ness of one man reign to eternal life, over all those who are partakers of this grace by Christ Jesus.

Considering the state to which souls redeemed are recovered by our Saviour, we shall find nothing has been lost, and Satan will have got little by it with all his envy and malice; for had we kept our first estate, perhaps after spending some happy years in walking with God, we had been translated to him, but might have still continued "a little lower than the angels:" But now none of the angels are so favoured as the children of men, for to which of the angels did he say, "Thou art my sister, my spouse?" Or which of the principalities or seraphim did he promise, "Thou shalt sit down with me upon my throne, as I overcame and am set down on the Father's throne?" If we are his bride, the Lamb's wife, if we are bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, if his Father is our Father, the highest angels must look upon us with respect, and take pleasure to attend on, and be servants of, souls whom their dear Maker has ransomed at so great a price. They all now know, and have learned, by means of the fall, how he loved his people, for they saw his pains and sufferings, and were witnesses to all the fatigue he went through to save us, when he humbled himself, to their eternal astonishment, to become man.

It is true, we have not been so happy in this world as if no sin had entered, but he will make it up to us in worlds to come, he will restore double to us, in bringing us into a state far better and nearer himself than that Adam was in, in Paradise; so that Satan shall see he has struck at us in vain, and we ourselves shall see for evermore that grace and mercy superabounded the fall, and the blessings we get in the redemption by Christ, shall be infinitely more than what we lost or suffered by the offence of Adam. This consideration made the

ancients

ancients venture to say, "O happy sin! O happy fall! But with all our hearts we can say, 'O happy Saviour! O happy salvation!'

Again, As we have been lost in Adam, and scattered in the dark and cloudy day, so in Christ shall the souls that were lost be found, and "to him shall the gathering together of the people be,"

And, again," As we have borne the image of the earthly Adam, so shall we be renewed and bear the image of the heavenly."

And lastly, "As in Adam all died, so in Christ shall all rise and be made alive," and this is the resurrection of the dead.

Of these I design to speak; and first, of the two men, namely, Adam and Christ; the author of the fall, and the author of the redemption.

Now the first man was of the earth, and formed out of the clay or dust of the ground, and should not appear of divine extraction, though his spirit was God's offspring; yet was "he lower than the angels," but the lord and head of all beasts, birds, serpents, fishes, and reptiles, and whatever was created in the world. The "second mau is the Lord, the Jehovah from heaven," who, to mani'fest the exceeding riches of his grace, and so save his lost creatures, humbled himself, and put on the same weak and fallen flesh and blood and nature which they had: he for the suffering of death, which otherwise would have been impossible, came from heaven, and was lower than the angels; nor entered again his glory, nor was received back into his heavens till he recovered the world, and saved it" out of the hands of him that was stronger than we."

The mediatorial office, as it is called, the which he yet retains, and will retain, "till he has subdued all things to himself," and therefore as

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the

Son

Son of man, as the seed of the woman, he reigns and has a kingdom, which must increase till the "last enemy is destroyed, and God shall be all in all." In this respect he acts still, but dies no more, nor is accursed, and may suffer no more. The first man Adam was a living soul, that is, he had not only a soul or spirit as beasts and all living creatures have, but he had the life divine, he lived as God and the holy angels lived, and this life he lost, or died to God in the day of his sin. In this dead state all mankind are born, and without the true life, all his children have been conceived in sin, and have been imperfect, and not the image of God. A natural man is dead while he lives; so our Saviour and his apostles have taught. Now the "last Adam was a quickening spirit." He was the Lord; the same Lord and God who had some thousand years before breathed into Adam the life when he became a living soul: he came therefore to give life to the world, and that they might have it more abundantly than Adam, for he had life, but could possibly lose it, as it fell out; but Christ gives "eternal life, and this life we have in him." "He is our life," and we shall have it more abundantly, even for ever and ever.

Hence we may observe with divine pleasure, that after he had redeemed the world and was risen again, he breathed a second time upon his disciples, and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Thus again they received the life of God, and became living souls, to die and be lost no more.

The next thing proper to be mentioned is, "How by one man's disobedience we were made sinners, and by one man's obedience we are made righ

teous.'

One who denies the doctrine of original sin must be wicked and a hypocrite; wicked, because he de

1..

nies

not one.

9

nies the tenor of all the scriptures; a hypocrite, because he knows lust, pride, anger, covetousness, and many other sinful dispositions are in his nature, and have grown up with him. It is written in the Psalms, "When God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, they were all gone out of the way, they were altogether corrupt and become filthy or abominable, there was none righteous, there was none that could do good, no He had made man upright, but he had found out many inventions. The thoughts of their heart were evil continually. They were transgressors from the womb, conceived in sin, and brought forth in iniquity. By one man's disobedience they were made sinners. "It was impossible for Adan to beget children otherwise than in his . own likeness, in the same nature and with the same corrupt mind. If a fountain is bitter, the streams cannot be sweet; if the tree be degenerate and wild, it cannot yield good fruit. Can a fig-tree bear olive-berries, or a vine, figs? Such as is the stock, such are the branches; and as all were created in Adam, in him all died, and sin hath reigned to death in all. But lest, through the cunning of the grand deceiver, men might be brought to reason about the matter, and tempted to charge God with folly, or unrighteous judgment, in passing condemnation upon all on account of the sin of one, as Israel once did when they used that proverb, "the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge ;" and so concluded, the ways of the Lord were not equal: I say, on this account, as well as with other divine views, God gave the law, and so stops every mouth, and makes all the world guilty before him. For when it is written, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things of the law to do them," then must every sinner

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sinner be dumb, and especially when the Holy Spirit preaches and opens the law to his self-righteous heart, as in St. James's epistle, "He that offendeth in one point is guilty of the whole," and he can thenceforward make no reply, but loath and abhor himself in dust and ashes, and see deeply the need of one man's obedience to make him righ

teous.

Whoever stumbles at the doctrine of original sin, he necessarily is offended with the doctrine of Christ's imputed righteousness; but where the first is felt and known in the heart, there the doctrine of the Lord our righteousness is the most glad news and the gospel of peace.

Our Saviour was therefore obedient under the law, and fulfilled all righteousness, that his obedience might as surely make us righteous, as the disobedience of Adam had made us sinners; for Christ took our cursed and sad place, was made sin for us and reckoned as a transgressor, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. His sufferings and chastisement have quieted the angry justly offended spirit of the law, and to those who believe in Jesus, and can trust in his shelter, their faith is reckoned the same as righteousness, and receives of him their righteousness, their obedience and merits, so that they who are in the faith can say, "Surely in the Lord have I righteousness." The inheritance is then secured, the breach made up, and the soul satisfied about standing before God. Also as deeply, distinctly and feelingly as we were convinced of sin and our wicked nature, so deeply, distinctly, and feelingly does the Holy Ghost convince us of righteousness, to the comfort of our souls, and the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord..

In the same manner as judgment was passed to condemnation by one offence, so is it averted by

means