SERMON I.

"And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."-Gen. ii. 15—17.

WE began reading last Sunday morning, brethren, as you doubtless all know, that book of God's Word, the first three chapters of which cannot fail to strike a thoughtful mind with mingled feelings of bitterness and shame. We there read of the creation of the world in six days, and of man, as God's most glorious work, last of all; that "God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good ;" and that "God created man in his own image." In the second chapter we read all that is needful for us to know about man's condition in the garden where he was placed; of the liberty which was given him to eat of every tree but one under penalty of death. We read this morning an account of that most lamentable of all misfortunes which this earth has ever witnessed—I mean the fall of man from his

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first estate of purity. I propose to offer you, brethren, some practical thoughts upon man's condition when first created connected with his present fallen state.

Concerning both these conditions the traditions of the world have almost everywhere some story, but it is to Scripture alone that we are indebted for certain information which we may depend upon. Even without Scripture-if, at least, our minds were enlightened as they now are-it would seem impossible for our fall not to present itself to our imaginations. When we see so much sorrow, and suffering, and disorder, in the world amongst mankind, and yet, at the same time, such perfect harmony, beauty, and order, everywhere else, in all the inanimate parts of the world, such as the wonders of the starry heavens, and wonders no less upon the face of this earth which we inhabit, we cannot help at times being struck by this melancholy contrast, and enquiring what its reason and cause can be. Why should all sensible things of the world, such as ourselves, be subject to so much sorrow and imperfection in every respect, and yet those things which have no sense, no intelligence of any kind, be so perfect and beautiful? Of all created things out of heaven one would think that man would be the most perfect, for he is certainly superior to the rest; and one would think be would be the most happy, because he seems to

be so admirably adapted to the enjoyments of happiness. There is much in dumb creation that strikes us with sorrow, and reminds us of disorder; but no where do we see it in such a marked manner as in man. Horrible and loathsome as are many of the habits of brute beasts, yet there is nothing in their habits and condition to strike us near so sadly, or remind us so forcibly of degradation and disorder as the habits and condition of mankind at times. No need to go amid all the horrors of war, or search among the wilds of heathen lands, or in the dens of our crowded cities; no need to go back in our history to times before Christianity was known and felt among us; we have simply to mark the behaviour of men of our own neighbourhood, or dive deep into our own hearts, and we shall find ample signs of our degradation-a degradation sometimes far exceeding that of beasts that perish. Either we must believe that God is an evil being who takes delight in dealing out misery and wretchedness to his creatures, to those whom he has made most capable of the highest happiness, or else we must believe that man is not what he was designed to be, that he is a fallen creature. But if our habits and condition speak to us of degradation, yet there is still a voice within us which reminds us unconsciously of a previous better state. There are still the relics and ruins of some happier and more glorious condition-like the

prostrate pillars of some ancient temple whose walls are fallen and foundations are scarcely to be observed. Our fallen nature makes us liable to sin; yet there is somewhat within which points out the shamefulness of sin, and what St. Paul felt we also feel, that what we do we allow not; for what we would that we do not, but what we hate that we do. To will is often present with us but how to perform that which is good we find not; for the good which we would we do not, but the evil which we would not, that we do.

The 3rd chapter of Genesis gives us the explanation of this. It declares to us that the sorrow of man and his depravity is not to be attributed to God's want of affection for us, or to any imperfection in our first creation by Him, but to our own first disobedience and sin; for it tells us that after God had completed His work of creation "God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good."

What man's work and office was to be, what his peculiar and special occupation was to be in God's varied dispensation we know not. Not even the angels in heaven know. No doubt it was for some very high and glorious object. So glorious, indeed, is man's futurity that it is said the angels anxiously desire to ascertain it-" which things," says St. Peter, "the angels desire to look into." Of this, however, we may be certain that man

when first created was created for some high post of confidence and trust in God's marvellous dispensations, like the angels, perhaps, to be "ministering spirits "-to carry his Creator's Word both far and near, to execute God's will, to be continually declaring His praise and reflecting His glory; that not only man might be happy in the knowledge of God, but that God also might find delight and glory in man.

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If this be the case it will at once explain something which might otherwise seem strange and useless-I allude to the prohibition given to eat of one particular tree in the garden of Eden. Lord commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

It would appear as if God, in thus creating man, was unwilling to pronounce him holy, and bestow His unconditional favour upon him for ever, without in some way proving him to be worthy of his favour, and fairly entitled to be called holy, that the mouth of the great accuser might have no occasion to blaspheme.

When the Lord once spake of Job's uprightness, and said, "hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God,