God consists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, Col. iii. 10. Eph. iv. 24.

II. Adam and Eve fell from their perfect and blessed state, into an awful state of sin and misery, by breaking the commandment of God, Gen. iii. 6, and their posterity were involved in the consequences of their rebellion, Rom. v. 12, 'Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.' Mankind are liable, on account of sin; to death, temporal, spiritual, and eternal. 1. Temporal death is the separation of the soul from the body. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it,' Eccl. xii. 7. 2. By spiritual death is meant, separation from God, a deadness to what is good and holy. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.' Eph. ii. 1. 3. By eternal death is meant, a perpetual separation from God's gracious presence, and being consigned to the regions of woe, to dwell with the devil and other wicked spirits. "Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,' Matt. xxv. 41.

SECTION III.

HUMAN DEPRAVITY.

I. Human depravity shows itself in the want of love to God and enmity against him; aversion to good, and proneness to evil. The seat of depravity is in the heart. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it,' Jer. xvii. 9, also Mark vii. 21-23.*

II. The whole nature of man is depraved; as is shown in the understanding, the will, the affections, the memory, and the conscience, Isa. i. 5, 6. 1.-Depravity shows itself in the understanding, by its being darkened. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts,' Eph. iv. 18. It shows itself in the will, by its being perverse; full of enmity against God, and greatly inclined to evil. The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,' Rom. viii. 7. It shows itself in the affections, by their being placed on things sinful and trifling; in preference to God, and things that are good. It shows itself in the memory, by forgetfulness of God, and what is good; and retaining what is evil.

Can

*All si proceeds from the heart: a person is good or bad according to his heart. The reason why wicked men and devils are criminal in their actions, is, that their hearts are sinful, 1 Sam. xvi. 7, Matt. xv, 19.'

a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number,' Jer. ii. 32. And it shows itself in the conscience, by calling evil good, and good evil,' Isa. v. 20.

III. All mankind are depraved. There is none righteous, no not one there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,' Rom. iii. 10, 12, 23; also Eccl. vii. 20. Man's depravity was manifested at an early period of the world. God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,' Gen. vi. 5. Cain slaying his brother Abel, who was a righteous man, was an early and an awful proof of the desperate depravity of man; and the reason for the wicked deed is given in 1 John iii. 12: 'Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Similar wickedness has been very often displayed in the world; innumerable are the instances of the wicked persecuting the righteous. The depravity of man is proved by his shameful ingratitude to God. Hear O heavens; and give ear O earth; for the Lord hath spoken; I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider,' Isa. i. 2, 3,

SECTION IV.

WHAT SIN IS; HOW IT CAME INTO THE WORLD; EVIDENCES OF MAN'S SINFULNESS; AND THE EVIL OF SIN.

I. Sin consists in doing what God forbids, whether in heart, speech, or action; and in not doing what he requires of us.

II. Sin came to exist in the world, in consequence of man abusing his free agency, or freedom of will, by rebelling against God.

III. Mankind are continually guilty of the great sin of not loving God supremely, although it is their duty to do so. All must confess that they have never at any time obeyed the just and reasonable command, to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind, as they ought, and might have done. Very great, therefore, is the accumulation of this one sin; besides innumerable other transgressions.

Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. This is said to be the second and like unto the first and great commandment, Matt. xxii.

39. (See Matt. vii. 12.) This very important commandment is most extensively and lamentably disobeyed.*

Regarding the sin of idle words, Christ declared, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned,' Matt. xii. 36, 37. The Apostle James describes the tongue; thus, And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind; but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison,' James iii. 6-8.†

Man's depravity does not excuse him for sinning. No person would excuse a thief for stealing because he had felt a disposition to take what did not belong to him. Neither would a murderer be excused for the crime of taking the life of a fellow-creature, because he had been led to it from a love of money, or his own evil dispositions. No such excuses would be listened to for a moment by any just judge. The sinner is inexcusable for his sinning; because he is a free moral agent-is not compelled to sin, and he ought determinedly to resist temptation to sin. It is written, 'Resist the devil and he will flee from you,' James iv. 7; and so also may it be said of temptations from other sources.

*If thou forbear to deliver them who are drawn unto death, and those ready to be slain; if thou sayest, 'Behold we knew it not;' doth not he who pondereth the heart consider ? and he who keepeth thy soul, doth he not know? and shall he not render to every man according to his works'? Prov. xxiv. 11, 12. If any man know that his neighbour is in danger by any unjust proceeding, he is bound to do all in his power to deliver him. Let him not make any false excuses, for the Lord seeth and will expose them. Let this serve to silence all our frivolous pleas, by which we think to stop the mouth of conscience when it charges us with the omission of plain duty. Does not He that pondereth the heart consider it? He will judge accordingly.'-(R.T.S. Commentary.) Beware of the spirit of Cain, who said, 'Am I my brother's keeper, Gen. iv. 9.

+ It is worthy of observation, and of serious consideration, that it is slow speaking if there are not fifty words pronounced in a minute; that number multiplied by sixty, gives three thousand an hour; that again multiplied by ten, gives no less than thirty thousand words which may be spoken by a single individual in a day of ten hours. If the talk is idle and trifling, how great is the sin! If evil speaking or scandal is the subject, how fearful the amount of guilt contracted.

Even Moses who was so meek, 'spake unadvisedly with his lips.' O how great should be our watchfullness to keep from the sins of the tongue! Many persons on their dying bed, if not in eternity, will deeply deplore words of slander, falsehood, and anger, which they have heedlessly uttered. Often should everyone pray, 'Keep thou the door of my lips, that I sin not with my tongue."

The proposition that man is a free agent, commands immediate and universal assent, because it is an ultimate fact of consciousness. It can no more be doubted than we can doubt our own existence.'-(Hodge's Way of Life, p. 77, T. S. ed.)

H

IV. Many persons are little impressed with the great evil of sin, because of, 1.-Their ignorance, of the strictness of God's law, and and their obligations to obey it. 2-Want of regard for the glory of God. 3.-Their not being sufficiently aware of the bad consequences of sinning, both here and hereafter. 4-Thoughtlessness. And 5.-Hardness of heart. What ought most powerfully to convince us of the great evil of sin, are the extreme sufferings, and cruel death upon the cross, which the Lord Jesus Christ endured in making atonement for our sins. Also, the near prospect of death, by causing thoughtfulness and reflection, generally produces a strong conviction of sin, as many show by their great dread and terror at the near prospect of meeting God; whose laws they know they have so very often broken.

The character of all sin, is, that it is extremely foolish, as well as wicked. It is very foolish as well as wicked for man to contend with God, because man is a being who is compared to a worm, and 'who is crushed before the moth,' Job xxv. 6, iv. 19. And Isaiah says of him, whose breath is in his nostrils,' Isa. ii. 22. For such to strive with Almighty God is madness and folly in the extreme. Sin in all its forms destroys the happiness of mankind, it affords no true happiness, yields no good fruit, but leaves a sting behind it.

It would be greatly better and wiser for man to be at peace and friendship with God, for three reasons-1. Because God Almighty can so easily punish his enemies. 2. His loving-kindness is better than than life, Ps. lxiii. 3; and 3. In his wonderful love and mercy he presents to man the precious gift of eternal life for his acceptance, without money and without price, Isa. lv. 1-3. "This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is in his Son,' 1 John v. 11. Sin is rendered exceeding sinful,* because it is committed against so great, so holy, and so loving a God, whom we ought continually to love and obey.

SECTION V.

THE DUTY WHICH GOD REQUIRES OF MAN.

God requires of man, obedience to his revealed willt, as set forth in the moral law, which is summarily comprehended in the Ten Com

*The severity of the penalty which God has attached to transgression, the certainty of its infliction, the costliness of the sacrifice by which alone its pardon could be obtained, are all proofs of the evil of sin in the sight of God. The greatness of our personal guilt is plain, from the excellence of the law which we have violated, from the authority and goodness of the Being whom we have offended, from the number of our sins, and from the powerful restraint which we have disregarded.-(Hodge's Way of Life, pp. 68, 69.)

+1. And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to love him, and to serve the

mandments.* The sum of the Ten Commandments, is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind, and our neighbour as ourselves, Luke x. 27.+ We are bound to love God supremely, and obey his laws. 1.-Because he is the Almighty Sovereign of the universe. 2-He is our Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor-our greatest, best, and kindest friend. And, 3. He has, in infinite love and mercy, provided a way of salvation for us, lost sinners. For these reasons we ought, with the greatest cheerfulness, alacrity, and gratitude, to love God supremely, and obey him always.5

II. The moral law is universal and unchangeable; it is binding, on all men at all times, and in every situation in which they can be placed, Rom. ii. 14, 15. Jesus said, 'Verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled,' Matt. v. 18.‡

Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,'Deut. x. 12. 2. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams,' 1 Sam. xv. 22. 3. 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,' Matt. xxii. 37. 4. 'He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God, Micah. vi. 8. 5. Whosoever shall

keep the whole law, and offend in one point, he is guilty of all,' James ii. 10. *The Ten Commandments were written by the finger of God himself on two tables of stone, and delivered by him to the Israelites from Mount Sinai with an audible voice. They were given in a very solemn manner, with dread and awful majesty, accompanied with thunder and lightning; and hence the law is called a fiery law. All this shewed how vain it was for sinners to expect life by the works of the law; and hence it also pointed out the necessity of a Mediator, Exod. xix. and xx., xxxii. 16, xxxiv. 1, Deut. v., xxxiii. 2. The moral law, which is fully contained in the Scriptures, is briefly summed up in few words in the Ten Commandments, and these words so well chosen, that they comprehend much more than they express, see Rom. xiii. 9. The Ten Commandments comprehend the whole duty of man. Whatever is commanded or forbidden by God, is implied in some one or other of the Ten Commandments. + The whole of man's obedience is comprehended in love. 'Love is the fulfilling of the law.' Rom. xiii. 10. True love to God is cordial and affectionate Psa. cxix. 10, 1 Tim. i. 5); it is ardent and vigourous, and it is supreme, Matt. x. 37, Luke xvi. 26, Ps. lxxiii. 25, Isa. xxiv. 8, 9. By our neighbour we are to understand all mankind, whether rich or poor, good or bad, saint or sinner, friend or foe, known or unknown. If we obey God, we will love all men with a love of benevolence. Christ declares, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets,' Matt. vii. 12. We should, in a special manner, love 'the household of faith,' Christ's true disciples. These ought to be loved with a love of complacency or delight as well as of benevolence, Gal. vi. 10. In regard to our enemies, hear the word of the Lord, Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you. Matt. v. 43, 44.

No man obeys the law perfectly, so as to obtain justification by it. The Scriptures declare, By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified, Rom. iii. 20. When it is said that believers are not nnder the law but under grace' (Rom. vi. 14,) we are to understand that they are not under the law as a covenant of works, to be justified or condemed by it; but that they are under it only as a rule of life,