The devil's brat!

(Thomas Brooks, "A Cabinet of Choice Jewels" 1669)

"That sin might become utterly sinful." Romans 7:13

Paul, to set forth the formidable evil that is in sin, expresses
it thus. He could find nothing more evil and odious to express
sin by—than itself. Sin is so great an evil, that it cannot have
a worse epithet given it. Paul can call it no worse than by its
own name—sinful sin. Had he said that sin was a snare, a
serpent, a viper, a toad, a plague, a devil, a hell, etc.—he
would have said much—but yet not enough to set forth the
transcendent evil which is in sin. Therefore he calls it sinful
sin.

All other evils are but outward, they only reach the name,
the body, the estate, the life—but sin is an inward evil, a
spiritual evil, an evil that reaches the precious and immortal
soul—and therefore is the greatest evil.

Death puts an end to all other troubles; namely, poverty,
sickness, disgrace, scorn, contempt, afflictions, losses, etc.
But sin is so great an evil, that death itself cannot put an
end to it! Eternity itself shall never put a stop, an end—to
this evil of evils!

All other evils can never make a man the object of God's
wrath and hatred. A man may be poor—and yet precious in
the eyes of God; he may be greatly abhorred by the world
—and yet highly honored by God; he may be debased by
men—and yet exalted by God. But sin is so great an evil,
that it subjects the sinner's soul to the wrath and hatred
of God!

All other evils do but strike at a man's present well-being
—but sin strikes at a man's eternal well-being! All other
evils can never hinder a man's communion with God. A
man may have communion with God in poverty, in sickness,
in prison, in banishment. But sin is so great an evil, that it
interrupts communion with God, it cuts off communion with
God.

All outward evils are God's creatures: "Is there any evil in
the city—which the Lord has not done?" But sin is the devil's
brat—it is a creature of his own begetting! Yes, sin is worse
than the devil! It is that which has turned glorious angels
into infernal devils!

All other evils do not fight against the greatest good—but
sin is that grand evil that fights against the greatest good.
Sin fights against the being of God, the essence of God, the
glory of God. Sin is a killing of God—it is a murdering of God.

Sin is a universal evil, it is all evil, it is nothing but evil;
there is not one drop, one spark of good to be found in
any sin. In all outward evils there is some good; there is
some good in poverty, in sickness, in war, in death—but
there is not the least good in sin.

Sin is the sole object of God's hatred!
 
He hates nothing but sin!
 
He is angry with nothing but sin!
 
He has forbid nothing but sin!
 
He has revealed his wrath against nothing
but sin! So great an evil is sin!

Sin is that grand evil which has midwifed all
other evils into the world. It was sin which
drowned the old world with water. It was sin
which destroyed Sodom with fire and brimstone.
It was sin which laid Jerusalem in heaps. It was
sin which has midwifed sword, famine, and
pestilence into the world. It was sin which laid
the foundation of hell—for before sin there was
no hell.

It was sin which crucified the Lord of glory!

Now, oh how great must that evil be—which has
ushered in all these great evils into the world!

Sin is enmity against God. God has no enemy in the
world but sin, and those whom sin has made enemies.
Sin has set all the world against the Lord of glory. It
is sin which has turned men into incarnate devils, and
which has drawn them out to fight against God, and
Christ, and their own souls, and their everlasting peace.

A Christian looks upon sin as the greatest evil in the
world, and his heart rises and is enraged against it,
because of the vile, filthy, odious, and heinous nature
of it!