with him, an inveterate quarrelling with the word, providence, and Spirit of God, and with the terms and methods of grace,-in short, though all the elements of heart rebellion should be in vigorous action, and though there be an entire want of affections pleasing to the eye that searches hearts, still the feeling is cherished that there can be no serious amount of sinfulness, where there has been no outrage upon external morality. Because men are not knaves and villians, they think they are not sinners. Because their offence touches not the interests of human society, they dream of little injury done to the commonwealth of spirits.

Again-others erect a bar to conviction of personal guilt out of materials taken from infirmities incident to human nature. They are conscious of being found wanting when brought up to the strictness of God's law. But this law they repeal, and construct one of their own which makes liberal allowances for the frailties of human nature; and when pressed on the subject of sinfulness, they are not prepared to feel it. If they have come short, and halted, and tripped now and then, it is no more than all others have done. It is the common infirmity of the species, and they feel as little sense of personal guilt as they do for not having the powers of angels. They think they have lived as uprightly as most of their neighbors, and cannot see why they should be called sinners, and urged so earnestly to repent.

Others diminish their conceptions of their guilt by comparing themselves with greater sinners. They see, perhaps, the majority of men in deeper wickedness than themselves, and hence conclude that their own sin is small. Instead of looking into the mirror of God's law, they measure themselves by the standard which a sinful world has set up. And by such a standard they are able to pronounce almost any decent course of life sinless. Instead of taking the number of the sins of which they have been guilty, they number the sins of their neighbors of which themselves are clear. They have not done a thousand things which others have, and therefore count themselves a thousand-fold less guilty than others. And this approaches in their estimation to entire innocence. Thus they prevent the commandment from coming home; they hinder all just apprehensions of guilt.

Sin appears very different according to the different light and circumstances in which it is seen. A man, in the midst of sinful associates, takes less account of sin than he does in the society of the godly. Sin, when seen from a dying bed, and an opening eternity, appears more dreadful than when death and the judgment are put far away. And still more dreadful and odious will it appear when the light of heaven pours upon it. If the sinner would conceive of his heart with all its concealed abominations laid open to the inspection, not of his fellow-men, but of the pure spirits of heaven, and look in upon it himself with such feelings as they possess-in other words, would the sinner accustom himself to estimate his sinfulness by the light of heaven, most surely would he abhor himself and repent in dust and ashes.

Again-delay of punishment goes to confirm men in the opinion that sin is a trifle. Because sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed, men have not that dread of transgression which they otherwise would have. If every sin were followed immediately by its due visitation of God's displeasure, and that not behind the veil of eternity, but before our eyes, how would the world's opinion of sin be changed!

Again--the very greatness of the punishment threatened, is made an occasion of confirming men in the belief that their sins are small. They have satisfied themselves that they are not sinners, in such a sense as to deserve an eternal hell. And if such a punishment be threatened to sinners by a holy God, they feel that they cannot be of the number. They take it for granted that they have not deserved, and shall not receive an eternal punishment; and from such premises conclude, that if all impenitent sinners must perish, they are not such sinners.

II. Such are some of the means by which sinners come at the conclusion that their sin is a trifle. We come now to show, in the second place, that their views of sin are exceedingly limited, or that sin is quite another thing in fact from what it is in the sinner's estimation.

In the first place, it is very different in its effects from what they esteem it. They can form some adequate notion of the effects of sin when it bears palpably against the peace of society. When the thief and the assassin are But they can conabroad, they are awake to the mischiefs that are done. ceive of no injury done by sin, so long as it is concealed in the heart. They cannot conceive of any one's interest suffering by their indulgence of worldly, unholy, and rebellious feelings. Grant that all within is opposition to God's government, who, they will ask, is injured by it? They are unaware that the kingdom of God is a kingdom of spirits, and that rebellion of spirit as effectually invades this kingdom as the fire and sword of civil war does an earthly realm. In both cases, the essence of the mischief consists of an attack made upon the rightful authority. And that we are unable to trace out with our eye all the mischievous effects of sins of heart on the peace and order of a God is most comuniverse of spirits, is no proof that no such effects exist. petent to judge of this matter. If God be true, the judgment day will make such disclosures of the mischiefs done by sins of heart, as will cause a guilty world to stand aghast.

Again-sin is quite a different thing from what it is usually esteemed, if we consider the state of heart which gives birth to it. A man will swear profanely, and offer such insults to heaven as one would think would cause the earth to tremble under him—he will treat with marked neglect all the institutions of God; will make light of them, will scoff at them, and yet feel that all was done out of mere good-nature. But what would an angel think of the good-nature of him who could round his periods with wanton profaneness? What would he think of the amiable intentions of him who could neglect and abuse all that is precious in the gospel?-of him who is so alienated from the God of heaven as to cast off fear, restrain prayer, refuse obedience to every command, and hate every thing that brings a holy God to view?

Again-sin is quite a different thing in God's esteem from what it is in the sinner's. The views of sin which are every where advanced in that book of his, which we call the Bible, are wide from the views which sinners have. And I presume most sinners have felt a difficulty here-have been unable to see why the Bible should set forth sin in such deep and awful colors. of the greatest difficulties they have found in believing the Bible has come from its making so serious a matter of sin. Now it is evident that such

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widely disagree with God on this point. And it is a great unhappiness thus to disagree; for you cannot maintain your point in opposition to him. He is surely in the right; and he will one day make it appear, to your everlasting conviction.

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Again the costly expiation made for sin shows it to be no trifle. laid out no needless expense in the redemption of the world. But if the ill desert of sin is to be measured by the greatness of the sacrifice made to put it away, who can take its dimensions! We see what a deep and inflexible hatred God had for sin, when his own Son stood in the place of the sinner. If he then spared not his own Son, how heavy will be the visitation of his justice on you who have no claims to his compassion. If these things be done in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry!

Again the retributions of eternity will make sin to appear quite another thing from what it is here esteemed. It is easy now for fools to make a mock at sin, for careless sinners to treat it as a trifle, for the lovers of pleasure to sing of peace, while they walk after the imagination of their own hearts. But let the light of eternity burst upon them, and they will harp another strain. When they see all the generations of the world crowding around the throne of judgment, and learn that the purpose of all the preparation and parade of that day is to make discoveries of sin-that God and all the peers of his realm are busied on questions respecting sin, that a universe have come from remotest corners to attend to developments of sin, they will begin to think it a matter of some importance. When they hear the last sentence break forth, and see it go into execution on themselves, when they come to look down into the hell in which they are to make their beds for ever, they will confess themselves mistaken. When all restraints shall be taken off from their sinful dispositions, and the fever of rebellious passion shall burn, being set on fire of hell, their notions of sin will be awfully changed.

III. Now, my fellow-sinner, is there not occasion for you to take up a solemn review of your character and conduct? If sin is a greater mischief than you are aware, you need to know it now. You cannot carry through

eternity the notions you now possess. If you trust to them, they will fail you in an awfully trying hour. This is an impression which I wish to make on every heart. And the more effectually to do it, I shall endeavor, in the third place, to carry it round to different classes of sinners.

And here I would remark, in the first place, that the profane swearer is accumulating an amount of guilt of which he is little aware. The feelings of a pious man are always shocked by the utterance of a profane word in his hearing; and he wonders at the daring that can offer such affronts to heaven's majesty. And yet the views which the pious man has of the venerableness of the name of God, which make him shudder at every abuse of it, come not half way up to the reality—not half way up to what are entertained by angels that adore before the throne. If we could have their views of God, methinks the utterance of a profane word in our hearing would shock us like an earthquake. Surely then those who, without even a trifling cause, to add emphasis to an assertion, or to finish out some foolish jest, can call in that tremendous name, know not what they do.

And the same may be said of the sin of the scoffer, who sets his mouth against the heavens, and delights in deriding all the sacred things of God, and pouring

contempt on the Savior of the world. For it is not possible to conceive of a mind on this side of hell, armed with hardihood enough thus to challenge the thunders of the Almighty, while he fully knows what he is doing. It cannot be that the scoffer is fully aware who the God is whom he so wantonly insults-aware of his majesty and power, of his all-searching eye, and of his awful justice.

But we will come down to some sins of softer name. The man who leads a life of sinful pleasure is not aware of the greatness of his sins. While his heart is bound up in selfishness, and withheld from all obedience to God, he is not aware how numerous and weighty are the commands of God, each of which bears upon him every moment, and how great is the guilt of disobedience -he is unaware that a refusal to obey each and every command—such as to repent, to believe, to love, and others to the number of some scores, which are binding every moment-is a real offence, and that his sins are multiplying at the rate of scores in a minute, and that each of these sins are such as God will visit with righteous retribution,-unaware that he is wronging his own soul, and closing the doors of hope and salvation against himself--that he is degrading the faculties of an immortal nature, polluting the image of God by a slavery to lusts that are hateful to God-unaware that he that liveth in pleasure is dead while he liveth. Because the voice of public opinion is at variance from the voice which comes out from the sanctuary of God, and the world has no execrations for him, the man of pleasure finds it easy to overlook all the hurtful tendencies of his course, and to cradle his conscience into perpetual slumbers, while waging war against the heavens and against his own immortal interests.

Again-the worshipper of Mammon is treasuring to himself a load of guilt of which he is little aware. If he keeps himself from oppressive exactions and fraudulent bargains, he has little consciousness of sin. He overlooks the injury done in withdrawing his whole heart from God, in rendering to Mammon the affection that is due to his Maker; in distracting with the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, a heart that ought to be filled with enterprises that take hold on heaven; in bringing down to a base alliance with the dust the aspirations of an immortal spirit; in wearing away a day of grace in sordid accumulations. He knows not what starvation of spirit he is bringing upon himself, while he is so busy in making provision for the flesh. He knows not what loss he is incurring while gaining the whole world, but losing his own soul.

Again those who are spending the season of their youth in the neglect of the one thing needful, know not the folly and the sin of which they are guilty. They know not the preciousness of those invitations which express the Savior's peculiar concern for the young, and which they are neglecting. They know not the force of the command, to remember their Creator in the days of youth-they know not the value of early piety, which they treat as so little worth-what precious opportunities they are wasting-how far they are putting from them the words of everlasting life-how impenitence grows more obstinate by age-what a fearful series of dangers beset the paths of youth-how much they grieve the Holy Spirit-what light and love they are resisting--what amount of guilt they are incurring-with what regrets they will look back upon this golden season wasted-when conscience shall be

roused in after life, if it ever is roused. They know not but that a whole eternity will be spent in bootless wailings that the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and they are not saved,

Again--sinners know not what they do when they refuse to love our Lord Jesus Christ. Surely they think if they do nothing worse than this they shall do well. And yet what can be worse? Says an inspired apostle, If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha, accursed when the Lord shall come. As if this were a capital crime, he pronounced on it the sentence that was wont to be pronounced upon capital offenders.

Again--those who resist and grieve the Holy Spirit know not what they do. This is a sin that is aimed most directly against the life of the soul; for the Holy Spirit is the immediate agent of all divine life, the comforter, the messenger of all spiritual communications. To hear and resist the gospel only, is a sin of deep malignity. It is ungrateful and cruel to resist invitations so full of mercy, sent by common messengers from the Savior: but it is more to resist the Holy Spirit, and deny him the admittance which he seeks into the heart. When the conscience is roused to action, when the sinner feels something within, urging him to give up his heart to God, when the resolution to do it begins to rise, he feels it a small matter to suppress it. But if he does it, he does a deed whose enormity he knows not now, but he will know hereafter.

But the time would fail me to go over the subject in all its broad extent, and tell all the ways which seem right to a man, the end whereof are the ways of death. Let me say, then, to every sinner, You know not what you do. It seems now a light thing to put off the authority of God, and neglect all the overtures of a great salvation. You think you have on hand business of more pressing importance than that of the soul. You count it a trifle to procrastinate the preparation for another world, to reject the counsels of God, to abuse the love of a Savior, to jeopard all the interests with which the immortal part is freighted. But what now seems a trifle, will one day stand out before you a substantial and amazing reality. In eternity you will see with other eyes. Those sinners who drove the nails through the hands and feet of the Redeemer, thought at the time of doing nothing but piercing a piece of beggarly flesh. But what consternation must have overtaken them, when they came to see the nail-prints that themselves had made, in that glorious body that fills heaven's throne? And you who are now crucifying the Son of God afresh, think perhaps of little harm. But what will you think when the opening of the eternal day shall expose the tremendous result!

Think not that the plea of ignorance will shield you then. Whence does this ignorance come, but from neglect of consideration and from wilful blindness? Your unconsciousness of the evil you are doing is a part of your sin. This is that hardness of heart because of which the Savior is grieved. Vain will be the hope of going from this land of Bibles and Sabbaths, and setting up the plea at the bar of God that you did not know what you was doing. The plea of ignorance amid so many means of knowledge would of itself condemn you. What! did you not know that these things were so, when God has come all the way from heaven to earth to tell you, and has told you in ways so multiform, and so often and long repeated!

But after all, though you have been to a great degree unconscious of the facts