But consider also the importance of these things. There is not any child of man, to whom the tidings of them are made known, that can be saved without an experimental acquaint- ance with them, and a suitable operation of them upon his soul. Under a sense of our fallen condition, we must lie low before God, in dust and ashes : under a conviction that there is no salvation for us but in Christ Jesus, we must cleave unto him with full purpose of heart : and, under a consciousness of our incapacity to do any thing for ourselves, we must commit ourselves altogether to the care of God's Holy Spirit, that he may " work all our works in us," and " perfect that which concerneth us."
Say, then, whether things so deeply mysterious and so infinitely important be not great. Truly there is nothing in the whole universe that deserves a thought in comparison of these stupendous truths.]
But it is humiliating to observe, II. How they are regarded by an ungodly world —
i Eph. ii. 3. e Acts iv. 12.
f 1 Tim. hi. 16. s Rom. xi. 33.
" They are counted as a strange thing :" 1. They are neglected as unimportant —
[One would imagine that the book which reveals these great truths should be universally sought after with insatiable avidity ; and be studied day and night, in order to the obtain- ing of a perfect knowledge of its contents. But how is this book treated ? It is thought a proper book for children, that they may be made acquainted with its truths so far as their slender capacities can comprehend them: but for persons of adult age it is supposed to contain nothing that is interesting ; and it is laid aside by them, as undeserving any serious atten- tion. Angels in heaven are searching into its unfathomable mysteries with an anxiety worthy of the occasion ; but men, who are far more deeply interested in them, suffer them to remain without any serious inquiry. In fact, there is no other book so generally slighted as the inspired volume ; not a novel or a newspaper but is preferred before it ; so little is the ex- cellence of its mysteries contemplated, and so little the import- ance of its truths considered.]
2. They are ridiculed as absurd —
[Universally is the corruption of our fallen nature regarded as a subject calculated only to inspire gloom, and therefore injurious to the happiness of man. The salvation which Christ has wrought out for us, and freely offers to the believing soul, is reprobated as a licentious doctrine, subversive of morality. The sanctifying influences of the Spirit, also, are held in con- tempt, as the dreams of a heated imagination, or the pretences of a hypocritical profession. Sin itself, unless in its most hideous forms, is not so universally despised and hated as are the truths of our most holy religion. They were so when pro- claimed by prophets, and Apostles, and by our blessed Lord himself. " Ah, Lord God, doth he not speak parables11?" is the slightest expression of contempt that any preacher of them can expect. In truth, no man can preach them with success, without being accused as " deceiving the people," and " turning the world upside down."]
Application —
1. How great is the blindness of the natural man ! [The depths of philosophy may be successfully explored by men of studious habits and of intellectual attainments. But who, by any powers of his own, can comprehend the great things of God's law? Verily, they are " to the Jews a stumbling- block, and to the Greeks foolishness ; " and the most learned man on earth, no less than the most illiterate, must say,
h Ezek. xx. 49.