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SERMON XVII.

THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.

On the duty and interest of true Christians to avoid the slightest Sins.

Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the children of unbelief. Ephes, v. 6.

THERE are many persons whose hearts would recoil at the very thought of committing any great and enormous crime, who nevertheless commit what may be called smaller sins without much reluctance, when advised thereto, or seduced by vain words of others. Great offences against God and his laws they dread, but small sins they look upon as venial, not considering that one sin leads to another; that little sins are productive of greater;

and by degrees harden the sinner in his iniquity, till he comes to commit all manner of vice without shame or remorse, nay with pleasure and satisfaction. Dangerous indeed are the first beginnings of evil, for the very smallest sin contains in it the seeds of a thousand others, which, if cherished, instead of being destroyed, will produce a crop most astonishingly luxuriant. The best time to kill sin is at its first appearance; but, if suffered to gather strength, there will be great difficulty in subduing it. A christian should not only avoid being guilty of crimes, but he should be as much as possible free from the smallest imputation of guilt. For this reason the apostle, in the words of my text, exhorts the Ephesians to be on their guard, lest they should be seduced into the slightest sin by vain words.

The greatest evils that can befal mankind are sin and death: the one separates us from our God, our great, chief, and only good; the other separates us from our dearest friends, and bereaves us of our sweetest earthly enjoyments: but of these

these two evils sin is the greatest, and the most dreadful. This was the opinion of Saint John Chrysostom, who, when he was told what terrible threatenings the Empress Eudoxia had denounced against him, coolly replied, "There is one only thing in the world that I fear, and that is, to offend God." This sentiment of the venerable father ought certainly to be ours also. We cannot possibly place sin in too bad a point of view, nor form ideas of it more horrible than it really deserves. It is the cause of all our present misery, and will, if indulged and continued in, make us truly miserable through eternity. In fursioning ther discoursing on this very necessary e 2 points subject, I shall endeavour first to shew thall partici that it is the duty, as well as the interest of every true christian, to avoid all iniquity, to shun sin of every kind, even that which appears to be the slightest and the smallest. Secondly, I shall shew the unhappiness of a sinful life, which, if properly attended to, may be the means, under God, of preventing you from falling into great sins, and of shunning as much as possible the commission of all others.

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others. And may the spirit of the Lord accompany his word with his Almighty power; may he send it home to your hearts so effectually, as to cause you to hate sin in every shape, to avoid it as your most deadly enemy, and to abstain from all appearance of evil!

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Far from agreeing with the sentiments of the stoies, that all sins are equal, the Catholic Church maintains that some sins in themselves, by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others. Some sins are habitual, others rarely committed: some are done in the violence or heat of passion, without allowing reason and reflection time to interpose: others more deliberately, after having time to reflect, and weigh the reason which ought to deter us from them: these are certainly greater than the sins which are committed through the violence of passion. So, likewise, constant and habitual sins are more heinous than sins committed but once in the whole life. It is also indisputable, that the smaller the motives and the weaker the incitements to

sin, the more guilty and criminal we are in committing it. There are some sins distinguished in scripture by the epithet of crying sins: such are the sins of those who shed innocent blood; who oppress the poor; who enrich themselves by pine oprezion and injustice; who fraudulently keep back the wages of the labourer and the hireling. But whether they are small or great, slight or crying sins, it is most assuredly our duty and interest to avoid them all; for although they may appear trifling in our eyes, they are not so in the eyes of the God of perfect purity and sanctity, into whose presence nothing defiled can enter. There is no sin whatever which can properly be called a small sin, seeing it is committed against an infinitely glorious and divine Being, and is an impious violation of the laws of a holy and omnipotent God, whose creatures we are, and who has an undoubted right to command our obedience.

Moreover, they who without scruple or remorse commit small sins, will soon and easily come to commit great ones. No man becomes