from one man being less corrupt than another, but from the interposition of God, operating by natural causes, with a view to subserve his own glory in the government of a world entirely under the dominion of sin. Every christian may with propriety say, If I have not, like David, committed murder and adultery; nor with Peter, denied the Lord that bought me, it is not because my nature is less depraved, but because I have been either kept out of the way of temptation, or preserved from falling by it.

The interposition of God in restraining the evil propensities of human nature is strikingly exemplified in the character of Hazael. After Elisha, the prophet, had answered the inquiry of Benhadad the king of Syria, he fixed his countenance stedfastly on the messenger, and wept. Then Hazael said, Why weepeth my Lord? And he answered, Because I know the ev that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: +heir strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt ash their children; and rip

up

their women with child.

And Hazael said,

But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.

When Hazael heard the predictions of the prophet, he was, I have no doubt, struck with horrour. He never imagined that he could be capable of perpetrating such outrageous acts of barbarity. But the sequel demonstrates, that the seeds of all these atrocities were latent in his nature. The Almighty withdrew the restraints by which his depravity was bounded. The hour of trial speedily occurred-the next day he murdered the king his master, and reigned in his stead, and afterward, fulfilled all that Elisha had predicted.

It was said by one, well acquainted with human nature, Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. The salutary caion is the language of wisdom and berevolence. The best of men, when left to themselves, have given awful proof of the incompetency to

withstand temptation. Witness the case of Hezekiah, whom God left to try him, that he might know the corruption of his heart: and it may repress the vanity of selfconfidence to recollect, that an apostle was, as Dean Young expresses it, pious in the house, courageous in the garden, and, in the hall, both a coward and a traitor.

That the allwise Governour of the universe is pleased, for purposes of his own glory, to restrain the passions of men, is clear from the case of Abimelech respecting Abraham; and also from these words of the psalmist; 'Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain:' and, perhaps, both these clauses, and also the principle on which I reason, were never more awfully, nor more clearly exemplified than in the character and conduct of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Man is not only dreadfully depraved, but is said to be without strength-to have no understanding--He receiveth not the things of the

L

Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him are spiritually discerned.

neither can he know them, because they Nor is it strange

that the natural man should not discern the things of the Spirit; for, in all other cases, a simple perception can only be excited by its proper object. The ideas of sound and colour, of proportion and symmetry, of beauty and harmony, are never found in the mind, till the objects, by which these pleasing sensations or emotions are inspired, have been presented to our observation. How then shall we rightly apprehend the nature and effects of communicated grace, before they are felt? or how can we explain to others sensations for which language has no words, and to which the persons whom we would enlighten have no feeling analogous in their own minds?'

The language of the heart of a natural man to God is, Depart from me; for I desire not the knowledge of thy ways. I say the language of the heart; because the existence of this diabolical aversion is by multitudes pe

remptorily denied. But every act of sin is rebellion against the authority of God in his law; a contumacious disregard of the sanctions by which it is enforced; and while men indulge themselves in criminal pursuits, in vain do they disown the being of a disposition hostile to the divine character. There have always been men that have professed to know God, but who have in works denied him: and, while this ignorance and aversion continue, the sinner will persevere in the paths of iniquity and of death, suspecting neither danger nor deception. Though he walk in the imaginations of his heart, to add drunkenness to thirst, yet doth he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace.' Selflove flatters him with undoubted assurance of mercy. Imagination pictures a God all benignity and love. No regard is paid to his truth and his holiness as rector of the world; nor is it remembered that it is in the nature of things impossible divine justice should, without satisfaction, remit punishment where transgressions are committed.