ON THE

DANGEROU

INJURIOUS AND DANGEROUS EFFECTS

OF

SIN LYING UPON THE CONSCIENCE UNLAMENTED.

It is a dangerous thing to fall into sin, whether secretly or openly; and the effects of it, sooner or later, will certainly be felt : but to continue in it is much more so. A very heavy threatening. is denounced against God's open enemies for their persisting in sin: God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as GOETH ON STILL in his trespasses. But the same thing, in persons who have known the way of righteousness, must be abundantly more offensive. He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? There is a remedy at hand of God's providing; a propitiation for our sins; and it is declared, If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. But if, instead ot confessing our sins on the head of this propitiation, and imploring mercy in his name, we sink into hardness of heart, neglect prayer, shun the company of the faithful, and efface the remembrance of one sin only by the commission of another, what have we to expect?

I am aware that it is one of the devices of Satan, after having drawn a soul from God, and entangled him in the net of his own corruptions, to persuade him that the prayer of faith, in his circumstances, would be presumption; and that it is much more modest and becoming for him to stand aloof, both from God and his people. And if by faith were meant what some would seem to understand by it, a working up ourselves into a persuasion that,

owing to the immutability of God, all is safe and right, whatever be our spirit or conduct, it would be presumptuous enough: but genuine faith in Christ is never out of season. The greater our sin has been, the greater reason there is for us to confess it upon the head of the gospel sacrifice, and to plead for mercy in his name. We may not be able to go as Christians: but this affords no reason why we should not go as sinners.

The injury and danger of such a state of mind will appear from a consideration of the effects which it produces, and must continue to produce, if not healed by a return to God by Jesus Christ.

First: It will necessarily deprive us of all true enjoyment in religion, and by consequence, of all that preservation to the heart and mind which such enjoyment affords.-The principal sources of enjoyment to a Christian that walketh spiritually, are communion with God and his people: but to him that is out of the way, these streams are dried up; or, which is the same thing in effect to him, they are so impeded as not to reach him. Guilt, shame, darkness, and defilement have taken possession of the soul; love is quenched, hope clouded, joy fled, prayer restrained, and every other grace enervated. It becomes the holiness of God to frown upon us under such a state of mind, by withholding the light of his countenance; and, if it were otherwise, we have no manner of desire after it. Such was the state of David after he had sinned, and before he had repented: the joys of God's salvation were far from him. The thirty-second and thirty-eighth Psalms appear to have been written, as has already been observed, after his recovery : but he there describes what was the state of his mind previously to it. There is much meaning in what he sets out with, in the first of these Psalms Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered.—Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile! He knew the contrary of this, by bitter experience. Guilt and defilement had eaten up all his enjoyment. When I kept silence, saith he my bones waxed old, through my roaring all the day long; for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. It does not appear that he fully desisted from prayer; but there was none of that freedom in it which he was

wont to enjoy. It was roaring, rather than praying; and God is represented as disregarding it. In the thirty-eighth Psalm, he speaks of the rebukes of God's wrath, and the chastening of his hot displeasure; of his arrows sticking fast in him, and his hand pressing him sore; of there being no soundness in his flesh, because of his anger; nor rest in his bones, because of his sin. There is one expression exceedingly appropriate: My wounds stink and are corrupt, because of my foolishness. A wound may be dangerous at the time of its being received; but much more so if it be neglected till the humours of the body are drawn towards it. In this case, it is hard to be healed; and the patient has not only to reflect on his heedlessness in first exposing himself to danger, but on his foolishness in so long neglecting the prescribed remedy. was the state of his mind, till, as he informs us, he acknowledged his transgressions, and was sorry for his sin.

Such

And, as there can be no communion with God, so neither can there be any with his people, If our sin be known, it must naturally occasion a reservedness, if not an exclusion from their society. Or if it be unknown, we shall be equally unable to enjoy communion with them. Guilt in our consciences will beget shame, and incline us rather to stand aloof than to come near them; or if we go into their company, it will prove a bar to freedom. There is something, at first sight, rather singular in the language of the apostle John; but, upon close inspection, it will be found to be perfectly just: If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.

But if we are deprived of fellowship with God and his people, from what can we derive consolation? If we have only had a name to live, and been dead, the joy arising from vain hope may possibly be supplied by carnal pleasures. We may drown reflection, by busying ourselves in worldly pursuits, mingling with worldly company, and, in short, returning like the dog to his vomit, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire: but if we have any true religion in us, we cannot do this; and then what is there under the sun that can yield us relief?

Nor shall we be deprived merely of the enjoyments of religion, but of all that preservation to the soul which they afford. The peace of God is represented as that which keeps, or fortifies, our hearts and minds. Without this, the heart will be in perpetual danger of being seduced by the wiles, or sunk by the pressures of this world; and the mind of being drawn aside from the simplicity of the gospel.

Secondly It will render us useless in our generation.—The great end of existence with a good man, is to live with him who died for us and rose again. If God bless us, it is that, like Abraham, we may be blessings to others. Christians are said to be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world; but while we are in the state above described, we are as salt that has lost its savour, which is good for nothing; or as a light that is hid under a vessel. Of what use, with respect to religiou, are we in our families while this is the case? Neither servants nor children can think well of religion, from any thing they see in us; and when we go into the world, and mingle among mankind in our dealings, in whose conscience does our conversation or behaviour plant conviction? Where is the man, who, on leaving our company, has been com. pelled by it to acknowledge the reality of religion? Or, if we oc ́cupy a station in the church of God, (and this character may belong to a minister no less than to another man,) we shall do little or no good in it; but be as vessels in which the Lord taketh no pleasure. There is a threatening directed against vain pastors, which ought to make a minister tremble. Wo to the idol shepherd, that leaveth the flock! The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. Perhaps one of the greatest temptations to backsliding in ministers may lie in this way: being selected from their brethren, and chosen to the office of public instructors, they are in danger of indulging in self-valuation. A man may labour night and day in his study, and all to get accomplished, that he may shine before the people. Where this is the case, the preacher is his own idol, and it may be that of the people. He feels also little or no regard to the charge which he has undertaken, but is ready to desert it whenever a difficulty arises, or any opportunity offers of im

proving his circumstances. The consequence is, that the sword of the Lord is upon his arm-he does no manner of execution in his work; and upon his right eye-whatever proficiency he may make in science, or polite accomplishments, he has but little if any spiritual understanding in the things of God. This character may respect ungodly preachers, such to whom the Jewish nation were given up for their rejection of Christ; but there is no sin committed by the most ungodly man of which the most godly is not in danger.

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Thirdly We shall not only be useless, but injurious to the cause of Christ.-Indeed, it is impossible to stand neuter in this cause. If we do no good, we shall do harm; not only as cumberers of the ground occupying that place in society which might be better filled by others, but as giving a false representation of religion, and diffusing a savour of death among mankind. If our domestics infer nothing favourable to religion from our conduct in the family, they will infer something unfavourable; and if there be but little good to be seen in our example, it is well if there be not much evil; and this will surely be imitated. Who can calculate what influence the treachery, unchastity and murder, committed by David. had upon his family? We know that each was acted over again by Amnon and Absalom. And thus many a parent has seen his own sins repeated in his posterity; and perhaps if he had lived longer, might have seen them multiplied still more to his shame and confusion.

The servants of God are called to bear testimony for him: Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord of hosts. This is done not merely by words, but by deeds. There is a way of bearing witness to the reality and importance of religion, by a zealous perseverance in it; to its dignity, by our firmness; to its happy influence, by contentedness and cheerfulness; and to its purity, by being holy in all manner of conversation: and this is a kind of testimony which is more regarded than any other. Men in common, form their opinion of religion more by what they see in the professors of it, than by the profession itself. Hence it was that David by his deed is said to have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. They were not contented with reproaching him,