It is better to be preserved in
brine—than to rot in honey!

(William Secker, "The Consistent Christian" 1660)

Above every evil, we should consider sin as the greatest evil—as it is the fountain and origin of all evils. Sin is the only target—at which all the arrows of divine vengeance are shot! Sinners are those spiders which weave their own webs—and are afterwards entangled in them! Our own destruction—is but the fruit of our own transgression. There is more real evil in a particle of corruption—than in an ocean of tribulation!

The evil of suffering is transient—but the evil of sin is permanent. The consistent Christian will always choose the worst of sorrows—before he will commit the least of sins!

The wicked entirely reverse this—for they prefer the greatest sin—to the least sufferings! This is to leap out of the hot pan—into the consuming fire! By seeking to shun an external calamity—they rush into eternal misery! This is as if a man should lose his head—to preserve his hat!

As the works of sin are dishonorable; so the wages of sin are deadly! "The wages of sin—is death." The corruption of nature is the cause of the dissolution of nature. The candle of our lives—is blown out by the wind of our lusts! Were it not for sin—death would never have had a beginning! Were it not for death—sin would never have an ending!

What is so sweet a good as Christ? And what is so great an evil as lust? Sin has brought many a believer into suffering—and suffering has instrumentally kept many a believer out of sin! It is better to be preserved in brine—than to rot in honey! The bitterest medicine is to be preferred—before the sweetest poison! The consistent Christian will always choose the worst of sorrows—before he will commit the least of sins!