ever, was not God's judgment respecting it : he decided rather against the form, which was destitute of the power of godliness; and declared that "backsliding Israel had justified herself more than treacherous Judah."]
Now, this decision being of general importance, I will proceed to,
II. Confirm it —
It is generally thought that a profession of reli- gion, even though it be insincere, is more pleasing to God than an open contempt of all religion. But God has determined otherwise ; and has declared, that specious insincerity is worse than open profaneness, because,
1. It argues a deeper depravity of heart —
[Ungodly men persist in their impieties, without much reflection upon the guilt they contract, or the judgments they
incur They rush, for the most part, into sin, " like a
horse into the battle." But a man professing godliness shews that he has some sense of his duty, and some desire to secure his eternal interests. Hence, in him, sin finds a conflict which it finds not in others. In him " the spirit lusts against the flesh, as well as the flesh against the spirit." He has some- what of a conscience, which remonstrates against his evil ways : and he is constrained to stupify and sear his conscience, in order to obtain any release from the terrors with which he is assaulted in his prospects of a future judgment. He wishes indeed to save appearances, and to satisfy his own conscience : but this only proves the more fully the inveteracy of his lusts, which are able to prevail over such weighty considerations. He knows what sin deserves ; and yet commits it : he knows what sin has brought on others ; and yet ventures to indulge in it. His sin, therefore, notwithstanding his plausibility, is so much the more heinous, in proportion as it is committed against light and knowledge, against mercies and judgments, and against the motions of God's Holy Spirit within him. In the passage before us, this is marked with very extraordinary force. Within the space of five verses, Israel is characterized four times as "backsliding;" and Judah no less than five times as " treacherous." Now, in the estimation of all, a traitor is accounted worse than a rebel ; and an adulterous wife more guilty than a licentious prostitute. The relation in which they stand to their Lord, the obligations which they owe him, and the professions which they make of their regard for his honour, greatly aggravate the wickedness which they contract : and exactly thus do the transgressions of a religious professor