the Deity: they love not the ordinances where God reveals himself to men : when God calls them, " they all begin with one consent to make excuse : " some plead their social en- gagements ; others the pressure of worldly business ; all have some plea to make ; all say, in effect, I can not, or, I will not, come. In dangers or in troubles, they will rather go to the creature than to God : even under a sense of sin, they will rather flee to their own resolutions, and trust in their own endeavours, than they will rely upon the strength and right- eousness of the Lord Jesus. When God calls, they turn a deaf ear to his invitations. When he follows them, as it were, by the convictions of his Spirit, they actually " flee from him:" they shake off the thoughts that trouble them ; they endea- vour to drown reflection in business or pleasure; and the whole language of their hearts and actions is, like theirs in Job, " Depart from us ; we desire not the knowledge of thy
h "
ways D.
But the aversion to God which carnal men feel, is carried much further: they not only flee from him, as finding no pleasure, no satisfaction in his presence, but they also " trans- gress against him." The law is yet in a measure written on their hearts, but they will not comply with its dictates : they see clearly, in many things, that such or such a course of action must be displeasing to God, and " that they who do such things are worthy of death; yet they both do these things themselves, and have pleasure in those that do them ; " choosing them for their companions, and countenancing them in their actions: nor is this occasionally only, and through temptation or inadvertence : no ; it is the settled course and tenour of their lives. The commands or prohibitions of God have no weight with them : whatever is reputable in the world, or agreeable to themselves, that they do; whenever their sensual inclinations or worldly interests strongly bias them to any line of conduct, it soon appears that they have cast off the yoke of God, and that they feel no restraint whatever, except that which arises from temporal considerations.
Nor is this all: they " speak lies against God:" they de- clare, in the face of the whole world, that the service of sin and Satan is to be preferred before the service of God. In every transgression they commit, they virtually speak to this effect; 'This is happiness: as for obedience to God, that would be an insupportable restraint: true happiness consists in renouncing all allegiance to God, and in following our own will.' Moreover they say, like those of old, " The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evilc;" i. e. ' if we serve him, we shall have no profit ; nor shall we sustain any loss if we
b Job xxi. 14. c Zeph. i. 12.