Sin a Heavy Burden

    SIN A HEAVY BURDEN

    "For my iniquities are gone over my head, as a heavy Burden, they are two heavy for me" Ps 38:4.

    "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us," &c., Heb 12:1.

    WEIGHT, BasX, signifies several things; (1.) The greatness of heavenly glory, 2Co 4:17. (2.) Trouble, or the wrath of wicked men, Pr 27:3, which often presseth down the godly. (3.) That which is ponderous, things, words, or matters of moment, in opposition to such things, or words, that are light, airy, &c. (4.) Sin, because it presseth down and is grievous to be born, &c.

    Note, Sin is a great weight or heavy Burden.

    SIMILE

    I. A weight or Burden that bears hard, or lies heavy upon the breast of a person, ready to crush him to pieces, is very grievous, worse to be borne, than a weight upon the legs or arms, &c.

    PARALLEL

    I. Sin is a weight or Burden, that lies heavy upon the soul of an enlightened Christian, and this is the cause it is so grievous, it presseth down the powers of the noble and superior part of the creature. Lay a weight upon a stone, and that will bear it, and not break or yield under it; but if a great and mighty weight be laid upon such things that are tender, or of a soft substance, how sorely will it mar and crush that? So a stony-hearted Sinner, though he hath great mountains of Sin and guilt lying upon him, he complains not, he is, alas! insensible, and to use the apostle's words, past feeling, his heart being like a rock, or the nether millstone; but a poor saint whose heart is tender, God having taken away the heart of stone, and given him a heart of flesh, he is sensible of this Burden, his soul and conscience cannot bear it, he cries out in great anguish and horror of spirit, Eph 5:19; Eze 36:26; Ps 37:4.

    SIMILE

    II. Some weights and Burdens laid upon some men, are so heavy that they cannot be borne, the strongest man cannot, stand under them, &c.

    PARALLEL

    II. Sin is such a Burden or weight that no man is able to bear, it will make the stoutest heart to ache, and the strongest back to stoop; it made David, that mighty man of God, to cry out, "I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly," &c., "All my bones are broken," Ps 38:6. Nay, when this weight was laid upon the Lord Jesus whom God made strong for himself, how did it crush him, and cause him, if I may so say, to stagger and sweat under it, as if it had been great drops of blood falling down to the ground. It is said his soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, and that he went forward and fell on the ground, Lu 22:44. "He bore our Sins upon his own body on the tree." O what a mercy was it, that God laid help upon one who was mighty; though he was able to bear this weight, yet how did it make him to cry out, under the Burden of it, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me," &c., Mt 26:39. There is a two-fold weight in Sin. 1. As it hinders our justification. 2. As it hinders our sanctification. The first respects the punishment that is due to it; and that weight Jesus Christ bore for us, which none was able to do besides himself.

    SIMILE

    III. A Heavy weight or Burden laid upon a man that is to run a race, is very troublesome, and a great impediment to him, and therefore ought to be cast off, &c. He is a very foolish man that having a long race to run, will carry a great weight or Burden about him: can such expect to win the prize?

    PARALLEL

    III. So Sin greatly hinders the saints of God in their spiritual race, it is unto them like a Heavy Burden, and therefore ought to be cast off by them. "Let us lay aside every weight, and the Sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us," Heb 12:1. Sin will soon cause a Christian to faint, if he throw it not off by true repentance! See Runner.

    SIMILE

    I. SOME heavy weights or Burdens, though they cannot be borne when they are bound up or tied together, yet if severed, some part of them may be borne and easily carried.

    DISPARITY

    I. BUT Sin is such a kind of Burden, that it cannot be borne, either whole or apart; that is to say, one sin severed from a multitude, that a person may be guilty of, and charged upon the soul; though it should be judged the least, no man is able to stand under the guilt, or burden of it.

    1. For the least Sin being against an infinite God, deserves an infinite punishment.

    2. The least Sin being a breach of the law, brings a soul under wrath, and the curse thereof.

    3. The least is done away without Christ's blood, nothing but that only can wash it away, or cleanse from it. Now that which makes Sin to be so great a burden to a child of God is, (1.) Because it sets God against the soul, it makes him to become a man's enemy, and to fight against him, &c. (2.) Because it is a Burden unto God himself, hence he cries out, "I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed with sheaves," Am 2:13. Nothing is more opposite to God than Sin, or is more loathsome to him. (3.) Because it wounds, bruises, and lays the soul itself a bleeding. (4.) Because it brings the soul under the dreadful wrath of an angry God, yea binds down under everlasting wrath, causing a final separation from God and Christ for ever.

    INFERENCES.

    I. WHAT insensible creatures are unconverted Sinners!

    II. Moreover, what a sore and grievous thing is it to have this burden laid upon the soul!

    III. It may stir up such who feel this weight, to cast it off, by repentance of faith: remember Christ hath borne it for thee, that thou mightest go free. "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all," Isa 53:6.

    IV. It shows us what a wonderful mercy it is to be freed from this burden. Saints are delivered from the power and dominion, guilt and condemnation of it, through the Lord Jesus Christ, Ro 6:14.