222

SERMON XVI.

THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN NATURE.

EPHESIANS ii. 3.

And were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

It is indeed a melancholy thought, that the earliest pages of the history of man should be the record, at once of his dignity and his ruin, of his glory and his fall. The conciseness of the sacred historian marks, with a degree of awful interest, the rapid inroads of sin and death, upon the fair works of God. A few short sentences carry us, from the moment when the almighty Spirit, moving over the face of the waters, gave life and form to the creation, to the period, when, in just indignation at the prevailing wickedness of man, he called forth the waves of an avenging deluge, and swept from the face of the earth the sinners that had despised his mercy. And what are the facts of which the intervening history is com

posed? They are the lamentable results of sin, the awful triumphs of death. One after another the patriarchs lived their appointed term of years: one after another they departed as a dream when one awaketh; and all that remains of their history is, that they lived, and begat sons and daughters, and then died. One exception alone remains a monument of divine favour ; and his character was scarcely less remarkable among the general ungodliness, than his wonderful translation amid the universal mortality. Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him. Whence, then, this sequel to the operations of God's creative wisdom? It is, that" by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."

The inclination of man's heart to sin; the imperfection of all his actions; the contest between good and evil which is carried on in the soul, and the too frequent prevalence of evil over good; the propensity to choose the worse instead of the better, even when this conduct is acknowledged to be detrimental to our highest interest, and contradictory to our bounden duty; these have heen experienced and deplored in all ages, and

ranks. The origin and cause of this evil question, which has ever been found attempts of unassisted reason.

hich this inquiry has led,

are the evidence of that imperfection, by which man's unaided wisdom is circumscribed. Revelation alone unveils to our view the real truth of the case, and teaches us the cause of this natural corruption of man. It tells us, that this corruption is the consequence of the transgression of our first parents: it tells us, that in Adam all die; that he defaced the image of God, the righteousness and purity of that soul, which was created in the likeness of the divine original, and thus entailed upon his posterity a birthright of sorrow, and an inheritance of death.

With the histories of ages that have gone before us, with the experience of the events that are continually occurring around us, with the consciousness of those things which are daily and hourly passing within our own hearts, it may appear superfluous to argue for the fact of man's corruption. However opinions may differ upon its extent and its limits, the general truth of the doctrine must be allowed. Else why the continual struggle against evil, which makes this world a scene of probation, even to the most advanced Christian? Else why the continual discipline of restraint and correction, which is so absolutely necessary in early education? This discipline is required, not merely for the correction of habits contracted by intercourse with others, not merely for the restraint of practices adopted from instruction or example; but for

the eradication of principles which are born with our very nature, and would spring up and increase with the increase of years. Whence, moreover, the irresolution, the feebleness of purpose, the dereliction of acknowledged principles, the readiness to seize upon any subterfuge, however trivial, which may appear to countenance our weakness, or palliate our sin? Whence this singular union of lofty and generous feelings, with low and base desires: of that which is noble and intellectual, with that which is grovelling and sensual? Do not these acknowledged facts bear testimony to the high original, and subsequent downfall of man; and also confirm the truth of that inspired Volume, which affords the only consistent explanation of this mysterious subject?

The apostle Paul, in the epistle to the Romans, has given us the most clear and explicit statement of the doctrine of human corruption. He argues that the mode of reconciliation with God, which the gospel points out, was equally necessary to both Jew and Gentile, since each was equally unable to effect that reconciliation, by his own unaided efforts. This inability he describes, as arising from the state of corruption and iniquity, in which both the Jews and the Gentiles were involved. The general prevalence of this corruption and iniquity he attributes, not to the force of example or of habit, not to the influence of early education; but to the original offence of

Q

Adam, by which a sinful nature, and death as the punishment of sin, were entailed upon all his posterity. By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." The infliction of the penalty proves the existence of the sin, of which it is the punishment: and the penalty is evidently hereditary; for it is inflicted as well upon the sinner of threescore years and ten, as upon the babe that breathes but for a day; as well upon the talent and intellect of the man of science, as upon the feeble and harmless idiot, who cannot be deemed responsible for his actions. If, then, the penalty of death be thus hereditary, we must conclude, that the whole human race lie equally in this state of guilt before God; and that no effort of man can deliver himself from the bondage of corruption, entailed by the transgressions of his first parent. This conclusion is established also, by the general application of the remedy provided by the gospel; a remedy which the apostle declares to be commensurate with the evil. "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned; therefore as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to justification of life. For as by one man's