It is for want of sincere prayer, timely begun and steadily kept up, that people go on yielding to their passions, till conscience is seared as with a hot iron, and they come absolutely to glory in their shame. From beginning to end, therefore, of this wretched progress, the disgrace and the sin is all men's own; they must not accuse frail nature, when they had God's good SPIRIT to help them; they must not say it was forgetfulness of God, not wilful defiance of HIM, when they knew it was their own doing, in spite of many and many a warning, which brought them into such a state, that they could not well help forgetting HIM. Nobody ever, among Christians, except by his own fault, falls into such a condition, as that his glory should be in his shame.

But observe next what is mentioned as the root and ground of all this mischief: "They mind earthly things;" or as the words properly mean, "They are earthly-minded," not heavenlyminded: all their thoughts, plans, and wishes, savour of this world and not of the next. Observe, I say, this earthly temper, to what, of course, it will bring men's souls. It will make them "enemies of the Cross of CHRIST;" their end destruction, their belly their God, and their worst shame their pride and glory. To many it seems a matter of course, a thing quite to be taken for granted, that living in the world amongst other men, they should not only follow the customs, but have the mind, of the world: "they must do as other men do." And the Gospel of CHRIST is very far from encouraging men to affect singularity. We are not required to go out of the world, but continuing as we generally must in the world, to set our minds upon something better. If we will not, there is no remedy, we must become enemies of the Cross of CHRIST. It is worth our while to consider more distinctly, how this grievous effect follows upon that earthly mind, which so many seem to consider as a mere pardonable failing.

First, If people will give themselves up to the hopes and desires of this present world ;—if their hearts are entirely taken up with making a fortune, with enjoying themselves, or any thing else of the like kind, which, however important it may seem to us now, is sure after a little while to pass away and become as nothing;-they cannot possibly judge aright of the deep heinousness of sin before Gon, or of the infinite value

of what CHRIST has done to redeem us from its sad consequences. For instance, take a covetous man; the love of money and of self-indulgence has so worked itself into his very heart and mind, that it seems to him a matter of course to make that his rule in all things: he cannot, as it were, understand how any one should do otherwise. What the Scripture tells us, then, of God's anger against covetousness; the woe denounced on those restless men who add house to house and field to field; the sentence of St. Paul, when he says, that the love of money is the root of all evil, and of our SAVIOUR, representing the rich man in the parable as condemned for choosing his good things in this world :-all these things will seem overstrained, strange, and unaccountable, to the worldly man: he will not enter at all into them, and however he may confess all in words, as he must, or deny the Scriptures, his heart will not really assent to them. How then should he possibly have a right notion of the danger he has brought himself into, by indulging that kind of temper? and not knowing the danger, how can he value the deliverance as he ought? how can he be duly thankful for the unspeakable love of the Son of God, in pouring out His soul unto death to deliver him from those very sins?

But the Apostle says of this earthly mind, that it makes men not only indifferent, but direct enemies, to the Cross of CHRIST : that is, it makes them unwilling to receive into their hearts the true doctrine of JESUS our LORD, suffering and dying to reconcile us sinners to His FATHER. It does not always make men unwilling to confess this doctrine with their lips; on the contrary, I fear we must own it, by too frequent experience, possible, to talk well of the Great Atonement, and take a pleasure in showing to others how much men know on the subject, while their ordinary behaviour convicts them of still minding earthly things. For it is one thing to converse skilfully, and be ready with Scripture texts, about the Doctrine of the Cross, and it is another thing, to receive that blessed doctrine sincerely into your heart and conduct. An earthly-minded man may do the one, but he cannot in the nature of things do the other, without putting off his earthly mind. For what is it we mean, when we speak of receiving the Doctrine of the Cross into our heart?

We mean the same that our SAVIOUR did, when He bade those who would be His disciples "take up their Cross daily and follow HIM." We mean the same that the Church means, when it tells us that our profession is to be made like unto our SAVIOUR CHRIST; that "as He died and rose again for us, so should we, who are baptized, die from sin, and rise again unto righteousness." The change is so great, from an earthly mind to a mind according to the Cross of CHRIST, that it is likened to death itself and resurrection, the passing from one world to another. It is so painful in many respects, there being always corrupt nature to subdue, and too often bad habits to root out, that he who sets about it must make up his mind to take up his cross daily: that is, to suffer something daily for his SAVIOUR's sake. He must do what he would wish to leave undone, and leave undone what he would wish to do; must tear himself away from wrong pleasures, though evil custom may have made him feel as if he could not do without them; and must apply himself to irksome duties, in spite of a corrupt and indolent heart, which would fain persuade him he has done enough already. This must be done for CHRIST's sake; to please HIM who has performed and suffered such unspeakable things for us, and with a thorough conviction that without HIM, without His HOLY SPIRIT assisting our weak endeavours, nothing of ours can be good, right, or holy. This is receiving the doctrine of the Cross into our heart and mind and practice. And how should the struggle be other than severe, when a soul, entangled with the world, and accustomed to please itself, right or wrong, endeavours to enter on such a path as this? And how should those lost and miserable men, who determine to please themselves at any rate, and will not be weaned from their earthly mind; how should they be other than enemies and haters of that which so disturbs their false peace, and convicts them of being so much in the wrong?

Now, although I trust there are not many thus desperate and reckless in hatred of the Cross, it is a truth never to be forgotten, that the spirit which makes men such, the earthly minded, antiChristian spirit, is, and is active, more or less, in all. The flesh, the carnal and wicked mind, which is enmity against GOD, exerts itself, as much as ever we will let it, against the SPIRIT, the good

principle, which would teach them the mind of JESUS CHRIST. In whatever measure men give way to this, whether in one sin or in another, so far they set themselves against CHRIST, and become the enemies of His Cross; so far, as much as in them lies, they undo what HE intended, when He shed His blood for them. There are none so good, but they too often have occasion to lament this; for want of seriousness and diligence in prayer, the great concern of all is not so present to their recollection as it ought to be their thoughts wander more than they need; they do and say too many things, by which others, who perhaps look up to them, are encouraged in what is wrong and unchristian, and are led to doubt whether there is any thing in religion, seeing that those, who appeared to have so much of it, could allow themselves in such irreligious liberties.

But if occasional wanderings like these do so much harm to the good cause, what shall we say to that too ordinary case, in which the whole conduct of a Christian person is, and is known to be, no better than a mere minding of earthly things? St. Paul

has told us in the text what such are; they are the enemies of the Cross of CHRIST; and how they come to be so, it has been now my endeavour to explain. It is a serious thought for us, every one. There is a war going on in the world, between the Cross of CHRIST and the powers of darkness: Satan, on the one side, trying to keep in subjection the lost souls of sinful men; the Cross of CHRIST, the one sufficient remedy, held up on the other side, by Almighty Power and infinite Mercy, for all who are willing to lay hold of it. It is a warfare in which you cannot stand by, and take no part with either; it being expressly declared concerning it, "He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth."

Do not think, then, to go your own way, to please yourself and the world, to mind earthly things, and yet not to be against our SAVIOUR. True it is, if you resolutely take His part, and humbly depend on HIM for aid, you may very likely find the cost, even in this world, less than you expected. His good and gracious SPIRIT, given in answer to your fervent prayers, will smooth the way of duty for you, will make it practicable all along, and sooner or later, delightful too. But you must make up your mind to difficulties ; you must not think much of enduring hardness, as a good soldier

of JESUS CHRIST. Some pain and trouble you may have, in resisting the threats of ill-disposed men; still more, in disregarding their ridicule; and most and sharpest of all, in overcoming your own weak nature, and turning away from pleasant sins. Expect such things beforehand; prepare for them by prayer and good resolution; depend not at all on yourself, but on GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT to encounter them, and they need not overpower you when they come.

To conclude: If there be one thought above all others most apt to encourage and support a Christian in the severer parts of his earthly trial, it is surely the consideration, that, suffer what he will, if he suffer in the right spirit, for our SAVIOUR's sake and to His glory, that Divine SAVIOUR HIMSELF will reckon such a man as partaker of His sufferings, bearing His Cross after HIM. Again if there be any thing done in the Church which more than all other things should acquaint us with this best of comforts, any service which more than the rest would keep us close to our SAVIOUR's Cross,—it is the Sacrament of the LORD's Supper; the bread and wine which HIMSELF appointed to convey to true penitent hearts the full blessing of His death and sacrifice. How is it that any Christian, knowing himself as he must to be liable to sin and misery, can wilfully refuse the treasure of spiritual strength? How is it that one who knows himself a sinner, should be careless of coming to our REDEEMER for pardon? The explanation lies in two words: "They mind earthly things:" therefore in this, as in other respects, they behave themselves not as true believers, but as enemies of the Cross of CHRIST.

GOD grant that it be not so always: and as the best means of correcting so great an evil, may His grace be more and more thankfully received by those who have not yet forsaken His altar and may their lives shine so brightly before men, that others seeing their good works, may be won to follow their good example, and glorify their FATHER which is in Heaven.

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