derers over the troubled sea of human life-you have lost that which is of more value than the world and all that is therein-you have forfeited, through Adam, your title unto heaven. But there is one who has come to seek, even the chief of sinners-to bring you back into the way from which you have departed-to rescue you from certain death and destruction. "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

From these words let us consider how mankind may be said to be lost, and who it is, that has come to seek and to save them; and in what way he has undertaken to accomplish this mighty work.

You cannot be ignorant, that the nature of man was at first upright and perfect. God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him. Pure in thought, in, word, and in deed, and in the full exercise of a free will, man delighted to hold communion with his Maker amongst the trees of the Garden of Eden. Then it was his happiness and joy to worship God, to sing songs of praise and thanksgiving to the great Author of his being; but, alas! now how changed! By disobedience of the commands of his Creator, by an anxious desire of knowing good and evil, by listening to the temptations of the Devil, in eating of that fruit, of which he was commanded under the penalty of death not to eat, man lost the image of his God-he lost that holiness, that knowledge, that righteousness, that mercy, truth, and love which form parts of the character of the Most High, in whose image he had been made, and instead thereof gained all the evil tempers, and dispositions of the soul, which proceed from the Devil, the wicked tempter of his fidelity, and which break forth into corresponding actions; and not only did he thus lose his happiness upon earth-not only did he become subject to death-to the separation of the soul and body from each other, the latter to turn to dust and moulder in the grave, but he became exposed to eternal death, to the everlasting punishment of body and soul; when body and soul should again be united at the resurrection at the last day.

And will then the Most High God be no more intreated? will he not pardon his fallen creatures, who through the sin of their first parents, and by their own actual trans

gressions, have constantly rebelled against him, despised his commandments, and poured contempt on his laws? Though a God of justice, still the Lord, whom we worship and adore, is a God of mercy. Instead of instantly cutting off the sinful parent of the human race, and putting his threat into execution, he spares his life on earth to a lengtened period, and promises the salvation of his soul, and the souls of all his posterity, who should believe, and turn unto God in true penitence, by means of His dearly begotten Son, who should take upon himself the form of man. This hope of a Saviour, who should restore man to the image of God, this steadfast faith in the promised Redeemer, filled the hearts of prophets, priests, and kings of the chosen people of God, the children of Jacob, from generation to generation, until the time foretold, when the Redeemer should come, did actually arrive, when their hearts and eyes were satisfied, who had long been waiting for the consolation of Israel-the Saviour of lost and fallen man.

And who then is he, who has come to seek and to save that which was lost? behold! it is none other than the Son of God, the Son of man.

Life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel. The word gospel, which refers to what you read in the New Testament, signifies joyful news, glad and welcome tidings: and what news can be so joyful, what tidings so welcome? as for lost and fallen man to hear, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, left the glories of heaven, quitted the presence of the everlasting father, and was born in the flesh, for us men and for our salvation; The ancient prophecies, those which cheered the hearts of the faithful for many ages, and generations received their full completion, "God was manifest in the flesh." Though one of the three persons in the ever blessed Trinity, though in glory equal with the Father aud the Holy Spirit, and in majesty co-eternal, yet he took upon himself the form of a servant, was born of a poor and humble virgin, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger; though the Son of God, he became the Son of man, takes upon himself our nature, sin only excepted, lives a life of poverty, selfdenial, and persecution, having no place where he might lay his head; he meekly endures shame and buffeting, wears a cruel crown of thorns, and dies the painful

death of the cross; that all, even the rebellious creatures of his hand, who truly believe in him, might live for ever; and he rises on the third day from the grave, and ascends into heaven, that he may lead captivity captive, and give us the victory over every enemy of our salvation. Fallen and lost as man had become, it was impossible for him to satisfy the broken law of God by any thing that he could do to recover his lost condition. It required a sacrifice of the greatest value, even that of the Son of God himself, to make atonement for the sins of men. By his perfect obedience to God, by his one offering once made, he has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Thus you will see, that, descended as you are from fallen Adam, you are lost by nature, that is, in consequence of the sin which you inherit from your first parents, and liable to be lost for ever by your own actual transgressions. Thus you see, that though God created man upright and good, a fatal breach has been made between them, and man, being become by nature a rebel to his maker, and listening to the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the Devil, has found out many inventions, under cover of which to deceive his own heart, and make corruption strong. Man is now born in the likeness of his first father, who sinned; his tempers and dispositions are changed from good to evil, and therefore he listens to the calls of sin, and to the inventions of his own wicked and deceitful heart.

O lost and fallen creatures, sinful descendants of rebellious man, will you persist in remaining wanderers now from the right way, and lost for ever in the world to come? will you refuse to hear the voice of mercy, calling you out of darkness into light, no longer to stray deeper and deeper into the paths of sin and disgrace; no longer to hurry on farther and farther from the christian fold, neglecting the duties of religion and preparation for another world; but to return and accept the offers of pardon and peace from the Son of man, who declares himself in the text, to be come to seek and to save that which was lost? will you refuse to listen to that benefactor who has suffered so much for you? are not your immortal souls of the greatest value? "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world,

and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" and will you then turn a deaf ear to his gracious invitations to come unto him, and to be saved for ever? to do his commandments and to live; will you still persist in preferring the paths of vice and crime, which lead to misery and disgrace in this world, and to eternal punishment in the next, to obedience to the will of God in discharging your duties to God and your neighbour, and to society in general? Will you rather continue hardened in sin than have your souls cleansed from the love and practice of it, through the divine operations of the Holy Spirit upon them?

Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish! if you refuse to listen to the gracious calls of the Most High, to turn from the error of your ways, to renounce your evil deeds, to repent and live; rejecting thus the Saviour, the Son of man, you cannot but be lost for ever; for if you fail to strive after, to attain, during the short period of your abode upon earth, that heavenly image in which man was at first created, what must be your lot in another state of existence? when you come to die, you will have a fearful looking for to the final day of awful judgment, when every one shall be judged according to what he hath done in the body, whether it be good or whether it be evil, and after death a certain endurance of misery eternal, the worm that dieth not, and the fire that cannot be quenched.

Can any one then, who sees a dreadful precipice beneath him, and knows his danger if he fall, be so mad, as to rush headlong into destruction? Can any one be so careless, and heedless of his future welfare, as to wish to retain the fallen image of sinful Adam, rather than to regain, through the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, the pure and perfect image of God? Is he not commanded in the Scriptures to be holy, even as God is holy, to be perfect, even as his Father in Heaven is perfect. Still will he refuse to surive after this perfection, to which by the assistance of the Holy Spirit of God in prayer, he is commanded to aspire, and prefer the paths of sin and immorality to the ways of religion, righteousness, and holiness? Can any one, professing the Christian Religion and believing, that there is a God, who judgeth the earth,

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that doubtless there is a reward for the children of men,that the Almighty will render unto men hereafter according to their actions here, continue in the practice of those sins, which proceed from the subtilty of Satan, and his own wicked heart, and live not only negligent, but totally careless of those graces, and virtues, which form part of the character of Him, whose glorious image man by sin

has lost?

By nature and by practice are you sinners, and lost, without hope of remedy, unless you return to that God, from whom you have departed, who has promised to have mercy upon you-to that God, who will abundantly pardon, through him, who came to seek and to save, that which was lost. "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world, to save sinners." "There is joy in the presence of the Angels of Heaven over one Sinner that repenteth." Pray then unto God, that He would give you sincere repentance of your past sins in thought, word, and deed; and of His infinite goodness, blot out your transgressions, and give you His grace to amend your lives according to His holy word. Implore the God of all mercy, that He would enable you to renounce the practice of every evil way—the indulgence of every sinful passion; that you may order your conversation agreeably to His commandments-that He would create in you new hearts, and renew right spirits within you, remembering, that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God, is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord."