ul to give, in their conduct, no occasion for offense, and to
value the name and honor of their God too highly to permit blasphemy
of them. They should prefer to lose their own honor, their wealth,
their physical well-being, even their lives, rather than that these,
their most precious possessions and greatest blessings, should suffer
disgrace. Let them remember that upon keeping sacred the name and
honor of God depends their own standing before God and men. God
promises (1 Sam 2, 30), "Them that honor me I will honor." But
pursuing the opposite course, Christians bring upon themselves God's
sternest wrath and effect their own rejection and shame. For he says
further: "They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." And in the
second commandment God threatens certain and terrible punishment to
abusers of his name; that is, to them who do not employ it to his
honor and praise.

8. Well may every Christian examine his own life to see if he is
careful to guard against offense to the Gospel and to regulate his
words and conduct by God's first commandment, making them contribute
to the honor and praise of the divine name and the holy Gospel.
Weighty indeed and well calculated to cause complaint are the sins to
which every Christian is liable in this respect; well may he avoid
them lest he heap to himself the wrath of God. Especially need we be
careful in these last and evil times when the Gospel is everywhere
suppressed by great offenses. Man was created to be the image of God,
that through this his image God might himself be expressed. God's
image, then, should be reflected in the lives of men as a likeness in
a glass, and a Christian can have no higher concern than to live
without dishonor to the name of God.

ADMONITION TO SPECIAL CHRISTIAN VIRTUES.

9. Such is the first part of Paul's admonition concerning the general
life of Christians. He goes on to make special mention of several
good works which Christians should diligently observe: humility,
meekness, long-suffering, preservation of the unity of the Spirit,
and so on. These have been specially treated before, in other epistle
lessons, particularly those from Peter. Humility, for
instance--mentioned in today's lesson--is taken up the third Sunday
after Trinity; patience and meekness, the second Sunday after Easter,
and the fifth Sunday after Trinity.

10. The text here presents good works sufficient to occupy all
Christians in every station of life; we need n