and I was afraid." That voice pronounced the sentence, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake.""In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." If any person should be surprised that the trial to which Adam was exposed was of so trifling a nature, and that his happiness or misery should depend on his eating, or not eating, the fruit of a tree; I beg him to consider, first, that Adam, in his situation, could not be guilty of what we regard as the greatest crimes. He could not commit murder, when he was the only man; nor adultery, when his wife was the only woman. He could not steal, when he was already in possession of every thing around him; nor commit any other injury to his fellow creatures, while he was alone on the earth. Secondly, that, in reality, every thing which can draw us away from the service of GOD, whether it be honour, power, riches, or pleasure, is as trifling, as unworthy of our regard, as truly contemptible, as the forbidden fruit. And lastly, that in fact the trial of Adam was

+ Sermons by the Rev. Dr. Randolph. § Gen. iii. 19.

↑ Gen. i. 17.

exactly like that of every other man; the question was not whether he would or would not taste of the fruit, but whether he would or would not obey God; whether he would submit to the revealed will of his Creator, and not attempt to be wise above that which he was taught, but humbly and constantly observe whatever directions he had received from GOD.

Such is the account which Scripture gives us of the fall of man; and from the same authority we learn, that the consequences of this event extend to all the children of Adam; that having lost his innocence, and corrupted his nature, all who descend from him are born weak and imperfect, inclined to sin, and under sentence of death. It is of great importance that this should be clearly understood, in order that we may know, and feel how much we owe to the great deliverer of the human race, JESUS CHRIST. The Bible tells us that without holiness no man can see GOD, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; and the best man in the world, if he look into his own heart, must acknowledge that he is very imperfect, that his nature is inclined to sin, and that if he depend on his own righteousness, he must tremble to appear before GOD. If

as a

therefore perfect obedience were required, every one of us must appear guilty before GOD. But our merciful Creator did not place any human being in this dreadful situation ; for even before He pronounced the sentence on Adam, he gave the promise of mercy, in this remarkable prophecy,The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. The whole history of the Old and New Testament is a comment on these words. From every part of it we learn, that this promised seed of the woman, our Saviour JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God, offered himself sacrifice for the sin of the whole world; that "as in Adam all die, so in CHRIST shall all be made alive;"* that, through his merits, every son of Adam may hope for mercy and acceptance, if he believe in him, and humbly endeavour to do his will. He has brought life and immortality to light. He will give us much more than Adam lost. He will place us in a better Paradise, he will make us for ever happy, if, during our short trial in this world, we put our whole trust in Him, and endeavour to obey all his commandments; and even if we are so unhappy as to fail in our obedience, and to commit sin, we have his 1 Cor, xv. 22.

4

promise of pardon on our sincere repentance.

!

He is the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world."* Through the whole history contained in the Bible, from the fall of Adam to the birth of CHRIST, we find every thing connected with that great event. Sacrifices were immediately appointed, and have been offered in every part of the world, to keep up the remem brance of him, who was afterwards to be offered as a sacrifice for all mankind; and they were accepted of God, when they were accompanied by faith in CHRIST. When GOD, for the wickedness of man, destroyed the whole human race by a flood of water, Noah and his family were spared, and the everlasting covenant was renewed with them. When Abraham was called of God, he was told that in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed... When it pleased GoD to separate the children of Israel from other nations, and to give them a law from heaven, it was to keep up the expectation of the promised Redeemer by the ceremonies of that law; and particularly by the sacrifice of the Lamb at the feast of the Passover, to represent the Lamb of GOD which was to be offered for the sin of the

**John i. 29.

whole world. Of him Moses spake; to him gave all the Prophets witness; and on him were fixed the hopes of every good man; for these all lived and died in faith, though they had not received the promise, but they saw it afar off, and went on their way rejoicing; looking unto JESUS, the Author and Finisher of their faith, the Mediator of the new Covenant, the Saviour and Redeemer of the world,

To him then let us come, with humble and penitent hearts; not trusting in our own righte ousness, but in the full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice and satisfaction for the sin of the whole world, which he made upon the cross for our redemption. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves;"* all have sinned; all flesh is corrupt before God; and it is impossible that by our own strength we can attain the holiness which is necessary to please Him. But our gracious GOD does not require what we are unable to perform. He pities our weakness, and accepts our sincere though imperfect endeavours, through the merits and mediation of CHRIST. Let all qur hopes be fixed on him. Let us diligently study the directions he has left us in the New

* 1 John i. 2.