THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. "Be not deceived."-Gal. vi. 7. "WHEN a person has brought a stain upon his character and stands before the public in the attitude of a delinquent, the only way to regain his reputation and become restored to the confidence of his fellow-men, is to repair all injury as far as possible, and conduct himself discreetly in future. In this way, he may at length recover himself, and come to be regarded as a sound and valuable citizen. But if instead of reforming, he continues his irregularities, and says he shall still be respected, he deceives himself fatally, and is undone. The confidence of people shall no more be placed in him. He runs down and falls lower and lower, till finally he sinks in the deep waters of hopeless infamy and perpetual disgrace. "So it is with the sinner in relation to the future, eternal state. He has already a stain upon him. He is a sinner; and to be a sinner, is to be a rebel against God. Now there is an opportunity to repent; and though he can never make amends for what he has done, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ he may be saved; and salvation implies everything that can make him blessed. But if he repent not, and do not believe in Christ; if he bless himself in his heart and say, 'I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of mine heart;' then the Lord will not spare him, but the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against him.' "I. Self-flattery in matters of religion is as certain ruin to the soul, as it is in matters of the world to reputation, where that has been injured. And to hope well, without reason, in temporal or spiritual things, is only to prepare the way for more poignant grief at the last. Yet this, alas, is often done. Let us not then be deceived; God is not mocked: For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.' 2. Sinners know very well that their way is wrong. They are more or less disturbed in their sins. The law is written on their hearts, and the voice of conscience is not easily stifled. Sinners know they are guilty, and after all their self-flattery, have a thousand secret fears. In moments of sober reflection, even the stout-hearted tremble. They know God does not approve of sin, but requires them to repent of it. They try to keep up good courage, and to cheer each other's spirits, and for this purpose they often express their confidence in sentiments which, after all, they secretly distrust. This is what, on becoming penitent, they have often confessed, that whilst they were indulging error, they had painful suspicions that all was not right, and that what they opposed might be the truth of God. "3. Sinners know, too, that there is danger in their course. The idea of danger is closely connected with that of sin. For God is a God of truth; and we naturally and justly conclude that, while wandering from the way of his appointment, we are exposed to his wrath. Sinners may flatter themselves that God is good, and therefore that they shall escape; but they cannot altogether forget that God is also holy and just, and will by no means clear the guilty. They feel alarmed in the midst of their conviviality and mirth. A dreadful sound is in their A fearful foreboding frequently troubles them. When awakened, they often anticipate their doom. ears. "4. Yet, strange as it may seem, sinners prefer their course, and persist in it. I would it were not so. But are we not constrained to admit the fact? It meets us continually wherever we turn our eyes. Multitudes untold are to be found in the community, who are examples of what I here assert. They know they are sinners, and that till they repent and believe in Christ, they are in danger. Yet they move not a step towards repentance. They refuse admonition. Warnings from Providence and the word of God are slighted. They hear preaching, but go away and soon forget what manner of persons they are. They live as carelessly as ever, as much without prayer, and without communion with God. They view Christians with the same jealousy, and the same evil eye. They flatter themselves in their own eyes, and cry peace, peace, to their deluded souls. "I have referred to the community in general; but may I not be more particular? Impenitent readers, how is it with you? Are you not convinced that your course is wrong, and that by continuing in it you are in danger? And have you not been warned, and admonished, and entreated in vain? Are you not, then, proof of what I am saying, that though sinners know a state of impenitence to be wrong and dangerous, still they persist in it? Alas! for it is so indeed. For why, if it is not so, have you not broken off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by turning unto the Lord? Why is the morning and evening sacrifice wanting in your families? And why does the place of personal retirement bear witness to your negligence? Be assured, if you were as you should be, things would be different with you. You would not be flattering yourselves in impenitence, while living in the neglect of Christ, and in the indulgence of what you know is wrong. "5. Sinners in general flatter themselves that all will be well with them at last. If they do not, how can we account for it, that they should continue as they are? Could they rush on destruction as they do, if they did not flatter themselves, notwithstanding their convictions, that in some way they should escape? Their guilt and danger they know, and the hopeless state of the impenitent they dare not call in question; but for themselves they hope, that some way of deliverance will be opened. Say, sinner, if this is not the case; and if this thought, secretly indulged, be not the very thing which keeps you quiet. Could you remain So, if you admitted the truth in relation to yourself, with as little qualification as you do in relation to men in general? O, then, be undeceived! It is the deception of self-flattery that keeps you quiet in your sins. And the Lord, we are assured, will not spare the selfflatterer, but his anger and his jealousy shall smoke against him, and all the curses that are written in the Holy Scriptures shall come upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven. "While sinners flatter themselves in their own eyes, judgments are preparing for them. The word and attributes of God, the honor of his law, and the welfare of his universal kingdom, all conspire to render their destruction sure, unless they repent. This must be the inevitable result; for God has settled it for ever in heaven, that no sinner, however he may flatter himself to the contrary, shall ever enjoy him, or be happy in his presence, without repentance and submission to his will. "What then is it for a man to bless himself in his heart, and say, 'I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart? It is but to proclaim his own folly. It is but to prejudge and declare himself an heir of perdition. I can't repent and be sorry for my sins. I can't be serious and commence a life of prayer. I can't break off this and that habit, and forsake this and that vicious companion. I can't submit to certain doctrines and duties, so close and strict. I choose to live on as I am. I should be glad if it were different with but I hope for the best. At least, there are many worse than I am, and some who profess to be good, I suspect are no better.' Such is the language of one, and another, and in all of multitudes. But O, their end! Eternity will declare it. And then, when, in turn, God shall refuse to listen to their cry, as now they refuse his call, O, then, their doom will open! May the writer of these paragraphs, and he who shall read them, be preserved from the self-flattery of the impenitent, and from their awful end !" me, WANTS OF THE SOUL. "Time is the present hour,-the past is fled." "THUS pass days, weeks, months, years, life. The immortal soul, with its ever expanding capacities, cries, give! give!! Short-sighted man gives chaff. The soul that on the bread of life would have thrived, attained a glorious maturity, and in due time been gathered like a shock of corn fully ripe to God's garner of glorified spirits, is famished in a dry and thirsty land. Its noble destination out of sight, it grovels in the dust, debases the image of its Maker, and assimilates to the spirits of the pit. Reader, is it thus with you? Are you of those "Who vainly strive with earthly toys To fill an empty mind.' "Oh, stay, we entreat you; grant us not a careless hearing; it is for your life. How true, how emphatically true the line, 'It is not all of life to live.' It is not a mere question of choice; you are bound to be happy. All mankind are bound to reflect honor upon our beneficent Creator by rejoicing always in Him. What then shall be said of those professors of his holy religion, who go mourning and complaining all their days? Might not our Saviour justly say, I know you not. My sheep know my voice, and I am known of mine. They know my voice; not merely in the sanctuary, and on the Sabbath day; they always know it. I lead them out, and they follow me. I make them to lie down in green pastures; I lead them beside the still waters. All those who drink of the water I give them, never thirst, but have in them a well of water springing up into everlasting life. In other words, they who put their trust in God; who are established on the rock Christ Jesus; who are rooted and built up in him; who partake of his spirit, are as Mount Zion; they cannot be moved; cannot be moved! Words are weak to express their steadfastness. Heaven and earth pass away. Reader, fasten your affections on ANY created thing, and they will vacillate; fasten them on things unseen, on God, and you shall not be moved; no, never. For as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so is the Lord round about them that fear Him." THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE DEPENDENT ON THE A Sermon Preached before the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, at Worcester, Mass., September 10, 1844. "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace." Luke xiv; 28-32. It Ir may be admitted that this passage of scripture originally had reference to the views with which an individual should enter on a religious life. With such a reference, it implies that he who becomes a follower of the Saviour should calmly and deliberately look at all the consequences of such an act, and be prepared to meet them. Men, in other things, act with prudence and forethought. They do not begin to build without a reasonable prospect of being able to finish. They do not go to war when there would be every prospect of defeat. implies, also, that we are to expect difficulties in religion. It will demand of us a life of self-denial, and will involve a conflict with spiritual foes, and perhaps expose us to the enmity and scorn of the world. It implies, also, that there is a necessity of a calm and fixed purpose of soul in true religion, and that no man can properly enter on a religious life who does not resolve, by the grace of God, to struggle until the victory shall be achieved, and who has not confidence that there are resources sufficient to enable him to secure the triumph. But still, though this was the primary meaning of the text, it is not departing from a fair interpretation of it, to make use of it with reference to the great purpose for which we are convened. Substantially the same principles in religion apply to an individual, and to the aggregate of individuals who compose the Christian church; to the one, in |