quence of disobeying the single command which God had given him, he not only lost the favour of his Maker, but likewise his image. For it is said, "After this Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image;" consequently "the wickedness of man was great, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Here then, you observe that from the Scriptures we learn the result of Adam's sin. But go we on a little further. In St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans we learn, that "By one man sin entered the world, and by his disobedience many were made sinners." Again, we learn from the Scriptures that our first father hath sinned, and our teachers have transgressed against the Lord; and all flesh hath corrupted his way upon the earth.” "The Scripture hath concluded all men, both Jews and Gentiles, under sin, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Thus we perceive the consequence of the fall of Adam; but let us turn from this melancholy condition

to the redemption wrought out by Jesus Christ. The Jews were told by the prophets that the Messiah should come, and in the fulness of time, God sent forth his Son to redeem the world and to reconcile to him guilty man. Jesus Christ was the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Here then from the same Scriptures we receive the Gospel, - the good tidings,—the knowledge how we can be reconciled to God. Jesus Christ is "the way, the truth, and the life,"-" He came to seek and to save that which was lost, that whosoever believeth on him, should not perish, but have eternal life.' Thus, though man be fallen in Adam, still is he raised in Christ. "Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." "Jesus is the resurrection and the life ; and because he liveth, we shall live also for he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also, by Jesus." "He will ransom us from the power of the

grave; he will redeem us from death. death, he will be thy plagues; O grave, he will be thy destruction."

These few passages which we have quoted from the Scriptures will at once show, without entering into any of the disputed points, the exact position, in which we stand with respect to our Maker. By searching the Scriptures, we find, that we are fallen in Adam, but that we are redeemed in Christ. This is the grand doctrine which is contained in the Bible, on this (if we may so speak,) as on a pivot, all its leading doctrines turn; this, therefore, must be the constant topic of our discourses. For it is only by continually reminding man of the exact ground upon which he stands, that we can, as it were, excite his interest in himself, that we can urge him "to work out his own salvation with fear and trembling." And what greater theme can demand his more earnest attention? We first remind him of the sufferings which he inherits from Adam, of sin fraught with punishment, misery, and death, of a state prepared beyond the

grave, glorious with immortal happiness, or dark with inconceivable horror, and suited to eternal torments; then we point out that true light, which beameth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day, and lead him into the path, in which he may securely follow the heavenly light, which shall conduct him to the presence of his appeased Father, and his God. It may be, that we cloud his mind for the moment with those dark shadows, which eclipse all peace, all joy, all calm,-that we almost extinguish the serenity of the mind by the naked, unvarnished truth which we deliver; that we make it shrink back upon itself, to see whether these things be true; that we reduce it to the lowest state of despondency but though thus we conduct him through misery and sorrow, and force him, as it were, to wander in the dark valley of the shadow of death, we direct him to that Being, whose mercy is over all his works, who still is with him, whose rod and whose staff support and will finally comfort him. The grave alone, or the passage which leads to the cold sepulchre, the death

bed, is indeed sufficient to chill the proudest heart, and to bring it low, even to the dust, and justly so; for unless the pride of the human heart be reduced, its vain confidence dispersed, and its condition plainly exhibited, man will delay the important inquiry, and perhaps delay it, till his last watch has nearly run, and the sands of life have nearly flitted away. What must I do to be saved? There is therefore nothing harsh in the attempt, there is nothing unkind or unfeeling in endeavouring to bring the mind of man thus low, for it is the change which mental conviction produces, that is the most likely to leave the lasting impression. Joy brought to a mind already possessed of happiness, is scarcely perceptible; but to bring peace to the mind, where before there was no peace,to raise man suddenly from the depths of misery to the heights of happiness-to relieve him from his despondencies by throwing open to him the gates of bliss,to set the fetter-bound captive free after having passed the wretchedness of a low prison-house, or to proclaim the year of