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211. A good conscience will fear the least sin when temptation lures, but face the greatest danger when duty calls.

212. Who follows Christ and flees from sin,

Has peace with God and peace within.

213. He who gives the workers of iniquity a favouring smile, or an encouraging word, will not need much entreaty to lend them a helping hand, especially if he has any hope of sharing the spoil.

214. Liberty of conscience is sometimes made a shelter for men of no conscience.

215. He who sacrifices every sacred principle, or like Ahab sells himself to work wickedness, has after all but a poor recompence. Let him take possession of his vineyard, but the grapes will be pressed out in the wine-press of the wrath of God.

215. Calumny may fasten upon your character, but if you have a good conscience you may unhurt shake it off, as Paul shook off the viper.

216. The Emperor Vespasian, when a person spoke ill of him, said, While I do nothing that merits reproach, these lies give me no uneasi

ness.

217. All the world's honey will not serve to al

lay the envenomed stingings of conscience.Bishop Hopkins.

218. Would you keep a conscience void of offence towards God and men, apply to the blood of sprinkling by faith, seek the Holy Spirit by prayer, and guard against the approach of temptation by watchfulness."

219. If you would not yield to sin, be careful not to walk by, or sit at the door of the occasion.--Gurnall.

220. What you are afraid to do before men, you should be afraid to think before God Sibbs.

221. He who has slight thoughts of sin, had never great thoughts of God.-Dr. Owen.

222. Do not step out of the path of duty, either to shun the cross which Christ lays for you, or to snatch the garland which Satan offers.

223. When convenience points one way, and conscience another, confer not with your feelings, but follow the unerring guidance of divine truth.

224. You had better throw the best earthly things overboard, than make shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience.

On the Holy Scriptures.

226. The Bible is the statute book of the King of Kings, and all its laws, commands, and ordinances bear the stamp of his authority, and the evident marks of his holiness and majesty.

227. All good men have ever highly valued and diligently read the scriptures.

228. I have esteemed the words of thy mouth more than my necessary food. Job xxiii. 12. Temporal food can only supply and sustain the body, but God's word gives refreshment and strength to the soul. Jer. xv. 16.

229. Thy word have I taken as my heritage for ever. Ps. cxix. 111. This inheritance contains mines of wealth, unfailing springs of comfort, and unwithering fruits of heavenly love. Yet, how many choose to wander through the barren ground of heathen authors, rather than take and enjoy this sacred and inestimable gift!

230. Precious Bible, what a treasure

Doth the word of God afford,
All I want for life and pleasure,

Food and medicine, shield and sword.

John Newton.

231. He who neglects the scriptures and seeks

10 know God by his own unassisted reason, uses a candle to find the sun, which cannot be seen but by his own light.

232. What doth the naturalist but busy himself in digging a little drossy knowledge out of the bowels of the earth? the astronomer who ascends highest mounts, no higher than the stars and planets; which are but the outworks of heaven. But the scripture pierceth farther, and lets us into heaven itself.-Bishop Hopkins.

233. "The Bible is a river that has shallows in which a lamb may wade, and depths in which an elephant may swim."

234. I compare the expressions of the scriptures to a rose, where, though many leaves so nearly resemble each other, there is not one of them but contributes to the beauty and perfection of the flower.-R. Boyle.

;

235" Men's books with heaps of chaff are stor'd,
God's book doth golden grains afford
Then leave the chaff, and spend your pains
In gathering up the golden grains.'

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236. Poison secretly conveyed into an antidote must be fatal, because no farther remedy will be oked for. How many themselves poison their eat antidote, the Bible.-T. Adam.

237. Read the word with humility, receive it

in meekness, mix it with faith, and plead it in prayer.

238. The word of God is intended to inform the judgment, and reform the life.

239. The leaves of the Bible are the leaves of the tree of life, as well as of the tree of knowleage: they strengthen as well as enlighten.! Bishop Hopkins.

240. That which is crooked cannot be made straight, but what God hath made straight, wicked men make crooked; for by bending the scriptures to support their errors and sins, they wrest them to their own destruction.

241 Thus men go wrong, with an ingenious skill Bend the straight rule to their own crooked will; And with a clear and shining lamp supplied, First put it out, then take it for a guide.

Cowper.

242. That King of Sicily was wise, who said, he would sooner part with his crown than his Bible.

242. As diamonds only can cut diamonds, so nothing can so well expound the scriptures as the scriptures themselves.

243. I have many books that I cannot sit down to read; they are good and sound, but like half

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