of contention and sorrow? It is sin, which has established its empire on the ruins of peace and love. Nor is there to be found a nation, or family, or individual, whose happiness has not suffered from this malignant evil.]
From this subject we may yet further learn,
1. The danger of indulging sin —
[Who shall say whither one sinful thought shall carry us ? Little did Herod imagine to what the first desire which he formed after Philip's wife would lead him. And little did David anticipate the results of the first glance which he caught of Bathsheba. Say not then, of a sinful thought or desire, that it is little : but learn to flee from it as from the face of a serpent; and let every declension from the path of duty be viewed by you as a step towards hell itself ]
2. The duty of reproving it —
[We are not all called to act like John, and to obtrude our remarks on the ears of kings and princes. But a holy fidelity becomes us all in our respective spheres. We must take care indeed that we do not reprove others in a wrong spirit. There are many circumstances wherein silence may be the most effec- tual reproof. But a holy fortitude becomes us all. We must all be witnesses for God in the place where we live, and shine as lights in a dark world. And if for our fidelity we be called to suffer, as John suffered, we must rejoice that we are so honoured of our God, and be willing to lay down our own lives, if only we may save the souls of others.]