June 23

“Ephraim is a cake not turned — Hosea vii. 8.

r?i CAKE not turned is uncoolccd on one side; and so I Ephraim was, in many respects, untouched by divine grace; though there was some partial obedience, there was very much rebellion left. My soul, I charge thee, gee whether this be thy case. Art thou thorough in the things of God? Has grace gone tbi-ough the very centre of thy being, so as to bo felt in its divine operations in all thy powers, thy actions, thy words, and thy thoughts? To be sanctified, spirit, soul, and body, should be thine aim and prayer; and although sanctification may not be perfect in thee anywhere in degree, yet it n)ust be universal in its action; there must not be the appearance of holiness in one place and reigning sin in another, else thou, too, wilt be a cake not turned.

A cake not turned is soon hurncd on the side nearest the fire; and although no man can have too much religion, there are some who seem burned black with bigoted zeal for that part of truth which they have received, or are charred to a cinder with a vain-glorious Pharisaic ostentation of those religious performances which suit their humor. The assumed appearance of superior sanctity frequently accompanies a total absence of all vital godliness. The saint in public is a devil in private. He deals in flour by day and in soot by night. The oake which is bu-rned on one side, is dough on the other.

If it be so with wie, 0 Lord, turn me! Turn my unsanctified nature to the fire of Thy love, and let it feel the sacred glow; and let my burned side cool a little, while I learn my own weakness and want of heat when I am removed from Thy heavenly flame. Let me not be found a double-minded man, but one entirely under the powerful influence of reigninii grace; for well I know if I am left like a cake unturned, and am not on both sides the subject of Thy grace, I must b« consumed forever amid everlasting burnings