SERMON LXXXV.

PARTICIPATION IN OTHER MEN'S SINS.

Neither be partaker of other men's sins.-1 TIMOTHY V. 22

In this chapter the apostle gives Timothy particular directions respecting the duties of his pastoral office; and solemnly charges him before God and the elect angels, to observe these directions; not preferring one man above another, and doing nothing by partiality. One of the most important of his official duties consisted in ordaining other men to the work of the ministry by prayer and the imposition of hands. As it was of the greatest importance that none should be introduced into the ministry who were not suitably qualified, the apostle particularly enjoined it upon him to use great care and circumspection in examining and setting apart persons for this sacred office; and enforced a compliance with this injunction by intimating to him, that, should he neglect it, he would participate in the guilt of every unworthy character, on whom he should carelessly lay hands. Lay hands, says he, suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins, but keep thyself pure.

My hearers, though this caution was originally addressed to an individual with reference to the duties of a particular office, it is of universal application. In many other parts of Scripture we are all indirectly, if not directly, cautioned to beware of partaking in the guilt of others; and introducing improper

characters into the ministry, is by no means the only way in which a disregard of this caution may be shown. In every state of society, and especially in such a state as exists in a civilized country, under a form of government like ours, we are connected with our fellow creatures so intimately, and by such numerous ties, that there are very many ways in which we may become accomplices, or at least partakers, in their sins; and indeed, without great care and watchfulness, it is impossible to avoid being so. In consequence of these connexions, the sins of an individual become the sins of many, and there is no doubt that, in the sight of God, a large proportion of every man's guilt is contracted by sharing in the guilt of others. This being the case, the subject which we have chosen is, I conceive, peculiarly suitable for a day of public humiliation, fasting and prayer. On such a day, we are called upon to humble ourselves. before God, not only for our personal sins, but for all the sins of others in which we have made ourselves partakers. In discoursing on this subject, I shall endeavor to show, when we make ourselves partakers in other men's sins; and to state some of the reasons which should induce us to guard against partaking in them.

I. When do we make ourselves partakers in other men's sins? I answer, generally speaking we partake in the guilt of all those sins which we tempt or assist others to commit; of all the sins which we voluntarily or carelessly occasion by our influence or example; of all the sins which we might but do not prevent; and of all the sins against which we do not bear testimony when we have opportunity to do it. On each of these particulars it would be easy to enlarge and to confirm our observations by appropriate quotations from the Scriptures, but these quotations will be more properly introduced in succeeding parts of our discourse. Now from these observations it follows,

1. That ministers make themselves partakers in the sins of their people, when those sins are occasioned by their own negligence, by their example, or by unfaithfulness in the discharge of their official duties. But why do I mention this to you? Not because you are in danger of partaking in this way of other men's sins, but because my subject naturally leads to this remark; because I am willing to preach to myself as well as to

you, and because this remark suggests a sufficient excuse, if excuse be necessary, for the pointed observations which I may be called upon to make in the progress of my discourse; for from this remark it follows that, if you are in danger of sharing in the guilt of other men's sins, it is my duty, as a minister of Christ, to warn you plainly of that danger, and to point out the way in which you may avoid it; and should I neglect thus to warn you, I should myself share in the guilt of all your sins, and of all the sins of which you make yourselves partakers. Now this I can by no means consent to do. I am willing to participate in all your sorrows and afflictions, but I am not willing to share in your sins. I have enough and more than enough of my own to answer for, without participating in yours. Let this be my apology, if in this, as well as in my other discourses, I use great plainness of speech.

2. Parents participate in the sins of their children, when they occasion, and when they might have prevented them. That this remark is perfectly just, when applied to such parents as set before their children a vicious example, I presume none will deny. Should a parent voluntarily pain the bodies of his children, or communicate to them a dangerous and infectious disorder, all would unite in reprobating his unnatural conduct. But is it not as abominable for a parent to pain the minds, as the bodies of his children? And can any poison operate upon their bodies more fatally or more certainly, than the vicious example of a parent will operate upon their minds? If he be intemperate, or indolent, or profane, will not his children, unless a gracious providence prevent, most probably resemble him? And may he not be most justly considered and punished as a partaker of their sins; sins, which come, if I may so express it, recommended, and, as it were, sanctified to them by the example of those, whom God and nature had constituted the guides of their youthful steps?

But while almost all unite in justly execrating the wretch, who thus poisons the souls of his unsuspecting offspring, there is another class of parents, who, though perhaps equally guilty in the judgment of God, meet with scarcely a censure from the lips of man. I mean those who set their children an irreligious example. This class includes every parent who is not himself truly and exemplarily pious. And why should this class be

thought less guilty, than that already mentioned? Is not irreligion as surely destructive to the soul as immorality? Are not impenitence, and unbelief, and insensibility to religion, as positively forbidden, and as severely censured in the word of God, as are intemperance or profanity or theft? Will not every impenitent or irreligious character be as certainly docmed, as a robber or murderer? Why then is an irreligious, less guilty than an immoral parent? But many, who belong to this class, will reply, we teach our children to treat religion and its institutions with respect. We speak of the Scriptures to them with reverence, and bring them with us to the house of God on the sabbath. True, you do so, but they can perceive but too clearly that you do not cordially love the Bible, or honor its Author, or comply with the instructions of the sanctuary. They there hear many duties inculcated which they do not see you practice. They see, they hear nothing of religion in your families, they see you turn your backs upon the Lord's table; they see you live without God in the world; they see you anxious for their success in this life, but perceive no concern for their happiness in the next. Now what shall prevent them from following your example? And what shall save them from endless perdition if they do? And by what mode of reasoning will you prove, should they perish, that you were not partakers of their sins, and accessaries to their eternal ruin? My friends, it will be terrible to hear a ruined child exclaim at the last day, Lord, I lived as my parents taught me to do, I trod in their steps, I omitted nothing which they prescribed; but they led me along, they were the cause of my sins, and of my destruction. My hearers, if it be true that he who provides not for the temporal wants of his own house, hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel, what shall be said of those parents, who, instead of providing for the spiritual necessities of their children, voluntarily occasion their eternal ruin?

But further, parents partake in the guilt of their children's sins when they might and do not prevent them. If it be true, as the Scriptures assert, that a child, trained up in the way he should go, will not depart from it when he is old, then it follows that, whenever children do forsake the right way, it must be ascribed, either wholly or in part, to the negligence of their parents. Either their parents did not warn, and teach, and re

strain them as they ought, or they did not pray for a blessing on their endeavors with sufficient earnestness, or they did not seek for wisdom from above to enable themselves to perform parental duties in the most wise and prudent manner. It is probably in this last respect that Christian parents are most deficient. They do not properly realize how much heavenly wisdom is necessary to the right education of children; and, therefore, though they warn and pray for their children, yet they do not pray sufficiently for wisdom for themselves. This omission renders many parents, whose conduct is otherwise unexceptionable, partakers in the sins of their children, and their children's children. They will, probably, unless divine grace prevent, educate their children as we educated them; and their children, when they become parents, will follow their example, and where the spreading mischief will end, God only knows. How careful, how diligent, how prayerful, then, should parents be. Every parent should consider himself as a fountain, from which proceed streams, that will grow broader and deeper as they run, and should recollect, that it depends on himself, under God, whether these streams shall prove poisonous or salutary, convey virtue and happiness, or vice and misery, wherever they flow. Remember the story of Eli. His sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not, and his negligence not only made him a partaker in their guilt and punishment, but entailed the judgments of God on his descendants, to the latest generation.

3. The remarks, which have been made respecting parents, will apply, though perhaps somewhat less forcibly, to masters and guardians, and all who are concerned in the government. and education of youth. Human laws, you are sensible, make masters answerable, in many instances, for the conduct of their apprentices and servants, and the law of God does the same. It is a maxim in both, that what a man does by another, he does by himself. If a master allows his servants or dependants to use profane language, to neglect the institutions of religion, to profane the Sabbath, to spend his leisure hours with vicious companions, or to indulge in any other wicked practices, when he might prevent it, it is nearly the same in the sight of God, as if he were guilty of the same things himself; and he will be considered as partaking in their sins. You might almost as well spend this day in the streets or in places of amusement, in