hose
hand is against every man, and every man's hand against him. If there is
nothing in the human character, regenerated by the grace of God, on
which we can look with complacency and delight, then it is impossible
for us to obey the sacred injunction, "Love the brethren."

IX. Charity _rejoiceth not in iniquity_, but _rejoiceth in the truth_.
One mark by which the people of God are known is, that they "sigh and
cry over the abominations that are done in the land," and weep rivers of
water because men keep not the law of God; while the wicked "rejoice to
do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked." But we may
deceive ourselves, and be indulging a morbid appetite for fault-finding
and slander, while we suppose ourselves to be grieving over the sins of
others. Grief is a tender emotion. It melts the heart, and sheds around
it a hallowed influence. Hence, if we find ourselves indulging a sharp,
censorious spirit, eagerly catching up the faults of others, and
dwelling on them, and magnifying them, and judging harshly of them, we
may be sure we have another mark, which belongs not to the fold of the
Good Shepherd. One of the prominent characteristics of an impenitent
heart is a disposition to feed upon the faults of professors of
religion. Those who indulge this disposition will not admit that they
take delight in the failings of Christians. They will condemn them with
great severity, and lament over the dishonor they bring upon religion.
Yet they catch at the deficiencies of Christians as eagerly as ever a
hungry spaniel caught after his meat. This is the whole of their
spiritual meat and drink. It is the foundation of their hopes. They rest
their claim for admittance into the celestial paradise on being quite as
consistent in their conduct as those who profess to be God's people;
hence, every deficiency they discover gives them a new plea to urge at
the portals of heaven. Thus they secretly, though perhaps unwittingly,
"rejoice in iniquity." But it is to be feared, if we may judge from the
exhibition of the same spirit, that many who make high pretensions to
superior sanctity rest their hopes, to a great extent, on a similar
foundation. With the Pharisaical Jews, they think if they judge them
that do evil, even though they do the same, they shall escape the
judgment of God. They are as eager to catch up and proclaim upon the
house-top the deficiencies of their brethren, as the self-righteous
moralist, who pride