Natural Mercies

Adam could never have known an unprovided want, till by his sin against God he was driven out from Paradise. To suppose otherwise would be a reflection on the Creator, for He could not rest from all His works when the creature was not perfectly provided for.
Man elevates himself in his own eyes by his God-given talents in scientific activities of a creative or productive power. Yet the question remains: what gave him the opportunity and desire to exercise these talents? By such activities, when the heart is in a state of rebellion, man only throws himself farther away from God.
Moreover, by this abuse of his natural mercies, both personal and relative, he joins issue with Satan in his line of devices. This forms the common ground of their combined action, which delivers over to the course of this world—to the prince of the power of the air—the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience (Eph. 2:2).
The result of this confederation is that these gifts (or natural mercies) bestowed by Providence are taken and used by the receiver as a means for independence and pride, forgetting their Giver and ending in a denial of the claims of God. Compare this to Israel in Deut. 32:15. "Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked... then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation." Such a state of things as this must sooner or later bring in judgment, if merely to maintain the government of God upon the earth. Grace will make this its own opportunity for discovering the hidden resources of God's wisdom and love in human redemption by a full and eternal deliverance.