To counteract this prevailing thoughtlessness, we will endeavour to expose,

II. The folly of it—

Such inconsideration can be productive of no good, and must be attended with incalculable mischief to the soul

1. It will not induce forgetfulness in God

[Amongst our fellow-creatures our conduct may have considerable effect: and others may be lulled asleep by means of our security. But God is occupied in his work, whether we be in ours or not. He wakes, though we sleep: he sees, though we think ourselves hid from his sight: he marks, though we are regardless of him: nor does he ever feel more indignation, than when we feel ourselves most secure and composed. We may "think wickedly that he is even such an one as ourselves; but he will reprove us for what we have done amiss, and will set it in order before our eyes." Nor is it the act only of murder or adultery that he will remember, but the look, the desire, the thought, yea "all" our wickedness, of whatever kind or whatever degree.]

2. It will rob us of all the benefits we might receive by reflection

[If we did but consider that God has noted down all our wickedness, the next thought would be, How shall we get it blotted out of his book? This would lead us to see the inefficacy of our tears to wash away our guilt; and would stimulate us to inquire after that Saviour, whose "blood cleanses from all sin." Thus we might obtain the remission of our sins, and be restored to the favour of our offended God. But inconsideration robs us of all this. We shall never repent of our evil ways, till we have "considered" them. We shall never seek for mercy, till we have "considered" our guilt and danger. We shall never flee to Christ, till we have "considered" our need of him. "The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Can a thoughtless sinner take this view of the subject, and not confess his folly ?]

3. It will lead us only to multiply our offences against God

[The necessary consequence of inconsideration is, that we continue to live each succeeding day and year in the same manner as we did in time past; and, in many cases, harden ourselves more and more in wickedness. If we would at the

k Ps. 1. 21.

close of every day call ourselves to an account how the day had been spent, and what God had recorded concerning us in the book of his remembrance, we should certainly abstain from many sins, which we now commit without thought or remorse. Even if the Sabbath alone were spent in this holy exercise, we should be kept from rushing into perdition as the horse into the battle. But we are like a spendthrift, who, never considering how great his debts are, or how he shall discharge them, runs on from one extravagance to another, till he has accumulated a debt which involves him in disgrace and misery. Yea, we resemble a man on the eve of bankruptcy, who, knowing that his affairs are ruined, cannot endure to examine his accounts, but proceeds in the best way he can, till the fatal hour arrives, and his insolvency is declared. But, oh! what madness is it thus to "treasure up wrath against the day of wrath!"]

4. It will certainly issue in long and painful reflection

[We may shake off reflection here; but the time is coming when we must and shall consider. God has said, "In the latter day ye shall consider it perfectly'. Yes, as soon as we come into the eternal world, we shall have a perfect view of all our past wickedness: we shall see it, not as we do now, through the medium of prejudice and self-love, but as God sees it, in all its enormity and with all its aggravations. The sins of thought as well as of act, the sins of omission as well as of commission, will all be open to our view; and there will be no possibility of diverting our attention from them. God bids us now consider; and we will not: but what shall we do in that day when he shall answer our cries with this severe rebuke, "Son, REMEMBER"?" 'Remember the sins committed; remember the warnings neglected; remember the mercies abused; remember the opportunities lost.' O sad remembrance! O dreary prospect of unalterable irremediable misery! Were it not then better to consider in time, when the most painful reflections will be salutary, than to protract the period of consideration till it shall be ten thousand times more painful, and altogether unavailing?]

ADVICE

1. Call your past ways to remembrance

[However long since any sins may have been committed, they are as fresh in God's memory, and as hateful in his sight, as if they had been committed this very hour. Endeavour then to get the same view of them as he has. Collect them all together and what a dreadful mass will they appear! If

you could suppose them all to have been crowded into the space of one day, and yesterday to have been the day in which they were all committed, what a monster would you appear in your own eyes! Yet, admitting the enormity of each sin to have been precisely such as it was at the moment of its commission, and such as it exists at present, such is the light in which you are viewed by God. Turn not away your eyes from this painful sight: you must behold it sooner or later: if you delay to look at it, the black catalogue of crimes will still increase, and the sight of them be yet more terrible. In the name of God then, I entreat you all, "CONSIDER YOUR WAYS"."]

2. Seek to have your sins blotted out from the book of God's remembrance

[It has already been observed, that this may be done. Though you neither have, nor can have, any thing to merit such a favour, God is willing to bestow it for his own name's sake: his word to you is, “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. He even promises to "cast them into the very depths of the seap," from whence they shall never be brought against you: yea, he " covenants" to efface them, as it were from his own memory; and says, "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." And will you not seek this mercy? Is it too soon yet awhile for you to enjoy it? Will you not be happier in the possession of it, than in the continuance of your sins? Think how such a proposal would be received by those who are now reflecting upon their ways in hell would they need to be urged a second time to ask for mercy? O seek it instantly; seek it with all importunity; seek it in the adorable name of Jesus; seek it after the example of the saints of old: and then, "though your sins have been as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they have been red like crimson, they shall be white as wool."]

3. Endeavour to walk as in the presence of God-

[A sense of the Divine presence will be an excellent preservative from sin. We know how careful we are of our conduct in the presence of any one whose good opinion we value: let us "set the Lord always before us," in order that our circumspection may be increased, and that we may be kept as much from secret as from open sin, from sin in the heart as well as sin in the life. Let us "" commune much with our own hearts

in our chamber, and be still." Let us strive to keep a conscience void of offence, and to approve ourselves in all things to "Him, who searcheth the heart, and trieth the reins." Let it be our ambition, that on every day more and more acts of piety may be recorded in the book of God's remembrance; that so he may "remember us for good"" while we are here on earth, and welcome us as "good and faithful servants" when we enter into the eternal world.]

t Ps. iv. 4. u See Neh. xiii. 14, 22, 31. and Ps. cvi. 4, 5.

MCLIX.

CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS OF SPIRITUAL DECAY.

Hos. vii. 8, 9. Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people: Ephraim is a cake not turned. Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, grey hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth it not.

IF the body be oppressed with sickness, we inquire into the symptoms of the disorder, and trace it, if possible, to its proper cause. The same course is proper in reference to the soul, and indeed to the state of nations as well as of individuals. The prophet is representing the declining, and almost desolate, condition of the ten tribes and, in the words before us, he marks the particular sins which had provoked God to forsake them; and the fearful consequences of their transgressions. The Israelites had, in direct opposition to God's command, united themselves with the heathen, and incorporated many of their idolatrous rites with the worship of the true God. They were even "mad upon their idols," while they were very cold and indifferent in what related to Jehovah. In consequence of this, God gave them up into the hands of their enemies. Pul, king of Assyria, exhausted their treasures by the tribute he imposed: and the king of Syria reduced their armies to a mere shadow, "making them even as the dust by threshing"." Proofs and evidences of decay were visible in every department of the state, and such as indicated approaching dissolution: yet a 2 Kings xv. 19. b2 Kings xiii. 7.

such was the infatuation of the people, that they were as unconcerned and secure as if they had been in the most safe and flourishing condition.

It is not however our intention to enter any further into the history of the ten tribes. We shall rather draw your attention to our own personal concerns, of which theirs was a type and shadow: and we shall proceed to point out the causes and symptoms of spiritual decay.

I. The causes—

The two things mentioned in the text will be found among the most fruitful sources of declension in the divine life:

1. An undue connexion with the world

[A certain degree of intercourse with mankind is necessary, in order to a due discharge of our civil and social duties. But if we mix with the world by choice, we shall go contrary to the commands of God, and suffer loss in our souls. We are enjoined to come out from among them, and be separate"." God even appeals to us respecting the impossibility of maintaining with propriety any intimate communion with them": and our Lord characterizes his followers as being no more of the world than he himself was. But some professors of religion connect themselves more closely, and involve themselves more deeply, with the world in business, than they need to do: others associate with them as companions: and others are so blinded by their passions, as to unite themselves with them in marriage. What must we expect to be the result of such conduct? Must it not expose us to many temptations? Are we not, when so circumstanced, likely to drink into the spirit of the world, and to be drawn into a conformity to their ways? Surely the falls and apostasies of many must be traced to this source: and it will be well if this evil do not become fatal to some of us.]

2. A partial regard to God

[A "cake" baked upon the coals and "not turned," would be burned up on one side, while it was altogether doughy on the other. This fitly represents the state of those who are cold and indifferent in things relating to religion, but excessively ardent in their pursuit of other objects. Yet what is more common than such a state? Some professors are so e Rom. xii. 2. Ps. xlv. 10, 11. d 2 Cor. vi. 14-17. e John xvii. 14.