an arbitrary or neceffary imposition on the creature man; but fhall take for granted that which feems moft to conduce to the glory of God, whether confidered in the highly exalted capacity of a fovereign, or in the more amiable and condefcending character of a Saviour. In respect to the former of thefe, he had an uncontroulable right to command his creatures; yet, (humbly be it fpoken,) his foverignty had a proper limitation from his effence; therefore all his commandments and laws as the effect of that, had neceffarily their foundation upon, and were all iffued agreeable to this. The law of God then, as impofed on man, was to be confidered as a transcript of his holy nature, and was founded on his effential and immutable perfections; God was in himself the chiefeft good, and a conformity to his holy will, as manifefted in this law, would be the creature's highest happiness: hence the fum and substance of the 2 law is, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself. Now to fuppofe a law accepting and approving, any thing short of this perfect and confummate love, must be to fuppofe it has it's foundation on fomething very different from the fpotlefs nature and effence of the Deity; and as fuch law would neceffarily derogate from the dignity and glory of God, the bleffed fcriptures make no mention of it. It may fuffice to add, that the holy pen-men conceived of the law as moft holy, inflexible, and invariable; John fays of it, "fin is a tranf"greffion of the law," therefore the law is a perfect rule, ch. 3, 4. Holy David fays, "the law of God "is perfect." Pf. xix. 7. James ii. ro," whofo "keepeth the whole law, yet offendeth in one point, he is guilty of all." And Paul speak

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: Time: but I's law is forms in the

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ing thereof, fays, "the law is holy, juft, and good." Rom. vii. 12. And it's perfection and rigour is fuch, that " by it no flesh can be justi"fied. Ch. iii. 20.

As it appears then, that the law of God requires perfect and uniform obedience, let us enquire, 2dly, Whether man is poffeffed of abilities to fulfill these requirements.

I fhall not much detain you here with observing, what otherwise might be made eafily appear, that fince Adam fell, his pofterity have no ground of reafon to expect falvation as the reward of fome obedience, or the conditions of fome covenant fulfilled by them, inafmuch as no fuch covenant doth now fubfift between God and man; Adam brake the covenant made with him, and all his feed in him; and it doth not appear in God's word, that the covenant was ever renewed but with the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are therefore now to advert, not to what Adam was before his fall, for God made him upright, but to what man now is in confequence of that fall, and as his depravity appears in feeking out many inventions, many arts and fhifts and wretched fubterfuges to evade the force of the violated law, and patch up fomething of his own, which fhould be called an adequate righteoufnefs; though far enough from the form, and much further from the nature of the true and original one. When we fpeak of man's deficiency in power to perform the law of God, it is doubtful whether we fpeak with accuracy fufficient to represent the real ftate of things; feeing that man's inability, (if fuch we must call it,) is of a moral nature, and what he cannot do, is principally

cipally because he will not; therefore the promise in predicting the happy ftate, and increase of the Meffiah's kingdom, lays, "they fhall be willing "in the day of thy power." Pf. cx. 3. Nor is it to be conceived that the will fhould incline to that, which the whole man has such an averfion to; for fin at it's firft entrance into the heart of man fubverted his whole intellectual frame, and left him not only devoid of all grace and gracious defires; but drenched his foul in darknefs, as touching his understanding, in distastefulness of all spiritual employment, in refpect to his affections, and in the depths of ftubbornness and disobedience in refpect of his will.

When the altogether lovely and ever-amiable Jefus therefore is holden forth in his precious and moft glorious gofpel, as a Saviour every way fuitable to the ftate and condition of a fallen finner; there appears in him no form, comlinefs or beauty, to attract the attention, or delight the eye; becaufe, faith the apostle, 2 Cor. iv. 4, "the "God of this world hath blinded their minds, "fin hath veiled and drawn a cloud over the "understanding," which nothing but a gracious gale of heavenly wind can diffipate and clear. All the fuperlative and tranfcendant joys that real religion can afford, are tastelefs and infipid to the unrenewed mind, which neither knows nor relifhes any higher joys or fatisfactions than what fenfual pleasures can beftow; for their minds being unexercised in the difcernment of fpiritual things, they, fays the prophet, put fweet for bitter, and bitter for fweet, that is, they prefer the falfely called pleasures of this world, and the fatisfactions arifing from creature comfort, to the

incomparably more fublime and folid comfort that naturally flows from the knowledge of God, and a fincere conformity to his moit holy will. And on the contrary, having no appetite or defire for the things of God, all religious exercise is unpleasant and wearifome; they are alive and active in the works and ways of fin, but lifeless and fluggish in the ways of God. There is an innate haughtinefs in the minds of the unregenerate, that naturally leads them to a contempt of the gracious method of falvation, and in respect of the Lord Jefus, every unconverted finner fig. nifies his unwillingness to have this man to reign over him. Our bleffed Lord may lay afide his glory, bow his heavens and come down as a ftranger to fojourn in a ftrange land, manifeft his divinity, publish his gofpel and perform miracles, yet have caufe to complain after all, ye will not come to me that ye might have life,

Such ruin and deftruction has fin brought into the foul, fuch an evil difeafe has infected man, that plague, earthquake, famine, fword, and death in all it's dreadful forms; not even the thunders from Sinai, nor all the flames of forked fire belching from the bottomlefs pit, can roufe him to real concern for holinçfs and heaven, if God's almighty fpirit do not apply them for that end. Except a man be born again, faith our Lord, be cannot fee the kingdom of God. The feed of the word muft fall in an honeft and understanding heart, or it bears no fruit to perfection; the will must be fweetly inclined by the fecret but powerful workings of the bleffed fpirit, or there will be no coming to Jefus, and his beauty must be difclofed to the interior eye, the eye of the foul,

or

or the affections will not be fixed on the Lamb of God.

These are fome of the outlines of the picture of man in his lapfed ftate, deformed as it is which fhould it be exhibited in proper fhades and colours would be much more hideous ftill and if there can be any perfons in love with their own purity and performances, one may venture to affirm they are fuch as are spoken of by the apoftle James, ch. i, 23, 24, "who beholding their "natural face in a glass, go away, and straightway forget what manner of men they were." God's pure and perfect law, is this glafs in which the deformity of the finner, and the defilement of all his performances by fin, appear; nor.could there be any fhadow of reafon for men to talk of, or confide in, the one or the other, if this was carefully attended to.

Now we may eafily conceive from the truth of this defcription, what is to be expected from a creature thus depraved and lapfed in all its nobleft powers; what holy obedience can be looked for, where the heart is corrupt, deceitful and defperately wicked? What works of righteoufnefs can proceed from a mind wholly averfe to thofe works, nor can poffibly in that state, be fubject to the laws that enjoins them? One fays, thou requireft truth in the inward parts, yes, says another, but we are not able to order our converfation aright, Why? because in us, that is in our flesh, there dwells no good thing. Suppose the scripture had propofed a law relaxed and brought down to our fallen ftate and condition; if that law had been holy, (and God could not poffibly put forth any other) I apprchend it would not have bettered

our