A REF6RfiCATI:Q3T SERA2ON. .535 ye stood for the " praise of them that do well, and been a terror to evil- doers, or have you bore .the.:sword in vain ? Wherein have ye appeared the ministers of God, if ve have never executed. wrath upon him that doeth evil 7" Rom. xiii, 3, 4. Then shall the sentence of the Lordgo forth against those that have justified the wicked for cowardice or for covetousness. For to " justify the wicked is an equal aboínination in the sight of God as to condemn the righteous;" Prov. xvii. l5. III. The loss of time and the expence of money in the prosecution of vice through the courts of justice, is more than your private circumstances will' bear. This I confess is a discouragement to some; but we may find some relief for it. It is true you are not to neglect the necessary duties that you owe to your families, and let your own household starve, while you are endeavouring to ruin the household of Satan.. But there are many leisure hours of life that may be employed in this holy warra:re, and the time spent in this service will turn to good account in the days ofeternity. As for the expence of money which is necessary to carry on this war, there are some hundreds of gentlemen and ladies in the pre- 'sent assembly, that careanswer this objection much bet- ter than IL My best method of answering it, is but to persuade you, my honoured' friends, to attempt and try what you can do'towards.i.t. One line under your hand§, or a single item in your will, is an answer more to the purpose than whole sheets of mywriting, or than if I should, continue my discourse till the ü go down. The charge of the prosecution' of lewd 'Mouses is(veey great, as I am informed, and had the societies more assistance of this kind the reformation would. becarried'on more sen- sibly. Let me address the richer part of this audience : Will it not be ajoyful prospect onyour dying bed to think that the battle grows strong against sin when your heads lie low io the dust, and that by means of the sinews you have added- to the war in your last testament? Will it not be a hopeful evidence of your hatred of sin, that you contend against it, even in thegrave, and main- tain an everlasting fight? IV. The danger and risk oflife i this cause is another discouragement : But was there ever any war without danger, or victory without ourafre ! &ides, the peg
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