not as referring to the particular people only, to whom they were addressed, but as intended at the same time, for succeeding generations. They apply equally to the spiritual, as to the natural Judah and Israel. And, perhaps, I could not have selected a text, which more directly denounces GOD's wrath against numbers, who pass in the religious crowd as persons of eminent piety, while in reality, a true change has never been wrought in their hearts.

This is indeed an age of profession, and of religious bustle. The number of our religious societies and institutions is daily increasing; and multitudes seem striving with each other, in the display of their zeal and religious munificence.

Now, GOD forbid, dear brethren, that I should be uncharitable in my judgment; but I feel it to be an indispensable though a painful part of the duty of a minister of GoD, to probe into the heart, and to lay open those

wiles of Satan, by which numbers of deluded souls mistake an extensive knowledge of evangelical truths, a false assurance and a carnal security, for the evidence of a true faith, and the inward operation of the HOLY GHOST. It is, brethren, to these self-deluded souls, that the words of my text most fearfully apply. "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria !" *

In discoursing, therefore, on these words, I purpose, first, to draw the characters of such persons; and then, to contrast their state with that of the children of GOD. I shall, however, confine myself this morning to the first part, and reserve the second for the subject of discourse in the afternoon.

The persons, to whom I have alluded, are those who conform to all duties and ordinances, and are regarded perhaps by the world as persons of

I prefer using the words "self-delusion" and "selfdeluded," throughout this sermon, to those of self-deception and self-deceiving; since the latter appear to me to refer more to outward, and the former to inward sources

of error.

eminent piety; while they are at the same time living in carnal ease and security, and in a selfish apathy.

They possess, indeed, an extensive knowledge of religious truths, and even understand mysteries, and yet have experienced no change of heart. They may be able to talk with the tongue of an angel, or write with the pen of an archangel; they may appear innocent as a cherub, or ardent as a seraph, and yet be without the spiritual life of a child of GOD.

Numbers are also influenced by a natural or false repentance, similar to that of Cain, of Pharaoh, of Judas, and of the devils in hell. In the agony of repentance Cain exclaimed, "My punishment is greater than I can bear;' or, according to the marginal reading, "Mine iniquity is greater than can be forgiven." Pharaoh also besought Moses to entreat the LORD, to take away the plagues of Egypt. And Judas, "when he saw that JESUS was condemned, repented himself, and brought

again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood." This is a repentance which proceeds from the devil, who first opens the eyes of the blinded sinner, and then endeavours to plunge him into despair. Like Jndas, a man may repent deeply of his sins, and conceive an abhorrence of his depravity, and yet be a false penitent. A saving repentance must proceed from the SPIRIT of GOD, and then will the merits and atonement of JESUS CHRIST be received by faith, and thus prevent the re-action of despair. This counterfeit repentance proceeds from fear and selfishness, whereas the penitence of the child of GOD is penitential love. A death-bed repentance is seldom saving, and the sorrow for sin which sickness produces, rarely leaves an abiding effect, because it generally proceeds from the temporary excitement of fear. But true repentance proceeds chiefly from the abiding and

uniform principle of love, which is shed abroad in the heart by the HOLY GHOST.

There may even appear a great reformation of life, and yet this morality may not proceed from a change of heart, or from the reception of a new principle of action. There are so many natural principles, from which an outward change of life may be produced, that this reformation is by no means a sign, of the inward regeneration of the HOLY SPIRIT. The fears of natural conscience, a regard to the opinion of the world, and the impulse of reason, are the most usual, and indeed the most powerful natural motives, in producing a moral reformation of character; and which, consequently, may exist without the slightest operation of the HOLY GHOST. Education and acquired habits are also a very general cause of a strictly moral, and even of a professedly religious walk, among those who still continue unjustified and unregen

erate.

There may likewise be a false peace