the dispersion, and misery of the Jews, a people once dear to God-in all these instances, the evil of sin is brought down to a level with our senses. And it is sin also that has reduced the material creation to vanity, and doomed it to a general conflagration. As under the law the very house of the leper was to be pulled down, so is it with regard to this world. You say can trees and valleys and hills and skies be criminal? No, but they have been the unconscious instruments of the sinner's guilt, they have been contaminated by his use, and the day of God cometh wherein "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and all the works that are therein shall be burned up."

Thus far we have traced the effects of sin down through the history of this world. But there is another world that has been running parallel with this, and which will continue when this is no more. And here the consequences of sin most tremendously appear. Enter it and see. The first thing that strikes you is the fall of an innumerable multitude of superior beings hurled down from heaven-What roused the vengeance which pursues them with such severity ? What is it that in a moment could transform angels into devils? A little of that envy, that pride, that independence of spirit of which you think nothing:

he spared not the angels that SINNED, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment."-And what place is that which you discern yonder, "the smoke of whose torment ascendeth up for ever and ever?" Sin built hell; sin produced "the worm that never dies," and

kindled the fire that never shall be quenched." O could you lay down your ear and hear sin spoken of in its proper dialect by the old sons of perdition! What do you suppose Judas now says of betraying his master for thirty pieces of silver; Saul of persecuting David; Cain of killing his brother Abel ?-But all this regards the present degree of their misery, not its future conti

nuance.

Hence, you must contemplate sin in the threatenings of the Scripture. O! read and tremble. Read of everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power"-read of a doom which I hope you will never hear "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Now, I reason thus, and a child can understand me- -If God can righteously threaten all this misery, he can also righteously inflict it; and if he can righteously inflict such misery, sin must deserve it-and if sin deserve it deserve such punishment!-how is it possible for us to think too highly of its guilt?

There is yet another way of judging of the evil of sin-and it is-by considering the means employed to remove it. Now, there is only one Person in the universe equal to this work-the Lord of life and glory. By no other hand could this enemy fall; a thousand attempts have been made -but the victory was reserved for him.

And there are two things here worthy our remark; the first is, that he derives from this work his highest title; his name is the memorial of this achievement; he will henceforth be known through all worlds, as the conqueror of sin! And, therefore, we find, that though he is

a Creator and a Preserver, yet he is adored under the character of a Saviour, by all the saints on earth, and by all the angels in heaven. "Worthy is the LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.-Unto him that loved us and WASHED US FROM OUR SINS in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen." And the second is, that even in this glorious personage, who alone was adequate to the undertaking, it required something peculiar and extraordinary to accomplish it. He does not deliver a sinner as he performed his other works, in order to save, he must be humbled and exalted-he must descend from heaven to earth, and ascend from earth to heaven.

II. Let us enter into this, and consider in what manner he saves his people from their sins. Now, he accomplishes their deliverance by price

and thus he redeems; and by power-and thus he renews; in other words by his cross, and by his grace.

Yes, to save us he must suffer; by the shedding of his blood we are ransomed, and by his death we live. The case is this. Where the command of the law is broken, the curse of the law enters. Sin renders man obnoxious to punishment; and this punishment is as certain as the justice and the truth of God can make it.— Now, we had sinned, and therefore must have suffered-had not the Saviour become our surety, and our substitute. But he, standing in our place, became answerable for us: "he has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us."

Thus it is said, the Lord "laid on him

the iniquity of us all." And how was it laid upon him-but by way of expiation? And for what purpose was it laid on him-but that we might be released from a load which would have sunk us to the lowest hell? Hence, it is said, "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.-Once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." In this sense, he is often said to die for us -not only for our good, but in our place, and as our victim. How else could he have fulfilled the types under the law? We are assured from the writings of the New Testament, especially from the epistle to the Hebrews, that the daily and annual sacrifices offered by the Jews were typical of Christ; but if they typified him at all, it must have been in his death; and if they typified anything in his death, it must have been the atonement which is made. They could not typify in him, the death of a martyr, sealing his doctrine with his blood; nor the death of an example illustrating the virtues which he had taught-these views of his death are true as far as they go-but they do not go far enough to reach the main thing, the thing which God intended from the foundation of the world to render prominent in his death, and which the church has so beautifully expressed in these word-" He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

And thus it is that he saves us from the guilt of sin. But to take a full view of this part of the subject, it is necessary to observe that by his atonement he not only removes guilt from before God, but from off the mind. For it is here alone

that we find effectual relief. That which appeases God's wrath, can alone appease the sinner's conscience. This blood which speaketh better things than that of Abel, addresses both God and the sinner-says to one, "forbear to strike,”—and to the other, "be encouraged to hope,”—and answers all that justice has to say in a way of claim, and unbelief in a way of objection. Thus by believing we enter into rest. Our fears and jealousies subside; we draw near to God with humble confidence, and feel "a peace which passeth all understanding."

But to know whether our relief be really peace, or nothing more than ease-it is necessary to consider not only how it is obtained, but by what it is accompanied. The peace he gives has purity with it, yea, purity in it. Those whom he redeems, he sanctifies, and those whom he pardons, he renews. And hence you read of our being "saved by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.'

In attending to this process, let us remember, that he always saves us from the love of sin. And here is the difference between moral reformation and evangelical conversion. In the one sin is avoided, but in the other it is abhorred. For sin may be shunned where it is still loved, and the retreating sinner may look back like Lot's wife, and bewail the idols he has been forced to leave. Am I addressing none who know what it is to forsake sin, only from a regard to reputation, from the influence of connexions, and the fear of consequences? Would you not rejoice if God would take off the restraint and allow you to live as you please? Would you not feel grateful towards him if he would permit you to live in sin,