ful;" swallowing up and destroying in that confused idea of mercy all the holiness of God, and his essential hatred of sin, all his wisdom and truth, and even that strict justice which covered once the whole earth with a flood, which rained fire from heaven upon thousands of sinners, which bade the earth open its mouth and swallow Korah and his rebellious company, nay, that strict justice whose sword pierced the very soul of the holy Jesus, when he hung in our place upon the accursed

tree.

up

But what wonder is it, brethren, if, as long as we remain in our natural unawakened state, we are in no dread of the vengeance denounced against those who are unconverted, and obey not the blessed law of God? We do not understand it; we think that nothing is so easy as to be a true Christian. We suppose, the main point is to be careful of performing external duties, and to be outwardly blameless. We imagine that all is done, if we live honestly, give a few alms, are free from the gross vices of the age, and do not omit attending the church service. We do not see that the law of God extends to every temper, desire, thought, motion of the heart: or, what is still worse, we fancy, perhaps, that the obligation to obey it is abrogated; that Christ came to destroy the law, and purchase for us the privilege of enjoying the world and the things that are in it without fear of punishment; to save his people in, not from, their sins, and to bring us to heaven in our state of nature, notwithstanding Christ's own words, that not one jot or tittle of the law shall pass away till all things are fulfilled," and that only those shall "enter into the kingdom of heaven who do the will of our Father who is in heaven."

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But, brethren, the unawakened man is secure, not only because he has no just notion of the inflexible justice of God, and of the strictness and holiness of his law, but because he is also utterly ignorant of himself; for he does not know, or, which comes to the same, he does not consider, that he is a fallen spirit, whose business here is to recover the favour of God and a divine nature. But though he is still in the bonds of iniquity, presumption

and pride fill him with such a good opinion of himself, that, if he thinks he needs any repentance at all, he talks of repenting by and by. He does not indeed exactly know when, but some time or other before he dies. He takes it for granted, that this is quite in his own power; for, looking but seldom into the word of God, he probably never read this passage: "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do according to his pleasure:" thinking, therefore, that he has both freedom and power to turn to God when he pleases, he does not trouble himself at all about obtaining "the Spirit of God," and being "born again of the Spirit" as well as of water. Nay, perhaps, forgetting that the last time he was at church he prayed, or, at least, feigned to pray, that God would give him "true repentance and his Holy Spirit," he is not ashamed to call those "enthusiasts" who say with Jesus Christ, that "unless a man be born again of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven;" thus showing the truth of what St. Paul says in the text, "He receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him."

From this ignorance of the law and the justice of God, and from this presumption, there may sometimes arise in him a kind of joy: he may congratulate himself upon his own wisdom and goodness, and what the world calls "joy" he may often possess: he may have pleasures of various kinds, either in gratifying the "desires of the flesh, the desires of the eye, or the pride of life," particularly if he have "large possessions," if he enjoy an affluent fortune; then he may "clothe himself in purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day;" and so long as he thus runs in a circle of pleasure, the bulk of mankind will envy his condition, and cry him up as a happy man; for this is the sum of the natural man's happiness,-to get and spend, to dress and be admired, to visit and sport, to eat and drink, to sleep and rise up to play, as says St. Paul.

But suppose he acts in a lower sphere; suppose he is obliged to follow a plough, to attend a master, or to work

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hard to provide for his family, he is not less ignorant of the vast concerns of his soul, and takes as much care as the rich to arm himself against everything that might invite him to repent, and seek deliverance out of his miserable state of nature. And what is that armour he uses to ward off from his heart all the calls of God's grace, all thoughts of shaking off his sins, going to Christ, and entering "into the liberty of the sons of God?" Why," says he, “of him to whom little is given, little shall be required: God will not deal hardly with poor people that work for their bread, want time to read, and are no scholars." Poor, ignorant, blind sinners, indeed! To persuade themselves that, because they work for the body that goes to corruption, they may safely neglect the immortal soul; that, because they serve an earthly master, they have the privilege of not serving the God of heaven; nay, perhaps, of serving the devil; and that their want of scholarship, as they call it, will be a sufficient excuse before God for not loving Christ; for caring neither for death nor judgment, neither for heaven nor hell. Ah! be not deceived any longer, you who are in that case! God will not be mocked by his creatures; he requires your hearts; and while your hands are employed in the duties of your calling, you can lift up your souls to him, and work out your salvation as well or better than if you were in another state of life.

To return: let us observe a little more closely the natural man's ways. Examine particularly, and you will perceive that he commits sin, more or less, day by day; yet he is not troubled, he is in no fear, he feels no condemnation, he contents himself, even though he should profess to believe that the bible is the word of God, with saying, "We are all sinners; man is frail; every body has his infirmity. There is none without his foible; and I freely own that this is mine." And perhaps he will not be ashamed to name some crying sin, some habitual sin, such as being apt to get drunk, to utter an oath, to be passionate, proud, revengeful, or unclean, the very sins concerning which God has solemnly declared that "those who commit such things shall not enter into the kingdom of

heaven." Fine foibles indeed! Trifles which are not worth mentioning, or writing down in God's book of remembrance! We learn, however, from scripture, that when the day of patience shall give place to that of justice, and when the books shall be opened, he shall be called to an account, not only for his foibles, as he calls them, but for every idle word that shall have passed his lips, and every sinful thought that shall have been formed in his heart. But in this, as in many other cases, the unawakened man flatly gives the bible the lie, and will tell you with a sneer, he does not believe any such thing. Nor has he understanding enough in divine things to conclude, that, for saying so, he is guilty of high treason against the King of heaven; because he that rejects part of the Christian revelation must be as guilty before God, as he that contemptuously tears part of a decree of the king in his presence; for, as such a one would in vain excuse himself by saying, that he tore but one part and spared the rest, the law would be put in execution against him, and so shall God's law against the unawakened and impenitent sinner. But tell him so again and again, you will get nothing except his contempt; for instead of owning his pride and unbelief, he will accuse you of superstition and weakness of mind; and as the text affirms that the things of God are foolishness to him, perhaps he will call you a fool for entertaining such notions. Most certain it is, that he will think you a weak, though perhaps wellmeaning man, and turn you into ridicule whenever he meets with one of the same temper as himself. But though he thus mangles the law of God, whenever it does not suit his notions of religion, yet he takes care, some way or other, to be provided with two or three sayings of infidels, out of the bible, or two or three passages, generally misunderstood, which, by the construction he puts upon them, give him as much liberty to love the world, and remain in his natural state, as he could wish. These he turns sometimes into a shield, to defend himself against the reproofs of his conscience, or the calls of Christ's ministers, and sometimes into a sword, to destroy what little work the grace of God may have begun in the hearts

of those with whom he converses.
"God's mercy is over all his works.'
overmuch.'

"Fear not," says he,

'Be not righteous

God willeth not the death of a sinner.'

6 The righteous falleth seven times a day." These, and a few more scriptures, he generally chooses for the subject of his meditations; in these he is skilled above all.

One or two strokes more, and I shall finish this picture of the unawakened sinner. He cannot bear to hear any one insist on the power of godliness: all is well, as long as you only say, "Live soberly and honestly; do good, and go to church." Anything that does not alarm him, and make him look to the vileness of his heart, will not offend him. But tell him that he must "be born again of the Spirit of God," that he must "be renewed in his mind," that he must "become a partaker of the divine nature, and have "the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit given unto him," and that if he do not obtain the Spirit of Christ, he shall never be his; he stares, he wonders what you mean by those expressions. They are mere riddles to him; and if you show him that they occur continually both in the bible and in our liturgy, he cannot conceive what St. Paul and archbishop Cranmer meant by using such cant words, and he would fain put them in the class of enthusiasts too, were he not afraid of being thought a blasphemer.

But suppose you continue to declare unto him all the counsel of God in plain terms, and cry with the apostles, "Save thyself from this perverse generation: thou art still a child of wrath; repent, and be converted: see him whom thou hast pierced, and mourn, lest he appoint thee thy portion with hypocrites and unbelievers;" he cannot tell what you mean by speaking with so much passion; for that is the name he generally gives to the concern that Christian ministers feel for his perishing soul. He wonders at your being so uncivil as to tell him plainly, that "he has an immortal soul to take care of," a proud, devilish, stubborn, hard heart to overcome, and the eternal fire of hell to flee from.

Indeed, above all, you must not mention hell or damna