alone can effectually preserve you; and if you obtain them, you will certainly be safe.

2. In view of the subtlety and power of the great adversary of souls, how consoling is it to the true believer, to think that he is in covenant with that Saviour who has vanquished Satan; who came to destroy the work of the devil; and who will keep all his faithful people from being tempted above what they are able to bear!

When we reflect that such was the skill, artifice and influence, of the malignant spirit that seduced our first parents, that he prevailed against them, when they had no corrupt nature, no sinful propensities, to which he might address his temptations; and that we have a nature and propensities which are the allies as it were, of all his vile suggestions— when we consider too, that he has increased his subtlety by the experience of six thousand years, and that the best saint on earth is sanctified but in part-we may see, that not one of our fallen race has any security against being for ever undone, but from being a member of the mystical body of Christ. Yes, here is our only safety. If sinless, perfect man, standing in his own strength, fell before the sagacity and snares of Satan, he would be sure to make a prey of every sinful and imperfect man, if that man were left to himself. But the people of God are never finally left to themselves; they are not expected to stand in their own strength: and to make them attempt it, is one of the wiles of their great adversary, by which, more perhaps than by any other, he does them a temporary injury. They however are the blood-bought property of their Redeemer-and none on earth or in hell is able to pluck them out of his and his Father's hand. Made one with their Almighty Saviour, his honour is concerned to preserve them unto his heavenly kingdom. He has conquered and triumphed over the great enemy of their souls, who cannot tempt them further than he is permitted by Christ, their spiritual head by him who has promised that his grace shall be sufficient

for them, and that in every temptation he will make a way for their escape, that they may be able to bear it. Here is their security-while therefore they are exhorted to be sober and vigilant, knowing that their "adversary the devil, as a roaring lion goeth about seeking whom he may devour," and are enjoined to resist him steadfastly, they have the comfort to know that in so doing, they will at last come off conquerors and more than conquerors. Their adversary may, for wise purposes, be permitted for a time, and to a certain extent, to vex and worry them, but he can never lastingly injure or destroy them. They are "kept by almighty power through faith unto salvation;" and the period will shortly arrive, when they will escape for ever beyond all the assaults of Satan, temptation and sin; and when all their present trials and conflicts, will but serve to increase the eternal weight of glory, in which they shall share with their reigning and triumphant Lord.

Be persuaded, my dear youth, to seek with unceasing diligence a vital union with this precious and all-sufficient Saviour. Without this, all your purposes and plans of avoiding even the worst of crimes, may prove abortive; or if by the good providence and restraining grace of God, you shall be preserved from scandalous and enormous sins, yet unless a living faith unite you to the Lord Jesus Christ, you will assuredly lose your souls at last, and be for ever the companions of the devil and his angels. Be very sensible of this; let it dwell constantly on your minds; let it preserve you from satisfying yourselves with an amiable exterior, or with any mere formal attention to religion. Be not satisfied till you "know in whom you have believed, and that he is able to keep that which you have committed to him, against that day." Amen.

LECTURE XVI.

WHAT IS SIN?

WHAT WAS THE SIN WHEREBY OUR FIRST PARENTS FELL FROM THE STATE WHEREIN THEY WERE CREATED?

THE first subject of attention at this time, is the following very important answer in our Catechism— namely, "Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God."

That we may understand correctly the nature of sin, as it is here defined, it will be of use to consider briefly, the nature of that law of which all sin is a violation. The law which sin violates is the law of God. "Whosoever committeth sin--says the apostle John-transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law." In defining a law generally, Hooker says "That which doth assign unto each thing the kind, that which doth moderate the force and power, that which doth appoint the form and measure of working, the same we term a law." More shortly and popularly, and with reference to moral agents, a law may be defined-a prescribed and obligatory rule of action.

The laws of God, for the government of men, have some of them been temporary and local, and some of perpetual and universal obligation. The ceremonial and judicial laws of the Jews were, during the continuance of the Mosaic economy, perfectly obligatory on that people-as much so as the precepts of the decalogue. But they were local and temporary. They never were binding on any other people beside the Jews; and not binding on them after the advent of the Messiah. They were given for a particular purpose that purpose has been accomplished, and the Deity, the legislator who enacted, has repealed them, and they are no longer laws.

But there are other laws of God, which are of

perpetual and universal obligation-these are called moral laws. But here, again, there is a distinction which deserves to be noticed. Some of these laws are technically denominated moral natural, and others moral positive. Laws naturally moral, are those which seem to derive their obligation from the very nature of things; insomuch that you cannot conceive that they should not be obligatory, while the relations exist to which they refer. Thus you cannot conceive that a rational and moral being should exist, and not be under obligation to reverence his Creator-you cannot conceive that it should be lawful for such a creature, to disregard and revile the infinitely great and good Author of his being.

On the other hand, laws positively moral, derive their obligation not from the nature of things, but solely from the explicit command of God. Thus the intermarriage of brothers and sisters, must once have been lawful; and if so, there is no natural immorality in such a connexion. But this connexion has been forbidden by God, from a very early period of the world; and is therefore now, a violation of a law called moral positive.

The moral law of God-or the rule of moral action for his creature man-was, no doubt, clearly written on man's heart, at his first creation—that is, he was so formed that he had a clear perception of his duty, and felt as he ought, his obligations to perform it perfectly. After the fall, this original law of moral duty, was greatly defaced and obliterated by sin. Some faint traces of it, however, seem yet to remain, in the dictates of natural conscience. But as the restoration of man was intended by God, he was graciously pleased to reveal anew his moral law, in all its extent, to his fallen creature. This was done most fully in the ten commandments, given to Moses in Mount Sinai, engraved by the finger of God on two tables of stone: and this compend, usually called the decalogue, although extremely short, is nevertheless, when taken in its spirituality, comprehensive and complete.

All the laws of the decalogue are moral natural, unless it be that part of the fourth, which relates to the portion of our time that is to be exclusively devoted to God. And indeed in this, there may be a natural fitness, with which we are not acquainted.

Short as the decalogue is, we have a summary of the moral law, which is still much more compendious, and yet entirely complete and perfect. It is this, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." Our Saviour declared that "on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Here then we have the whole moral law, as sanctioned by the lawgiver Himself, in a single sentence: and it is of unspeakable advantage to have it so expressed.

presents us with a short rule by which to ascertain our duty, and by which to discern and determine what is sinful. Sin is the transgression of this moral law.

In the original language of the New Testament, the word for sin, ȧuapria, (hamartia) is derived from a word whose primitive signification is, to miss the mark. This suggests as perfect and extensive an idea of sin, as perhaps can be given. The moral law holds up to us a mark, at which we are to aim, or a rule or line, to which we are to conform. Every thing which misses or falls short of this mark, or which deviates from this rule or line, is sin. Hence too, we have a clear illustration of the greatness, or aggravation of some sins, in comparison with others. All short-coming or deviation is sin; yet some defects come short, and some actions deviate, unspeakably more than others.

The answer in the Catechism divides sin into two kinds-"Any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God;" that is, sins of omission, and sins of commission. Some writers on the subject of moral criminality, in our country, have said a good deal to prove that all sin is of a positive nature; or that it consists in an actual transgression of the divine VOL. I.-17