Proverbs 14:9
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Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.
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Dear reader, if you do not read this little piece with sober contemplation, thou also art a fool. My pitiful labor here is not worth much in itself, but the warning it contains will be worth more than all the treasures of earth once you discover the truth of the proverb. If you do not have the time today, there will be all of eternity to think about its message.
But then it will be too late, for the fire of God's wrath will consume the very moisture of your soul until it implodes upon itself under the spiritual torment of His fearful judgment. Then day two of eternity will come with even more trouble for your spirit and body!
Fools think they can do whatever they want; God withholds His wisdom and judgment from them, so they ignorantly think they are getting away with their wickedness (Ps 36:1-4; 50:21-22). God will favor the righteous, but the way of transgressors is hard (13:15). Lot sat smugly in Sodom and thought the holy life of Abraham far too strict, but he was soon enough destitute in a cave with two depraved daughters and a hopeless future.
Sin is horribly serious! How serious? If the Bible is true, God threw many angels out of heaven and reserved them for eternal torture for siding with Satan. If the Bible is true, God damned our entire race to an eternity in hell for one sin of eating forbidden fruit. If the Bible is true, God drowned the entire earth, including all children and handicapped senior citizens, for sin. The Bible is true! And God did do these things because of sin.
The Bible is true! Jesus Christ is coming to burn the earth up with unquenchable fire and send every sinner to an eternity in the Lake of Fire with the devil and his angels. How can a man mock such a horrible thing? He is making fun of the Judge that will damn His soul to a hopeless, torment-filled eternity in the dark abyss and inferno of the dead!
Mock a judge on earth, and he may charge you with contempt of court and throw you in prison. Mock the Judge of heaven and earth, and He will discover your deepest fears and exploit them to His own honor. He will chase you with the angel of the Lord (Ps 25:5-6).
How bad is sin? It causes death! Isn't that enough? Death is horrible. It steals our lives; breaks our relationships; ruins our plans; destroys our dreams. Where did it come from? Man chose to mock at God's warning of death for sin in Eden. Should you mock that which causes every man the greatest fear? How insane to mock the cause of death!
But sin is also the reason for disease! For deformities! For destruction! For dysfunction! For disasters! For depravity! For derelicts! Sin is an ungodly evil that consumes our race every waking and sleeping second. How insane to mock the cause of these things!
How bad is sin? Visit Gethsemane and Calvary. There you can see the Son of God under such enormous torment of soul He sweat as it were great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). He begged His Father for an alternative to bearing our sins, for the guilt and shame of being made sin for His elect was overwhelming (Luke 22:42). Fools make a mock at sin.
Hell is horrible. Hell is hot. You will not turn down the tormenting flames; you will not be able to end your suffering (Mark 9:44,46,48). You will know that God has rejected you forever and ever. You will know that He hates you and has perfected your eternal torment. Hell is beyond our imagination of suffering. We have never, not in our deepest moments of grief, ever experienced anything even close to hell. And you will mock sin?
Why is hell ignored today? Why is it avoided in preaching? Why is there no mention of it in the newspapers? Why are those who preach about it considered Neanderthals? This itself is mocking sin, for it is trying to reject and ignore the stated consequences for sin.
Why did God create and prepare hell? Because of sin! Hell was created and prepared for the devil and his angels, because they sinned (Matt 25:41; II Pet 2:4). And all sinful men will join them there for an eternity of horrible suffering (Luke 16:19-31; Rev 20:11-15).
The fool says, "It's no big deal! What's it to you?" He complains like a spoiled child, "Why does everyone jump on me for one little mistake?" He excuses himself by saying, "That's just the way I am." He blames others for not having enough compassion for his "weaknesses and slow learning." He says, "I'm sorry," and then does it all over again!
The adulteress commits her sordid and heinous sin by giving away her body and/or heart, and she wipes her mouth and says, "I have done no wickedness" (30:20).
To mock something is to ridicule, scorn, deride, jeer, or scoff at it. To mock sin is to make light of it and jest about it; to mock sin is to ridicule and scoff at its seriousness; to mock sin is to scorn and jeer those who teach and threaten against it.
God considers even the thought of foolishness to be sin; and He admits that good men consider the scorner, one who does not like to be corrected, to be an abomination (24:9). It is a perverse and profane person who chooses folly and rejects and resents correction.
How can anyone object to rebukes and punishments in this life to stop men from sinning? Spanking children? If it might save them from death and a life of hell, bring it on (23:13-14)! Excommunicating church members? If it might save their spirit in the day of the Lord Jesus (I Cor 5:3-5)! What are these little acts compared to an eternal hell?
He has judged men severely for "minor" sins. He kept faithful Moses from Canaan for smiting a rock he was supposed to speak to (Num 20:12); he killed Uzzah in David's parade for steadying the ark of the covenant (II Sam 6:6-7). Only fools mock at sin.
Our nation mocks sin as a pastime. Television is committed to it. Fornication, profanity, disobedience to parents, sodomy, adultery, jesting, and many other sins are main ingredients of sitcoms, serials, and dramas. Programming today mocks sin much more than just a generation ago. And here we have the fulfillment of God's curse (Rom 1:32).
Fools make a mock at sin, but they will soon meet their Maker and Judge, Who shall extract everlasting praise for His holiness from their screams of helplessness and hopelessness. But the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance, and God will bless them here and in eternity with His personal and special favor for hating sin.
Even ministers today make a mock of sin. Jokes are told in the pulpit. One church advertised, "If you come back, we promise not to throw the book at you." What is this but mocking sin! If a person is sinning, they need to have the book thrown at them! John the Baptist would have thrown it at them, and so would have Jesus and Paul!
Profane and effeminate Christians mock sin today by their attitude. They say, "All that matters is that we all love Jesus." They say, "God hates sin, but loves the sinner." Right! And Noah dropped smiley faces with that message to those in the water around the ark!
Reader, do you mock sin? Do you mock it by not paying attention during the preaching of God's holy word? By getting defensive when the pastor speaks against one of your pet sins? By resenting those who rebuke you for sin? By wishing for a more entertaining pastor than one who preaches sound doctrine? Consider it well.
If the Bible is true, God ate Herod with worms for enjoying the praise of the people for his speech (Acts 12:21-23). He killed Bathsheba's little baby for her love affair with David (II Sam 12:14). He killed the firstborn in every family in Egypt, for Pharaoh not letting Israel worship where and when they chose (Ex 12:29-30). And He killed Ananias and Sapphira before the church for modifying their giving report (Acts 5:1-11).
The world says, "No fear." The LORD says, "Fear Him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him" (Luke 12:4-5). Let every fool fly to His glorious feet and beg for mercy with trembling repentance and fear.
The Lord Jesus, Who shall soon judge all men in righteousness, described a wise man that dealt with sin properly. This man would not even lift up his eyes to heaven; and he smote his breast and said, "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13).
Such a man will be blessed in this world (Ps 37:4; 84:11; Matt 6:33), and he shall obtain eternal life in the world to come (Matt 7:21; Rev 22:14). "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (II Cor 7:1). Amen.
A fool will joke about sin, sneer at sin, excuse sin, and blame others for his sin. He has no fear of God. Sin is not a serious matter to him. But a righteous man will tremble at sin, run from sin, and grieve about sin. God will show that man His gracious blessings.
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