XIV.

SERM, will be found to hold, of far the greater part, that they are reaping the fruit of their own doings; their iniquities are reproving them, and their backslidings correcting them. Unattainable objects foolishly pursued, intemperate passions nourished, vicious pleasures and desires indulged, God and God's holy laws forgotten; these, these are the great scourges of the world; the great causes of the life of man being so embroiled and unhappy. God hath ordained our state on earth to be a mixed and imperfect state. We have ourselves to blame for its becoming an insupportable one. If it bring forth nothing to us but vexation and vanity, we have sown the seeds of that vanity and vexation; and as we have sown, we must reap. I now proceed to make improvement of those truths which we have been considering.

In the first place, let us be taught to look upon sin as the source of all our miseries. It may sometimes assume the gentler names of folly, irregularity, or levity; but under whatever form it appears, it always

always imports a deviation from that sacred SERM. law which ought to regulate our conduct. XIV. It is still the root that beareth gall and wormwood; and in exact proportion to the quantity of this poisonous weed, which we ourselves have infused into our cup, we must expect to drink the waters of bitterness. If the foolishness of man did not pervert his ways, his heart would have no occasion to fret against the Lord. He would enjoy competent satisfaction in every situation of life; and, under its unavoidable evils, would derive consolation from religion and virtue. Indeed, of every evil which we now endure, of those evils which we look upon to be the appointment of Providence, as well as of others, sin is ultimately the cause; as it was man's revolt from God which gave rise originally to those evils, and which rendered the chastisements we undergo, in this state of discipline, necessary, even for the sons of God. But at present, we confine our observation to those miseries of which men are immediate procurers to themselves; and from them alone, we find sufficient reason to consider sin as the capital VOL. IV.

T

foe

SERM foe to man; as the great troubler and XIV. disturber of his life. To Providence, then, let us look up with reverence. On sin let our indignation be vented; and, what is of more consequence, against sin, and all its approaches, let our utmost caution be employed. As we proceed through the different paths of life, let us accustom ourselves to beware of sin, as the hidden snake lurking among the grass, from whose fatal touch we must fly in haste, if we would not experience its sting. Too many have no just apprehensions of this danger. Fools, said the wise man, make a mock at sin. A fool indeed he must be, who dares to think lightly of it. He shows not only the depravity of his heart, but, what perhaps he will be more ashamed to be charged with, he shows his ignorance of the world. He shows that he knows not, he understands not, even his worldly interest, nor the interest and happiness of humau society.

IN the second place, let us learn, from what has been set forth, one of the most awful and important of all truths, the rea

lity

lity of a divine government exercised over SERM. the world. Blind must that man be who XIV. discerns not the most striking marks of it, in the doctrine which has been under our review. If there be a sceptic, who contends, that unrestrained liberty in the gratification of desire is given to man; that, in the sight of his Creator all actions are equal; and that no rule of moral conduct hath been prescribed, or by an penalty enforced; in order to confute such a man, we have not recourse to reasonings, but simply appeal to plain and obvious facts. We bid him look only to the life of man, and take notice how every vice is, by the constitution of things, connected with misery. We bid him trace the history of any one, with whose conduct he had particular occasion to be acquainted; and observe, whether the chief misfortunes which pursued him were not brought upou him by his own misbehaviour. We bid him remark, in the history of nations, whether public virtue has not always exalted them; and whether licentiousness and crimes have not paved the way for their ruin. These are testimonies to the

SERM. truth of religion, which cannot by any XIV. sophistry be evaded. This is a voice which speaks its warnings loud and strong to every heart.

THE System upon which the divine government at present proceeds plainly is, that men's own wickedness should be appointed to correct them; that sinners should be snared in the work of their hands, and sunk in the pit which themselves had digged; that the backslider in heart should be filled with his own ways. Of all the plans which could have been devised for the government of the world, this approves itself to reason, as the wisest and most worthy of God; so to frame the constitution of things, that the divine laws should in a manner execute themselves, and carry their sanctions in their own bosom. When the vices of men require punishment to be inflicted, the Almighty is at no loss for ministers of justice. A thousand instruments of vengeance, are at his command; innumerable arrows are always in his quiver. But such is the profound wisdom of his plan, that no peculiar interposals