hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day;" and since preaching is one principal method, by which the words of Christ are now made known to men, how can they hope to escape the dreadful consequences of this contempt, who make light of those words, when set before them by the preachers of the gospel?

I cannot complain that there is a general indifference to the hearing of the word of God; I am rather surprised to see how many assemble together on the Lord's day for that purpose; particularly when I am sure that a large portion must constantly hear themselves condemned, and therefore, I should have thought, would be apt to take offence, and be driven away. What can I conclude therefore, but that numbers, though they attend, either do not hear at all, or hear with very unconcerned minds, or do not really know how to profit by hearing?

Our Saviour prefaces an important observation which he wished to impress upon the minds of those about him, with these words, "Hearken unto me every one of you," and with good reason, for a great many even though collected together for the professed purpose of being addressed, actually do not hear what is said to them; their minds are occupied with other thoughts; they

are in the midst of their business, or their pleasures, or their cares; one calculating his gains, another mourning over his losses; one feasting on the recollection of past, or on the anticipation of future joys; another lost in a perplexing maze of anxieties and troubles; another merely following the wild rovings of an idle imagination. How busily is the devil at work, diverting their minds, by every contrivance, from the solemn subjects to which their attention is required, lest they should hear something that would awaken them from their sleep, and convert them from their sins. Strive my brethren, strive earnestly against these distracting thoughts; by indulging them, you are depriving yourselves of all chance of religious instruction and improvement; you might as well be any where else, as here, if your minds are not intent on the business of this place; if you are thinking of your farming concerns, you might as well be labouring in your fields, or buying and selling in the market: if you are calculating your gains or losses in trade, you might as well be at home casting up your accounts, or dealing out goods to your customers: if you are meditating how you shall provide for yourselves and your families, it is just the same as if you were hard at work to earn your daily wages: if you are contemplating your enjoyments and re

creations, how are you better employed than if you were at a feast or a dance? The only difference in these cases is, that those who see you, give you credit for being better engaged, but they are deceived. They do not know the truth, they judge only from the outward appearance; in the sight of God, your occupation is that which is passing in your minds, you cannot suppose that He, who seeth your hearts, accounts you to be employed in any work of religion. Reflect then upon the mockery of which you are guilty, and which He clearly perceives, though your neighbours cannot, when you devote the time which you spend in this place to affairs so very different from those in which you seem to be interested and engaged. Do you think it is no matter how often you are warned and exhorted in vain, how often you turn a deaf ear when called in the name of God to consider your ways, and be wise? This is the very sin, which is so severely threatened in that well known passage in the Proverbs; "Wisdom crieth without, she uttereth her voice in the streets, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity, and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you, because I have called and ye refused, I

have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded, but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh." Let me beseech those of you, who may be conscious that you deserve this expostulation and rebuke, to read, by and bye, the whole passage, and meditate upon it seriously; it is in Prov. i. 20, to the end. Treasure it up in your memory, and pray to God that you may learn from it to fear the danger, and to avoid the guilt, of despising the calls so frequently addressed to you.

But Christ in my text does not call upon the people only to "hearken" unto him, but also to "understand" what he says, and this of course is a most essential point. Vain indeed is all the most attentive hearing without it; but what does the word "understand" signify in this place? does it mean, merely that one is to be able to comprehend in his head the doctrine which is delivered? that is no doubt quite necessary, and must be the first thing aimed at; because if you do not know the sense of what is said, you cannot proceed to make any use or application of it: and therefore our Saviour's disciples, when they did not perceive the meaning of his parables, used to come to him afterwards in private, for an

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explanation; and should take heed, that you do not listen in a careless, slovenly way, as if you were indifferent whether you understood or not, but should take some trouble to fix your attention, that the words spoken may not pass by you, as an idle unmeaning sound. However, although this signification of the word "understand" comes first in order, it is by no means first in importance-this is the work of the head but in religion, the principal business is assigned to the heart, and therefore there is a method of understanding with the heart, which is of far greater consequence than merely understanding with the head. Our blessed Lord says of those unprofitable hearers, to whom he so often addressed his gracious words in vain, "in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith "By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive; for this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." You see the complaint here is, that the people did not understand with their heart. In the parable of the sower, the person to whom the word of God is preached