evil. "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue." Remember, "life and death are in the power of the tongue." It proves you in a state of condemnation or of acceptance with God, by the frame and disposition of your heart; for, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." And, " By thy words, thou shalt be justified," as a real believer in the Saviour; or, "By thy words thou shalt be condemned," as proving you under the power of "an unbelieving heart," and the delusion of "a dead faith."

Think of the personal evil you suffer, by indulging a disposition to falsehood. Guilt and suspicion attend you in all places. Conscience reproaches you-judgment awaits you-suspicion of being defeated increases your guilt, by inventing new lies to hide your disgrace.

Consider the injury done to your neighbour. "The man that beareth false witness against his neighbour, is a maul, a sword, and a sharp arrow." Your tongue is a maul to smite his reputation, a sword to wound his peace, his credit and his family; and "a sharp arrow, aimed in concealment, at a distance, when he is unarmed'; which pierces his name suddenly and deeply." The aim is malignant and deliberate, and secret, in "bending your tongue as a bow for hes;" which aggravates your guilt, and augments the injury.

Meditate on the Punishment of Lying.

ALTHOUGH every liar does not, like Ananias and Sapphira, suffer immediate judgment; it will overtake them for lying is an abomination to the Lord. A lying tongue is but for a moment-God will expose and punish it. "Bread of deceit may be sweet to a man," in the gains of trade, the sports of wit, and the gratification of malice; "but afterward his mouth shall be filled with gravel;" that is, he shall suffer pain and misery.

No. XX,

"THE BAG!"

I SHALL not call the reader's attention to the colour, but to the contents of the bag. The "green bag" brought to my recollection the following words in Job xiv., 16, 17:-" For now thou numberest my steps dost thou not watch over my sin? My transgression is sealed up in a bag; and thou sewest up my iniquity."

The conduct and sufferings of a man, in this world, illustrate the meaning and confirm the truth of the Sacred Scriptures. The text was uttered by an illustrious character in the depth of adversity, first cruelly suspected, and afterwards unjustly accused, of the worst of crimes, as the cause of his afflictions. The accusations produced the vindication of himself, expressed under the influence of inflamed passions. When this righteous man experienced a temporary shock to his faith and patience, and apprehended the divine displeasure against him-the impression was strengthened by his unparalleled sufferings, and a gloomy imagination, the scope of which was enlarged by present appearances. His despondency occasioned the momentary supposition that," his transgressions were sealed up," in readiness to justify present and future judicial proceedings against

him.

All annall'd in thy rolls, beneath thy seal,
My sins are treasured, and thy wrath I feel.

He is humbled, restored, accepted, and vindicated. The charge of slander is fixed upon his accusers by him who "judgeth righteously;" and "brings forth" the good man's "righteousness to light, and his judgment to the noon-day." His vindication is found in the following words :-"Take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer for yourself a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for him will I accept, lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job." Thus was Job sustained and improved by his affliction, and qualified gratefully to admire the divine wisdom, faithfulness, and compassion. His trials were indeed "grievous for the present;" but after being exercised thereby, they yielded the "peaceable fruits of righteousness." How true the recorded experience of the "upright," that "many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all!" Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the END of the Lord :-"That the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy," in hearing the prayers, vindicating the characters, and effecting the deliverance of his slandered and afflicted servants.

And can we who believe the Word of God, wonder, if "the red horse of war" should again "take peace from the earth?" The "black horse" of famine, with " a pair of balances in his hand," shonld introduce a famine and pestilence? And "the pale horse of death" should be "followed by hell?"-Rev. vi. If the righteous be recompensed in the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner. "Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as THIS? Are not these sins laid up in store with me, and SEALED UP among my treasures?" When we consider the nature and variety, the extent, duration and

singularity of Job's sufferings, we cannot wonder at his desponding conclusion, that God had marked his sins, even those of which he was not conscious," sewed up" or joined one to another, from day to day, week to week, month to month, and year to year; and "sealed them up" to appear against him. Sealing is designed to preserve secrecy, to manifest distinction, to mark authority, and ensure security. In the latter sense, his sins, he feared, were secured as charges against him.

If such may be the apprehensions of a good man, what must we think of the blindness, conceit, and fearless presumption of bad men?

The records must be opened, the evidence clear and full, the result certain and awful-all, all impenitent sinners, standing before God and each other. No mediator will then interpose his mediation; no advocate will offer a plea-the "One Mediator between God and man" will then call to judgment those who have finally slighted his grace.

Here no criminal wil! be overcharged, nor his sins palliated. No law of worldly honour, worldly fashion, or interested expediency becomes a rule of judgment. No! these laws themselves will be found acts of rebellion against the revealed will of God: "Crimes of high degree." Here the transgressions against God will be the principal subjects of judgment, and not, as in this world, the offences of one sinner against another. It is not the vindication of human actions, but the divine law, character, and government, that will regulate divine proceedings. Human criminals, accusers, witnesses, and judges, will all find a real court of equity and of conscience; when" sinners will be all conscience, and conscience all light and life."

No sinner will be here a mere spectator, but will stand accused; and the charges will not only affect the interests of time, as in this world; it will be the "ETERNAL JUDGMENT."

Here is an acknowledgment of the perfect knowledge of his sins. "Dost thou not number all my steps? Doth he not see all my ways and correct all my steps?"-All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Hell is naked before him,” the sins of the wicked in hell; "how much more the hearts of the children of men!"

But he is not an indifferent spectator of their sins; but marks them as a moral governor and righteous judge. He takes a judicial notice of sin and it is this consideration which produces the anguish of guilt, which exclaims-" If thou, Lord, shouldest MARK iniquity-O Lord, who can stand?”

An impression of the glorious holiness of the divine majesty deepens conviction, and increases alarm. "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; and canst not look upon evil.” “God is angry with the wicked every day.""If ye TURN NOT, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath prepared for him

the instrument of death; "he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors."

The strict justice of "the Judge of all the earth," is included in this conduct of "sealing up transgressions." No false charges or false witnesses are "sealed up" against him; but his actual "transgressions." His sins of omission and commission: the sins of his actions, his words, his heart. God will "search his head and try his ways, to give him according to his works." He will receive the wages of sin;" the infliction of the "sorer judgment," of which he is" THOUGHT WORTHY."

The complaint implies an acquaintance with the divine law or will, as the standard of duty, and the rule of judginent; for "sin is the transgression of the law;" and "where there is no law, there is no' transgression." The obligations of fallen man are not diminished by his fall from God; for sin cannot annul the relation of man to God, as a creature to a Creator. He is still the subject of his moral government, and accountable to him as his judge. Having violated the law, he cannot be justified by it; for "by the works of the law shall no flesh living be justified." By the law is the knowledge of sin. It"stops every mouth" from pleading personal righteousness for justification; as by it, "all the world became guilty before God." This divine law, whether expressed in the two great commands or in ten, is "holy, just, spiritual and good;" and if the sinner do not "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for righteousness," the righteous sentence of the law will be executed upon him.

In the believer's salvation," the law is magnified by the obedience of the Saviour to its commands, and by his suffering its penalty."—" Christ is the end, the scope, the perfection of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." His is the Gospel, in which the Redeemer "magnifies the law and makes it honourable." If this Gospel be rejected, by unbelief, impenitence, self-righteousness and the love of sin, the law will be magnified in his condemnation. The importance of viewing God, through a right medium, is suggested from these words. Job had contemplated the Divine goodness through the medium of personal, domestic, and public prosperity: but now, in a moment of conflict with temptation, from a painful and loathsome disease-the loss of property-bereavement of his children, in a sudden and awful manner-the contempt of neighbours the accusations of former friends-and the profaneness of his wife, presented aspects of Divine displeasure, which brought a dark cloud over his mind. Through this dark medium of affliction, he contemplated God as visiting him for the sins of youth and riper years-sins of flesh and spirit; sins of omission and commission; sins personal, relative, and public: as "sowing up," or joining his transgressions one to another, through days and weeks-months and years; and sealing up the various and perfect records for judicial proceedings against him.

It is the same with a self-righteous moralist-ignorant of the perfection of the Divine law, and cherishing a false estimate of his own sinful character and duties, he presumes on his own imaginary virtues, and through them exalts himself, 'and claims areward, where should fear the punishment of his pride, and flee for refuge to the merits of the Saviour, and the mercy of God.

It is thus the Deist, rejecting the medium of revealed mercy and grace through a mediator-overlooking the glorious holiness and justice of God-views him only in his greatness, power, wisdom, and goodness, through the medium of creation, or through his own indifference to sin, and imagines God to be "such an one as himself."

The impenitent sinner, looking at his Maker, through his law, as too strict in his commands, and severe in his threatnings, related to him as his lawgiver and his judge-neglecting faith in the mediator and the promises of mercy to the penitent-abuses his advantages by indulging his sins, and sinks into despondency, saying, "There is no hope."

The awakened sinner often judges of the designs of God towards. him, through a dark dispensation of Providence, an afflicted body, a guilty conscience, and the threatnings against the impenitent.

The weak and timid Christian, by the same method of estimating the Divine regards towards him, contemplates God through the ever varying frames of his mind. If he is comfortable, God loves him; and when unhappy under conscious imperfections, fears that he is the object of Divine displeasure. If he always made the Word of God the standard of his judgment, he would perceive that God is of one mind-changes not-that with him is no variableness, not the shadow of a turning.

The enlightened and established Christian, desires to contemplate the "Blessed God," through the medium of revealed mercy and justice, in a Mediator's sufferings and intercession. He looks up to God in Christ, as "the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation, fulfilling his promises. His EXPERIENCE also is a medium through which he sees God. Looking to the past acts of divine grace, power, and faithfulness-his "tribulations work patience;-patience, experience; and experience confirms his HOPE." Rom v., 1, 4. If such a person sees or hears of the sins of his inferiors, equals, or superiors, he will lament them as injurious to themselves and to society, and dishonourable to God:-but he abhors all unnecessary disclosure of them to gratify curiosity and malignity. As a subject, he feels for his civil governors in all their relations, obligations, and trials; and as a Christian, commends them to God in prayer, for counsel, protection, deliverance, and salvation.

He is taught by the Book of God, that "fools make a mock of sin;" their own sin, and the sin of others. He knows the evil of sin, by the very means of his redemption from it by the sufferings,