and point to him, as the author under God, of their mighty joys. If he pursue the other course, the consequences will be equally vast and interminable, but directly the opposite. Darkness will take the place of the light, death eternal the place of the life eternal. Oh, the guilt of the perversion; the responsibility of the substitution. He who substitutes base coin for a pure one, does a slight injury. He who puts a deadly potion in the place of a healthful beverage, does a great wrong, and incurs a heavy responsibility. He who extinguishes the beacon-light, on the rock bound coast, amid the raging of the midnight storm, putting darkness before the mariner's eye, and despair in the mariner's heart, brings upon himself greater guilt and a weightier doom. But he, who puts out the light of truth and of a holy example, and puts instead, the darkness of gospel error, and christian sinning, causing multitudes to make shipwreck of faith and of their souls too-that person with the vows of God upon him, goes up higher, far higher in the scale of guilt, and will go, unless he repent, far lower in the gulf of fire beneath. How solemn, awful almost, the christian's responsibility. Let me die and go alone to my place, rather than administer to any such results as these.

But there is no reason to shrink or be afraid. There is grace enough in Christ; strength enough there; you shall not ask for it in vain. There is light enough in that great Luminary of the world and the Universe. Go live right un der those beams, and you shall have light. We are only to go to the fountain there and take care of the fountain here, and we shall be full of light, and spread light, and do better for our Master than we sometimes have done.

2. I remark, secondly, we see how it comes to pass, that the faults, the sins, the derelictions of christians and the church, are so commonly exaggerated by men of the world. It seems, from what is said often in this quarter, that there is very little that is just, or lovely, or of good report in the church; and every thing in it that is dishonest, contentious and hateful. There is hypocrisy there, and every form and style of villainy--a very corrupt concern, Now this is gross and injurious falsehood--to be attributed in part to the world's hatred of godliness. They first wish to have it so, then they make it so. And they are helped to make it so, by the operation of the principle in our text.

The sinning of Christ's subjects is very conspicuous sinning. The sinning of the devil's subjects, very much more out of sight. In this latter case, it is a kingdom of darkness; they are deeds of darkness, done in an atmosphere of darkWho sees, or cares, or says anything about it. But in the latter case, it being darkness in a luminous body, as we have shown, it is clearly visible; and the strangeness and

ness.

incongruity of the thing, bring all men to stare at it. We know that a little spot in the sun, gets more notice than all the sun's brightness; one single hour of eclipse, induces more attention, more talk, than ten years of his glorious shining. Here now is the principle: hence it comes, that the church suffers so greatly, from small departures, limited offences; hence if one member suffers, all suffer with it if one is charged with sin, all, in a sense, are charged with the same. The one sin becomes multiplied into a hundred sins. The little dim spot is spread and stretched, till it seems to cover the whole body with darkness.

It is admitted there is wrong in the church; but I rejoice to know that the wrong, in most instances, is, as nothing, compared with what many in the world would make it. It is admitted there is not all the truth and righteousness in the church that there should be, and will be. But I rejoice in the fact, that there is more there than in all other places beside. I do believe this is a fact; indeed I believe that nearly all the heaven accepted righteousness on the earth, is in the church; though there be some darkness in her, still nearly all the light is there. And yet it is true, that vast multitudes go down to destruction, because Christians and the church are not what they should be.

3. I wish to make a third remark on this fact; first, give the reason of it, and then show that there is no reason in it. The reason of this fact-that so many perish on account of the inconsistencies of Christians, is found in the principle of our text, how great the darkness. It may be in itself a little spot; yet it fills the whole of the perverse eye, so that it can see nought but darkness. The consequence is, religion is not recommended, but stands dishonored before him; he rejects it; perhaps he scorns it; he keeps his sin, he comforts himself in his rebellion; and in the end he is a ruined being. This is the reason of his course. But as I said, there is no reason in it, because the church is not the ultimate standard. Christians are not the bible after all, though they be the only bible multitudes read. God has another bible back of them, and that is the bible God will support-that the standard he will bring and hold men to, and judge them by. His professed disciples may falsify every page, every doctrine, every precept; but that does not make it false. It abides notwithstanding, and will abide, as eternal truth-its promises-its threatenings-its uttered doom will be accomplished. Now, cannot rational men see, have they not sense enough to see, that this is the standard they ought to come to? Though all the church were unmitigated blackness, there is light here. Does not the caviller see, it is not enough that he has reasoned down the Christian's life? There is no safety for him till he has gone beyond and reasoned down the Bible-

not only blotted out the arguments arising from the Christian's practice, but blotted out the arguments also, embodied in God's great and authoritive sayings. Even then in this extreme supposition, that it is all darkness on our part, where is the reason of the caviller's course? There is none -it is madness.

Take now the case as it is. Christians, as a body, do not falsify the Bible. Certainly there are those who illustrate all its spirit and teaching; there are many who do this; they are light in the world; they perfect, and point, and clinch the Bible argument. They speak in their life, as God speaks in his word. Is there any reason, I ask, in making all this nothing?---all this light nothing?---all the sun's shining nothing; his spots everything? God calls attention to this light. Men choose the darkness; they might walk to heaven in this light; there is enought of it, and more than enough. They prefer to wrap themselven up in the darkness they find, and in that go down to death. They allow one professor's life, that is wrong, to sway them more than ten or twenty Christian lives that are right. Is there any reason in this? Ye men of reason and understanding, is there any?

How this course must appear hereafter. I have thought, sometimes, how the lost must feel when they look back and consider on what foolish grounds they went to hell; with what contemptible sophistry they were led on; with what meagre, miserable bait, they allowed the devil to take them. O, my friends, this is far reaching business. You are fast moving to the eternal scene; there you will encounter a most searching light; there you will have to do, not with fables, but with the verities of God's unchanging word; there you will meet, not shadows, but solid and overwhelming realities. Look now to the right things. Yield to the dic tates of reason, and to the urgencies of the gospel, and seek the things which are above, and perish not from that high position you occupy, of light and privilege and hallowed influence. If you do, your's will be a most fearful doom.

SERMON CCccx.

BY REV. BENJAMIN TAPPAN, D. D.
PASTOR OF THE SOUTH CHURCH IN AUGUSTA, ME.

THE WAGES OF SIN.

"The wages of sin is death."-Rom. vi. 23.

THAT there are good and sufficient reasons why the transgressors of God's law should receive a recompense of evil, and that a woe will come upon the workers of iniquity, are thruths which need no labored proof. With the consciousness of doing wrong are associated in every human mind a sense of ill desert, and a fearful looking for of judgment. In these respects, they who have not the written law, are a law to themselves. Even " the fool," who should say in his heart, "there is no God," would be very likely to expect, both in relation to himself and others, that the perpetrator of highhanded wickedness will receiee by some fatality the reward of his doings. And yet it would not be safe to rely upon human estimates of the turptitude of sin, and of the evils which it merits. In deciding upon these subjects, we decide in our own case; we judge and condemn ourselves. Whatever punishment we admit to be the wages of sin, we acknowledge that we ourselves deserve. The slightest knowledge of human nature is sufficient to show that the criminal at the bar is not the person correctly to estimate his own guilt, and to determine the degree of punishment which may justly be inflicted. Not only are we liable to an erroneous judgment, by reason of the blinding influence of an inordinate self-love, but our views of the evil nature and tendencies of sin are of necessity very limited. Some sins are manifestly injurious to him who commits them, to the individual against whom they are committed, or to society in general. But the injury result

ing in many instances, especially from sins of the heart, is not so conspicuous. Much of the evil which sin tends to produce is prevented by an over-ruling Providence. We of ten see conduct in itself sinful, made an occasion of good. Even when the injurious effects of transgressions are the most obvious, we do not always consider, we are unable fully to comprehend its malignity, in its relations to God and his kingdom. Very plainly, therefore, we are not competent to determine the degree and the duration of that punishment, which the sinner deserves, but shall be almost sure exceed ingly to underrate his sinfulness and ill desert. On these points we need a revelation from God; and since a revelation has been granted, communicating the needed instruc tion, it becomes us with unhesitating confidence to receive it. What sin is, in its nature, its effect, its tendencies, and what amount of evil is due for every instance of transgression, is perfectly clear to the mind of God; and in the volume of inspiration we have his testimony. One very im portant declaration relative to the demerit of sin, is that of the inspired apostle in my text. The wages of sin is death. Sin is the master whom the sinner serves, and death is the compensation due for his services. The wages of sin is death, "but the gift of God," to them who serve him, "is everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The wages of sin, the gift of God. To the servant of sin death is the deserved recompense; to the righteous eternal life is the gift, through a Mediator of infinite grace.

The assertion of the text is, that the deserved recompense of sin is death. In this assertion what are we to understand by the word death? Let this point be settled, we shall then have the divine testimony respecting the ill desert of sin, most clearly and fully given.

If the text is viewed in its connexion, it will be plainly seen that the death intended is an evil, to be endured by the servants of sin only. Addressing himself to his brethren in Christ, the apostle inquires, "What fruit had ye then in those things, wherefore ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death; but now being made free from sin, and become the servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Those vicious practices in which you formerly indulged, terminate in death. But the service of God will end in everlasting life. For death is the sinner's recompense; but upon the righteous God will bestow eter nal life. Very evidently from the death here spoken of, the righteous are exempted. It cannot, therefore be temporal death, for this is common to all men. In this respect the servants of sin and the servants of God fare alike. Death in the text is not the dissolution of the body.