There are some circumstances in the confession of Achan, marking the progress of sin, from its first entrance into the heart, to its outward commission, which may serve as the history of almost every offence committed against the law of God, the soul of the transgressor, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Bear with me while I lay them before you; that, under the teaching and influence of the Holy Spirit, ye may at once discover the danger by which ye are beset, and the means of escape from it.

1. An undue familiarity with things forbidden was the first cause of Achan's downfall. "I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight." That man must walk through life without eyes, or passions, without the exercise of reason, or the kindlings of affection, who, amidst the numberless evils of this perverted world, never looks upon, nor is solicited by an occasion of sin. Every one must rather pass, like the Israelites among the spoils of Jericho, through objects strongly exciting him to offend against the decree of God, and take possession of some gratification, which will bring the wrath and curse of the Lord upon him. Temptations to sin will look bright and captivating, as the garment, and the silver and gold glittered before the eye of Achan. And that same deceitfulness of sin, which opens the eye wide to gaze upon the exterior attraction of an accursed thing, by some mysterious mechanism, closes the ear to the rebukes of conscience, or to the denunciations of God. The eye is the great inlet to that mischief which works upon the heart. There is no safety, except in imitating Job, by making a covenant with our eyes, that we should not admit evil desires through them, to pollute and defile us. The senses must be kept under due restraint; and the prayer of David should often rise to our lips: "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken me in thy way." Let the Lord, O Christian, be always before thee, if thou wouldest walk safely. Then "let thine eyes look right onward, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee." Turn neither to the right hand, nor to the left, lest "the lust of the eyes" ensnare thee.

2. Inattention to this important caution, occasioned a mournful progress in the guilt of Achan. Undue admiration was productive of sinful desire. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them." The moral law of God forbids the commission of all evil, whether against him, or our neighbour. The spiritual explanation of the Saviour has also shown, that the commandments may be broken, without the actual transgression; that murder may be the enmity of the spirit, and adultery the impurity of the heart. But even the literal precept discovers the mind of God in this respect: and

while the first nine commandments forbid, with his voice, any unholy practice; the tenth, which cries, "Thou shall not covet," lays the axe to the root of all improper desire; enjoining us, in "whatsoever state we are, therewith to be content," without anxious wishes for any thing which our heavenly Father has seen good to deny.

“Let the words of

No part of the divine law, separate from its blessed office of being a schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ, discovers a greater manifestation of divine love, than the tenth commandment, whether it respects our own peace, the welfare of our neighbour, the common good, or the glory of God. If sinful desires be entertained, they must pollute and distress. the mind, even though the course of providence, or the operations of restraining grace, should hinder the perpetration of the contemplated sin. The great majority of men, however, practise upon themselves a gross and fatal delusion, by thinking nothing evil which is confined within the recesses of the heart. If the sovereignty of God were confined by those limits which bound human authority, and could take cognizance of external disobedience only, such a view might be correct. But as "the Lord seeth not as man seeth;" as he "looketh upon the heart," such an opinion merely leads those who entertain it, to sport themselves with their own deceivings. That professor of the Gospel of Christ, who would adorn the doctrine of God his Saviour in all things, and avoid the peril of making shipwreck of faith, and of a good conscience, must pray "that all carnal affections may die in him, and that all things belonging to the Spirit may live and grow in him." my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer!" It must not suffice him, that the stream of evil gushes not forth to the light: its fountain must be dried up in the heart. Thence proceed evil thoughts, the leaders of all that terrible army of mischief, sin, and sorrow, which our Lord Jesus Christ has so forcibly described. Here then must be the main conflict of a Christian. Little does that man know of spiritual warfare, of his own deceitful heart, of the divine requirement, or of his causes of danger, who does not feel that safety and hope depend, under the salvation of the Cross, upon the courage and constancy with which the battle is fought against the bosom-sins that do most easily beset him. It is no easy task to take the child of our cherished, though. sinful desire, as Abraham took his son, and to offer it upon the altar of a divine command. That unholy affection will not lie patiently upon. the wood, and beneath the knife; nor resign itself to death, as a lamb that is brought to the slaughter, which is dumb. It will resist, remonstrate, plead. If it should see the tempted spirit in earnest for its extermination, it will only desire, as it were, a respite from present execu tion; and such a delay as Jephtha's daughter required of her father:

"Let me alone awhile, and then do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth." Beware, however, that ye listen not to the seduction. If any unhallowed desire have arisen within you, go in prayer to God, through the mediation of Jesus, for the almighty help of his Spirit, to enable you to subdue it: and, in the sufficiency of that grace, rest not day nor night, until it be brought into subjection to the will of your God and Saviour. Carnal nature may plead for its indulgence, as Lot for Zoar, "Is it not a little one?" But that wisdom which the Holy Ghost teacheth, will show you, that as the least neglected spark may enkindle a conflagration, to lay waste a city, so may an unobserved lust burst at length into a flame, which may consume the present and eternal peace of the offender. All our desires, if we wish them not to lead us into sin, must be kept in entire obedience to the revealed will and law of God. If they usurp a dominion over us, they instantly become our remorseless tyrants. While Hagar was a servant, no act of undutifulness is charged upon her; but when she is given into Abraham's bosom, she taunts the patriarch's wife, disturbs his house, and gains an influence over him, so strong, that, until enjoined by the Most High himself, he cannot consent to part with her. One security alone remains" Keep thy heart with all diligence." Imitate Nehemiah, therefore, when he and the Captains of Judah were endeavouring to rebuild Jerusalem, while their enemies conspired to hinder them. "We made our prayer unto God, and set a watch against them day and night." A Christian should pass through the temptations around him, as Israel wished to pass through the highway of Edom, turning not aside, but hastening towards the promised land, with his eye and heart so fully occupied by the glory and joy set before him, as to have no desire for perishing vanities. Such a heavenly mindedness is the best remedy for the love of sinful things. He only who has thus learned to "walk by faith," and to "count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus" his Saviour, will be able to escape the pollutions that are in the world through lust. He only who can hope, that by the grace of adoption, his body has become the temple of the Holy Ghost, a habitation of God through the Spirit, will be anxious to preserve himself from all defilement. Only such a man is happy in his life, and in his hope: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

3. It rarely happens, that evil rests with the indulgence of desire. Satan is too malignant an enemy to leave the transgressor, until evil be consummated. "Lust when it is conceived bringeth forth sin." Such was the experience of Achan. Unholy desire led him into flagrant transgression. "I saw these things, I coveted them, and took them." When the great enemy of man has led captive the soul in the bonds of any evil concupiscence, his greatest work is done. Some promise of

secrecy, some assurance of delight, some favourable opportunity, some removal of restraints, or some sudden and violent temptation, will be cast before the endangered bond-servant; and he will be contented, nay, think himself in the way of peace and happiness, to do the bidding of his dreadful master, and earn the wages of sin, eternal death. As Christ formed in a believer's heart is the principle of life, and the hope of glory, so evil desires formed in the mind of an ungodly man, will, in all probability, be nurtured into actual wickedness, and become practical presumptuous sin. Behold their consequences in Achan's trespass, and in the circumstances which led to its commission; and be warned against them. Avoid the persons, the places, the amusements, the books, which would lead you into temptation. If seduction should assail you, endeavour to realize the presence of the Lord, the terrors, and the mercies of his love. So that when the tempter aims his fiercest and most fiery dart, you may each say, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

(To be concluded in our next.)

COMPARATIVE DIVINITY.

POSITIVE divinity, many have some knowledge of; but few know any thing of comparative divinity. I never saw but one tract on this head; a sketch of which it may be of use to subjoin. In a Christian believer, love sits upon the throne, which is erected in the inmost soul; the love of God and man, which fills the whole heart, and reigns without a rival. In a circle near the throne are all holy tempers; long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, fidelity, temperance; and if any other were comprised in the mind which was in Christ Jesus. In an exterior circle are all the works of mercy, whether to the souls or bodies of men. By these we exercise all holy tempers; by these we continually improve them, so that all these are real means of grace, although this is not commonly adverted to. Next to these are those that are usually termed works of piety: reading and hearing the word; public, family, private prayer; receiving the Lord's Supper; fasting, or abstinence. Lastly, that his followers may the more effectually provoke one another to love, holy tempers, and good works, our blessed LORD has united them together in one body, the Church, dispersed all over the earth; a little emblem of which, of the Church universal, we Kave in every particular Christian congregation. This is that religion which our Lord has established upon earth, ever since the descent of the Holy Ghost, on the day of Pentecost. This is the entire connected system of Christianity; and thus the several parts of it rise one above another, from the lowest point, the assembling of ourselves together, to the highest, love enthroned in the heart.-Wesley's Sermons.

VOL. V. Third Series. APRIL, 1826.

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EXTENT OF POPERY IN ENGLAND.

To the Editor of the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.

THE following List of Popish Chapels and Priests in the Four Districts of England, is collected from the Appendix to the "Laity's Directory," for 1826; published," with the authority of the Vicars Apostolic in England," by Keating and Brown, London.