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 IHE CHARACTERISTICK OF APOSTOLICK PREACHING 
 
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 UELITEHED IJf THE 
 
 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 AT THE OPENING OF THE 
 
 GEKSRAI. ASSEIklBLY 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 MAY 19, 1825. 
 
 BY ASHBEL GREEN, D.D. 
 
 XtlE MODERATOR OF THE PRECEDING YEAR- 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 Printed by Clark & Jiaser, 33 Carter's Alhi'. 
 1825. 
 
THE CHARACTERISTICK OF APOSTOLICK PREACHING. 
 
 1 Cor. i. 23 — first part: 
 " But we preach Christ crucified — " 
 
 It appears from internal evidence that the epistle in which 
 we find these words was written to the Corinthians by the 
 apostle Paul, in answer to one which they had sent to him. 
 In their letter, they had requested him to resolve certain 
 doubts, in regard to Christian duty ; and to regulate certain 
 points of order, in their ecclesiastical concerns. On these 
 subjects they seem to have given him distinct information. 
 But there were other things, and things of far greater im- 
 portance, of which it appears they gave him no information; 
 and which, therefore, it is probable, they were desirous to 
 conceal. 
 
 The truth was, that certain false teachers had crept into 
 the church at Corinth, in the absence of the apostle, and had 
 obtained an influence which they had used for the most perni- 
 cious purposes. They had endeavoured to persuade the Corin- 
 thians that the apostleship of Paul, if not altogether a false 
 assumption, was at least far inferior in dignity and authority, 
 to that of those who had been the stated companions of the 
 Saviour in the days of his flesh. They had produced and 
 fomented the most unhappy divisions in the church ; and cor- 
 ruption, as usually happens, was the companion of discords 
 One of the members of that church, probably with the coun- 
 tenance of these false teachers, liad been permitted, without 
 censure, to commit and continue in a most flagitious immo- 
 
rality. Without opposition from tiieni, il' not with their con- 
 currence or connivance, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
 had been most awfully profaned. In their publick addresses, 
 the false philosophy, and subtle reasonings, and specious elo- 
 quence of the Sophists, had been substituted for the plain and 
 simple enunciation of evangelical truth. By these, and by 
 whatever other means they could devise, they had courted 
 popularity, and laboured to destl\Dy the influence of the in- 
 spired founder of the Corinthian church, \vho had gathered 
 it from among the heathen. — His doctrines and manner of 
 preaching, were, in many respects, in direct opposition to 
 theirs; and unless they could subvert his authority they could 
 not establish their own. 
 
 But although the success of these insidious men had been 
 worthy of a better cause, it was not such but that the Corinthian 
 Christians, when serious difficulties and embarrassments arose, 
 resorted to their first and best friend for counsel. He, with 
 his usual address, seized the occasion of answering their let- 
 tei', not only to reply to their inquiries, but to reprove their 
 vices, to correct their errors, to assert his full apostolick 
 powers, and to recal them to the purity and simplicity of the 
 gospel. Although they had not informed him, yet he tells 
 them frankly, that it had been declared to him by those " ot 
 the house of Chloe," tiiat there were contentions among them. 
 He lets them know that he was apprized of their retaining in 
 their communion an incestuous person, and of the base arts 
 by whidi the minds of some of them had been alienated from 
 himself He addresses them, nevertheless, with the utmost 
 tenderness and afl'ection, commends them freely for whatever 
 was praiseworthy among them, and takes occasion, through- 
 out the epistle, to mingle much important doctrinal truth,. 
 and much pious sentiment, with all that he says. But he 
 makes no compromise with their erroneous opinions and un- 
 lawful practices. He insists peremptorily, in writing, oa 
 every thing which he had taught and enjoined, when he was 
 personally Vvith them. It is while he is doing this that our 
 text is introduced. — And let it be well observed, that it is in- 
 
troduced among the very first points which the apostle sets 
 himself to maintain. He probably gave it this precedence 
 and prominence, because a right method of preaching, or of 
 publickly teaching and enforcing gospel doctrine, is plainly a 
 matter of the utmost importance in itself, and because this 
 was one of the chief particulars in which he differed from the 
 false teachers, with whom he was at issue. — They preached 
 in one way, and he in another. Their manner of preaching 
 he pointedly condemns. That of his faithful brethren and. 
 himself, he not only defends, but declares his determination 
 inflexibly to pursue. — " We preach Christ crucified." 
 
 You are aware, brethren, that what the apostle here first 
 announces, he afterwards dwells upon, witlf great emphasis. 
 So soon as he had yielded a little to a tide of holy feeling, by 
 which we often find him borne off to a short distance from 
 his malt! object, he returns to the subject of our text. In the 
 beginning of the next chapter he says, " And I, brethren, 
 when I came to you, came not with the excellency of speech 
 or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For 
 I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus 
 Christ and him crucified." 
 
 Here, then, we have the declaration of the great apostle ol 
 the Gentiles, who certainly spake as well as wrote under the 
 divine guidance, in regard to a system of preaching which 
 he had adopted among the Corinthians, to the exclusion ol 
 every other : and as we have no reason, to believe that he 
 preached to them differently from what he did to others, we 
 may say, without hesitation or reserve, that this was the sys- 
 tem, in conformity with which he always preached. Must 
 it not, then, be highly important and interesting to all, and 
 especially to the ministers of the gospel, to ascertain distinct- 
 ly what this system of preaching was? and what were the 
 reasons which determined the apostle to adopt it, and to ad- 
 here to it with undeviating constancy ? These two points I 
 shall endeavour, in a reliance on divfne aid, to illustrate, in 
 the sequel of this discourse; and then to make a short appli- 
 c,ation of the subject. 
 
# g 
 
 I. What was that system of preaching which the apostle de- 
 clared that he had adopted, to the exclusion of every other. 
 
 In the text, he calls it the preaching of Christ crucified. 
 Here it is manifest, that there is a reference to some' one great 
 truth, or doctrine, which formed the substance of the apostle's 
 addresses, both publick and private. — I mention private ad- 
 dresses, as well as publick, because, from the circumstances in 
 which St. Paul was placed among the heathen, much of his 
 preaching was not addressed to large assemblies, but to fami- 
 lies or individuals — from. house to house. It should also be 
 carefully noted, that it is plain from his declaration, that he 
 used the contemplated doctrine, equally in the conversion of 
 the heathen, and In the edification of Christian believers. 
 
 Now, as the naked and unconnected truth or fact, that 
 Christ was crucified, could be of no use, especially to those 
 who had never before heard of his name, it is too evident to 
 require proof, that the apostle must have connected with this 
 fact, all the information necessary to render it available to the 
 purpose for which he announced it to them. He must have 
 told them from the first, what necessity there was that Christ 
 should be crucified, and what was the great design of God in 
 the life, sufferings and death, of our blessed Redeemer. What 
 this information actually was, we may collect from the writ- 
 ings left us by the apostle; and it is believed that, in a sum- 
 mary statement, it will be nearly this — That all mankind be- 
 ing, by reason of sin, in a lost and helpless state, and exposed 
 to everlasting misery, God our heavenly Father, so loved the 
 world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life; 
 That Christ Jesus was this Son of God, who most willingly 
 undertook the work of our redemption, came from heaven to 
 earth on this most benevolent errand, assumed human nature 
 into a personal union with his own divine nature, and thus be- 
 came God and man, the fit mediator between the parties to be 
 reconciled in the great concern of man's salvation: That the 
 Redeemer, having taken the sinner's place as his substitute 
 and surety, perfectly obeyed and honoured the law which 
 
man had disobeyed and dishonoured, satisfied divine justice 
 completely, by enduring the full penalty of the law, in a 
 whole life of humihation and suffering, and especiall}'^ by a 
 death of unspeakable agony and infamy — denominated the 
 cursed death of the cross — and which, as a principal part of 
 his work, is, for that reason, often put for the whole: That 
 the Redeemer, after being laid in a tomb, rose from the dead 
 on the third day, ascended to heaven, and to the right hand 
 of the Father, there to appear forever as the intercessor and 
 advocate of his people: That thence he sent down the Holy- 
 Spirit, to instruct his apostles fully in the nature of his king- 
 dom; to enable them, without study, to speak various lan- 
 guages; to confer on them the power of working miracles; 
 and to complete, without error, the canon of sacred scrip- 
 ture; and also, in every age, to make a saving application of 
 the Redeemer's work to tlie human heart, renewing it unto 
 holiness, and implanting and cherishing in it all the Christian 
 graces: That for the sake of what Christ has done, God can 
 now be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus, 
 even though he be the chief of sinners; and that in the 
 preaching of the gospel, he invites and commands every sin- 
 ner who hears it, to come and receive a complete salvation, 
 through this precious and all sufficient Saviour : That accord- 
 ingly, whenever a sinner, under the influence of the blessed 
 Spirit becomes sensible of his guilt and misery, and on the 
 free offer of Christ and his benefits in the gospel, actually com- 
 mits his soul by faith to the Saviour, as his sole reliance, he 
 is pardoned and justified, and shall never come into condem- 
 nation — That by faith he is united to Christ and made one 
 with him; the righteousness of Christ is imputed to him, or 
 reckoned as liis; the work of sanctification, by which he is 
 prepared for heaven, is commenced in his soul; and .the grace 
 of evangelical repentance, with Qyevy other grace, being there 
 begun, shall be cherished and carried on, in a course of sin- 
 cere but imperfect obedience to all the commands of God ; till 
 at deatli, he shall become perfect in holiness, and rise to the 
 enjoyment of all the bliss of heaven : That thus it shall be 
 
with all who accept the gospel offer; while ail who hear and 
 do not accept it, shall be consigned to hopeless misery: That 
 there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and 
 the unjust, when the soul and body of every individual shall 
 be reunited ; and when, before the assembled universe, the 
 Redeemer shall award to his friends eternal life, in his king- 
 dom of glory, and to his enemies eternal punishment, with 
 the devil and his angels. 
 
 Such, brethren, it is believed, is a statement, materially 
 correct, of the doctrine of Christ crucified, with its essential 
 appendages. It is, indeed, by no means pretended, that this 
 statement is so accurate as to preclude all amendment; or that 
 it may not admit of some modifications, \yithout destroying 
 its essence. But it is maintained, that if this was not the 
 substance of what the apostle intended, when he said " We 
 preach Christ crucified," it will not be practicable to show, in 
 any just or even plausible manner, what he did intend. Much 
 of the subsequent part of this epistle, and much indeed of afll 
 his epistles, demonstrates that we have fairl}' represented the 
 scope and spirit of his meaning in the text. 
 
 As to the apostle's determination to know, or preach, no- 
 thing else, than the doctrine of a cmcified Saviour, it may 
 be remarked, that judging of what he delivered orally, by 
 "vhat we find in his writings, he certainly did not confine 
 himself to the dry and incessant reiteration of the truths we 
 have detailed. On the contrary, we find him expressly af- 
 firming, that he had not shunned to declare the whole coun- 
 sel of God ; and there is actually apparent in his writings, a 
 whole system of theological truth, and of evangelical ethicks, 
 extensively taught and powerfully inculcated. But that all 
 this is perfectly consistent with what we have given as the 
 import of the text, may be shown by an illustration, taken 
 from the words of our Saviour himself. He told the Jews, 
 that on two commandments, relating to the great principle of 
 love — love to God and love to man — hang all the law and 
 the prophets. In like manner, we alfirm, that although the 
 apostle declared many truths, taught many doctrines, and 
 
9 
 
 urged many duties, lie still knew nothing hut Jesus Christ 
 and him crucified, because every thing was made by 
 him to liang upon, the cross. The truths which we have 
 recited, were so much and so often insisted on, that they 
 formed a large and the most j)rominent part of his system, 
 and thus gave to it its distinctive character and appellation. 
 All his teaching, moreover, whatever was the subject or the 
 occasion, savoured strongly of the cross; it always had a 
 manifest consistency, and generally a jjlain connexion, with 
 the doctrine of Christ crucified — From this doctrine it was 
 often immediately derived; frequently it was little else than 
 the ramification, or carrying out, of this doctrine, into its 
 proper consequences; and not seldom, the teaching and illus- 
 tration of some related truth, serving to give it clearness and 
 effect. In a word, the doctrine of Christ crucified, was the 
 sun of the apostle's theological system, which imparted lus- 
 tre to every other truth, directed its course, and kept it to 
 its proper orbit — The sun which threw off its beams of hea- 
 venly radiance in all directions, to warm, and cheer, and ani- 
 mate those who were already sjiiritually alive, and to waken 
 into life, those who were yet slumbering in the frost and 
 death of sin; which gave vitality and productive energy to 
 every evangelical principle and precept; and to which every 
 ray of truth might be traced back, as to its proper source; 
 and to whose full orbed splendour every Christian eye was 
 often directed, to catch some glimpses of a glory too intense 
 for a full and steady vision, till mortality should be swallow- 
 ed up of life, 
 
 J^et us now inquire — 
 
 II. What were the reasons which determined the apostle to 
 adopt, and inflexibly to adhere to, the system of publick teach- 
 ing, which has been explained — to the preaching of Christ 
 crucified. 
 
 There were two reasons for this, which we may collect 
 from the writings of our apostle; and it will appear that they 
 were entirely sufficient to justifiy the determination he had 
 formed, and to justify the same determination, in every mi- 
 
 B 
 
10 
 
 nister of Christ, to the end of the world. In the first place — 
 The apostle knew that it was the purpose of God to bless the 
 preaching of Christ crucified, and ordinarily to bless no other 
 kind of preaching than this, both for the conversion of sin- 
 ners and the edification of saints. This reason is distinctly 
 assigned, and the explanation of it pretty largely stated, in 
 immediate connexion with the text. "Christ," says the 
 apostle, "sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: 
 not with the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should 
 be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to 
 them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved, it 
 is the power of God. For it is written — I will destroy the 
 wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understand- 
 ing of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? 
 where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made fool- 
 ish the wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom 
 of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God, 
 \)y the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe. 
 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wis- 
 dom. But we preach Christ crucified; unto the Jews a stumb- 
 ling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them 
 that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of 
 God, and the wisdom of God. Because the fijolishness of God 
 is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than 
 men." No laboured exposition is necessary, to show the di- 
 rect and decisive bearing of this extended quotation on the 
 point before us. The apostle reminds the Corinthians that 
 the experiment had been fully tried, as to what the wisdom 
 of this world could effect, in teaching the knowledge of God, 
 aitd in the reformation of mankind. For four thousand years 
 the experiment had been continued, and after all, the world 
 by its boasted wisdom knew not God; but was sunk in the 
 most sottish idolatry, the most degrading vice, and the most 
 horrible wickedness. This had been permitted, in the wis- 
 dom and just judgment of-God, that contempt might be pour- 
 ed on the proud devices of men ; and to prepare the way for 
 +hp device of God, to instruct and convert the world by the 
 
11 
 
 foolishness of preaching — that preaching of a crucified Safioiu' 
 Which the learned and philosophick Greek derided as foolish- 
 ness, and which the proud and prejudiced Jew found to be a 
 stumbling block, because it was death to all his hopes of a 
 splendid conquering Messiah, who should raise his nation to 
 supreme worldly dominion. Still, however, the preaching 
 of Christ crucified had been proved, by undeniable facts, to 
 be the power and the wisdom of God, unto the salvation of 
 multitudes. The doctrine of tiie cross, unaided by philoso- 
 phical reasonings, and unadorned by a specious eloquence, 
 but in full opposition to both, had done more in a few years, 
 to enlighten and convert the world, than had been done be- 
 fore, by all the wit of man, from the beginning of time till 
 that hour. Thus the foolishness of God— that plan of his 
 which vain mortals had esteemed foolishness — had been prov- 
 ed to be wiser than men, with all their boasted sagacity and 
 refinement: And the weakness of God— the system which 
 they charged with weakness— lo be stronger than men:— un- 
 speakably more powerful in turning men to righteousness, 
 than all the fancied force of reason and argument, on which 
 they relied. God, therefore, had set his seal on this system 
 as his own — As such he had blessed it, and would bless it. 
 But as for any difi'ercnt or opposite system, it was of course 
 theHm/of his, and therefore he had not, and ordinarily would 
 not, use it in his service nor confer on it any blessing. 
 
 The sense here given, brethren, of the passage quoted, is 
 coincident with that which may be found in all the best com- 
 mentators who have ever expounded it; nor can any other 
 be o-iven, which shall not manifestly appear to be harsh and 
 forced in the extreme. 
 
 The reason we are considering, consists, you observe, of 
 two parts. — The first is, that it is God's purpose to bless the 
 doctrine or preaching of the cross. — The second, that he or- 
 dinarily blesses nothing else. We shall dispose of the latter 
 part first, and in a very few words. 
 
 We say that God ordinarily blesses no other preaching 
 than that of Christ crucified, because we ought to admit and 
 
\2 
 
 remember, that as the author of our text was converted while 
 Oil his way to persecute the Christians at Damascus, so there 
 have been a i'ew examples in every asje, of men who have 
 been met with, and brought to the saving knowledge of the 
 truth, in circumstances, and by means, of the most unpro- 
 mising character. All such instances are striking exceptions., 
 to God's ordinary method .of dispensing his grace. They are 
 intended to exhibit the divine sovereignty, and to demon- 
 strate that although he usually employs well adapted means, 
 he can work without them, and even in opposition to those 
 which he ordinarily uses. The instances of the kind con- 
 templated, are exceedingly rare, and !jy being so, evidently 
 appear to be exceptions to a general rule, and serve, not to 
 invalidate, but to confirm it. 
 
 Having shown the nature of this exception, I remark, that 
 the position we maintain — that it is the preaching of Christ 
 crucified, and that only, \vliich God ordinarily blesses — is 
 firmly established by a series of striking and undeniable facts, 
 in every age of the Christian church. Did our limits permit, 
 it w^ould be a pleasing employment to take a general survey 
 of these facts. But we have time only to glance at a few. 
 Others will doubtless occur to many in whose presence 1 now 
 speak. 
 
 , First of ail, let us turn our attention for a few moments to 
 the apostolick age. Of all the apostles, Paul laboured most> 
 and with the most success. Now we have seen what was 
 exclusively the method of preaching adopted by him, and his 
 immediate associates — " We preach Christ crucified." All 
 the churches, then, which he gathered from among the hea- 
 then, were composed of converts, made and edified by the 
 preaching of the cross. Nor have we the least reason to be- 
 lieve, that the preaching of the other apostles was diflerent 
 from that of Paul. They were all taught and guided by one 
 and the same Spirit, and doubtless pursued the same method 
 of spreading the gospel. Beside, the short notices of their 
 manner of discourse, -left us in the Acts, demonstrate that 
 such was indeed the fact. Peter's sermon on the day of Pen- 
 
13 
 
 tecost, his testimony, as the mouth of the whole apostolick 
 college, before the Jewish Sanhedrim, and especially his dis- 
 course to Cornelius, and those that were assembled with him, 
 show clearly that it was Jesus Christ and him crucified, that 
 was the burden of his powerful and wonder working ad- 
 dresses. We may therefore affirm with confidence, that it 
 was the preaching of Christ crucified, by the instrumentality 
 of which the whole primitive church was formed, edified, and 
 established in the world. There was philosophical, and rhe- 
 torical, and legal, and logical preaching then, to the utter ex* 
 elusion or complete disguise of the doctrine of the cross, as 
 there has been in every succeeding age. It was exactly this 
 which was employed by the false teachers in the Corinthian 
 church. And what were its effects? They were noticed, in 
 part, at the entrance of this discourse. They were such as 
 they have commonly been since — formality, self-exaltation, 
 claims to superior knowledge and sagacity, controversy, cor- 
 ruption, immorality, profaning sacred institutions, and aliena- 
 tion from apostolick truth and apostolick men. It probably 
 was never made instrumental to gain a single convert to 
 genuine Christianity, for our apostle solemnly warns Timothy 
 to avoid and oppose it altogether. 
 
 Look now to the Protestant reformation. And here, if wc 
 inquire why reformation was necessary — the answer will be, 
 that although there were things innumerable that called for it, 
 yet, in the opinion of the great reformer himself, no single 
 thing demanded it so loudly and imperiously, as this, that 
 the doctrine. of justification with God, solely by the me- 
 rits and righteousness of Christ, had been buried and lost 
 amidst the corruptions and superstition of antichristian Rome. 
 Yet, as fable sometimes indicates that its origin was truth, so, 
 in the very superstition of popery, we find evidence that the 
 doctrine of which I speak was the doctrine of the apostolick 
 &<rc. Had not the doctrine of the cross been prominent in 
 the faith of the primitive church, and much insisted on by her 
 publick teachers, the superstitious notions which afterwards 
 obtained in regard to the cross, had probably never existed. 
 
14 
 
 It was in place of the sacred doctrine of Christ crucified, that 
 corrupt superstition and will worship substituted images of the 
 cross, the worship of the cross, the sign of the cross, and ve- 
 neration for pretended relicks of the cross. To banish the 
 superstition, and to restore the genuine doctrine, was, by his 
 own statement, the most important part of the work of Lu- 
 ther. Justification by the righteousness of Christ, imputed to 
 us and received by faith alone, you know, he declared to be 
 the article of a standing or a falling church. This was the 
 theme on which he dwelt with the greatest earnestness and 
 frequency. He has embodied his sentiments and arguments, 
 in his practical commentary on the epistle of Paul to tire Ga- 
 latians, made up of a series of publick, popular discourses, 
 which he delivered at Wittemburg. Never have I read an un- 
 inspired book in which the very kind of preaching which we 
 now contemplate, is more clearly exhibited — strongly marked, 
 indeed, with the peculiarities — some of them exceptionable 
 peculiarities — of the age and author of the work. 
 
 And in the same strain, with little variation, did all the 
 reformers preach. You know the effect. Apostolick preach- 
 ing was crowned with apostolick success. While thus they 
 preached and wrote, converts were multiplied like drops of 
 the morning dew. The reformation, like a mighty torrent, 
 carried all before it. And how was it at last arrested, and 
 brought to a stand ? Not so much by the violent opposition 
 of its adversaries, as by the errors and misdirected zeal of its 
 friends. They turned the force of their minds and the vigour 
 of their efforts, from the defence and propagatio.n of essential 
 gospel truth, to wordy and angry controversy, relative to 
 points, which probably none of them considered as essential. 
 With these controversies, the minds both of teachers and 
 learners became engrossed, parties were formed and embit- 
 tered, and vital piety wounded in the house of its friends, 
 languished, till its progress was almost entirely stayed; and 
 the peaceful Melancthon panted for the heavenly rest, that he 
 might escape forever from the disputes of angry theologians. 
 
 Leaving the Protestant reformation, if we examine the ori- 
 
15 
 
 gin, and instrumental cause, of every genuine and extensive 
 revival of religion since, I grievously err, if it will not ap- 
 pear, that plain gospel preaching — the preaching of Christ 
 crucified — was manifestly blessed of God, both for commenc- 
 ing and carrying forward his own work of grace. Disputes 
 about unessential points, and forms of religion, visionary ex- 
 travagance, and corrupt doctrine, taking place of sober evan- 
 gelical truth, will be found to have been the usual causes of 
 the declension and termination of these revivals. 
 
 Next consider the effects of different kinds of preaching, 
 in particular congregations, and with individual ministers. 
 The distinguished Chalmers, has himself told us, that he 
 preached, with all his skill, but without the doctrine of the 
 cross, for more than twelve years; and that he neither made 
 a convert, nor produced a reformation of manners. Since he 
 has preached evangelically, the success that has attended his 
 various labours, has been great and extensive. It has been 
 precisely the same with others. Whatever has been the ac- 
 curacy of their reasoning, the profundity of their speculations, 
 the eloquence of their sermons, or even the purity of moral 
 conduct which they have recommended, if Christ crucified 
 has not been their frequent and animating theme, nothing 
 better has usually been seen in their congregations than 
 decency of deportment, and some regard to the exterior of 
 religion — the form of godliness without its power. Often, 
 indeed, even this has been wanting; and in its place dissi- 
 pation and profligacy have been notoriously prevalent. On 
 the contrary, the congregation shall rarely if ever be found, 
 in which evangelical truth has been ably, faithfully, and per- 
 severingly preached, without being visibly blessed — often to 
 a marked revival of vital piety; nearly always, to its preser- 
 vation and increase. 
 
 Let us next consult the modern missionaries to the heathen. 
 And here, would your time and my strength permit, I should 
 quote to you largely from the journal of our own Brainard. 
 If he had written with a view to favour my present design, 
 he could not have written more to the purpose. Take the 
 
16 
 
 following short specimens, which would be rendered far more 
 impressive, if I could give you the context of the passages 
 which 1 shall repeat. " I can't but take notice," says Brai- 
 nard, " that I have, in the general, ever since my first coming 
 among these Indians in New Jersey, been favoured with that 
 assistance, which to me is uncommon, in preaching Christ 
 crucified, and making him the centre and mark to which all 
 my discourses among them were directed. — And never did I 
 find so much freedom and assistance, in makins: all the various 
 lines of my discourses meet together, and centre in Christ, 
 as I have fre<]uently done among these Indians. — I don't men- 
 tion these things as a recommendation of my own perform- 
 ances; for I'm sure I found, from time to time, that I had no 
 skill or wisdom for my great work; and knew not how to 
 choose out acceptable words, proper to address poor benight- 
 ed Pagans with! But thus God was pleased to help me "not 
 to know any thing among them, save Jesus Christ and him 
 crucified." Thus I was enabled to show them their misery 
 and undoneness without him, and to represent his complete 
 ■fitness to redeem and save them. And this was the preach- 
 ing God made use of, for the awakening of sinners, and the 
 propagation of this work of grace among the Indians. — And 
 'twas remarkable, from time to time, that when I was favour- 
 ed with any special freedom in discoursing o^ the ability and 
 willifigness of Christ to save siiiners, and the need they 
 stood in of such a Saviour, there was then the greatest ap- 
 pearance of divine power, in awakening numbers of secure 
 souls, promoting conviction begun, and comforting the dis- 
 tressed." 
 
 Such is the testimony, with much of the same import, of 
 the humble, holy, apostolick Brainard. 
 
 And in perfect conformity with this, is the testimony given 
 by the missionaries of the Moravians, or United Brethren, of 
 their success among the Esquimaux Indians. Their account 
 of it is generally known, and is ver}- summarily this. — After 
 endeavouring, for a length of time, to indoctrinate their pagan 
 charge, in the knowledge of God, as the Creator, preserver. 
 
17 
 
 and judge of the world, and by this knowledge to rouse the 
 attention and alarm the fears of the Indians, and prepare them 
 for evangelical truth, they found that they had produced no 
 practical effect whatever; and could scarcely, indeed, gain 
 the attention of their wretched hearers. As a last effort, they 
 directed them at once to " the Lamb of God, who taketh 
 away the sins of the world." — They told them of the Son of 
 God, coming from heaven to earth, to suffer, bleed, and die 
 on the cross, to save them from eternal perdition. This was 
 the truth that God blessed. The hearts of the Esquimaux, 
 cold before to the messages of grace as the polar snows with 
 which they were surrounded, melted rapidly under these rays 
 from the sun of righteousness. They prostrated themselves 
 at the foot of a dying Saviour's cross, and cried " Lord 
 Jesus, save us, or we perish forever — " Having mentioned 
 the United Brethren and their missionaries, I cannot forbear 
 to remark, that they have always been distinguished as a 
 Christian sect, for their constant and abundant reference to 
 the Saviour and his cross. And where can we find more 
 Self denial, more gospel simplicity, and greater zeal to pro- 
 mote the cause of the Redeemer, than have appeared among 
 these excellent people — the pioneers and examples of modern 
 missionaries? 
 
 But among the most cultivated, as well as among the most 
 savage, the doctrine of the cross has been pre-eminently 
 blessed. Infidels who had long held out against the most 
 acute and learned reasonings, and even boasted of their 
 triumphs in the field of argument, have sometimes, on hear- 
 ing a plain, practical, gospel sermon, or a private exhibition 
 of gospel truth, been pricked to the heart, humbled in the 
 dust at the feet of that Saviour whom they had before blas- 
 phemed, and found redemption and consolation through that 
 precious blood, which once they had impiously trampled 
 hnder their feet. 
 
 As to practical Christians, fully indoctrinated in the truths 
 of the gospel — no matter how dissimilar their circumstances 
 and character — the most erudite as well as the most uuletter- 
 
18 
 
 fed, the old and the j^oung, male and female, bond and free— 
 they may all be appealed to with confidence, to decide on 
 the point before us, as a matter of experience with them- 
 selves. Ask them, what is the preaching that is most blessed 
 to their souls? What most tends to banish their gloom, to 
 nourish their faith, to encourage their hopes, to dispel 
 their fears? What soonest and most completely dissolves 
 their whole souls into a sweet flow of holy gratitude and 
 love? What fills them with the greatest hatred of all sin, 
 and the strongest desires after an entire deliverance from its 
 thraldom ? What animates them most in all duty ? What 
 engages them to labour most earnestly and cheerfully for the 
 salvation of others? What disposes them most unreservedly 
 jind sincerely to devote all that they have and are to the ser- 
 vice and glory of God their Saviour? With one consent they 
 will answer, in the language of the author of our text — " The 
 love of Christ constraineth us;" and they will assign the 
 apostle's reason too : — " For we thus judge, that if one died 
 for all, then were all dead, and that he died for all, that they 
 which live, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but 
 unto him that died for them and rose again — " With entire 
 unanimity they will -testify, that in general those sermons 
 edify, and delight, and animate them the most, in which are 
 set forth in a truly scriptural manner, the all sufficienc}' and 
 wonderful suitableness of Christ; his dying love; his finished 
 righteousness; his prevalent intercession; his faithfulness to 
 liis promises; his perfect example; his sympathy with all his 
 members; the glory of God, as it shines' ia the union and dis- 
 play of all the divine attributes in the astonishing plan of 
 man's redemption; and the beatifick vision of this glory, 
 which his redeemed people shall soon possess, in the imme- 
 diate presence of their ascended Saviour, and which shall be 
 as lasting as eternity. 
 
 But especially, if j'ou observe the believer in the near 
 prospect of death, you shall then find that a crucified Saviour 
 is his all in all. I do not say that all real believers triumph 
 in death. But assuredly many do; and »\\ would, if they 
 
19 
 
 could see tlieir state to be what it actually is. — Probably the 
 following language is, in substance, that which a number 
 present have in fact heard — certainly it is such as at least one 
 lias heard — from an eminent Ciiristian, when entering the 
 dark valley — " All my hope is in the finished righteousness 
 of my dear, my adored Redeemer. But there my hope is 
 strong; it is my anchor within the vail. True it is, I never 
 did see myself to be more polluted and undeserving as a sin- 
 ner, than I now see myself. But I see such an infinite ful- 
 ness in Christ, and such a freeness in the offer of all the bene- 
 fits of his purchase, and I feel such a delight and confidence 
 in trusting my soul vvith him — simply on his word and ivar- 
 rant, and such an ardent desire to be eternally set free from 
 all sin, and be made perfectl}' holy in his blissful presence, 
 that I know I am accepted. Yes, most unworthy as I am, 
 ^ I know in whom I have believed, and that he is able to 
 keep that which I have committed to him against that day/ 
 Therefore, welcome, thrice welcome, death! '0 death, 
 where is thy sting ! grave, where is thy victory ! The 
 sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but 
 thanks be to God, who giveth me the victory, through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ.' " 
 
 Thus, brethren, I think it clearly appears, from undeniable 
 facts, that God blesses the preaching of Christ crucified, both 
 for the conversion of sinners and the edification of saints; 
 and that he ordinarily blesses nothing else. Now, of this no 
 man that ever lived was more sensible than the apostle Paul; 
 and hence the inflexible purpose which he formed, that this 
 exclusively should be the matter of his preaching. He sure- 
 ly needed nothing more than this, to bear him out in the de- 
 termination which he avowed. For if we know that any 
 appointment is of God, although we cannot discern the wis- 
 dom of it, yet wc certainly know that it must be wise, be- 
 cause it comes from the infinite source both of wisdom and 
 goodness; and therefore it becomes our duty to conform to 
 it promptly and cheerfully. Some of the divine appoint- 
 ments have partaken in a degree of this obscure character. 
 
S'O 
 
 But to thobc who love tiic truth, there is no obscurity what- 
 ever in this appointment. On the contrary, its wisdom is most 
 apparent; and doubtless it was seen to be so by the apostle : for^ 
 
 2d. It may be shown, that every doctrine and duty of true 
 religion may be best illustrated, and most powerfully enforced, 
 by a reference to a crucified Saviour.* To do justice to this 
 position, would require a whole discourse, in place of a small 
 part of one, which is already trespassing on ordinary bounds. 
 We can only advert, in the most cursory manner, to a few 
 leading points of practical Christianity, and show, in a sen- 
 tence or two, the illustration and enforcement they may re- 
 ceive from the doctrine of Christ crucified. 
 
 Human depravity, the evil of sin, God's hatred of it, and his 
 unchangeable determination that it shall never go unpunished, 
 are truths which lie at the foundation of all genuine piety ; 
 and all these truths may be most clearly and impressively 
 taught from the cross of Christ. How deeply must that moral 
 being be polluted and depraved, who can never be cleansed, 
 till he is washed in the blood of the Son of God ; and never 
 become holy, till he is created anew by the Holy Ghost! 
 And what must be the extent and malignity of that evil, 
 which could not be expiated, so as to render its pardon con- 
 sistent with the justice of the Deity, but by the inconceivable 
 agonies of Getliscmane, and the accursed death of Calvary — 
 of Him who was Emmanuel, God with us! And how must 
 God hate all sin, and never fiiil to punish it in the most awful 
 manner, when he would make no abatement in tlie sufferings 
 of a sinless Saviour — his well-beloved Son — when he only 
 stood, and in boundless compassion too, in the sinner's place! 
 ''If these things were done in the green tree, what shall be 
 done in the dry !" Look to the cross of Christ, rather than to 
 tlie flames of Tophet, if 3'ou would have the most impressive 
 view that you can ever take of the evil of sin, of God's abhor- 
 rence of it, and of the certainty and severity of its punishment. 
 
 But *' God is love.*' — It is essential that he be so represented, 
 
 * When this discourse was delivered, the most of the illustration under 
 ''his particular was omitted. 
 
21 
 
 at the same time that he is exhibited as inflexibly just. And 
 " herein is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved 
 us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation lor our sins — God 
 commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet 
 sinners, Christ died for us — what manner of love the Father 
 hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of 
 God !" The love, grace, mercy, and compassion of God, can 
 never be shown in any other way, that will, for a moment, 
 bear a comparison with the exhibition made of them in the 
 gift, mission, and sufferings of Christ; — made that guilty 
 rebels might be pardoned, reconciled to himself, become his 
 adopted children, made heirs of God, and joint heirs with his 
 own beloved Son, of "an inheritance, incorruptible, and un- 
 defiled, and that fadeth not away." 
 
 It is also essential to a just system of religion, that the di- 
 vine attributes be exhibited as harmonious; and the glory of 
 God as secured and illustrated, in all that he is represented 
 as having done. Without this, no rightly disposed mind 
 could ever be satisfied, even if complete provision were made 
 for its own safety. Now, in the cross of Christ, all the di- 
 vine attributes are perfectly harmonized. Here it is, and 
 only here, that " mercy and truth have met together, righte- 
 ousness and peace have kissed each other." By the cross, 
 every attribute of the Deity is shown immaculate, and beam- 
 ing with a splendour no where else to be seen. The highest 
 display of the glory of God ever made to the universe, was 
 made by the cross of Christ. This glory is here seen, not 
 only to be consistent with the salvation of penitent oflcnders, 
 but to shine the brightest of all, in the veri/ act of saving 
 the chief of sinners — " Where sin abounded, grace did much 
 more abound." 
 
 Guilt is ever suspicious and fearful. Hence the numerous, 
 and often cruel rites of all false religions, to appease an in- 
 censed Deity. But to the gospel penitent, the strongest and 
 most satisfactory evidence is given, of certain pardon and ac- 
 ceptance with God, in the doctrine of a crucified Saviour. 
 Divine justice is perfectly satisfied in the cross of Christ, and 
 
22 
 
 unites with mercy, in assuring the believiiio; penitent tiiat he 
 shall never come into condemnation. Here it is, that " God 
 is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." United by faith 
 to the Son of God, as the branch is united to the vine — iden- 
 tified with Jesus — the believer can no more come into con- 
 demnation, than the Saviour himself. " Because I live, ye 
 shall live also," is his cheering assurance to all his true dis- 
 ciples. 
 
 Again. It is of the utmost importance in religion, that the 
 most powerful motives should be constantly presented to the 
 mind, to avoid all sin, and to discharge all known dut}-. 
 And where shall we find motives so admirably adapted to this 
 purpose, as we derive from the doctrine of Christ crucified? 
 Can the believer think of the evil of sin, as seen in the cross, 
 and not hate it, loathe it, and flee from it? Can he endure 
 the thought of being in league with the murderers of his 
 adored Lord, and of crucifying him afresh? Must he not 
 fear sin worse than death ? And can he refuse any grateful 
 return — for gratitude is the only return he can make — to the 
 Saviour who redeemed him with his own blood? Is there 
 any service, or any sacrifice, that his heart will permit him 
 to withhold from such a Saviour? Is there any thing, by 
 which the religion of this Saviour can be either adorned or 
 promoted, that he will not rejoice to do? Here, in fact, arc 
 the very motives which, from the time of Paul to the present 
 hour, have rendered real evangelical Christians, the most 
 conscientious, holy, and devoted, of mankind. 
 
 Once more. Every sensible sinner, and every real believer, 
 has a clear and affecting perception of his own weakness, 
 frailty, and proneness to sin; and full well he knows that the 
 enemies of his soul, both within him and without him, are 
 numerous, subtle, and powerful. He sees that, left to him- 
 self, he must certainly faint and fail, and might therefore de^ 
 spair at once. But he is taught by the doctrine of Christ 
 crucified, that he will never be left to himself His once 
 crucified Saviour — " his great high priest that is passed into 
 the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God;," will help him to " hold 
 
2S 
 
 fast his profession." His glorified Saviour is made head over 
 all things to the church which is his hotly. He controls, and 
 will ever control, all the enemies of his people. He sympathises 
 with them, too, in all their trials; and through his strengthen- 
 ing them, "they can do all things." While he intercedes for 
 them above, his Spirit intercedes in their hearts, assists their 
 prayers, helps their infirmities, carries on his own work of 
 sanctification, and will carry it on, till they shall be brought 
 off conquerors and more than conquerors, and grace shall be 
 completed in glory. 
 
 Finally. .Heavenly happiness, exquisite and eternal, seems 
 a reward altogether disproportionate to the attainments and 
 services of the best saint that ever lived on earth; — and no- 
 thing that is incongruous will ever be awarded by a perfect 
 God. But this incongruity is all removed, by the doctrine 
 of a crucified Saviour. Heavenly happiness is represented 
 by our apostle as "a purchased possession." It comes to the 
 believer in the form of an inheritance, from his kinsman Re- 
 deemer, Between his infinite merits and the happiness of 
 heaven, there is no disproportion, no incongruity. And the 
 reward of the saints, freely bestowed on all, will be apportioned 
 to each according to the measure of his love and his labours. 
 The believer, therefore, rationally and confidently expects to 
 receive his reward, as a gratuitous legacy, from his infinitely 
 meritorious Saviour; and while his heart overflows with gra- 
 titude for the un.speakablc gift, he anticipates the happy mo- 
 ment, when, in some humble place in heaven, he will begin 
 the eternal song of praise — "Unto him that loved us, and 
 washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us 
 kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glor}- 
 and dominion forever and ever. Amen." 
 
 From the sketch now given, very imperfect as it is, it may 
 be seen, that, according to the declaration of the apostle in the 
 context, the doctrine of the cross is not only the power of 
 God, but the wisdom of God: — is not only the doctrine to 
 which alone he ordinarily gives efliciency, by the power oi 
 his Spirit; but the doctrine also in which the divine wisdom 
 
24 
 
 IS most wonderlully manifested, in adapting it to all the cir- 
 cumstances of sinful men ; to all the principles and powers 
 of their intellectual and moral nature. In using this doctrine 
 to convert the world — to bring sinners to repentance and to 
 edify and comfort saints — the wisdom of God is most appa- 
 rent ill choosing an instrument — an instrument, which, 
 while it is one exactly of which Jews and Greeks, and the 
 children of proud carnal wisdom in every age, never did, and 
 never will see the fitness, is nevertheless fitted, in the most 
 perfect manner, to perform the work to which it is destined, 
 — " The foolishness of God is wiser than men." 
 
 Fathers and Brethren iji the Christian Ministry : 
 
 How unspeakably momentous to us, is the subject that has 
 now been under discussion? Does God bless the preaching of 
 Christ crucified, and ordinarily bless no other kind of preach- 
 ing? Then, with what solemnity and energy, should the in- 
 quiry come home to every one of us — is this the character of 
 ?ni/ preaching? Ah ! it is fearful beyond expression, to speak 
 as a minister and ambassador of Christ, and yet to deliver 
 something which he will never own as his message, or follow 
 with his blessing. ! let us ever keep in mind, that we must, 
 in our humble measure, preach like Paul, if we expect to 
 meet with any portion of Paul's success. 
 
 In preaching, as in every thing else, there may doubtless be 
 different degrees of excellence; a greater or a less degree of 
 conformity to the apostolick example : and God may, and 
 often does, bless his own truth, even when it is mixed with 
 much human error and imperfection. Gold which is mingled 
 with much alloy is still gold, and of real worth. Yet as the va- 
 lue of the metal is greatest when it has no alloy, so evange- 
 lical truth is the most precious and useful, when its purity 
 reach^ completely the gospel standard. It may therefore be 
 of some use just to mention, both how unqualified counterfeits 
 may be put in its place, and how, when something of it is 
 retained, its worth may be greatly diminished by debasing 
 mixtures. 
 
It is manifest, at once, that those who deny th'e proper cii- 
 tinity and atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, never can 
 preach the doctrine of a crucified Saviour, as it was preached 
 by Paul. The cross of the Redeemer, indeed, seems to be a 
 real incumbrance to their whole system; rendering its defence 
 far more difficult than it would be, if he had not expired on a 
 cross, with its attendant sufferings. Their discourses, of con- 
 sequence, are found to be as different from those of Paul, as 
 if they had been designed to be so. But even those who ex- 
 plicitly admit the divinity of the Saviour, and that, in some 
 'sense, he made an atonement for sin, may still have nothing 
 in their preaching of the doctrine of Christ crucified, as it was 
 held and taught by the apostle. In this class — which is in- 
 deed a very large one— rail those are included, who keep out 
 of their pulpit addresses all the peculiar doctrines of the gos- 
 pel; or only advert to them slightly, or occasionally ; as if on 
 purpose to show, that while they do not deny them, they 
 think them of little importance. — All your merely metaphy- 
 sical, logical, rhetorical, moral, and philosophical preaching, 
 in which the name of Jesus Christ is seldom heard, and the 
 doctrine of the cross is never clearly set forth, is of this de- 
 scription. And even when the peculiar doctrines of the gas- 
 pel are made the subjects of discussion, if they are treated 
 wholly in a dry or abstract way, without close and practical ap- 
 plication, and with no animating reference to the cross, there can 
 be very little of the manner of Paul in such pulpit performances. 
 Nor can any thing better be said of those representations of 
 something called an atonement, to which PauPs language in 
 describing it cannot fairly be applied; — cannot be accommo- 
 datedj without construing the apostle's expressions in a most 
 unnatural and unwarrantable manner. Neither do they preach 
 Christ crucified as Paul did, who fill a whole discourse with 
 legal terror; with scarcely a word to direct the alarmed sin- 
 ner to the Saviour. Paul did indeed preach " the terrors of 
 the Lord," and we ought to preach them, and faithfully too: 
 but always as the apostle did — that we may " persuade men" 
 — persuade them to flee to the Saviour, while his arms are 
 
2Q 
 
 open to receive them. There may also be, in those who 
 really hold the truth in its purit}'-, such a want of plain language 
 and simplicity of manner in stating it, as to hide much of its 
 excellence from the unlearned, and greatly to abate its power 
 and sweetness with all who love it. There may likewise be 
 a deficiency in the frequency with which the doctrines of the 
 cross are directly and distinctly treated, in a course of preach- 
 ing; and a deficiency, finally, in making every thing, as holy 
 Brainard well expresses it, "meet together and centre in 
 Christ." 
 
 Beloved brethren — Let it be understood, that, on the one 
 hand, I solemnly disclaim all personal allusions in any thing I 
 have said ; and on the other, that I desire not to abate or soften 
 any censure which a declaration of the truth may inflict. Let 
 the truth do its office fairly with the consciences of us all. 
 We may all profit by being warned of the errors that have 
 been specified; and if any of us are conscious of having com- 
 mitted them, let us amend them without delay. Every one 
 of us has continually reason to be on his guard, not to depart, 
 in his preaching, from '' the simplicity that is in Christ." 
 
 As society advances in what is called refinement, there is 
 alwa5's an increase of danger, that the plain truths of the gos- 
 pel will be refined away ; or in a measure kept back or dis- 
 guised, by those whose sacred office it is to proclaim them 
 faithfully. Of this danger the whole histo»y of the church 
 hitherto, gives us solemn warning. And as learning, and taste, 
 and elegance, and wealth, and luxury, are making progress 
 in our country, who shall say that they will not disadvanta- 
 gcoubly aficct the preaching of the gospel among us, as they 
 have done among others? Who can say and prove, that this 
 effect has not already been experienced, in some portions of 
 our country? Who can affirm that nothing of the kind has 
 yet been indicated in our own church? That with us it has 
 not made great progress, I sincerely believe, and rejoice to 
 say. But it is an evil, against which we should constant- 
 ly both watch and pray; for Luther's maxim is unquestiona- 
 bly just, that the doctrine we have been considering, is the 
 
27 
 
 tioctrine of a standing or a falling church. Of the happy pail 
 of this alternative we are now the living witnesses. To the 
 blessing of God on the plain and faithful preaching of the 
 doctrines of the cross, the Presbyterian church in the United 
 States must attribute her remarkable prosperity and increase; 
 — the numerous happy revivals of religion which she has 
 witnessed, the unexampled multiplication of her congregations, 
 and presbyteries, and synods, and the enlargement of her boun- 
 daries in all directions. And beyond a peradventure, she will 
 continue to increase and prosper, so long as these doctrines, in 
 theirpurity and simplicity, shall be loved, and taught, and incul- 
 cated. But letthese doctrines be corrupted, or become unfashion- 
 able; let them even be disguised, or mutilated, or philosophised 
 into obscurity, and the King of Zion will inscribe " ichabod" 
 on our church — her glory will have departed, and her pros- 
 perity will terminate. Yes, and in this event it will be de- 
 sirable that it should terminate ; for the salvation of souls is 
 of infinitely more importance than the prevalence of any re- 
 ligious sect, by whatever name it may be called. Where- 
 fore, I repeat, let us use all the means in our power, to guard 
 against the corruption or neglect of the genuine evangelical 
 doctrines, and to cherish the preaching of them plainly, fully, 
 abundantly, closely, and zealously — That to this end I might 
 contribute my mite, the subject of this address was selected. 
 Being " such an one," as an aged minister of the gospel, I 
 determined to lay before my brethren on this publick occa- 
 sion, my views of the manner in which the gospel ought to 
 be exhibited and inculcated by those who preach it. This I 
 have endeavoured to do, as in the near prospect of my last 
 account; for to me the hour for rendering that account must 
 be near. And from none of us, brethren, can it be far dis- 
 tant — ^To some, it is probably just at hand. Several of our 
 ministerial brethren, who met in this house at the last Gene- 
 ral Assembly are now in eternity. The past year has been 
 marked by the death of more ministers in our communion — 
 some in the prime of life, and others in the meridian of their 
 usefulness — than any other year within my memory. Some 
 
28 
 
 oH us, it is highly probable, have entered on the last year of 
 our ministry and our life. And 0, brethren ! it must be the 
 doctrine of Christ crucified that must afford us support, if we 
 find a stable support, in the hour of death; and ensure our 
 acquittal, if we find an acquittal, at the bar of our final Judge 
 — This precious doctrine, therefore, let us embrace cordially, 
 maintain firmly, and preach, while we may, with fidelity and 
 zeal. 
 
 Christian brethren, who are not in the gospel ministry: 
 Be exhorted, in one word, to look well, that it is on Christ 
 alone, that you are resting your hopes for eternity ; and that 
 you are walking worthily of the high vocation wherewith ye 
 are called. 
 
 A crucified Saviour has, I know, been faithfully preached 
 to the most of those who now hear me. And it is a most 
 affecting thought, that any who have, to this hour, held out 
 against the Saviour, have done it in opposition to the most 
 effectual means that God has ever devised, to convert sinners, 
 and to rieconcile them to himself .Justly may they fear, if 
 their impenitence longer continue, that he may swear in his 
 wrath, that they shall not enter into his rest. Behold, then^ 
 impenitent sinners ! one free offer of the Saviour more is 
 now made you; and I entreat you, by all that is dear and 
 sacred, refuse it not, lest it should prove the last. " Behold, 
 now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation ! 
 To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." 
 Amen. 
 
k ^ 
 
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