1. It lies in the very nature of sin, that it should be inexcusable, and worthy of punishment. Instead, therefore, of palliating its enormity, we should endeavour to escape from its penalty, vs. 18, 33.
2. As the works of God reveal his eternal power and Godhead, we should accustom ourselves to see in them the manifestations of his per- fections, vs. 18 — 21.
. 3. The human intellect is as erring as the human heart. We can no more find truth than holiness when estranged from God ; even as we lose both light and heat when we depart from the sun. Those, in every age, have sunk deepest into folly, who have relied most on their own understandings. ' In thy light only, O God, can we see light,' v. 21, &c.
4. If the sins of the heathen, committed under the feeble light of nature, are inexcusable, how great must be the aggravation of those com mitted under the light of the Scriptures ! v. 20.
5. As the light of nature is insufficient to lead the heathen to God and holiness, it is one of the most obvious and urgent of duties to send them the light of the Bible, v. 20—23.
6. Men should remember that their security from open and gross sins is not in themselves, but in God ; and they should regard as the worst of punishments, his withdrawing from them his Holy Spirit, v. 24—28.
7. Sins of uncleanness are peculiarly debasing and demoralizing. To be preserved from them is mentioned in Scripture as a mark of the divine
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