evil; in a word, that we have done what we could. Now until, by supplication and prayer, we have called for the promised assistance of God's Spirit, and with an earnestness, devotion, perseverance, and importunity, proportioned to the magnitude of the concern: until we have rendered ourselves objects of that influence, and yield ourselves to it, it is not true, "that we have done all that we can." We must not rely upon that excuse; for it is not true in fact. If experiencing the depravity and imbecility of our nature, we see in this corruption and weakness an excuse for our sins, and taking up with this excuse, we surrender ourselves to them if we give up, or relax in, our opposition to them, and struggles against them, at last consenting to our sins, and falling down with the stream, which we have found so hard to resist; if things take this turn with us, then are we in a state to be utterly, finally, and fatally undone. We have it in our power to shut our eyes against the danger; we naturally shall endeavour to make ourselves as easy and contented in our situation as we can; but the truth, nevertheless, is, that we are hastening to certain perdition. If, on the contrary, perceiving the feebleness of our nature, we be driven by the perception, as St. Paul was driven, to fly for deliverance from our sins, to the aid and influence and power of God's Spirit, to seek for divine help and succour, as a sinking mariner calls out for help and succour, not formally, we may be sure, or coldly, but with cries and tears, and supplications, as for life itself; if we be prepared to co-operate with this help, with the holy working of God's grace within us, then may we trust, both that it will be given us (yet in such manner as to God shall seem fit, and which cannot be limited by us), and also that the portion of help which is given, being duly used and improved (not despised, neglected, put away), more and more will be continually added, for the ultimate accomplishment of our great end and object, the deliverance of our souls from the captivity and the consequences of sin. SERMON XXVI. SIN ENCOUNTERED BY SPIRITUAL AID. IN THREE PARTS. (PART 1.) O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?— ROMANS, vii. 24. BEFORE we can explain what is the precise subject of this heavy lamentation, and what the precise meaning of the solemn question here asked, we must endeavour to understand what is intended by the expression, "the body of this death," or, as some render it, "this body of death." "The Now let it be remembered, that death, in St. Paul's epistles, hardly ever signifies a natural death, to which all men of all kinds are equally subjected; but it means a spiritual death, or that perdition and destruction to which sin brings men in a future state. wages of sin is death;" not the death which we must all undergo in this world; for that is the fate of righteousness as well as sin; but the state, whatever it be, to which sin and sinners will be consigned in the world to come. Not many verses after our text, St. Paul "carnal-mindedness is death" "to be carnally-minded is death," leads, that is, inevitably, to that future destruction which awaits the sinful indulgence of carnal propensities, and which destruction is, as it were, death to the soul. The Book of Revelations, alluding to this distinction, speaks expressly of a second death, in terms very fit to be called to mind in the consideration of our present text. "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of : life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written, according to their works and the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell (which last word denotes here simply the place of the dead, not the place of punishment) delivered up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works: and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire ;" (that is, natural death, and the receptacle of those who died, were thenceforth superseded). "This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire." This description, which is exceedingly awful, is given in the three last verses of the 20th chapter. In reference to the same event, this Book of Revelations had before told us, viz. in the 2nd chapter and 11th verse, that he who overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death; and in like manner in the above-quoted 20th chapter; "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in this resurrection on such the second death hath no power." Our Lord himself refers to this death in those never-to-be-forgotten words which he uttered, "He that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die eternally." Die he must, but not eternally: die the first death; but not the second. It is undoubtedly, therefore, the second death, which St. Paul meant by the word death, when he wrote down the sentence, "the body of this death :" and the second death is the punishment, perdition, and destruction, which the souls of sinners will suffer in a future state. It is well worthy of observation, that this was indeed the only death which those who wrote the New Testament, and probably all sincere Christians of that age, regarded as important; as the subject of their awe, and dread, and solicitude. The first death, the natural and universal decease of the body, they looked to simply as a change, a going out of one room into another; a putting off one kind of clothing, and putting on a different kind. They esteemed it, compared with the other, of little moment or account. In this respect there is a wide difference between the Scripture apprehension of the subject and ours. We think entirely of the first death; they thought entirely of the second. We speak and talk of the death which we see; they spoke, and taught, and wrote, of a death which is future to that. We look to the first with terror; they to the second alone. The second alone they represent as formidable. Such is the view which Christianity gives us of these things, so different from what we naturally entertain. You see then what death is in the Scripture sense; in St. Paul's sense. "The body of this death." The phrase and expression of the text cannot, however, mean this death itself, because he prays to be delivered from it; whereas from that death, or that perdition understood by it, when it once overtakes the sinner, there is no deliverance that we know of. "The body then of this death," is not the death itself, but a state leading to and ending in the second death; namely, misery and punishment, instead of happiness and rest, after our departure out of this world. And this state it is from which St. Paul, with such vehemence and concern upon his spirit, seeks to be delivered. Having seen the signification of the principal phrase employed in the text, the next and the most important question is, to what condition of the soul, in its moral and religious concerns, the apostle applies it. Now in the verses preceding the text, indeed in the whole of this remarkable chapter, St. Paul has been describing a state of struggle and contention with sinful propensities; which propensities, in the present condition of our nature, we all feel, and which are never wholly abolished. But our apostle goes farther: he describes also that state of unsuccessful struggle and unsuccessful contention, by which many so unhappily fall. His words are these, "That which I do I allow not, for what I would, that I do not; but what I hate, that do I. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing for to will, is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not; for the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that do I. I find a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in ny members." : This account, though the style and manner of expression in which it is delivered be very peculiar, is in its substance no other, than what is strictly applicable to the case of thousands; "The good that I would I do not; the evil which I would not, that do I." How many who read this discourse, may say the same of themselves! As also," What I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that I do?" This then is the case which St. Paul had in view. It is a case, first, which supposes an informed and enlightened conscience: "I delight in the law of God." "I had not known sin but by the law." "I consent unto the law that it is good." These sentiments could only be uttered by a man who was, in a considerable degree at least, acquainted with his duty, and who also approved of the rule of duty which he found laid down. Secondly, the case before us also supposes an inclination of mind and judgment to perform our duty. “When I would do good, evil is present with me: to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not." Thirdly, it supposes this inclination of mind and judgment to be continually overpowered. "I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members;" that is, the evil principle not only opposes the judgment of the mind, and the conduct which that judgment dictates (which may be the case with all), but in the present case subdues and gets the better of it. "Not only wars against the law of my mind, but brings me into captivity." Fourthly, the case supposes a sense and thorough consciousness of all this; of the rule of duty; of the nature of sin, of the struggle; of the defeat. It is a prisoner sensible of his chains. It is a soul tied and bound by the fetters of its sins, and knowing itself to be so. It is by no means the case of the ignorant sinner: it is not the case of an erring mistaken conscience it is not the case of a seared and hardened conscience. None of these could make the reflection or the complaint which is here described. "The commandment which was ordained unto life, I found to be unto death. I am carnal, sold under sin. dwelleth no good thing. The law is holy; and the commandment holy, just, and good: but sin, that it might appear sin (that it might be more conspicuous, aggravated, and inexcusable), works death in me by that which is good." This language by no means belongs to the stupified, insensible sinner. In me Nor, Fifthly, as it cannot belong to an original insensibility of conscience, that is, an insensibility of which the person himself does not remember the beginning; so neither can it belong to the sinner who has got over the rebukes, distrusts, and uneasiness, which sin once occasioned. True it is, that this uneasiness may be got over almost entirely; so that, whilst the danger remains the same, whilst the final event will be the same, whilst the coming destruction is not less sure or dreadful, the uneasiness and the apprehension are gone. This is a case, too common, too deplorable, too desperate; but it is not the case of which we are now treating, or of which St. Paul treated. Here we are presented throughout with complaint and uneasiness: with a soul exceedingly dissatisfied, exceedingly indeed disquieted, and disturbed, and alarmed with the view of its condition. Upon the whole, St. Paul's account is the account of a man in some sort struggling with his vices; at least, deeply conscious of what they are, whither they are leading him, where they will end; acknowledging the law of God, not only in words and speeches, but in his mind; acknowledging its excellency, its authority; wishing also, and willing, to act up to it, but in fact doing no such thing; feeling, in practice, a lamentable inability of doing his duty, yet perceiving that it must be done. All he has hitherto attained, is a state of successive resolutions and relapses. Much is willed, nothing is effected. No furtherance, no advance, no progress, is made in the way of salvation. He feels, indeed, his double nature; but he finds, that the law in his members, the law of the flesh, brings the whole man into captivity. He may have some better strivings, but they are unsuccessful. The result is, that he obeys the law of sin. This is the picture which our apostle contemplated, and he saw in it nothing but misery : "O wretched man that I am!" another might have seen it in a more comfortable light. He might have hoped that the will would be taken for the deed; that, since he felt in his mind a strong approbation of the law of God; nay, since he felt a delight in contemplating it, and openly professed to do so, since he was neither ignorant of it, nor forgetful of it, nor insensible of its obligation; nor ever set himself to dispute its authority; nay, since he had occasionally likewise endeavoured to bring himself to an obedience to this law, however unsuccessful his endeavours had been above all, since he has sincerely deplored and : bewailed his fallings off from it; he might hope, I say, that his was a case for favourable acceptance. St. Paul saw it not in this light. He saw in it no ground of confidence or satisfaction. It was a state to which he gives no better name than "the body of death." It was a state, not in which he hoped to be saved, but from which he sought to be delivered. It was a state, in a word, of bitterness and terror; drawing from him expressions of the deepest anguish and distress: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" SERMON XXVII. EVIL PROPENSITIES ENCOUNTERED BY THE AID OF THE SPIRIT. (PART II.) O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? ROMANS, Vii. 24. HE who has not felt the weakness of his nature, it is probable has reflected little upon the subject of religion: I should conjecture this to be the case. But then, when men do feel the weakness of their nature, it is not always that this consciousness carries them into a right course, but sometimes into a course the very contrary of what is right. They may see in it, as hath been observed, and many do see in it, nothing but an excuse and apology for their sins: since it is acknowledged, that we carry about with us a frail, not to call it a depraved, corrupted nature, surely, they say, we shall not be amenable to any severities, or extremities of judgments, for delinquencies to which such a nature must ever be liable: or, which is indeed all the difference there is between one man and another, for greater degrees or less, for more or fewer, of these delinquencies. The natural man takes courage from this consideration. He finds ease in it. It is an opiate to his fears. It lulls him into a forgetfulness of danger, and of the dreadful end, if the danger be real. Then the practical consequence is, that he begins to relax even of those endeavours to obey God which he has hitherto exerted. Imperfect and inconstant as these endeavours were at best, they become gradually more languid, and more unfrequent, and more insincere, than they were before: his sins increase upon him in the same proportion: he proceeds rapidly to the condition of a confirmed sinner, either secret or open, it makes no difference as to his salvation. And this descent into the depths of moral vileness and depravity began, in some measure, with perceiving and confessing the weakness of his nature; and giving to this perception that most erroneous, that most fatal turn, the regarding it as an excuse for everything; and as dispensing even with the self-denials, and with the exertions of selfgovernment, which a man had formerly thought it necessary to exercise, and in some sort, though in no sufficient sort, had exercised. Now I ask, was this St. Paul's way of considering the subject? Was this the turn which he gave to it? Altogether the contrary. It was impossible for any Christian, of any age, to be more deeply impressed with a sense of the weakness of human nature, than he was; or to express it more strongly than he has done in the chapter before us. But observe; feeling most sensibly, and painting most forcibly, the sad condition of his nature, he never alleges it as an excuse for sin: he does not console himself with any such excuse. not make it a reason for setting himself at rest upon the subject. He finds no relief to his fears in any such consideration. It is not with him a ground for expecting salvation; on the contrary, he sees it to be a state not leading to salvation; otherwise, why did he seek so earnestly to be delivered from it? He does And how to be delivered? that becomes the next question. In order to arrive at St. Paul's verse answers, meaning in this matter, we must attend, with some degree of care, not only to the text, but to the words which follow it. The 24th verse contains the question, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" and then the 25th verse goes on, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now there is good reason to believe, that this 25th verse does not appear in our copies, as it ought to be read. It is most probable that the passage stood thus. The 24th verse asks, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Then the 25th "The grace of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." 'Evxapiσtô tậ Oeŵ, some MSS. read 'H xapis Tоû coû. Instead of the words "I thank God," put the words "The grace of God," and you will find the sense cleared up by the change very much. I say, it is highly probable, that this change exhibits what St. Paul really wrote. In English there is no resemblance either in sound or writing between the two sentences, "I thank God," and "The grace of God;" but in the language in which the epistle was written, there is a very great resemblance. And, as I have said, there is reason to believe, that in the transcribing, one has been confounded with the other. Perhaps the substantial meaning may be the same, whichever way you read the passage: but what is implied only in one way, is clearly expressed in the other way. The question then, which St. Paul so earnestly and devoutly asks, is, "Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" from the state of soul which I feel, and which can only lead to final perdition? And the answer to the question is, "The grace of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Can a more weighty question be asked? Can an answer be given which better deserves to be thoroughly considered? The question is, Who shall deliver us? The answer, "The grace of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." The " grace of God" means the favour of God: at present, therefore, the answer stands in general terms. We are only informed, that we are rescued from this state of moral difficulty, of deep religious distress, by the favour of God, through Jesus Christ. It remains to be gathered, from what follows, in what particularly this grace or favour consists. St. Paul, having asked the question, and given the answer in general terms, proceeds to enlarge upon the answer in these words," There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." There is now no condemnation: but of whom, and to whom, is this spoken? It is to them who, first, are in Christ Jesus; who, secondly, walk not after the flesh; who, thirdly, walk after the Spirit. And whence arises this alteration and improvement in our condition and our hopes; this exemption, or rather deliverance, from the ordinary state of man? St. Paul refers us to the cause. "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death," which words can hardly bear any other signification than this, viz. that the aid and operation of God's Spirit, given through Jesus Christ, hath subdued the power which sin had obtained and once exercised over me." With this interpretation the whole sequel of St. Paul's reasoning agrees. Every sentence almost that follows illustrates the interpretation, and proves it to be the true one. With what, but with the operation and the co-operation of the Spirit of God, as of a real, efficient, powerful, active Being, can such expressions as the following be made to suit? "If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you." "By his Spirit that dwelleth in you." "Ye have received the Spirit of adoption." "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit. All which expressions are found in the eighth chapter, namely, the chapter following the text, and all indeed within the compass of a few verses. These passages either assert or assume the fact, namely, the existence and agency of such a Spirit; its agency, I mean, in and upon the human sonl. It is by the,aid, therefore, of this Spirit, that the deliverance so earnestly sought for is effected; a deliverance represented as absolutely necessary to be effected in some way or other. And it is also represented, as one of the grand benefits of the Christian dispensation. "What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." Which passage I expound thus: A mere law, that is, a rule |