Sin

Man was formed . The smile of innocence met the smile of Heaven. The heart was only love - the worship only praise - But man was a creature, and a creature must obey. God cannot be but on a throne of rule . But obedience shall not be a heavy yoke . Only one command is issued. Only one tree forbidden. To transgress is death. Who can bear this penalty , and think that sin is a trivial fault - easily to be pardoned - soon to be effaced? The slightest sin is the soul in open rebellion. It casts God from the heart. It strives to tread Him in the dust . It avows the godless principle of independence . It proves that self has erected the idol of self-love. Can God then connive at evil ? Ah. no. The whole of Deity abhors it . Therefore to transgress is death . Such is the penalty . Who can fathom the depths of misery in this curse ? It involves the instant withdrawal of heavenly presence It denounces withering to the core of every spiritual faculty and perception. It warns that to rebel is to become death-stricken in body - dead in soul . It shows , that sin's proper home is eternal gnawing's of accusing conscience, and eternal tossings on the bed of wrath. Law

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