Happy Believer! go on thy way rejoicing. The sting of death is gone. Who shall condemn thee? God hath justified thee. Thou knowest in whom thou hast believed; and he will assuredly keep that which thou hast committed unto him. Wear this righteousness as thy breast-plate. It shall guard thy heart from fear, in sickness, and in death; yea, thus defended, thou shalt appear with boldness in the presence of God. Filled with holy joy and gratitude, let thy lips and life proclaim the same faith which justifies the soul, sanctifies the heart; that this doctrine is according to godliness; and that "the grace of God, which bringeth salvation, teacheth thee to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live righteously, soberly, and godly, in this present evil world." Let the following lines be the sincere language of every soul:

"Be all my heart, and all my ways,
Directed to thy single praise;
And let my glad obedience prove
How much I owe, how much I love."

The Law and GOSPEL distinguished.

The Law commands, and makes us know,
What duties to our God we owe;

But 'tis the Gospel must reveal

Where lies our strength to do his will.

The law discovers guilt and sin,

And shews how vile our hearts have been ;
Only the Gospel can express

Forgiving love, and cleansing grace.
What curses doth the Law denounce
Against the man that fails but once!
But in the Gospel Christ appears,
Pard'ning the guilt of num'rous years.
My soul, no more attempt to draw
Thy life and comfort from the law:
Fly to the hope the Gospel gives :
The man that trusts the promise lives.
WATTS.

TH

SERMON V.

THE FALL OF MAN.

Eccl. vii, 29.-God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. HESE are the words of Solomon, the King of Israel; and appear to be the result of much observation and experience. Possessed of superior talents, and placed in the highest station, he resolved to attain the utmost degree of wisdom; but his success was not equal to his wishes. He perceived however, the extreme folly of having so many wives and concubines; and says, verse 28,-“ One man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found;" that is, among his courtiers and flatterers, one man, perhaps among a thousand, he found, on whom he could depend; but not one among his thousand wives and concubines. "But this only, saith he, have I found-that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." This he was sure of. He had no doubt respecting this; and to this apostacy of man he traces up the evils he saw and felt.

These words represent two things—namely,
The original and apostate state of man.

First, let us consider the original state of man. “God. made man upright."

Man signifies the first man Adam; the father and head of all men; in whom the whole human race was included. God made him: formed him out of the dust of the earth; and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, Gen. ii. 7. God made him upright, this does not mean in his bodily stature, but in the frame and disposition of his mind. "God created man in his own image, in his own likeness." He was naturally and habitually righteous. His heart was properly disposed towards God; with a love of good, and a hatred of evil. The law was not written for him in tables of stone, but it was written upon his heart.

His mind was endued with true knowledge, (Col. iii. 2.) He knew his maker. He knew his glorious perfections; his power, his wisdom, his holiness, and his goodness. He knew his relation to God, his duty to him, and

his dependance on him. He saw the glory and goodness of God in his works. He studied them, that he might glorify God in them; hence we find him giving names to the creatures, which in the original, shew that he had observed them, and understood their nature.

His will was conformed to the will of God. It had no such bias to evil as we now have ; but it was disposed to comply with the divine will in all respects.

The affections of his soul were holy and heavenly. He loved God above all. He considered him as the supreme good, and the grand source of his happiness. He loved the creatures for God's sake; and all the beauty or sweetness he found in them, led him to adore and love his God the more.

In this state, man was truly blessed and honourable. His mind was calm. His conscience was easy. He knew no guilt. He felt no shame. He was a stranger to fear. No angry passions disturbed his soul. His body was free from disease and pain. He conversed with God, and was as happy as Paradise could make him.

Had he continued in his state of uprightness for a certain time, he would probably, have been translated, without pain or death, to a heavenly state, still happier; and all his posterity would have been confirmed in the same condition of holiness and happiness, without the danger of falling, as he did: for as it is certain, that all mankind, descended from Adam, are involved in the consequences of his fall; we may justly conclude, that had he maintained his integrity, they would all have shared in the happy fruit of it. But, alas! though" God made man upright, he hath sought out many inventions."" The crown is fallen from his head, the glory is departed from him." This is a point which it greatly concerns us to know. This is one of the first principles of our religion, on which all the rest depend. "For if man is not at variance with his Creator, what need of a Mediator? If he be not depraved and undone, what necessity of a Restorer and Saviour? If he is not enslaved to sin, why is he redeemed by Jesus Christ? If he is not polluted, why must he be washed in the blood of the Lamb? If his soul is not disordered, what occasion is there for a divine Physician? In a word, if he is not born in

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sin, why is a new birth so necessary, that Christ solemnly declares, without it no man can see the kingdom of God?"-Let us then attend, in the second place, to

The present apostate state of man.

Satan, full of hatred to God, and envying the happiness of man, devised the method of his destruction with infernal cunning. He assaulted "the weaker vessel" first; questioned, and then denied the word of God; represented the command not to eat of the tree as very severe ; and the eating of it as quite harmless, yea, as highly advantageous. "Ye shall not surely die," said the devil; though God had said," Ye shall surely die." Thus Eve was deceived, and became the unhappy means of seducing her husband. Thus both our first parents fell from their original state of purity and bliss; and, as a token of God's dreadful displeasure, were banished from the garden of Eden.

But you must observe, that in and by this fall of our first parents, all their posterity likewise fell. So, St. Paul. assures us, Rom. v. 12. " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" And again, verse 15, "through the offence of one, many are dead;" and again, verse 18, "by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation."

In consequence of our fall in Adam, our nature is wholly corrupt. Our hearts are naturally carnal and worldly. We forsake God, the foundation of happiness; and vainly strive to make ourselves happy in sin and folly; or, as our text has it-"we have sought out many inventions"-many vain reasonings-many foolish questions and speculations! we may read our depravity in our misery. In our present fallen state we can relish only earthly things, and they all conspire to disappoint our expectations. What are the numberless inventions of men, but weak and wicked attempts to procure happiness without God, and contrary to his will. What inventions to please the imaginations? Hence the loads of novels which burden the world, and are read and relished far better than the word of truth. What inventions to delight the eyes! Hence plays and shows, and all the vanity of dress. What inventions to please the

ear! Hence all the charms of music, vocal and instrumental. What inventions to gratify the taste? Hence all the art of cookery, collecting niceties from every quarter of the world. Of how many may it be said, that their kitchen is their temple, the cook their priest, and their belly their god! What inventions are there to kill time! Short as life is, and we all complain it is so short, yet it drags on too slowly for many. Hence the various amusements, especially playing at cards, invented on purpose to kill time. Ah, how soon will these murderers of time wish for one of their lost hours, when time with them shall be no more! What inventions are they to gratify pride! What contrivances to make us look greater and finer than our neighbours! What inventions to become rich and great! for this, men spend all their strength, and risk their health and life. What inventions to deceive one another, and to appear what we really are not!

What

But there are worse inventions still in matters of religion. What inventions of doctrine! how many teach, for divine truth the commandments of men! What inventions in the worship of God! Hence all idolatry and superstition; hateful to God, and hurtful to man. inventions as to the way of acceptance with God! There is but one true way, and that is Christ; but, instead of this, men have invented a thousand ways; pretending, by their own virtue, goodness, morality, charity, and devotion, to recommend themselves to God.

- Not to dwell any longer on the word " inventions," let us take a general view of man in his fallen state.

See what ignorance veils his mind! How wretched and near to the state of brute beasts are millions of the human race; the Indians of America, and the Blacks of Africa! Yea, even in Europe, which is more enlightened; and in England too; a country full of churches and bibles! O how many thousands are in darkness and the shadow of death! Yes, even many of those, who are scholars, are wise enough in worldly things, know not God, know not themselves, know not Jesus Christ. How many that seem to be religious, worship an "unknown God," being ignorant of their fallen state, and therefore ignorant of the salvation of the Redeemer.