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SERMON I.

ROMANS, I. 16.

"I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ : for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth."

THESE words contain the spirit of the passage, and set before us a doctrine of such general and extensive importance, as to deserve our most serious attention. In addressing the Romans, at that time a distinguished and enlightened people, St. Paul was anxious to deliver to them the message of his heavenly Master with such grace and dignity, as might induce them to weigh with the greater attention the important truths which it contained; while in asserting the claims of the Gospel, he took as his model the example of his great Master, and "taught them as one having authority." "I am not ashamed," then,

B

says

the apostle, "of the Gospel of Christ;" I do not crave your indulgence, while I endeavour by human eloquence or human reasoning to enlist you on my side, as in a mere question of philosophy; I invite you to no doubtful disputation, or depend on your good opinion or acquiescence. No: I invite you to a knowledge of the truth, and am prepared to prove to you that the Gospel which I thus introduce to you "is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.”

It is thus the Gospel is always introduced to us, and it is thus, my brethen, I would entreat you to consider it. It is an earnest and gracious message of God to his creatures, setting before them the means by which they may re-establish themselves in his favour. To represent it as a matter of indifference to God, whether we follow the course he there prescribes to us, would be unwarranted by a knowledge either of his words or his attributes. He addresses us as a father; and as his children calls us to him by every endearing

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