house and ordinances of God. I have long seen thee a sup- porter of the Gospel, and a friend of all who profess it. Thou hast withstood many a storm of temptation and persecution ; and hast maintained a good profession before many witnesses. Of thee, therefore, I can have no doubt. Draw nigh, and receive the tokens of God's favourable acceptance.
But what do I see here? What! Lord, am I deceived again? Yes ; thou still art attracted too much by the outward appear- ance. He is not the man whom I have chosen. " He has left his first love^:" he is "a backslider in heart," if not in act; and therefore " shall be filled with his owii ways^." See what a hold the world has upon him ; and how all " the seed that has been sown in his heart, is choked, so that he brings forth no fruit to perfection^!" He gives me but a divided heart, and therefore cannot be accepted of me'. He once embraced my covenant ; but " he was not steadfast in it ;" " his heart was never right with me'':" he never "followed me fully." He " says he is a Jew; but he lies':" " for he is not a Jew, who is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the fiesh : but he is a Jew who is one inwardly ; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God""."]
Beloved Brethren, it is not in the power of man to point out, with certainty, which of you shall inherit the kingdom of God. It is probable enough that there is some obscure David, unthought of by man, yet chosen of God, and through grace endued with that integrity of heart, which many, who make a figure before men, are destitute of, and who, though last in man's esteem, shall be first in God's.
But, as the event can be determined ultimately by God alone, let me entreat you all, 1. To examine carefully your own hearts —
[This we are commanded to do ; and we should do it with all imaginable fidelity and care. We should not, however, rest in our own endeavours, but should " entreat of God to search and try us, and to see whether there be, unperceived by ourselves, any wicked way in us, and to lead us in the way everlasting"." Desperate is " the deceitfulness of the human heart : wdio can know it ?" There are thousands who " think themselves to be something, when they are nothing"."
f Rev. ii. 4. s Prov. xiv. 14. ^^ Luke viii. 14.
' Hos. X. 2. k Ps, Lxxviii. 8, 37. ' Rev. iii. 9.
>" Rom. ii. 28, 29. " Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24. » Gal. vi. 3.