can be put forth before the mind is regenerated, or any change take place on the natural man. If this be the case, the declaration of the Apostle is not true; for he himself tells us elsewhere, that "without faith it is impossible to please God;" from whence it follows, that with faith it is possible to please God; and if we can exercise faith while we are yet "in the flesh," that is, while we are yet unregenerated, then, we repeat, it is not true that " they who are in the flesh cannot please God." Oh, my dear friends, beware of such miserable sophistry as this! Distrust those who tell you to trust yourselves. Remember the saying of the true Word, that "he who trusteth in his own heart is a fool;" and there is no folly so fatal-no flattery so utterly destructive-as that which would lead you to look away from the Fountain of Life, and to place your reliance on the dead works of your own dead souls. Be persuaded that it is in the Lord alone your help is to be found. Pray that you may be emptied of all self-dependence, and enabled to see that you are wholly and helplessly at the mercy of God. Do not be afraid to fall into his hands, but rather dread the idea of being left in the smallest degree to your own imaginary resources. If you attempt to add any thing to the work of Christ, "he will profit you nothing;" and it is equally true, that if you attempt to forestall the work of the Spirit, by resting to any extent upon your natural ability, he will leave you to your own presumptuous devices—your self-relying, self-ruining experiments. "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." The "poor in spirit" are they who are made "rich in faith." Lie down then at the footstool of mercy, and cry with all the might of sinking misery to Him that is able to save unto the uttermost, and then may we expect to see the words of our text fulfilled in your case--" You hath he quickened, who were DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS." Amen!

DISCOURSE II.

OBJECTIONS TO THE BIBLE THEORY

OF THE FALL CONSIDERED;

THE DOCTRINE OF NATURAL ABILITY REFUTED.

"DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS."

Ephes. II. 1.

IN formerly addressing you from these words, we took occasion to consider, first, the NATURE, and, secondly, the EXTENT of that spiritual death to which the Apostle refers. With regard to the former of these points, we observed, that man was created with a three-fold life—animal, intellectual, and spiritual. After describing the distinct character of each of these component parts of man's original constitution, we went on to explain the manner in which they were severally affected by the fall. In doing this, we endeavoured to show, that, in consequence of that fatal event, the animal life was destroyed gradually—the intellectual life partially,—while the spiritual life was immediately and totally extinguished. Having thus illustrated the nature of "the death in trespasses and sins," of which the Apostle speaks, we then proceeded to ascertain the extent of it. And, in prosecuting this inquiry, we brought forward evidence from Scripture, to prove that man, by reason of the fall, is without spiritual perceptions-without spiritual

desires without spiritual powers or capacities of any kind: or, in other words, that his understanding, his affections, and his will, are either paralysed or perverted to an extent which leaves him utterly lost and helpless-bereft of all power to rescue himself from the state of guilt and misery in which he is involved.

The view which the Divine Word thus presents of man's condition, as a fallen and self-ruined sinner, is too humbling to the pride of nature to be readily acquiesced in; especially by those who "know not the Scriptures, or the power of God," and who are, therefore, swayed in their judgment of this matter more by the promptings of the natural mind, than by the principles of inspired truth. Multitudes are to be found in every age, who, animated by this spirit, stand forth as the defenders of human nature from the humiliating charges thus brought against it, without being aware in many cases of what they are doing. They are led, by an influence which is easily understood, to constitute themselves the champions of the "old man," and to become the zealous, though, it may be, the unconscious advocates and "servants of corruption." By such as these, the doctrine of our text is strenuously contested, and it is, therefore, necessary that we should be prepared to vindicate it from the objections to which it is exposed, and from the rival theories by which it is attempted to be undermined.

We shall, in the first place, address ourselves to these objections; and then we shall test the value of their theories; and, while we pray that the Spirit of Truth may be present to direct our course, we would also repeat, as our watchword on this occasion again-" To the law and to the testimony, if we speak not according to them, it is because there is no light in

us."

One of the chief objections brought against the doctrine before us, is, that it makes too little of the natural powers of man-that it reduces him almost to a level with the inferior

creation. Now it has been already stated, with all possible distinctness, that man is possessed of intellectual capacities, by which he is distinguished from the animal tribes, and raised immeasurably above them in the scale of being. Although we have every reason to believe, or rather no reason to doubt, that his mental faculties have been deeply impaired by the fall, and, in reference to divine things, entirely blinded and perverted, yet it has never been denied that he has such faculties, and that, within their own sphere, they are still capable of great and even glorious achievements. The annals of literature and science afford splendid examples of what the human intellect can do. There are names inscribed on these records that are associated with the noblest triumphs of genius-names and triumphs which the world "will not willingly let die." "Th' historic muse,

Proud of the treasure, marches with it down

To latest times."

But, with all the memorable proofs thus furnished of the loftiness of man's intellectual endowments, it is yet a strange and most significant fact, that the greatest Masters of Mind have, with scarcely an exception, either been altogether devoid of religion, or have employed their talents in the active service of the flesh-in ministering to the mere pleasures, or pandering to the worst passions of our depraved nature. And, what is equally remarkable, it is in this direction that their powers are found to act with the most brilliant effect, insomuch that it may be said, without fear of contradiction, that the highest efforts of human genius are pervaded by "the leaven of wickedness," and bear every mark of having been inspired by the spirit of evil. While again, on the other hand, it is a fact not less significant, that the most of those sages and philosophers,—some of them occupying the very foremost rank in the world of letters-who have turned their attention to theological subjects, have signally failed in this field of inquiry. It would seem as if their usual powers deserted them the very moment they left the outer realms of nature,

and tried to penetrate into the mysteries of grace. It would furnish a very curious and instructive chapter in the history of mind, if we were to trace the singular weaknesses-the gross and glaring errors into which men of the mightiest intellects, but without spiritual illumination, have been betrayed, when attempting to deal with sacred themes. The instances of this are so numerous and notorious, as to confirm, with a peculiar strength of demonstration, the statement of our Lord, when he says, that the doctrines of the kingdom have been "hid from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes ;" and also the equally decisive statement of Paul, who declares that "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called but God (says he) hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty. That no flesh should glory in his presence." Did our time allow, we could show, from the history of the Pagan world, both the natural splendour and the spiritual blindness of the human mind. It was, perhaps, never carried to a higher pitch of cultivation than in the days of Greece and Rome. The educated classes in these countries had attained to an extraordinary degree of intellectual enlightenment. Their great writers remain yet unequalled in all the essential attributes of genius, and the productions they have bequeathed to the world are still the standard models for every thing that is great in thought, rich in fancy, or exquisite in taste; and yet we know that, on religious questions, they made not the smallest progress. In this respect, they were as ignorant in their brightest days as they were in their darkest; and, although several of their most eminent philosophers devoted themselves to the study of religious subjects, they were unable to discover "which be the first principles of the oracles of God." They had not even light enough to decide, with any measure of assurance, whether there were more Gods than one, while many of them affected to doubt whether there was any God at all; and as to the system of doctrine taught and sanc