To account for this supineness, let us trace it up to,
II. The causes of it —
Persons, when convicted of evil doings, will yet affirm their hearts to be good. But can a tree be good whose fruits are uniformly bad?
The causes of this evil are justly described by the prophet :
1. They love sin —
[" Whoredom" is frequently (and by Hosea in particular) used for sin in general. A " spirit of whoredom" imports an attachment to sin, and delight in ith. Now this justly cha- racterizes the state of fallen man. It accords with other descriptions given of him in Scripture1; and is the funda- mental cause of the supineness visible in the world. In following evil ways we glide easily down the stream : but in renouncing them we stem the tide of our corrupt nature. Hence even the first steps of turning to God are irksome and difficult ; and we lay the rein on the neck of our appetites for want of resolution to restrain them. In this very manner does God himself trace up our transgressions to a deceived heart k — .]
2. They are ignorant of God —
[Never accustomed to reflect on God, they know nothing of him: the ideas they do form of him are grossly erroneous1.
f Jer. xliv. 16, 17. e Job xxi. 14, 15.
h In a similar sense a spirit of slumber is used, Rom. xi. 8. 1 Eph. iv. 22. and Rom. viii. 7. k Isai. xliv. 20.
1 Ps. xcvii. 7.