THE WAGES OF SIN.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 240, 7 December 1877, Page 7

THE WAGES OF SIN.

What are the wages of sin ? Go ask ambition's slave, Further honour and power Hath he ever ceased to crave ! Kf Should he reach a throne 'mid seas of blood — Is^the laurel twined round his diadem — Do the fates of nations hang on his breath — There's a bitter drop in the brimming cup. " The wages of sin is death." What are wages of sin ? Ask the miser who hoards his gold ; For whom the moss long has gathered On the stone that is never rolled, He can count his thousands in land and bank ; And his claws are on many acres fair. Not a penny he spends but brings return. Do his riches give strength to the fleeting breath? When the " bowl is shivered " and '• broken the cord " " The wages of sin is death." What are the wages of sin ? Ask the drunkard, who quaffs delight In the foaming can — the stealthy dram, The wine that sparkles bright. „ With boon companions, their jest and song, He snatches at times a short-lived joy ; But his waking hours are misery. He may crown his brow with a Bacchic wreath, — A body wrecked and a soul debased. " The wages of sin is death." What are the wages of sin ? Ask him who has fallen away Fjom the paths of virtue and honour, And is under the demon's sway. The image of God polluted ; The heart of foul birds the nest ; The revels in swinish pleasure. Oh, name them with bated breath Whom the lust of the flesh has ruined. " The wages of sin is death." What are the wages of sin? Must we all these receive 1 Docs the eternal sentence Shut out hope of reprieve ? No, be our sins as scarlet They shall be white as snow. Trust in the Lord, for he is strong to save. For us He lived, for us gave up his breath. Our bodies die, but for the immortal soul '• Sin " hath no " wages." There is no more " death." X. Dunedin, Dec. 3, 1877.