are indeed all in all, no opinion but that of a Christian is worthy of an instant's notice; no praise but his is of the slightest value, no blame but his is other than contemptible. There are many virtues which are naturally amiable, and many vices which are as naturally hateful; in many points, therefore, the notions of the world and those of Christians will agree in praising and condemning the same things. But even here, they will each praise and condemn on different grounds; and in every case the opinion of the Christian is the only one really to be valued; whether it happen that the voices which join in his sentence be few or many. Not that any one set of men are entitled to any natural superiority over the rest: but because true Christians have the mind of Christ, and their praise or censure is only the faithful interpreter of the secret judgment passed upon our every action by our Maker and our Saviour. For it is to this judgment of God that all our thoughts should anxiously be turned, and from its decree alone is honour to be looked for, or shame dreaded. The best of Christians are fallible and we should remember that it was to Christians that St. Paul was writing when he used the words in the text, "With me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment." So then we must learn to act simply according to the word of God, and in the hope of the honour : that cometh from God only. By so doing, we shall indeed most generally win the love and approbation of good Christians, and may thankfully receive this earthly reward over and above, as godliness hath the promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come. Or, if we see our conduct blamed by the good, it may justly make us fear that if they condemn us, God who is greater than they will condemn us also; and it affords us strong cause for examining our ways, and comparing them carefully with the word of God, that we may see wherein we have offended. It is a part of humility to think that as we belong to Christ, so do others also: and that they who are guided by the same law, and the same spirit, may judge more justly of our conduct than we can ourselves. But for those who have not our law, and who cannot receive that spirit, nor have any practical knowledge of him; who are they that judge another man's servant? To our own master we stand or fall, and to him alone; they have neither part nor lot in the matter, for their hearts are not right in the sight of God: and their favour or reproach, considered in themselves, and unless where they happen to agree with the law of God, are neither to be coveted nor dreaded. SERMON XIX. 2 SAMUEL Xxiv. 14. Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great and let me not fall into the hand of man. THE subject on which I spoke last Sunday is one of so great extent, and leads to so many considerations connected with it, that it could not be wholly comprehended within the limits of a single sermon. I propose now, therefore, to continue it, and to examine particularly the different effects produced by the fear of God and the fear of man in the case of sorrow for sin in ourselves; and of the manner in which we behave to others, when they have sinned; and then to state on what grounds we ought to be cautious of incurring the ill opinion of others, although in itself we ought to be very indifferent to it. It is plain, in the first place, that the fear of man may and does very commonly prevent the commission of those greater crimes which are punished by human laws; and that it reaches exactly that very class of persons who would not be restrained by the fear of God. It is clear also that, as the world now is, there are a great many lesser faults, a great many meannesses, a great many unfairnesses and unkindnesses, which nothing but the fear of man's displeasure, of being disgraced in the world, and feeling serious inconvenience from that disgrace, does in fact restrain. There is no doubt, therefore, that society is much benefited by the existence of this check; because, in the first place, any check upon wickedness is better than none: and secondly, because society cares little for the motives of men's actions; and so long as evil is not done, it is not concerned to know whether the fear of man or the fear of God prevented it. But, though the well-being of society is a very great point, yet it is not the greatest; because all the good which any one, or which all men now alive can derive from the most perfect laws most perfectly administered, or from the force of public opinion checking every display of bad conduct most entirely, will be over in less than a hundred years at the longest; but the good which any man can get from acting upon the fear of God, will last for ever and ever. Christians then are not insensible to the worldly good which is produced by the fear of man; but they think that it is not enough; that there must be some better thing provided, without which it cannot be made perfect. And therefore they are anxious to enforce a motive which would do all the good that is now done, and a great deal more besides of an infinitely higher kind. If a man does not rob me, or cheat me, because he is afraid of being punished or of losing his character, I have the advantage certainly of keeping my own property untouched, owing to his fear; but if he abstains from doing wrong, because he wishes to please God, this better motive does for me all that the lower one did, and it works out beside an everlasting blessing for him whom it actuates. But supposing that a man has committed a fault, let us observe then the different effects of the fear of man and the fear of God, both in himself and in those connected with him. First of all, in himself, the fear of man leads directly to concealment, and to all those acts of meanness and falsehood which are practised to escape detection and punishment. If these fail, and the offence is laid open, and the disgrace or other penalty cannot be avoided, it may at the best restrain the offender from committing the same fault again, but it can only produce a change in his conduct, not in his heart; and it is very likely that he will only try to hide. his sin for the future with better success, or to provide, if detected, some better security against punishment. With different dispositions, however, the effect is different. Some men of a proud and |