by Thomas Watson (1620 – 1686)

WHY Sin Must Bring a Man Low is Because…

1. Sin is a disease.

A serious disease that brings a man low. Take the healthiest constitution, the most robust complexion, yet, if cancer gets into it, it brings the body low. The beauty withers. The silver cord begins to be loosed. So it is in spiritual things. The soul which was once of an orient brightness, the mind angelified, the will crowned with liberty, the affections as so many seraphims burning in love to God—yet by sin, it has become diseased, Isaiah 1:6—and this disease brings it low. The soul has fallen from its pristine dignity. It has lost its noble and sublime operations—and lies exposed to the second death.

2. Sin must bring a man low, because the sinner enters into war with God.

He tramples upon God’s law and crosses His will. If God is of one mind, the sinner will be of another. He does all he can to spite God, Jeremiah 44:16, “We will not listen to your messages from the Lord! We will do whatever we want. We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and sacrifice to her just as much as we like!”

The same Hebrew word for sin, signifies rebellion. Now, can the Lord endure to be thus saucily confronted by proud dust? God will never let his own creature rise up in arms against Him. He will pull down the sinner’s plumes—and bring him low! God is called El Elim, the mighty of mighties. When the angel wrestled with Jacob, he touched only the hollow of his thigh, Genesis 32:25. But when God wrestles with a sinner, He will tear them apart, “Like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them and rip them open. Like a lion I will devour them; a wild animal will tear them apart!” Hosea 13:8. The Apostle said, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” Hebrews 10:31. It is good to fall into God’s hands, when He is a friend—but it is dreadful falling into His hands, when He is an enemy.

3. Sin must bring a man low because the sinner labors to do what he can to bring God low.

He has low thoughts of God. He slights His sovereignty, questions His truth, looks upon all God’s promises as a forged deed. The sinner, therefore, is said to despise God, Numbers 11:20.

Again, the sinner lessens God and brings Him low in the thoughts of others. Ezekiel 8:12, “Have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, The Lord doesn’t see us; He has deserted our land!” Do but secure yourselves from man’s eye—and as for God’s taking notice of sin—you need not trouble yourselves. “The Lord doesn’t see us; He has deserted our land!” Zephaniah 1:12, “I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners to find and punish those who sit contented in their sins, indifferent to the Lord, thinking he will do nothing at all to them.” That is—you need not fear punishment.

Malachi 2:17, “You say—Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s sight—and He is pleased with them. Where is the God of justice?” Here they blemish God’s sanctity. That is, “God is not so holy—but He bears as much favor to the wicked as to the good.” “Where is the God of justice?” Here they tax His justice. It is as if they had said, “God does not order things rightly. He does not weigh matters impartially in an equal balance.” “Where is the God of justice?” Thus a sinner eclipses the glory of the Godhead—and labors to bring God low in the thoughts of others.

And besides, he does what he can—to extirpate God. He wishes there were no God. He says, “Get out of the way! Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!” Isaiah 30:11. A wicked man would not only unthrone God—but “kill” God. If he could help it, God would no longer be God. Now, if a sinner is this impious as to endeavor to bring God low, no wonder if God brings him low. Nahum 1, “I will prepare your grave, for you are vile!” That is, “I will bring you (O Sennacherib) from the throne to the tomb. I will kick you into your grave.” And Obadiah 4, “Though you soar as high as eagles and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you crashing down. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

4. Sin must bring a person low, because sin is the only thing God has an antipathy against.

The Lord does not hate a man because he is poor or despised. You do not hate your friend because he is sick. But that which draws forth the keeness of God’s hatred is sin. Jeremiah 44:4, “Do not do this abominable thing which I hate.” Now, for anyone to espouse that which God’s soul hates, it must undo him at last. Is that subject likely to thrive, whom his king hates? The cherishing and countenancing of sin makes the fury come up in God’s face, Ezekiel 38:16. And, if His wrath is once kindled, it burns to the lowest hell. The Psalmist said, “Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?” Isaiah 33:14.

5. Sin must bring the sinner low, because it exposes him to God’s curse

—and God’s curse blasts wherever it comes. “If you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.” Deuteronomy 28:15-19 The curse of God haunts the sinner wherever he goes. If he is in the city, it spoils his trade. If he is in the country, it destroys his crop.

God’s curse drops poison into everything. It is a moth in the closet, a plague among the cattle, rot among the sheep. If the flying scroll of curses enters into a man’s house, it consumes the timber and walls of it, Zechariah 5:4. When Christ cursed the fig-tree, it immediately withered, Matthew 21:19. Men’s curses are insignificant—they shoot without bullets. But Numbers 22:6 says, “I know that those You bless are blessed—and those You curse are cursed.” God’s curse kills, Psalm 37:22, “those cursed by Him will be destroyed.” If all God’s curses are leveled against the sinner—then he must be brought low!

Useful Information

Branch 1.

See then from this that God’s punishing either a person or a nation is not without a cause. A father may chastise his son out of a bad temper, when there is no cause—but God never punishes without a just cause. He does not do purely to show His sovereignty, or because He takes pleasure to bring His creatures low. Lamentations 3:33, “He does not willingly bring affliction,” or, as it is in the Hebrew, “from the heart.” But there is some impellent cause. “They were brought low—for their iniquity.”

Cyprian writes this concerning the persecution of the Church under the Emperor Valerian. “We must confess that this sad calamity, which has, in a great part wasted our churches, has risen from our own internal wickedness—for we are full of avarice, ambition, emulation, etc.” Jeremiah 4:17, “They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against Me.” As horses or deer in a field are so enclosed with hedges and so narrowly watched that they cannot get out, so Jerusalem was so besieged with enemies and watched that there was no escape for her without danger of life. Verse 18, “Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!”

As we used to say to children when they were sick, “This is because of the green fruit you have eaten, or from your going out in the snow,” so God says, “This is because of your wickedness.” Jeremiah 30:15, “Why do you cry out about your affliction? Your pain has no cure! I have done these things to you because of your enormous guilt and your innumerable sins!” The sword which wounds you is of your own whetting! The cords that pinch you are of your own twisting! Thank your sin for all this! 1 Corinthians 11:30, “For this cause many are sick, and weak, and many fall asleep.” The Church at Corinth was punished with physical death, because of coming unworthily to the Lord’s Table and profaning the body and blood of the Lord.

The abuse of holy things incenses God. Nadab and Abihu found the flames of wrath hot about the altar! Leviticus 10:1-2. So that there is still a cause why God brings any person low. There is no reason why God should love us—but there is a great deal of reason why God should punish us. “They were brought low—for their iniquity.”

Branch 2.

See from this what a mischievous thing sin is—it brings a person and a nation low. Hosea 14:1, “You have fallen by your iniquity.” Sin lays men low in the grave—and in hell too, without repentance. Sin is the Achan which troubles. It is the gall in our cup and the gravel in our bread, Proverbs 20:17. Sin and punishment are linked together with adamantine chains! Sin sets the world on fire. It is a coal which not only blackens—but burns! Sin conjures up all our afflictions. All the crosses which befall us, all the storms in conscience—sin raises them! Never let anyone think to rise by sin, for the text says that sin brings him low.

Sin first tempts—and then damns! It is first a fox—and then a lion! Sin does to a man—as Jael did to Sisera. First she brought the milk and butter to Sisera—then she pounded the tent peg through his head! Judges 5:26. Sin first brings us pleasures which delight and charm the senses—and then comes with its hammer and nail! Sin does to the sinner, as Absalom did to Amnon. When his heart was merry with wine—then he killed him, 2 Samuel 13:28. Sin’s last act is always tragic!

How evil a thing is sin that it not only brings a people low—but it makes God delight in bringing them low. Ezekiel 5:13, “When My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath on them—I will be comforted.” God does not take delight in punishing. Judges 10:16, “His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” He is like a father who chastises his child with tears. But God was so provoked with the Jews, that it seemed a delight to Him to afflict. “When My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath on them—I will be comforted.” Oh, what a venomous, accursed thing sin is—which makes a merciful God take comfort in the destruction of His own creature!

Branch 3.

See, then, what little cause any have to wonder that they are brought low. As the Apostle said, 1 Peter 4:12, “Don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.” So do not think it strange if you are as full of eclipses and changes as the moon. Do not wonder if you are under the black rod. A sick man may as well wonder that he is in pain—as a sinful man wonder that he is afflicted. Do not vapors cause thunder? Is it a wonder to hear God’s thundering voice after the hellish vapors of our sins have been sent up? Sin is a debt. It is set out in Scripture by a debt of millions, Matthew 18:24. Is it a wonder for a man who is in debt to be arrested? Never wonder that God arrests you with His judgments when you are so deeply in arrears.

Sin is a walking contrary to God. And if men walk contrary to God, is it any wonder if God walks contrary to them? Leviticus 26:17, “If you will walk contrary to Me—then I will also walk contrary to you—and I even I will chastise you seven times more for your sins.”

Oh, sinner, do not wonder that it is so bad with you—but rather wonder that it is no worse! Are you in the deep of affliction? It is a wonder you are not in the deep of hell! If Jesus Christ was brought low, is it a wonder that you are brought low?

Christ was brought low in poverty. A feeding trough was His cradle. The cobwebs were His curtains.

He was brought low in temptation. Matthew 4:1, “He was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” No sooner was Christ out of the water of baptism—than He was in the fire of temptation! Only His Godhead was too strong a bulwark for Satan’s fiery darts to enter.

He was brought low in His agonies. He sweat blood in the garden. He shed blood on the cross. If Christ was brought low, who knew no sin, do you wonder that you are brought low, who are so full of sin? Lamentations 3:39, “Why doth a living man complain—for the punishment of his sin?” What, a sinner—and you wonder or murmur that you are afflicted? Sin as naturally draws punishment to it—as the magnet draws iron!

Branch 4.

See the text fulfilled this day in our eyes. Sin has brought our nation low. We are falling down—if not collapsed. We do not lack for sin. There is a spirit of wickedness in the land. Ours are mighty sins, Amos 5:12; bloody sins, Hosea 4:2. The sins of Denmark, Spain, France, and Italy—are translated into English. We have many Sodoms among us—and may fear to have the line of confusion stretched over us. By our impieties and blasphemies, we have sounded a trumpet of rebellion against heaven. Were our sins engraved upon our foreheads, we would be ashamed to look up!

Men invent new sins. Romans 1:30, “inventors of evil things.” Some invent new errors; others invent new snares. This age exceeds former ages in sinning. As it is with trades, there may be old trades—but there are some new tradesmen now who have grown more dexterous and cunning in their trade, than they were in former times. So it is with sin. Sin is an old trade—but there are people now alive, who are more skilled in the trade—and have grown more expert in sin, than those who are dead and gone. In former times, sinners were bunglers at sin, compared to what they are now. They are skillful at self-damnation. Jeremiah 4:22, “They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing what is evil—but they do not know how to do what is good.”

The devil’s mint is going every day—and sin is minted faster than money. People sin with greediness, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” Ephesians 4:19. “Man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water!” Job 15:16. They have grown rampant in wickedness, having laid aside the veil of modesty. Zephaniah 3:5, “The wicked know no shame.” We read that Nebuchadnezzar had the heart of a beast given to him, Daniel 4:16. If all who have the hearts of beasts had the faces of beasts—men would be very scarce!

And if sin is so high, well may it bring us low. While the body is in a burning fever—it cannot thrive. Our nation, being in this burning fever of sin—must waste away. Has not sin brought us low? What wars, pestilences, and fires have broken out among us? The splendor and magnificence of the city has been brought low and laid in ashes! (Editor’s Note: Watson is here referring to the great fire of London, which demolished much of the city.)

Sin has brought us low in our reputation. Proverbs 14:34, “Sin is a reproach to any people.” Time was, when God made the sheaves of other nations do obeisance to our sheaf, Genesis 37:7. But our pristine fame and renown is eclipsed. Malachi 2:2, “I have made you base and contemptible.” Trading is brought low. Many men’s estates are boiled down to nothing—their gourd is withered. Their jar of oil fails. Ruth 1:21, “I went out full—but the Lord has brought me home empty!” Sin has brought other nations low—and do we think to escape better than they?

Salvian observes that in Africa, when the Church of God had degenerated from its purity—the land abounded in vice and was filled with sin. Then the Vandals entered Africa and the enemy’s sword let them bleed. Numbers 32:23, “Be sure your sin will find you out!” Like a bloodhound, it will pursue you.

Thomas Watson, 1671

 

Meet the author and part of your Christian heritage: Thomas Watson (1620 – 1686) was an English, Nonconformist, Puritan preacher and author.

He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was noted for remarkably intense study. In 1646 he commenced a sixteen-year pastorate at St. Stephen’s, Walbrook. He showed strong Presbyterian views during the civil war, with, however, an attachment to the king, and in 1651 he was imprisoned briefly with some other ministers for his share in Christopher Love’s plot to recall Charles II of England. He was released on 30 June 1652, and was formally reinstated as vicar of St. Stephen’s Walbrook. He obtained great fame and popularity as a preacher until the Restoration, when he was ejected for Nonconformity. Notwithstanding the rigor of the acts against dissenters, Watson continued to exercise his ministry privately as he found opportunity. Upon the Declaration of Indulgence in 1672 he obtained a license to preach at the great hall in Crosby House. After preaching there for several years, his health gave way, and he retired to Barnston, Essex, where he died suddenly while praying in secret. He was buried on 28 July 1686