its sympathies. Dr. Chalmers is adapted | minuter graces which fetter Mr. Hall, for the popular ear: his bold and reite- and limit his efforts, and have left him, rated statements, his overwhelming tide after fifty years of public life, the author of words, his projecting and striking of far fewer works, and those works of imagery, his small number of distinct less extent and less general importance, thoughts enforced in various different than Dr. Chalmers has produced in one forms; all make him the preacher for the fourth portion of that time. crowded popular auditory. Mr. Hall is the preacher for the scholar, the student, the metaphysician, the man of elegant education, the fastidious proud despiser of spiritual religion, the pretender to a philosophy not thoroughly fathomed. His master-mind, his acute insight into the very inmost soul, his candour towards his opponents, his infinite reverence for Holy Scripture, his cautious conclusive argumentation, his delicate and sublime bursts of imagery, his superiority to party feelings and interests, ensure the attention, and fix the conviction, of every competent and unprejudiced hearer.

"As to USEFULNESS, the palm must be conceded, FOR THE PRESENT AGE, to Dr. Chalmers: he is more bold, more decisive, more capable of frequent effort, more ready to commit his unfinished compositions to the press, more negligent of the

IN THE NEXT AGE, it is possible Mr. Hall's publications may fetch up the way he appears to have lost in the present. All his practical writings will live, and exercise a powerful sway over the public mind, when many of Dr. Chalmers's may have done their work and been forgotten. Had Mr. Hall more of the bold and intrepid character of Dr. Chalmers; would he write with less anxiety and refinement; would he devote himself to the prosecution of some great national topic, touching the interests of morals and religion; would he disregard more his own feelings, in order to do good in a transitory world; there is nothing which he might not be capable of effecting, under God's blessing: for no man of the present age has gained the ear, and fixed the love and admiration of his countrymen more than Robert Hall."

SERMON IV.

GLORYING IN THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.

BY THE REV. ROBERT NEWTON.

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth."-Rom. i. 16.

ing grace consists in rectifying every thing that is wrong in our passions, giving them the proper direction, and bringing them under the controlling influence of truth and of religion.

MAN is a creature of passion, as well as of reason; and although we readily admit that the latter is far superior to the former, and that it gives a distinctive peculiarity to our species, yet, still the movements and sensibilities of our spe- Behold, in the particular case of the cies which come under the general de- great apostle of the Gentiles, these obscription of passion, form a very essen-servations are exemplified. You are tial and a very important part of our aware there was a period in his history

nature.

when he courageously contended for his own imaginary excellencies, and for the abrogated rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic economy, while he was at the same time ashamed of Christ and of his gospel. Actuated by a zeal at once the most intolerant and the most blind, he haled to prison all he could find who called on the name of Jesus; not being ashamed to consent-indeed he did consent-to the death of the first Christian martyr; nor did he blush to witness that horrid deed.

It is, however, my friends, a fact no less evident than it is lamentable, that human passions are awfully perverted and depraved by sin, that they have taken a wrong direction, and are too generally exercised in direct opposition to their original design. This remark will hold good in its application to the general passion of shame of which the apostle speaks. This is a passion which was originally designed by the Author of our being to act the part of a sentinel, to give a sensible and salutary check and alarm, in case of any approach towards the precincts of folly or of crime. But so totally is this principle blinded and perverted, that we too frequently see human beings glorying in that of which they ought to be ashamed, and we see them ashamed of that in which they ought to glory; we see them pursuing unblushingly the paths of folly and of sin; whilst they are ashamed of the way of holiness, of Christ, and of the gospel. Where, of Christ, and of the gospel :-" What however, converting grace takes place, a beneficial change is produced,-a change so real, so deep, so extensive, that old things are done away, and all things become new. One part of the change effected by the power of convert

But see what a complete reverse of character converting grace effected,what a mighty moral revolution in all his thinkings, and feelings, and sayings, and doings. The recollection of his former prejudices, and errors, and cruelties covers him with confusion; he blushes with shame at the remembrance of them; and although God, for Christ's sake, had forgiven him, he never could forgive himself. But no longer is he ashamed

things," says he, "were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord." Not only do we now behold the Jew become a Chris

tian, but we behold the persecutor become an apostle, and avowing himself the willing and courageous advocate of that faith which he had formerly madly destroyed. "So, as much as in me is,” he says, "I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also;" I have preached it in other places I have preached it" from Jerusalem round about to Illyricum;" and now I long to bear the same testimony for my divine Master in the imperial city. "For I am not ashamed"—I was once, but I am not now-"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth."

Let us mark the nature and the ground of this avowal,-the profession which the apostle makes,-and the reason for it which he assigns.

I. THE NATURE AND THE GROUND OF THIS AVOWAL. He professes himself "not ashamed of the gospel."

"he that hath the Son hath life." And although this dispensation of truth, of grace, and of salvation, was somewhat obscurely unfolded under earlier dispensations of the church, it is now made fully manifest by the appearing of our Saviour, Christ, who hath "abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light by the gospel."

Now, if we do not greatly mistake the apostle in the very frequent use he makes of the term "gospel," he directly and immediately means by it, the doctrine of salvation by a crucified Jesus. We give you our reasons for this.

When addressing the Corinthian church, the apostle explains the sense in which he uses this passage. "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto What is the gospel? The gospel is you, unless ye have believed in vain. good news, glad tidings. It was an- For I delivered unto you first of all that nounced by the angel who proclaimed which I also received, how that Christ the Saviour's advent, "Behold, I bring died for our sins, according to the Scripyou glad tidings of great joy." The tures." Now, that was the very essence gospel announces the best tidings that of the gospel in the apostolical sense of ever were published, the best news to that expression-"Christ died for our which mortals ever listened,-news of sins according to the Scriptures." Had salvation, tidings of a Saviour who is he used the term in the vague and geneChrist the Lord,-light for those that are ral sense in which it is employed by in darkness-pardon for those that are some,-had he intended nothing more by guilty-mercy for those that are misera-"the gospel," than the unity of the ble-liberty for those that are bound-divine nature, the doctrine of divine prosalvation for those that are lost-life for vidence, the immutable and everlasting those that are dead. The gospel com- distinctions between right and wrong, prehends the whole scheme of redemp-between vice and virtue, the doctrine tion-consisting, indeed, of doctrines, of the immortality of the soul, the great and of precepts, and of promises, and of threatenings, and of ordinances, which we are not about to detail this evening. But we call the gospel a system, because it consists of various parts; and yet, all its parts may be resolved into the one grand doctrine of redemption and salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. "God It was not at these things that the litewas in Christ, reconciling the world unto rati of the day scoffed and derided; no, himself, not imputing their trespasses no,-it was at Christ crucified,—that docunto them." This is the record,-yes, trine so revolting to the pride of our and of all that is recorded this is the fallen nature. Christ crucified was to sum, "God hath given to us eternal the Jews a stumbling-block; and foolishlife, and this life is in his Son;" andness to the pride of the haughty Greek.

and golden rule of equity-" As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise;"-had the apostle meant nothing more than these things by "the gospel," he would never have dreamed of saying he was not ashamed of them.

Aye, and to this very hour the Christian | spoken by the Lord when he exercised preacher may discourse on the doctrine his personal ministry in our world, but of Deity, he may preach on the doc- in his appropriate character as the mestrine of eternal providence, he may preach on the soul's immortality, and man's moral accountability to the God that made him,—he may lecture as long as he pleases on the golden rule to which we have already adverted, and men will approve of this; infidels and semi-infidels will signify their approbation: but the moment he begins to speak about the doctrine of salvation by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, then they begin to scoff, and to sneer, and to deride this as the foolishness of folly. I say, therefore, had the apostle merely referred to these things, he had never dreamed of saying, "I am not ashamed of the gospel :" but, by "the gospel," he referred to the great doctrines of the cross; and in reference to them he says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ."

And, besides this, he adds, in immediate connexion with the text, "For, therein"-Wherein? In this gospel, "For therein," in this gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." By "the righteousness of God" he does not mean the essential rectitude of the divine nature, but he means, God's method of constituting a sinner righteous in his sight, which is only through faith in the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now this gospel, this good news, is emphatically the good news of Christ. Those who published the good news were careful to inform those to whom they addressed it, that it did not originate with themselves, that they had received of the Lord that which they declared to the people. Not only as a Divine Person had the scheme its origination in the inmost mind of God our Saviour, but by him, as the great Mediator between God and man, it has been revealed. That expression in the epistle to the Hebrews is true to a much wider extent than is generally understood. Speaking of the gospel, he says, "Which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him." Now, it did not first begin to be

senger of the covenant, the angel of Je hovah; all those rays of light, those beams and tints of mercy, that illumined the early dispensations, came from Christ, the star of Jacob; yes, just as certainly as the bright effulgence of evangelical light and truth with which we are surrounded, bursts from Christ, the glorious Sun of Righteousness. And, in addition to this early manifestation of this good news, in the fulness of time, in the exercise of his ministry, he published it as his own, and delivered it in his own name, and by his own right and authority; he has also signed it with his own hand, and sealed it with his own seal; and he has authenticated his signature and his seal with signs and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to the will of God.

My friends, the gospel is divine, it is from heaven, and not of men; Jesus Christ is its author. And it is not only the good news of Christ coming from him, but it is the good news concerning him; for this gospel is the good news of Christ concerning his person, his works, his atoning acts, his saving benefits, his kingdom, his glory. Take these things out of the gospel, and what have you left behind? Examine those different editions of the gospel, if I may so express myself, which have been put forth at different periods of time, and under different dispensations of the church, and you will find they are full of Christ. That first edition in the patriarchal age, though certainly somewhat obscure, contained many promises of a deliverer, who was to suffer that he might save; that great deliverer was Christ, the promised seed that was to bruise the serpent's head; and the patriarchs saw these promises obscurely, as it were, and were persuaded of their truth; they embraced them, died in faith in the promised Messiah who was to come, and anticipated by faith the benefits of his death.

If you examine that edition of the gospel contained in the writings of the Hebrew prophets, you will find much

concerning the illustrious personage who was to appear in our world, who was to establish a kingdom, who was to extend his conquests and his triumphs, and whose kingdom was to have no end. Then this illustrious person was to suffer in order that he might reign. And who was this but the Lord Christ, to whom all the prophets bare witness?

And if you examine that splendid and imposing edition of the gospel contained in the Mosaic ritual, there is much gospel there. What find you there? You find types and shadows, and signs, and symbols, and figurative representations. Of all these types, Jesus Christ was the great antitype of these shadows he was the substance-of these symbols Christ was the thing signified.

And then, if you examine the last and perfect edition of the gospel contained in the narrative of the evangelists, what find you? You find a most interesting history -a history of Christ-his birth, his life, his teaching, his ministry, his death, his resurrection, his exaltation to his kingdom. You find doctrines-the doctrines of Christ; you find precepts-the precepts of Christ; you find the promises -the promises of Christ; and you find the ordinances the ordinances of Christ; every thing in the gospel is full of Christ. Christ is also the end of the gospel. Every thing in the gospel is designed to conduct men to Christ, that they may know and love him, and believe in him, and resemble him, and love to honour him. Remember the record given of that extraordinary star which arrested the attention of the wise men in the east, and which they followed till it conducted them to the very spot where Jesus Christ was. Every thing in the gospel is to act the part of that star. If we fix our eye on it, it will conduct us to Christ, that we may know him and love him. What is the gospel without Christ? A cloud without water; a shadow without a substance; a body without a spirit.

Now, says the apostle, "of this gospel of Christ I am not ashamed;"-I am not confused; it does not make me blush; I am not discouraged by any thing in the gospel.

Let us ask four questions here.

Of what is this spoken? Of the gospel of Christ. As though the apostle had said, I am not ashamed of its doctrines. Are they not all wise? Are they not all important? Are they not all instructive? Are they not all of infinite concern to every human being. What is there in the gospel of Christ to make a wise man blush? The more carefully and prayerfully you examine them, the more you see their excellence and feel their importance. As though the apostle had said, I am not ashamed of the precepts of the gospel. Are they not all holy, and just, and good, and benevolent? What is there in any precept of the gospel of Jesus Christ of which a good man can be ashamed? I am not ashamed of the threatenings of the gospel. Though some have represented them as harsh and severe, they are all righteous, and they are all holy; they are all intended and directed against sin, and are all calculated to promote holiness and happiness. They are, therefore, only modifications of the goodness and love of their great Author. I am not ashamed of the promises of the gospel; they contain the very things we want. Are they not rich? Are they not admirable and various? Are they not sure and certain ?-are they not "yea and amen" in Christ Jesus? What is there in the privileges and promises of the gospel to make a Christian blush? I am not ashamed of the ordinances of the gospel. It is true, they are few in number, and very simple în their nature; but they are highly significant; they are full of meaning, and are efficacious whenever they are properly dispensed and advocated.

I am not ashamed of the gospel as the gospel of Christ, its divine Author. Though meanly born in Bethlehemthough for him there was no room in the inn-though born in a stable, and laid in a manger-though the reputed son of a carpenter-though when he came forth from obscurity, and entered on his public ministry, he had not where to lay his head-though he was persecuted, though he was crucified, though he suffered and died-though all this was true, yet he rose triumphant as a God, and by his