contemplated, they are " to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness :" and " the natural man neither does, nor can, receive them^"]
2. With a just sense of its importance —
[Supposing the mysterious truths of Christianity to be admitted from the force of reasoning alone, the importance of them can never be felt, but from a deep consciousness of our guilt and helplessness before God. We must feel our disease, before we justly appreciate the remedy. But who can ever know the desperate wickedness of his own heart, unless he be taught of God*^ ? Who can see the fulness that is in Christ, and his suitableness to our necessities'^, till the eyes of his understanding have been enlightened by the Spirit of the living God^ ? We must be " brought out of darkness into marvellous light," before " Christ can become so precious to us" as he deserves to be.]
3. With a suitable determination to act upon it —
[When we truly confess Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we shall of necessity feel his love constraining us to live no longer to ourselves, but unto him who died for us and rose again ^ But who can thus live, unless he be aided and strengthened from on high? Are the world, the flesh, and the devil so easily vanquished, that we can by any power of our own subdue them? No : it is " not by might or by power, but by the Spirit of God" alone that such victories are gained^. Grace must lay the foundation-stone ; and grace must bring forth the head-stone : and to all eternity must the glory be ascribed to the grace of God alone s.]
Thus comprehensive is the assertion contained in our text. We will now,
II. Commend it to your most attentive considera- tion—
The Apostle evidently considered this declaration as of peculiar importance : " I give you to under- stand this," says he ; and I wish you ever to bear it in remembrance, as of singular use both for the instruction of your minds, and the regulation of your hves. This one assertion, truly understood, will shew you,
a 1 Cor. i. 23. andii. 11, 14. '' Jer. xvii. 9.
•^ Rev. iii. 17, 18. ^ Eph. i. 17, 18. « 2 Cor. v. 14, 15.
f Zech. iv. 6. and Phil. ii. 13. 2 Cor. iii. 5. s 2 Cor. iii. 7, 9. 2 Cor. v. .5. Rev. vii. 9, 10.
300 1 CORINTHIANS, Xll. 3. [1981.
1. What is the great office of the Holy Spirit in the economy of redemption —
[Amongst the many purposes for which our blessed Lord was sent into the world, one was, to " declare the Father to us**." But the chief end for which the Holy Spirit is sent, is, to " testify of Christ," and " to take of the things that are his, and to shew them unto us'." This then is the end for which we are to desire the gift of the Holy Ghost: we should feel sensible that we cannot know Christ, unless the Spirit reveal him in us''; or come to him, except the Spirit draw us^ ; or be one with him, unless the Spirit form him in our hearts™. This is a point by no means considered as it ought to be. We have an idea that the Holy Spirit is to " help our infirmities ;" but we have no conception of the extent to which we need that help, and especially in relation to the knowledge of Christ. But we entreat you to consider fully the declaration in our text, and to take it as a clew, which, if duly followed, " will guide you into all truth."]
2. How deeply we are concerned to obtain his gracious influences —
[If " to know Christ be life eternal"," and those who know him not must die in their sins°, it is obvious, that w^e never can obtain salvation but through the all-powerful agency of the Holy Spirit. But we need not take this in a way of deduction; for the voice of inspiration has expressly said, " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his p." Should it not then be a matter of serious inquiry with every one of us, Whether we have received the Holy Ghost ; and whether he has performed in us that great work of discovering to us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ 1? Let us not be satisfied with any views which are merely obtained from books, and which may float in the mind without any influence on the heart ; but let us, by prayer and suppHcation, seek the gift of the Holy Spirit, that through him we may be taught what no eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived ^]