of them, they occasioned "his holy name to be profaned among the heathen "." If blasphemy is justly allowed to be a most atrocious crime; doubtless, it must be a heinous iniquity, especially in any of the children of God, to give occasion to it. When they at any time fall openly into dishonesty, or pride, or passion, or revenge, or unbecoming discourse, and especially into covetousness; the enemies of the gospel, never fail to take special notice of it, and to take occasion from it, to become the more confirmed, in their inveterate prejudices against faith and holiness. These sins therefore do, as much as more enormous evils that are committed in secret, procure for believers the loss of spiritual comfort. "For the iniquity of his covetousness," saith Jehovah," was I wroth, and smote him I hid me, and was wroth "." after spiritual enlargement, and communion with God in holy exercises, Christians become negligent in glorifying him by good works before men; when, as soon as they have come down from the mount, they, like Moses, break the tables of the holy law; such ungrateful and inconsistent behaviour as this, often provokes their heavenly Father to chasten them, by the infliction of inward, as well as of ontward trouble. By presuming to sin openly, they not only offend and grieve the Holy Spirit, but trouble and discourage other saints around them; and therefore it is proper, that they themselves should feel spiritual trouble, and should know by their own bitter experience, "That it is Ezek. xxxvi. 20, 23. Rom. ii. 24. When, Isa. lvii. 17. ́an evil thing and bitter, that they have forsaken the Lord their God P." 16. Lastly, Believers procure for themselves the loss of holy comfort, by relapsing often into the same sin. What sin soever it be, and how strong. soever the temptation to it be; the repeated, and especially, the frequent commission of it, will pro voke the Holy Spirit, to withhold his.consoling influences from the backsliding Christian. This will more especially be the case, if, under the prevalence of corruption, and the power of temptation, he suffer himself to resemble so much the secure hypocrite, as to take the smallest encouragementfrom the riches of redeeming grace in Christ, to repeat the same offence. By his daring to do so, he "maketh Christ the minister of sin :" he: practically represents the holy Jesus and his great. salvation, as leaving him still under the dominion of sin, yea, as affording him encouragement to practise iniquity. Besides, by relapsing often into the same transgression, the Christian practically declares, that he still loves, and has pleasure in that sin. Now, by loving that which is inexpressibly hateful, and which the Lord hateth with infinite abhorrence; and by counting that pleasant to his taste, which is of all things the most bitter, and which tendered to the Saviour's lips, the vinegar and gall; the believer renders it indispensably necessary, that the sweet and holy consolations of the Spirit, be suspended from him; in order that, he may be made to see, that his iniquity is most hateful, and to experience, that it is most bitter. P Jer. ii. 19. Gal. ii. 17. Moreover, the repetition of a transgression heightens the crime. As, in figures, the addition of one figure, makes the number ten times greater; so the Christian's repetition of the same sin, of a sin which he has often confessed, lamented, and resolved against; renders it heinous in a tenfold degree, and calls aloud for paternal chastisement. In such a case, he must be taught, not only by the anguish of the Redeemer's soul, in the garden and on the cross, but by the trouble of his own spirit, that sin is of all evils the greatest; and that his having fallen again and again, into the same offence, after he had received. the forgiveness of sins, renders his sin exceeding sinful'. And if, after he has, for his disobedience, been chastened with outward affliction, he, nevertheless, turns again to the same offence; this will, if infinite mercy prevent it not, inevitably expose him to inward distress, which is inexpressibly more dreadful and intolerable. Ah! when a man, who hath believed through grace, presumes to cast a propitious eye upon some easily besetting sin, and secretly to say, "Is it not a little one? and my soul shall live;" he is not aware, how effectually, he thereby robs his soul of holy comfort. If, after having often complained to the Lord, of his unbelief, pride, self-confidence, deadness, frowardness, censoriousness, and other evils; he still is ready, on almost every occasion, to gratify, if not to excuse and vindicate them; does he not hereby resemble the hypocrite? and is it not proper, that he should for a season, be deprived of the comfort of seeing, that he is a sincere believer; and also, that he should be left under the prevalence of perplexing fears, that he has hitherto been, and at present is, but a bypocrite? I do not say, that a man's relapsing for a time, again and again into the same transgression, proves him to be a hypocrite; for God hath nowhere promised such a degree of strength, to his people, during their state of imperfection, as will set them beyond the possibility of relapsing for a season, into the same offences: but I affirm, that a true Christian's doing so, makes him appear very like a hypocrite, obscures his evidences of sincerity, renders his condition inexpressibly dreadful, and exposes him to a very severe chastisement. Believer, if this be thy present condition, O apply, and without delay plead, this gracious promise, "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely;" and, in the faith of it, watch and strive with holy resolution, especially against "the sin which doth so easily beset thee." Know, that thy redeeming God hath made an unalterable, an eternal separation, between the love of sin, and the joy of salvation. O endeavour diligently, to become eminent, especially in that grace, which is more immediately the opposite of thy constitutional sin. Wouldst thou wish to keep down doubts and fears, and to keep up faith and comfort? Shun, O shun every occasion, and every appearance, especially of that sin". Be persuaded that, the pleasure of overcoming, even the most easily besetting sin, is inconceivably greater, than the pleasure of committing it. • Prov. xxiv. 16. t Hos. xiv. 4. 1 Thess. v. 22. FROM the foregoing particulars, the disconsolate believer may plainly see, that he has none to blame but himself, for his loss of holy consolation. When he is bewailing his want of peaceful tranquillity, or of holy joy, he must complain of none but himself. It is he himself that takes, and even forces away, his own comfort: for, by his aggravated sins, he hath rendered it necessary, that the Lord should hide his face from him. Indeed, he never sins against God, without sinning, at the same time, against his own soul. We read in the Scriptures, That we must forgive our enemies, but never in express terms, That we must forgive-our friends. The iniquities of God's own people, are the most provoking to him: and though he hath forgiven them all, as to the guilt of eternal wrath; yet, as in the case of Moses, he may refuse to forgive some of them, in respect of the guilt of paternal anger. The iniquity of others, "is marked before him ;" but the sin of Judah, is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond ." The friends of Christ, then, must be ever on their guard against sin, especially against wilful sin. Sinning wilfully, will assuredly weaken their hands, and bring trouble into their consciences. W Does a good man forfeit his holy comfort, by making his graces, or performances, or lively frames, his ground of right to trust in Jesus for salvation? He should hence learn the need that he has, to be daily exercising himself in mortifying the legal spirit, which remains in him. It is this, that prompts him to make his graces and du |