which you know is
wrong in the sight of God?
If you do, resolve at once to cast it off!
Nothing darkens the eyes of the mind so much, and deadens the
conscience so surely as an allowed sin.
It may be a little
one...but it is not any less dangerous.
A small leak will sink a great ship.
A small spark will kindle
a great fire.
In the same way, a little allowed sin will ruin an immortal soul.
Take my advice, and never spare a little sin!
Israel was commanded
to kill every Canaanite, both great and small.
Act on the
same principle and show no mercy to little sins.
You can be sure that no wicked man ever meant to be so wicked at
his first beginnings.
But he began with allowing himself some
little sins, and that led on to something greater...
And that in
time produced something greater still...
And thus he became the
miserable being that he now is.
Brethren, resist sin in its beginnings.
Some sins may look small and
insignificant, but mind what I say - resist them, make no
compromise...
Let no sin lodge quietly and undisturbed in your
heart.
Remember the Apostle's words, "A little yeast works through
the whole batch of dough!" 1 Corinthians 5:6.
Many a man could tell you with sorrow and shame, that he traces
his ruin to the point I speak of - to giving way to sin in its
beginnings.
He began habits of deception and dishonesty in little
things and they grew on him.
Step by step, he has gone on from bad to
worse - until he has done things that at one time he would have thought
impossible.
At last he has lost his character...
Lost his peace...
And almost
lost his soul...
He allowed a gap in the wall of his conscience, because it
seemed a little one...
And once allowed, that gap grew larger every day, until
in time the whole wall came down!
Whatever the world may like to think there are no little sins!
All habits are formed by a succession of little acts, and the
first little act is of mighty consequence.
The ax in the fable, only begged the trees to let him
have one little piece of wood to make a handle and he would never
trouble them any more.
He got it, and then he soon cut them all
down!
The devil only wants to get the wedge of a little allowed sin into
your heart...and you will soon be all his own.
It is a wise saying, "There is nothing small between us and
God...for God is an infinite God."
There are two ways of coming down from the top of a ladder...
One is to jump down and the other is to come down by the steps.
Both will lead you to the bottom.
Just so, there are two ways of going to Hell.
One is to walk into it with your eyes open...few people do that.
The other is to go down by the steps of little sins...and that way
is only too common.
Put up with a few little sins and you will
soon tolerate a few more.
Even a heathen could say, "Who was ever
content with only one sin?"
If you put up with little sins, then
your path in life will be worse and worse every year.
Jeremy Taylor very clearly described the progress of sin
in a man:
First sin startles him...
Then it becomes pleasing...
Then it becomes easy...
Then it
becomes delightful...
Then it
becomes frequent,,,
Then it
becomes habitual...
Then it
becomes a way of life...
Then the man feels no guilt...
Then he becomes obstinate...
And then he is damned!
Friends, if you don't want to come
to this, remember the rule I give you this day...
Resolve at once
to break off every known sin.
~J. C. Ryle~
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