the lord of Bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and slew of the enemy ten thousand men. Adonibezek fled, but they pursued him, and took him, and cut off his thumbs, and his great toes; and the humbled tyrant said," Three-score and ten kings, having their thumbs and great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table, as I have done; so God hath requited me:" Judges, i, 7.

Abimelech was the natural son of Jerubaal, or Gideon. Prompted by his own ambition, and aided by the men of Shechem, he slew his brethren, the sons of Gideon, "being three-score and ten persons, upon one stone," and usurped the office and authority of judge or king. But when he had reigned three years over Israel, “God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech, their brother, who slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brethren." The result of this quarrel was, that Abimelech "took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt." He afterwards burnt the tower, and the men and women that were therein, and then went and encamped against Thebez, and took it; but as he was rushing to the tower of Thebez, with a design to burn it, "a certain woman cast a piece of a mill-stone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull." "Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren; and all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads;" Judges, ix.

Zimri was an officer in the army af Elah, king of Israel. He conspired against his prince, slew him, usurped the throne, and put to death the whole of the royal family. But when Zimri had reigned only seven days, finding himself besieged in Tirzah, by Omri, he shut himself up in the palace, and causing it to be set on fire, was consumed; 1 Kings, xvi.

The Jews were the betrayers and murderers of the Holy One and the Just; and when Pilate remonstrated

with them upon the injustice and cruelty of shedding innocent blood, they exclaimed,-"His blood be on us, and on our children!" Their imprecation was recorded on high, and answered; for such was the slaughter of their children at the sacking of Jerusalem, that various articles of furniture and armour were seen floating in the current of blood that ran down the streets.

And let this truth sink deep into all hearts: that however artfully concealed, sin will most assuredly find out the sinner; and when a man is overtaken by his sins, judgment lingereth not. "The patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt." Envy, having finished her work, fraud was next called into operation, to invent a falsehood for the purpose of deceiving their father. The affair was dexterously managed. They took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood, and brought it to the old man, and said, "This we have found; know now whether it be thy son's coat or no." And he knew it, and said, "It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is, without doubt, rent in pieces." And Jacob rent his clothes, and mourned for his son many days; and all his sons, and all his daughters, rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted." The scheme had succeeded well, and was now completed. Nothing more was heard of Joseph for a long time. At length there happened to be a famine in the land of Canaan, and Jacob sent ten of his sons down into Egypt to buy food, for he had heard that there was corn in Egypt. They had a rather rough reception by the governor of Egypt; he suspected them to be spies, and bound and retained one of them until they produced sufficient proof of their innocence and honesty. At this state of affairs, their sin was brought to their remembrance, and they said one to another, in their own language,-"We were verily guilty concerning our brother; in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us, and we would not hear, wherefore is this distress come upon us." But they little knew that the governor understood them. At all his future unaccountable conduct they were very much astonished; but how were they surprised when he wept aloud, and said,-" I am

Joseph! doth my father yet live?" They could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence; they were ashamed and confounded, for their sins had found them out.

When the army of Israel was before Jericho, the men were prohibited from partaking of the treasures, lest they should trouble the camp of Israel by taking of the accursed thing. All the army strictly observed the direction but one man. The avaricious eye of Achan "saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight." His eye saw them, his heart coveted, and his hand took them, and laid them in his tent. He managed the affair so adroitly, that not a man in the whole camp was aware of it. It was a profound secret! Nobody knew! nor was it likely that it would ever be found out, for a detachment of 3000 men was immediately sent out to take Ai, but the men of Ai chased them from their gate, and slew 36 of them. Joshua could not reconcile this failure with the Divine promise, wherefore he went and laid the case before the Lord, and there he learned the cause of the disgraceful defeat. "So Joshua rose up early in the morning," according to Divine direction, "and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken." Out of that tribe the family of Zerah was taken: these were brought out man by man, and Carmi was taken; and from his family Achan was taken, and his sin brought to light; Josh. chap. vii.

Take the case of Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the prophet. This man added dissimulation to covetousness. He not only took gifts of the Syrian general, contrary to the will of God, and to the wish of Elisha, but, when being asked by his master,-" Whence comest thou, Gehazi ?" he answered,-"Thy servant went nowhere!" But Elisha said unto him,-" Went not mine heart with me when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants? The leprosy, therefore, of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow." O

how terribly did his sin find him out! 2 Kings, v, 20 -27.

Take also the example of Ananias and Saphira. It was the practice of the primitive church, for as many as had possessions of lands or houses, to sell them, and bring the prices of the things which were sold, and lay them at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need; Acts, iv, 34, 35. To this rule Ananias professed to conform; but he also wished to reserve something for a sinking fund, upon which to fall if necessity required; he therefore "sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it; and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet," and represented it as the whole. But this lie to the Holy Ghost soon found him out; the whole affair was revealed to Peter, and Ananias and his wife were struck dead; Acts, v, 1—11.

Sometimes a troubled conscience has caused the exposure. Of this, the case of Judas Iscariot affords a striking instance. It is truly said by the apostle Paul, that the love of money is the root of all evil: avarice has been the caues of most of the delinquencies which we have had to notice; and we have now to advert to it once more. Not content with purloining what was contained in the bag, his greedy disposition led Judas to covenant with the chief priests to betray the Lord into their hands for thirty pieces of silver. He received his wages of unrighteousness, and thought, perhaps, that while he got the money, the innocence of his Master would screen him from danger; but when he saw how the affair was likely to end, his conscience reproached him, and "he repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, 'I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood."" Thus his sin found him out; "and he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself;" Matt. xxvii, 3-6.

Peter, after professing immovable fidelity to Christ, was surprised by the approach of the officers who were sent to apprehend him. After having, in his ardent, but transient zeal, cut off an ear of one of the high

priest's servants, he began to fail in his purpose, and lingering, followed Jesus afar off; and mixing with the servants, and the lowest order of inferior officers, be waited to see the result of the trial. Being recognized as a follower of Christ, he denied having had anything to do with Him; and in this denial he persisted three several times, affirming his ignorance of the Redeemer with asseverations, oaths, and curses. But at length, "the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter." The expressive, piercing, significant glance of his Lord darted into his very soul; his conscience smote him. "And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him,-Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice, And he went out, and wept bitterly;" Matt. xxvi, 75.

At

Sin is frequently made manifest to the sinner by the power of Divine truth. Thus it was especially, and remarkably, and peculiarly, on the day of Pentecost. the expiration of fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus, Peter stood up in the street of Jerusalem, where the act had been done, and charged the Jews with the wilful murder of Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of by God among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you; Him ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. The Word was with power; it brought conviction to their consciences; they were pricked in their hearts, and exclaimed,-" Men and brethren, what shall we do ?"

But the sinner may possibly escape his full meed of punishment here; but the day will reveal it. When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall he sit upon the throne of His glory; and before Him shall be gathered all nations, and the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed.

How does the text affect you? Have you been guilty of acts of wickedness, unrighteousness, or cruelty? Be sure your sin will find you out! It will be wiser and safer to prevent than to cure. Only observe one Divine precept, and you need not fear:-Keep a conscience void of offence toward God and man, and the detectives will not trouble you.