to sweet, and sweet to bitter," before they can have the smallest ground of hope in such a state as theirs.
We might easily prosecute this subject in a great variety of views : but enough has been spoken to elu- cidate the words before us : and we trust that no doubt can remain upon your minds, but that all who consider religion as swperjicial, melanchohj, or con- temptible, together with all who magnify the jmrsiiits of time, and extenuate sin as venial, and at the same time persuade themselves that their eternal state is safe, are indeed obnoxious to the censure in the text.
We shall pass on therefore to shew,
II. The evil of this conduct —
But where shall we find words sufficient to declare its great enormity ?
1 . It is in the first place, a contemptuous rejection of God's truth —
God has clearly marked the difference between good and evil in his word : and if the eyes of our understanding be not blinded by prejudice or passion, we may discern it as easily as we can discern by our bodily senses, light from darkness, or sweet from bit- ter. But when an appeal is made to the sacred records, their testimony is considered as of no account. Who has not seen the contempt with which God's word is treated, when it is brought forward to oppose some fashionable practice, some favourite lust ? One would suppose that its import shovild be candidly examined, and carefully ascertained. One might ex- pect that they who heard it, should act like mariners sailing by the compass ; that they would endeavour to proceed, as much as possible, in the right direction ; that they would deliberate, if at any time they had reason to think that they were out of their proper course ; that they would be thankful for any infor- mation that might tend to rectify their mistakes : above all, they would not madly steer in direct oppo- sition to the compass, and at the same time discard all doubts about their safe arrival at the place of their destination : that were a folly of which no man in his