THE 
 
 FOUNDATION OF FAITH, 
 
 PREACHED BY 
 
 THE RT. REV. JOHN S RAVENS CROFT, D.I>. 
 
 In St. Luke's Church, Salisbury, JV*. C. 
 AT THE ORDINATION OF THE REV. PHILIP B. WILEY^ 
 
 Suniay, JSlay 24?, 1829, 
 
 AND PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE CONVENTION^ 
 
 fayetteville: 
 PRINTED BY EDWARD J, HALE. 
 1829. 
 
Digitized by the liinjernet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/revelationfoundaOOr 
 
Rom. chap. 10, ver. 14^ and part of 15. 
 
 **IIow then shall they call on Mm, in ichom they have not believed? and 
 how shall they believe in him, of whom they have not heard? and horn 
 shall they hear, icithont a Preacher? andlwiv shall they preach, except 
 they be sent?'^ 
 
 In this series of questions, it appears to be the Apostle's object to 
 shew, that Revelation is the only foundation, on which Religion can be^ 
 either required of, or practised by, liiilen creatures; and as it is of the 
 highest importance to the interests of our souls, my hearers, that men 
 should be fully convinced of this primary truth — I shall endeavour to 
 explain and conlirm it, by shewing, 
 
 £'irst — That discoveries are made in the Gospel of Christ, which 
 were otherwise impossible to men. 
 
 Secondly. — That these discoveries are adapted to a state or condition 
 of the world, from which it was desirable to be delivered. 
 
 Thirdly. — That the preaching of the word is the regular appointed 
 means for making known to the world, the methods of God's Grace, in 
 the salvation of sinners. — *'How then shall they call on him, in whom 
 they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him, of whom 
 they have not heard? and how shall they hear, without a preacher?'^ 
 
 Fourthly. — That astlie discoveries of the Gospel are oi Divine Reve- 
 lation — so is the preaching of the word and the administration of the 
 Gospel, by a Divine Commission — '^^nd how shall ihey preach, except 
 thev be sent?*' 
 
 First. — I am to shew that discoveries are made in the Gospel of Christy 
 which were otherwise impossible to me ;. 
 
 To those who are acquainted with that Gospel, this proposition would 
 seem to require no proof. But on a little more consideration, we shall 
 find, that the actual condition of the religious woi ld, renders it both 
 necessary and proper, to vindicate the claims of Revealed Religion, 
 against Religion in the general, or abstract notion, of the unbelieving 
 indifference of too many, in this latter day state of the Gospel. It is 
 a part of our weakness, my brethren, against which we should be stcudil^ 
 on our guard, that admitted truths, however high their importance, lose 
 by length of time, that relish and impression, which the freshness of dis- 
 covery imparts to them* Hence, though the acknowledgment is general, 
 in all Christian lands, of those truttis, which by Revelation are made our 
 own — and though the awful consequences which depend upon them, are 
 'ust the same now, as at the beginning — yet it is past all contradiction 
 e, that they are not listened to, with that reverence and attention — • 
 do not occupy, and fill the minds of men, with that dieep and seri- 
 terest — which so tremendous an alternative, as salvation, or dam- 
 , must present to every rejecting mind. Having been so lon^ 
 
4 
 
 in possession, we are apt to overlook the source, irorn wiieiice we de 
 rive them — -to consider them as antiquated, and far distant, in their ap- 
 plication; when nevertheless in their vital influence upon the heart, 
 they are to this day, and will be to the end of days, as new and as 
 fresh, as wlien first promuli^ated. 
 
 To this cause it is owing, that experimental Religion is so little 
 fought after — that so many are satislied with the kiiowledge of the 
 truth — and are careless about the effect — that numbers rest contented 
 with the form, while they aie strangers to the power, of Godliness — for- 
 getting, **that the letter killeth" — that mere acquaintance with Religi- 
 ous Truth, possesses no saving power — being equally in reach of the 
 worst, and of the best of men — and not bearing in mind, '*that the Spirit 
 giveth Life," in the saving application of truth to the heart, and from 
 thence to the conversation of every believer. 
 
 To this cause also, lam disposed to refer that trait in the free-think- 
 ing philosophy of the present day, which boldly assumes as its own, 
 the deep things of God, deals with them, as with mere natural verities, 
 and putting in the back ground, the only source of truth and wisdom, 
 presumptuously speculates on the condition of man, and on the purpos- 
 es of God respecting him, as if the councils of him, who is perfect in 
 knowledge, were within the grasp of a finite and fallen creature. Hence 
 much of that indifference, not to say deadness, to the Religion of the 
 Gospel, which marks men of literary pretensions in the present, as well 
 as in primitive times. Full of the wisdom of the world, but empty of 
 that wisdom, which cometh down fronj above, they overlook the never 
 to be shaken truth, that but for the page of Revelation, tiie boasted 
 powers of human reason could never have advanced a single step, in 
 the science of salvation. ''The World by wisdom, never knew God." 
 To this also, I doubt not, it is owing, that ''not many wise, not many 
 noble, are now called" — '^Because that, though they profess to know 
 God, they glorify him not as God, neither are thankful, but become 
 vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart is darkened," so that 
 God permits strong delusion to lay hold of them — even to believing the 
 impossible lie, that they can be their own Saviours. And was this evil 
 confined to this description of persons — though deeply to be deplored, 
 it mi^ht be submitted to; but unhappily the example is spreading among 
 the rising hope of future days, in the young men of this generation — 
 who are caught by the glitter of false learning, and seduced by the 
 great swelling M'ords of vanity, according to the description of the 
 Apostle, wherewith they promise them liberty, from what they are pleas- 
 ed to call the trammels of superstition — and whereby they are seduced^ 
 to doubt, and to deny, the Truth, ''which is according to Godliness." 
 
 But vvas the Revelation of the Gospel faii ly considered, what it is 
 that it brings to our knowledge, with what it proposes to our attainment 
 —it could not fail, I think, to interest and engage, even the command- 
 ing and commendible acquirements of literature, unreservedly in its be 
 half. For it meets us, with its soul cheering discoveries — exactly wher 
 the powers of human reason come to a full stop. When observatio^ 
 and experience, introduce us fully to that ctmfusion and disot 
 which pervade equally the natural and the moral world — they c 
 no farther; and just at this point, the discoveries of Revelatioi 
 
in to save us, from tiie gloomy conclusions of Fate aiul >ieccs55ity,— oi 
 Chance Creation, and Atheism. 
 
 One single example out ot" many may s*Tve, my hearers, to confirm 
 this remark. How are we to account for the orii^in and existence of evil, 
 either natural ormoral, in the creation of a perfectly good, wise, and om- 
 nipotent Beiiif]^. Can reason and ph.ilosophy account for this.^ Ala^, it is 
 j'owerless. AVe may conjecture and speculate, and build up theory 
 upon theory, till we lose ourselves in thought— -but still ne have only 
 the miserable certainty, that evil is present with us. To Revelatioa 
 alone, therefore, are we indebted for this discovery. 
 
 But admitting for tire moment, that it is possible to be satisfied oa 
 this point, without the aid of Revelation. Let me ask, what are we the 
 better for it? Can this knowled«;e, however attained, furnish a remedy 
 for, or arrest, the mortal malady under which the world labours? No, 
 not at all — -'Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the 
 land of the living-— the depth saith it is not in me, and the sea saith it is 
 not with me. But God understandeth the way thereof,'' and hath shew- 
 ed unto us, in the Gospel of his 8.)n, '-the place where wisdom may be 
 found" — Tliat wisdom, compared with vv'liich, all the wisdom of the 
 world is foolishness. That truth, in the light of which, the wisest sys- 
 tems of human contrivance vanish into their original darkness — That 
 truth, which shall endure, and shine brighter and brighter, when this 
 world, with all its wisdom and philosophy, ''shall pass away with a 
 great noise," and be no more seen for ever. 
 
 To the Gospel then, my brethren and hearers, and to the Gospel 
 alone, must we look, lor the solution of every difficulty, and of every 
 doubt, which attends our present condition — To that also must we come, 
 and, thanks be to God fot- the blessed privilege, to that may we freely 
 come, for help and deliverance, for comfort and consolation, for grace 
 and truth, throu,2;h Jesus Christ our Lord. Man. the favoured creature 
 of Almighty God, made in the image of his Creator, and amply provid- 
 ed with all that was needful to his happiness, by wilful disobedience, 
 drew down upon himself, and upon creation, the curse of God. Hence 
 the origin of that sin and misery, w hich prevails in this world. But 
 mercy, in the person of Jesus Christ, the eternal and only begotten 
 Son of God, interposed in behalf of the condemned criminal, arrested 
 the uplifted stroke of infinite justice, by the substitution of himself, 
 and thereby converted the present life, with all its load of guilt and suf- 
 fering, of sorrow and disappointment, into a state of renewed trial and 
 probation, for the attainment of Eternal Life, on the condition of faith 
 and renewed obedience. 
 
 Tosatisfy the demands of infinite justice, purity, and holiness, invad- 
 ed by the presence of sin — to bear the punishment, which the broken 
 law inexorably demanded, and without which no propitiation could be 
 eftected; for "without shedding of blood, there is no remission" — To 
 teach us authoritatively, the will of God, and to set before us an example 
 of all holiness, humility and patience, in the very nature, which had 
 inned — the Son of God took our nature upon him. became the repre- 
 ntative of the human race, paid with his own spotless life, the ransom 
 heir forfeited lives, and ratified in the blood of his cross, a new cov- 
 t of grace and mercy, between God and man, in which repentance 
 
is accepted, and made available to the pardon of sin, through faith iu 
 the atoning virtue of his blood, poured out upon the cross, for the sins 
 of the whole world. And the sincere, though imperfect obedience of 
 sinful creatures, is accepted before God, through his mediation and 
 intercession. This, niy brethren, is the Gospel of the ever blessed 
 God. The glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. To 
 the blessings and benefits of which state of salvation, it hath pleased 
 God to call you, niy friends. This is the wisdom of God in a mystery 
 — the Revelation of *'the hidden mystery, which was kept secret since 
 the world began; but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of 
 the Prophets according to the commandment of the everlasting God, is 
 jiiade to all nations, for the obedience of faith." These are the high 
 discoveries, which the Gospel makes to our faith, and which nothing but 
 infinite love and wisdou), could have so adapted to our wants and wish- 
 es, that in the tuiness and Ireeness of Gospel grace, there is a sutiici- 
 ency, even for the chief of sinners. ''O the depth of the riches, both 
 of the wisdom and knowledge of God." Sin condemned and atoned 
 for, by the same act — The law satisfied, its rigour lelased, and the 
 rigliteousness which is of faith established — Life and immortality brought 
 to light, by the clear and full discovery of another life after this. A 
 judgment day declared, and the very manner of that judgment repre- 
 sented, wheiein all who have ever lived, shall give account of them- 
 tieives to God, and be rewarded or jiuiiished everlastingly, according 
 to the deeds done m the body. 
 
 I*^ovv let me ask, in what wilderness of thought, could the wisdom 
 of the world have stumbled on such discoveries as these, and so 
 put them together, as to harmonize with the perfections ot God, and 
 the imperfections of his fallen, sinful creature, as is manifested in the 
 glorious plan of our redemption, by Jesus Christ.^ O ye disputers of this 
 world, who vainly stri\eto bolsterup the misgivings of your own hearts, 
 by an affectation of doubt, on the Revelation of the Gospel — but in the 
 hour of danger, give the lie to your own vatn talkings, and flee to the 
 consolations and hopes, which that alone can give — why do you thus 
 sin against your own souls? Is there any tiling disgraceful in accepting 
 mercy or receiving favour at the hand of Almighty God.*^ Is there any 
 thing low or unbecoming, in humbling yourselves to submit to the righte- 
 ousness of God, that he may save you, by a way you know not of.»^ 
 Come on now, bring your boasted reason to the trial, and let us see what 
 you can substitute, for *'that grace of God, which bringeth salvation" — 
 tSuit yourselves every way, so that no earthly objection shall be found 
 against your method of salvation — and what then! Alas, yourselves 
 dare not trust it — It is of man, the production of a perishing creature — 
 and must go, with its author, to a tribunal that is eternal. For it is 
 written, *'As I live saith tlie Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and 
 every tongue shall confess to God." 
 
 Secondly. am to shew, that these discoveries are adapted to a state 
 or condition of the world, from which it was desirable to be delivered. 
 
 The condition of man as a sinner, and consequently liable to wrat' 
 and punishment, and conscious that he is tlius liable — is demonstrate^^ 
 by all that has hitherto been discovered concerning him. WhereVer 
 he is found, whether civilized or savage, a sense of guilt cleaving t» 
 
7 
 
 him, is manifested; and Religion, in some shape or other, is the refuge, 
 to which he flees, for relief and comfort. Ccmscious that he is iiniier 
 the control and within the power of an invisible and omnipotent Being, 
 with whom he is at variance, and whom it is both his duty and his inte- 
 rest to propitiate, every device, which ignorance and fear can prompt 
 superstition to invent, has been resorted to, to appease the wrath and 
 avert the indignation of that vSupreme Being, who is thus ignotantly 
 worshipped. Jn this universal worship, there is one circumstance, my 
 brethren, which is common to all the shapes and forms, with which it has 
 been invested: which is this — The vicarious substitution of man, or ani- 
 mal, as a sacrifice, to avert wrath from the worshipper himself. Where- 
 ever man is found, even in the most degraded and brutal state, in which 
 recent discovery has represented him to our notice, where no other 
 trace of Religion is to be seen, the victim bleeds, and life is oftered 
 up to appease and propitiate. An experience thus general, my hearers, 
 is with me a most conclusive argument for the truth of Revelation, for 
 it is not to be accounted for, that such should be the universal impres- 
 sion and practice, but from the identity of the human race, the commu- 
 nity of guilt, and the tradition of that sacrifice which was instituted up- 
 on the entrance of sin, as a type of that great sin oftering, presented 
 on Calvary, "which taketh away the sins of the world." 
 
 The great volume of nature, my Brethren, unquestionably points the 
 creature to the Creator, and as God, it is his first duty, to honour and to 
 worship Him^ who giveth to all his creatures, life and breath and all 
 things. But alas, the power of sin hath so weakened and corrupted his 
 faculties, that this grand and universally legible record of God, is a seal- 
 ed book to him, as to himself. Amid the beauties and bounties of na- 
 ture, man sees and feels the effects of the curse, and shrinks in terror 
 and dismay from that awful Being, who rides in the whirlwind and di- 
 rects the storm. If he reflects at all, he perceives, that himself is noth- 
 ing, even here, where he is lord of all below. And if an anxious thought 
 should burst the barrier of sensible things, and enquire beyond the grave, 
 nature has no sweet discovery, wherewith to relieve the anxious soul, 
 which pants for immortality. If he has advanced to the supreme and 
 eternal cause of all being, by the study of his works, he beholds God in 
 all the plenitude of his incommunicable attributes — he beholds himself, 
 without any claim to his notice and regard, but what he has in common 
 with every other creature, to whom life is given. Nature's volume con- 
 tains no record of sympathy and compassion for deceived and ruined 
 mortals. Yet something within him would claim a nearer relationship 
 ' — the immortal aspiring principle, which God breathed into him, with 
 the breath of life, would soar to its original kindred in the Heavens.— r 
 But guilt, the guilt of sin, hath put a bar between them, which nature 
 cannot remove. No, dear brethren — without the Gospel, there is neither 
 help nor hope for sinners. 
 
 Thus surrounded by a power which he cannot escape; conscious of a 
 ilt, which he cannot remove; desirous to propitiate, but ignorant of 
 hat will be acceptable; exposed to the evil which sin hath entailed upon 
 present life; death sooner or later; certain and inevitable; another 
 State of being, after this, shrouded from his view, in all the uncertainty 
 ofunrevealed conjecture, yet nevertheless, what gives shape and sub- 
 
stance to all his fears — what is there in such a condition desirable? or 
 rather, my friends, what is there in it, from which it is not above all 
 things desirable to be delivered? And, thanks be to God, by the revela- 
 tion of Jesus Christ in the Gospel, we are delivered fi om this dark and 
 dismal state of doubt arid dismay. It is our unspeakable blessing, my 
 dear hearers, to know the gracious purpose of Almighty God, in permit- 
 tin'J:that mixed state of moral and natural evil, which this present world 
 presents to our notice, it is ours to know, that his power and providence 
 stand engaged to make it work together, for his glory and our 2;ood. It 
 is ours to look up to him with reverence and love, as our reconciled fa- 
 ther in Christ Jesus. It is ours to know the propitiation, which is al- 
 ways acceptable in his sight, even the blood of his only begotten Son, 
 /Hvhich cleanseth from all sin." It is ours to know his will, and to have 
 power to do it, through the grace given us in Christ Jesus, it is ours to 
 look beyond the grave, to a never-ending existence, in which the awful 
 sanctions of leligion shall be applied to the deeds done in this body, by 
 the righteous judgnient of God, in the rewards and punishments of eter- 
 nity. Atid it is our high privilege, my brethren in the Lord, by virtue 
 of the victory given us over death. Hell, and the grave, through the re- 
 surrection of Christ, to look forward with humble yet joyful hope, with 
 lively and assured faith, *'to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and 
 which fadeth not away," reserved in Heaven for us. 
 
 These are the discoveries of the Gospel, and of the Gospel alone. — > 
 These are the otherwise impossible discoveries, made to mankind by re- 
 velation, adapted to that destitute and helpless condition, in which sin 
 had sunk the world; from which it was surely most desirable to be de- 
 livered, and which God hath **commanded to be preached among all na- 
 tions for the obedience of faith" — whicli brings me to what was proposed 
 as the third head of this discourse. 
 
 Thirdly. — 1 am to shew, that the preaching of the word, is the regular 
 appointed means for making known to the world, the methods of God's 
 grace in the salvation of sinners. 
 
 To our habits of thought and action, my hearers, the proposition stands 
 in need of no proof. *'Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to 
 every creature," is the commission of the author of our religion to his 
 ministers: — But to impress upon you more deeply, the great importance 
 of the appointment, and to point out the benefits which in every age of 
 the world, mankind have derived, and will yet derive from a preached 
 Gospel, it will be necessary to consider more at large, the fitness of the 
 means to the end. 
 
 It is certainly not for us to say, by what various methods, the wisdom 
 and the power of Almighty God might have provided for the spread of 
 the Gospel in the world. But this we may say — that unless by resorting 
 once more to the already abortive channel of tradition— or by the inter- 
 vention of a perpetual miracle, the appointment he hath been pleased to 
 make of public preaching of the Gospel, is the wisest and best, because 
 best adapted to the nature and condition of those, for whom it is de 
 signed. 
 
 For, had it pleased God, that this revelation of his will should have 
 been madv to all men, in every place and in every agfe of the world — 
 to every generation of men. and to every individual in each generation— 
 
we cannot comprehend how this could be done, without iiivoivnig a stand- 
 ing miracle; which circumstance, independent of the infringement it 
 would be, of that freedom which alone constitutes us moral agents, must 
 soon cease, from the very nature of things, to be miraculous to us — for 
 to apprehensions such as ours, a perpetual miracle involves a contradic- 
 tion. Besides, on the plan of a perpetually renewed revelation, ''must 
 Ciirist often have suffei ed since the foundation of the world. 
 
 On the other hand, had tradition again been resorted to. for the spread 
 and continuance in the world, of the revelation made by the son of God, 
 ail experience went to prove, that hov^ever high and holy the deposite — 
 however express the command, to transmit it down from generation to 
 generation, it would speedily have been corrupted, and become as im- 
 pure, as the channel through which it flov/ed, as uncertain, and ineffici- 
 ent, as any other legend. 
 
 But now, my brethren — by a fixed Revelation of his will, attested 
 and verified, with a precision which renders criminal the obstinacy 
 that will not receive it as the truth of God — and by the appointment 
 of public preaching of the word, by persons having his commission 
 therefor— -God hath graciously removed every difficulty, and wisely pro- 
 vided, that every generation, as it comes forward on the great theatre of 
 life — shall, in this respect, be equal — ^and that, to every nation and kin- 
 dred and tongue and people, that dwell on the face of the whole earth," 
 the word of this salvation shall thus be sent, and all mankind be furnished 
 with the high discoveries and holy hope of the Gospel of Christ. That 
 high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, as they all stand in the 
 same relation to God, may alike be partakers of the riches of his grace — 
 and of the means, and of the hope of eternal life, through Jesus Christ, 
 our Lord. 
 
 But not only to make known the terms and conditions of the Gospel 
 for salvation to sinners, is the preachinj^ of the word appointed — But 
 to keep alive also, the impressions of divine grace — to convey and con- 
 fer that grace, in the sacraments of salvation, and to further and help, 
 to instruct and build up the disciples of Christ, in the most holy faith, 
 is the office and duty, of those, "who are put in trust with the Gospel.-' 
 As it also is, to call sinners to repentance, to warn the unruly, to reprove 
 the disobedient, to rebuke the rebellious — to encourage the timid, to 
 strengthen the feeble minded, and to comfort the mourner — "warning 
 every man, (says the Apostle,) and teaching every man, that we may 
 present every man perfect, in Christ Jesus." 
 
 With so high and holy a purpose, dependent on this provision of the 
 wisdom of God, for our salvation, the interest we all have, that it should 
 be encouraged and promoted, is exactly equal to the consequences which 
 are connected with it. And as these are infinite and eternal — most pre- 
 sumptuously do those offend against God, and sin against their own 
 souls — who needlessly absent themselves from the public appointments 
 of Religion, or attend upon them without reverence. When we consiJer, 
 looreover, my friends, that faith itself coraeth by hearing, and that God 
 hath specially promised the light and comfort of his holy spirit to the 
 devaut and reverent hearing of his word preached, it might serve to 
 coTS^i^cp many, who are negligent in this respect, what a risk they run. 
 
10 
 
 #f never coming to the knowledge of the truth, that tliey rnay be savedj 
 and how foolish, and even impious, it is, to expect God's blessing, 
 %yhile they neglect the very means he has appointed, for obtaining it. 
 
 But let me not be misunderstood, as if 1 confined our duty, under 
 the blessing of God's word, to the mere hearing of it preached. No, 
 iny brethren; what is preached according to the mind of the spirit, must 
 be retained and acted upon. Nor yet, that I confine the influences of 
 the holy spirit, to the word preached. No, my hearers; reading the 
 scriptures, with meditation and prayer, is an excellent and fruitful 
 means of Grace. Neither our private, nor our public religious duties, 
 are substitutes, the one for the other. When tliey go hand in hand toge- 
 ther — when, like the Bereans of primitive times, we search the scrip- 
 tures, to see whether what we hear preached is the truth of God, and 
 as such receive it, then it is, that the full benefit of the Gospel, is most 
 surely to be expected, and is most generally found. 
 
 Fourthly. — That as the discoveries of the Gospel are of Divine Reve* 
 lation — so is the preaching of the word and the administration of the 
 Gospel, by a Divine Commission — "And how shall they preach, except 
 they be sent?" 
 
 On this point, but little would be required to be said, was it not for 
 the operation of those dissensions and divisions in Christianity, which 
 by length of time, and established habits of thought, and the power of 
 prejudice, and the pertinacity of party feeling, and I may add, the apa- 
 thy and indifterence of an unbelieving age, have fulfilled the predictions 
 of the author and finisher of our faith, defaced the beauty and simplici- 
 ty of the Gospel, and cut the nerves of Revealed Religion. 
 
 Yet, my hearers, in this, as in all other the appointments of Heaven 
 for our good, God hath not left himself without witness, or placed his 
 creatures under any necessity of erring from his way, or of defeating 
 the comfort and assurance derived from the Gospel, by reason of un- 
 certainty in the administration of the word of his truth, and the means 
 of his grace. By an undeniable appointment of the first preachers of 
 the Gospel, certainty and assurance was given to the first converts to 
 Christianity, that their faith was not built on a cunningly devised fable, 
 the contrivance of human wisdom, but on the power of God, certified 
 to their senses by the mighty power of the Holy Ghost. On this foun- 
 dation the Church of Christ was planted and built up, and on this 
 foundation it must continue to the end of the world, or cease to be the 
 church of the living God. For, while faith shall continue to be the es~ 
 sence of Religion, it must be derived from the same source; while Reve- 
 lation shall continue to be the only ground of faith, it must be derived 
 from the word of God; %hile the word of God shall contiuue supreme 
 for the direction of man in his spiritual concerns, it must be certified 
 to his senses, as the standard of all duty and of all hope; and, while 
 it shall continue to be preached to all nations for the obedience olf faith, . 
 it must be accompanied with the same Divine commission and authority^^ 
 by which it was verified at the beginning, as the truth of God, for man's 
 salvation. Now as faith, considered as a religious principle, is insepara- 
 ble from Divine operation and Divine warrant for what is believed, not 
 only is the Revelation itself, but all other mininistrations connected 
 with the Religion thus established, dependant for certainty and effect. 
 
\on the same principle. As it is competentto no man to declare the will 
 of God without Revelation, so neither is it competent for any, to admin- 
 ister the aftairs of Christ's kingdom, except he be sent — that is, as the 
 Apostle evidently means, except he be duly authorised thereto — a con- 
 clusion 90 clear and so reasonable, and at the same time so wise, and so 
 profitable to creatures dependent on the use of means for spiritual at- 
 tainment, as to create wonder, that it should ever have been, or yet con- 
 tinue to be, overlooked and disregarded by Christian people. 
 
 Hence is derived the importance of all the services here to be per- 
 formed this day — The worship of God — His law proclaimed — His word 
 preached — His sacraments administered — and his commission transfer- 
 red to an approved servant, professing to be moved by the Holy Ghost 
 to take upon him this office and ministry, but outwardly commissioned 
 for the assurance of those to whom he shall minister — What, my 
 brethren and hearers, would they all be worth, separate from the Divine 
 authority, whereby they are certified as the appointments of God for' 
 your sanation? *^How shall they preach except they be sent?'* 
 
 Such, my brethren and friends, being the Gospel of the ever blessed 
 God, which hath reached so far as even unto us, bringing with it, the 
 grand and profitable discovery of our wants, and of God's mercies— and 
 such the appointment of his wisdom, for continuing the knowledge of his 
 will and the help of his grace, among men, by the ministry of the word — 
 w hat becomes us, who are so highly favoured, and so richly provided for, 
 in our greatest interest? Shall it be a dead letter to us through neglect, 
 or life and power unto salvation, through attention? This question, it is 
 your part to answer — and *'I beseech you by the mercies of God," to 
 lay it near your heart. Every thing will depend on the temper and spir- 
 it with which you consider it. For the Apestle tells us, that in the 
 preaching of the Gospel, the ministers of Christ, *'are a savour of life, 
 or a savour of death," according as *'the word preached, is mixed with 
 faith in them that hear it." I have met you to-day, my brethren and 
 hearers, in the simplicity of that Gospel, in which you stand, and have 
 laid it before you, in its first lines, as it were — Shall I then be the savour 
 of life, or of death to you, or any of you? This also will depend great- 
 ly on yourselves; and I pray to God, to help you to a right understand- 
 ing, of what may turn, perhaps, on the choice of this hour — ^even your 
 future and eternal condition. The Gospel is your salvation or condem- 
 nation, as you receive or reject it — you cannot escape from that fixed 
 rule, by which you must be judged and sentenced, everlastingly. But 
 a little while, my friends, and "he that shall come, will come, and will 
 not tarry." He comes to take account of his servants, according to 
 what he hath committed unto each man's trust. At your hand*,,he will 
 demand an improvement of Gospel light, Gospel privileges, and Gos- 
 pel grace — and nothing short of improvement will answer. The unpro- 
 fitable servant, remember, returned his Lord's talent safe and uninjur- 
 ed, but was consigned to outer darkness, because he had not made an 
 increase of it. What then must be the portion of those, who not only have 
 not improved, but have abused, wasted and dissipated, profaned and 
 despised, this richest gift of God's love? And think me not yourenemys 
 my friends, because I thus speak — No: God knoweth, that for your soul^T 
 I Wjpuld spend, and be spent— and O that I had a tongue of fire, tflat I 
 
12 
 
 Uiight consume every opposing thouglit, and bring every soul now be 
 fore me, to know the Gospel of Christ to be the power of God un- 
 to salvation. You are here, my brethren, this day, in the house of God, 
 and as the people of God. The everlasting Gospel is proposed to you; 
 and what hindereth, that you should not close in with its most gracious 
 offers. "All things are now ready, come to the marriage." 0 begin not 
 with one consent to make pxcuse, and go away, one to his farm, 
 another to his merchandise, and another to his profession — For there is 
 an awful threat in this very Gospel, that those who make such excuses, 
 shall not taste of the marriage supper of the Lamb. 
 
 0 it is a fearful thought, my brethren and hearers, to reflect on the 
 heedlessness and inadvertence of redeemed sinners, under this rich pro- 
 vision of the love of God in Christ Jesus for their salvation. It is a 
 heart-sinking prospect to behold the thousands of accountable immor- 
 tals, who, Gallio like, care for none of these things, but follow the car- 
 nal, mind, in its rejection of God, and preference of the world. 
 Yet if we have hearts awakened for ourselves, they must feel for the sin 
 deceived multitudes, who madly put away from them the words of 
 eternal life — and what they thus feel, they must manifest, for there is no 
 middle ground on which we can contemplate man in any moment of his 
 existence, than as in the favour, or under the curse of his maker. This, 
 my brethren of the clergy, is the anxious, oppressive thought, which 
 weighs down the spirit of the ministers of Christ, under the apathy 
 and indifference, wherewith the Gospel is received. But whether they 
 will hear, or whether they will forbear, necessity is laid upon us; yea, 
 woe be to us if we preach not the Gospel. Arm yourself, therefore, 
 my brother, who will this day be invested with Christ's commission 
 to preach the Gospel and administer the sacraments of the grace of 
 God — Arm yourself with a steadfast mind, fully and faithfully to ad- 
 minister the trust committed you. You have to go forth among this 
 heedless and unconcerned race of fallen creatures — you have to rouse 
 them from the lethargy of unbelief — to awaken them from the dream of 
 mortality, and point their thoughts, their anxieties, their exertions, to the 
 realities of another being-— and to^ apply the sanctions of eternity to 
 the pursuits and occupations of time. You profess to be called of God 
 to this great work — Believing this, we this day clothe you with Christ's 
 commission, derived from his holy Apostles, to call sinners to repent- 
 ance. Commending you to the grace of God, and exhorting you to 
 make full proof of your ministry, and to bear in mind that you have 
 to account for immortal souls — We bid you God speed, and may he who 
 hath the remainder of the spirit, and who alone giveth the increase, 
 be with you in your v/ork, to the advancement of his glory, the good of 
 his church, the safety, honour and welfare oi his people. 
 
 Now unto God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost — the 
 only living and true Godj be all honour and glory — now and forever ^