all this subject we learn to understand two things. Hence we
understand the Fall. When man fell, the world fell with him. All
creation received a shock. Thorns, briars, and thistles, sprang up.
They were there before, but to the now restless and impatient hands of
men they became obstacles and weeds. Death, which must ever have
existed as a form of dissolution, a passing from one state to another,
became a curse; the sting of death was sin--unchanged in itself, it
changed in man. A dark, heavy cloud, rested on it--the shadow of his
own guilty heart.

Hence too, we understand the Millennium. The Bible says that these
things are not to be for ever. There are glorious things to come. Just
as in my former illustration, the alteration of the eye called new
worlds into being, so now nothing more is needed than to re-create the
soul--the mirror on which all things are reflected. Then is realized
the prophecy of Isaiah, "Behold, I create all things new," "new
heavens and a new earth."

The conclusion of this verse proves to us why all these new creations
were called into being--"wherein dwelleth righteousness." To be
righteous makes all things new. We do not want a new world, we want
_new hearts_. Let the Spirit of God purify society, and to the pure
all things will be pure. The earth will put off the look of weariness
and gloom which it has worn so long, and then the glorious language of
the prophets will be fulfilled--"The forests will break out with
singing, and the desert will blossom as the rose."

XI.

_Preached February 9, 1851._

UNITY AND PEACE.

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also
ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."--Colossians iii.
15.

There is something in these words that might surprise us. It might
surprise us to find that peace is urged on us as a duty. There can be
no duty except where there is a matter of obedience; and it might seem
to us that peace is a something over which we have no power. It is a
privilege to have peace, but it would appear as if there were no power
of control within the mind of a man able to ensure that peace for
itself. "Yet," says the apostle, "let the peace of God rule in your
hearts."

It would seem to _us_ as if peace were as far beyond our own control
as happiness. Unquestionably, we are not masters on our own
responsibility of our own happiness. Happiness is the gratificatio