fides their own homes. A mere look of surprise, disapproba tion, or forrow, on hearing it, will often have a great effect. And without the least violation of good manners, but treating those with much regard, who are pleased to treat God with none, various methods may be found of fometimes plainly declaring, fometimes obliquely intimating, the manifold wrongness of fuch expressions. There is indeed one thing, that would feem to be of this kind, and hath a contrary effect: I mean, when swearers are chid absolutely in jeft; in a way that makes it visible, they are not in the least worse thought of; and they perhaps carry on the jest, by begging pardon of the company, and doing the fame thing again the next minute; without having it once brought to their thoughts, that they have cause either to beg pardon of God, or be ashamed of themselves. Such a farce of reproof encourages, instead of discountenancing, the fin. But a real and serious dislike, shewn with difcretion, and requifite mildness, may do incredible service, to young offenders above all. And therefore, whoever wishes well to his acquaintance, and friends, to religion and virtue; especially, whoever hath any peculiar ground to hope he may have weight; should confcientioufly make use of every opportunity for promoting right behaviour, in this and all respects: knowing, that he, who converteth a finner from the error of his way, shall favë a foul from death, and shall hide a multitude of fins *.

SERMON XXXV.

ON THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN.

2 SAM. xii. 13.

And David faid unto Nathan, I have finned against the Lord. And Nathan faid unto David, The Lord also bath put away thy fin: thou shalt not die.

IN holy scripture, not only the great and good actions of pious perfons are written for our learning *, that we may admire, and, as far as we are concerned, imitate them; but their chief tranfgreffions alfo are recorded, for a caution to be on our guard, and a direction, if, like them, we have done amiss, like them, to repent and reform. Amongst all the instances of this kind, there is none more fruitful of inftruction, than that well-known history of David's being feduced from a religious course of life to most dreadful wickedness, and continuing regardless of his guilt, till the prophet Nathan at length having awakened him to a sense of it, by a home application of the parallel cafe of the poor man and the ewe lamb, brought him to the confeffion, and administered to him the comfort expressed in the text.

There are many circumstances in this narration, which may and ought to remind us of truths, in which we are too nearly interested. But the principal of them will be comprehended, if we learn from it the following points of doctrine.

I. That, without continual care, the best of men may be led into the worst of crimes.

II. That

Rom. xv. 4.

II. That we are all very apt to overlook our own faults, and yet to be extremely quick-fighted and fevere in relation to thofe of others.

III. That as foon as ever we are, by any means, made fenfible of our offences, we should acknowledge them with due penitence.

IV. That on doing this, the greatest fins will be forgiven us. Yet,

V. That fins, even after they are forgiven, frequently produce such lamentable consequences, that, on this account, amongst others, innocence is greatly preferable to the trueft repentance.

I. That, without continual care, the best of men may be led into the worst of crimes.

David, we are told in holy writ, was a man after God's own heart *: who did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him, all the days of his life, fave only in the matter of Uriab the Hittite. Such high expreffions are never to be interpreted of any mere man in the utmost rigour: but the lowest meaning must be, that he was on the whole, to a very high degree, innocent of known deliberate fin; and exemplary for piety and virtue to the age he lived in: when even they, who in some things were favoured with revelations from above, were in others, being left to their own reason, less enlightened than common Christians are now, and therefore entitled to a more favourable judgment. But independently on this confideration, David's eminence in goodness appears from many excellent actions, related throughout the book of Samuel: and the Pfalms, written by him, are everlasting instances of his fervent devotions, his reverent esteem of God's law, his watchfulness over his own spirit. Nay, indeed, there is one instance in which he appears to have been fcrupulous even to an extremity of * delicacy: when his heart fmote him, that he had cut off the skirt of Saul's garment I. Suppose, now, the prophet Nathan had foretold concerning such a man as this, that in a little time he would commit the capital fin of adultery; and, when the scheme which he had framed to hide it was fruftrated, would calmly contrive to murder by treachery the man whom he had injured, intrust others with his purpose, execute it by their

means, and triumphantly take his wife home to himself: who could poffibly have believed the prediction; or how could David have received the most respectful warning against such enormities, but with contempt or indignation? Yet so it was: even this good man, even when grown old in religion, was guilty of deeds, which many habitual finners, though prompt. ed by youthful passion, and unrestrained by the fear of God, would still have abhorred.

And if this was the cafe of David, then let him that thinketh be standeth, take beed left be fall *. Few, it may be doubted, have the fame warmth of right resolution; but all have the fame deceitful nature: and therefore we must all be continually attentive; or we know not into what abominations we may be drawn. Every man hath within him the principles of every bad action that the worst man ever did. And though in some they are languid, and feem scarce alive; yet, if foftered by indulgence, they will foon grow to incredible strength: nay, if only left to themselves, will, in seasons favourable to them, shoot up, and over-run the heart, with fuch surprising quickness, that all the good feed shall be choked on a fudden by tares, which we never imagined had been within us. And what increases the danger is, that each of us hath fome wrong inclination or other, it is well if not several, beyond the rest natural to us, and the growth of the foil. Thefe, therefore, we must be especially diligent to keep under, and weed out the least fibres of them that we can perceive: else we shall find them roots of bitterness, continually springing up to trouble and defile us t. Then, befides all our inward weaknesses, the world about us is thick fet round with snares, differently formed: fome provoking us to immoderate paffion, or envious malignity; some alluring us with forbidden pleasures, or foftening us into fupineness and indolence, or overcharging our hearts with the cares of this life, or bribing us with hopes of unlawful gain to do ill, or terrifying us with a profpect of fufferings for doing well. Delusive suggestions, indeed, every one of them: but of specious appearance, unless we examine them thoroughly, unless we look beyond them. And as more or fewer of these temptations are almost constantly, and often fuddenly, attacking us, to which the wicked one will not fail

to

1 1

to fuperadd his own secret infinuations, as far as ever he is permitted; the hazard of our situation is very evident, and our watchfulness ought furely to be in proportion to it.

Not that, with all this, we have the least cause to be difheartened, but only on our guard. He that imagines himself to be safe, never is so: but they, who keep in their minds a sense of their danger, and pray for, and trust in, help from God, will always be able to avoid or go through it. Temptation hath no power, the great tempter himself hath no power, but that of using perfuafion. Forced we cannot be, so long as we are true to ourselves. Our own confent must be our own giving: and without it, the rest is nothing. For then only, in effect, St. James tells us *, is every man tempted, when he is drawn away of his own luft and inticed. That we are liable to fin, therefore, ought to be no difcouragement, and can be no justification to us: for, by the assistance of heaven, though not else, we may escape it, if we will: and that assistance is expressly promised to our endeavours and our prayers. Refift the devil, and he will flee from you: draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you †. But to the strictest vigilance it must be a powerful incitement, to confider, how often we, how of ten persons much better than we, have, merely through want of vigilance, been guilty of such tranfgreffions as could' never have been suspected. But, indeed, when once we allow ourselves to go wrong, we can neither know nor guess how far we shall go.

David at first violated only the rules of decency, which he might easily have observed, and have turned away his eyes from an improper object. This, which doubtless he was willing to think a very pardonable gratification of nothing worse than curiofity, carried him on far beyond his first intention, to the heinous crime of adultery. There, undoubtedly, he defigned to stop, and keep what had passed secret from all the world. But virtue hath ground to stand upon; vice hath not: and, if we give way at all, the tendency downward increases every moment. Sometimes the treacherous pleasantness of the path invites us to stray a little farther, though we are fenfible it descends to the gates of hell. Sometimes the confcioufnefs, that we are guilty already, tempts us to fancy it immaterial

how

James i. 14.

† James iv. 7, 8.