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our Lord and Saviour, by the sacrifice of himself upon the cross, hath fully expiated our guilt, and reconciled us to God. By his being made a curse for us, he hath delivered us from the curse of the law, and from that endless and inexpressible misery which is the just desert of sin so that, as St Paul argues," there is now "no condemnation to them which are "in Christ Jesus. We have redemption "thro' his blood, even the forgiveness of “sins.”“Christ hath once suffered for “ sins, the just for the unjust, that he "might bring us to God." By the blood of his cross he has made our peace with heaven; for we, who were afar off, are now brought nigh, and can draw near to God in full assurance of faith and hope. As the sacrifice was accepted and the ransom paid, the sentence of condemnation is reversed, the prison-door thrown open, and liberty proclaimed to them who were in bondage. By reason of the sufferings and death of his incarnate son, God can pardon sin to the glory of his divine perfections, and in complete consistency with the honour of his government and laws. And not only so, but the gospel assures

us, that he will confer this glorious privilege upon every one who repents of his sins, and applies to him for pardon thro' this great Mediator. "If we confess our "sins, he is faithful and just to forgive "them, and to cleanse us from all un" righteousness." Not only are the sins of the penitent so entirely remitted, that, in the expressive language of Scripture, they shall be remembered no more," but the obedience of Christ is put to their account, and thus, being made the righteousness of God in him, they are accepted and dealt with as dear children in him, are admitted as one with him into the family of God, and are invested with all the privileges which that high distinction and intimate relation embrace.

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Second, This eternal life includes also the renovation and sanctification of our corrupt natures.

We are all by nature under the power and dominion of sin, under the influence of evil habits and vicious inclinations, averse to what is good, and prone to that which is evil, having no delight in holiness, or in walking in communion with

our Father in heaven. But Jesus Christ restores his people to the image, as well as to the favour of God. He sends his Holy Spirit into their hearts, by whose gracious influence the power of sin is destroyed, corrupt appetites and passions mortified, evil habits amended, and the dispositions of heaven planted in the soul. Hence the most important and glorious change takes place in the inner man: they become "new creatures in "Christ Jesus; old things are passed away, "behold all things become new." They have new desires and dispositions,-new hopes and fears,-new ends and motives,-new ways and works, which are in them "as a well of water springing up ❝ into everlasting life."

Thus, by the powerful energy of the Holy Spirit, a work of grace and holiness is begun here, and will be completed in a state of perfect happiness and glory on high. For the method of his operation upon the understanding and will of man, we pretend not to account. Our Saviour said to Nicodemus, "The wind bloweth "where it listeth, and thou hearest the "sound thereof, but canst not tell whence

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"it cometh, or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." But, my friends, though his influence be thus secret and unaccountable, yet his effects, we are assured, are powerful and mighty, and extend to all, even the most sinful, who feel the need of a Saviour, who pray for aid, and diligently use the means of grace appointed. Through the medium of the word of God, the ordinances of the gospel, and the dispensations of providence, the influences of the Holy Spirit are rendered effectual for the conversion of sinners, for the comfort and edification of believers, and for training them up unto a meetness for participating in “ the glorious inheritance of the saints in "light."

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Now, in these two particulars already mentioned, our justification and sanctification, consists our deliverance from spiritual death, and our exaltation to spiritual life; for by these we are freed from the guilt, the power and pollution of sin, which constituted spiritual death, and are restored to the divine image, which is the true life of the soul.

Third, This eternal life includes in it deliverance from the sting of affliction and death.

These evils are the fruits of sin,-the fatal effects of man's apostacy from God. Though Jesus Christ has made a complete satisfaction for sin, he has not thought fit to grant his people a total exemption from sin and its effects, so long as they continue in this state of trial and imperfection,—a state which is intended by God as a preparation for another and a better. We are sent into this world of sin and sorrow to fit and form us for a life of perfect holiness and unmixed happiness in that which is to come. The afflictions of the present life are the means of training us up for a meetness for that blessed state, in which we shall enjoy a complete freedom from sin and suffering, where the wise ends of divine providence are fulfilled by us in this world, Our blessed Redeemer has indeed taken the sting out of affliction, and rendered it subservient to our good. As he has sustained, in our room, the full punishment which our iniquities deserved, the afflictions of his people are not sent as the pu