472 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO world worketh death." Hence it appears, that there are two sorts of sorrow springing from opposite sources, God and the world ; the one a godly sorrow, and the other the sorrow of the world. Learn to dis- tinguish them by their various causes and effects ; so shalt thou avoid the danger of mistaking one for the other. The sorrow of the world which many cover with the cloak of religion, arises from fear of contempt, . dread of poverty, secret jealousy, revenge dissatisfied, love disappointed, baffled schemes, losses in business, unkindness of friends, provocation of enemies, or the death of some idolized relative. Nay, this sorrow may sometimes spring from a mixture of self - righteous pride and slavish fear. Some cannot bear to be robbed of their fond hopes of meriting heaven by their imaginary good works: they lose all patience, when they see their best righteousness brought to light, and exposed as filthy rags : they are cut to the heart when they hear, that their apparent good deeds deserve punishment as well as their black enormities : or, like condemned malefactors, they dread the con- sequences of their crimes, while they feel little or no horror for the crimes themselves. Exceedingly fatal are the effects of this sorrow, in the person whom it overcomes : their indignant hopes, unable to bear either disappointment, contradiction, or condemnation, rise against second causes, or against the decrees of Providence ; fret at the strictness of the law, or holiness of the Lawgiver ; and pine away with uninterrupted discontent. Hence, spurning at advice, direction, and consolation, they wring their hands, or gnaw their tongues with anguish; impatience works them up into stupid sullenness, or noisy mur- muring : they complain, that their punishment is greater than they can bear ; and, imagining they are more severely dealt with than others, they hastily con- clude, ` Behold, this evil is from the Lord ; why should I wait for him any longer ?" Thus black despair seizes upon their spirits : and, if grace does not inter- pose, they either live on to fill up the measure of their
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