that advice of Solomon ; " Labour not to he rich : cease from thine oion uiisdom^." The errors here pointed at are ahnost inseparable from each other ; and every one that is truly wise will be on his guard against them both.]
2. Seek to be " rich towards God" —
[That is true wisdom: and the more you possess of spi- ritual riches, the more truly humble will you be before God. Indeed, a poor pious man is, in God's estimation, as high a character as exists on earth. When God's only -begotten Son became incarnate, this was the character he assumed. Seek to be conformed to him, and you need not desire any thing be- yond. Nothing is of any value without piety ; nor can any thing add to piety, when it fully occupies the soul*.]
s Prov. xxiii. 4. * Phil. iii. 7, 8.
Prov. xxviii. 13. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but ivhoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
THE subject of repentance offers nothing for the gratification of " itching ears." But it must not on that account be overlooked ; since, if less interesting than some other subjects on the score of novelty, it yields to none in point of importance. It is the first act whereby a sinner returns unto his God : and it is an act for which the most eminent saint has occasion from day to day ; insomuch that in him it assumes rather the character of a habit than an act. In the more grown Christian, it is the warp, whilst every other grace is the woof: whether the colours interwoven with it be grave or gay, this pervades the whole piece, and is, as it were, the foundation of all the rest.
For the advancing of this work in all our souls, I will shew,
I. The folly of covering our sins —
To conceal our sins from the all-seeing eye of God is impossible : yet
There are various ways in which men attempt to cover them —