SERMONS ON THE DEPRAVITY OF HUMAN NATURE. PREFACE. THE doctrine which is most urgently, and most frequently insisted on in the following volume, is that of the depravity of human nature; and it were certainly cruel to expose the unworthiness of man for the single object of disturbing him. But the cruelty is turned into kindness, when, along with the knowledge of the disease, there is offered an adequate and all-powerful remedy. It is impossible to have a true perception of our own character, in the sight of God, without feeling our need of acquittal; and in opposition to every obstacle, which the justice of God seems to hold out to it, this want is provided for in the Gospel. And it is equally impossible, to have a true perception of the character of God, as being utterly repugnant to sin, without feeling the need of amendment; and in opposition to every obstacle, which the impotency of man holds out to it, this want is also provided for in the Gospel. There we behold the amplest securities for the peace of the guilty. But there do we also behold securities equally ample for their progress, and their perfection in holiness. Insomuch, that in every genuine disciple of the New Testament, we not only see one who, delivered from the burden of his fears, rejoices in hope of a coming glory-but we see one who, set free from the bondage of corruption, and animated by a new love and a new desire, is honest in the purposes, and strenuous in the efforts, and abundant in the works of obedience. He feels the instigations of sin, and in this respect he differs from an angel. But he follows not the instigations of sin, and in this respect he differs from a natural or unconverted man. He may experience the motions of the flesh-but he walks not after the flesh. So that in him we may view the picture of a man, struggling with effect against his earth-born propensities, and yet hateful to himself for the very existence of them-holier than any of the people around him, and yet humbler than them all-realizing, from time to time, a positive increase to the grace and excellency of his character, and yet becoming more tenderly conscious every day of its remaining deformities-gradually expanding in attainment as well as in desire, towards the light and the liberty of heaven, and yet groaning under a yoke from which death alone will fully emancipate him. When time and space have restrained an author of sermons from entering on what may be called the ethics of Christianity, it is the more incumbent on him to avouch of the doctrine of the gospel, that while it provides directly for the peace of a sinner, it provides no less directly and efficiently for the purity of his practice that faith in this doctrine never terminates in itself, but is a mean to holiness as an end--and that he who truly accepts of Christ, as the alone foundation of his meritorious acceptance before God, is stimulated, by the circumstances of his new condition, to breathe holy purposes, and to abound in holy performances. He is created anew unto good works. He is made the workmanship of God in Christ Jesus. The anxious enforcement of one great lesson on the part of a writer, generally proceeds from the desire to effect a full and adequate conveyance, into the mind of another, of some truth which has filled his own mind, by a sense of its importance; and, in offering this volume to the public, the author is far from being insensible to the literary defects that from this cause may be charged upon it. He knows, in particular, that throughout these discourses there is a frequent recurrence of the same idea, though generally expressed in different language, and with some new speciality, either in its bearing or in its illustration. And he further knows, that the habit of expatiating on one topic may be indulged to such a length, as to satiate the reader, and that, to a degree, far beyond the limits of his forbearance. And yet, if a writer be conscious that, to gain a reception for his favorite doctrine, he must combat with certain elements of opposition, in the taste, or the pride, or the indolence, of those whom he is addressing, this will only serve to make him the more importunate, and so to betray him still farther into the fault of redundancy. If the lesson he is urging be of an intellectual character, he will labour to bring it home, as nearly as possible, to the understanding. If it be a moral lesson, he will labour to bring it home, as nearly as possible, to the heart. It is difficult, and it were hard to say in how far it would be right, to restrain this propensity in the pulpit, where the high matters of salvation are addressed to a multitude of individuals, who bring before the minister every possible variety of taste and of capacity; and it it no less difficult, when the compositions of the pulpit are transferred to the press, to detach from them a peculiarity by which their whole texture may be pervaded, and thus to free them from what may be counted by many to be the blemish of a very great and characteristic deformity. There is, however, a difference between such truths as are merely of a speculative nature, and such as are allied with practice and moral feeling; and much ought to be conceded to this difference. With the former, all repetition may often be superfluous; with the latter, it may just be by earnest repetition, that their influence comes to be thoroughly established over the mind of an inquirer. And, if so much as one individual be gained over in this way to the cause of righteousness, he is untrue to the spirit and to the obligations of his office, who would not, for the sake of this one, willingly hazard all the rewards, and all the honours of literary estimation. And, if there be one truth which, more than another, should be habitually presented to the notice, and proposed to the conviction of fallen creatures, it is the humbling truth of their own depravity. This is a truth which may be recognized and read in every exhibition of unrenewed nature; but it often lurks under a specious disguise, and it is surely of the utmost practical importance to unveil and elicit a principle, which, when admitted into the heart, may be considered as the great basis of a sinner's religion. SERMON I. The Necessity of the Spirit to give Effect to the Preaching of the Gospel. "And my speech, and my preaching, was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of man but in the power of God."-1 Corinthians, ii. 4, 5. PAUL, in his second epistle to the Co-the reach of human power and human wisrinthians has expressed himself to the same effect as in the text, in the following words: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit." In both these passages, the Apostle points to a speciality in the work of a Christian teacher,a something essential to its success, and, which is not essential to the proficiency of scholars in the ordinary branches of education,—an influence that is beyond dom; and to obtain which, immediate recourse must be had, in the way of prayer and dependence, to the power of God. "Without attempting a full exposition of these different verses, we shall, first, endeavour to direct your attention to that part of the work of a Christian teacher, which it has in common with any other kind of education; and, secondly, offer a few remarks on the speciality that is adverted to in the text. I. And here it must be admitted, that even in the ordinary branches of human learning, the success of the teacher. on the one hand, and the proficiency of the scho-the business of education, and conspires to lars on the other, are still dependent on the the result of an accomplished and a wellwill of God. It is true, that in this case, informed scholar, is in the hand of the Deity, we are not so ready to feel our depend- and he will pray for the continuation of ence. God is apt to be overlooked in all these elements, and while science is raising those cases where he acts with uniformity. her wondrous monuments, and drawing the Wherever we see, what we call, the opera- admiration of the world after her,-it retion of a law of nature, we are apt to shut mains to be seen, on the day of the revelaour eyes against the operation of his hand, tion of hidden things, whether the prayers and faith in the constancy of this law, is of the humble and derided Christian, for a sure to beget, in the mind, a sentiment of blessing on those to whom he has confided independence on the power and will of the the object of his tenderness, have not susDeity. Now, in the matters of human edu- tained the vigour and brilliancy of those cation, God acts with uniformity. Let there very talents on which the world is lavishing be zeal and ability on the part of the teacher, the idolatry of her praise. and an ordinary degree of aptitude on the Let us now conceive the very ablest of part of the taught,-and the result of their these teachers, to bring all his powers and vigorous and well sustained co-operation all his accomplishments, to bear on the submay in general be counted upon. Let the ject of Christianity. Has he skill in the parent, who witnesses his son's capacity, languages? The very same process by and his generous ambition for improvement, which he gets at the meaning of any ancient send him to a well qualified instructor, and author, carries him to a fair and faithful renhe will be filled with the hopeful sentiment dering of the scriptures of the Old and New of his future eminence, without any refer- Testament. Has he a mind enlightened ence to God whatever, without so much as and exercised on questions of erudition? ever thinking of his purpose or of his agency The very same principles which qualify in the matter, or its once occurring to him him to decide on the genuineness of any to make the proficiency of his son the sub- old publication, enable him to demonstrate ject of prayer. This is the way in which the genuineness of the Bible, and how fully nature, by the constancy of her operations, sustained it is on the evidence of history. is made to usurp the place of God: and it Has he that sagacity and comprehension of goes far to spread, and to establish the de- talent, by which he can seize on the leading lusion, when we attend to the obvious fact, principles which run through the writings that a man of the most splendid genius may of some eminent philosopher? This very exbe destitute of piety; that he may fill the office ercise may be gone through on the writings of an instructor with the greatest talent and of Inspiration; and the man, who, with the success, and yet be without reverence for works of Aristotle before him can present the God, and practically disown him; and that world with the best system or summary of thousands of our youth may issue every year his principles, might transfer these very pow warm from the schools of Philosophy, stored ers to the works of the Apostles and Evanwith all her lessons, and adorned with all her gelists, and present the world with a just accomplishments, and yet be utter strangers and interesting survey of the doctrines of to the power of godliness, and be filled with our faith. And thus it is, that the man who an utter distaste and antipathy for its name. might stand the highest of his fellows in All this helps on the practical conviction, the field of ordinary scholarship, might turn that common education is a business, with his entire mind to the field of Christianity; which prayer and the exercise of depend- and, by the very same kind of talent, which ence on God, have no concern. It is true would have made him the most eminent of that a Christian parent will see through the all the philosophers, he might come to be vanity of this delusion. Instructed to make counted the most eminent of all the theolohis requests known unto God in all things, gians; and he who could have reared to his he will not depose him from the supremacy fame some monument of literary genius of his power and of his government over might now, by the labours of his midnigh this one thing, he will commit to God the oil, rear some beauteous and consistent fabric progress of his son in every one branch of of orthodoxy, strengthened, in all its parts, education he may put him to,-and, know-by one unbroken chain of reasoning, and ing that the talent of every teacher, and the recommended throughout by the powers of continuance of his zeal, and his powers of a persuasive and captivating eloquence. communication, and his faculty of interesting the attention of his pupils,-that all these are the gifts of God, and may be withdrawn by him at pleasure, he will not suffer the regular march and movement of what is visible or created to cast him out of his dependence on the Creator. He will see that every one element which enters into So much for the talents which a Christian teacher may employ, in common with other teachers, and even though they did make up all the qualifications necessary for his office, there would still be a call, as we said before, for the exercise of dependence upon God. Well do we know, that both he and his hearers would be apt to put their faith in the uniformity of nature; and forgetting | give you a clear view of what that is which that it is the inspiration of the Almighty constitutes a speciality in the work of a which giveth and preserveth the understand- Christian teacher. And to carry you at ing of all his creatures, might be tempted to once by a few plain instances to the matter repose that confidence in man, which dis- we are aiming to impress upon you, let us places God from the sovereignty that belongs suppose a man to take up his Bible, and to him. But what we wish to prepare you with the same powers of attention and un for, by the preceding observations, is, that derstanding which enable him to compreyou may understand the altogether peculiar hend the subject of any other book, there call, that there is for dependence on God in is much in this book also which he will be the case of a Christian teacher. We have made able to perceive and to talk of intelligently. a short enumeration of those talents which Thus, for example, he may come, by the a teacher of Christianity might possess, in mere exercise of his ordinary powers, to common with other teachers; but it is for understand that it is the Holy Spirit which the purpose of proving that he might pos- taketh of the things of Christ and showeth sess them all, and heightened to such a de- them to the mind of man. But is not his gree, if you will, as would have made him understanding of this truth, as it is put illustrious on any other field, and yet be ut-down in the plain language of the New terly destitute of powers for acquiring him- Testament, a very different thing from the self, or of experience for teaching others, Holy Spirit actually taking of these things that knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ and showing them unto him? Again, he will which is life everlasting. be able to say, and to annex a plain meanWith the many brilliant and imposing ing to what he says, that man is rescued things which he may have, there is one from his natural darkness about the things thing which he may not have, and the want of God, by God who created the light out of that one thing may form an invincible of darkness shining in his heart, and giving barrier to his usefulness in the vineyard of him the light of the knowledge of his glory Christ. If, conscious that he wants it, he in the face of Jesus Christ. But is not his seeks to obtain from God the sufficiency saying this, and understanding this, by takwhich is not in himself, then he is in a likely ing up these words in the same obvious way of being put in possession of that power, way in which any man of plain and honest which alone is mighty to the pulling down understanding would do, a very different of strong holds. But if he, on the one hand, thing from God actually putting forth his proudly conceiving the sufficiency to be in creative energy upon him, and actually himself, enters with aspiring confidence into shining upon his heart, and giving him that the field of argument, and think that he is light and that knowledge which are exto carry all before him, by a series of invin-pressed in the passage here alluded to? cible demonstration; or, if his people, on the other hand, ever ready to be set in motion by the idle impulse of novelty, or to be seduced by the glare of human accomplishments, come in trooping multitudes around him, and hang on the eloquence of his lips, or the wisdom of his able and profound understanding, a more unchristian attitude cannot be conceived, nor shall we venture to compute the weekly accumulation of guilt which may come upon the parties, when such a business as this is going on. How little must the presence of God be felt in that place where the high functions of the pulpit are degraded into a stipulated exchange of entertainment on the one side, and of admiration on the other; and surely it were a sight to make angels weep when a weak and vapouring mortal, surrounded by his fellow sinners, and hastening to the grave and the judgment along with them, finds it a dearer object to his bosom, to regale his hearers by the exhibition of himself, than to do in plain earnest the work of his Master, and urge on the business of repentance and of faith by the impressive simplicities of the Gospel. II. This brings us to the second head of discourse, under which we shall attempt to Again, by the very same exercise wherewith he renders the sentence of an old author into his own language, and perceives the meaning of that sentence, will he annex a meaning to the following sentence of the Bible-"the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." By the mere dint of that shrewdness and sagacity with which nature has endowed him, he will perceive a meaning here which you will readily acknowledge could not be perceived by a man in a state of idiotism. In the case of the idiot, there is a complete barrier against his ever acquiring that conception of the meaning of this passage, which is quite competent to a man of a strong and accomplished understanding. For the sake of illustration, we may conceive this poor outcast from the common light of humanity, in some unaccountable fit of attention, listening to the sound of these words, and making some strenuous but abortive attempts to arrive at the same comprehension of them with a man whose reason is entire. But he cannot shake off the fetters which the hand of nature has laid upon his understanding, and he goes back again to the dimness and | ions. How natural to think that the same delirium of his unhappy situation; and his powers and habits of investigation which mind locks itself up in the prison-hold of carried him to so respectable a height in its confined and darkened faculties; and if, the natural sciences will enable him to clear in his mysterious state of existence, he his way through all the darkness of theformed any conception whatever of the ology. It is well that he is seeking,-for words now uttered in your hearing, we may if he persevere and be in earnest, he will rest assured that it stands distinguished by obtain an interest in the promise, and will a wide and impassable chasm, from the at length find;-but not till he find, in the conception of him, who has all the com- progress of those inquiries on which he en mon powers and perceptions of the species. tered with so much alacrity, and prosecuted Now, we would ask what kind of con- with so much confidence, that there is a eception is that which a man of entire facul-barrier between him and the spiritual dis reveals the things which he hides from the wise and from the prudent,-not till he find, that the attitude of self-dependence must be broken down, and he be brought to acknowledge that the light he is aspiring after, is not created by himself, but must be made to shine upon him at the pleasure of another,-not in short, till, humbled by the mortifying experience that many a simple cottager who reads his Bible and loves his Saviour has got before him, he puts himself on a level with the most illiterate of them all, and prays that light and truth may beam on his darkened understanding from ties may form? Only grant us the unde- cernment of his Bible, which all the powers niable truth, that he may understand how of philosophy cannot scale,—not till he find, he cannot discern the things of the Spirit, that he must cast down his lofty imaginaunless the Spirit reveal them to him; and tions, and put the pride of all his powers yet with this understanding, he may not be and his pretensions away from him,-not till cone of those in behalf of whom the Spirit he find, that, divested of those fancies which hath actually interposed with his peculiar deluded his heart into a feeling of its own office of revelation; and then you bring sufficiency, he must become like a little into view another barrier, no less insur-child, or one of those babes to whom God mountable than that which fixes an immutable distinction between the conceptions of an idiot and of a man of sense, even that wonderful barrier which separates the natural from the spiritual man. You can conceive him struggling with every power which nature has given him to work his way through this barrier. You can conceive him vainly attempting, by some energies of his own, to force an entrance into that field of light where every object of faith has the bright colouring of reality thrown over it,-where he can command a clear view of the things of eternity,-where spiritual truth comes home with effect upon the sanctuary of God. his every feeling and his every conviction,- We read of the Tetter, and we read also where he can expatiate at freedom over a of the spirit, of the New Testament. It scene of manifestation, which the world would require a volume, rather than a sinknoweth not, and breathe such a peace, gle paragraph of a single sermon, to draw and such a joy, and such a holiness, and the line between the one and the other. such a superiority to time, and such a de- But you will readily acknowledge that there votedness of all his affections to the things are many things of this book which a man, which are above, as no man of the highest though untaught by the Spirit of God, may natural wisdom can ever reach with all his be made to know. One of the simplest inattention to the Bible, and all the efforts of stances is, he may learn the number of his sagacity, however painful, to unravel, chapters in every book, and the number of and to compare and to comprehend its pas-verses in every chapter. But is this all? sages. And it is indeed a deeply interest-No,-for by the natural exercise of his meing object to see a man of powerful under- mory he may be able to master all its hisstanding thus visited with an earnest desire torical information. And is this all? No, after the light of the gospel, and toiling at the entrance with all the energies which belong to him,-pressing into the service all the resources of argument and philosophy, mustering to the high enterprise, his attention, and his conception, and his reason, and his imagination, and the whole host of his other faculties, on which science has conferred her imposing pames, and laid before us in such a pompous catalogue, as might tempt us to believe, that man, by one mighty grasp of his creative mind, can make all truth his own, and range at pleasure over the wide variety of her domin for by the natural exercise of his judgment |