tered the heart of man at his fall; madness possesses him while he lives, and unless a wonderful interposition of grace takes place, he must perish in madness. No man can enter again into the pleasurable garden, and eat of the tree of life, until he shall have conquered and subdued all the armies of heaven. The almighty. arm must be broken, the thunders of divine wrath averted, Jehovah's vengeance extinguished, and ali above prostrated to all behow, before such an event can take place. Conquer angels, conquer cherubim and seraphim, conquer the omnipotent eternal, and then proud and feeble man may triumph. Are these things impossible? It is equally or more impossible for any to obtain life everlasting by the first covenant.

But, this may be more plainly considered from the nature of the covenant of works, and from man's relation to the same. The covenant of works required perfect and perpetual obedience. Obedience in heart and life, disposition and practice. Eternal felicity was attainable by it, and it was easily attained by the constitution of our first parents. Their tempers were right, and all was perfect, and their salvation was suspended upon their fidelity.

This obedience or fidelity involved three qualifications. It must be perfect, personal, and perpetual. It must be perfect both in parts and degree. The law must be obeyed without the least deviation or failure. Any flaw or deficiency absolutely ruins the whole, and defeats every expectation of salvation by it.The least misstep or moral miscarriage, however small, is utter destruction. The most inconsiderable irregularity in heart, speech or behaviour, incurs the forfeiture of eternal life. An idle word, or a vain thought, renders salvation absolutely impossible by the tenor of this covenant. It admits of no repentance, and its nature utterly secludes pardon. Its language and spirit is, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all and every 66 thing contained therein." Whosoever will enter into life by this covenant, must be conformed in heart to the law, must keep

the commandments and do them perfectly.

This evinces the

impossibility of salvation by the original constitution.

This obedience must not only be compleat and perfect, but it must be personal. The covenant admitted of no Mediator, intervening or substituted righteousness, but required, under the awful penalty of death and eternal perdition, an exact fulfilment of the law in our own persons. This demonstrates the impossibility of salvation in this way.

This obedience must not only be personal and perfect, but per petuity is an essential qualification of it. Who then has presumption and confidence to dare to entertain a thought of salva tion by the covenant of works? Is it possible for any to yield such obedience as it requires? Where is the man, that will avouch he has performed this obedience? Has any mere man, for the

shortest duration, done it? Can any say, my hands are clean? I am free from sin? Let a dumb silence, and self-condemnation, envelope every individual of the human race. Each one must lay his hand on his mouth, and acknowledge transgression and guilt. These considerations, and multitudes of others arising from the depravity of nature, the propensity to wrong, aversion to right, and unceasing acts of offence, form an irresistable force of demonstration, that salvation is absolutely inattainable by the law or covenant of works. Yet, notwithstanding these insurmountable mounds in this way of salvation, man feels an astonishing propensity to seek it in this method, which is unreasonable, unjust, wicked and impossible.

This leads me, in the

Second place, To contemplate this strange and wonderful disposition in man, to return through all this infinite opposition to the garden of felicity, to the Eden of pleasure, and seek salvation by his own doings.

Let the conduct and practice of mankind be duly considered

and attended to, weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, com pared with the holy scriptures, and see what is its tenor.

Heark

"For

en to St. Paul on this head, in his epistle to the Romans. "they being ignorant of the righteousness of God, that is, of "the method wherein God will justify fallen sinners, have gone "about to establish their own personal righteousness, not sub"mitting themselves to the righteousness of God." However strange and extraordinary it may appear, sinners are always endeavoring at a compromise with the law, and through darkness covering their minds, the impossibility in this way of salvation is compleatly lost. God declares Jesus Christ to be the appointed end of the law for righteousness, to all who believe. Yet man, until renovated by almighty power and wonderful grace, will seek every devious and unattainable way of salvation, rather than this. The methods they contrive, and the measures they pursue for this purpose, are altogether unaccountable only on this divine position, "The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately "wicked." The main scope of various epistles of the apostle Paul, is to warn us against this error, and to turn us off from all dependance upon our own merits, either in whole or in part, as any ground of our own justification before God. How often does he repeat the idea, "That by the law, no flesh shall be jus"tified." The reiteration of these assertions, strongly imply that the tendency of sinners' hearts is to acquire salvation in this way. If there had been no propensity in human nature of this sort, where would have been the wisdom and goodness of divine inspiration, to throw in such full and frequent remonstrances against it? Why should such arguments of cherubim and flaming swords be placed in terrific array, but to strike full confusion into every expectation and thought of life, by the first constitution. But foolish man, covered in ignorance and darkness, having sunk far below any just views and sober reason, vainly imagines the superiority of his own clouded understanding.

When every direct source fails, there arises in the bewildered imagination of man, an attempt to accommodate and moderate

T

the covenant of works to their enfeebled circumstances; to relax its high demands, and reduce it to the power of their ignorant and feeble wishes. Hence the declaration is, we will new vamp the first covenant, throw in a quantity of spices of grace and mercy, and if not the whole, we will in part obtain our own salvation. Few men, under the light and instruction of the gospel, can entrench themselves so very deeply in ignorance, as to say, "We will have salvation by our own works ;" yet the covert disposition of their hearts is, as the Apostle beautifully expresses it, "They seek, as it were, justification by the works "of the law."

Men's practical conduct declares, that a freedom from openand gross impieties, will abundantly atone for small irregularities; and a little innocence or imaginary inoffensiveness, will satisfy for some positive unrighteousness; as if a man should plead in a court of justice, the penalty of the law of burglary or robbery, of which he had been fully convicted, should not be inficted upon him, because he had never shed human blood, or been guilty of murder..

Strange, but true it is, man wishes to participate a little of the merit of his own salvation. O, if he could thrust in a crumby slip in a grain of mustard seed, and mingle it with the mercy and grace of the gospel, when reduced to great extremity, the thought would bloat his whole soul, that he had a particle of merit in his own salvation. But a total humiliation to another, wholly to appear in borrowed robes, and to be perfectly clothed with the righteousness of Christ for acceptance with God, this is infinitely too much for a proud heart to bear: "It is to the Jews "a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness."

What address will the convinced sinner employ to worm himself someway, upon the footing of law into the favor of God? He will mourn, weep, fast, and go through a thousand penances, rather than submit to the terms of free and sovereign grace.

When convictions run high, and hell appears opening for their reception, how will they struggle, pray, and catch at every float, ing straw, rather than accept an absolute Saviour. They must, in some measure, prepare themselves a little better, and then they will bow to the sceptre of Jesus, and submit to sovereign grace.

All this is not only the picture of what are stiled moralists, pharisees, and self-righteous persons, and such as are under awakening and concern about their salvation, but this legal dis position strikes a luminous line into the character of the grossest sinner. Enquire of the morning and evening drunkard, of the grossest liar, of the profane swearer, of the sabbath breaker, and the open debauchee, what are the grounds on which you hope for salvation? They will unitedly answer, "Though we have our "foibles, we are honest men; we impose not upon the ignorant "and unwary; we are charitable to the poor, and give for public "purposes, far beyond the whining hypocrites-therefore, we "know the weaknesses of our frail natures are overbalanced by "our virtues; hence, we disturb not ourselves with fears and "doubts, but we firmly hope in the mercy, love, compassion, "and benevolence of God.. We know he is not a mean, illiberal, "and uncharitable being, like many of his grovelling and little "hearted creatures."

What is all this, in every point of view, but a plain and compleat demonstration, that there is a propensity in sinners to seek salvation by the law, by the first covenant, a method in which it is absolutely inattainable. The pharisee, the hypocrite, and every grade of sinners, from the highest to the lowest wallowing wretch of vomit in the street, seek salvation in reality, or, as it were, by the deeds of the law.

This subject must close with a short inference or two, which would easily admit of a whole sermon of improvement.