conformed to it, to its maxims, its habits, its spirit, and its com- pany. Of the true Christian, our Lord says, *' Ye are not of this world, even as I am not of the world :" but of the almost Christian, the very reverse is true : he strives to reconcile the inconsistent services of God and Mammon : and if this cannot be done, he will forego his eternal interests, rather than sacrifice his worldly interests, and subject himself to the scorn and hatred of the ungodly.
Thus, though pure in his own eyes, he is yet in bondage to the fear of man ; and gives a decided preference to this world, before the preservation of a good conscience, and the appro- bation of his God.]
To the same class belongs also,
III. The inconsistent professor —
Who more confident of the goodness of his state, than he who professes to believe in Christ?
[The man who has felt some conviction of sin, and some hope in Christ, and has been hailed by others as a sound con- vert to the Christian faith, is ready to conclude that all is well : his successive emotions of hope and fear, of joy and sorrow, are to him a sufficient evidence, that his conversion is unquestionable. If he have some ability to talk about the Gospel, and some gift in prayer, he is still further confirmed in his persuasion, that there exists in him no ground for doubt or fear. More especially, if he have views of the Covenant of grace, as " ordered in all things and sure," and have adopted a crude system of religion that favours a blind confidence, he concludes at once that he is, and must be, a child of God.]
But who more open to self-deception ?
[Professors of the Gospel are very apt to forget that rule of judging which our Lord himself has prescribed, " By their fruits ye shall know them"^." But this is the only safe criterion whereby to judge of our state before God. Yet, when brought to this test, how low do many religious professors appear! They can talk of the Gospel fluently ; but, if their spirit and temper be inquired into, they are found to be under the habi- tual dominion of some besetting sin, as they were before they ever thought of religion. It is lamentable to think what " filthiness there is both of flesh and spirit," from which many who profess the Gospel have never yet been " washed^:" yet an inspired Apostle declares, that " if a man seem to be reli- gious and bridleth not his tongue, he deceiveth himself, and his religion is vain^." What then must be the state of those who yet remain proud and passionate, worldly-minded and covetous,
d Matt. vii. IG. e Tit. i. IG. f Jam. i. 26.