Matt. V. 29, 30. If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and ^ cast it from thee : for it is profitable for thee that one of thy " memhers should jjerish, and not that thy ivhole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
MANY of the precepts of our holy rehgion are so strict, that persons indisposed to obey them are ready to turn away from them in despair, exclaiming, " This is an hard saying ; who can hear it ?" But must we on that account keep back the truth, or lower the commands of God to tlie habits and inclinations of men ? Must we not rather " declare the whole coun- sel of God," and enforce to the uttermost the authority of his word ? Our blessed Lord has set us an example in this respect ; an example which all his servants must follow. He had declared, that an impure look was, in God's estimation, constructive adultery. To this it might be objected, that our constitution, rather than our will, was chargeable with this offence. But our Lord shuts out at once all objections of this kind, by saying, that even a right eye or a right hand must be parted with, rather than that we should suffer them to lead us to the commission of any sin ; and that, if we refuse to sacrifice any thing for his sake, eternal misery will be our merited and inevitable portion.
In his words there are two things to be noticed : L The alternative proposed —
It is here supposed, that we have, both within us and without, many things which may operate as incitements to sin. And experience proves that this is really the case : there is not a faculty of our minds, or a member of our bodies, which may not become an occasion of evil ; nor is there any thing around us which may not administer fuel to the flames of corruption that are within us. Beauty has