the immutable rule of righteousness which God hath given to his creatures a state and course of rebellion against his rightful authority; and an opposition to his character, and the interests of his holy dominion. With this evil, every individual now present is

"All have sinned and "He hath concluded all under

charged by the omniscient God of Truth. come short of the glory of God." sin." Nor is there anything unjust in this conclusion; it being actually a fact, which observation and experience, as well as the Scriptures, evince, that every child of Adam is the subject of moral failure, chargeable with moral delinquency, and exposed to all the evils of moral ruin. A culpable departure from God has taken place. Hostility to his righteous administration has taken possession of the heart; and a course of flagrant disobedience, or of criminal negligence, is the awful consequence.

It is true the great bulk of mankind are totally insensible to their real condition. But to what is this owing? Is it not to be ascribed to their natural aversion to inquire into the fact, inattention to its aggravating circumstances, and a practical disbelief of the explicit declarations of the word of God respecting it? Worldly prosperity, too; circumstances of affluence or ease; indulgence in the pleasures of sin; the business and bustle of life; and the countenance and support of fellow-rebels :-all tend to lull and stupify their minds, and prevent the exercise of sober reflection on their actual circumstances as responsible, immortal and guilty creatures. This state of things, however, cannot always last. Sooner or later the spell will be broken; and oh! what must be the feelings of the sinner's mind when he views himself on the brink of eternity! The idea of God presents itself before him. He feels that he has broken through those relations in which he stood to Him; that, though he has been the recipient of unnumbered favours at His bountiful hand, he has been unmindful of his obligations; and that, instead of seeking to promote the glory and support the government of his Supreme Benefactor, he has insulted his authority, trampled on his laws, and helped forward that confusion and ruin which sin has introduced into the world.

To increase his alarm, the character of JEHOVAH is presented to his view as infinitely pure, and inflexibly just. He discovers that it is not against one, like himself, that he has sinned, but against a Being of unbounded excellence--whose very nature, as well as the relation which he sustains to his creatures, necessarily leads him to abominate and punish every species of transgression.

The law of this Holy Lord God, which, like himself, is "holy, just and good," the sinner finds he has broken in innumerable instances, in thought, word, and deed. Conscience, which may long have

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slumbered, now awakes and reads to him a fearful catalogue of sins: -sins of omission, and sins of commission;-sins committed against the law, and sins committed against the gospel;-sins persisted in, contrary to the strong remonstrances of the internal monitor, and sins silently perpetrated, after that monitor has been hushed to sleep; sins of childhood, sins of youth, and sins of riper years;-sins, in brief, of numerous and manifold aggravations. And while at each particular sin the denunciation of the law is sounded, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them," what fear, and perturbation! what dread, alarm, and confusion, seize upon his soul!

Generally, however, there is some particular transgression to which the sinner has been addicted, on which his attention is rivetted, and which forms the connecting link of depraved combinations by which he discovers other iniquities, and ultimately the "plague of his heart"—that fruitful source whence all the evil has proceeded. Thus the inquirer in the text speaks of his "transgression," and "the sin of his soul." Reflect, my hearer, on yours.

2. The questions before us imply a conviction of the indispensable necessity of expiation. When the sinner is truly awakened to a sense of the evil of his ways, he is enlightened to perceive that sin is no trifle; that the Author and Lord of the universe exercises a perfect moral government; that his regard for his own glory, and the well-being of his creatures, requires him to manifest his unalterable hatred of, and opposition to, all moral evil; and that, consequently, every transgressor has exposed himself to the awful inflictions of punitive justice. He is convinced, not only that God has a right to demand satisfaction for the injury done to his moral character, in the view of intelligent beings, but that reparation of one kind or other must be made, else it is absolutely impossible for the offender to escape.

Under the influence of such views, and the feelings which they are naturally calculated to generate, he asks, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God?" You perceive the sinner speaks of coming before the Lord, and bowing himself before the high God. He does not now, like Adam, flee from the presence of Jehovah. He knows this would be a vain attempt. He recognises the Divine right to call him to account; and he feels assured that before His tribunal, he must make his appearance. His only concern now is, how to get the obstacle removed which intervenes between him, as a condemned criminal, and the favour of the Almighty. Something, he conceives, must be done: some sacrifice must be presented: a suitable expiation must be made.

3. The words imply a willingness to go any length, and to be at any expense, if only expiation can thereby be made, and the desired pardon obtained. How lofty soever the sinner was formerly in the pride of his heart, which prevented his seeking after God, he now purposes to come and bow himself before him." He might have grudged the expense of prescribed offerings, but now he is willing to bring the most costly; rams by thousands, and oil in quantity as the contents of rivers; yea, what is more, agreeably to the horrid customs of the heathen superstitions, human victims, and of these, the most endeared his own first-born-the fruit of his own body!

With the awakened sinner, the salvation of his soul is the one thing needful. He is willing to submit to any penance, to go through any mortification, to part with any and every earthly possession, to make any sacrifice, if he only can assure himself that God will regard them, and, on their account, absolve him from his obligation to punishment.

It is to the operation of this natural principle of the carnal mind, that we are to ascribe the numerous austerities and works of supererogation practised by the members of the church of Rome. And even among Protestants, how many rites and forms, of the utmost rigidity, have been observed! How many churches have been built, hospitals endowed, and charities for the poor established! How many tears have been shed, and prayers repeated! How many reformations of character wrought, changes of religion effected, and covenants made, and vows of amendment! And all this with the view of propitiating the Deity, or recommending the sinner to his favour!

4. But we remark, lastly, under this head, that all these anxious inquiries, with all the self-righteous efforts to which they give rise, discover an awful and lamentable ignorance of the only way of salvation. That the awakened sinner here introduced to our notice has no proper idea of the way in which pardon is to be obtained is obvious, from the repetition and multiplication of his questions. He first asks whether this mode will not prevail? Then, whether, if he take such a step, it will not relieve him? He next proceeds to enumerate oblations and sacrifices, rising each time in number, and value, and supposed efficacy; and yet after all, he evidently appears altogether non-plussed. Conscience, reason, Scripture, declare that they are all insufficient, and thus there is ever room for the questions: "What lack I yet? "What good thing shall I do, that I may inherit eternal life?

It is necessary, however, not only that we attend to the fact of this ignorance, but that we inquire into its nature. Now all the questions contained in the text, or similarly proposed by awakened

sinners, and all the endeavours which they put forth, as the result of them, proceed on the principle, that it is possible for sinful and guilty man to make atonement for his transgressions, and thus secure the approbation of the Most High. But can any principle be more absurd in itself, or more contrary to the word of God? How can a creature that is bound by the laws of his moral constitution to yield a perfect, uninterrupted and perpetual obedience to the reasonahle demands of his Maker, throughout every period of his being, make compensation by any subsequent conduct for former omissions and transgressions? Suppose he keep the law perfectly in time to come, it is only what he is bound to do, irrespective of previous circumstances or considerations. And what, after all, is the nature of the obedience that would thus be rendered? What is the character of every attempt thus made to recover the Divine favour? Does it spring from love to God, as a holy and righteous governor? No, it is only prompted by the fear of punishment; it is merely undertaken, or persevered in, as a means of salvation from hell.

Holy Scripture clearly teaches the impossibility of obtaining justification before God in virtue of any works performed, sacrifices made, or exercises engaged in by man. First, as an interrogatory which implies the strongest negation: "How should man be just

with God?" And then as a direct declaration: "If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand." "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Job ix. 2, 3. Rom. iii. 19, 20. The Jews sought to obtain righteousness in this way, but they did not succeed; and their attempting it is ascribed to ignorance-their ignorance of God's righteousness, or the only way in which he can exercise mercy and dispense pardon, consistently with the rights and security of his intelligent and obedient creatures. Rom. ix. 31, 32.

II. We now proceed to consider the cheering import of the prophet's reply. This reply is contained in the words, "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good,"-words, which at once point to the only information that can give satisfaction to the guilty and awakened mind. And by what is this information supplied? By the voice of nature? No. By the dictates of reason? No. By the schools of philosophy? No. These have all been tried,

and found wanting. Revelation alone solves the difficulty. "He hath shewed thee, O man." Why put these anxious questions? Why harass thy mind, and weary thyself with perplexing schemes and vain attempts to work out a righteousness of thine own? Thou art furnished with an express communication of the Divine will on the point. And this communication is "not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." Deut. xxx. 11-14.

The communication to which reference is here made, is contained in the sacred book which I hold in my hand. In this book, and in this book alone, are we furnished with information adequate to relieve the guilty conscience, and supply the condemned sinner with a Divine ground of hope. It alone points to the true atonement, and tells us, "that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Rom. x. 9. Its language is, "Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness," or justification, "to every one that believeth." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts xiii. 38, 39. Rom. x. 4. Acts xvi. 31.

Of this divinely authenticated communication the substance is this that the whole human race, having, by transgression and rebellion, forfeited the Divine favour, and become obnoxious to the everlasting infliction of the Divine wrath, and being utterly destitute of all aid from themselves and from all creatures, the infinite Jehovah, whose laws they had broken, and whose authority they had rejected and contemned, moved with amazing pity, sent his own equal Son into the world to suffer, the just for the unjust; that by the infliction of the punishment upon him as the substitute of the guilty, a sufficient manifestation might be afforded of the Divine opposition to sin, while mercy is extended to every sinner that betakes himself by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour, his Righteousness and his Strength. Whoever, of all the guilty sons or daughters of Adam, believes in the all-sufficiency of the atonement which the Son of God made with his infinitely