From the same divine source must be derived all our sufficiency,
II. For the exercising of good in our own souls — The foregoing observations illustrate the Apostle's
i John xii. 10, 11. i^ Acts ii. 11—15. • Acts xxvi. 24 — 28. m Acts xvi. 14. n Acts xxviii. 23 — 27.
° Prov. XX. 12. PI Cor. iii. 6, 7.
argument. What I shall now adduce is for the illus- tration of his particular assertion, that " of himself he could not even think a good thought."
There is not, in unassisted man, an inclination to entertain a good thought —
["The heart of the sons of men is full of evili;" yea, •' every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts is evil, only evil, continually''." What is morally good may arise in the hearts of many : but what is spiritually good must be put there by the special agency of the Holy Ghost. Kindness, benevolence, compassion, though certainly referable to God as their prime Author, exist in the minds of many who are not partakers of saving grace : but hatred of sin, and love to God and Christ, and holiness, find no place in the bosom of an unconverted man : there is between him and them as great a difference as between " light and darkness, or Christ and Belial :" they have not, they cannot have, communion with each other ^. As well might a stone ascend of itself, or a spark descend, as an ungodly man give birth to that which is so foreign to his nature, as spiritual good is to a carnal heart.]
Nor is there in unassisted man a capacity to cherish what is truly good —
[We are told, from unquestionable authority, that " 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*." This may be illus- trated by the metaphor which St. Paul makes use of in the preceding context. He has spoken of " spreading the savour of the knowledge of Christ ; " and has stated, that, in his ministry, he was to some " a savour of death unto death, and to others a savour of life unto life"." Now we know that odours have very different effects on different persons : the very same odour which to one may be grateful and reviving, to another may be offensive and injurious : and none but God could reverse these tendencies. So, to some, the sublimest truths of the Gospel appear only as " foolishness, whilst to others they are the wisdom of God and the power of God." And whence is this, but because a spiritual discernment has been given to the one, whilst the other possesses only that natural intellect which is conversant with earthly things ? In a word, " to the one it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven ; but to the other it is not given" :" nor, till
q Eecl. ix. 3. r Gen. vi. 5. » 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.
t 1 Cor. ii. 14. " 2 Cor. ii. 14—16, -^ Matt. xiii. 11.
2006.] THE EXTENT OF MAN's IMPOTENCY. 449
*' God, of his own good pleasure, has given us to ivill and to do what is pleasing in his sights," shall we ever do it, or ever so much as ivill it. Our sufficiency for the one, as well as for the other, must come from God alone : for " without Christ we can do nothing^"]
See, then, in this subject,
1. What matter there is for humiliation —
[It is scarcely possible to conceive any thing more humi- liating than the declaration in my text. And if any man doubt the truth of it, let him look back and see, even in the space of the longest life, who ever, hy the force of his own natural jjoioers, entertained so much as one thought that was truly in accordance with God's perfect law, or fully consonant with his Gospel ? I have said before, that things morally good are attainable by the natural man ; but things spiritually good are altogether out of his reach. Only keep in mind this important disti7iction, and no language that can be used can be too strong to declare our destitution of all good, and our dependence upon God for every good disposition or desire