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towards its source. After a few hasty resolutions, and a few feelings of regret, he returns to his former habits and pursuits; as frivolous, as thoughtless, as absorbed in the passions and vices of his ordinary life, as if he had never heard the word, which is able to save his soul. Now, what are the terms in which Scripture addresses itself to men like these? "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.' Whenever a man, after being thus warned, returns into the evil way, which he had resolved to forsake, he at once is guilty of presumptuous sin; and is obnoxious to the severest punishment denounced against it. God has spoken, and still speaks by his word. He has declared frequently what his will is, and his long-suffering towards mankind, "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." But if all this long-suffering and mercy be despised, the same infallible word declares the consequence: "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and 2 Pet. iii. 9.

James i. 22, 24.

no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." May Almighty God, of his great mercy, keep us all back from presumptuous sins of such malignity as this.

3. There is still a degree of presumptuous sin, in which men are apt to deceive themselves with the fallacious hope of impurity, by ascribing to ignorance, what an impartial judge must trace to culpable inattention. Many there are who, living in a Christian land, and having been baptized in the Christian faith, have yet neglected to employ such opportunities, as they possess, of studying the Holy Scriptures, which were written for our learning. And these men, when they fail in the performance of duties, which they ought to have known, and practised, imagine that their voluntary ignorance is at once a reason and an excuse for the omission. Now, ignorance such as this can, evidently, form no ground of excuse. Without presuming to say. how far the divine mercy, through the atonement of Christ, may be extended to those, to whom the terms of their acceptance have never been revealed, it is evident, that a voluntary ignorance, which would never be allowed as a

h Prov. i. 24, 25.

plea for the infringement of human laws, can form no effectual excuse for a violation of a divine law. And it will make little difference, whether the guilt of presumption be attached immediately to the offence itself, or to the ignorance, in consequence of which the offence is committed.

4. Again, every sin is a presumptuous sin, against which conscience has raised its warning voice in vain.

At some period of their lives, all sinners must have experienced compunction. And whatever be the cause of that inward feeling—whether it be the immediate sense of right and wrong implanted in us, the involuntary reflection of the mind upon what passes within itself, or the judgment, which we form, of what is known to be our duty compared with the manner in which we perform it—that feeling itself, if unheeded, impresses upon the action the mark of presumptuous sin. Whoever sins against such conviction, sins with his eyes open. His own heart condemns him, and he must know that God is greater than his heart and knoweth every thing.

5. Another infallible proof of the presumptuous nature of any sin is, when the offender, at the time of committing the act, comforts himself with the hope of future re

pentance. So deceitful is the heart, that numerous offences are committed under this delusive expectation. We need not now dwell upon the fallacious nature of such a reliance. It is sufficient to observe, that the consciousness of guilt, which it presupposes, sufficiently proves the presumptuous nature of the offence. Even when a long continuance in a vicious course has so hardened the sinner, that conscience at the moment is silent; although the individual offence so committed may partake of the nature of a secret fault, yet the mind, before it reaches this degree of depravity, must have been previously stained with presumptuous guilt.

II. The consideration of some of the kinds of presumptuous sins naturally leads us to meditate upon their fearful consequences.

1. The first consequence is intimated by David himself, the state of subjection in which the sinner is held. For his prayer is, "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins: let them not have dominion over me."

The tendency of all sin, especially when long continued, is to engross the mind. Timorousness, hesitation, reluctance, a secret dread of offending, accompany the first steps of the offender's wicked course. An act is proposed by his associates, or suggested by his own heart, which his better judgment disapproves; But

he has not strength or resolution enough to resist. Many a secret misgiving, much remorse, much upbraiding of an accusing conscience, follow this compliance; and follow it in vain. The second temptation finds the heart already prepared for its reception, and predisposed to obey its influence. The judgment is enlisted on the side of passion, and endeavours to palliate, if not to excuse, the guilt. It discovers a reason why an act sinful in itself, and guilty in any other person, becomes so modified in his own circumstances, as to lose much of its atrocity. It suggests, perhaps, that the compliance required is in itself trifling: and that it will be easy to stop in the evil course. "Hitherto shalt thou come and no further," are the words, with which it expects to control the tempestuous ocean of unruly passion. But experience soon shews how vain are his hopes. His sin, from having been unpremeditated and casual, becomes presumptuous, and degenerates into a habit. It gains the dominion over him. He acquiesces in this subjection, with the vague hope that circumstances may at a future period render his reformation more easy.

Conscience sometimes interposes still: but her voice is unheard; or, if heard, disregarded. The sacred volume becomes a sealed book; its warnings are uttered, and its promises made in

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