unsoundness of mind. For God has removed the impediments in the way of salvation: He has made the path easy and plain: He has sent His only Son to become an expiation for our sins: He bids us come freely to him for pardon and eternal life: He promises us that he will graciously renew our nature if we apply to Him: that his Holy Spirit shall assist us, and shall work in us; and that His Son shall intercede on our behalf. Now here is infatuation, that all this kindness and tenderness on the part of God, and the extreme danger of refusing His invitation, and remaining exposed to his wrath, does not move us to consider our ways, and turn to him that we may live. On one side there is every thing to allure, on the other every thing to alarm us. A dreadful eternity of misery, a gulf of fire, yawns before us. God our Creator calls upon us to stop, tenderly invites us to flee to him for refuge, points to the gate of Heaven open to receive us, sends his Son to remonstrate with us, and yet we will not hear. Without alarm we go on, without concern we persist: we say, Tush! we shall not perish: God will be merciful; or, Let us eat and drink and enjoy the present life: for who knows any thing about that which is to come? How would such a conduct with respect to temporal affairs be thought of? Would it not be esteemed a clear proof of insanity? Surely it cannot be less so when the reasons are infinitely more strong, and the conduct proportionably more preposterous.

But what shall we say, then, to the presumptuous sinner; to the man who knows perfectly, that, if there is any truth in religion, he is condemned by it without hope? Yet there are thousands of our fellow-creatures who are living in this state, who profess to believe the Bible, and indeed know of no material objection to its its truth: yet they there read, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." Now they know that they are

guilty of some of these vices, and yet they are easy. What would they think of a man upon whom the sentence of a cruel death was passed, and who had not an hour to live, if they saw him busy about worldly affairs, and amusing himself with trifles? Would they not justly ask, Is he in his senses? Does he know his doom? Yet this is the case with themselves. Surely as the Revelation of God is true, they will perish eternally, if they die in their sins; and yet they are easy and unconcerned. What excuse do they make for their folly? Perhaps they say, they shall repent hereafter. But can they suspend the approach of death? Are they sure they shall live through the present day? Although not certain of life a single moment, they yet encourage themselves in sin, in the hope of its duration; they use the very patience of God as an argument for provoking him still more and more, and for adding to the number and guilt of their sins. In this state I believe thousands are living, who entertain very little hope of their condition: or rather are self-condemned, but who will not reflect and turn to God. Is it that they are happy as they are? No: they, like others, feel the troubles and disappointments of this wicked world; but they do not perhaps think they should be happier if they did really become religious. Would they not? Let them reflect a moment. Who has enjoined religion? Is it not God, the Father of all good? Where is religion chiefly found? Is it not in heaven, the seat of supreme felicity? Where do irreligion and disobedience to God prevail? Is it not in hell, the seat of misery? Are the profligates upon earth, or those who are most obedient to God, the most happy? Perhaps it is impossible to find a stronger instance of unsoundness of mind than that of supposing, that the very thing which God has enjoined for our good can conduce to our misery.

There is, however, no end to the instances of extreme folly which prevail in the world on the subject of religion. What shall we say to the daring profligate, who sets Heaven at defiance? Could he calcn

late the risk he runs, how prodigious would his folly appear! The mere possibility of coming short of heaven, and of being doomed for ever to hell, might justly Occupy every thought of a really wise man, and lead him to direct all the force and powers of his soul to the single object of escaping such misery, and obtaining such happiness. He might justly make this the one only concern of his life. And yet these men madly rush upon eternal destruction, and laugh at the threatenings of God. What shall we say also to the folly of the person who professes religion, who is constantly hearing sermons, and reading the Bible; yet at the same time indulging evil tempers, leading a careless, unholy life, and preserving the form of religion only without the spirit of it? Such a one must know his guilt: every thing must tend to excite in him fearful apprehensions; yet he goes on without one earnest and vigorous endeavour to be freed from the shackles of the sin which so easily besets him-always condemned; ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; ever hoping and intending, but never doing any thing; ever hearing of a Saviour, but not experiencing his power. Religion is here his torment, and will but aggravate his wretchedness hereafter.-What shall we say also to the very great folly of those who continually dis trust the providence of God? We believe that there is a great and powerful Being, who directs all things according to his will, and who hears even the young sparrows that cry to him; whose peculiar glory it is to be the Father of the universe, and to give to all breath, and life, and food, and all things convenient for them. Yet, as if there were no such Being, as if every thing were left to chance, and to the determination of man, how many are there who are seeking in an unlawful way for the things of this life, who pay no regard to the providence of God, and seek to prosper without him, or even in defiance of him!-How many, in like manner, are guilty of the inconceivable folly of fearing man more than God! They tremble lest they should

incur the resentment of their fellow-creature, whose breath is in his nostrils; but they are not afraid to incur the high displeasure of that God at whose look the earth trembleth. If God is our Friend, we may well say, Who shall make us afraid? If God is our Father why should we be distressed on account of the opinions of men? Hear the forcible reasoning which God himself uses on this subject:-"I, even 1, am he that comforteth you. Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man, that shall be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth, and hast feared continually every day, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy: and where is the fury of the oppressor? But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared; the Lord of Hosts is my name."

In all these cases, an obvious unsoundness of mind. manifests itself. The person entertains no proper perception either of the things of this world or of those of the world to come; either of God or of man. He is infatuated. His mind is in an unsound state. He is blind, and sees nothing distinctly or clearly. Let us not however, suppose that this infirmity excuses him. He is blind because he will not see; he has faculties, but he will not use them. The light glares, and he wilfully turns from it; loving darkness rather than light, because his deeds are evil. Were it a necessary infirmity that man should reason so foolishly and weakly, he might be an object of pity, but not of blame: but he clearly shews that he possesses the faculty of judging better, because we see him exercising it wherever his interest or inclination requires it. And, indeed, as soon as, through the influence of the Spirit of God, he seriously directs his attention to these subjects, he begins to reason justly, to feel properly, and to act righteously.

Let us suppose a man becoming sensible to the importance of eternal things, and beginning to judge with a sound mind. He stands astonished at the very different aspect in which the objects around him now appear. Enlightened by the word and Spirit of God, this life appears but a mere point in comparison with eternity; and all the bustle and hurry of this world, all its cares, pursuits and pleasures, shrink into nothing in his view. He sees the world to be a vast Babel, in which men are reasoning and acting like froward and foolish children; transported with empty joys, depressed with imaginary sorrows, fearing where no fear is, and not alarmed by the most awful dangers pressing upon them. He reflects upon himself: "I am a dying creature," he says; "here to-day, and to-morrow removed from this transitory scene. But I have an endless being. I do not live here, but I shall live above. There is a world where the objects are really important, because eternal. I see a glorious state, a blessed society, free from pain, from weakness, from decay, from sin the chief evil: I see an assemblage of blessed and happy spirits, all properly and wisely employed, fulfilling perfectly the will of their Creator. I see a great and glorious Being, whose will extends to every part of the creation; who giveth life, or taketh it away; who appoints to every one his lot; who setteth up kingdoms, or pulleth them down; who disappoineth the counsels of the wise; who directs all the actions of men according to his will. This glorious Being," he will say, "offers himself to be my Father, and that glorious state to be my home. He tells me that the world I now live in is a poor, empty, transitory state, lying under his displeasure and curse, in which no true happiness is to be found. He bids me not to be engrossed by its vanities and follies, but to look above; to live as the inhabitant of another state; to prepare for death and heaven, and, above all, to listen to his only begotten Son, whom he has sent into the world to be the resurrection and the life, that