It separates us from God, and separation from Him is the very definition
of Death. A God of whom we never think is all the same to us as a God
who does not exist. Strike God out of a life, and you strike the sun out
of the system, and wrap all in darkness and weltering chaos. 'This is
life eternal, to know Thee'; but if 'Israel doth not know,' Israel has
slain itself.




WHAT SIN DOES TO MEN

'Ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no
water. 31. And the strong shall be as tow, and His work as a spark; and
they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.'--ISAIAH i.
30-31.


The original reference of these words is to the threatened retribution
for national idolatry, of which 'oaks' and 'gardens' were both seats.
The nation was, as it were, dried up and made inflammable; the idol was
as the 'spark' or the occasion for destruction. But a wider application,
which comes home to us all, is to the fatal results of sin. These need
to be very plainly stated, because of the deceitfulness of sin, which
goes on slaying men by thousands in silence.

'That grim wolf with privy paw
Daily devours apace.'

I. Sin withers.