SERMON IX.*

"And there they preached the gospel."

Acts, xiv, 7.

PAUL and Barnabas having laboured for some time in Iconium, were at length, under the hand of persecution, obliged to depart, and they came to Lystra, and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia," And there they preached the gospel."

The term gospel, in its simplest import, is good news, or glad tidings. The gospel of the grace of God, is the good news of the grace of God, or the good news, that God has exhibited, a system of mercy, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by which sinners may be saved. All that God has done, towards effecting and securing the salvation of sinners, through Christ, being the result, purely, and exclusively, of gracious sovereignty; and it being, in itself, and in its consequences and connexions, a subject of interest and joy, to the holy, benevolent universe, as well as to man, that a method of deliverance from endless wrath, is opened to all who will submit to the terms proposed, the gospel is thence called, the gospel of

* Preached at the Installation of the Rev. Mr. Eddy, Canandaigua.

the grace of God; or the announcement of the glad intelligence, that, whosoever shall repent of sin, and believe on the name of Jesus, shall be saved. "Behold," said the angel to the shepherds, "I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." THE EXHIBITION OF CHRIST, AS A SAVIOUR, in connexion with those truths, that are founded on the relations that run through the whole system of moral agency, is to publish the good tidings of great joy, or to preach the gospel.

It shall be my object, at this time, to point out, in a few particulars

WHAT IT IS TO PREACH THE GOSPEL.

We have already remarked, that the exhibition of Christ as a Saviour, in connexion with those truths, that arise out of the moral relations of the intelligent universe, is to preach the gospel; and that the gospel is good news, because, in perfect accordance with these relations, it proffers pardon to our guilty race, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Aside from what we are taught, both by revelation and experience, we see, in the very nature of the system of pardon, certain important facts, with regard to the character and condition of man, presupposed. Why offer pardon to man, if he is not condemned? Why is he condemned, if not guilty? The guilt and ruin of man, therefore, are presupposed, by the system of pardon propounded in the gospel. Hence no man can preach the gospel to the acceptance of God, and in such a manner, that it may become the instrument of salvation to his

hearers, who does not in his heart believe, and in his daily ministrations endeavour to illustrate, and enforce these two great truths-The total depravity of man-And his just desert of wrath.

Now suppose Christ be revealed as the object of faith, and the revelation be accompanied with the declaration, that unless men believe on his name they cannot be saved. What effect would this have, on the mind that does not see, and the heart that does not feel, the guilt and ruin of sin. Produce on the mind of the sick man, a conviction that he is diseased, let him see the danger of his situation, and he will apply for relief. If he has not this conviction, if he is insensible to his danger, the application for relief will not be made, although the remedy be at hand. 'Tis doubtless, under some such view as this, that the prophet asks, " Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there not a physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" The answer is obvious. She felt no disease; and hence saw no necessity for applying the healing balm, or seeking the aid of the physician.

No man, therefore, can preach the gospel, so as to give meaning and efficacy to the system of pardon which it developes, without making such an exhibition of its truths, as is calculated to produce the conviction on the minds of sinners, that without Christ they must perish.

We proceed, therefore, to remark

1. That the proclamation of pardon, through the Lord Jesus Christ, implies that men are sinners.

What is thus im

plied, it is essential that men should feel, to enable them to

form just apprehensions, of the gospel method of forgiveness; to excite in them right affections towards their Maker; and to qualify them, in any just measure, to appreciate the infinite condescensions of the Saviour, and the riches of his grace.

A consciousness of my native, and deep rooted enmity against God, must, in the very nature of the case, and in the order of revealed truth, precede my acceptance of Christ. I shall see no reason for accepting his proffered friendship, as the great physician of souls, if I do not feel that I am labouring under a spiritual malady. If I am made sensible that I am morally diseased, and that Christ alone can impart to me the healing balm, I shall have a powerful motive, impelling me to apply to him; and if healed, shall be capable of appreciating the skill, and kindness of my heavenly physician.

In preaching the gospel then, 'tis necessary, first of all, to exhibit to man his moral depravity; his total alienation of heart from God. This he must feel, or the announcement of the Saviour, will not be the publishing of glad tidings to him. Christ may be exhibited, with never so much tenderness, and urged upon sinners, with never so much warmth, they will remain listless and indifferent, until they are brought to such a deep sense of their sinfulness, that they are ready to take the side of God, and acknowledge their desert of eternal wrath. It should be a grand point of labour, with the servants of Christ, to present, to the mind of the sinner, such clear evidence of his guilt, as is calculated to awaken conviction, and to make him. feel, that he stands, without excuse, naked and defenceless, before his Maker. If there is any one point, that is of pri