Hard work and bad pay by Archibald
Brown 1868 The wages of sin is death Romans chapter 6 verse
23 What is the reward for all that
hard-toiled death? Yes, death. Oh, extraordinary
wages! But more astonishing still that
any should be found to work for them. The death of the body is
but one result of sin. If sin had not found its way
into God's fair earth, then death also would have been forever
a stranger. Death is the dark shadow that
sin casts. For six thousand years men have
been receiving the wages of death. Death has passed upon all men,
for all have sinned. Think of the aggregate of sorrow
that has come on this fallen world through death, the fruit
of sin. Could all the groans that have
burst from broken-hearted mourners since our first parents wept
over their murdered son be gathered into one? What a deep thunder-peel
of anguish it would be! Were all the tears collected
that death has caused to flow, What a briny ocean they would
constitute. Let those call sin a trifle who
dare, But to us it is clear that what could bring on man So dreadful
a curse as death must in itself Be something unutterably horrible. And yet mere physical death is
the least that is meant here. If this was all the Lord meant,
if men, when they die, die like dogs, there would be no occasion
for the agony of soul we often have. But alas, alas! The death referred to here is
a death that never dies. It is placed in contrast to eternal
life. It means eternal death. In other words, hell. Here, poor
sinner, are your wages. Here is the result of a life's
toil for Satan. Hell. Let me say, moreover, sin
pays some of its wages now. It gives sometimes an installment
of hell on earth. The wretched de Porci often finds
it so. Mark his haggard countenance,
his trembling gait. Follow him to the hospital. No,
don't. Let his end remain secret. Terrible
are the wages he receives. Look at the drunkard. He is paid
for sin in his home until not a single stick remains to tell
of a place that once was bright and happy. Have you ever seen
a drunkard in delirium tremens? If so, you will never doubt about
the wages he receives in this life. Hearken to his shrieking. Listen to his raving as he imagines
he's being dragged to hell by ten thousand fiery snakes. This is all included in the wages
of death. And yet, after all, this is nothing. If the only wages for sin were
those received in a lifetime, we could be calmer. But, oh,
eternity! Eternity is sin's long payday,
and the wages paid is hell. Suppose a person were to go to
a blacksmith and say to him, I want you to make me a long
and heavy chain. I will pay you well for it. The
blacksmith, for the sake of the money, commences it, and after
toiling hard for some time, finishes it. The person calls and says,
on looking at it, Yes, it is a good chain. But not long enough. Work on it another week. I will
then call and pay you for it." Encouraged by the promise of
full reward, the blacksmith toils on, adding link to link. When his employer calls again,
he praises him as before, but still insists that the chain
is too short. But, says the blacksmith, I can
do no more. My iron is all gone, and my strength,
too. Oh, then just add a few more
links. The chain will then answer my
purpose, and you shall be well paid. The blacksmith, with his
remaining strength and last few scraps of iron, adds the last
link he can. The chain will now do, says the
man. You have worked hard and long.
I will now pay you your wages. And taking the chain, he suddenly
binds the blacksmith hand and foot and casts him into a furnace
of fire. Such are the wages of sin. It promises much, but its reward
is damnation. Servants of sin and Satan, behold
your future doom. Be honest and confess that your
service is hard work and bad pay. God forbid that in this
large concourse of people there should be a single one who will
ever learn by bitter eternal experience that the wages of
sin is death. you