The consecrated way

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Chapter I. Man Destitute Of Holiness In His Nature

The doctrine of human depravity may be regarded as lying at the basis of the system of revealed truth, from which originate the doctrines of Atonement, Regeneration, Sanctification, and the whole superstructure of the christian faith. Though many different opinions prevail relative to the extent of his wickedness, few have denied a proposition so self-evident as that man by nature is predisposed TO sin.

If this doctrine assumes so important a position in relation to other parts of revealed truth, it needs no apology for giving it a prominent place among those topics which are designed to lead him into the living way, consecrated by his Redeemer; for he must not only be convinced of its truth, as it relates to the human species generally, but he must feel it to be true in its application to himself, before he can progress a single step in his heavenward course: hence the importance which evangelical teachers have ever attached to it, and the virulence with which it has been assailed by infidel writers.

Of the origin of this sinful disposition, it is not necessary to speak at present, farther than to remind the reader that an effect so uniform and so universal must have a common cause; for it is an axiom, that "like causes produce like effects;" and if that catastrophe recorded in the word of God as its origin, be not the true cause, it becomes altogether a matter of conjecture, in which the opinion of one man is entitled to as much respect as that of another.

But before entering upon an extended discussion of this subject, I wish to direct attention to a few common mistakes, which lie as formidable objections in many minds ; as it is generally the case, that the most ready way to exhibit truth is first to correct error.

Many suppose that the term depravity, in its theological signification, implies that man possesses no qualities that are estimable in the opinion of his fellow man. But any one may perceive that an individual may be a good husband, a kind parent, an obliging neighbor, and a good citizen, yet be utterly destitute of love to God, and live in total disregard of all those duties which Jiis relations to the Creator impose. Therefore, this doctrine does not necessarily teach that man is destitute of affection in his nature, or that he utterly fails to meet his obligations to society. His natural constitution, hi& love

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of approbation, and even the selfishness of his heart, may all conspire to produce this result.

A simple illustration will show the force of this distinction. We may easily conceive of an outlaw, living in total disregard of all duties to the government which he is bound to cherish and respect, who at the same time may possess the social virtues to such a degree, as to render him a pattern of conjugal and parental affection; but he is none the less an outlaw for this — a rebel against the constituted authorities, and amenable to the laws which he violates. So man may exhibit many amiable qualities to his fellow man, while his heart is filled with treason against God.

Neither does this doctrine teach that his intellect is incapacitated from perceiving the beauty and sublimity of the divine character, or the utility of his laws. It simply teaches that his affections are alienated, and his passions so predominant, that reason is prostrated before propensity. Before the fall, we suppose that the affections answered to the intellectual perceptions in such a manner, that whatever was perceived to be worthy of love and obedience, the heart obeyed spontaneously; but with that calamity the harmony between the intellectual and moral faculties was destroyed, so that the affections are no longer enlisted toward that Being whom the intellect discerns to be truly lovely.

As the term total depravity, has been frequently employed as a theological phrase, many have supposed that to warrant the application of this superlative term, a man must first give evidence of a wicked intent in every act of his life; and that if all mankind are said to be totally depraved, then all must exhibit an equal amount of wickedness. But this term in no case implies that the wickedness of the heart is equally developed in the human race: it merely refers to that state which leads all men to acts of trespass under the influence of a sufficient motive; but as the circumstances and surrounding influences of every man are different from those of another, this disposition is unequally developed, and many causes may interpose to prevent the awful manifestations in some, which we behold In others.

The depravity of man consists in the first place, in a total destitution of affection toward a holy God, which evinces most clearly a want of holiness in his own nature; for if man were holy himself, he would love all holy beings. And in the second place, it is manifested in feelings of positive dislike to his character, government and laws; which is clearly exhibited by his opposition and disobedience.

Others have supposed that because man worships some being or beings invested with the attributes of the Deity, thus giving evidence of a kind of religious feeling in his nature, he cannot be so depraved as this doctrine teaches; therefore he

DESTITUTE OF HOLINESS. 11

has been characterized by them as a '* religious animal."

It is supposed to be impossible for the heart to be entirely destitute of a right disposition, when through ignorance of the nature and character of God, it attempts to render him homage by these acts of devotion.

But this argument, if rightly considered, is the one which most clearly evinces his depravity; because those very beings that he enshrines in his affections and worships with religious rites, are themselves a personification of the worst passions of our nature, and are in fact more fit representatives of the devil than of a holy God. Here the question arises at once, Why does man invariably fall into this error, unless it be "that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is only evil continually ? " '^

If the heathen amid all his idolatry, invested his deities with the attributes of Jehovah, and then indicated his veneration by sacrifices and other religious rites, the argument would be entitled to some consideration. But look at the Baal and Moloch of sacred history, the Saturn,! Venus and Bacchus of classic literature, and the Seva, Vishnu and Juggernaut of modern heathenism, and consider the

* Gen. vi, 5.

t The Saturn of the Greeks, and Moloch of the Ammonites, are supposed to be identical, and were worshipped by otferin^r human sacrifices.

bloody and obscene rites with which they have been worshipped in all ages, and how is it possible to resist the impression, that instead of venerating God, they have rendered homage to ^personified devils?

It is not only a scriptural truth, but a matter of common observation, that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh;"* therefore, we naturally conclude that it is a depraved heart and wicked imagination which has led man into this fatal error . Nor is this feature in the human character restricted to the heathen mind, for we find the same principle existing in those who are better instructed relative to the nature and character of God.

Wherever unregenerate men have professed a love for the Supreme Being, they have first divested him of some of the most essential attributes of his nature — his justice, his truth, or his wisdom, have been impeached, his character changed, and disrobed of its essential glory, before he has even become an object of professed admiration to the natural heart.

The reason of this species of enlightened idolatry is apparent, from the fact that in these attributes lies the certainty of his punishing the wicked, "with everlasting destruction from the presence of the

* Mat. xii, 34.

DESTITUTE GF HOLINESS. lb

Lord and the glory of his power."* Therefore, the sinful heart revolts at the idea of his punitive justice and his absolute sovereignty. As a direct consequence of this, it rejects those denunciations which the Bible directs to all transgressors, and cavils at that revelation which unfolds what God has done, and still threatens to do, with all those who break his laws.

Now the question naturally suggests itself, that if the heart were not destitute of holiness, would there not sometimes arise a spontaneous love for a holy Being? And is it not because God is holy and man wicked, that his heart is so filled with enmity to his character and government ?

The same feeling and disposition which has been already referred to, is still more actively exhibited in the opposition which man has ever manifested to a righteous law. The law of God may be regarded as the transcript of his mind and character, where the greatness of the one and purity of the other are both represented to his intelligent creatures.

The sublimity and utility of this the human intellect is capable of perceiving, because, wherever man has become acquainted with it, he has made it the basis of his own legislation. How then does it happen, that he universally transgresses what he so clearly perceives to be right, unless it is because it

*2Thess. i, 9, runs counter to all his natural propensities? This law is the work of a holy Being, and adapted to the government of holy beings; therefore, where there is a destitution of holiness in the nature, it becomes in every respect uncongenial as a rule of life. If man were holy in his nature, he would love and obey this law; and the fact that he uniformly transgresses it, should be taken as the clearest evidence of his wickedness, — for, says Paul, "the carnal mind is enmity against God;" and as a proof of this, adds, "for it is not subject to the laws of God, neither indeed can be.'"^

Nothing is plainer than that if a man loved and respected his sovereign, he would obey his laws, or if a child were possessed of proper feelings toward his parent, he would live in subjection to his authority — disobedience in either case would be sufficient evidence of a destitution of love or even respect.

Then if amid the hundreds of millions who have existed on our globe, we cannot find the history of a single individual, who from his first moral acts, has rendered obedience to this perfect rule, the doctrine of human depravity must stand, with all its fearful consequences to our race. This cannot be considered as an unfair argument, because it would be as natural for a holy being to obey a holy law as

^- Rom. viii, 7.

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it is for a sinful being to transgress it. Man as a moral being, cannot possess a negative or neutral character: if his nature be not holy, of course it is sinful, and every act of his mind and purpose of soul is either holy or sinful.

But this destitution of holiness is still farther indicated by the opposition which virtue has ever encountered in the world.

Socrates, though a heathen and unacquainted with a perfect rule of action, was too virtuous to be endured by the generation with whom he lived, therefore they gave him poison; and the only being of perfect virtue that ever adorned human nature, by exhibiting the perfections of the Deity himself — - •^'God manifest in the flesh '"^ — was so hated bymankind that they preferred a robber before him.

These thoughts might be expanded to a volume? and the whole history of man arrayed to prove the positions here assumed; but the observation and reading of every intelligent person, will furnish illustrations more than sufficient to convince him that man by nature is destitute of holiness.

Though the character may be externally fair and the life in many respects unexceptionable, there is something within the breast, which renders every man conscious of an utter destitution of love to God .

* I Tim. iii, 16.

and that he possesses such a nature as is ascribed to the natural man by inspired teachers.*

This view of the human character which we have taken, only regards it in a negative aspect, as destitute of right affections and feelings toward the Creator. If we were to leave the subject here, the doctrine of depravity would be clearly proven ; but justice and humanity demand, that we enter within the secret chambers of the soul, and by the lamp of truth reveal even its hidden deformities.

I suppose, reader, that if you were affected with a deep and painful ulcer, you would be willing to have it probed, that you might be aware of the extent of its ravages, even though it were the occasion of exquisite torture ; and it would be only when convinced of your desperate condition, that you would submit to the- use of desperate remedies. So it is that you will not apply to Christ, the great Physician, until you are aware that without his aid, you are ruined past recovery. The efforts of the natural man are all expended in attempts to cover up and conceal the dark shades of his character from others, and even from himself. It is therefore necessary to show you, that the heart is not only destitute of holiness, but actively sinful, and the residence of many base and malignant passions described

* Rom. i, 30 i iii, 18 ; viii, 7.

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in the word of God,* which are continually urging you to the commission of sin.

This view of human character generally, and of your own in particular, may present a dark and fearful picture ; but shrink not from its contemplation, for the first step in the way of salvation, is to become sensible of your destitution.

The soul must be humbled before it can be exalted — it must become sensible of its guilt before it can perceive the beauty of holiness, and without holiness it cannot be admitted into heaven. t

Chapter II. The Natural Heart Actively Sinful

The physiognomy of every individual presents exactly the same features, in number and kind, and each particular feature bears a general resemblance to a corresponding organ in another; yet no two human faces are exactly alike.

This may be taken as a very good illustration of the human character. Every heart possesses the same constituent or general features, though they may not be equally developed in all ; and the predominance of some one of these over the rest, gives that endless variety of character which we behold in society.

When, therefore, we speak of mankind collectively, as filled with wicked passions and imaginations, we mean to be understood that these are inherent in every heart; but when we attempt to detail the elements of this wickedness, we shall find, that in some, a particular passion, or propensity, may exist only in so slight a degree, that its presence is not easily detected; while in others, it may

THE NATURAL HEART, fcC. 19

predominate to such aa extent, as to warrant the appellation of human monsters.

The object of this chapter will be to exhibit some of these constituents of character — to show the misery which they produce — their disorganizing influence upon society, and how destructive they are to human happiness.

The first of these which demands passing notice, is Selfishness. Instead of being governed in his conduct by supreme love to God, and equal love to his neighbor, man has enthroned self within his heart, so that all his plans and purposes terminate in the single object of individual happiness. This selfish disposition which belongs to the human character, is wicked, when it seeks happiness from forbidden sources, or by unlawful means, and as a consequence becomes productive of misery to the human family. If we were to investigate minutely the causes of most of the suiFering which afflicts our race, we should probably trace it directly to the predominance of this passion in the heart.

Nothing is more common than to observe evidences of extreme suffering — features shriveled and limbs emaciated by hunger, and even helpless infancy shivering from cold and nakedness, while perhaps in the very next dwelling, there are superfluities enough to feed the hungry and clothe the naked of an entire neighborhood. Who that has looked with the eye of a philosopher, or even of a philanthropist, has not been filled with astonishment and compassion at the striking contrasts which present themselves in every city? At one moment he may be in danger of being crushed by the gay equipage of some heartless aristocrat, and the next, of being contaminated by contact with one of those miserable creatures, who seek a precarious subsistence from the very filth of the gutter.

Much of this suffering is doubtless to be ascribed to the vice and improvidence of the subjects themselves ; but by far the greatest share is to be traced directly to the avarice and selfishness of the human heart.

la an investigation recently instituted by the British parliament, relative to the condition of the mining districts of England, it was found that in some of these, such scenes of cruelty and suffering were exhibited, as find no parallel, even in American slavery. Among other things, it was officially reported, that female children were harnessed to cars, where, from the contracted nature of the passages, they were compelled, like brutes, to crawl on all fours. And here they grow up to womanhood, secluded from the light of day, destitute of clothing, and perfectly insensible to all feelings of modesty.

If these things are permitted in society where there is a great comparative degree of moral elevation, and where the precepts of the gospel are admitted to be intrinsically excellent in their nature, what must be the degree of selfishness in the dispositions of those who can luxuriate upon wealth, obtained by the degradation of their fellow beings to a level with the brute creation.

But it is only under the influence of peculiar circumstances, that we are to look for the most startling developments of this passion. Mankind, under protracted suffering, seem at times to be divested of all sympathy for their fellow men, and even of that natural affection which is one of the strongest passions of the heart.

To show the extent to which selfishness may prevail, and the consequence of its extreme development, two or three instances will be referred to, taken from authentic history.*

During the -fatal march of Napoleon's army from Moscow, the horrors of their situation, and the individual suffering experienced, seemed to annihilate all sympathy for others. When a poor creature, overcome by fatigue or benumbed with cold, would entreat them not to leave him to a miserable death, their reply was generally accompanied with some heartless jest. And so long as an individual was possessed of the few comforts which his situation afforded, the condition of others seemed to excite no sympathy. They could even strip a companion of his few tattered garments, whenever it became

* Allison.

apparent that he was no longer able to keep pace with the march of the army. Also, during the prevalence of the plague among the French troops in Egypt, if one was seen to reel and fall gasping on the desert, all the sympathy which his suffering excited was generally expressed in some miserable attempt at buffoonery. They would even mock his death agony, by imitating the convulsive movements of his distorted countenance. And again, after the battle of Heilsberg, says the same historian, "the next morning the space between the contending armies, about one -fourth of a mile broad and a mile in length, presented a sheet of naked human bodies, the greater part dead, but some showing by their motions that they preserved consciousness, or implored relief. Six thousand corpses were lying as close as they had stood in the ranks, stripped during the night of every rag of clothing, by the cupidity of the camp followers of either army, ghastly, pale, or purple with the blood which was still oozing from their wounds."'

These instances, among many thousands of a similar character, only exhibit the true nature of selfishness, by showing us what it has done, and what it will do, when it predominates over every other passion. Shipwrecked mariners soon glare upon each other with cannibal eyes, regarding their fellow sufferers only as the means of preserving their own life. Mothers have stifled the voice of

Rature, and sacrificed their own offspring to save themselves from suffering and death.

It is not claimed, that every individual, even under similar circumstances, would exhibit an equal degree of selfishness; but that it is a passion belonging to the human heart, and existing in some degree in every breast.

Revenge is another passion which constitutes a prominent feature in the human character. To the natural man, "revenge is sweet;" and actuated by his native passions merely, he would never submit patiently to a real or imaginary wrong ; but in every case would repay insult with insult, and injury with injury.

Were we to judge him by the practice of savage nations, we should suppose that nothing is so congenial to his nature as the work of vengeance. This has been the cause of continued war and bloodshed in all countries and in all ages; but notwithstanding its baneful effects upon society, it is even now exalted by many as a virtue of the highest order.

Those who live under the restraints of public opinion, moulded by that gospel which enjoins meekness, humility and forbearance, even under injury, can form but little conception of what man will do to gratify this predominant passion of his nature. But to judge correctly of his disposition, we must view him under circumstances where he is permitted to act out that nature and exhibit his true character in all its native deformity, — for if we attribute to native goodness that conduct which is enforced by artificial restraint, or coerced by salutary laws, our conclusions must be false. This passion has been manifested in its terrible results, by all classes of men, and under all circumstances in life, from the sovereign who wreaks his vengeance upon a weaker nation, to the untamed savage who exults in the writhings of his tortured enemy. And we perceive something of the strength of its dominion over the human heart, when we find that notwithstanding the barriers erected by society, enlightened and educated men will disregard them all — murdering in cold blood those from whom they have received a real or supposed insult.

Another element of the human character deserving our notice, is Ambition; the unrestrained indulgence of which has been productive of as much misery and suffering as any single cause.

The unhallowed ambition of a single individual has bathed whole nations in tears, reddened whole provinces with human blood, and spread desolation and death, in their most horrid forms, throughout the world. Famine, pestilence, and suffering of every kind, have been but secondary evils resulting from its dominion over the heart. Under its baneful influence, men naturally humane, have contemplated the sacrifice of thousands of their fellow beings with as little concern as though they had been insects. Urged on in his guilty career by this passion, man has broken the ties of nature and murdered his nearest kin — he has violated all the finer feelings and shocked the sensibilities of his own heart — he has massacred — plundered and ravaged cities, driving out the wretched inhabitants by the light of their consuming dwellings — he has swam through rivers of blood, that he might sit in shortlived glory upon a throne reared with human skulls. In short, there is hardly a crime within the range of human conception, which has not been perpetrated under the influence of this unholy passion.

It is not safe for us to conclude, because these exhibitions of its terrible power have been comparatively rare, that it exists only in a few such characters as Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon ; for a careful examination will discover it to be that element in every character, which leads directly to the performance of many acts of wrong and injustice, though perhaps upon a smaller scale, because connected with less capacity; or existing under such different circumstances as not to call forth its extreme development.

But the last and most dreadful of all the features of human depravity, that the limits to which this subject must necessarily be restricted, will permit us to notice, is Malignity, or delight in beholding suffering. Few persons are sensible of the exis-

26 THE NATUKAL HEART

tence even of the germ of such a fiendish passion as this within their own heart; yet it is an element of human character which, in some instances, has given fearful manifestations of its presence.

Who that has observed the child in his youthful sports, has not seen him watch with pleasure the writhings of the little insect which he has impaled upon the point of a pin ? Would he do this, if there was nothing in his nature which experienced a sensible gratification by the exhibition of suffering? Now, this is nothing less than the first and faintest exhibition of the same passion which predominated in the heart of Nero or Antiochus.

That we may be more deeply impressed with the strength of human passion, let us notice one or two historical incidents affording an exhibition of this malignant feeling. Antiochus Epiphanes, the bloody persecutor of the Jews, ** seized seven brothers, commonly called the Maccabees, and having ordered brazen cauldrons to be heated to redness, he then cut out the tongue of the eldest and tore the skin from his head, cut off the hands and feet before his mother and brethren, and after being thus mutilated, he was brought near the fire and tormented by heat, and ^naXly fried in an immense pan. After this, he proceeded in the same manner with the others; and last of all, after having been compelled to witness these dreadful tortures of her children, the mother was put to death." Nero caused hundreds of the early christians to be clothed in garments saturated with pitch, and then commanded them to be set on fire in the public gardens, to amuse the populace, while from a balcony he beheld their tortures with fiendish delight, as they fled in desperation, vainly seeking to alleviate their suffering. What must have been the degree of malignity in all those who could behold such spectacles as these with pleasure.

No one will question but that such incidents afford the most terrible evidence of malignity in those who participate in them; but history is full of similar cases. The numerous and ingenious instruments which have been constructed, the slow and painful deaths which they have produced, show us that man has tasked his genius to the utmost with inventions by which to gratify this passion, till we are constrained to say, in relation to the human race, as Jacob did to an individual, "cursed be thine anger, for it was fierce, and thy wrath, for it was cruel."*

We have thus far only noticed four constituents of the human character, with a view to understand how the inordinate development of any one of them has filled the world with suffering. These elements of character, with many others not enumerated, such as pride, envy, jealousy, and the like, exist in

* Gen. xlix, 7.

a greater or less degree in every son and daughter of Adam, and together constitute the depravity of his heart; for *'out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies."* These terrible instances of wickedness have not been detailed merely to shock the sensibilities of a more refined nature, but to impress the mind with the depth of that depravity into which human nature sometimes sinks, and to show that the word of God has not misrepresented mankind, when it says, "the works of the flesh are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, iasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, emulations, wrath, strife, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelling, and such like;*'t or given an untrue picture of the heart, when it is represented as being filled with unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness ; full of envy, murder^ debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful ; proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacahle, unmerciful. If.

Nor have mankind been slandered as a race, when it says of them, that ''they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable ; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed Mood : destruction and misery are in their ways : and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes."*

This may present a humiliating picture of human nature ; yet it is the language of Him who created us, and who is better acquainted with our constitution than we are with ourselves. Though some are disposed to deny it in theory, the practice of all confirms a belief in their internal conviction of its truth. Man everywhere assumes that his fellow creature possesses these traits of character until he has proof of the contrary — for this reason he will not trust a stranger with his money, or leave bis property exposed in such a way as to tempt the cupidity of the human heart.