Wesley Corpus

the thief could never break in and spoil his goods ; and if the Christian would not indulge himself in the full enjoyment of that liberty which he thinks allowed, but conscientiously abstain from some of those wordly good things, which he sees his brethren use intemperately, it would be as probable a means to preserve him from falling as can be conceived. Who is so likely to persevere as such a faithful ser vant, to whose mind the injunction of his Lord (to all Christians, as well as to his dis ciples) is ever present, " What I say unto you, I say unto all, watch!" Is it not one of the most awful punishments that attend the wicked, to be given over to a reprobate mind ; to have their hearts hardened and their consciences seared. Now such as is the curse of a callous heart, so great is the blessing of a tender con science ; and as on one hand an obdurate reso lution is a certain forerunner of eternal destruc tion, so on the other, a sedulous adherence to virtue, and a nice sense of every little breach of duty, is of all others the most powerful pre servative from the guilt, as well as the punish ment, of sin j and universal conscientiousness