striking difference commences, which will best be discerned by a separate delineation of the character of each.

I. The anguish, which persons of the first description feel, arises merely from a consciousness of guilt, and from a dread of threatened punishment.

In their case, there is no spiritual loathing of the blackness of sin; no horror of it, springing from the knowledge of its hatefulness to God; no indignation, no vehement desire, no zeal, no revenge'. The tempest in their hearts is conjured up solely by terror, unmixed terror. They feel nothing of filial sorrow at having offended their heavenly Father: they feel no compunction at having counted the blood of atonement an unholy thing: they feel no grief at having resisted the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit. Sin still reigns triumphant in their hearts: and they inwardly abhor that Law, which strikes at the very existence of their idol. Were all fears of future

1 2 Cor. vii. 11.

punishment removed, and were they assured beyond a possibility of doubt that mere annihilation would hereafter be their portion : these joyful tidings would wipe away all tears from their eyes, and would remove every uneasy thought from their heart. Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. They would return, with avidity, to their former vicious indulgences; regardless, whether their conduct was pleasing or displeasing to the Most High. It is not sin that they hate, but the wages of sin: it is not God that they love, but their own safety.

In vain is the wonderful goodness and long suffering of the Lord held up before the eyes of their understanding. The numberless blessings which they enjoy, the numberless evils from which they are exempt, the patience with which God has endured their perverseness, the opportunities which he has given them of repentance, the tender loving kindness with which he condescendingly solicits (as it were) a reconciliation with them; like Gallio, they care for none of these things. In vain for them,

doth the whole creation proclaim the beneficence of the great Creator. In vain for them, doth he cause the sun to shine, and the seasons to revolve in grateful vicissitude. In vain for them doth he, by the powerful machinery of nature, send the springs into the rivers, which run among the hills. In vain for them, by the united operation of various causes, doth he bring food out of the earth, and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make him a cheerful countenance, and bread to strengthen man's heart'. They will riot in these blessings even to satiety; the harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands2.

The mysterious act of mercy displayed in man's redemption may be described to them; but it excites no feeling of gratitude in their souls. The blameless life, the wonderful love, the bitter sufferings, and the lingering death,

1 Psalm civ. 10.

2 Isaiah v. 12.

of the Son of God are acknowledged in words indeed, but fail to touch their hearts. Though salvation be freely offered to them, though the mild voice of the Redeemer calls upon all who thirst to drink of the water of everlasting life; they angrily dash the proffered cup from their lips, and hate that mode of salvation which requires the dereliction of sin. In short, their understandings are convinced, but their hearts remain untouched. They see the danger of sin; but they love it and cleave to it: they perceive the necessity of a life of holiness; but they detest and abhor it. Like the devils, they believe and tremble: but, like them also, they fight indignantly against the Lord, and against his Christ. Even the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but they are dead to every sense of gratitude; they consider God in the light of a tyrant, who seeks to deprive them of their dearest enjoyments.

The power of the word, says Bp. Reynolds, toward wicked men is seen in affrighting of them there is a spirit of bondage and a savour

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of death, as well as a spirit of life and liberty, which goeth along with the word. Guilt is an inseparable consequent of sin; and fear of the manifestation of guilt. If the heart be once convinced of this, it will presently faint and tremble, even at the shaking of a leaf, at the wagging of a man's own conscience; how much more at the voice of the Lord, which shaketh mountains and maketh the strong foundations of the earth to tremble? It is not for want of strength in the word, or because there is stoutness in the hearts of men to stand out against it, that all the wicked of the world do not tremble at it; but merely their ignorance of the power and evidence thereof. The devils are stronger and more stubborn creatures than any man can be; yet, because of their full illumination and that invincible conviction of their consciences from the power of the word, they believe and tremble at it. The power of the ingraffed word towards wicked men is seen even in the rage and madness which it excites in them. It is a sign, that a man hath to do with a strong enemy, when he buckleth on all his harness, and calleth

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