it of God was given on the
day of Pentecost, you will, remember that another power of man was
called out, differing from what he had before. That Spirit granted on
the day of Pentecost did subordinate to Himself, and was, intended to
subordinate to Himself, the will, the understanding, and the affection
of man; but you often find these spiritual powers were distinguished
from the natural powers, and existed without them.

So in the highest state of religious life, we are told, men prayed in
the spirit. Till the spirit has subordinated the understanding, the
gift of God is not complete--has not done its work. It is abundantly
evident that a new life was called out. It was not merely the
sharpening of the intellectual powers; it was calling out powers of
aspiration and love to God; those affections which have in them
something boundless, that are not limited to this earth, but seek
their completion in the mind of God Himself.

Now, what we have to say respecting this threefold state of man is, it
is a state of discord. Let us take up a very simple, popular,
every-day illustration. We hear it remarked frequently in conversation
of a man, that if only his will were commensurate with his knowledge,
he would be a great man. His knowledge is great--his powers are almost
unbounded; he has gained knowledge from nearly every department of
science; but somehow or other--you cannot tell why--there is such an
indecision, such a vacillation about the man, that he scarcely knows
what to do, and, perhaps does nothing in this world. You find it
remarked, respecting another class of men, that their will is strong,
almost unbounded in its strength--they have iron wills, yet there is
something so narrow in their conceptions, something so bounded in
their views, so much of stagnation in their thoughts, so much of
prejudice in all their opinions, that their will is prevented from
being directed to anything in a proper manner. Here is the discord in
human nature. There is a distinction between the will and the
understanding. And sometimes a feeble will goes with a strong
understanding, or a powerful will is found in connection with great
feebleness or ignorance of the understanding.

Let us however, go into this more specially. The first cause of
discord in this threefold state of man is the state in which the body
is the ruler; and this, my Christian brethren, you find most visibly
developed in the une