luxuriance of the mould, it too quickly disseminated and sprung up. So that having taken root, there was no source whence the tender grass might be supplied with nourishment; and of consequence it must necessarily in a little time wither and die, Agreeably therefore to the figure, our Lord, in his explanation of the parable, speaks of these hearers as having no root in themselves.

And such precisely is the case of the sort of professors we are discoursing of. They have no principle of religion in their hearts. Their notions are not properly digested, they do not disseminate themselves in the mind, take fast hold on the conscience, and incorporate, if I may so express myself, with the practical powers of the soul. The word preached does not profit them, not being mixed with faith,' or, as perhaps it might be rendered, because they are not united by faith to the word a, They hear the word, affix some general idea to it, admit it all to be true without either consideration or reflection, feel a confused tumultuous agitation of the passions, and so are instantly precipitated into action. But their understanding is not duly enlightened, their judgment is not rightly informed, their conscience is not thoroughly awakened, their will not subdued, nor their affections sanctified. In short, their religion is little else than an airy phantom, a wild reverie, an idle passing dream. Now this being the case, is it to be wondered that in a very little time they fall away?-But this sad event is owing likewise,

2. To a concurrence of circumstances from without unfavourable to the profession of religion. These, in the parable, are all comprehended under the idea of the sun's scorching the springing grass; and, in our Saviour's exposition of it, are described by the terms tribulation, persecution, affliction, and temp tation, all which arise because of the word, or are occasioned by it.

In the early age of Christianity, it was scarce possible for a man to profess the religion of Jesus, without exposing himself thereby to a great temporal inconvenience and distress. Of this our Saviour frequently warned his disciples, telling them that if they would follow him, they must be content for his sake to part with houses, lands, goods, wives, children, and their dearest en

a Heb. iv. 2.

joyments; yea, that they must be willing to suffer reproach, imprisonment, and death. And what he foretold came to pass; Through much tribulation they entered into the kingdom of God a. And this tribulation arose because of the word. The doctrine of the cross was to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness: its simplicity and purity created an aversion to it, which nothing short of divine power could subdue. So that the implacable resentments of the former urged them to every possible exertion, in order to extirpate the Christian name: and the unsufferable pride of the latter begat in their breasts a sovereign contempt for all who assumed it. Wherefore the professors of this new religion, as it was called, were sure to meet with more or less obloquy and persecution. And such treatment, not failing to bring their sincerity and constancy to the test, soon produced a revolution in those whose profession had nothing to support it but a mere passion for novelty. Their confessions and vows, fair and promising as they might seem, quickly withered beneath the scorching beams of persecution.

The like event hath happened in regard of an infinite number of pretended Christians since those times. And few, even of those whose enthusiasm has risen to the highest pitch, have had firmness enough, merely for the sake of acquiring a splendid name, to renounce all that was dear to them in this world. But the profession of the gospel now flourishes under the mild auspices of liberty, and men may avow their religious principles, not only without danger of being called to account by the magistrate, but with little hazard of suffering any material reproach and abuse from their neighbours. Yet, fashionable as it may be in some periods and countries to assume the appearance of religion, it is still true that he who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. A firm attachment to the simplicity of divine truth, and a conscientious observance of its precepts, will, especially under certain circumstances, expose a man to the illnatured censures of some, and the cold shy indifference of others.

Now, whatever the affliction or temptation may be which ariseth because of the word, the mere nominal professor, who has not ballast enough in himself to keep him steady, will be

a Acts xiv, 22.

quickly overpowered, sunk, and destroyed. Instances of this. sort are too numerous to be particularly recited. How often has the sneer of a profane acquaintance, a trifling affront from a fellow-Christian, or a sudden resistance to a mere fancy or humour, become the occasion of a man's rending himself from his religious connexions, and in the end totally renouncing his profession! Puffed up with pride and conceit, and unprincipled by the grace of God, he stumbles at every stone or pivot he meets, till at length he falls, and falls to rise no more again. And if little offences shall produce this effect, it is not to be thought strange that the mighty storms of adversity, arising now from this, and then from that quarter, should dash to pieces the shallow bark of an empty profession on the rock of infidelity; or that the brisk gales of prosperity should sink it in the quicksands of worldly dissipation and pleasure.

Examples of such miserable apostates there are many; we will instance only a few during our Saviour's personal ministry here on earth, and a little after his ascension into heaven. There was an occasion on which he benevolently fed five thousand people, with a few barley loaves and fishes. The splendour of this miracle so sensibly struck the passions of the multitude, that in an ecstasy of admiration and wonder they cried out,This surely is the Messiah, the prophet that should come. Let us take him by force, and make him a king.' Thus instantly and loudly do they profess their faith in Christ; nor would they have hesitated a moment to pronounce the severest censure upon any one of their number, who should have dissented from the proposal. But no moral change having passed on their hearts, what is the result? The next temptation that arises shakes their faith in Christ, dissolves their attachment to him, and puts an end to their profession. On the morrow, piqued at our Lord's freedom in reproving them for their worldliness, and offended at the purity and sublimity of his doctrine, they murmur at him, complain of his sayings as hard and unintelligible, deny that he came down from heaven, and, in a word, go back and walk no more with him.

Of the same character were the men of Nazareth. When our Lord entered their synagogue, and discoursed to them upon a passage from the Old Testament, they fastened their eyes upon

him, bore witness to what he said, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. They were all attention, and seemed deeply affected with his mild and persuasive reasoning. But alas! the scene is soon changed. They urge him to work a miracle among them. He refuses to gratify their curiosity, representing to them their real character, which was like that of their perverse and iniquitous ancestors. Upon which, filled with wrath, they seize him, lead him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, and would have cast him down headlong from thence, had he not passed through the midst of them, and so escaped a.

No less extraordinary was the wretched enthusiasm of the people at Jerusalem b. One day we see them leading our Saviour in triumph into the city, crying, Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!' and the next, at the persuasion of the chief priests and elders, with unexampled cruelty demanding of Pilate his crucifixion. Who could have supposed a change so marvellous should take place in so short a time? The truth is, the real character of the people was the same the one day as the other: but objects striking their imagination now differently from what they did then, these very extraordinary effects ensued.

In fine, the Laodiceans, at least many of them, were notoriously of the character we have been describing. It is not to be doubted, when the gospel was first preached among them, they received it with joy. The ground was stony, but having a little earth upon it, the seed met with a favourable reception. It forthwith sprung up, and produced a verdure pleasing to the eye, and likely to be followed with a fair harvest. But alas! having no root, and the sun of worldly prosperity arising upon it, it quickly withered. It is easy to imagine the rapturous pleasure these people felt at the first hearing of this new and marvellous doctrine: and probably for a time it continued, and they brought forth some fruits answerable to it. But it was not long ere they relapsed into their former state. Their hearts not being established with grace, and the world with its flattering pleasures wantonly caressing them, their joy declined, their zeal abated, and they became neither cold nor hot. What a Luke iv. 16-30. b Matt. xxi. 1-11,

a strange reverse! How is the gold become dim and the fine gold changed! Thou sayest, such is the language of him who searched their hearts, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked a.

Nor is it, use to so

Nor are characters of this description confined to the first age of Christianity: they have existed in every age and place where the gospel has been preached since that time; in Romish and Reformed churches, in this and other countries, in the establishment and among dissenters. Indeed, enthusiasm is not to be considered as the offspring of religion, or as peculiar to the religious of any denomination; it is the result of a particular cast of mind, or temperature of animal spirits; and to be met with among men of all professions of life. when held under reasonable restraints, without its ciety. The excessive ardour, for instance, of a brave general, has on certain occasions produced efforts, which, though scarcely reconcileable with military skill, have been followed with the most beneficial consequences. And if Christians, whose religion holds up to their view the grandest objects, and the most animating prospects, are sometimes transported almost beyond themselves; it ought not to be thought strange: nor will any evil accrue from it, but on the contrary, much good, both to themselves and others. But when one of an unprincipled heart assumes, under the influence of a heated imagination, the character of a man of religion, every wild and dangerous extravagance is to be apprehended, nor can there remain a doubt that the event of his profession will be such as has been represented. Religion, however, is not to be blamed for these evils, of which it is no way the cause, though it may be the occasion: they are to be set down to the account of a fatal but too frequent combination of a depraved heart with an impetuous natural temper.

Thus have we considered our Saviour's striking description of the second class of hearers, namely, the ENTHUSIASTIC➡ their character previous to their hearing the word—the effect it instantly produces on their mind-their apostacy—and the causes of it. It remains that we now make a few reflections.

a Rev. iii. 16, 17.