You, of course, know what a cushion is for. It is to make you feel easy and comfortable. Now Satan has his cushions with which he makes boys and girls feel comfortable in their sins, for our great enemy knows very well that when anyone feels uneasy about his sins, he will want to seek the Saviour.
Here is one of Satan’s cushions: “I have never done any harm.” Will you dare tell God that you have never done any wrong? What about sins of the tongue and of thought, as well as sins of action? What does this first cushion suggest to you? It is this—that you don’t need Jesus; you have no use for the Saviour! What an ugly thought it is, is it not?
Here is another of Satan’s cushions: “It is such a little thing.” So seemed the eating of the forbidden fruit to our first parents in the Garden of Eden. Yet that one act of disobedience brought sin and death and all manner of evil into the world.
Some people who were taking a holiday in Switzerland noticed the strange behavior of some swallows. They suddenly stopped in their flight, and fell headlong to the earth. On hurrying up to them, it was found that they were dead. Underneath the wings of the birds were discovered large spiders which had drained the poor birds of their blood and so killed them.
While the birds were in North Africa during the winter, spiders had laid their eggs under their wings, and these had been hatched by the warmth of the swallows’ bodies; the young spiders fed on the blood of the birds and grew rapidly, until at last they killed them. Do not let Satan slip this cushion under your soul: “It is such a little thing”, and thus keep you away from the Saviour. Here is another:
“Everyone else does this.” That will not save you from punishment.
We can well imagine how the people laughed at Noah while he was building the ark. They no doubt said to one another, “That man is always speaking of a judgment of God which is coming, and he is preparing that big ship to save his family. We see no sign of judgment. It is true, we deserve punishment for our evil lives, but we are all alike. We are doing wrong, but everybody is doing the same.”
Yes, they sinned all together, but they died one by one.
Boys and girls may sin in a crowd, but they will be punished one by one. A boy feels bold to do wrong when there are other boys to encourage and applaud him. The presence of others makes him feel safe. He sometimes escapes punishment in the crowd because it may be difficult to find out the true offender, and a mistake might be made. But God makes no mistake; He singles each one out by himself and says,
“It will never be found out.” Well, it may not be found out by anyone in this world, but God, the all-seeing One, knows all about it already, and, if unforgiven, it will have to be answered for after death, —but after death the judgment. (Hebrews 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)).
Don’t let Satan put any of these cushions under your soul. Tell God the wrongs you have clone, and take God’s gift which you never could deserve—Jesus Himself.
ML 09/13/1931