again, and to the exercise of his regal functions; yea, and brought him, also, to the possession of real piety, and ultimately to the enjoyment of a far nobler kingdom.
And has he not given to us the same advantage ? Yes, and one far greater: for he has made known to us,
1. His indignation against sin; not in one instance only, but in all ages —
[We may go back to the very first introduction of sin into the world ; and there we shall see the indignation of God against it, written in the most tremendous colours. Not only was our first parent banished from Paradise ; but a sentence of death was pronounced against him ; and the whole earth, and all his posterity, were cursed for his sake. Hell, indeed, had been previously created, as a receptacle for the fallen angels : but it was henceforth to be peopled with millions of the human race, who, having received from Adam a corrupt nature, would follow his bad example, and perish in their sins.
As we descend further in the history of the world, we see again the displeasure of God against sin, as manifested at the Deluge ; by which judgment every creature upon the face of the whole earth perished, except the few which were admitted into Noah's ark.
Nor was his abhorrence of sin less strongly marked by the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha, and all the cities of the plain, by fire from heaven. In this terrible judgment were involved the infant and the suckling, no less than the most daring offender in the land. Surely, after contemplating such events as these, we cannot doubt but that sin must, in the Divine mind, be an object of the deepest abhorrence.
But we need not go back to distant ages. We need only look around us, and within us, and we shall behold the same awful truth exhibited to our view on every side. Whence is it that storms and tempests desolate the earth, and plagues of every kind are inflicted on the human race? Whence is it that pains, and sorrows, and death assault, not the aged sinner only, but the new-born innocent ? Whence is it that there is not a man upon earth, the godly alone excepted, that pos- sesses peace in his soul, in the prospect of death and judg- ment? How comes it that all are "like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt ? " There may, it is true, be found, in sad abundance, men as thoughtless as the beasts : but, of any thing like solid peace, in the contemplation of eternity, there is not to be found one