ture is weak and corrupt, and therefore he cannot observe it; for the same plea might then be made by other beings, the authority of God be every where despised, and the universe become a scene of confusion and misery. It is meet and right that there should be but one will and one law; and that this law and will should be His whose is the power, the wisdom, and the glory. That this law is strict, very strict, far too strict for man in his fallen state to fulfil, cannot be denied; but a less holy law would fail of conveying to us adequate ideas of the greatness and holiness of the Being whose transcript it is. Besides, the obligation of man to obey is infinitely strong. For what is the relation in which he stands to God? Is not God the author of his being, the giver of his faculties, the bestower of all his comforts? Is the law to be relaxed, to accommodate the weakness and corruption of man? Or, rather, ought not that very weakness and corruption to be exposed and corrected by the purity of the law? It is true that the law is sufficiently strict to condemn every child of man; not one of our fallen race, not the holiest man who ever lived upon earth, not the most faithful and zealous apostle of Jesus Christ, could ever come up to the standard which the law sets before us. Though there are great shades of difference in sin, all fall short, infinitely short, of the Divine standard. In this respect, all are upon a level-they "have all come short of the glory of God: as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one"-"There is not a just man, which liveth and sinneth not."

Were the law a rule by our complete obedience to which, alone, we could obtain salvation, our circumstances would indeed be arduous: we might complain of our lot as wretched, and lament that our destruction was inevitable: but God, in his great mercy, has provided another, and a very different way of salvation. It is a way, however, in which our guilt and unworthiness must be felt and acknowledged: a way by which God will appear "just" as well as the "justifier of him

which believeth in Jesus." Now it is to be feared, that this wise and holy constitution of the Almighty is often overlooked or mistaken; and that men, considering the law only as a system of rules, by their obedience to which they shall be justified, seek to lessen its demands, and thus to reduce it to the imperfect standard of man's righteousness. Hence are derived false modes of interpreting the law; and hence springs that inferior holiness which is the natural fruit of false conceptions of the nature of sin.

"Sin is the transgression of the law."-This definition is plain, simple, and level to every capacity; yet so full, that no other account of it need be sought. Let this, my brethren, regulate your views of sin and of yourselves. Let the Bible be continually in your hands. Refer every thing "to the law and to the testimony" which it contains. Weigh well the import of those most expressive precepts which require the whole heart to be given to God. In proportion as you set these before you, you will discover your own defects: you will mark with surprise the extensiveness of the law of God, and the purity and holiness of its demands. Such views will indeed "humble," but they will finally "exalt" you. They will lay a foundation for real repentance. You will say with the Psalmist, "My sins are a sore burthen, too heavy for me to bear-they are more in number than the hairs of my head;" or in the words of our excellent Liturgy, you "will acknowledge and bewail your manifold sins and wickedness," of which "the remembrance is grievous, the burthen intolerable." This will give you that poverty of spirit which our Lord "blesses," as the sure preparation for the kingdom of heaven. This will lead you to Christ, as your only, but all sufficient, Saviour, with a sense far stronger than words can express of the benefits which you owe to him; with a glow of gratitude that will induce you to give up your whole life to him; with a delightful hope, which will indeed make Christ the Sun of righteousness to your souls. And, finally,

this will lead you to yield an obedience more strict in proportion to your enlarged views of the Divine law, and more willing in proportion to the excellency which you will discover in the holy God whom you serve, and the gracious Redeemer who has bought you with his blood.

But, above all things, let me entreat you, my brethren, not to rest satisfied in barren and spéculative notions of the nature of sin. Let your views be the result of a close examination of yourselves by the word of God, accompanied by fervent prayer to the Spirit of God deeply to affect your hearts. The present is a peculiarly proper season for frequent retirement and devout humiliation: employ it to obtain deeper impressions of your guilt and sinfulness, and more sincere and abiding penitence. And doubt not that God will assist and bless you with his grace, that, "worthily lamenting your sins, and acknowledging your transgressions, you may obtain of Him, the God of all goodness, perfect remission and forgiveness, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

SERMON XII.

THE REASONS WHY MEN DO NOT COME TO CHRIST.

John v. 40.

Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

JESUS CHRIST declared that he came down from heaven for the express purpose of being a Saviour to man; that he was endued by God with the highest power; that the Father had committed all judgment to him; that he had life in himself, and was able to communicate life to whomsoever he pleased; that even the dead in their graves should hear his voice, and come forth to receive his sentence; and that whosoever now heard his word, and believed on Him that sent him, should have everlasting life, and should not come into condemnation, but was already passed from death unto life. Nor were these idle declarations; on the contrary every possible attestation was given to their truth, and to his power and dignity. John, whom the Jews believed to be a prophet, a burning and shining light, bare witness of him;-the Father bare witness of him,