It allures under the semblance of beauty, hiding its serpent's length among the roses. It persuades that the mere taste of the apple is but a light and a venial thing, that it can be but a small matter whether we consent or forbear; and by such insinuations the fears of conscience are quelled, the judgment is blinded, the imagination filled with false images, and the poison enters into the soul. "Stand in awe, and sin not.'

Sin is a gradual hardening of the heart. Every fresh act of sin, is the shutting up of some pore of moral sensibility. At the first a sense of shuddering comes over the spirit, lest the crime should be known; then its repetition gradually lessens and deadens the impression of the enormity of the sin, and the sense of shame becomes extinct, and there is even a glorying in our own dishonour; and the conscience becomes seared and dead, to be quickened only, perhaps, at the hour when the soul shall cast about in vain for the prayer of repentance, and sink without a hope of mercy. Our sins are remembered at the last; they cling to us at the last. "Stand in awe, and sin not."

Sin is ineffaceable. The action that is done cannot be undone; no human power can recall it; its testimony is at once given in, and its punishment annexed in the book of the recording angel. No tears can wash it away from the soul, as though it never had been; it must at all times appear there to the eye of self-reflection, even as the troubler of our peace. It must haunt, as it were a spectre, to affrighten the soul from its rest. "Stand in awe, and sin not.

Sin is a contagious evil. It is not confined to ourselves: it does not live and die with the man; it affects those about us. Its example multiplies, and spreads mischief and sorrow: and however lightly we may think of the subject at present, however we may shrink from the idea of giving pain to those who are the nearest and the dearest to us, a day will arrive,when many a child, though tenderly beloved now, shall have to point to its father, and many a wife shall have to look to her husband, as the immediate cause of their sorrow; and the father or the husband shall awaken to a frenzied consciousness of the justice of the thought, that even, as it were, with his own hand, he has set the seal to the doom and the woe of the dearest he loved on earth. In the parable of our blessed Lord, our sensibilities are touched by the power of his sympathy, as we listen to the importunity of the afflicted soul, who besought Abraham to send to the five brethren of his father's house, lest they also should come into the place of torment. "Stand in awe, and sin not."

In adverting to THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN, let me give power, under God, to this exhortation.

And what are these? Generally the loss of health, the loss of life, the loss of reputation, the loss of friends, the loss of fortitude in trials, the loss of consolation under suffering, the loss of peace in a world of strife, the loss of hope in nature's most despairing hour, the loss of a calm assurance at the last.

But not to dwell severally on these things, give me your hand, young man, and as we walk the world together, we shall find a too mournful illustration of these truths That poor creature, pale and sunk, wasted and miserable, who sells her soul to-night for the price of to-morrow's bread, was once as happy, to all appearance, as life could make her-was the life and hope of her parents, was her father's joy, and her mother's pride What is she now? The forsaken,

the abandoned; an object of scorn and reproach-only in her sex a woman. What are her own feelings, as she communes with her heart in her sick chamber, while the images of the past come over her-of parental watchings, of parental attention and care; of the father's protecting love, and of the mother's anxious tenderness? What her hopes and feelings if she casts up strange events of death? Surely her cries are all in vain, while her fears become stronger and stronger. "Stand in awe, and sin not."

Another form is sitting in the gloom of the prison-house. He was caressed and flattered by many; the idol of fortune, it may be: but in early life he mixed with the profligate and the vain, and fell into bad habits and courses, and insensibly grew worse and worse; till at length he resorted to fraud and violence to repair his broken fortunes, and he was given over to a reprobate mind; and at last, it may be, the sin of a brother's blood was on his soul, and he meets an ignominious end. "Stand in awe, and sin not."

That grave is the grave of a suicide. Instead of finding consolation from the promises and the religion of Jesus, and cultivating, through prayer and through obedience, the virtues of Jesus' blessed life, walking humbly before God, and receiving the chastisements of his hand with meekness and resignation, as wise and merciful, he minded earthly things; he brooded over his troubles, till disappointment worked itself into the frenzies of despair, and shrinking from the lesser evils of life, he put in peril the safety of his immortal soul, rushing into the presence of God with an infuriated eye, and with the crime of blood on his own head. Oh," stand in awe, and sin not."

Now let us enter together into the chambers of death. I draw no picture. A man whose whole life, to all human appearance, has been one course of indecision, trifling, and sin; who has given himself to intemperance; who has neglected all the holy ordinances of religion, has prostituted the sacred hours of God's appointed Sabbaths to worldly amusements and avocations; has been by turns a drunkard and a Sabbath-breaker, a profane swearer and an idolater: such an one sends to us in his last hours to give to him-by virtue, as he may think, of our priestly office-consolation and joy; to assure his soul at the last, to sooth him with assurances of peace. And, humanly speaking, we would do We would offer willingly our prayers; but this, but we dare not; we cannot. we may not mock the dying man with groundless expectation; we may not feed him with hollow hope, crying "Peace," when there is no peace; and blessing him whom the Lord hath cursed. We shrink from doing this; if we did not, his blood would be upon our souls. No situation can be more distressing, no thought more awful than this—that as the tree falls so must it lie. It would be an act of cruelty, perhaps an unnecessary infliction upon him, to say this to him; for his own consciousness rises upon him, in awful justice, and repeats, with a deeper power of utterance, the same truth. It will be for you, young man, or you, young woman, as you witness the agonies of the departed spirit, the strenuous graspings for life, to know that the shuddering ear receives its appeals for human help to no purpose; the last ineffectual truggle, the last warm vein rallying the powers of life against the hand of leath. The few indistinct and incoherent words that choke the utterance, are Time lost without heaven, without hope; eternity, a suffering eternity, begun." These words are succeeded by an awful stillness, and the spirit has

passed away." I say, young man, after witnessing such a scene, and as you earnestly gaze on the face, it becomes you, surely, with deep repentance before God, to acknowledge your sins, to acknowledge the weakness of your past resolutions, and to pray for his grace for the future, that you may walk in newness of life. Shall not the Psalmist's words come upon you with a more restraining power as you think of these things? "Stand in awe, and sin not.”

As you ponder over THE REcorded JudgmENTS OF GOD, this fear will strengthen itself. What is the infirmity of sin on which your thoughts now are fixed-now, as I am desiring you? What shows itself at this moment with distinctness to your minds? Do you cherish envy or revenge against your brother, enmity and strife? Keep in view that burning mark upon the brow of the wandering Cain: and "stand in awe, and sin not." Mock you the messages of heaven, and the warnings of the Christian minister? Think of the roar of the water, that testified the dying cry of those who set Noah at nought, when he preached to them righteousness: "stand in awe, and sin not." Are covetousness and dishonesty your prevailing sins? Remember the leprosy that clave to Gehazi, and the punishment of Achan, who hid the treasures in the tent: and "stand in awe, and sin not." Are yours the practices of the adulterer, who waiteth for the midnight, and saith, "No eye shall see me?" Image to thyself King David trembling before Nathan the prophet, when he heard the story of the poor man's lambs, and when he heard the whole truth, "Thou art the man. "Stand in awe, and sin not." Are you erecting idols in your hearts, worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator? Remember the earthquake and Korah's idolatry; and "stand in awe, and sin not.” Are you sunk in sensual indulgence, in feasting, and revelling, and forgetfulness of God? Think of the vision of the hand upon the wall; or of his state who had promised to eat, and drink, and to be merry, and who at midnight heard, “This night thy soul shall be required of thee." "Stand in awe, and sin not." Is yours an excess of parental indulgence, in all its want of restraint? Look back at the moment when Eli sat at the gate, hearing that his sons were dead, and that the wrath of God was upon them, he fell back from his seat, and broke his neck, being old and heavy. "Stand in awe, and sin not." Is yours the practice of deceit and lying? Think of the awful end of Ananias and Sapphira, who fell dead at the Apostles' feet; and "stand in awe, and sin not." Are you careless, are you indifferent to the preached word? Oh, think how Eutychus fell from the upper chamber window asleep, when St. Paul was preaching. "Stand in awe, and sin not." Do you make denial of the Lord's name? Ponder over the compunctions of his soul who went out and wept bitterly: think of the end of that man who went out and hanged himself. "Stand in awe, and sin not." Are yours the crimes of insincerity and hypocrisy? Are you now wearing the mask to deceive your neighbour? Remember the curse your blessed Lord uttered against the hypocrite and deceiver. "Stand in awe, and sin not."

I might multiply instances answering to your several sins; but I would forbear, leaving you to search your own minds as they bow beneath your own convictions.

Lastly, AGAINST WHOM DO YOU SIN? A God, a merciful God, who has watched over and protected your persons to this time. Against a father who is ever extending to you the arms of his mercy and love. Against a king who shall punish you; against a judge whose sentence will be irreversible. Against the will and intent of his blessed Son, who came from heaven to save, and to make alive from the dead; who on your account went through a life of unheardof privations and sorrows to be consummated in the cruelest of deaths. Against your Redeemer, who even now intercedes for you at the right hand of the Living God, with groanings that cannot be uttered. Against the interests of your immortal souls in their present and their eternal duration.

Oh, time is very short: a few hours, compared with the world to come, is given you, to prepare under God, and through the assistance of his Spirit, for your everlasting condition. And sickness, I have said, or accident, or any other adversity, may find life still shorter. An eternity spreads itself before you, with its ages rolling on ages in endless succession, as a land of unchangeable peace, or as a region of inconceivable sorrow. "Stand in awe, and sin not." Strive while it is day to make your interest, your reconciliation with God, through the influence of the blessed Redeemer of man, with a living faith in your heart, cleaving to his cross, and showing its purity and power in the fruits of a holy life.

Thus may you attain a new heart; even the heart which is given by the Holy Spirit of God, who listens to the prayer of all who call upon him—who is more ready to hear than you are to pray-who is more inclined to give, than you are to receive; and yours shall thus be a new heart; and you shall receive the great and the glorious truths of the Gospel in all their simplicity and power, and give to God that obedience, which through Christ shall be the blessedness of eternity. Amen.

216

THE EXAMPLE OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA.

If the Queen of Sheba went from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon-probably from Ethiopia, then deemed the utmost part of the earth from Jerusalem-that she might obtain instruction as to her own duties and obligations, that her own mind might be impressed and informed; what ought to be our feelings in relation to Him who is greater than Solomon? She went, notwithstanding the distance of her residence. She had a long journey to perform, with little of those facilities and accommodation for travelling which we enjoy. And yet she went all the way to Jerusalem that she might hear and witness the wisdom of Solomon. Will not this procedure on her part condemn those of us to whom God has brought nigh his word? You have his ordinances; his Sabbaths are every week enjoyed by you-his house opened for your reception-his word in a language you can understand. That word is nigh you, and the Gospel is brought near to you. Are you neglecting it? Are you taking no pains to understand it? Do you let Sabbaths and opportunities pass by unimproved? The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment against you.

She went, notwithstanding all the anxieties of her public station. She might have pleaded, "I have so much to do, so many cares devolving upon me that I cannot go." But she acted on different principles, and was well rewarded for her labour. Can you, then, plead any cares, any anxieties, any occupations, as a reason why you should not make every effort, submit to every sacrifice, go through every necessary difficulty, in order to attend to the wisdom of the Son of God-in order to listen to the oracles of truth-in order to seek the things that belong to your everlasting peace? Say not, "What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?" Your attention to these things will not be interfered with by your supreme attention to the things which belong to your everlasting peace, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

She went, though uninvited. There was no offer, no appeal made to her. Mere report, general testimony that she heard, induced her to go. Can you say you are uninvited? What is this Word but the record of invitation, full of mercy and love? What is the ministry but the ministry of reconciliation, exhibiting inducements and considerations to bring you to seek at once the knowledge of this greater than Solomon? Will she not rise up in the judgment against you?

She went to hear the wisdom of a mortal, at best fallible, and who after all was guilty of sad and criminal defection. But you are invited to listen to, and receive the instructions of heavenly wisdom, of eternal life. Then recollect how the Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment against the men of this generation; because a greater than Solomon is here in the Bible, in the testimony of heavenly wisdom, in the mysteries of divine truth.

REV. J. FLETCHER, D.D.