Eccles. vii. 29.
Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.
In this remarkable book, Solomon discusses the various earthly means employed by the human race, for the attainment of happiness; and he decides upon the utter insufficiency of them all. Nor is he to be regarded as making the enquiry from mere matter of speculation, but as declaring to the world the result of his own experience, as well as the counsels of the Most High. Exalted to the very summit of worldly prosperity and greatness, and learned in all the arts and sciences, he possessed advantages, in the pursuit of happiness, far beyond the common lot of mortality; if it were to be found upon earth, he would have been sure, in himself or some of his favoured dependents, to have made the discovery. But he declares, by many remarkable repetitions, his utter inability so to do; he gives up the matter as hopeless and impossible; “all, (even the fairest and the best of human schemes,) is vanity and vexation of spirit;” “that which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.” [311]
And this conclusion corresponds with the experience of mankind in every age: happiness has always been their object; philosophers have laid down rules for its acquirement, and every variety of expedient has been tried; but all in vain; there is no permanent pleasure or satisfaction upon earth: independently of the crosses and vexations from without, by which it is so continually disturbed, there is something in the constitution of man, in the present state of his mind and heart and affections, by which the attainment of happiness, from temporal means alone, is positively forbidden.
The royal preacher, thus convinced of this truth, turns his thoughts to a solution of the case, and sums up his observations, on the conduct and condition of man, in the words of the text. Instead of arraigning, like some bold and impious cavillers of our day, the wisdom or goodness of the Creator in the introduction of evil into the world, he gives the true account of the matter; and lays the blame where alone it is due, upon the disobedience and degeneracy of man. And in so doing, he bears testimony to the truth of one of the most important communications made to us in the revealed word of God—the original innocence and the fall of our first parents. This fact has been daringly called in question by certain professed believers of divine revelation, by some who boast themselves peculiarly entitled to the christian name. Anxious to exalt the moral excellency of human nature, and to disprove the doctrine and necessity of the atonement, through the prevailing efficacy of the Saviour’s incarnation and sufferings, such vain disputers absolutely deny, in the very face of God’s word, that any such total and dreadful change has ever taken place in the state of mankind; they contend, that our understandings and affections are now the same, as when we came originally from the hands of our Creator. It appears, however, that the wisest of men took a different view of this momentous subject; that he received the Mosaic account, recorded in the opening of the book of Genesis, according to its plain and natural interpretation; and he has delivered to us his judgment, by the inspiration of that Holy Spirit, under whose guidance it was impossible for him to err.
Solomon introduces his declaration upon this point in a very awakening manner; in a manner frequent with the inspired writers, when about to deliver a sentence of peculiar weight and importance; “Lo, this only have I found;” behold, attend to this truth; this is the result of my observations, this the “conclusion of the whole matter,” this the explanation of all the evil and unhappiness in the world, that “God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions;” that man was created innocent by the wise and merciful Author of his being; formed for pure unalloyed enjoyment; and the marring and misery, which he experiences, are solely attributable to the change induced by his own apostacy and rebellion; to his seeking out ways and means of happiness, contrary to the will and appointment of his Creator. “God saw every thing that He had made, and behold, it was very good;” [314] and man, the lord of creation, was not less fitted than the objects around him, to answer the good and gracious purposes of heaven. So God “created man in His own image; in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them;” [315] in the image of holiness, and therefore happy.
How far man has fallen from this state of uprightness, is a question which has caused much difference and contention in the christian world; some persons, from a desire of exalting the free grace of God, declare that the divine image in man was totally corrupted and lost by the fall; that there remains, in his unregenerate nature, no spirit or particle of excellency, no perception of what is good; that his nature is a mere chaos of disorder, a mass of decay, which is altogether incapable of producing any thing but “confusion and every evil work.” On the other hand, it is contended, that the wreck of man’s nature was but partial; that there remains a considerable disposition to practice, as well as approve, “whatsoever things are pure and honest and lovely and of good report;” that man is still able, by his own judgment and strength, in many things to please God and to serve Him. It does not fall within our purpose, on the present occasion, to attempt any accurate adjustment of this difference; but we may observe, that it is dangerous to insist upon either extreme. A belief, that man can will or do nothing, is apt to lead to a persuasion that he has nothing to will or do; that his salvation is a work totally independent of himself; a measure of grace absolutely forced upon him: and a belief, is that man able of himself to “refuse the evil and to choose the good,” that he “knows how to walk and to please God,” creates a spirit of self-righteousness, at once destructive of the sinner’s hope; preventing his dependence upon the all-sufficiency of God, and subversive of the truth of the gospel.
A faculty of discernment between good and evil, for the moral government of man, is evidently vouchsafed to his unrenewed nature; and a power, in dependence upon the divine teaching, to accept or reject the proposals of mercy and grace, does surely remain to us, or else the numberless exhortations of God to the sinner appear to be of no benefit and no meaning: and who can reasonably suppose, that sinners would have been so frequently and severely condemned, for refusing that grace, which they were positively incapable of accepting. The language of our ninth Article on this point appears to be most temperate and unobjectionable: “Man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit.” With this statement we may rest content.
One of the many bitter fruits of the fall is, that man no longer seeks his happiness in God, where alone it can be found, but in ways of his own devising, in the crooked ways opened to his view and imagination by the destructive enemy of his soul; no longer in innocence and holiness and obedience, but in vicious inclinations and pursuits, “in the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life;” [317] in those very principles and means, which brought “death into the world and all our woe:” it is no wonder, therefore, that happiness, from a search like this, should not be found. They, who search in this manner, are like the wicked spirit, “walking through dry places, seeking rest and finding none;” like the dove of Noah, in the overwhelming of the waters, roving about on weary wing, and finding no resting place for the sole of her foot. Nor is it possible for man to be blessed again with perfect peace, peace without any interruption or alloy, until he be altogether restored to “the image of Him that created him:” the nearer he approaches to that restoration, the more he will assuredly possess of true satisfaction and delight; but the blessing can never be complete, till the original defilement be utterly purged away, till his understanding is enlarged for a full knowledge of the good and great and glorious Creator; till he can be brought to love and serve Him without any mixture of infirmity; till he returns not only to His favour, but into His immediate presence, in the second Eden, of eternal bliss.
Still may man enjoy, even upon earth, no inconsiderable degree of peace and happiness. The promises and blessings of the gospel impart a “joy and gladness” to the believer, and fill him with comfort, which the world can neither give nor take away: the avoiding and abhorring of evil will prevent those painful reflections, which inhabit the mind of the reckless sinner: the life of faith in a merciful Saviour, the worship and service of God, the works of piety and love, the walk of uprightness and integrity, though accompanied with imperfections, and, therefore, with abatements of comfort, yet do infallibly produce a great tranquillity of soul, and unspeakable emotions of holy joy; the sincere Christian contemplates his present condition with happy, though humble persuasion of acceptance with his God; and looks forward with an animated exulting hope of the perfect consummation of his felicity, in another and a better world. The trials and troubles of this life do indeed still continue; yet they have no power to harm, and therefore none to distress him; he “casts his burden upon the Lord.” But in the natural, unrenewed, unconverted world, there is no such redeeming principle, no qualification of evil, no pure sources of delight: let the votaries of earthly enjoyment seek it with what ardour and devotedness they may, it is a phantom which is ever eluding their grasp; flitting before their eyes in the shape of promises and visions, but never in substantial possession.
It is indeed sadly instructive, to consider the numberless devices to which men are driven, in their search after happiness, when once they have forsaken the faith and fear of God; how busy they are in the invention of new scenes and pursuits; quitting one after another, as each deceives and fails; how they are wearing and wasting away the little span of life, in vain experiment and profitless enquiry. How are the opulent contriving their multiplied means and opportunities of enjoyment, with all their splendour of establishment, and a train of dependents obedient to their will! And if we could form a judgment by outward appearances, we might be inclined to pronounce them happy: but under this beautiful veil, with all this pomp of circumstance, many a corroding care, many a mortified desire, many a bitter disappointment, lie constantly concealed.