You

not gain the prize. "So run that ye may obtain." From friends and foes, through evil report and good report, start for the celestial goal. Nor wait till the gates of heaven are closed. All may be lost by a little delay. Now the gates are unlocked, and the arms of mercy are open. Multitudes have gone before you, and multitudes are going now. Nor will they fail of obtaining the prize. Strive, then, to enter in. Take up the cross, and follow your Divine Leader. "can do all things, through Christ strengthening you." And when you have gained the prize; when you receive the crown; it will be no grief of heart to you, that you ran the race. O how will the difficulties and self-denial of the course appear, when you come to look back upon them from the rewards of victory? And if there are any of you that shrink from the effort, and will not encounter the difficulties that lie in your path, then must you make up your mind to encounter all the sorrows of a lost soul, and all the woes of an undone eternity. But why do I say this? Think rather of the prize-the crown-the opening heavens and Jesus standing at the right hand of God-and in view of these, and stimulated by your Great Leader's voice, so run that you may obtain!"

66

SERMON XIV.

AGGRAVATIONS OF SIN.

LUKE Xii. 48. And that servant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.

THERE is no man in the world, who thinks himself so great a sinner as he truly is in the sight of God. One reason for this is, that there is no man who has so clear and lively a sense of the aggravations of his sin as he ought to have. Sin is not a material substance, that can be measured, and weighed, and the quantity and weight of which never varies; it is the property, the acts, the disposition, the state of mind of a spiritual being, and which varies in its aggravations and enormity at different times, under different circumstances, and in different persons. It may not be unprofitable for us, in this discourse, to take a view of some of the different aggravations of sin.

I. In the first place, some sins are more aggravated than others, from their nature.

All sin has some common properties; while every distinct sin has properties peculiar to itself. Sins that are committed against God, are distinguished from sins committed against men. The worship of idols, for example, is a sin of a different nature, from the sin of discontentment. Blasphemy is a sin of a different

nature from the sin of disobedience to parents; and Sabbath-breaking is in its nature, different from the sin of dishonesty. Some sins therefore are more aggravated than others, from their very nature. They violate greater and stronger obligations; they arise from a more corrupt and base motive; they express a more wicked spirit; and they indicate a more determined, and more rash and desperate purpose, to do. wickedly. The sins that are committed directly against God, are more aggravated than the sins committed against our fellow-men. So of the sins committed more immediately against our fellow-men, there is a difference in their intrinsic turpitude. Murder is more criminal than fraud; fraud is more criminal than covetousness; and cruelty is a greater sin than unkindness. So profane swearing is a greater sin, than light and trifling conversation; injury to a man's person is a greater sin, than injury to his property; and injury to his reputation and influence a greater sin, than injury either to his property or person. One sin is not greater than another from the mere arbitrary appointment of the Deity; it is so in itself. Every sin is an unreasonable and wicked thing; but some sins are far more unreasonable and wicked than others. Every sin is a transgression of the divine law; but there is in some sins an energy, a malignity of disobedience, which is the origin of every other species of moral turpitude, in relation either to God or man.

II. In the second place, some sins are more aggravated than others, from the persons who commit them.

The same sin committed by one man, may be vastly greater than when committed by another. Other

things being equal, a prince, a magistrate, a minister of the Gospel, a parent, or any man of influence and standing in society, never sins at so low a rate as those over whom God has given him influence and authority. The very station and influence of such persons, lay them under peculiar obligations; and, instead of extenuating their sins, always aggravate them. The sins of Christians and of God's professed people, are on this account so much more aggravated than the same sins of wicked and ungodly men. This made the sin of Judas so vile; this made the sin of Peter so aggravated, when he denied his Lord with oaths and curses. This made the sin of Paul so great, and constrained him to exclaim, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death!" This made the sins of David so fearful as to lead him to say, "Mine iniquities are gone over my head; I am troubled: I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long." There are those whose conduct cannot be judged by the same rules by which the conduct of others is judged. Nor ought it to be. God has thrown responsibilities upon them, which it is impossible for them to throw off; and if they disregard them, they necessarily sin with a higher hand than do others.

III. In the third place, the sins of men are always aggravated when they are of such a complicated character as necessarily to involve other sins.

All sin is, to a greater or less extent, thus complicated; so that it is true that "he that offendeth in one point, is guilty of all." But there is a more intimate connection between some parts of the divine law, and some sins, than between other parts, and other sins.

The violation of that precept, or that prohibition, which necessarily involves the violation of others, is greatly aggravated from this circumstance. Sometimes one sin involves two in the same act. Sometimes it involves three; and sometimes multitudes. The man who is guilty of the sin of idolatry, is guilty of ingratitude, of hatred of all excellence, of injustice, cruelty, murder, obscenity, and all those revolting crimes which sap the foundation of the social state. It is a sin which includes almost all other sins; is itself a comprehensive summary of wickedness, and a crime which, of all others, tends to degrade the character of man, and sink him to the lowest state of intellectual and moral debasement. So the crime of profane swearing includes the utmost contempt of God, and the imprecation of curses and damnation on our fellow-men. The spirit, from which it proceeds, everywhere treats the divine. claims with disrespect and levity, and would blot out the name, the very being, of God, from among men. So the profanation of the Sabbath is a sin that never stands alone, but includes in it a neglect of the private and public worship of God, together with a multitude of other sins to which this profanation almost always leads the transgressor, and the guilt of which is greatly augmented by being committed on God's holy day. It is impossible but the Sabbath-breaker should be a great sinner. The thief also is necessarily a deceiver, a liar, covetous and oppressive. Especially are such complicated sins aggravated, when they are committed deliberately and audaciously, and in full view of their attendant and consequent wickedness.

IV. In the fourth place, sins are aggravated by the degree of misery which they produce.