SERMON ON OF^'KNOES SUITED TO THE TIMES; \Nr) RECOMMENDED TO THE CAREFUL PERUSAL OF ALL SIJCU A- ATTEND METHODIST WORSHIP IN THE BOUNDS OF THE SALIS- UlIRY DISTRICT OF THE NORTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE H THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOIITIf, ey REV. S. ». IJUMPASS. lieve not cvory spirit, Imt fri/ llie spirits whctlicr iii i UL i.\S[50R0T (. li . \ [ i.ilNTIi: i: V- SWAfM ANI» SIT KT^ "^m* ft"/ I 1 A SERMON ON OFFENCES. *' VVos unto the world because of offences ! for it must needa be that offences come, but woe to lh»ittnan by whom the offence cometh Matt, xviii. 7. The occasion of this text was a contention among the dis- ciples of our blessed Saviour, which of them should be great- er in the kingdom of heaven. In common with the rest of th^ir countrymep, they had fallen into a radical error respec- ting the character of this kingdom. Supposing that it would embrace the state as well as the church, and associating with it such ideas of preferment and honor as they had learned from hnman governments, they had almost necessarily imbibed (hat spirit o^ ambition which influence worldly aspirants. These mistaicen views and feelings led, by natural conse- C^tiiisliuiks are true aiiletypes uf such cliaraclers as the above. Tiiey are a 'Toya! and holy priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people""- — kings and priests unto Godt — he that is least ni the kuigdom of heaven is greater than John the Bap- Take the former of these facts for the major proposition of a syllogism, and the second for the muior, the conclusion will be that christians should not use even such wine as was made among the Hebrews. For if priests when they entered into the tabernacle made with hands" were forbidden the use of wine, and if christians are " a royal priesthood/' who have entered ^^^into the holiest by the blood of Jesus/- surely they should not use, it so long as they continue in Christ.^i — If Naz- arites were forbidden to use wine because ^'the consecration of God was upon their heads^and because they were " holy unto the Lord/' and if christians are a " holy people/' fully consecrated to God by baptism, surely they are likewise for- bidden to use it during all the days of their separation from sin. — If such characters as Samson, John the Baptist, &c., wdio were rendered great among men by the distinguished services they had to perform, did not use wine, and if the least christian is greater than John the Baptist^ how can such a one reconcile it to the dignity of his station and the important duties which devolve upon him to use even the mildest kind of wine ? Even this, taken in the smallest quan- tities^ would have defiled a priest or Nazarite, shorn Samson of hisstrength, converted the Rechabite's blessing into a curse, or disqualified John the Baptist for his important services ; and such are its withering influences still. Though holier than a priest of the living God and purer than a Nazarite — though greater in priviliges than John the Baptist and stron- ger in faith than Samson was in body, the christian will feel its defiling, its weakening, its deadening influences in aU the powers of his ransomed soul^till he fall like lightning from his heaven of holiness and love into the lowest depths of sin and misery.ji Hence we venture the assertion, and we do it without the fear of successful contradiction, that there is not n Pet. u. 9 fRev. I. G. Mat. xi. 11. io u suiglc jjas.si/^t ill tht New Teslar/ic /it . u hirn, .ci.<^.ii rigid- ly understood, will sanction iht continued use of wine a- niong christians except for medical or sacramental pur- ■porses* * Some contend that we have the Saviour's example for the use of wine. " John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinlcing wine, and ye say, He liath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking," &c. — they fill up the elipsis with the terms " bread and wine." But an improbable conjecture which has no stronger evidence than this to sustain it may well be doubted. But suppose the Saviour had used wine, it would no more follow that we should do so likewise than it does that wc should be circumcised, keep the pass- over, wear sandals, recline at the table, &c., because he did these things. ChrivSt was the representative of two dispensations; and it was just as necessary for him to be a fair representative of what was inoffensive in the Jewish dispensation as to set an example for his own. The law he fulfilled in his own person, and conse- quently fell into ihc innocent customs of the law. The feast of the passover, marriage feasts, and as we have already seen, the use of mild wines, were among these customs. With the first two of these customs he complied, in order to fulfil the law; and if he did with the last, (a position which still wants proof,) it wasfov the same reason. The above reason may also account for his making wine at the marriage feast, and using the cup at the passover; but there are still more spiritual reasons for both of these transactions. Wine was one of the promised blessings (or curses) of the tribe of Judah to which he belonged, (Gen. xlix. 10, 11,) and may be considered a prophetic badge of this tribe. Immediately after foretelling that the sceptre should not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet till Shiloh come, &c. — a prophecy which is universally referred to Christ— Jacob adds (still speaking of Judah) "binding his foal unto the vine, he shall wash his garments in wine." So that this first miracle may be in some sense a fulfillment of prophecy, by whicli he more fully identified himself with the tribe of Judah as being that Shiloh that had been promised. Again, as the marriage state is a beadtiful figure of Christ's union with the church, so this wine made at the marriage feast may be regarded an expressive figure of his passion by which his marriage to the church was fully consummated. And this view of the subject is much strengthened by the fact that wine in the Eucharist has been continued as a memorial of that transaction. Certainly there is nothing in all this to justify christians in the common use of wine. What have they to do with Jewish customs? Have they a law and a prophecy to fulfill by the use of wine ? — a passion to prefigure 1 — a miracle to work? Are they Hebrews? Do they five under the Mosaic dispensation ? — Do they belong to the tril)c of Judah ? Blind and sordid indeed must that mind be, which can find in such spiritual and holy transactions as these a justification for one of the lowest sensualities ! Truly .such may be said to follow Chripl . not I s (3) Having yiiowii iliat liie coininou use of even imld wiiic IS calculated to olieiid spiritual christians, we miglit build up- on this showing a powerlul argument against the use of more intoxicating liquors ; for surely it is a greater offence to drink because they "see the miracle, but because they do drink of the luinc and arc drunken.^'' That " the fruit of the vine," first used in the Eucharist was not intoxica- ting wine, is sufficiently evident from the occasion on which this sacrament was instituted, namely : at the feast of thepassover. At this feast the Hebrews were strictly forbidden to use any thing that was leavened (Exod. xii, 15, &c.) The word hero translated "leaven" applies to any thing which is "sharp, pungent, or sour," such as "vineg^ar," (see Genesis,) and is believed to include fermented wine. Again, the Jews used unleavened bread to show their haste in leaving Egypt; for the same reason should they have used unfermented wine. Another obvious reason for this prohibition applies with more force to fermented wine than to leavened bread ; for the whole nation being assembled together for more than a week at this feast, was in great danger of falling into excesses ; therefore leavened bread and fermented wine were prohibited for \lie same reason that dainties and Uquors should be banished from our camp meetings, to prevent glut- tony and drunkenness. This was the occasion on which our Saviour instituted the Eucharist ; and we cannot for a moment suppose that lie would so far de- part from the letter and spirit of the law as to use leavened bread or fermented wine. But suppose the wine used in this sacrament had been of an intoxicating char- acter, yet this very use of it is one of the strongest reasons why it should not be drunk on ordinary occasions. Wine is here made an emblem of blood, the use of which is forbidden both under the Mosaic and christian dispensations, (Levit. xvii, 14; Acts, xv, 20, 29.) It is consecrated to a sacred purpose, and nothing can have a stronger tendency to disqualify a communicant for the solejunities of the Eucharist than the habit of regarding its elements articles of common use 'J'he bread used on such occasions to represent the body of Christ, should be un. leavened, unseasoned, such as we do not eat at ordinary meals; and the "fruit of the vine," representing his blood, should never be used on ordinary occasions. — The very thought of these articles should be associated with the sufferings and death of our Saviour, and forever banish a taste for any thing that will in- toxicat^. As for those passages where it is said a bishop or deacon should not be "giv- en to wine — to much wine," (phrases of synonymous import,) we have sufficient evidence in the case of Timothy, how they were understood by the first ministers of the gospel. He would not use even "a liLlle wine^* for medicine without the prescription of an inspired man. And these (the Eucharistic and medical) arc the only innocent and safe uses that can be made of it at the present day. — Whatever christian uses it in any other way docs so without the support of bible authority, without llic sanction of the Saviour's usage, and without a precedent yi apostolic example, but in diPrct ftpprfsUton to ttic whole of I he.^'- uithoriucs 1*^ ardent t;pirils than it is to use wine. But wc prefer to try this evil npon its own merits by the same standard of uner- ring truth. And since we must now introduce a subject by which to test its effects, we will begin with the occasional moderate drinker. The characteristics of an otfencc are de- ception and ruin. Let us see if these are developed in liim. He supposes then that there is nothing in God's word to con- demn his practice, and that in persisting in it lie is transgres- sing no moral precept of that word. He makes these sup- positions, 1 say, otherwise he is an acknowledged stumbling- block. The former of these suppositions has already been shown to be a mistake, the latter is easily proved to be such. If he did not contract this habit by taking sweetened drams from the hand of an imprudent mother, or by following the pre- scriptions of a still more imprudent physician, it is more than likely tliat he acquired it by the ungodly advice or example of improper associates. Here then, at the very threshold, he has fallen short of that "love'' for the brethren which Christ makes one distinguishing trait ot his disciples, and pre- ferred the society and advice of others ; he has walked in the counsel of the upgodly — (for none but the ungodly would give such counsel) — he lias neglected that fatherly injunction, "come out from among them and be ye separate" — that wholesome caution, "look not upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup," and that still more point- ed warning, "touch not, taste not, — all of which perish in the using." Yet he supposes that his course is not opposed to the principles of the Bible ! The occasional drain-drinkcr supposes fnrther, that he i? doing no spiritual injury either to himself or others, for un- less he drinks with this understanding he must know that he is drinking with offence. But let us see if he is not mistaken m this also. A very moderate dram stimulates the system and excites the mind. This excitement being needlessly brought on is not controlled by the Holy Spirit, for it is writ- ten, " Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God ;" and a man m sucii a state will think, s]>eak, and act as he would not otherwise have done. He feels an unusual degree of levity- and gives way to "jesting, filthiness, and foolish talking'- — of anger and indulges in " wit, evil speaking, slanders, back- biting, or railing'' — or of pride, which leads to " vain boas- ting/' These states of mind are directly opposed " sobriety'' and" watchfulness/' to " purity, meekness, and humility," all of which are enjoined in God's word ; and this unbridled use of the tongue is by no means " seasoned with salt, and meet to minister grace to the hearers." After the stimulation there follows a reaction ; and then it is impossible to be " diligent m business, fervent in spirit serving the Lord — to love the Lord with all the heart, mind, soul and strength," for the sub- ject feels almost devoid of either. Meanwhile his example has a most withering Influence upon the morals and destinies of the rising generation ; and some unguarded expression (for no allowance is yet made for his " being in liquor") creates envies, discords, and divisons, in society around. Yet he supposes that he is doing no harm ! ! Every repetition of the stimulauthelps to create a habit, not only ofdrinking, but likewise of speaking andactingunder its infl!uence, which, with little less than omnipotent power,is fast- ening upon his soul. The dram-drinker must know that thous- ands of better, wiser, and stronger men than himself have been brought so completely under the power of this habit as to ruin both themselves and their families ; and indeed he feels it rapidly increasing on himself, (for any person who drinks at all will sometimes drink too much,) yet in the face of all these facts, he makes another supposition sufficiently strange to astonish both men and angels — hear it, O heavens, and be confounded, 0 earth ! — He supposes that he is in no danger of becoming a drunkard ! ! ! Was ever a mortal m.orc decieved } As the moderate drinker has not yet forsaken the house of God, it is possible that his eyes might be opened to see his danger if Satan did not find means to increase his delusion. — It would be tedious to follow him in all his stages down this dark valley of the shadow of death." Let it suffice to say that he takes one step and then another — falls into stratagem after stratagem; till with a bloatrd face, dis5lorfed features, 14 and ruined constitution — till liaving wasted Ins estate and reduced his family to beggary, having lost all ailection for his Avife, all sense of shame, and all love for God's people-^with a mind in the very image and superscription of the devil — till peeled by the gambler's cunning, and tainted by the har- lot's rotten breath, he sinks down into a state of drunken sot- tishness. We will not say th^t this man was deluded all the while. Blind indeed must he have been if he did not at last begin to see that he was departing from the living God ; hard must have been his heart if he did not feel pangs of keenest remorse. But habit had then enslaved him, sin had corrup- ted his heart, and he was " led captive by the devil at his will.'' Now again in fits of the delirium tremens and 9na- niapotu he is made to feel some foretaste of hell, and to see the companions of his future home. But what does all this avail ? His moral powers are now completely paralized, and nothing but a miracle of grace, such a one as is not of- ten wrought by the weak faith of this generation, will save him. And now, "who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contention? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause ? who hath redness of eyes ?" Is it not he that " tarrying long at the wine " has fallen into a narrow pit ?" Yea, he has felt that " her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword " — that "at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth hke an adder."* And now alas, alas, for the broken hearted wife and helpless children ! Ye friends, cover your heads for shame, and ye parents, bow down your grey hairs in sorrow to the grave. — But why attempt to describe the evils of this offence ? Had I a thought sufficiently powerful to shock the universe, and had I a word to convey this thought which would blight like the mildew and shiver like the lightnings of heaven — had 1 power to compare this word up to the surperlative degree and charge it with the seven last woes of the Apocalypse, and had I an angel's voice to sound it till it should howl with the ytorm around every sea bound shore, and till every nibuii- tain rock should rend with its echoes, it would give but a fee-. Prov. x.xiii, 27, 32. 15 bie expression of t.lie evils produced Uy this single offence. Yea, a thousand such thoughts and ten thon.sand such words could not conceive the depths of woe or express the pangs of sorrow occasioned by offences. 3. From offences we proceed to apply the truths of this text to offenders as the moral agents by whom offences come : " woe to that man by whom the offence cometh !" — to the distiller who makes the spkits, the merchant who sells it, the landlord or candidate who treats with it — to the man who teaches another to gamble, or entices him mto any other sin. But the offender has apologies for his course, and before he is finally condemned it is but fair that these should be heard. (1) He contends that he is not responsible for other men^s sms ; for they are moral agents fully accountable for their own conduct. — He does not comjoe/ them to sin ; they doit of their own free choice ; and he thinks it hard that he should be pun- ished for other men's follies. In meeting this objection to the application of our text, we feel that we could not do the subject a greater injustice than we should by singling out a few instances in which one man is held responsible for the moral inffuence of his con- duct upon others as if these were all that could be adduced. Whereas the application is made upon a universal principle, founded upon the uniform testimony of God's word and ac- knowledged in all associations whether social, civil, or re- ligious. It is this which makes the parent feel such a deep solicitude for the good of his children, which gives the states- man so much concern for the welfare of his country, which burdens the minister's mind with such a weight of responsi- bility for the people of his charge ; in siiort, which binds to- gether the whole frame work of society. The objector him- self acts upon this principle in all matters in which his im- medi^ate interest is not concerned. If he were on a jury, and four men were brought before him and proved guilty, the one of making a plot to murder a man, another of furnishing a rope to tie and a knife to stab him, a third of tying, and a fourth of stabbing him, as an honest juror the objector would feel himself bound lo convict Ihcni all o( murder. It would 10 not do for one of tlie counsel to argue that any man might sell a knife and rope, which might be used m murdermg a fellow being, and tliat it would be illegal to punish such ven- der ; therefore this man who furnished the knife and rope for the very purpose of assisting a murderer should not be punished ; — the attorney would gain nothing by contending thaJ if his client had not assisted in making the plot another would ; therefore he ought to be acquitted, for his refusal to assist would not have saved the man's Viie. Any juror of common sense would at once detect such barefaced sophisms ; yet these and like flimsy apologies are the only justifications which many have, when fully convicted of furnis^hing facili- ties, making plots, &c. to destroy both soul and body in hell forever ! Nevertheless if particular texts of scripture, showing a man's responsibility for the moral influence of his conduct were demanded, they are ever at hand. And what could be plain- er than the text ? Woe to that mail by whom the off'ence cometh !" Again, it is said in the law, " thou shalt not put a stumbUng-blocic before the blind — cursed is he that maketh the blind to wandex out of the way." * Who is blinder than the man led by his appetites and passions ? aad. what is a greater stumbling-block than something calculated to excite these " blind leaders of the blind?" Take another case; if a man had an ox that had been " wont to push with tiis horns in time past, and it had been testified to the owner, and he had not kept him in, but that he had killed a man or a w,o- man," the sentence of the law was, "the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death. "t We have in- spired authority for saying that the oxen in the law that trod out the corn are a figure of the christian ministry; and this one that " pushed with his horns" is quite as apt a figure of any thing that injures mankind. Only name him whiskey^ brandy, or rum, and the rest of the verse is easily interpreted. Again, " did not Achan the son of Zerah, commit a trespass iii the accusred thing, and wrath fell upon the whole house of Israel ? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.":]: >Levit. xix.l4 ; Deut. xxvii, 18. fExod.xxi. 29, tJosh. xxii. 20. 17 And did iioUlie distillur boil liis J:t alc,did nut tli<: Lar keept;i doal out his liquors, and did not llio landlord and the candi- date treat with them, and wrath fell upon the cnlire commu- nity around ? and these men perished not alone in their ini- quity. Yea verily they did, and God saw it and said as from the thunders of Sinai, " Woe unto him that giveth his neigh- bour drink !* — He that hath an ear to hear let him hear." Cases like the above might be multiplied to almost any number, but if there were not another case in all the Bible, that of eating meats sacrificed to idols would be sufficient for our purpose. In Romet and also in Corinth J it was the cus- tom to sell meats in the shambles which had* been offered in sacrifice to their idols. A question, it would seem, arose in the churches at these places, whether it was lawful for chris- tians to buy ai\d eat these meats with the understanding that they had been offered to idols. Some believed that it was, others that it was not. St. Paul decided that it was sinful to eat such meats, upon the ground that it had an unhappy moral influence upon others. He admits fully that eating such meats was not sinful in itself to one who gave God thanks and did not eat with conscience of the idol,§ and bases his de- cision altogether upon the bad moral influence which it would have upon others. For there were some who still regarded these meats " with conscience of the idol," yet they might be emboldened to eat by seeing others do so, and this would bring them into condemnation. In this event, brethren who set such an example, in sinning against the brethren and wound- ing their weak conscience, would "sin against Christ," and "destroy him with their meat for whom Christ died.'* This would bring them also into condemnation with such as they had offended. And most wholsomely did the apostle cau- tion them to " take heed lest this liberty of theirs should be- come an occasion of stumbling to them that were weak he assured them that it was "good neither to eat flesh, nor dri?ik ivine^ nor any thing else whereby their brother stum- bled, or was oftcnded, or made weak," and sustained the *Hab. ii, 15. i Kom. xiv. 14 &('. tl Cor. viii. 1 &c. )Roni. xiv. 14; 1 ('or. viii. 8. wliole uy ail example worthy of all imitation; " wherefore, it meat make my brother to ofle.nci, 1 will eat no tlesii while the world standeth." Suppose the use of r^pirituous liquors, at the present day, the practice of gaming, the wearing of jewelry, attending^ balls, worldly amusements, &c., were as inoti'ensive to some as the simple act of eating, yet would those who practice such things be in the same predicament With their elder brethren of Rome and Corinth. It will not be denied that there are thousands of others who still use these things .with offence to themselves and ruin to their families: such is their weakness that they cannot use them otherwise. This they are often emboldened to do by the example of such as esteem their own course innocent and do not run into great excesses, but who, by the hurtful influence of their example, become destroyers of "the work of God," sinners " against Christ, partakers of other men's sins." Let us allow then that your conscience is not at all defiled by the moderate use of spirituous liquors, or by the simple act of distilling and vending the article — that you can attend the dance, the giddy play, the circus, the race field without feeling the least remorse for doing so — let us further allow that you are so far an exception to the general frailty of human nature, that while thousands of every grade in society and condition of life, from the least esteemed to the most useful member of the church, are daily falling from the moderate use of spirits into drunkenness, disgrace, and ruin, you are entirely safe from such consequences — let us allow, I say, that you can practice such things with a clear conscience as to their evil effects upon yourself, and with a perfect exemp- tion from the danger of excess, yet unless you can go further and assure yourself that you have not one ounce of moral in- fluence upon your fellow men, you must feel that you are de- filing weak consciences, and so sinning'against Christ. For if any person who esteems your course sinful should be mis- led by your example, or if any person in attempting to follow your example as innocent should fall into greater excesses, you will thereby become the author of his destruction. Tin- less you liave llic I'lill assurance lluit none of tliesc consequen- ces will lake place, you pursue your couriie, to say the Icasl of it, with a doubting conscience; and 'Mie that doubteth is damned." — No, you do not, you cannot, doubt that the influ- ence of your example is of a most destructive character. This you must know and feel. (2) The offender pleads necessity. lie has a family to sup- port, debts to pay, a house to raise, company to entertain, au election to gain, &c., and there is no other means by which he can effect these desirable ends. Here he tacitly admits his responsibility for the moral in- fluence of his conduct, and would feel that he was committing a great sin to pursue the course he does if the necessity which impels him to it were removed ; but so long as this remains, he thinks it an entire justification. In other words, the object in view is a good one, and this, in his estimation, will justify the means by which it is accomplished. But let us see if this will stand the test of Scripture. " What shall we say then ?*' says an inspired man, " shall we continue in sin that grace may abound ? God forbid."* The apostle, it would seem, had been charged with holding the very doctrine which we liave put into the mouth of the objector, but was not willing to lie under such an imputation. — " And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some aflirm that we say,) Let us do evil that good may come ? ivhose damnation is jusi.^''t A rebuke which should hush in eternal silence the voice of all such as think to pervert the principles of truth in this way. To give this plea a fair test, let us cliange the object of good and see if that will justify the use of unholy means. Let us suppose then it was necessary to distill, vend, or drink ardent spirits, to dance, gamble, &.C., in order to family prayer, reading the Scriptures or hearing the word, duties quite as important as those above named ; would any protestant feel himself under obligation (o perform such duties.^ would it not be at once perceived that the unholy means necessary to be used would be n full discharge from thc'obligatipus tp duties *^Roin. vi. I. iRoiij. m. ^. proposed to be effected by Ihcm ? Yet if the good done in sup- porting a family and paying debts would justify the making and sale of ardent spirits, that to be attained by family prayer, &c., would sanctify all the cruelties of Popery itself./^ In direct opposition to this, our holy Christianity requires the sacrifice of every evil,howevcr dear or profitable, that good may come. In order to keep their conscience undcfiled, good men have found it necessary to pat away strange wives,'^ to forsake fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, houses, and lands, to cut off right hand and pluck out right eye sins, to take joyfully " the spoiling of their goods," to wander about in "sheep skins and goatskins," to dwell in "caves and dens of the earth," to pine away in prisons, and to perish by thousands at the mar- tyr's stake. All this they have done, when by a far less evil than that of vending or drinking ardent spirits they might iiave shunned the cross. Deluded mortals ! What a pity it is that they had not lived in this enlightened day, when they could have enjoyed the same religion exempt from all its sac- rifices ! ! Before dismissing this pica, let us turn it over again and give It another test. If the necessity of supporting a family or paying debts will justify the sale of ardent spirits, the same necessity will justify the use of any other means not more in- ijtirious to mankind to effect the same object, and vice versa. Now I presume no person in his right mind will contend that the necessity of supporting a family or paying debts will jus- tify the use of robbery, theft, or murder to effect cither of these objects. Then this necessity of supporting a family or paying ■debts cannot justify the use of any other means which does the same amount of injury to mankind as robbery, &c. While we do not compare the disgrace of making, vending, and drinking spirituous liquors with that of robbery, &c., we do contend that the spiritual evils produced by such offences are, in many respects, more injurious to mankind. Common rob bcry or theft deprives a man of nothing but his money : of^ fences, such as thosi; above named, lake away money, time, health, senses, character, peace uf mind, and liopc of heaven. ^Ezra X. 11 '^1 and III their stead inflict sickness, disgriice, poverty, and ru- in, — Which is the greatest evil ? — Common murder kills the body, and after that has no more that it can do ; ofl'ences de- stroy both soul and body in hell forever, and not unfrequent- ly leave a widowed wife and fatherless children to mourn the loss. And can the necessity of supporting one man's family or paying his debts, even supposing there was no other means of effecting these objects, justify him in sending the soul of another man to hell, and reducing his family to want? The answer is emphatically no. When in the changes of human affairs the day shall come, in which there is no other way for the good man to take care of his family, but by distilling and vending ardent spirits, or throwing stumbling-blocks of any kind in the way of God's children, he should feel himself called upon by a special dispensation of divine providence, to lie down with his wife and children and die ; and the sacri- fice, as has been well remarked, would be a noble offering to virtue. 4 In the exposition and application of this subject, we have shown you that the term "offences" here means such stratagems of Satan and his emissaries as are calculated to de- ceive, mislead, and ruin — that spirituous liquors is one of these stratagems which leads to many others of a most destructive character, and that the man by whose instrumentality any of these offences comes, in spite of all his apologies, is subject to the woes denounced in this text. The sentence of the law is, " an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." In order to estimate the severity of any man's punishment, we need only sum up the amount of injury he has done. And what has the offender done ? The man whom he ofiended, it may be, was the husband of an aiTectionate confiding wife, the parent of dependent children, or ihe child of doating parents whose life was bound up in his — he was a useful member of the church of God, a distinguished citizen, a kind friend — he had a cultivated mind, a wide circle of influence, and important officer both in church and biatq. These nnportant trusts arc all betrayed into the hands of the enemy, these fond affections arc rrucified,- thcoc bi ighf li^pco arc all buried ui Oic drunk- 32 ard's grave ! And for all this evil will the ofi'eiider together with the person whom he has oflended be punished in the day of his visitation. But a single offence is not all the harm he does. As a small pebble thrown upon the waters of a smooth lake will agitate its whole surface, so one offender with his distillery or grog-shop, or with his doors thrown open for the dan- cing party or ball, frequently corrupts a whole neighborhood or village ; — as the smallest atom of matter has an attractive influence upon the largest and most distant spheres, so the smallest sinner's influence is often felt by the greatest men, and that too at an astonishing distance of time and place. Even a small offender will mislead and ruin many innocent souls. But there are tall oaks of the forest which carry down all the surrounding undergrowth in their fall — primary planets accompanied by a host of satellites — large streams which in- undate whole districts of country ; and there are great offen- ders whose influence is sufficient to corrupt whole cities, or to involve whole nations and empires in bloodshed and ruin. For all these probable evils — for all the^< filthiness and foolish talking," for all the blasphemies, thefts, robberies, and mur- ders occasioned by oflences, and for all the consequences to grow out of these things in ages yet unborn, is the offender res- ponsible. Loaded with the guilt of these sins, and with the pon- derous weight of his own, will he stand agast at the judg- ment bar to receive the woes denounced in our text. And 0, if one single transgression in the beginning was sufficient to ruin our innocent world — if the guilt of a single sin would damn a soul in hell forevcr^ — who can tell the eternal weight of misery due to so many offences ? Yet must it be poured without mixture, as the cup of the wine of God's wrath into one defenceless soul, " the smoke of whose torment shall as- cend up forever and ever !" Friends, you have heard faith- ful descriptions of starving Ireland — of the horrid battle-field — but these are not woe eternal. You have set in the sick room and witnessed the dying agonies of some guilty sinner, and you have followed him to the grave, and there heard the wailing^i of his family relations - but all this misery wat; not iiell. When God lets loose "'the thuudev of his power " and causes all his wrath to beat upon the soul, a single sigh from that tormented spirit would be to you a wider, deeper hell than you have ever yet imagined. May God save you from such a fate ! These, hearer, may sound to you like terrible sayings ; and such indeed they are to the impenitent, but to you they are words of mercy. If it is in your power to do so much injury, it is certainly your privilege to do an equal amount of good ; and the blessings on mount Gerizim are more than equal to the curses on mount Ebal. — Instead of offending these "little ones," it is your privilege to do them much good ; — instead of '^destroying him for whom Christ died," it Js your privilege to increase the number of "God's elect;" and then, instead of a curse for turning christians out of the way, you may inherit a blessing for every " cup of cold wa- ter " which you give them. To this end the words of our text were first spoken in the ears of Christ's (Tring disciples, and to this end they are given to you to-day. They teach you how he loves his children — yea they teach you how he loves the sinner. This barrier of woe raised here on the shores of time between the sons of mer and the gulph of ruin is one of the strongest demonstrations of Christ's love to them. It is full proof that he would not have them lost. In order to save them from this fate he apprises them of their danger while yet there is time to shun it — acquaints them with their privi- leges while they have opportunity to improve them. Believe it, dear friend, these are not the words of an enemy ; an ene- my would never have spoken thus. But Christ loves you ; he feels for you ; he tells you what is best. Hear him. He says, "If thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee" — if that trade or profession which is as necessary to your support as a hand or foot, or that friend who is as dear to you as an eye, offend you, cause you to neglect duties, make you less spiritual, lead you into sin — do not think of retaining it, or parting with it little by little — but cut it off at once, and then cast it from you, out of your house, out of your sighi , and especially out of your mind. The operaiiou liere <^iijoii)eLl is .seveifi— u is liaid indeed lor one to cut off his own hand or toot, or to pluck out his eye, harder still to give up his bosona sins — but the motives are powerful : " It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed," as thou may est surely do by taking this advice, "rather than, having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire," which will be the inevitable consequence of neglecting my words. — It is better for you without health, friends, fortune or fame to enter into life eternal where all these losses will be compensated a thousand fold, rather than, having all that earth can give, to be cast into everlasting fire, for the woes of which there can be no compensation — It is better to part with a few sinful pleasures now, than it will be to part with friends and with heaven forever hereafter — It is better to endure the short pains of a seperation from sin- ful associates now, than to have them converted into everlas- ting tormentors. These, dear hearer, are the admonitions of one who loves you better than father, mother, husband, or wife. They are bedewed with his tears and steeped in his blood. His un- worthy servant would approach you in the same spirit, and with the best wishes for your eternal welfare, he. would be- seech you in the name of a bleeding Saviour — by all the mo- tives to be drawn from time and eternity — for the good of immortal spirits and for the welfare of your own — by all these considerations would he beseech you to hear these instruc- tions of our common Lord and Master. Amen.