When people of this description pretend to inquire what is their duty, their real design is to evade the obligations of it. And they often succeed to persuade themselves that they are free from the obligations of it. But few others are deceived. The veil of the covering spread over their designs and views, is opaque only to themselves; to others it is transparent, and leaves them without excuse. Frequent instances of this unfairness are visible in the world. When people make themselves easy and secure, without faith which works by love and purifies the heart--without repentance which mourns for sin as dishonorable to God, and in itself an evil thing, and a bitter, and without devotedness to the service of God, as well as a reliance on his grace in Christ, no matter what they substitute in the place of these graces, all is of no avail; hope is built on the sand. That many of these vain substitutes are to be found among men, Who is insensible? When fear hath this effect, it leads down to the fiery lake. III. Sometimes _fear puts men upon duty in order to atone for sin and merit the divine favor_. Afraid of God's judgments, they set themselves to do commanded duties, and place their dependence on these doings of their own. Duties done by men have nothing meritorious in them. The design of many things which God hath enjoined is to serve as a schoolmaster to bring men to Christ. None are intended to save by any virtue in them. By nothing which man can do is God made his debtor. Neither doth ought done by man recommend to the divine favor if perverted and made the ground of hope toward God. The sinner's best recommendation to the divine favor is a sense of his own demerit, which leads him humble and self abased to cast himself on grace in a mediator. His most prevalent prayer is that made by the publican--"God be merciful to me a sinner." Sinners are invited to the Savior, and encouraged to hope in him--"Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth. It is a faithful saying, that Christ came into the world to save sinners." But he saves only those who receive and trust in him. If we go about to establish our own righteousness, relying on our own doings as the ground of our acceptance with God, he will give to us according to our works --"Behold all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks; walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled: This shall ye have from mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow." * *Isaiah l. 11.