they, and with a blind confidence to embrace or reject senti- ments solely on the authority of their opinions. Hence the timid dissembler is the means of deceiving many souls; and involves himself in the double guilt of destroying others toge- ther with himself. The man who rejects Christ for want of conviction, will " be beaten with few stripes ;" but the man who rejects him contrary to his convictions, will " be beaten with many stripes8:" the one "dashes himself against a rock that will break his bones ;" the other will have " that rock fall upon him, which will grind him to powder11."]
That we may be able to account for such strange conduct, let us consider,
II. The principle by which they were actuated —
They acted from a regard for the good opinion of men. But the praise of men runs not in the same channel with the praise of God1; and they unhap- pily gave the applause of man the preference. Now this love of man's applause is,
1. A common principle —
[The moment that we begin to be impressed with a sense of eternal things, we begin to consider, what men will say, if we betray our feelings to the world. Though we should have never paid much attention to the sentiments of others before, we shall now feel the emotions of fear and shame : we shall contrive how we may reconcile the performance of our duties with a conformity to the customs and habits of the world ; and shall often strain our conscience to make compliances with the world, in order to escape reproach on account of our singu- larity. It may be thought that persons who move in a higher sphere should have learned to divest themselves of this prin- ciple ; but the higher any men are in society, the more they are influenced by the opinions of the world : they set a higher value on man's applause, and feel conscious that their actions are more open to remark. They of whom our text speaks, were " chief rulers :" they conceived that they had much to lose ; and they well knew that their rank would not screen them from the assaults of religious intolerance. They might have indulged vices with impunity ; those would have been connived at, even by Pharisees themselves ; but piety in them would have been an unpardonable offence, which the very refuse of the people would have been forward to resent. But, though this principle is peculiarly operative on the great, it is not confined to them: we all' feel it working in our own
e Luke xii. 47, 48. h Luke xx. 17, 18. i Rom. ii. 29.