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At your baptifm, you drew near and promised by your fureties that you would obediently keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the fame all the days of your life. Most of you have again drawn near at the office of confirmation, and renewed the folemn promise and vow which were made in your name at your baptifm; ratifying and confirming the fame in your own perfons, and acknowledging yourselves bound to believe and to practise all thofe things which your fureties then undertook on your behalf. A large proportion of you have frequently drawn near to the facramental table; and have there profeffed repentance of your fins, and a full purpose to lead a new life, to follow the commandments of God, and thenceforth to walk in his holy ways. On this very day, and on every day when you have attended the public worship, you have drawn near and requested of God, that he would give to you that due fenfe of all his mercies, that your hearts may be unfeignedly thankful; and that you may shew forth his praife, not only with your lips but with your lives, by giving up yourselves to his fervice, and by walking before him in holinefs and rightcoufness all your days, through Jefus Christ our Lord. The Jews, in their

folemn

folemn profeffions, diffembled. My brethren, have you diffembled in yours?

Diffimulation, like other fins, admits of degrees. The heart may diffemble radically and entirely, fo as to be wholly hypocritical; fo as not to feel any portion of that love to God, of that faith, of that gratitude, of that fense of duty, of that purpose of obedience which the tongue expreffes. Or it may diffemble partially; feeling weakly and infufficiently those sentiments towards Him, which dwell with parade and feeming warmth upon the lips. The doom which awaits the complete hypocrite, cannot be doubted. Let the partial hypocrite beware, left, he at last come to the fame place of torment.]

II. Confider, in the next place, each of you for himself, how ftrong is the probability that you may be guilty, in a greater or a lefs degree, of diffembling in your heart before God. Remember the natural corruption of the human heart. The heart is originally averse to holiness, replenished with the feeds of every fin, and scarcely to be fearched or penetrated

by human eyes. The imagination of man's heart, faith the Scripture, is evil from his youth. The heart of the fons of men is full of evil. The heart is deceitful above all things and defperately wicked, Who can know N 3

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it (d)? Have not you reafon to dread that your heart thus fubjected originally to the dominion of fin, may not yet be purified from diffembling against God? Have you not reafon to dread that your heart, by nature thus ftored with duplicity, thus difficult to be difcerned, may deceive yourself? Reflect farther, of what multitudes the Scriptures make mention; multitudes exifting at different periods, and among the very people peculiarly favoured with the knowledge of true religion, and in the most impreffive manner dedicated to God; as having diffembled against Him, even fo as utterly to have departed from Him. At the time of the deluge, only eight perfons out of the whole human race were preferved by divine mercy from deftruction. When the Ifraelites were commanded to enter the land of Canaan ; Caleb and Joshua, together with Mofes and Aaron, and perhaps fome few individuals befides, were the only perfons of the whole congregation of Ifrael who remained faithful to the Lord of Hofts. When the Jews, to whom Jeremiah addreffed the words of the text, were commanded to render the promised obedience to their God, and to abftain from going down into Egypt; all the people, with the exception as it should feem

(d) Gen. viii. 21. Eccl. ix. 3. Jerem. xvii. 9.

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only of the prophet himself and his friend Baruch, obeyed not the voice of the Lord, to dwell in the land of Judah. When Jefus Chrift called the world to repentance, and manifested himself to be the Son of God by the moft decifive miracles: how few were there out of the multitudes which had flattered him with their lips who did not speedily prove that they had diffembled with Him in their hearts! How few who preferred to walk with him in the narrow way that leadeth unto life, compared with the crowds. which thronged the broad road that leadeth to deftruction! What is the cafe in the prefent day? I wish not to encourage myself or you in drawing invidious comparisons. But we cannot be blind to plain and notorious facts. We have in our hands the word of God, which defcribes the character of a true Chriftian. We have before our eyes the practice of the world. We cannot but compare the one with the other. When we compare them, we cannot but perceive how vaft is the number of profeffed Chriftians, who evince little of the spirit of true christianity in their principles and conduct: and therefore ftand felf-convicted as diffemblers in their hearts before the Moft High. When you call to remembrance the multitudes

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even among those who styled themselves the followers of God, which in ancient times the finfulness and deceitfulness of the heart betrayed into hypocrify: when you furvey the multitudes of his profeffed followers, which in this your day the fame finfulness and deceitfulness render hypocritical before Him: have you not reason for serious dread that you may yourself be found a diffembler in his fight?

III. I proceed to lay before you, and to exemplify by fome inftances, a fcriptural rule, which may affift you in discovering whether, if the Son of God were now to call you to judgement, you would be found diffemblers in your hearts.

Where your treafure is, faith our Lord, there will your heart be alfo (e). In other words, Whatever be the object which you judge and feel to be the most valuable; concerning that object will your heart fhew itself to be the moft fteadily and the moft deeply interefted. Apply this rule to yourself. Examine yourself by it. It is thus that you may discover with abfolute certainty whether your heart is fixed upon God, or whether it dif fembles before Him.

(e) Matt. vi. 21.

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