hand in hand through all that God had made: above, angels of every degree, and the two only souls on earth, were united in the fulness of love, obedience, and devotion, to him who created all. How sin first got footing in the universe, thus happily and completely subject to a Governour, the perfection of goodness as well as power, we shall strive in vain to discover: it is one of the deep things of God, which for the present are locked up in the secret treasury of his counsels. Enough, it did appear; and, which is remarkable, its first appearance was in heaven. Satan, once high among the angels of the Lord, "kept not his first estate; "a but conceiving within himself the spirit of pride, rebelled against his Maker, and left his habitation in heaven, being driven to a place of shame and punishment. The power yet left him he maliciously used to bring man under the same guilt and condemnation with himself. He succeeded; and thenceforward, descending from father to son in an uninterrupted stream, sin has deluged the earth

a Jude, verse 6.

with its dark and bitter waters.

"By one

man's disobedience many were made sinners. The dreadful power thus let loose upon the world, though it may show itself in a thousand different ways, is, every where and at all times, one and the same; that, namely, which is contrary to the nature and law of God, which is "holy, and just, and good." Like a drop of the deadliest poison in clear and wholesome water, sin made in the heart of man a change, as respects his salvation, fatal and entire. The love of God, and that humble yet glad obedience which the creature paid to his Maker, gave place to self-will, pride, and enmity. These evil spirits, drawing away the soul from the fountain of all goodness, deprived it of those heavenly powers which gave it command over the body; and the body, thus freed from restraint, abused its natural appetites by immoderate and impure indulgence.

Pride separated man from his God, and that separation delivered him over to a carnal mind. Of this the necessary consequences were sorrow and death.

b Romans, v. 19.

Time would not suffice for the mention of the woes which sin, only sin, has brought into the world. Whence does the mother watch in silent agony each deadlier change upon the pale and convulsed features of her expiring infant; her beautiful, her first born? Because "Sin has entered into the world, and death by sin." Why, but for our own sinful indulgences or those of our fathers, do we consume away under the rackings of pain, languish in weakness of body, or infirmity of mind? Who can number the miseries inflicted by human beings upon each other through wrath, malice, lust, covetousness, or even through thoughtlessness? And whence comes it that no generation has existed, wherein wars have not swept away their thousands in the pride of manhood; made thousands of mothers childless, and thousands of homes desolate: turning the fruitful field into a wilderness, and the song of cheerful industry into mourning and heaviness? "Whence come wars and fighting amongst you, come they not hence even of your lusts?" Shortly indeed and correctly we

c James, iv. 1.

may say, that for all the miseries to which man is born, he is, in one way or another, indebted to sin alone. Had he kept innocence he would have preserved happiness.

But these evils, much as we fear them, what are they compared with the last and worst effect of sin? "Death hath passed upon all men for that all have sinned.” Not merely the decease of the body, but spiritual death-the utter ruin of the immortal soul and its eternal banishment from the peace of heaven.

Our belief in the holy scriptures gives us full assurance that "the wages of sin is death;" but it is useful to know why it is so; partly because we shall thereby obtain juster notions of the holiness and righteous dealing of God; and partly that we may prize as we ought the wisdom and mercy which redeemed us. We must remember therefore that, if man had not sinned in Adam, he might have passed from this life to the mansions of heaven, from present peace to everlasting joy: because having been created good, nothing would have

d Romans, v. 12.

e Romans, vi. 23.

66

unfitted him for his glorious inheritance. When sin had entered into the world, the case was totally altered: his own new nature and the character of the Father of heaven, made his entrance impossible. Heaven is spiritual happiness; spiritual happiness consists in the exercise and enjoyment of divine love and mutual charity, of holy service, praises constantly renewed, and unsatisfied adoration. But what delight can these impart to a soul which is corrupt, carnal, sold under sin?" Bid the unconverted and carnal man to spend one hour in thinking upon God, in praising him, and in working up his mind to love and gratitude: he cannot do it—his nature wearies and turns from it! How then can he desire to spend an eternity in such occupations? But he cannot, if he would, reside in heaven-the qualities of the Most High, each perfect in itself, forbid it. He is too pure to behold iniquity, nor can anything polluted by sin abide in his presence. The dwelling of a sinner, unjustified and unredeemed, beside his throne, would be an injury to his justice, an insult