pleasures are of such a nature, as to form their own bright evidence within the soul, that they are the earnest of a joyful resurrection, the seed of a glorious immortality.

Lastly, and above all, faith reveals to the soul, that "God is love;" that he is reconciled to all that approach him, through the appointed Mediator ;that he is reconciled to us worms of the dust, in ourselves, guilty and undone. Let this faith be yours (and it is freely offered to you all, who seek for it in the paths of duty and of prayer): let this faith be yours and your warfare is accomplished; your iniquity is pardoned. You have, henceforth, only to leave your sins and miseries behind, and to run, with patience, but still rejoicing, the race that is set before you.

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SERMON VI.

GENESIS iii. 4.

"AND THE SERPENT SAID UNTO THE WOMAN, Ye shall

INDEPENDENTLY of our deep concern in the transaction, there is something unspeakably affecting, in the temptation and fall of our first parents. They were, at first, created upright, innocent, and happy. Nature, fresh from God's all-forming hand, had thrown her treasures, in rich profusion, at their feet. Every tree that is pleasant to the sight, or good for food, sprung up, spontaneously, before them the tree of life, in the midst of the garden, as the sacramental pledge of immortality; the tree of knowledge, also, as the security of God's favour, on terms so easy and so gracious. All the inferior animals, tractable and gentle, paid to man instinctive homage. No cares or anxieties disturbed the peace, which reigned in paradise. The image of God was stamped on every lineament of the human soul. No passion swayed our first parents' bosom; save that for each other, they felt pure and cordial love ;—a love which yielded only to the first and great commandment, "Thou shalt love the

Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and mind, and soul, and strength."

Into this calm abode, sin and Satan entered. For this purpose, he assumed the form of one of those lower creatures, which, perhaps, before the fall, had faculties to converse familiarly with man. Under the appearance of the serpent, subtle by nature, but now the vehicle of infernal cunning; he thus assails the unsuspecting mind of Eve"Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" As much as to say, “Surely it is not possible, that a wise and gracious Being, could forbid so innocent an indulgence, and lay a prohibition, for which no kind of reason can be given." The poison had begun to work. But still the woman answers, in the words of truth and soberness, We e may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden"-you see how bountiful our provision is: "but of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die for God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." The temptation to Eve was now complete. Sensuality, vanity, and ambition lent their aid. And, above all, doubts of God's truth and goodness, and suspicion of her heavenly and Almighty

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guide;-all conspired to that fatal act of disobedience and ingratitude, which brought down

"When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat."

Thus fell the human race; from innocence to guilt; from happiness to misery; from friendship with God, to enmity against him; from life to death, both temporal and eternal. Naked, destitute, ruined, this late happy pair, stood trembling before their Maker. Shame and confusion covered their faces. Hand in hand, they prepared to quit their beloved Paradise; and without hope, and without God in the world, to embark upon the voyage of endless misery. From what quarter of the lowering heavens, could one ray of hope shine forth? God had said: "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." The laws of Heaven could not be violated, without entire satisfaction to their full demands. And our first parents stood thus before the bar of justice, awaiting, alas! a punishment greater than they could bear. In this state, let us be assured that God looked upon them, with a tenderness of compassion,

which our minds can but faintly conceive. His justice, as sovereign Ruler, must have its course : his law must be made honorable: but his heart inclined to mercy. How, then, shall these be reconciled? How shall mercy and truth meet together; righteousness and peace embrace each other? Divine wisdom had devised the plan and even then, a door of hope was opened, in the promise, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. Without blood, there could be no remission. But God had provided himself a Lamb, for a burnt-offering; the Lamb slain, in the divine counsels, before ever the earth was formed; the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. The Eternal Son came forward, to do his Father's will. He felt all his Father's compassion for man's ruined race. He laid bare his spotless bosom ;-he took the crown from off his head ;— that the stroke of Heaven might fall, not on us, whose ingratitude had called it down, but upon himself, who did no sin; who never had transgressed his Father's law; whose meat and drink it was, to do his Father's will.

Such was the mystery of redeeming love, by which we are restored to the Divine favour, to a life of peace with God, on earth, and to a life eternal in the heavens. Thus reconciled to God, and admitted to filial confidence towards him, Paradise