more inimical to the happiness of man, than poverty, contempt, or the worst of human calamities, as eternity exceeds time in duration, or the favour of God is more valuable than the smile of a fellow-worm. If a man fall and break his bones, or if he suffer the loss of all his substance, the evil is temporary, and may be repaired; but sin dishonours God, and the honour of God is dear to all His children. Sin wounds our Saviour afresh, brings a reproach on His cause, grieves His Holy Spirit, and deprives the believer of his choicest treasure, spiritual peace and joy: it shuts up every avenue of his soul to communion with God, darkens his prospect of a better world, and endangers his eternal salvation. Can it be wondered at that one who knows this should fly precipitately from the ugly monster, in whose aspect every species of deformity is combined, more horrible than the fabled Medusa's head, the sight of which petrified every beholder? But it may be asked, if sin be this shocking evil, where is the danger of falling into it? Will not a proper degree of caution on our part prove a sufficient preservative from it? Where is the necessty of calling for assistance from above? Such inquiries can arise only in the mind which is hardened "through the deceitfulness of sin." The person who considers nothing to be sin but what renders the transgressor liable to punishment by the laws of civil society, may dream of his exemption from all danger of falling into it. *Egidaque horriferam, turbatæ Palladis arma, VIRGIL, Eneid, 8. But the soul which is alive to the spirituality of the law of God, as requiring from every rational creature immaculate purity in thought, word, and deed, cannot but perceive the constant perils of his situation. A believer, while an inhabitant of this sublunary world, is, like one who walks over sheets of ice, every moment liable to slide and fall; or rather, like Peter, when he ventured on the fluid surface of the sea, he is constantly in danger of sinking, unless supported by an unseen and almighty hand. If Adam, while yet he remained in innocence, proved unequal to his own preservation, how much more so must all his children be, who are “born in sin, and shapen in iniquity;" and who, even after the renovation of their nature has been effected by the grace of God, have daily reason to complain of "sin that dwelleth "in them;" and often in bitterness of soul find themselves constrained to join in the mournful exclamation of the Apostle, "Wretched man "that I am, who shall deliver me from the body "of this death!"* A conviction of this occasioned the man after God's own heart earnestly to pray, Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion "over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall "be innocent from the great transgression." † Experience, sad experience taught him, that Rom. vii. 24. The Apostle is supposed to allude to a horrible custom which is said by some ancient writers to have been practised by tyrants on their captives. A dead carcase was fastened to the living body, so that the unhappy victim of this cruel treatment was obliged to drag about with him, wherever he went, the putrid, loathsome, and heavy burden. A more forcible and expressive image of the sad case represented, cannot surely enter into the mind of man. See Doddridge in loc. † Ps. xix. 13. "it is not in man who walketh to direct his "steps aright;" and this made him so importunate with God: "Uphold me according to thy "word, that I may live: and let me not be "ashamed of my hope. Hold thou me up, and "I shall be safe: and I will have respect untó "thy statutes continually." If a lion, rendered furious by hunger, were ranging at large in the place of your residence; if with savage cruelty he had destroyed numbers of your neighbours, with what caution and vigilance would you walk about! How solicitous would you be to equip yourselves with such armour, both offensive and defensive, as might secure you from his rage! With what anxiety would you look round you in every situation, lest the monster should there be lurking in concealment ready to seize you as his prey! If you were weak and defenceless, how solicitous would you be to procure some person, whose strength might prove equal to the encounter, to attend your excursions. And in case of the appearance of the voracious animal, how welcome would a place of refuge be to which you might betake yourselves for security from his ravenous jaws! Behold, the scene is more than realized; for "your adversary, the "Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seek"ing whom he may devour."* There is a necessity of putting on "the whole armour of "God, that we may be able to stand against "the wiles of the devil; for we wrestle not "against flesh and blood" (only) " but against principalities, against powers, against the "rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." If you your perceive no danger, surely it must be because your attention is wholly occupied about the present world, so that, like one in a delirium, you please yourselves with ideas of perfect safety, while dangers of the most alarming nature attend every step you take. Come, bring yourselves to the test which these remarks afford, and from hence form a judgment of selves, whether you are a churchman in name only, or in deed and in truth. The latter can cordially every morning join in this petition: Merciful Father, "grant that this day we fall "into no sin, neither run into any kind of "danger!" He knows that in every step he takes, and through every hour of the day, he is liable to sin; that every employment in which he engages will expose him to temptation; that even in religious duties he is not exempt from perils; that in his lawful business, and in all his intercourse with the world, his heart is incessantly obnoxious to danger of being drawn off from the God of his life; and that, unless the Lord is pleased graciously to "keep the door "of his lips," and to direct his goings, he shall disgrace his profession and bring guilt on his own conscience: that every relative duty is attended with difficulty, insurmountable to the unassisted efforts of the best of men. His comfort, therefore, arises from God's faithful promise, that He will never leave nor forsake those who trust in Him. What says thy heart, sinner, to this experience? Is it thus with you? Every true son of our church can lift his heart, together with his voice, to God, and pray, as it follows in this excellent form, "that all his doings may be ordered by God's governance, to do always that is righteous in His sight." But what is righteousness? There is a necessity for accuracy and certainty as to this important point; because many are the mistakes which are made on the subject. The word of God, explained by the teaching of His Spirit, is the only source of information. If we follow the multitude in opinion, we shall share with them in error and confusion. As "sin is the transgression of the law," righteousness is its opposite, an exact obedience thereto. Our doings are righteous in proportion to the rectitude of the motive, which influences our minds; our measure of conformity to the standard by which they are regulated; and the worthiness of the object which we have in view. The specious act of external piety, often like the tulip gaudy in its appearance but destitute of those fragrant odours which regale the senses, through defect of principle, proves an abomination in the sight of God: while the circumspect walk of the lowly penitent, though, like the sweet-scented violet, it may attract no notice from man, is accepted in His sight, who seeth not as man seeth. This might be illustrated by the commendation, with which our Saviour honored the diminutive contribution of two mites, which the poor widow cast into the treasury of the temple, in preference to the magnificent offerings of the rich. The actions of men, though formally good, may be deficient in that, "without "which all our doings are nothing worth;" like the apples of Sodom, which are beautiful to the eye, but are found on examination to contain nothing but foetid dust. Such was the conduct of King Saul, as recorded in the thirteenth chapter of the first book of * 1 John iii. 4. † Mark xii. 41, &c. |