Now this is the difference between the natural and the spi- ritual man : the natural man has reason and conscience, which, to a certain degree, are capable of directing his path. But numberless occasions arise whereon they fail him utterly. The spiritual man has, superadded to these, a new and living principle abiding in him ; a principle infused into him by the Spirit of God, and in exact accordance with his mind and will: and by this principle the Spirit himself guides him in all his way. The spiritual man, therefore, in every doubt or diffi- culty, should consult this divine principle within him ; and see its bearings, and follow its directions. And as the mariner, whilst he observes his compass, consults also his chart and maps ; so must we, whilst attending to the motions of this principle, consult also the directory which God has given us in the Holy Scriptures : and by means of these observations we shall be kept from any great aberrations from the way of truth. This process, however, must be continued throughout all our way : we must not only live in the Spirit, but must
"walk in the Spirit," every step we taked ]
2. In a humble dependence on that Divine Spirit who has infused it —
[The new principle within us may suggest what is right ; but it cannot enable us for the performance of it: for all power to do the will of God, we must be indebted altogether to the Spirit of God. Our blessed Lord expressly says, " Without me ye can do nothing e." There is no surer cause of failure than self-confidence and self-dependence. Peter, and with him all the other Disciples, declared that they would follow their Lord even unto death : but no sooner did the trial come, than " they all forsook him and fled." And we, too, if we make resolutions in our own strength, shall learn, by bitter experience, that "he who trusteth in his own heart, is a foolf." We must be careful, too, not to make any difference between matters of greater or lesser difficulty, as though we were competent for the one any more than the other. We must, in the whole course of our journey, depend on God alone: we are never, for a moment, to feel strong in ourselves, but " strong in the Lord, and in the power of his mights :" and in every step that we take, we must cry, " Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe'1."]
To this direction the Apostle adds, II. Our encouragement to the observance of it — We have before shewn, that by the " lusts of the
d vcr. 25. e John xv. 5. f Prov. xxviii. 26.
s Eph. vi. 10. h Ps. cxix. 117.