{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_52743/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_52743","id":"gutenberg_52743","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52743","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Romans I, 16 -- Sermons","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Church of England -- Sermons","Sermons, English -- 19th century","Witness bearing (Christianity) -- Sermons"],"text":"Transcribed from the [1850] edition by David Price, email\nccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\n                 THE BELIEVER NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL.\n\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                       THE SIXTH ANNIVERSARY SERMON\n                                  OF THE\n                  Church of England Young Men\u2019s Society,\n              PREACHED IN ST. BRIDE\u2019S CHURCH, FLEET STREET,\n                   ON TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 23, 1850,\n                                  BY THE\n                         REV. EDWARD HOARE, M.A.\n                  INCUMBENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, RAMSGATE.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n    \u201c_For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ_: _for it is the power\n    of God unto salvation to every one that believeth_.\u201d\u2014Romans i. 16.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nTHERE is nothing more strange than human nature.  It is afraid where no\nfear is: yet bold in the midst of danger.  It is ashamed where there is\nno disgrace; and yet shameless, when it ought to be abased, even to the\ndust.  It is proud of things which do it no honour, and yet ashamed of\ngifts which are the wonder and admiration of the saints in heaven.  If a\nman is possessed of great intellectual attainments, he is never found to\nbe ashamed of them!  If he is successful in the accumulation of wealth,\nhe is never known to be ashamed of that; if he is remarkable for worldly\nwisdom, he is never tempted to be ashamed of that; nor, if he deduces his\npedigree from a long line of ennobled ancestry, does he show any tendency\nto be ashamed of that.  But if, on the other hand, he be made partaker of\nthe highest gift that the world has ever known\u2014the gift of the grace of\nGod in his heart\u2014the most blessed and glorious gift within the reach\neither of man or angel\u2014then, strange to say! such is the folly of human\nnature, that he is strongly tempted to be ashamed of that; ashamed of the\ndeep emotions which the Spirit of God has kindled within his soul,\nashamed of that which, in the secrets of his own heart, he acknowledges\nto be his hope, his joy, his salvation, and his glory.\n\nNow this is no new thing in the church of Christ, and the words of the\ntext are a clear recognition of its existence in the days, and even in\nthe heart, of St. Paul.  He was not \u201cashamed of the Gospel of Christ.\u201d\nBut the temptation was there; the sense of shame _did_ arise in his\nheart, and _did_ struggle there; but the grace of God overcame it.  So\nthat in allusion to this victory, he makes the declaration of the text.\nNow what does this declaration imply? and what is the full force of the\nsentiment contained in it?  Clearly that he was not ashamed of confessing\nChrist, and of acknowledging, before both Jew and Gentile, that his whole\nlife was wrapt up in Christ.  Nay, more! that he was not ashamed of\npreaching Christ, of consecrating his every power to the holy work of\nproclaiming Christ before the world.  The text, therefore, appears well\nsuited for an address to the Church of England Young Men\u2019s Society, as I\ntrust it may be said of the great body of young men composing it, that\nthey are not \u201cashamed of the Gospel of Christ;\u201d not ashamed of confessing\nHim before men, nor of uniting together, as a holy band of faithful\nlabourers, in the earnest endeavour to spread His Gospel through the\nworld.\n\nLet us examine, then, into the reasons why St. Paul was not \u201cashamed of\nthe Gospel of Christ,\u201d and we shall find three especially mentioned in\nthe text\u2014the Divinity of its origin, the blessedness of its end, and the\nmagnificence of its terms.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nI.  _The Divinity of its origin_.  \u201cI am not ashamed of the Gospel of\nChrist, for it is the _power of God_.\u201d  By which he means that it is no\nhuman system, but a Divine scheme, divinely planned and purposed; a\nscheme contrived by no human wisdom, nor carried into effect by any human\npower; a scheme Divine in its plan, Divine in its execution, and Divine\nin its application to the soul.  The purpose was His, arranged in His own\neternal counsels; the execution was His, and His alone to perform the\nvast work by which atonement and mediation could be provided for the\nsinner; the application again is His, for who but Himself can really\nbring home the Gospel with appropriating power to the soul, can really\ntouch the hard heart, and soften down the rebellious sinner into the\nhumble and believing child of God?  The whole, therefore, is Divine; from\nfirst to last it is the work of God; and thus it stands out, far above\nevery other system, as the most marvellous combination, which the world\nhas ever witnessed, of Divine wisdom, Divine love, and Divine\nomnipotence.\n\nThere are many practical lessons to be learned from such a fact.\n\nIt should teach us, in the first place, the proper limits of human\ninquiry with reference to the Gospel.  We must never forget that the\nhuman understanding has its own most important sphere of action, and that\nits enlightened exercise is essential to the right reception of the truth\nof God.  We are not at liberty, for example, to shut up the\nunderstanding, and deliver ourselves blindfold to the guidance of any\nchurch which may call itself infallible, but we are bound as thinking men\nto examine the credentials of its assumed infallibility.  And so with\nreference to the Word of God itself, it is our manifest duty to study\nwell the proofs of its inspiration, and the careful examination of\nscriptural evidences is a legitimate and noble theme for the diligent\nexercise of an enlightened understanding.  Then again the understanding\nmust be employed in the patient study of the contents of the inspired\nBook.  Having learned that it is the Book of God, we must next inquire\nwhat it teaches, and being satisfied that it contains the truth, we must\nproceed to examine what the truth is which it contains.  But this truth\nbeing once ascertained, the understanding must immediately give place to\nfaith, and the inquiring spirit must simply believe what the inspired\nWord is found to teach him.  The Gospel is the power of God, and\ntherefore the human mind must be prepared to find in it many things\naltogether beyond its range.  If it were the work of man we should of\ncourse expect to find the whole within the compass of man\u2019s intellect;\nbut as it is the power of God, His own plan and His own purpose, we must\nbe prepared to meet with deep and unfathomable truths, bearing some\nproportion to His infinite and unfathomable attributes.  Thus, for\nexample, our finite minds are unable to comprehend the great mystery of\nthe incarnation, or how one person can be at the same time both God and\nman; but such a difficulty is no stumbling-block to the believer, for\nthough by reason he cannot understand it, yet he finds it written in the\nScriptures, and by faith he receives it, for the Gospel is the power of\nGod.  It was the neglect of this principle that led to the error of the\nSadducees, as we are taught by our Lord in the twenty-second chapter of\nSt. Matthew, and the twenty-ninth verse: \u201cYe do err, not knowing the\nScriptures, nor the power of God.\u201d  They had not employed their\nunderstanding when they ought to have done so, namely, in the\ninvestigation of their Bibles, but they had employed it where it could\ngive them no safe guidance, namely, in vain speculation on fancied\ndifficulties in the plans and purposes of God.  To avoid a similar error\nwe must bear in mind that the Gospel, being Divine in its origin, is\nlikewise superhuman in its arrangements, and we must adhere strictly to\nthe great principle of diligent investigation when we want to know what\nGod has taught us, and of simple faith when we have once discovered the\nvast truths revealed to us by His Spirit.\n\nAgain, the fact that the Gospel is the power of God should fill our\nhearts with hope in every effort for its extension; and we find it so\nemployed by the Lord when He taught us in His prayer to urge it as an\nargument for the speedy coming of His kingdom.  We may observe that the\nspread of the Lord\u2019s kingdom has always required men to make attempts\napparently beyond the reach of human power.  Nothing, for example, could\nhave appeared less probable eighteen hundred years ago than that the\nwhole of civilized Europe should be more or less controlled by the\npreaching of twelve ill-educated fishermen on the shores of Galilee; but\nso it is; and for the simple reason that \u201cthe Gospel is the power of\nGod.\u201d  It would have appeared at first sight next to impossible that such\nan one as William Tyndale, a private tutor in a gentleman\u2019s family in\nGloucestershire, should break down the barrier which Rome had raised\nagainst the circulation of the Scriptures, and force the New Testament\ninto this country in spite of the united powers of Henry, of Wolsey, of\nthe nobility of England, and the hierarchy of Rome.  But the Gospel was\nthe power of God, and the humble private tutor triumphed.  Nothing could\nhave appeared more hopeless to all human calculation than the mission of\nMr. Marsden, when he first landed among the cannibals of New Zealand, and\nsaw lying stranded on the shore the hull of a vessel whose unfortunate\ncrew had been recently devoured by the islanders; but he landed there in\nfaith, and because the Gospel is \u201cthe power of God,\u201d the island has been\nwon to the sovereignty of our Queen, and a noble church gathered out to\nthe glory of the Lord.  So in all our present efforts we must ever bear\nin mind that our weapon, the simple Gospel of the Lord Jesus, is not a\nhuman but Divine instrumentality, and we must endeavour to go forth to\nour work in the same spirit in which Morrison went to China, of whom it\nis related, that, when asked on one occasion, \u201cDo you expect to convert\nthe Chinese?\u201d he replied, \u201cNo, but I expect that the Lord will.\u201d  There\nmay be many hindrances, for example, in the way of the Jews\u2019 conversion,\nand much to dishearten the devoted labourer in the dense masses of our\nmanufacturing population, but who need be discouraged when he strives to\npreach a Saviour, and remembers that his simple message is the mighty\npower of an omnipotent God?  And so with reference to the great\nprinciples of the Reformation, those principles so inexpressibly dear to\nthe heart of every scriptural believer, there may be much to alarm in all\nwe see around us; in the many adversaries, some open, and some secret;\nsome in undisguised opposition to the truth, and some professing it, it\nis much to be feared, for the unhallowed purpose of betraying it.  Yes!\nthere is much to be feared; but there is much more to be hoped for by the\nChristian; for our weapons are Divine; our trust is in the Word of God,\nthe truth of God, the grace of God; and therefore we may go on our way\nfearlessly, peacefully, hopefully, joyously, for we know where our\nstrength lies, in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, which is the power of God\nunto salvation.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nII.  We may pass on then to the second reason why we should not be\nashamed of the Gospel of Christ, namely, the blessedness of its end.  It\nis the power of God \u201cunto salvation.\u201d  Now what is meant by this\nsalvation?  It must not be limited to one particular act of God or to\nanother, but includes the whole work of Divine grace in the soul,\ncommencing with the new birth, and about to be perfected at the glorious\nappearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  When a man is accepted\nin Christ Jesus, and born again of God the Holy Spirit, then is that poor\nsinner declared in the Scripture to be saved.  He is saved, for he is\nadopted into the family of God, and he no longer stands condemned as a\nguilty, sinful, child of wrath; \u201cto as many as received Him to them gave\nHe power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His\nname.\u201d  He is saved, for he has a new life bestowed on him, which all the\npowers of death shall never be able to extinguish, for he is \u201cborn again\nnot of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which\nliveth and abideth for ever.\u201d  He is saved, for he is born to be a\nconqueror; so that although there may be a deep struggle in the secrets\nof his heart, and many a strong temptation alluring him from his course,\nand exerting such a power over his soul, that he trembles at times lest\nhe should be plunged again into the abyss of sin; yet through it all he\ncomes forth a conqueror, and the Scriptures are proved true, which\ndeclare without reserve, \u201cWhatsoever is born of God overcometh the\nworld.\u201d  Nay, more!  He is saved, for he is adopted into a coheirship\nwith his Lord.  He passes through life like other men, engaged in\ninterests, afflicted by its sorrows, and partaking of its joys.  You meet\nhim in society, and you observe no marked distinction, except in his\ncharacter.  But all the while the hidden seal is on his forehead, the\nFather\u2019s name is written there, and the quiet, humble believer, with\nnothing here to attract attention, is in the sight of God a child of God;\nand is destined to reign triumphant in the approaching kingdom of his\nLord: \u201cIf children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with\nChrist.\u201d\n\nBut this is merely the first step in the great salvation.  The living\nbeliever, though saved, is in the midst of his warfare.  He may be\nconfident of victory, but he dare not lay aside his armour.  We must look\nforward therefore to the time when his struggle will be over, and his\nvictory perfected in Christ; when his ransomed spirit shall take its\nplace in the great multitude, who stand in the presence, and behold the\nglory of the Lord.  How many are there that have stood beside the open\ngrave, grieving, and bitterly grieving, for the loss of those over whose\nremains it was about to close!  But how would that grief be soothed,\ncould we only see beyond the veil, and there witness the joy of the new\nborn spirit, no longer struggling against sin, nor bowed down by its\nheavy burden; no more contending against its subtlety, nor compelled to\nconfess its power; but welcomed there to uninterrupted blessedness, a\nspotless spirit in the joy and presence of the Lord.\n\nBut even this is not all.  It is enough to fill our hearts with gladness\nto know that the departed spirit rests in perfect peace before the throne\nof God; but there are blessings richer still in store for all the saints\nof God.  There is a time coming when there shall be no division in the\nfamily, nor any great gulf between the brethren assembled before the\nthrone, and the brethren still struggling upon earth; but when the whole\nof God\u2019s elect shall be gathered; when the Jew, the European, the\nAfrican, and the New Zealander, will all be assembled into one company,\nto bow before one throne, to speak one language, and to join in one\nuniversal hymn of praise to the one Author of their eternal life.  Then\nagain each individual will be perfected.  There will not then be merely\nthe spirit in separation from the flesh, but it will be reunited to the\nrisen body, as pure, as spotless, as incorruptible as itself.  And who\ncan realize the joy of that wonderful day, when all shall be gathered, so\nthat no single individual of the whole family shall be absent, and all\nshall be perfected, so that throughout the whole multitude there shall\nnot be found a single spot or stain of sin\u2014when the whole corruption of\nour nature shall be gone, the whole effect of that corruption gone\nlikewise, and the whole church of God created anew in the perfect\nlikeness and image of the Lord?  Such is the great, the complete\nsalvation.  And the present means for compassing this mighty end is the\nsimple preaching of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.  Men go forth with\nstammering lips, and multiplied deficiencies; but God is blessing their\nmessage for the ingathering of His own elect, and the final completion of\nHis own glory.  So that notwithstanding all defects, we may look onwards\nto the great result, and say with St. Paul\u2014\u201cI am not ashamed of the\nGospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.\u201d\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nIII.  But, following the guidance of the text, we are led to a third\nreason why we should not be ashamed of the Gospel, namely, _the\nmagnificence of its terms_.  \u201cIt is the power of God unto salvation to\nevery one that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.\u201d\n\nIt is in human nature to admire anything that is grand and glorious.  The\nheavens, the sea, the mountains, command our admiration by the beauty of\ntheir appearance, and the vastness of their scale.  But in the whole\nrange of the works of God, there is nothing to be compared in grandeur\nwith the Gospel of Christ.  It is the most perfect display of the most\nperfect and holy of His attributes.  If it be inquired which is the\ngreatest of all His holy attributes, it will not be found to be His\nomnipotence or His omniscience, but that in which all the rest are summed\nup by the inspired Word, when it says, \u201cGod is love.\u201d  And if, again, it\nbe inquired how this crowning attribute has been most abundantly\nexhibited, we shall not find our answer either in creation or in\nprovidence, but in \u201cthe height and depth and length and breadth of the\nlove of Christ, which passeth knowledge.\u201d  \u201cHerein is love, not that we\nloved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation\nfor our sins.\u201d\n\nNow this love is displayed in the Gospel, according to the language of\nthe text, both in the extent of the offer, and the freedom of its terms.\n\nIn the _extent of its offer_; for there is no limitation of any kind\nwhatever, but the door is thrown open to every one that believeth, to\nwhatever nation it may be his portion to belong.  It is \u201cthe power of God\nunto salvation, to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also\nto the Greek.\u201d  There is none excluded, nor any who possesses a peculiar\ninterest in the promise.  It is, indeed, preached first to the Jew; but\nhe has no exclusive interest in its blessing, for the Greek, or Gentile,\nis accepted on the same terms, and made partaker of the same inestimable\ngifts.  It is well, therefore, that we should strive to stir up each\nother\u2019s hearts in the work of missions, both to the Jews and to the\nheathens; to the colonists in distant lands, and to the great masses of\nour uninstructed countrymen at home.  The Gospel is the same power to all\nclasses and in all lands.  The Jew may long strive to work out a\nsalvation for himself, and rest content in his own most sinful\nrighteousness; but let the grace of God touch his heart, and he will find\nthe Gospel to be the power of God unto his salvation, while he kneels, in\nfaith and deep humiliation, before the throne of his crucified and risen\nLord.  The manufacturer may be for a time lost in the midst of the dense\npopulation with which he is surrounded, having his mind soured by the\npreachers of sedition, and his heart estranged from God through the\ndeadly teaching of the Chartist and the Socialist; but let the earnest\npastor convey to him in his own home, or preach to him in the church, the\nlife-giving Gospel of the Lord, and it is found to be the power of God\nunto his salvation; so that the bold blasphemer becomes the meek, the\nhumble, the believing child of God.  So again with our colonists.  They\nare a class of persons for whom we should feel the most tender sympathy.\nMany of them are compelled to leave their country on account of poverty;\nand then, settling in some distant settlement, are wholly cut off from\ntheir wonted enjoyment of the means of grace.  Many who once loved the\nhouse of God at home, now rarely hear the voice of the minister; and, if\never they enjoy the blessing of the communion, can only hope for it after\nthe long interval of many years.  But the Gospel is the power of God unto\ntheir salvation; and it is delightful to realise the joy felt by\nmultitudes of thirsting souls, when the faithful missionary arrives on\nhis long-expected visit, and sets forth, in rich simplicity, the\nunsearchable riches of Christ.  So again to the poor African, the unhappy\ncaptive of that wicked slave-trade, torn from his home, his wife, his\nchildren, his all that is dear to him on earth, is the same Gospel\nbrought home with the same power.  It is a shame that the heart of every\nEnglishman is not moved to its very core, by the awful miseries inflicted\nby that most guilty traffic; and, while we look at the apathy of the\nChristian church upon the subject, we may well exclaim, \u2018Where is the\nspirit of Clarkson and William Wilberforce, of Buxton and Zachary\nMacaulay?\u2019  Why are we not all stirring heart and soul to remove such a\ncurse from human nature?  There is a joy, however, in placing the happy\npeace of the believing African, in bright contrast to the dark horrors of\nthe abominable traffic, and in following the liberated captive on his\nway, till we find him in one of the Sierra Leone churches; a holy\nbeliever, a living, happy, triumphant, witness that the Gospel of the\nLord Jesus is the power of God unto salvation.\n\nBut the real beauty of the Gospel consists in the _freedom of its terms_,\nas expressed in the latter part of the text:\u2014\u201cto every one that\nbelieveth.\u201d  These words show that salvation is granted freely without\nany preparatory qualification in the sinner; and if this one feature in\nit were changed, it would at once be stripped of all its excellence and\npower.  Suppose, for example, that the text were otherwise expressed, and\nthat it were said, \u201cThe Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, to\nevery one that _repenteth_:\u201d we could never then have laid hold on a\nSaviour\u2019s love, until we had ascertained a clear evidence, in our own\nsoul, of a repentance so perfect as to be satisfactory before God; or, in\nother words, we should have been for ever cut off from mercy.  Or suppose\nit had been written, \u201cto every one that loves:\u201d we must then have turned\nour thoughts inwards for a strict scrutiny of our own affections, and\nalthough we desired with the whole heart to love the Lord, we should have\nfound there so much of cold apathy, that we should have been compelled to\nthe conclusion that the great salvation could never be for us.  Or\nsuppose that the common low standard of the world had been adopted, and\nthe text had been written, \u201cto every one that does all in his power to\ndeserve it:\u201d where, we ask, is that man who has even fulfilled this low\nrequirement, and who would not through his manifold defects and\ndeficiencies, be for ever excluded from the covenant?  But thanks be to\nGod, the text says, \u201cto every one that believeth!\u201d  Now faith is the act\nof the lost soul in laying hold on Christ.  The Gospel therefore requires\nno preparatory fitness, it does not bid us wait till we repent enough, or\ntill we love enough, or till we have endeavoured enough; but it does bid\nus trust, as we are, to the Saviour who died for us; and it does assure\nus, because He made a perfect atonement for the whole of our sin, that\n\u201cwhosoever believeth on Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting\nlife.\u201d  This one great truth is the very key-stone of the Gospel; and let\nany poor, guilty, brokenhearted sinner only learn through God\u2019s grace\nwhat it is to accept that free pardon in faith, and then it will be\nstrange, indeed, if he cannot enter into the spirit of the apostle, when\nhe declares, \u201cI am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the\npower of God unto salvation.\u201d\n\nNow let us thank God that there is in this metropolis a body of young\nmen, to the number of about 1,200, and in other parts of the country to\nthe number of about 1,200 more, who are not ashamed of the Gospel; not\nashamed of the broken heart,\u2014not ashamed of being called saints,\u2014not\nashamed of uniting together heart and soul in the earnest endeavour to\nspread the glad tidings of a free salvation through the world.  May the\nLord prosper their work, and give them all an experimental knowledge of\nthe Gospel which they strive to spread!  If a man look on it merely as a\ntheory, he is very likely to be ashamed of it; but if he know the joy of\nan abiding and soul-saving union with his Lord, then may we hope to see\nhim take his stand, as an earnest and unflinching witness for Christ.  It\nis the deep sense of Divine love that must move all hearts to labour for\nHis kingdom.  So may God grant us all grace to labour till the day when\nall toil shall cease in the joyful presence of our reigning Lord!  How\nshall we then feel, if you and I are permitted to meet on that day, on\nthe right hand of the throne!  What triumphant praises will then burst\nforth from the whole company of God\u2019s elect! what joy will thrill through\nevery heart, to whom the Lord shall in that day be pleased to say, \u201cWell\ndone, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!\u201d\nLet us labour now with that bright end in view; remembering that we are\nnothing and thanking God for the knowledge of our nothingness; but\nremembering, likewise, that Christ Jesus is our all, our life, our peace,\nour joy, our hope; and that, therefore, it is our delightful privilege,\nalthough we be nothing, to cast that nothing before His throne, and\nconsecrate all with entire simplicity to His service.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n  J. M. ROBESON, PRINTER, GLASSHOUSE YARD, (BACK OF APOTHECARIES\u2019 HALL,)\n                                 LONDON.","title":"The Believer Not Ashamed of the Gospel","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":4556}