BY NATURE MAN IS AN ENEMY TO GOD. Man is in open rebellion against Him, and justly condemned by Him. He is in love with sin, a slave to lust, a servant of Satan. He is blind to his desperate condition, deaf to the call of God, and dead in trespasses and sins. He is an open sepulchre, full of wretchedness and disease, abominable and filthy beyond description. And can such creatures be the object of Jehovah's love, the purchase of the Saviour's blood, and the habitation of the Holy Spirit? Yes: as such, they were chosen by God to salvation; as such, Jesus was sent into the world to redeem them; as such, the Holy Spirit came to quicken, cleanse, justify, and save them! O amazing grace! Astonishing mercy! And will God in very deed dwell with such creatures upon earth? Yes: "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." Well may the patriarch exclaim, "What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him? and that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him?"

For Meditation:
O what is feeble, dying man,
Or any of his race?
That God should make it His concern
To visit him with grace!
That God, who sends His lightnings down,
Who shakes the worlds above,
And mountains tremble at His frown,
How wondrous is His love!