mitted, than he saw it in its true light. The advantages which he had promised to himself, all fled away. He was overwhelmed with horror and despair.

But we need not go so far back for examples to our purpose. We may have recourse to living instances. My brethren, I would refer this matter to yourselves, and make you judges in the case before us. What fruit have you had in the ways of sin? To such of you, as being convinced of the evil of these ways, through grace have left them, and turned into other paths, to such I may confidently appeal. You, I feel assured, will readily confess, that you found no fruit in the ways of sin; that so long as you continued the servants of sin, you were strangers to true enjoyment; and that peace and happiness are only to be found in the service and the ways of God. But you are not the only witnesses to this truth. I would appeal to others also: to those who are still living in the ways of sin, and yielding themselves servants to unrighteousness. I would ask them, whether they find true happiness in their sinful courses? I would put the question in the text to their consciences, and say to each of them, "What fruit hast thou even now in these things?"

Come thou, O drunkard, who makest it a practice, whenever a convenient opportunity may offer to indulge thy sensual appetite, and to sink the man into the beast, stand forth, and in the face of this congregation, say whether thou findest the ways of drunkenness to be ways of pleasantness and peace? Do they yield thee enjoyment sufficient to make amends for the remorse and sorrow which attend them? Say, in the midst of thy guilty pleasures, dost thou not often feel a pang of conscience, a secret misgiving, a horrid foreboding, which embitters all thy seeming joy? And in the moments of sober recollection, what are thy feelings? Art thou not wounded with the thoughts of thy wretched life? Art thou not stung with anguish at the prospect of thy health destroyed, thy property injured, thy family ruined, through thy intemperance? Dost thou not fly many a time to riot and excess, in order to drown thy recollection, and silence thy conscience? We know, whether thou wilt own it or not, that all this is the case. We know that thou canst not deny, My ways are' not those of happiness.'

Can the envious, discontented, repining man speak better of the paths in which he

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

Will the passionate, revengeful, malig nant character come forward and tell us, that he is happy? Or if he did tell us so, could we believe him?

Let me turn to the slave of lust; or to the profane, ungodly scoffer; to the hardened, careless sinner; or to him, who secretly wrongs his neighbour, and by fraud or theft, strives to enrich himself. Let me separately ask each one of these, What fruit hast thou in these things?' He will surely answer, Peace is not with me.'

6

I would appeal to another man, to the idolater-not him who worships gods of wood and stone, but him who sets up his idols in his heart, and makes the world his god; who places his whole affections on the things of this life; has his treasure on earth; and labours only for the meat which perisheth. What fruit hast thou in these things? Do they yield thee true enjoyment? Do they not bring care and sorrow? Do they not frequently occasion disappointment and vexation? How often art thou unable to get the thing thou wantest? How constantly when gotten, does it fall short of thy wishes, and leave thee as it found thee, dissatisfied, and still wanting

something more? Restless and uneasy, thou art not, thou canst not be happy.

Thus we may feel confident, that there is not one among us, whose experience will not help to confirm the truth which we are considering; not one, whose conscience, if fairly suffered to speak, would not testify, that sin yields no present fruit. I ob

serve,

II. That sin is followed by shame.

"What fruit had ye then in those things, whereof ye are now ashamed?" Shame is that confusion of mind, which arises from a consciousness of guilt. While our first parents were free from sin, they knew not shame. But no sooner had they broken the divine commandment, and had brought guilt upon their souls, than they were ashamed. Conscious 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 such the case with every sin? Will it not sooner or later bring shame as its certain follower? Undoubtedly it will. For a time indeed, men may sin without feeling shame. They may even glory in their shame. They may be proud, and boast of that which ought to be their shame. 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 sin will be seen by all in its true colours. In that day how great will be the consternation of the wicked they will awake to shame and everlasting contempt. How will they be ashamed at the discovery of those sins, which they were not afraid to commit! When they see what sin is, how odious, how vile it is, with what unspeakable confusion 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 mountains to cover them. -But farther, even where sin is repented of and forsaken, it is still followed by shame. These things cannot be parted from each other. The persons spoken of in the text, though no longer the servants of sin, are represented as still ashamed of their former evil ways. Thus the penitent -Ephraim is described as "ashamed, yea, even confounded, because he did bear the reproach of his youth."+ When the sinner indeed is brought to see something of the number and greatness of his sins; that they are utterly without excuse; that they have been committed against a good and holy God, who has been loading him with benefits and * Daniel, xii. 2. +Jeremiah, xxxi. 19.