20 SERMON II. SIN, OUR DISEASE. ROM. 5. 19. By one man's disobedience many were made sinners." IN every building it is very important to lay a solid, substantial groundwork; and as it is my earnest desire and prayer to build you up, my brethren, in the faith of Christ, I would begin by making you acquainted with those great and leading truths, which seem to be laid down in Scripture, as a sort of foundation for the whole Christian building. I mean such truths as these-Man's state as a fallen, sinful creature-Our redemption through Christ-Our need of a change of heart-The necessity of holiness. I propose taking for my subject this afternoon, Man's state as a sinner before God. And may God remove every covering which blinds our eyes, and shew us what we really are in his sight! Supposing a man was to grow up from his childhood, without ever having read God's word, or heard it preached. Supposing he was to be told, that this world was made by an Almighty Being, full of power, wisdom, and love. Still there would be much to perplex him. He would look around him, and see many things out of order; the earth bringing forth of its own accord thorns, and weeds, which are of no manner of use, and which require much toil and labour to root up. He would see some of God's creatures having enough and to spare, and others suffering from actual want. He would find hundreds bowed down with pain, and disease, and sorrow. "And how is this?" he might exclaim, "Is this the work of Him who is allwise, a God of love?" Yes, brethren, so it is. If you look into the 1st Chapter in the Bible, you will see a picture of God's world, when it was first created-a beautiful, lovely picture. We are there told, that "God saw everything that He had made; and, behold, it was very good." There was no flaw, no defect in his work. All was perfect. God made man upright, after his own image and likeness. and therefore happy. He was holy, There was not a sin to disturb him, nor a sorrow to grieve him, nor a pain to torment him. God was his Friend. He enjoyed the full sunshine of his favour. And so he might have lived on, happy for ever. But, alas, a dark cloud soon passed over him. You may read in the 2nd and 3rd of Genesis, the sad history of what happened. God put man upon his trial. He placed him in the happy garden of Eden, and gave him full liberty, excepting on one point. He told him that there was just one single tree that he must not eat of; for "in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shall surely die." That is, they should no longer live for ever, but they should from that moment become dying creatures; they should be subject to death. It might seem a small thing to eat from a forbidden tree. But God |
