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THE NATURAL MAN’S IGNORANCE OF DIVINE THINGS
CHRISTIANITY, as far as relates to its provisions, is founded on the necessities of man: there is a perfect correspondence between the want and the supply: whichever of the two is contemplated, we of necessity behold, or at least may behold, the other. Men, it is true, are not very willing to acknowledge their necessities; and hence they think lightly of the blessings of the Gospel salvation: and many, who are willing to confess the depravation of their will and their affections through the fall of our first parents, are very averse to admit the loss they have sustained in their intellectual powers. But it is certain, that the mind of man is no longer what it was before the introduction of sin into the world: it can no longer discern the glory and excellency of Jehovah, or the mysteries of his spiritual kingdom. This is expressly declared in the words before us; which it is our intention,
I. To explain—
That we may have a just view of them, we will distinctly shew,
1. Whom we are to understand by “the natural man”—
[The term which we translate “natural,” is differently translated in different places; and the sense must always be determined by the context. Now the whole context shews, that the person here spoken of is man in his natural state, untaught, and unassisted by the Spirit of God. From the middle of the preceding chapter, two descriptions of persons are mentioned; one, wise in respect of earthly knowledge, but spiritually blind, and, in consequence of that blindness, pouring contempt upon the Gospel: the other, as spiritually enlightened, and, in consequence of that illumination, accounting the Gospel the richest display of God’s wisdom and power. The former the Apostle denominates the “wise, the scribe, the disputer of this world,” and comprehends among them “the princes of this world:” these, in our text, he calls “the natural man,” that is, man conversant with worldly knowledge, but uninstructed by the Spirit of God.]
2. What are those things which he can neither receive nor know—
[These are “the things of the Spirit,” or, the great mysteries which are revealed to us in the Gospel. And when it is said, that the natural man cannot know them, we are not to understand merely that these mysteries are not discoverable by the light of reason, so as to supersede the necessity of any revelation; but that, however revealed to us externally by God, they cannot be inwardly comprehended, without a special discovery of them to the soul by the influence of the Holy Spirit. As far as they are capable of being judged of by reason, or are mere matters of science, any man may, by the application of his own natural powers, understand them: but, as far as they are objects of faith, and matters of experience, no man can understand them, unless he be taught of God. Theoretically, he may maintain the whole system of the fall and the recovery; but, practically, he cannot realize in his soul the truths which he maintains: the humiliation which his depravity calls for, he cannot feel; nor the gratitude, which the wonders of redemption so imperiously demand. On the contrary, the whole system, however as a theory it may be approved, as a practical and influential principle in the soul is accounted “foolishness.”]
3. Whence this incapacity arises—
[It is well accounted for in the words before us: “He cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” We are not to understand by this, that the spiritual man is endued with any new faculty, which the natural man does not possess; for then the natural man would be rather to be pitied for a defect which was unavoidable, than to be blamed for a weakness to which he himself was accessary: we are rather to understand, that the natural man does not make a right use of the faculties which he already possesses, but, through the corruption of his own heart, renders them unfit for the use for which they were originally designed. Perhaps we may attain some insight into this matter by means of an easy and familiar illustration. Many by nature are very indistinct in their organs of vision; and art has enabled them to supply the defect. From the formation and structure of their eye, the objects which they behold do not fall upon the retina that should reflect them, but either fall short of it, or go beyond it: but, by interposing a proper medium, the object is brought to such a focus as the eye requires; and is then clearly discerned. Now we may suppose our natural pride, and unbelief, and sensuality, to have rendered our spiritual discernment so indistinct, that nothing is seen aright; but objects, especially spiritual objects, are dim and distorted: but humility, and contrition, and faith being given by God as a new medium through which they shall be seen, the objects are made, so to speak, to fall upon the heart, and are discerned by the heart in all their true colours and dimensions. We do not propose this as a perfect illustration; for nothing in nature will perfectly represent the mysteries of grace: but it may serve perhaps to convey some faint idea of our natural incapacity to know and to receive the things of the Spirit; and may shew us what we want in order to a spiritual discernment. It is the Spirit of God alone that can supply us with those qualities of mind which will rectify the defects of our visual organs: but when he does supply them, then, in proportion as they are communicated, will be the clearness of our sight. We again say, that we do not bring this as a perfect illustration, and much less as a proof, of the truth we are considering: but we apprehend, that it is such an illustration as the word of God sanctions. Our blessed Lord tells us, that, “if our eye be evil, the body will be dark; but that, if our eye be single, our whole body will be full of light:” and St. Paul says, that “by reason of use our senses are exercised to discern both good and evil [Note: Heb_5:14.];” by which two passages we learn, that the rectification of our visual organs, and the due application of them to their proper objects, are the appointed means of communicating to us a spiritual discernment.]
This truth, we now proceed,
II. To confirm—
The natural man, under all circumstances, is blind to the things of God—
It was so in our Lord’s day—
[Never was there any light comparable to that which was diffused by the Sun of Righteousness: yet the darkness comprehended it not. Our Lord came to his own, and his own received him not [Note: Joh_1:5; Joh_1:10-11.]. The very people who, from their acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, and their opportunities of knowing the character of our blessed Lord, and the proofs of his divine mission, had the best means of ascertaining the truth of his Messiahship, could see “no beauty or comeliness in him for which he was to be desired [Note: Isa_53:2.].” The great mass of the Jewish people accounted him an impostor: and when his own Disciple, Peter, confessed him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, our Lord said to him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven [Note: Mat_16:17.].” Whence it is evident, that none can truly receive Christ in all his characters and offices, unless a spiritual discernment be given unto them by the Spirit of God. Clear as our Lord’s discourses were, they were not understood fully even by the Disciples themselves. “To them indeed it was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” more clearly than to others; but even they could not enter fully into the nature of his kingdom, no, not after he had risen from the dead, till “he opened their understandings to understand the Scriptures [Note: Luk_24:45.].”]
It was so under the ministry of the Apostles—
[Paul himself, so far from being convinced by the wonders of the day of Pentecost, was the most determined enemy of the Christian Church, till Christ himself arrested him in his mad career, and revealed himself to him by an immediate vision, and a special revelation from heaven. In like manner the ministry of Paul was as offensive to some, as it was delightful and instructive to others. Those “whose hearts the Lord opened,” as he did Lydia’s, “to attend to the things spoken by Paul,” received the word with all gladness; but the great majority of his hearers rejected it with abhorrence. The very same words spoken before Festus and Agrippa, made one to cry out, “Paul, thou art beside thyself:” and the other to say, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.”]
And thus it is also at this day—
[The work of conversion does not go forward among “the wise, the mighty, the noble:” on the contrary, the Gospel is very generally esteemed as “foolishness” among them. We still find occasion for the same acknowledgment as our Lord himself made: “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight [Note: Mat_11:25-26.].” To this source we must trace all the difference that we still observe amongst the hearers of the Gospel: “the Spirit of God worketh all in all; and divideth to every man severally as he will [Note: 1Co_12:6; 1Co_12:11.].” If we know Christ, it is because “he hath given us an understanding that we might know him [Note: 1Jn_5:20.],” and “an unction of the Holy One,” whereby our faculties were enabled to apprehend him [Note: 1Jn_2:20; 1Jn_2:27.]: and, if we have come to Christ, it is because “we have heard and learned of the Father [Note: Joh_6:45.].”]
Humiliating, no doubt, this declaration is: nevertheless it is one which we shall do well,
III. To improve—
We may learn from it—
1. How to appreciate divine knowledge—
[Valuable as human knowledge is, it hears no comparison with that which is divine. So superior is “the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord,” that St. Paul accounted all things but as dross “and dung in comparison of it.” It is more excellent in its nature, more exalted in its origin, and more beneficial in its use. Into the mystery of redemption the very “angels themselves desire to look.” To understand it, we must be taught, not of man, but of God; and, when we have received it aright, it will renew and sanctify us after the Divine image. Let it then be sought by us, not exclusively indeed, but supremely. Let us not be satisfied with any knowledge which the natural man can attain: but let us seek that which shall carry its own evidence along with it as divine, by its renewing, sanctifying, and comforting influence upon the soul.]
2. How to seek it—
[Nothing is to be attained without diligence: but it is not by study only that the knowledge of divine things is to be acquired: we must “cry after knowledge,” at the same time that we “search for it as for hid treasures.” It is “the Lord alone who giveth wisdom;” and therefore we must seek it from him by earnest prayer. We must beg him “to give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him,” that the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, we may see “the deep things of God.” He first “commanded light to shine out of darkness” in the material world; and a similar process must take place in our minds through the operation of his word and Spirit. We must be “taught of God, as all his children are:” and then only shall we behold “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, when he shines into our hearts to give it us [Note: 2Co_4:6.].” Our studies therefore must all be accompanied with prayer, and we must never take up the Holy Scriptures without crying, like David, “Lord, open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”]
3. How to employ it—
[Has God in his unbounded mercy opened our eyes, and enabled us to see what the natural man is not able to receive? Surely we should endeavour to employ that light in the way that shall most conduce to his glory. We should make use of it as the means of searching out his glorious perfections, and of discovering the heights and depths of his unsearchable love. We should also employ it for the rectifying of all our own views, and spirit, and conduct: and, finally, for the diffusing, to the utmost of our power, the knowledge of him throughout the world. As it was said to Peter, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren;” so is it said to us, “Freely ye have received, freely give.” No one gift is bestowed on us for ourselves alone, but for the good of others: and knowledge in particular is a talent entrusted to us for the benefit of all around us: “it is a light that is to be set on a candlestick, and not to be hid under a bushel.” If then, through the distinguishing grace of God, we have been called to the knowledge of the truth, it becomes us to “shine as lights in the world,” and so to “hold forth the word of life,” that others may be “guided into the way of peace.”]