received it : for " without him you could do nothing." If you have attained to any thing more than ordinary, you must say, " He that hath wrought me to the self-same thing is God." Even if you equalled the Apostle Paul in holiness, you must say, " By the grace of God I am what I am ;" and in refer- ence to every individual act, " It was not I, but the grace of God that was with me4."]
Application —
"Do not err then, my beloved brethren" —
[Be aware of your tendencies ; and remember how to correct them. You never can err in taking shame to your- selves: nor can you ever err in giving glory to God. But il you arrogate any thing to yourselves, you will rob God : and, in robbing him, you will eventually, and to your utter ruin, rob yourselves."]
<l 1 Cor. xv. 10.
Jam. i. 18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.
THERE is an evil in the world so monstrous and so horrible, that one can scarcely conceive how it should ever be committed ; namely, the ascribing unto God our own iniquities, and tracing them to him as their proper author. Yet is this the common refuge of sinners ; who, when led captive by their own lusts, excuse themselves by averring, that no criminality can attach to the indulgence of passions which God himself has given them. But St. James protests against this impiety, and declares, that " God tempteth no man ; but that every man who yields to temptation, is drawn away and enticed by his own lust3." Another evil also he sets himself to counteract, namely, the tracing of good to ourselves, as though it originated with us as its proper authors. This, though it does not shock our feelings so much as the former does, yet is of the same nature with it, and no less offensive in the sight of God : for, whilst
a ver. 13, 14.