Such knowledge and such blessings are not the growth of earth; they are not the produce of the human intellect or the human heart; they must come by spiritual communication, from the fountain of wisdom and truth. When man was driven from the bright abode of paradise, his understanding was darkened; losing the favour, he lost the image of his Maker, and thus became naturally estranged from those holy thoughts and affections, which constitute his chief happiness and glory. Nor is it possible for him to recover this spiritual frame of mind, these heavenly views, this holy and happy acquaintance with God, unless the hand, by which the image was originally stamped, repair the wretched ruin in which it now lies. Whoever would know the ways of God, must be taught of God; to all, who are not so taught, they are impenetrably secret. Thus spake the wisest of men; “The Lord giveth wisdom, out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity; yea, every good path.” {331a} And thus the apostle, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him;” {331b} that is, man, in his natural state, of ignorance and rebellion against God, cannot form a notion of the value of heavenly blessings; of the enlarged views, the sublimed affections, the sustaining comforts and joys, attainable by an inheritance of the divine promises, both here and hereafter. But, as the apostle proceeds, “God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him; even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God;” as we exercise our thoughts and judgment upon human matters, by the help of human reason, by the natural powers of the mind, so must we attain the knowledge of divine matters, by the aid of a divine spirit; by a holy illumination and guidance; not indeed by miraculous illapses, but still by the distinct and actual operation of heavenly grace, silently producing its effects upon the understanding and heart.