Gen. xxxix. 9. How can I do this great tvickedness, and sin
against God?
THE grace of God is equally necessary for us in every situation of life ; in adversity, to support us ; and in prosperity, to keep us — We should have been
ready indeed to congratulate Joseph on his advance- ment in the house of Potiphar, as though his trials had been ended : but we see that, if his former path was strewed with thorns, his present station was slip- pery, and replete with danger — His history is well known, and need not be insisted on : suffice it to say, that when tempted by his mistress, and importuned from day to day to commit sin with her, he resisted her solicitations with unshaken constancy, and re- jected her proposals with indignation and abhor- rence— The reply, which through the grace of God he was enabled to make, leads us to observe that,
I. Sin is no light evil —
The world in general imagine sin to be of very little moment —
[Sin universally prevails, and, except where it greatly interferes with the welfare of society, is countenanced and approved — The customs of the world sanction the practice of it to a certain extent in every one, whether male or female ; though the greater latitude of indulgence is allowed to men — The very education that is given both to our sons and daugh- ters, tends only to foster in them pride and vanity, wantonness and sensuality, worldliness and profaneness : let but these dis- positions assume the names of ease, elegance, and gaiety, and they instantly lose all their malignant qualities ; and, instead of exciting our abhorrence, endear to us the persons by whom they are indulged — Too many indeed will not submit to any restraints, but will even justify the grossest immoralities — They impose upon their excesses some specious appellation ; they call drunkenness, conviviality ; and whoredom, youthful indiscretion — Thus they commit sin without fear, persist in it without remorse, and even glory in their shame, when, through age and infirmity, they can no longer follow their former courses — ]
But, if viewed aright, it will appear a dreadful evil —
[Can that be light or venial which cast myriads of angels from their height of glory into the bottomless abyss of hell ? — Is that of trifling importance which in one moment ruined the whole race of man, and subjected them to an everlasting curse ? — But if these effects be not sufficient to convince us, let us behold the Saviour in the garden of Gethsemane, or on the hill of Calvary : let us behold the Lord of glory bathed in blood, and expiring under the curse which our sins have