And when I saw him, I
fell at his feet as dead.'
That is the likeness of Christ, my friends; and we must remember
that it is his likeness, and fall at his feet, and humble ourselves
before his unspeakable majesty, if we wish that he should do to us
at the last day as he did to St. John--lay his hand upon us, saying,
'Fear not, I am the first and the last, and behold, I am alive for
evermore, Amen. I have the keys of death and hell.'
Yes, it is good that we should all remember this. For if we do not,
we may fall, as thousands fall, into a very unwholesome and immoral
notion about religion. We may get to fancy, as thousands do, rich
and poor, that because Christ the Lord is meek and gentle, patient
and long-suffering, that he is therefore easy, indulgent, careless
about our doing wrong; and that we can, in plain English, trifle
with Christ, and take liberties with his everlasting laws of right
and wrong; and so fancy, that provided we talk of the meek and lowly
Jesus, and of his blood washing away all our sins, that we are free
to behave very much as if Jesus had never come into the world to
teach men their duty, and free to commit almost any sin which does
not disgrace us among our neighbours, or render us punishable by the
law.
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