July 19

"The carnal mind is cunning against God." — Romans 8:7.

THE Bible makes the most important discoveries, both pleasing and painful. Our text will lead us to the consideration of a very humiliating and affecting subject — the depravity of man.

THE ARGUMENTS BY WHICH IT IS ESTABLISHED. The fact to be proved is, that man has fallen from the original state in which he was created; is not what he once was. This may be argued from

The physical disorders to which he is subject. Of how many bodily distempers and ailments is he the victim! If sin had not entered into the world, sickness and disease would have been forever unknown.

The anxiety, sorrow, and pain, which attend his entrance into life. These are the bitter fruits of sin. "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children."

The existence of human laws, and the sanctions by which they are enforced. Daily observation furnishes us with proofs of the lamentable fact, that man is awfully depraved. Look to our courts of justice, codes of laws, and prisons; what do all these demonstrate?

The diversified trials with which he is visited. Apart from bodily afflictions, what a share of mental distress and agony is he sometimes the subject of! Every pang, every groan, every smart, has a voice and says, "How art thou fallen!"

The fact of his dissolution. The depravity of man brings a long train of evils, which ends in death: "for sin brought death into the world, and all our woe."

The testimony of Scripture. How plainly is the fact of man's depravity laid down here! The passage before us is enough, if it stood alone.

THE PROPERTIES BY WHICH IT IS DISTINGUISHED.

It is inherent. Enmity holds its seat in the heart. Pride, covetousness, malice, hatred, self-will, passion, love of revenge, and a thousand similar evils, are but the ebullitions of this principle. It is deceitful. What depths of deceit are in the human heart! see Jeremiah 17:9. How subtle, artful, and

19 insinuating is it in its operations! It is malignant. The carnal mind is enmity, against whom? Satan? our fellow-creatures? those who hate us? No, against God! the best, holiest, and most benevolent of beings. It is not only alienated from, but opposed to him. Man is not only a wanderer from his God, but a rebel against him. It is practical. The enmity of the heart displays itself in the opposition and wickedness of the life. Alienated from him "by wicked works." It is universal. Both as it regards the powers and faculties of the soul; and as it respects the whole of mankind. Let us rejoice in that grace which can subdue our iniquity; and pray that we may feel its power in our own hearts.