rengthen them by adding the threatenings. It is true we must be
perverse in the extreme not to put more faith in the promises of God,
when the Lord Jesus says that He will own us as His before His Father,
provided we confess Him before men. (Matt x., 32; Luke xii., 8.) What
should prevent us from making the confession which He requires? Let men
do their utmost, they can not do worse than murder us! and will not the
heavenly life compensate for this? I do not here collect all the
passages in Scripture which bear on this subject: they are so often
reiterated that we ought to be thoroughly satisfied with them. When the
struggle comes, if three or four passages do not suffice, a hundred
surely ought to make us proof against all contrary temptations.

But if God can not will us to Himself by gentle means, must we not be
mere blocks if His threatening also fail? Jesus Christ summons all those
who from fear of temporal death shall have denied the truth, to appear
at the bar of God his Father, and says, that then both body and soul
will be consigned to perdition. (Matt. x., 28; Luke xii., 5.) And in
another passage He says that He will disclaim all those who shall have
denied Him before men. (Matt. x., 33; Luke xii., 10.) These words, if we
are not altogether impervious to feeling, might well make our hair stand
on end. Be this as it may, this much is certain; if these things do not
move us as they ought, nothing remains for us but a fearful judgment.
(Heb. x., 27.) All the words of Christ having proved unavailing, we
stand convinced of gross infidelity.

It is in vain for us to allege that pity should be shown us, inasmuch as
our nature is so frail; for it is said, on the contrary, that Moses,
having looked to God by faith, was fortified so as not to yield under
any temptation. Wherefore, when we are thus soft and easy to bend, it is
a manifest sign, I do not say that we have no zeal, no firmness, but
that we know nothing either of God or His kingdom. When we are reminded
that we ought to be united to our Head, it seems to us a fine pretext
for exemption to say that we are men. But what were those who have
trodden the path before us? Indeed, had we nothing more than pure
doctrine, all the excuses we could make would be frivolous; but having
so many examples which ought to supply us with the strongest proof, the
more deserving are we of condemnation.

There are two points to be considered. The first is, that the whole body of