nal things to agitate the breast of a sinful man. No soul can be made sensible of its own true character, without excitement being produced.

3. Nor may awakened sinners go over to the open enemies of God. Some do this, but it is a sad resort indeed for the quickened conscience. What a way to quiet those forebodings of wrath is it to shut the eyes and rush madly forward in sin, thus treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath! What an escape from conviction it is to return to the world, mingle in its gaieties, become buried in its cares, to worship its god; and thus put off for a season, what will come sooner or later with ten fold more vehemence.

REMARKS.

1. How critical the condition of the awakened sinner! Every avenue that opens before him leads on to greater woe, except that one in which he is least inclined to walk. All the refuges to which he would resort are insecure. If he goes into them he will be destroyed in their overthrow.

2. What madness do men exhibit who seek peace elsewhere than at the foot of the Cross! How loudly does the voice of wisdom proclaim their folly! How plainly does death exhibit their blindness! What awful hazard they run to buy a momentary respite from convictions which must return as sure as there is to be a day of judgment !

3. What a congregation of suicides there will be at the last tribunal. There will be the young lady who drowned her convictions in the gaieties of that party which she meant should be her last, but at which she caught the cold that resulted in her sudden death. There will be the young man, who filled his mind with business, or who increased his frivolities, or who ventured an oath, or a jest at sacred things, thus at a single blow grieving the Spirit, destroying the last hope of his soul, and commencing a career of vice and ruin.

4. How blessed the invitation of the Gospel! "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Here is the only safe refuge from the crushing weight of sin, and from the distracting excitement of a quickened conscience.

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5. How unutterably miserable will be the condition of the sinner awakened in perdition to an endless hopeless conviction of his alienation from God! If a day or week of conviction here, is so excitso fearfully oppressive and distracting to the mind, what will the sinner do when this misery will be increased a thousand fold, and be unending. "Say, O awakened sinner, who art just now deliberating whether to obey or to resist the Spirit, though now you may abuse God with impunity, Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with thee?"

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.-ROMANS I., 16.

THIS Epistle was addressed by St. Paul to the Christians at Rome, which was then the splendid and voluptuous capital of the world, and the grand fountain of all the errors and superstitions by which mankind were deluded and enslaved. He had already promulgated the salvation of Jesus in many other important cities; and glorious was the success which had attended his labors. But this could not satisfy that sacred ambition which was constantly urging him on to new efforts, and to more extended triumphs. He was animated by a fervent desire to "preach the Gospel at Rome also," that he might impart to the believers there "some spiritual gift," for the increase of their religious stability and comfort; and that he might gather, from the ranks of the unconverted, precious "fruits" of his ministry, as he had done " among other Gentiles." And although, in the providence of God, this desire was not at that time fulfilled, yet was he subsequently permitted to visit the field for which he so earnestly longed-not, indeed, as he here prays, by "a prosperous journey"-but through a series of perils and sufferings, and to enter it, as an "ambassador of Christ," it is true--but an ambassador in bonds.

In our text, the apostle assigns the cause of his readiness to preach the Gospel at Rome. It sprang from his entire confidence in the truth, the excellency, and the power of the divine doctrines which he was commissioned to teach. He was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Although he knew it to be simple and unostentatious in its structure, with no imposing rites, or august ceremonial, to overawe the senses of men; and although he was well

aware that by the learned and great of this world it was accounted "foolishness;" yet, such was his perfect persuasion of its inherent wisdom and might, that he was prepared fearlessly to proclaim it, even in the celebrated metropolis of civilization and refinement; where pagan science boasted of its exploits, and false philosophy gloried in its strength; where wealth and pomp and imperial power lent their patronage to vice and pollution; where the altars of a hundred deities smoked with perpetual incense, and idolatry sat enthroned in her thousand temples.

But this undoubting assurance of the worth and verity of the Gospel was not peculiar to the apostle; nor was it confined to those who, in that age, shared in his evangelical labors and sacrifices. It is the privilege of believers at all times, and under every aspect which the religion of Christ, in its onward course, may exhibit. The sincere disciple of our own day, who has received "the truth as it is in Jesus," and experienced, in his heart and life, its renovating and purifying energies, can repose the same unfaltering trust in its value and efficacy, and in its celestial origin, as a scheme, and the only scheme, provided by the Almighty for the salvation of men. The text, therefore, presents, as the subject of discourse, the following proposition:

The believer has no cause to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. I. He has no cause to be ashamed of its Author. The plan of the Gospel was devised and appointed, in the councils of eternity, by God the Father; but it was introduced and carried into effect by Christ the Son. He is, therefore, its immediate Author. Accordingly, it is denominated in the text, "the Gospel of Christ." To him its execution and administration were specially committed. He came down from Heaven to make those revelations of the divine will which it contains. He taught its perfect precepts. He procured, by his obedience and death, its boundless provisions of mercy. And he offered the all-sufficient expiation for sin, which constitutes its leading feature, and most essential element.

Now, of the illustrious Being, who was thus the founder of the Christian system, there is no reason to be ashamed. It is true, that the circumstances of humiliation in which he appeared in our world, and the reproach and ignominy attending the manner of his departure from it, have ever been regarded by human pride with disgust and scorn. But never was contempt so misplaced. Though born in obscurity, and cradled in want, yet was he the Son of God, and the Lord from Heaven; and around the lowly manger in which he lay, there shone a lustre brighter than all the splendor of palaces, and the magnificence of kings. And his death, viewed in its momentous bearings on the government of God, and on the eternal welfare of men, so far from being a scene of shame and degradation, was the very highest display of glory and majesty.

Notwithstanding the profound abasement to which he submitted, everything connected with his character and with his history was worthy of the loftiest regard and reverence.

If we consider him merely in his human nature, and contemplate the various and consummate excellences which he exhibited, we shall perceive the most ample grounds for confidence and exultation in him. Think of the perfect wisdom which he manifested in all his teachings and actions; of his unparalleled meekness under injury and persecution; of the spotless purity of his life, which not even his bitterest enemies could assail; of the entire devotion to his Father's will, and the absorbing regard for eternal things, which marked all his feelings and conduct; and of that sublime, matchless benevolence, which prompted him to unceasing efforts in doing good to the bodies and the souls of men, which led him to the sorrows of Gethsemane, and the tortures of the cross, and caused him even there to pray for the murderers that spiked his limbs, and mocked his agonies. Is this a character of which to be ashamed? What parallel to it can be found among all the sages, philosophers, and reformers, that ever arose on earth. They all partook of the corruption common to humanity, and many of them were remarkable for their vices. Christ alone was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." They sought, in a greater or less degree, only to establish systems which should exalt and perpetuate their own renown. Christ toiled and suffered for the glory of his Father, and the moral emancipation of a world. They lived and died like men. Christ lived and died like a God.

But not only is the Author of Christianity distinguished above the founders of all other religious systems by the unsullied perfection of his human character; he is also placed at an infinite remove from them by the divinity of his Person. Though dwelling in a mortal form, he was "God over all, blessed for ever." He was that Eternal Word, which "was in the beginning with God, and was God;" but which, to achieve the redemption of the lost, assumed our nature, and sojourned in this blighted abode of guilt and woe. In this frail tabernacle of dust, he exhibited the living embodiment of the Divine Essence, and possessed and wielded all the attributes of Jehovah. He moved amidst the scenes and habitations of earth, the incarnate Deity-"God manifest in the flesh !"

In what a new and wondrous light does this fact present the qualities which he displayed, and the deeds which he performed! "His love becomes the love of a God, to be measured only by the stoop of his condescension from a throne to a cross-from the heights of bliss to the depths of agony-from the adoration of angels to the scoffs of mortals." His teachings are the teachings of Ŏmniscience. His miracles are the product of illimitable power.

His death is the seal of an infinite Sacrifice. His resurrection is the putting forth of his own energy-the rising of Him who "hath life in himself," and who "quickeneth whomsoever he will." And his ascension is the triumphal return of an almighty conqueror to the empire of the heavens, there to dispense the blessings which he has purchased, and to prepare everlasting mansions for all his followers.

With what a transcendent glory is the Gospel thus invested! He, who created the spheres, and built the worlds, and whose omnipotent agency upholds and governs the realms of matter and of mind, established also the dispensation of Grace, and wrought out all its amazing benefits. And shall I be ashamed of a religion. which has the Lord of the universe for its Author? What though I see him clothed in humanity, and descending to the lowest humiliation? It is Divinity, veiling its overpowering glories, and stooping from its dazzling seat, to the deep abyss in which an apostate race were sunk, to raise them to holiness and Heaven. What though I behold him expiring amid the ignominy and the horrors of crucifixion? It is the Godhead, working out the ransom of mankind, by satisfying the claims of Justice, vindicating the dishonored Law, and making a Propitiation for iniquity, which should become the central object in the achievements of Jehovah, and attract for ever the wondering regards of his intelligent creation. How does this feature of the Gospel throw far back into deepest shade all the schemes which men have invented for the amelioration of their state! These bear no impress of God-no stamp of celestial authority, on which conscience can rest, and hope repose. But Christianity is accredited by the very 'signature of the Most High. It beams with the effulgence of Heavenly Truth. It stands before us, the only Remedy of the ruined, the only Refuge for the guilty; towering upward above all human systems in the majesty of its Divine Founder; inviting the millions of the perishing to seek safety beneath its ample protection; breathing peace in its promises; and commanding devout awe and reverent obedience by the sanctions of an unveiled eternity. Of such a Gospel, emanating from such a source, never, O never let the believer be ashamed.

II. The believer has no cause to be ashamed of the testimony on which the truth of the Gospel rests. The evidences of our holy religion are so full and so conclusive, that no candid mind can resist their force. Even a cursory view of them will show that they amount to the most perfect moral demonstration. Look, for instance, at the long train of circumstances which prepared the way for this grand manifestation of Divine mercy ;-the separation of the chosen seed, their settlement in the land of Canaan, and their continuance as a distinct people through all the vicissitudes