fact that men do not appreciate the depth of their own corrup

tion.

Now, as it is one great object of the gospel to awaken us to a sense of our sinfulness, it may be fairly inferred that it will reveal a system of truth, peculiarly fitted to give us high notions of the majesty of the divine law, and of God's hatred of sin; such a system as will be likely to draw forth from the transgressor the earnest cry, "Woe is me, for I am unclean!"

Is such a result to be looked for from the doctrine which teaches that, without an atonement, without the mediation of an Almighty Saviour, God may be propitiated, and all the terrific threatenings of justice be set aside?

Is it not altogether natural for the sinner to reason thus with himself?" An evil so easily remedied cannot be in itself a very grevious evil. If a few tears of contrition, and such an imperfect obedience as usually follows this penitential sorrow, are all that God requires in order to the blotting out the long record of my iniquities-all that he demands, in order to my restoration to his favor-all that he asks, in order to my admission to heaven-surely he cannot look upon me as so deeply criminal. There must be something in my natural infirmity and in my outward condition, which greatly palliates the enormity of my sins. If peace may be had with God on such easy terms, the stability of his government cannot depend upon the holiness of the universe. If the claims of the law may be so readily annulled, that law cannot deserve very profound respect, and I need not be seriously terrified by its penalties." Whether this reasoning be sound or not, it is precisely such as the sinner would be inclined to adopt. Men always judge of the importance and imperativeness of any command or requisition, by the consequences which follow its neglect. When they are taught to believe that the penalties of disobedience will not take effect, or may be averted upon easy terms, disastrous results will ensue. Where they detect weakness and indecision in the administration of the law, they will soon learn to despise the law. This is true in civil government, and it would prove so in the case of the Divine government.

We assert, then, that the system which declares that "without the shedding of blood" there may be "remission of sin," is not likely to lead man to feel the exceeding guilt and the imminent peril of his condition as a sinner. So far as his iniquity causes him present discomfort, interferes with his present well-being, or occasions confusion and mischief in society, he may apprehend and feel its evil. But as an offence against God, as exposing him to the terrors of a violated law, he perceives neither its malignity nor his personal danger. He cannot understand why one should cry out of the depths of a broken spirit, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death!" He does not feel that "there is no soundness in his

flesh," that he was "conceived in sin," and that "all the imaginations of his heart are only evil, and that continually!" To him, all this has the air of exaggeration; it awakens no corresponding consciousness in his heart: he acknowledges indeed that he is a sinner, that he has broken the law of God, that he has neither loved nor served his Maker, but all this gives him little anxiety. God is merciful and easily propitiated, and will be loth to cast off the creature he has made.

This, my hearers, is the precise operation of that system from which Christ is excluded. And so the sinner, having no just convictions of the evil of sin, of his own guilt and peril, hears the threatenings of the law and the pleadings of the gospel with the same indifference; and every effort to lead him to the Saviour, as a poor, helpless and ruined transgressor, comes to naught.

But what is gained, in this respect, by setting forth the doctrine of the text-that God, by the sacrifice of his Son, condemned sin in the flesh?

I. God's opinion of sin is illustrated in that sacrifice. That indeed might be inferred from his own holiness from the temporal evils which he has made to follow in the train of sin; but if, without any such exhibition as was made on Calvary, he had opened his arms to the sinner, and received him back to his favor, it might have been doubted whether, after all, he regarded sin with that infinite abhorrence which he is said to feel towards all forms and degrees of iniquity. It might. at least have been thought that the attribute of justice is subordinate to that of mercy. But the sacrifice of his Son has put all such questions for ever to rest. This was the costliest offering that could have been laid at the feet of justice. It was the highest possible exhibition of God's hatred of sin, and of the inflexibility of his law. It was the most striking demonstration of his ineffable holiness of which it is possible to conceive.

If then a man doubts his own guiltiness, or is disposed to look lightly upon the fact of his sin, I would take him to the cross, and show him the terrific consequences of sin, as exhibited there. Amid the cries, and curses, and jeerings of an infuriated rabble, hanging between two thieves, while rocks are rending and graves opening, and the noonday sun withdraws his light, I would point him to the Son of God, before whom angels had for ages rejoiced to cast their crowns, now bathed in blood, and in agonies unutterable, bearing the curse of a violated law. And while that mighty sacrifice proclaimed in his ears the astounding love of God, I would remind him how it also declares his opinion of the evil of sin-an evil so great, that, even in the exercise of his Almighty sovereignty, he will not venture to offer pardon to a single transgressor, till, with tears and groans, his only Son has made expiation for human guilt.

And, my friends, it is the fact, that no man ever comprehended the true nature of sin, ever appreciated his own personal guilt,

until he had been brought near to the cross and stood by the side of of Christ in his dying agonies. To that position he must come before he can really feel his actual exposure to the wrath of a holy God, his need of forgiveness, and the deep malignancy of his own depravity. There the conviction will fasten upon his soul. If God spared not his own Son, what have I to hope for?

If the innocent is thus made

to suffer, upon the mere assumption of another's guilt, what vengeance must be in store for me, stained and blackened as I am with the defilement of actual corruption!

II. In the second place, what is the practical operation of the two systems under consideration, as it respects the nature of the change which we need to experience, in order to our salvation?

commencement.

Where there is no just and adequate view of the evil of sin, there can be no proper understanding of the character and extent of the change which man needs to experience. And so we find it is thought by those who reject the doctrines of grace, that there is no such "weakness of the flesh" as to prevent us from fulfilling the law, so far as is necessary in order to our final safety. They assume a low standard of obedience, and a high standard of human ability. They are thus led to dispense with the agency of the Holy Spirit in effecting the sinner's conversion, and trust to their own might in producing this great change They recognize the necessity of no radical transformation of their nature, of no renovation of the soul, and so they fail to take that initiatory step from which all true spiritual life must date its And this is like the endeavour to cause a perpetual stream to flow where there is no fountain, rain to descend where there are no clouds, foliage and fruit to grow where there is no root. They may become men of reputable morals, and unexceptionable outward demeanor, but they do not become the children of God and heirs of eternal life. They are not "born again," and therefore they "cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." This is conclusive against their system. They build upon their own good works, when, in fact, they do nothing which is really acceptable in the sight of God. Their faithfulness, in respect of their social and human relations, only serves to quiet their conscience in view of their neglect of weightier and more imperative obligations. There is no man so entirely unapproachable as one who meets the solemn call of the gospel by pointing to his charities and honorable character, as though the law were thus fulfilled. How one who knows any thing of his own heart can be content to build upon such a foundation, we find it hard to conceive; but it cannot be doubted that there are multitudes who feel that the threatenings of the Scripture are not meant for them, and a Saviour is not needed by them, simply because their fellow-men can bring no charge against their repu

tation.

But there is a system of truth which leads to far different conclusions. It begins with revealing to man his true charac

ter and his real condition. It calls off his attention from his own outward virtues-which are perhaps only the instincts of humanity, or prudential deeds which bring their own reward with them and directs his eye upon the heart, upon its volitions and affections, as compared with the demands of God's pure and holy law. It takes up his motives and desires, and subjects them all to a rigid analysis; proves them in the alembic of the gospel, and shows the man that they are but dross. It applies a test, before which all his fancied righteousness vanishes like smoke. It thus empties him of all his pride, all his confidence, all his self-reliance, and makes him feel that there is no soundness in him. It next shows him precisely what he needs, which is a "new heart and a new spirit ;" the implanting of a renewed nature, the infusion of a new principle of being; so that his choice, his preference will be directly reversed. It does not tell him that by reforming his habits, by beginning to obey God, he may gradually return to true holiness; but that all this must be the result of a changed heart, a spiritual regeneration. The issues are corrupt, because the fountain is corrupt; and a clean thing cannot be brought forth from an unclean.

It then satisfies him that this inward change it is beyond his power to accomplish, and thoroughly convinces him of his own inabiliy. He is made to recognize his utter helplessness, while be still acknowledges the justice of his condemnation. He is chained, but it it his own fault, for he voluntarily placed his hands in the manacles of Satan.

The

But at this point the Holy Spirit leads him to Jesus, and in him he discerns One mighty to save. He throws himself at the feet of Christ, saying, "Lord, I am blind, open mine eyes; I am corrupt, make me clean; I am lost, give me redemption!" He hears the gracious answer: "I will-be thou clean!" and he is made whole from that very hour. Saviour lifts him from the ground, seals him in the forehead with the sign of redemption, and he goes on his way rejoicing. Now he can say, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.' And having thus entered upon his Christian course, having "entered by the door into the sheep-fold," he advances from strength to strength, from grace to grace, from knowledge to knowledge, till death closes his probation; and then, seeing Christ as he is; he is transformed into his glorious image.

This is the operation of the two systems which have been presented to your notice, in respect of that change which reason and Scripture declare must be wrought in the sinner before he can be restored to the favor of God.

The one merely whitens the sepulchre; the other purifies it of its uncleanness. The one only modifies the character, and checks its_grosser developments; the other transforms it.

Is it of little importance which is received and adopted?

III. In the third and last place, how do the two systems bear upon the promotion of practical godliness?

The answer to this question has been already in great part anticipated. If there exist a radical mistake as to what constitutes true godliness, or as to the principle from which that godliness must spring, its baleful effect must be seen in the whole style and manner of life. But we would present this point in still another light.

What are the motives by which the man who hopes to merit heaven by his own good works is prompted to obedience?

They are low in rank, and weak in influence.

It is upon the principle of a barter, by which he hopes, at the price of so much obedience, to entitle himself to the reward of heaven. This motive is prudential and selfish; and how does it operate ? It is opposed by other motives, promising a more immediate reward, and offering gratifications far more in accordance with the natural taste than the felicity of heaven; and so it is often overpowered and forced to yield. And the man, finding that the law of God is generally conquered by the law of sin, falls back upon the conviction that a very imperfect obedience will meet the necessity of the case, and God in his mercy will be ready to pass by his errors and defects; and so he drinks his fill of worldly pleasure, indulges his vain imaginations as far as prudence and public opinion allow; once in the week takes his seat in the house of God, occasionally gives a small fraction of his superfluous wealth to aid the Church in her heavenly mission; when he has leisure reads a chapter or two in the Scriptures, and trusts that all will come right at the last. It may be that he has an easy and quiet end, and when he is gone men speak well of him, and the monumental marble is placed over his dust, publishing to the world his princely virtues and his unsullied reputation. But what is the account which he has gone to render in to God? Of what self denials in the cause of Christ, of what inward victories over corruption, of what struggles of faith with sense, has he to tell? Did the Spirit ever witness to him that he was born of God? Had he ever a living faith in Jesus the Saviour?

But how is it with one who has received the spirit of adoption; who has received Christ into his heart by faith, and "lived, and moved, and had his being" in Him? The love of God, the highest of all motives, becomes the principle of his life. He does his duty, not because he hopes thereby to entitle himself to God's favor, but because "the love of God constrains him" to do it. He prefers holiness to sin, and is led on to obedience by the ruling preference of his mind. He does not ask, "What is the least that is required of me as a Christian?" but, "How can I do most for Him who gave his life for me?" He is never satisfied with any existing attainments, but is constantly reaching forward after a higher conformity to the image of God; and when he has done