2. Its suitableness

[What would any one, who knew his wants, ask of God?Can any thing be conceived more suitable than the things here promised ?

Let those who feel their need of cleansing, and renovation, rejoice that God has promised them the desire of their hearts-] 3. Its preciousness

[Well does the Apostle say, that the "promises are precious'

What can he want, that has this promise fulfilled to him?— Such an one may defy either men or devils to make him miserable

In the purification and renewal of his soul he has all that inan can desire-]

XVII. OUR IMPOTENCY WITHOUT CHRIST.

John xv. 5. Without me ye can do nothing.

THE systems of heathen philosophers were well calculated to confirm the pride of man

t

The tendency of the gospel is to humble and abase the soul-

Its sublimest doctrines are by far the most humiliating

The sovereignty of God annihilates, as it. were, our fancied greatness; and the atonement of Christ brings to nought our boasted goodness

Thus the mysterious doctrine of union with Christ proclaims our insufficiency for any thing that is goodOur Lord declares this by a comparison, and in plain terms

We will consider

I. When we may be said to be without Christ

To be "without Christ" is to be in a state of separation from him, as branches severed from a vineNow this may be said to be our state

1. If we have never been cut off from our old stock [The first and second Adam may be considered as the two stocks, on one or other of which we all grow

To

To the former we are united by nature; to the latter by grace

While we adhere to our natural stock, we are full of selfrighteousness and self-sufficiency

But these must be renounced before we can be truly engrafted into Christ

We cannot confide in ourselves without renouncing Christ; nor in Christ, without renouncing self

An union of both confidences is as impossible, as for a branch to be growing on two different stocks at the same time

We must therefore have been cut off from the stock of Adam, or we must at this moment be in a state of separation from Christ-]

2. If we have never given up ourselves wholly to Christ

[A cion is passive when it is engrafted into another stemBut we must be active in forming an union between Christ and our souls

God moves us, not as mere machines, but as rational creatures d

We cannot therefore be in Christ unless we have deliberately given ourselves to him -]

3. If we be not daily living upon his fulness.

[A branch is continually receiving nourishment from the

root

So believers" abide in Christ," and are constantly living upon him f

This is declared to be the experience of all that are "of God in Christ Jesus & "-]

1

What can be expected from us in such a state but barrenness?

II. Our impotency in that state

A Christian's duty comprises repentance, faith, and obedience

Without Christ we are unable to perform any one of these

We cannot repent

[We may have the semblance of repentance 1

But

• Rom. xi. 6. "The grace of God by Christ prevents us that we may have a good will, and works with us when we have that good will." 10th Article. e Rom. xii. 1. f Gal. ii. 20. with ver. 4-7, where the word" abiding" occurs seven times. 8 1 Cor. i. 30. h We may manifest the feigned humiliation of Ahab, the temporary convictions of Felix, the desponding terrors of Judas, or the partial reform of Herod; but no natural man ever experiences real contrition and self-abhorrence,

But true repentance flows only from Christ1

Hence the church of old confessed their inability to produce it in themselves *-]

k

We cannot believe

[St. Paul compares the production of faith in the heart to the raising of Jesus Christ from the dead

m

We can no more create it in ourselves than a withered branch can give itself the powers of vegetation "— Christ is the only true source of it "

It is so his gift, as not to be in any measure of ourselves °—]

We cannot obey

In act

[This is positively affirmed in the scriptures P

Hence the pious acts of the godly are ascribed to God as their author -]

In word

{A word cannot be called obedient, unless it be uttered out of respect to God's command, and agreeably to his will→→ But no natural man can utter a word in this manner -]

In thought

[God asserts that we do not think a good thoughtIt is certain also that of ourselves we cannot -]

We are not at all at a loss to account for this

III. The reasons of this impotency

The reason of the barrenness of a branch that is severed from the stem, is obvious

[It has no fructifying virtue in itself, nor any means of deriving it from the root-]

The reasons of our impotency without Christ are exactly similar

We have no life in ourselves

[Christ is to the soul what the soul is to the body" The body has members, but exercises none without the soul

i Acts v. 31.

i Eph. i. 19, 20.

"Heb. xii. 2.

P Jer. xiii. 23. and the text.

1 Cor. xii. 3. Matt. xii. 34.

k Lam, v. 21.

m John vi. 44.
Eph. ii. 8.

9 2 Cor. viii. 16.

3. Gen. vi. 5.

Se

t 2 Cor. iii. 5. This is confirmed by our liturgy: "O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed." Second collect for evening service.

* Col. iii. 4.

So the soul has faculties, but exercises none spiritually without Christ-]

We have no means of deriving virtue from any other [A soul not united to Christ resembles a branch cut off from its stem; it has no means of fructification

Christ is the only fountain of all good *

y

None but He can help

How then is it possible for us to do any thing without him?-]

ADDRESS

1. Those who are without Christ

[Seek an union with Christ, but not in a way of hasty resolutions or self-righteous endeavours

Be sensible of your weakness, and pray for faith-]

2. Those who are united to Christ

[Unbelievers have an universal impotence in respect of what is good; but you can do all things through Christ — Be thankful; and study to live more simply on Christ, as the branch on the vine-]

* Col.i. 19.

y Ps. lxii. 9. 11.

z Phil. iv. 13.

XVIII. THE EXTENT OF MAN'S DEPRAVITY..

Gen. vi. 5. God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

NOTHING is more destructive to vital godliness than needless intimacy with the wicked—

An Heathen confessed the truth of this *----

Hence it is so strongly discouraged and forbidden in the scriptures

Solomon was a lamentable instance of the evils attending it

By means of it, God was almost forgotten in the world d

We shall shew

I. To

• Neh. xiii. 26.

a 1 Cor. xv. 33. is an Iambic verse quoted from Menander. b Prov. xxii. 24, 25.

d Comp. Gen. vi. 2, 3, 4, 6.

I. To whom the words are applicable

Though primarily applicable to the Antediluvians, they must not be confined to them—

Šimilar passages are applicable to us*—

[Ps. xiv. 2-4. appears from the context to relate only to the wicked Jews of that age

But St. Paul applies it to the whole human race-]

Human nature is the same now that it ever was

[Civilization may alter the outward deportmentBut men are born with the same inherent corruptionThe piety of parents does not flow in the blood, ex. gr. Cain, Ham, Esau-]

God expressly repeats them in reference to men after the flood h

[Here, as in the text, "man" comprehends the whole human race

It is further declared, that the corruption is not the effect of habit merely, but connatural with us from the earliest period of our existence-]

These proofs confirm the declaration itself as well as the application of the words

II. The declaration contained in them

In general terms, "the wickedness of man is great' But more particularly "his heart, the thoughts of his heart, the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart, are evil"

God

[Thoughts are evil when not conformed to the law of

The law of God is the only standard of good and evilEvery thought therefore, which through defect deviates from what the law requires, is evil-]

The disposition of "his heart" is evil;

1. Without exception;

every imagination" is evil [There is not one thought, even of the most eminent

saints, that will stand the test of God's law

But the natural man has not one thought that is not altogether contrary to God's law-]

2. Without mixture; "only evil"

[There is some good where the grace of God operates

* Ps. li. 5. Jer. xvii. 9. John iii, 6. Rom. viii. 7, 8.

f Rom. iii. 9-12, 19.

h Gen. viii, 21.

But

Job xiv. 4. Prov. xx. 9.