cent or virtuous, appear as so many heinous violations of the divine law. Many sins long forgotten recur fresh to his recollection, and fill his mind with distress. His imagination now represents Jehovah as a righteous judge with the fiery law in his hand, armed with vengeance, and ready to put the dreadful sentence in execution; while his conscience accedes to the law's charge, ac knowledges its equity, and pronounces his own doom. If he attempt to elude the charge, he finds it impossible. He hears the alarming voice of the law, telling him he is its subject, that he is a transgressor of its precepts, and that he is obnoxious to the curse.

As

no man can become obnoxious to condemnation but by the violation of the law, so it must be by the same law that he discovers his guilty state, giving him the knowledge of sin.

3. THE law also discovers the innate depravity of the human heart.

THE depravity of human nature is a truth which sin ners are very unwilling to admit. That evil dispositiens do often exist in the heart is readily acknowledg ed, and also that these are the source of all the moral evil of which men are guilty; but that the heart is altogether corrupt, and that nothing spiritually good can proceed from it, in its natural state, is not easily ad mitted. Men, in general, are ready to affirm that they do not feel evil principles operating in them so universally and powerfully towards either God or man, as they apprehend they must feel were their hearts so depraved as is affirmed. As the heart is deceitful above all things, as well as desperately wicked, men are apt to be deceived respecting its natural dispositions. They are disposed to form a favourable opinion of themselves, without fully investigating the grounds of their

claim to it; and many things concur to favour them in this. The soul being an active substance, and assimilated to God, ought to feel in itself a very powerful and supreme love to him, corresponding to his infinite excellence; but instead of this, the vain and trifling things of this world, and even sinful pleasures, engross most of its attachment. Its thoughts are seldom employed about God, nor has it any proper conceptions or impressions of his being, greatness, and excellence; so that tho' the enmity of the heart is not felt, it is necessarily implied in such a state of the mind. Men's hearts are often not much tried, which prevents their enmity from appearing. God lets them alone, or if they meet with some trials, yet if they do not view them as principally from God, their minds will not spurn so violently and immediately against him. When we apprehend we have received an affront from another, our resentment and malevolence are at once excited, though formerly we felt no disposition of this kind. But we cannot discuss this matter here.

THE innate depravity of the heart is expressed by a great variety of figurative language borrowed from what is familiar in common life; such as, corruption, pollution, dead body, a law, &c. &c. The soul was created with the faculty or power of chusing. All its moral excellency and ability lay radically here. In this state of the soul its propensity and inclination corresponded perfectly to the will of God, without any opposite choice. This constituted the holiness of the soul, and all its moral obedience lay radically here. The reverse of this disposition is sin inherent, or depravity. It has been generally denominated a want, or the absence of holiness, as cold is the absence of heat and darkness the absence of light. This, however, is a mere decep

tion, nor can these allusions convey to us any idea of the nature of sin. We might with equal propriety denominate holiness the want of sin. It is true that, where holiness only exists in a soul, there is a want of sin; and that, where sin only exists, there is a want of holiness; and in proportion as the one of these prevails the other will, in the same proportion, be wanting. But this view of sin is founded in the supposition, that holiness in the soul is some sort of abstract principle, distinct from its volitions or acts of chusing, which is a false supposition. Holiness lies wholly in the moral rec titude of the will, or in the soul's actually chusing what ever is agreeable to the will of God. To will or chuse such things is the soul's highest assimilation to God, and every such act is holy obedience to him. On the other hand, sin lies wholly in the soul's actually chusing what is contrary to the will of God. Its propensities, volitions, and inclinations, are its acts of chusing or willing what God has expressly prohibited. The soul then is as active, and its volitions as intense in the commission of sin, as in obedience to the law, therefore sin is as properly something positive in the soul as holiness. Two forms of expression are used, in Scripture, to denote this; the one respects the object which the will rejects, the other respects the object which it chuses. The object rejected is God, and the will operates in the way of aversion, hatred, enmity. On account of this state of mind men are denominated "haters of God, enemies to him," and such actings of the mind are called enmity." The carnal mind is enmity against God," Rom. viii. 7. Literally, "The minding of the flesh is enmity," &c. "it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." The law is the will of God expressed, and these actings of the

mind being in opposition to the law, must be also opposite to God. But while the mind rejects God and spurns at his will on one hand, it necessarily prefers and chuses an opposite object, or what is contrary to the will of God. This is expressed by the word lust. "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." Gal. v. 17. This is the same with the "minding of the flesh." The Apostle expresses very emphatically this act of the mind in these words, ઃઃ Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." James i. 14. These are the "divers lusts and plea

sures,

," which unregenerate men serve; but which "they that are Christ's do crucify." This aversion to God, and propensity to evil, considered as a fixed and confirmed state of the soul, is innate depravity. It is indeed exceedingly simple in itself, though it is very complex in its operations, on account of the great variety of objects about which it acts, and the temptations and allurements by which it is excited. When innate depravity is thus viewed; we see with what propriety that gracious change which is produced in the soul, is called a being made willing. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Psalm cx. 3.

To convince the sinner of this depraved state of his mind, is one principal design of the law; nor is there any thing of which it is more necessary for him to be convinced than this. In so far as he does not believe this truth, will he think himself free of sin, and fit for the pursuit of holiness. Hence it is that he naturally seeks life by the works of the law, and rejects the Saviour. It was by means of the law that Paul obtained an affecting discovery of the depravity of his heart. "Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I

had not known sin but by the law: for I had not known lust except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Rom. vii. 7. His volitions or acts of choice which he calls lust, did not appear sinful until he understood the law; then he saw that they were contrary to it. Before he attained a just view of the law, he could not discover the nature and power of cor ruption, as the law is the proper criterion for knowing it. Prior to this, its motions were not so violent as they afterwards became, when, by the law, light was conveyed into his mind. "But sin," says he, "taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead." ver. 8. The consequence of this was, that sin, in its every shape, appeared to him exceeding sinful. Though Paul, prior to this, entertained a very high opinion of himself, and of the purity of his nature, he now confesses his mistake, and gives the true delineation of his condition. "I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing." ver. 18. If such was the depravity of his heart, af ter he had received grace, how great must it have been when he was nothing but "flesh," the mere child of lapsed Adam?

4. THE law points out to sinners the extreme danger of their sinful condition.

THOUGH the greater part of mankind will be forward enough to admit, that they are often under the influ ence of evil dispositions, and that they are guilty of many violations of the divine law, yet it rarely hap pens, that they apprehend their situation to be dange rous. Nothing affords a more convincing proof of their infatuation, than the hopes of safety which they en tertain, and the tranquillity of mind which they enjoy