a light matter in our eyes ? Go, take a view of the Saviour in Gethsemane and on the cross ; and then say, whether sin be not a formidable evil : or go down to those regions where myriads of our unhappy fellow-creatures are suffering the penalty due to it, and then announce to us your sentiments respecting it. One glimpse of it, in its true character, would be abundantly sufficient to convince you, that death, in its most terrific shapes, has no terror in comparison of sin.
How, then, should you " stand in awe of it," even when presented to you in its most flattering dress ! What if men tell you that it is harmless, and will bring with it no painful consequences ? Will you listen to their delusions ? Will you, through fear of their derision, or from a hope of their favour, give way to sin, and subject yourselves thereby to the wrath of an offended God ? O ! sin not, either in a way of com- mission, or of omission : and if a fiery furnace, or a den of lions, be set before you as the only alternative with sin, hesitate not to choose death in its most tremendous forms, rather than accept deliverance on the condition of committing any wilful transgression.]
That you may not be unwittingly offending God, be careful to live in habits of daily self-examination —
[" Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still." Persons, at the moment that they are acting, are not always able to form a correct estimate of their conduct : they are blinded by self-love, and deceived by a partial view of the things in which they are engaged : and often find, on reflection, that they have reason to be ashamed of actions which, at the time of doing them, they conceived to be right. Not only did Paul, in his unconverted state, err, when " he thought he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus," but all the Apostles of our Lord erred in matters which, at the time, appeared to them to be highly com- mendable. Who can doubt but that Peter, when he dissuaded his Lord from submitting to his approaching sufferings, and when he cut off" the ear of Malchus, took to himself credit for his zeal and love ? and that afterwards, when accommodating himself to the washes of his Jewish brethren, in requiring from the Gentiles the observance of the Law, he supposed himself to be actuated by a condescending regard to the prejudices of his less-instructed brethren? Yet, on all these occasions he acted a part most displeasing to God, and was no other than an agent of the devil himself. In like manner, when James and John would have called fire from heaven, to consume a Samaritan village, they " little knew what spirit they were of." And all the Apostles, when they joined with Judas in condemning the extravagance of her who poured a box of