declares that we are born in sin and shapen in iniquity; and our Saviour says, "Ye are of your father the devil." This is the case with reference to the children of God in their nature state.

Again, Satan robs us of our clothing. Our first parents, though they were naked, did not experience any shame when they used to converse in the garden of Eden, before they fell into sin: but no sooner had they rebelled against the commandment of their Creator, than Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. And the Lord God called unto Adam, "Where art thou?" And he said, "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid. because I was naked; and I hid myself." And Satan hath robbed us of our clothing: we would rather hide ourselves from God than go to him by our own inclinations: so true is it that men naturally, rather than drag their bodies under the hearing of the Gospel of Christ, will run into any other place; they are so afraid of God and the word of God, that like Adam and his wife, they hide themselves from the Lord.

He has robbed us of our strength. "Of our strength?" say you. "Have we no power against Satan? Can we not do any thing to oppose him?" He has totally robbed you of your strength; and will you serve him still? If he has robbed you of your beauty, of your sight, and of your strength, will you still give yourselves to his service? Will you still devote all your energies to a person like this? Will you be robbed, and yet bless the hand that plunders you of your property? Will you have your eyes put out, and yet kiss the hand that is doing it? Will you have all that is worth possessing taken away from you, and yet at the same time devote yourselves to the destroyer? I could almost say, in the language of the Psalmist, "Do I not hate them that hate thee?" Is it not painful to the souls of the Lord's people to see men thus blinded, robbed, destroyed, murdered, as it were in the streets. and yet that they shall even bless and praise the hand which does it? But you would be just the same, were it not for the grace of God: for "what hast thou that thou hast not received? and who made thee to differ?" And so we may say with respect to ourselves: we are just the same, and we profess before you we are not a whit better than these by nature. You have not the power of liberating yourselves from your bondage. What a blessed declaration, then, is the text to those who feel what they are; seeing that if you have not the power to do any thing for your own liberation, Jesus Christ has done it for you!

He has robbed you of your peace. Perhaps there is some person ready to deny this: "Satan has not robbed me of my peace: I enjoy much peace; you can scarcely imagine how happy I was last week at the theatre (or some other synagogue of Satan). You will not persuade me that Satan has robbed me of my peace; I enjoy much happiness; I spend many pleasant days and evenings in what you call the service of Satan: I have the proof that Satan has not robbed me of my peace." If I had an opportunity, I could prove to thee that Satan has robbed thee of thy peace; and if not in thine own experience now, there is a day coming when thou wilt acknowledge the truth of what I assert, when thy present peace shall issue in eternal damnation, when your temporary enjoyment shall be exchanged for everlasting misery, when you shall go from the delightful service of Satan on earth to the miserable service of Satan in hell. Reflect on this, and see if you can enjoy yourselves the next week.

He has robbed you of your peace with God and your own conscience; and however you may endeavour to persuade yourselves that you are not guilty of sin, try yourselves by the word of God, and if you can in your consciences approve what you do, and the manner in which you live, I should almost (I was going to say) despair of your salvation. But inasmuch as I know God has said he is capable of saving the most hardened and ungodly wretch, if he is the object of his everlasting love, therefore we are encouraged in preaching the Gospel to those who are hardened in sin, knowing that the power of the Spirit can apply the truth of the Gospel to the hearts of such. Hence Paul says, "Where sin hath abounded, grace doth much more abound."

In a word, the works of Satan may be summed up in one short sentence he is labouring with all his power, ingenuity, and skill, to establish his own kingdom, and to put down that of Jesus Christ: and this leads me to

The third head of discourse: THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST. I shall call your attention to the spiritual manifestation of which the scriptures speak in reference to Christ.

The first you find in Genesis, iii. 15, immediately after the fall; and it was a blessed manifestation. You have in this an exhibition of the love of God to his elect children. Immediately after their sin, God introduced himself into their presence, and having expostulated with them, he immediately manifests Christ as a Saviour from the

consequences of their sin. Was Christ, say you, manifested then in the garden of Eden? He was, beloved: the same Christ who is preached to you to-night was preached to our first parents immediately after the fall; and no other name has ever been preached by God or God's ministers as the way of salvation. It was Christ who was preached as the remedy for that sin which our first parents committed in the garden of Eden: "The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent."

God was

He was moreover manifested in his human nature. manifested in the flesh; and the manifestation of Christ in his human nature constitutes the great blessing of salvation; fulfilling the divine law which we had broken; having all the sins, without exception, of the Lord's elect people laid to his charge, and making a full, perfect, and sufficient satisfaction on the cross for those sins. He was manifested when, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, he was lifted up on the cross, that whosoever believeth in him as God manifest in the flesh, shall receive everlasting life: and the only manifestation of Christ to which we would direct your attention as being saving in its efficacy, is, that of a perfect atonement or sacrifice presented to the Eternal Father as a satisfaction for the sins of those who believe.

He is manifested in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. The prophets spoke of Christ: Paul says in Hebrews, i. “God at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in times past to the fathers by the prophets :" and every rite, and every type, and every shadow, which was exhibited in the temple worship, was only as a glass through which the mind was directed to the great sacrifice, Jesus Christ our living Head: and he was manifested in the Old Testament, that the Old Testament saints might believe in Him who destroyed the works of the devil.

But he is especially manifested in the New Testament. He says himself, "Search the Scriptures, for they are they which testify of me." You must search the Scriptures if you want to see Jesus Christ: it is necessary that you search God's holy word continually and in your search be like the man who bought a piece of ground, understanding there was a treasure hid in it; selling all that you have to purchase this field, because of the treasure concealed therein. You should read the Word of God to discover the Lord Jesus, for there he is so clearly manifested that you cannot fail, if under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, to discover him. You must remember the woman who having lost a piece of money,

lighted a candle, and swept the house diligently and when the Spirit of God enlightens your understanding, and brings you to feel that you have lost the salvation of your souls, light the candle, take the Scriptures, open the book, and pray to God that you may discover in the reading of the book that which you have lost for Christ says, "Search the Scriptures, for they testify of me ;" and Paul writing to Timothy says, " Give thyself to reading." Christ is manifested in both the Old Testament and the New, and both correspond, and unite in the manifestation of Christ to the church. I now come to the manifestation of Christ personally, in the preaching of the word, and in the heart of the believer.

First, Christ has personally appeared on earth. You should never have your minds directed from this subject by any other man. I know Satan will try, if he can, to lead you to the consideration of the second coming of Christ. It is necessary that you consider this, but take care that he does not invent any false ideas respecting his second coming. Never let the second, or any other coming, imaginary or real, keep you from looking at Christ already come: for this is your salvation. God was manifested in the flesh; and it was when he appeared on earth that he overcame the works of the devil; and what is necessary that you understand and experience is, that he has destroyed them in your behalf. It is not enough that you hear and believe that he destroyed the works of the devil, but it is necessary that you feel in your hearts that he has destroyed them in reference to you.

Christ is manifested in the preaching of the Gospel. If we speak not of the Gospel it is because there is no light in us; and if we speak of any other Gospel it will not save your souls. Hence it is your bounden duty to come before with none other than Christ; nor to present to you any other remedy for sin than the blood of Christ; nor to exhibit any thing before you as the justification of your sins than the justification of Christ. There is a declarative manifestation of Christ in the faithful preaching of the Gospel: and we endeavour to exhibit him before you, that your eyes being directed to him, and withdrawn from all other objects, you may be transformed into his image as by the Spirit of the Lord. We are bound, as ministers of the Gospel, every time we present ourselves before you, to declare nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified for the salvation of souls.

There is a sacramental manifestation of Christ. When we present to you the symbols of our Saviour's dying love, in the language

of our church (which is a good interpretation of the subject), we present "the outward and visible sign." But has not God promised that, whatsoever means of grace you engage in, if engaged in with faith, prayer, and humility, you shall not only be partakers of the symbol, but of the thing signified? And if when you are pressing the bread with your teeth, and receiving the wine into your lips, you are enabled by faith to look to Jesus Christ, whose body was broken on the cross, and whose blood was spilt for his church-if you are enabled to look through the symbol to Him whom it signifies, you shall experience that not only are you partakers of the outward sign, but that you are strengthened by the application of the inward and spiritual grace. With respect to my own people, I would just say, Whenever you come to the table of the Lord, and it is my privilege to administer the symbols of my Saviour's dying love, let me beseech you to come in the spirit of prayer and faith, and your service shall never be in vain.

I must not omit to tell you that the only manifestation of Christ which can do any of you good is, the manifestation of Christ to your hearts by the Spirit of God. I may speak to you of divine matters ever so clearly, I may well arrange my arguments, and endeavour by the dint of human logic to confirm all I say; but it is in vain unless the Spirit of God be with me. You are assembled here to-night to hear God's word explained; and I must tell you, one and all, that my preaching cannot do you the least good, and your hearing will not be of the least advantage, unless you have the Spirit of God to apply it to your hearts, and seal it on your consciences, that, like bread cast upon the waters, it may be seen in your lives and experienced in your hearts. I mention this to show the necessity of continual supplication at the throne of grace, for the teaching, guiding, and sanctifying power of the Spirit of God. The works of the devil must be destroyed in your hearts by the formation of Christ in your souls, and you must have the experience and the evidence for yourselves that sin does not overcome you, that the world does not destroy you, and that the devil does not lead you into eternal ruin. "Sin shall not have dominion over you:" "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world:" Christ has destroyed "death, and him that hath the power of death, that is, the devil :" "His name shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." Now this is the manifestation of Christ which I wish to impress upon you-that you should have Christ in your hearts preserving and saving you.