" clean." Not that any attainment, however great, will super- sede the necessity of continued watchfulness: for St. Paul himself felt the need of " keeping under his body, and bringing it into subjection, lest, after having preached to others, he him- self should become a cast-away : " and the proper use of all the promises is, " to cleanse yourselves by means of them from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God."]
Hos. viii. 7. They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the
whirlwind.
MISERY is attached to sin as its inevitable con- sequence. This connexion does not always appear to a superficial observer. On the contrary, trans- gression often seems productive of happiness ; and obedience, to be a source of much affliction and trouble : but, whatever conclusions we may be led to draw from present appearances, we are sure that the wicked are not happy ; nor have they any reasonable expectation of happiness in the eternal world. The Israelites had forsaken the true God for idols, and God warned them of the judgments which would ere long come upon them : but the declaration in the text may be understood as a general position. We shall take occasion from it to shew,
I. Who may be said to sow the wind —
To " sow the wind " is a proverbial expression for labouring in vain. It is applied to idolaters, because the silver and gold lavished on idols was unprofitably spent, and it may well be applied to all who seek happiness in a way of sin :
1. To sensualists — [They expect to find much comfort in the indulgence of their lusts. Hence they yield themselves up to all the gratifica- tions of sense. But they find that such pursuits can afford them no real happiness. While they forsake the Fountain of living waters, they hew out to themselves only broken cisterns that