39Q Walking by Faith, not by Sight, S ER M. hear, but they do not underhand; which XV. doth not proceed from an incapacity, for then it could not be imputed as a fault, but from çarelefs inattention ; the caufe whereof generally is, that vicious inclinations, by habitual indulgence, have got the äfcendar}t in the heart, rendering it infenfible of the beauty and the great advantages of religion ; but whatever the caufe be, neglecting to apply its thinking powers to the confidera- tion of important fubjets intelligibly pro- pofed, is properly the guilt and the reproach of a reafonable creature ; and the prophet Ifaiah had reafon to call upon tranfgrefï'ors to Phew themf lees men, by bringing to mind or feriou f ly attending to the proper motives of action ; for that is an obligation from which rational and moral agents can never difcharge themfelves. And this I take to be an efï'ential ingredient in the crime of unbelief, which is reprefented in the golpe! as fo heinous, and whereby fo many (inners come fhort of falvation. idly, That faith may be the governing principle of our lives, it muff be rooted in the affections as well as the understanding, and the objets of it have the full approba- tion and confent of the mind. The leaft refleaion will enable us to diftinguifh be- tween
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