ever born the seeds of disease exist. Certain climates and certain conditions may bring more prominently forward one disease than another, but the seeds are there. And so with sin, certain states of society may curb or develop certain sins, but still the seeds are there. For instance, let us take the case of a child born in a Christian home 'whose cherished existence is his parents' hope, whose little limbs are wrapped in ermine, and fondly sheltered from every approach of harm; his faculties unfolding only to enjoy, increasing only to be satisfied; every feeling considered, every thought directed,'* and compare it with the 'squalid offspring of degraded passion who opens his eyes upon filth and profligacy, his ears upon blasphemy and falsehood; unclothed, untaught and uncared for till nature matures his faculties into instruments of crime.'+ Who can say, that had the circumstances and surroundings been different, the results might not have been reversed? The bars of the tiger's cage may effectually prevent him from doing harm, but they do not change his savage nature. While thanking God for the restraints of society, which are in great measure the results of Christianity, we must recognise the fact that all ground for self-glorification is removed. If we have only sinned once in thought, word, or deed, or have ever failed to do what we ought to have done, or have done what we ought not to have done, we have 'come short' of the glory of God. We may have sinned many times, or we may have sinned few times; but many or few, we have come short of God's standard of perfect holiness. To use an oftrepeated illustration. If the standard of height of her Majesty's Guards was fixed at six feet high, men of five feet eleven and three-quarter inches would be rejected, just as much as men of five feet, though the former would be only one-quarter of an inch too short. One can well imagine many recruits all below the standard waiting to be measured. The taller ones would * 'Christ our Example,' by Caroline Fry. + Ibid. ridicule the hopes of the shorter ones anxious to be enlisted. But when brought to the standard, all alike, whether tall or short, would be doomed to disappointment. Many pride themselves on not having been so bad as others, and therefore, while fully believing that many will be rejected for falling so very far short of God's standard, flatter themselves that as they are much nearer the standard they will be accepted. But there is no difference: God recognises no degrees. All have been guilty of breaking some of the laws of God; and one shortcoming brings the sinner within the power of the law: just as one inch of water over a man's head will suffice to suffocate him as surely as the deepest ocean. When the Spirit works in the heart of man it convinces him of sin; not of individual acts only, but of sin as an indwelling power, of which the acts are the indication. A physician cares little to remove the outward indications of an inward disease until he has first removed the primary cause; and so until man is regenerated by the Spirit of God, sin reigns within. Possibly some individual sins may be overcome; but as long as the heart remains unchanged, sin will show itself in some form or other. I have known a drunkard become a total abstainer, and a great blessing he became to his wife and family. Having overcome his great besetting vice, he became intensely selfrighteous : 'What avails one sin plucked up, one evil stain, When once God's Holy Spirit convinces of sin, it matters not whether the individual has in the sight of man been a good or a bad one; that soul feels sin as he never felt it before. Instances are not wanting of such intense anxiety to escape from the burden of sin, as to upset the mind and impair the health; and that in not only outwardly bad lives, but in those which are considered upright and respected. Perhaps such have gone on quietly through life in a state of satisfac tion and easy contentment about themselves. But when once the Sun of Righteousness shines into the dark heart, the sinner sees how vile he is. A room may be very dirty, but if it is also very dark the occupant is unconscious of its condition; once let the sun shine in, and its condition becomes instantly apparent. The sun is not the cause of the condition of the room, it is merely the means of making it apparent; so, too, does the Spirit of God render apparent to the sinner the corruption and iniquity of his heart. The natural man realizes neither his own sinfulness nor that of his neighbours. If incarnated in any special form of vice, he recognises something wrong, but beyond that he has no deeper sense of sin. A little girl is once said to have asked her mother where all the bad people were buried, as she had been reading the epitaphs in a churchyard in which each tombstone recorded the fact that a good person lay there. Whether true or not, it is very characteristic of the awful popular delusion many labour under, that their neighbours as well as themselves are on the road to heaven. The Bible statement that 'Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat; and strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it,'* in their opinion requires a good deal of explaining away. The fall of man certainly affects his memory. In the course of a very short time we forget our sins. Sometimes an individual is for a time troubled in conscience about something he has done which he ought to have left undone. But as time goes on that completely passes away, and he forgets all about it, and acts and speaks as if God had forgotten it too. Time will not thus easily atone for sin, and though man may, God will not forget. He alone knows what harm sin has done to his fair creation. He knows that it cost Him the death of His *Matt. vii. 13. only-begotten Son. What loving parent can ever forget the cause of the death of his well-beloved child? He remembers it too well, and intensely hates the cause. We may be assured of this, that God recalls each sin that nailed His Son to the cross. IN CHAPTER V. PENALTY OF SIN. 'The wages of sin is death.'-ROM. vi. 23. N the two former chapters I endeavoured to show that the Bible says that all men are sinners, and that no difference exists with respect to justification between one class of sinners and another in God's sight. In this I desire to show what the penalty of sin is, which we are very clearly told in the above text. I have, however, heard it said that as ours is a God of love, He must be too merciful to punish any hereafter for the transgression of His laws. The question naturally arises, how do we know that the Creator is a merciful God? The answer at once is, the Bible says so. True it does, but it also tells us other things about God. Among the many things we are told concerning God is, that He is a jealous God, and intensely hates sin; and that though He willeth not the death of a sinner,' yet that He will by no means clear the guilty, and that there shall be 'a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. . . It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.'t 'For we know Him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto Me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge His people.'‡ * Many people worship a God of their own creation. They * Ex. xxxiv. 7. + Heb. x. 27, 31. Heb. x. 30. |