Come thou, O drunkard, who makest it thy practice, whenever a convenient opportunity may offer to indulge thy fenfual appetite, and to fink the man into the beaft, ftand forth, and in the face of this congregation fay, whether thou findeft the ways of drunkenness to be ways of pleasantnefs and peace? Do they yield thee enjoyment fufficient to make amends for the remorfe and forrow, which attend them? Say, in the midst of thy guilty pleasures, doft thou not often feel a pang of conscience, a fecret misgiving, a horrible foreboding, which embitters all thy feeming joy? And in the moments of fober recollection, what are thy feelings? Art thou not wounded with the thoughts of thy wretched life? Art thou not ftung with anguifh at the prof pect of thy health deftroyed, thy property injured, thy family ruined, through thy intemperance? Doft thou not fly many a time to riot and excefs, in order to drown thy recollection, and filence thy confcience? We know, whether thou wilt own it or not, that all this is the cafe. We know that thou canst not deny, My ways are not.

"thofe of happiness.'

Can the envious, difcontented, repining man fpeak better of the paths, in which he

'

walks? Does he find them " paths of pleafantnefs and peace?"

Will the paffionate, revengeful, malignant character come forward and tell us, that he is happy? or if he did tell us fo, could we believe him?

Let me turn to the flave of luft; or to the profane, ungodly fcoffer; to the hardened, carelefs finner; or to him, who fecretly wrongs his neighbour, and by fraud or theft, ftrives to enrich himfelf. Let me feparately afk each one of thefe, What fruit haft thou in these things?' He will furely anfwer, Peace is not with me.'

I would appeal to another man, to the Idolator not him, who worships gods of wood and ftone, but him. who fets up his idols in his heart ses the world his god-who inle affections, on

the things of this ife, has his treafure on earth; and labours only for the meat which perifheth. What fruit haft thou in thefe things? Do they yield thee true enjoyment? Do they not bring care and forrow? Do they not frequently occafion difàppointment and vexation? How often art thou unable to get the thing thou wanteft? How conftantly when gotten, does it fall fhort of thy wifhes, and leave thee as it found thee, diffatisfied and still wanting fomething more? Reftlefs

and uneafy, thou art not, thou canst not be happy.

Thus we may feel confident, that there is not one among us, whofe experience will not help to confirm the truth, which we are confidering not one, whofe confcience, if fairly fuffered to fpeak, would not testify, that fin yields no prefent fruit. I observe, II. That fin is followed by fhame.

"What fruit had ye then in those things, whereof ye are now afhamed?" Shame is that confufion of mind, which arises from a consciousness of guilt. While our firft parents were free from fin, they knew not Thame. But no fooner had they broken the divine commandment, and had brought guilt upon their fouls, than they were afhamed. Confcious of what they had done, fearing detection, and not able to face the ALMIGHTY, they hid themselves among the trees of the garden. And is not fuch the cafe with every fin? Will it not fooner or later bring fhame, as its certain follower? Undoubtedly it will. For a time indeed, men may fin without feeling fhame. They may even glory in their fhame. They may be proud and boaft of that, which ought to be their fhame. But it will not be always thus. A day is coming, when every thing, even "every hidden thing of

darkness," will be brought to light: when fin will be seen by all in its true colours. In that day how great will be the confternation of the wicked! they "will awake to fhame, and everlasting contempt *." How will they be ashamed at the discovery of thofe fins, which they were not afraid to commit! When they see what fin is, how odious, how vile it is, with what unspeakable confufion will they be overwhelmed! They will be unable to look their judge in the face. Conscious guilt will stop their mouths. They will call on the rocks and the mountains to cover them.-But farther, even where fin is repented of and forfaken, it is ftill followed by fhame. Thefe things carnot be parted from each other. The perfons fpoken of in the text, though no longer the fervants of fin, are represented as ftill afhamed of their former evil ways. Thus the penitent Ephraim is defcribed as " afhamed, yea, even confounded, because he did bear the reproach of his youtht." When the finner indeed is brought to fee fomething of the number and greatnefs of his fins; that they are utterly without excufe; that they have been committed against a good and holy God, whe has been loading him with benefits and

* Daniel, xii. 2. + Jeremiah, xxxi. 19..

mercies; can he be otherwife than afhamed at the recollection of his folly and guilt? Was not this the cafe with the prodigal, when calling to mind his father's love and kindnefs, and his own base ingratitude, he felt that he was no longer worthy to be called a fon? Is not this the ftate to which the Lord declares that he will bring his people Ifrael, when they fhall" remember their own evil ways, and their doings which were not good, and fhall lothe themselves in their own fight for their iniquities;" and fhall be confounded, and shall never open their mouths any more because of their fhame, even when He is pacified towards them for all that they have done *?" What do we fuppofe was the state of Peter's mind, when he faw his guilt in having denied his Master? How great a fhare muft fhame have had in the painful feelings of his foul, when "he went out and wept bitterly t?" So conftantly is fin followed by fhame.

III. Sin ends in death.

"What fruit had ye then in those things, whereof ye are now afhamed? For the end thofe things is death." St. James gives the fame account of the matter. "When luft has conceived, it bringeth forth fin;

• Jeremiah, xxxi.19. Ezekiel, xvi. 63. xxxvi. 31. + Matth. xxvi. 75.