12. _Avoid bad company._ Remember the Bible says, "A companion of fools shall be destroyed." "Therefore, come out from among them, and be separate, and I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Shun all places of public amusement, particularly taverns and play-houses. Many people call them harmless, and their diversions innocent; but do not believe them; all sorts of wickedness and folly are practised there--gluttony, drunkenness, indecency, swearing, and sins of almost every kind; if you go to them, you will soon become as bad as the rest of those who frequent them; do not mind the scorn of those who may despise you, because you will not run to the same excess of riot as they. If they are your relations, or your acquaintance, endeavour to persuade them to go to the house of God on the Lord's day, and on every other day to keep out of the path of temptation. If they will not be persuaded to do so, at least go not with them into any sinful course. They may endeavour to persuade you, but withstand their entreaties; call to mind the words of Solomon, "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not!" They may entice, but they cannot compel you; and as evil communications corrupt good manners, so, if you join their company, you will be in danger of following these wicked examples. If, my dear children, you hope to meet our Saviour at the last, and to spend eternity in heaven with holy angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect, how can you bear to be in company with those wicked people upon earth, who are, every day, making themselves more fit for the company of the devil and his angels in the outer darkness, "where there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth?"