religion itself. The sins of David prompted them, not to con- demn David only, but to " blaspheme God himself." And in the apostolic age, " the way of truth was evil spoken of," when its adherents did any thing unworthy of their high calling. So at this day, if there be any one of public notoriety or eminence that has conducted himself amiss, the blame is cast, not on him only, but on the Gospel itself; as though that sanctioned, and even promoted, unholy tempers and immoral conduct. But how unreasonable would it be to impute the wickedness of Judas to the principles in which he had been instructed, and to repre- sent Jesus himself as the abettor of such impiety ! There was nothing in the doctrines of Christ which oould lead to such conduct ; and therefore to impute evil to him and to his religion for Judas' sake, would be as absurd as to impute to the orb of day that darkness which it was created to dispel. The Gospel must be tried by a far different standard : it must stand or fall, not according to the conduct of its professors, but according to its own proper tendencies and effects. It is " a doctrine according to godliness ;" and if any walk unworthy of it, the fault is not in it, but in them.]
3. That no man can tell what evil he may perpe- trate, if Satan be permitted to assault him —
[Judas, no doubt, was unsound from the beginning : for being, from the first, the depositary of the stock by which our Lord and his Apostles subsisted, he appropriated sums to his own personal use : " he held the bag, and was a thief." But it was not so with Peter, or the rest of the Apostles ; yet he denied his Lord; and all the rest, in his extremity, forsook him. In vain were all their resolutions and engagements when the hour of trial came : and who can tell what he himself may do, if Satan be permitted to assail him. Of all men upon the face of the earth, David was the last whom we should suppose likely to commit the enormous sins of adultery and murder : yet, in the hour of temptation he fell. And there is no man living who has not reason to cry continually, " Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe." To every one amongst you, then, I would say, " Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." " Be not high-minded but fear."]
4. That God's conduct towards us is the very re- verse of ours towards him —
[We, " after eating bread with him, are ever ready to lift up our heel against him." But he, on the contrary, after we have dealt ever so ungratefully towards him, is ever ready to receive us, and to admit us to the most endeared intercouse with him. He has even spread a table for us, even " a feast of fat things, of fat things full of marrow, and wines on the lees