that which bears some faint resemblance to the pursuits upon which you are about to enter, and the joys of which you shall, throughout eternity, partake.

EXPOSITION V.

GENESIS ii. 4-7.

4. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

5. And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

6. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

In these verses a reference is made to what has gone before, and we are here assured that what we have read in the former chapter, furnishes us with a true account of the " 'generations," or of the formation of the heavens and the earth.

The inspired writer then calls our attention to the two most remarkable facts, upon which he has lately dwelt, to impress them the more strongly upon our memory. These wondrous facts are, the productiveness of the earth without cultivation, or without any of the ordinary means which have been since employed, and the origin of man.

Of the first, he tells us, that although no human being was there to till the earth, no rain to fall upon and water it, it had still brought forth all that was needed; and this at a moment's warning, for the whole world of creatures. Wonderful and astonishing proof that the Almighty could, if it so pleased him, at the present hour, work as effectually without means, as he usually condescends to do, by the constant and assiduous employment of them! But the knowledge of this does not, and ought not, to induce us to neglect them! "Seed-time and harvest shall not fail," but still man must sow, and plant, and reap, and gather. Almighty has not bound himself to the use of means, but he has unquestionably bound us; if we neglect the seed-time, we shall look in vain for the harvest. And as in the natural world, so also in the spiritual. It is quite true that God can convert the heart, and turn the

The

sinner from his evil ways, and build up the righteous in his holy walk and conversation, and give peace to the troubled soul, and to the weary, rest. But woe betide the man, who knowing this, postpones all effort, and neglects all means, and waits with folded arms, for the Almighty to effect that great and blessed work within his heart, which is usually found only in the constant, prayerful, persevering use of those means, which God himself has appointed, and to which alone he has attached the blessing.

The second important truth revealed in the verses we have read, is man's humble origin; the inspired historian had before told us that man was made, he now tells us of what he was made. "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." Most humbling reflection! “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Were this all that had been revealed to us, we might with truth declare, that throughout the universe of creation, we are of all created things most miserable. (See 1 Cor. xv. 19.) The beast that enjoys the present hour without one gloomy foreboding of to-morrow's miseries, the fish that cleaves the waters, the bird that floats with joyful wing upon the air, might well look with compassion upon their master, man, if all the knowledge of his own futurity were confined

to this little sentence. But, blessed be God, the same verse that tells of man's perishing body, tells also of his imperishable, his immortal soul. "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Yes, man was vouchsafed a soul that should never die. Reflect then, often, deeply, carefully, upon this treasure which God has placed within an "earthen vessel." Give, not too much of your time, your care, and your attention, to your body of dust, which must soon lie down undistinguished and indistinguishable from the dust around it; but remember the soul, all that has been done for it, all that it must do, or all that it must suffer throughout eternity. You may destroy, you cannot kill it. When ages innumerable shall have passed away, it will still be what it is at this moment, "a living soul." But where living, will depend upon what you are now doing. Are you neglecting, injuring, ruining it; the slave of sin, the bondsman of Satan or the world? Remember that you must live with those hereafter, whom you have loved, and served, and belonged to here; and that living soul" which has here habituated itself to all that is "earthly, sensual, devilish," must hereafter dwell where joy, and peace, and hope,

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can never enter. But are you now endeavouring to live to God? are you earnestly seeking him through the blood and merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? The life which you now live in the flesh, do you live by the faith of the Son of God, who has loved you, and given himself for you? That "living soul," of whom this can be truly said, is his, and shall be his for ever; it shall dwell, for the sake of him in whom it trusts, amid the joys at God's right hand, with those, the children of God, who surround the throne; with those whom it has loved, and lost, and mourned for here; above all, with him, "whom not having seen we love," and in the presence of his glory, for ever and for ever.

EXPOSITION VI.

GENESIS ii. 8—17.

8. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good