Ezekiel 9:4. "And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof."

(Preached in Walsham Le Willows Congregation Church, Suffolk, England)

The dispositions of the child of God are, like those of other men, dictated by the matters they are contemplating or the environment in which they are found.

However, the frame of mind that such circumstances bring about differs greatly from that of other men. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he," Proverbs 23:7. When eternal things are contemplated by the ungodly man he either sets the matter aside in a careless way or is filled with dark fears.

Not so the child of God. "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better," Phil 1:23.

Nothing sets forth this contrast between the godly and the ungodly better than the portion of scripture before us. God has shown to the prophet the apostasy that was to be found in the secret places among the Jews in Jerusalem. There was a mourning amongst the godly as they saw the wickedness in which the ungodly indulged.

Sin makes one happy while it makes the other weep and mourn.