{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_Excellency_of_the_knowledge_of_Christ_crucified/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_Excellency_of_the_knowledge_of_Christ_crucified","id":"wikisource_Excellency_of_the_knowledge_of_Christ_crucified","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Excellency_of_the_knowledge_of_Christ_crucified","summary":null,"tags":["1765_works","Chapbooks","Main_pages_with_authority_control_data","PD-old","Pages_with_illegible_text","Pamphlets","Ready_for_export","Religion","Scotland","Works_using_categories_parameter","Works_with_reconstructed_words_or_phrases"],"text":"THE\n\nEXCELLENCY of the KNOWLEDGE\n\nOF\n\nCHRIST CRUCIFIED:\n\n\u0410\n\nSERMON,\n\nPreached, October 22d, at Colin\u017fburgh, Fife\u017fhire, upon the admi\u017f\u017fion of the reverend Mr Thomas Collier to the exerci\u017fe of the holy mini\u017ftry in the di\u017f\u017fenting congregation there.\n\nBy the Rev. Mr Tho. Boston Mini\u017fter of the Go\u017fpel at Jedburgh.\n\nYea, doubtle\u017fs, and I count all things but lo\u017fs, for the excellency of the knowledge of Chri\u017ft Je\u017fus, Phil. 3. 8.\n\nThe EXCELLENCY of the KNOWLEDGE of CHRIST Crucified.\n\nI Corinth ii. 2.\n\nFor (illegible text)ermined not to know anything among you, \u017fave Jesus Chri\u017ft, and him crucified.\n\nI(illegible text)he preceding words, the Apo\u017ftle begins a vindication of the manner of his preaching, which he \u017fays, was not with excellency of \u017fpeech or of wi\u017fdom. And, ver. 4th, he adds, \"My \u017fpeech and my preaching was not with the enticing words of man's wi\u017fdom but in demon\u017ftration of the Spirit, and of power\u2020\" It appears there were in his days, as there are in ours, many who greatly admired a fine \u017ftyle; not \u017fo much regarding the \u017fubject matter of a \u017fermon, as the preacher's language and manner of addre\u017fs. Of this \u017fort were they who had been in\u017ftructed in the Platonic philo\u017fophy before their conver\u017fion to Chri\u017ftianity, and were for introducing among the preachers of that religion, what they called Plato's gracious manner The Apo\u017ftle frequently in this epi\u017ftle declares again\u017ft this piece of vanity, as very much below the dignity of the Go\u017fpel. He did not \u017ftudy pompous words curiou\u017fly aranged, and rhetorical harangues, or nicely adju\u017fted periods, to tickle the car and plea\u017fe the fancy of tho\u017fe who pretended to a refined and polite ta\u017fte in the\u017fe matters. And the rea\u017fon for this part of his conduct is a\u017f\u017figned in the text: I determined not to know anything among you \u017fave Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft, and him crucified.\n\nIn which words, two things are ob\u017fervable:\n\n1. The \u017fubject matter of Paul's preaching, namely, Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft\u02d0 I determined to know nothing among you, \u017fave Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft. This \u017furely is not to be understood as if the Apo\u017ftle \u017fimply condemned all other knowledge but that of Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft. We find the Holy Ghost (illegible text) recorded it to the honour of Mo\u017fes, \"that he was learned in all the wi\u017fdom of the Egyptains.\" Be\u017fides, Paul him\u017felf had a very liberal education before his conver\u017fion, being bred up at the feet of Gamaliel an eminent doctor of the law. Yea, he was not only acquainted with the Jewi\u017fh laws, rites and traditions, but likewi\u017fe with the Heathen poets and philo\u017fophers, as appears by pa\u017f\u017fages quoted from them in his writings*. However, he condemns all \u017forts of knowledge, in \u017fo far as they come in competition with, or \u017ftand in oppo\u017fition to, the knowledge of Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft. Neither was this a warm flight of devotion, or a thought that \u017fuddenly \u017ftruck the (illegible text) the effect of the mo\u017ft attentive con\u017fideration, (illegible text) the mo\u017ft deliberate and \u017ferious enquiry So (illegible text)rted in what is here rendered determined. (illegible text) he had \u017faid, 'I have well weighed the ca\u017fe, I (illegible text)med it round, and balanced advantages and di\u017fadvantages, gains and lo\u017f\u017fes;\u2014\u2014I have endeavoured to (illegible text)n every thing that merits con\u017fideration here;\u2014\u2014after the mo\u017ft \u017ferious, deliberate and impartial \u017fcrutiny, this is my \u017fettled opinion, my fixed \u017fentiment, That no knowledge what\u017foever is worthy to be once named with the knowledge of \"Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft my Lord, for whom I have \u017fuffered the lo\u017fs of all things, and do count them but dung,\" (or dogs meat, as the Greek word imports) \"that I may win Chri\u017ft, and be found in him, not having mine own righteou\u017fne\u017fs, ec.' (a)\n\nNow, this being the great Apo\u017ftle's judgment, we need not wonder that he determined to know nothing,\n\ni.e. to make nothing known among the people, but Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft. This excellent, this matchle\u017fs One, \u017fhould be the \u017fubject of all his \u017fermons, di\u017fcour\u017fes and epi\u017ftles. He would \u017ftudy fir\u017ft to know Chri\u017ft for him\u017felf, and then to make him known unto the people\u2014 hereby (illegible text)ing an example to mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel in all \u017fucceeding ages, that they \u017fhould fir\u017ft be Chri\u017ftians, and then mini\u017fters\u2014and further, that, however well they may be accompli\u017fhed in the \u017feveral parts of human learning, yet in their pulpit-mini\u017ftrations, they \u017fhould di\u017fplay nothing but the glory, the love, and the laws of the Lord Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft. This is the mean appointed of God for the \u017falvation of \u017finners; and, though it be e\u017fteemed fooli\u017fhne\u017fs by the witlings of the world, we may re\u017ft \u017fatisfied in this, that the only wi\u017fe God knows very well how to adapt the means to the end.\n\n2. The \u017fpecial con\u017fideration of Chri\u017ft which he \u017fingles out from among all the re\u017ft, to be the \u017fubject of his preaching, namely, Chri\u017ft crucified. It is not Chri\u017ft ri\u017fen, Chri\u017ft a\u017fcended, and \u017fitting at the right hand of God clothed with all power, that he pitches on, though the\u017fe views of him were more likely to have recommended him to the world: but, behold! he \u017fingles out that very circum\u017ftance concerning Chri\u017ft, which, of all others, neither Jews nor Gentiles were able to endure: and that was, his being nailed to a cro\u017fs till he died! \"Chri\u017ft crucified was to the Jews a \u017ftumbling-block, and to the Greeks fooli\u017fhne\u017fs.\" And indeed he was \u017fo to Paul him\u017felf, as much as to any man, before his conver\u017fion; for he was, by his own acknowledgment, \"a bla\u017fphemer, a per\u017fecutor, and injurious.\" Nay, we find, the di\u017fciples could not bear the intimation of Chri\u017ft's death when it was made to them by him\u017felf. Peter remon\u017ftrates again\u017ft it vigorou\u017fly. The truth is, the\u017fe good men laboured under the prejudices of a Jewi\u017fh education; and they never awaked fully out of the dream of a temporal kingdom, until the day of Penteco\u017ft, that the Holy Gho\u017ft came down upon them, and cleared up the my\u017ftery of the cro\u017fs unto them; and then, indeed, they went forth with boldne\u017fs, boa\u017fting and glorying in that very thing which the world thought a badge of \u017fhame and infamy.\n\nAnd now, methinks, this determination of the mo\u017ft famous preacher and apo\u017ftle of the Gentiles furni\u017fhes us with a le\u017f\u017fon very \u017fuitable to the occa\u017fion of our meeting here this day, namely, 'That the doctrine of Chri\u017ft crucified, is that which mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel \u017fhould chidily \u017ftudy to know and to make known among the people.'\n\nIn di\u017fcour\u017fing farther on this \u017fubject, we propo\u017fe, through Divine a\u017f\u017fi\u017ftance, fir\u017ft, To con\u017fider what is that knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified which mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel ought to have. Secondly, To \u017fhow how mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel \u017fhould make Chri\u017ft known among the people. Thirdly, To point out in \u017fome particulars the excellency of the knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified above all other knowledge what\u017foever.\n\nI As to the fir\u017ft thing propo\u017fed viz. what is that knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified, which mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel ought to have? we \u017fay,\n\n1. All Chri\u017ftians, but e\u017fpecially mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel, ought to have the \u017fpeculative knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified, as by their office they are bound to make him known unto others. They \u017fhould be \"\u017fcribes well in\u017ftructed unto the kingdom of heaven, and able to bring forth out of their trea\u017fure things new and old.\" They \u017fhould know and under\u017ftand the evidences of the Chri\u017ftian religion, and likeways the particular doctrines and duties thereof; that \u017fo they may be able not only to in\u017ftruct the weak and ignorant, but al\u017fo to defend Chri\u017ftianity again\u017ft the attacks of Dei\u017fts and Infidels, and all other enemies of the truth as it is in Je\u017fus.\n\nNow, as he who would be ma\u017fter of any art or \u017fcience, will chu\u017fe to read the be\u017ft books written thereon; \u017fo the\u017fe who de\u017fire to make proficiency in the knowledge of Chri\u017ft, would by all means \u017ftudy the holy \u017fcriptures of the Old and New Te\u017ftament:\u2014the\u017fe, my brethren, are the grand charter of our \u017falvation, and they are \u017fealed by the blood of our Saviour.\u2014\u2014This \u017fame Je\u017fus is, as it were, the running title of the whole Bible. All the prophets \u017fpoke of him; all the prie\u017fts in their \u017facred \u017fervices were types of him, and pointed towards him.\u2014\u2014Judai\u017fm was Chri\u017ftianity under a vail, as Chri\u017ftianity is Judai\u017fm unvailed. Therefore the Old Te\u017ftament ought to be carefully \u017ftudied by mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel, as well as the New; fora\u017fmuch as Chri\u017ft is the \u017fcope and \u017fub\u017ftance thereof. And for the better under\u017ftanding of both Te\u017ftaments, it is quite nece\u017f\u017fary they \u017fhould be acquainted with the original languages in which they were written. The \u017ftrength and beauty of many pa\u017f\u017fages in the Old Te\u017ftament, and even the true \u017fen\u017fe of \u017fome of them, cannot be di\u017fcerned by \u017fuch as are utterly unacquainted with the Hebrew language. And I cannot but take notice of it, as what de\u017ferves to be regreted, that the \u017ftudy of that language \u017fhould have gone to much into de\u017fuetude in this nation, e\u017fpecially among the Clergy, whole office it is to explain the \u017fcriptures unto the people, and therefore ought to be furni\u017fhed with every thing nece\u017f\u017fary for their own under\u017ftanding of them. But we have \u017fome ground to hope, that this error may in proce\u017fs of time be rectified, as there appears a greater inclination for that \u017ftudy, both in this and in the neighbouring nation, than heretofore.\n\nMinisters of the go\u017fpel ought, like Appollos, to he mighty in the \u017fcriptures. Bonus theologus, bonus textuarius, was the \u017faying of old. They \u017fhould read them regularly, frequently, and with great attention; and thereby they will be furni\u017fhed with a better fund for preaching Chri\u017ftianity, than by reading any other book, or all other books what\u017foever that have been written on the \u017fubject;\u2014\u2014though the\u017fe al\u017fo are very u\u017feful in their proper place.\n\n2. They ought al\u017fo to have the experimental and practical knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified; lea\u017ft, while they preach him to others, them\u017felves be ca\u017ft aways, as the Apo\u017ftle's phra\u017fe is. The mo\u017ft precious truths fluctuating in the head, but not de\u017fcending into the heart, nor \u017fanctifying it, prove no better than the manna of old, which when kept over night, \u017ftank and bred worm: however di\u017ftinctly we apprehend evangelical truths, yet if they are unmixed with faith, and indige\u017fted by practice, they will breed the noxious humours and crudities of pride, \u017felf conceit, hypocri\u017fy and profanene\u017fs.\n\nReal religion, my brethren, does by no means con\u017fi\u017ft in the merely \u017fpeculative knowledge of its truths; otherwi\u017fe, the devils them\u017felves would have more religion than the be\u017ft of us, for albeit they have lo\u017ft their purity and holine\u017fs, we have no ground to think they have lo\u017ft their knowledge and \u017fagacity. The \u017fcripture \u017faith, \"They believe and tremble (d),\" which implies their knowledge. As for carnal unregenerate men, what ever are their abilities natural or acquired, they know Chri\u017ftianity only in a book; whereas real Chri\u017ftians have felt the exceeding greatne\u017fs of its power; they have \u017fuch ideas and \u017fuch impre\u017f\u017fions of \u017fpiritual things made upon their minds by the Holy Gho\u017ft, as the natural man knows no at all.\n\nSuppose the picture of a man drawn as lively, and as near to the original as po\u017f\u017fible; yet they who have \u017feen the man him\u017felf, and conver\u017fed with him, will have another \u017fort of idea of him than tho\u017fe po\u017f\u017fibly can have, who never \u017faw him but in the picture. A man who has read Geography, may de\u017fcribe the complexion, religion, laws, cu\u017ftoms, commodities, and curio\u017fities of different countries which he never dwelt in, nor travelled through: but the man who has lived in tho\u017fe countries, and \u017feen all the\u017fe things with his eyes, and often conver\u017fed with the inhabitants, mu\u017ft have an idea and an impre\u017f\u017fion of them, which the man who has only read or heard of them knows nothing about.\n\nHow nece\u017f\u017fary then is the experimental knowledge of Chri\u017ft to mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel? Let them have the riche\u017ft cargo of gifts and learning you can \u017fuppo\u017fe, yet, without this, they are but very poorly furni\u017fhed for their office, and the di\u017fcharge of it is more likely to be the drudgery of their lives, than the delight of their \u017fouls.\n\nA preacher of Chri\u017ft, yet not believer in Chri\u017ft! a mini\u017fter of Chri\u017ft, yet a \u017fervant of \u017fin! what mon\u017ftrous connections are the\u017fe? \"Thou therefore which teache\u017ft another, teache\u017ft thou not thy\u017felf? Thou that preache\u017ft a man \u017fhould not \u017fteal, do\u017ft thou \u017fteal (e) ?\" In \u017fhort, tho\u017fe who preach Chri\u017ftianity, without real and \u017faving impre\u017f\u017fions of it upon their own hearts, are no better than actors upon a \u017ftage, where a villain often per\u017fonates the mo\u017ft virtuous character, and where all is mere fiction. But,\n\nII. I proceed to the \u017fecond thing in our method, viz. To \u017fhew how mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel \u017fhould make Chri\u017ft crucified known among the people.\n\n1. They \u017fhould make him known by preaching. To this purpo\u017fe the reverend Apo\u017ftle of the Gentiles tells us, \"After that in the wi\u017fdom of God, the world by wi\u017fdom knew not God, it plea\u017fed God by the fooli\u017fhne\u017fs of preaching to \u017fave them that believe. For the Jews require a \u017fign, and the Greeks \u017feek after wi\u017fdom: but we preach Chri\u017ft crucified, unto the Jews a \u017ftumbling-block, and unto the Greeks fooli\u017fhne\u017fs; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Chri\u017ft, the power of God, and the wi\u017fdom of God.\" And in another place, \"For we preach not our\u017felves, but Chri\u017ft Je\u017fus the Lord (f).\" &c. True it is, we are not apo\u017ftles; this high title belongs not to them who are now mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel; they have neither the call, nor the qualifications, nor the charge of \u017fuch Neither had the\u017fe who were apo\u017ftles and \u017fucce\u017f\u017fors in their office properly \u017fo called. At the \u017fame time, Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft certainly de\u017figned there \u017fhould be a \u017fet of men \u017fucce\u017f\u017fively, who \u017fhould have it for their office to teach and preach his religion to the end of time. And as \u017fuch an in\u017ftitution \u017feems founded on common \u017fen\u017fe and rea\u017fon, and upon the univer\u017fal practice of mankind in reference to religion;\u2014\u2014\u017fo it \u017feems to be very plainly intimated by our Saviour him\u017felf before his a\u017fcen\u017fion, when he \u017fays to his di\u017fciples \"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, \u2014\u2014teaching them to ob\u017ferve all things what\u017foever I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world\" (g) We all know the\u017fe good men lived but \u017fhort while in the world: however, the promi\u017fe originally made to them, extends to faithful mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel in their \u017feveral generations, to the end of time. Therefore, whatever be pretended, it appears to me a very unfriendly office to Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft and his religion, to depreciate a public mini\u017ftry\u2014\u2014It is an attempt to bla\u017ft what the Lord has mo\u017ft certainly ble\u017f\u017fed in all ages to the conver\u017fion of \u017fouls.\n\nBut then mini\u017fters of Chri\u017ft mu\u017ft be preachers of Chri\u017ft; they \u017fhould make him known among the people, by preaching his doctrines, his in\u017ftitutions and his laws and commandments. Under the\u017fe three, I conceive, want is called preaching of Chri\u017ft may be comprehended.\n\nMinisters \u017fhould lay before their people the evidences of the truth of Chri\u017ftianity in a way \u017fuited unto their capacities, that \u017fo they may be able to give a rea\u017fon of the hope that is in them, and be fortified again\u017ft the attacks of Dei\u017fts and Infidels, who abound every where in this degenerate age. However, they ought not to in\u017fi\u017ft always upon the\u017fe, but to open up the particular doctrines of Chri\u017ftianity, \u017fuch as concern the per\u017fon, natures, offices, and grace of the Lord Je\u017fus. They \u017fhould endeavour to convince \u017finners of their lo\u017ft \u017ftate by nature, their ab\u017folute inability to recover them\u017felves, and the indi\u017fpen\u017fible nece\u017f\u017fity of coming to Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft as the one and only Mediator betwixt God and man. And, in order to obtain this good end, the law mu\u017ft be preached, its threatenings and cur\u017fes mu\u017ft be \u017founded loud in the ears of \u017finners;\u2014they mu\u017ft be alarmed with the thunder and fire from mount Sinai \"for the law is our \u017fchool ma\u017fter to bring us in to Chri\u017ft\u2020.\" They \u017fhould open up that grand tran\u017faction betwixt God the Father and God the Son, in behalf of mankind \u017finners, called the covenant of grace, with all the ble\u017f\u017fings and benefits contained therein, as effectual calling, ju\u017ftification, adoption, regeneration, \u017fanctification, the inhabitation of the Spirit, per\u017feverance in grace, and the heavenly kingdom.\n\nFarther, mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel \u017fhould declare the ordinances and in\u017ftitutions of Chri\u017ft. Our Lord's la\u017ft words, when he was leaving the world, were, \"Teaching them to ob\u017ferve all things what\u017foever I have commanded you,\" &c. The po\u017fitive in\u017ftitutions of Chri\u017ftianity, for all the clamour and noi\u017fe that has been made about them by Infidels, are but few in number, and of ea\u017fy ob\u017fervation; e\u017fpecially when compared with the Ritual of the Jewi\u017fh church, once of divine in\u017ftitution, and which the Apo\u017ftle Peter calls \"a yoke that neither they nor their fathers were able to bear.\"\n\nBut then mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel mu\u017ft preach the laws and commandments of Chri\u017ft. Hence we find the great Apo\u017ftle of the Gentiles, in his epi\u017ftles, always \u017fubjoins unto the doctrines of free grace, (which he had a particular talent of di\u017fplaying), the warme\u017ft exhortations to piety, holine\u017fs and righteou\u017fne\u017fs in their \u017feveral branches. For he well knew how prone corrupt nature is to divorce comfort from duty, and to turn the grace of God into wantonne\u017fs.\n\nThe go\u017fpel is \"a doctrine according to godline\u017fs,\" It is a mo\u017ft holy go\u017fpel; and where it appears, it teaches to deny ungodline\u017fs and worldly lu\u017fts, and to \"live \u017foberly, righteou\u017fly and godly in this pre\u017fent world. What\u017foever things are true, what\u017foever things are pure, what\u017foever things are lovely, what\u017foever things are of good report; if there, be my virtue, and if there be any prai\u017fe.\" the go\u017fpel of Chri\u017ft commands us to \"think on the\u017fe things (i)\"\n\nTherefore, when mini\u017fters declaim again\u017ft vice, either in general, or more particularly:\u2014when they inculcate the duties of \u017fobriety, righteou\u017fne\u017fs and charity, the people mu\u017ft not call it legal preaching, or not preaching Chri\u017ft; for he who preaches the laws of Chri\u017ft, preaches Chri\u017ft, as well as he who preaches the love of Chri\u017ft. But, then faithful preachers of the go\u017fpel, in urging duty and obedience upon the people, will be \u017fure to remind them of their utter in\u017fufficiency of them\u017felves for \u017fo much as a good thought, and the nece\u017f\u017fity of an entire dependence upon the Spirit and grace of the Lord Je\u017fus, for a\u017f\u017fi\u017ftance and acceptance in every good work. When the\u017fe things are duly ob\u017ferved, duty cannot be too much urged, but the pre\u017f\u017fing of duty without them a mo\u017ft criminal neglect of the grace of our Lord Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft, and a piece of cruelty to poor \u017finners; while they are craved hard, as by an Egyptian ta\u017fkma\u017fter, for duty and \u017fervice, and nothing afforded them wherewith to pay.\n\n2. Minister \u017fhould make Chri\u017ft known among the\u017fe people by the ordinance of catechi\u017fing. In the primitive church, catechi\u017fing was very much the work of their pa\u017ftors, and many were \u017fet apart for that very purpo\u017fe. Before per\u017fons were admitted into full communion with the church, they were by catechi\u017fing in\u017ftructed in the principles of the Chri\u017ftian religion; and, till \u017fuch time as they were judged fit to partake of the holy \u017facrament, they were called Catechumens.\n\nThe Apo\u017ftle Paul recommends it to the Galatians to give all due encouragement unto tho\u017fe who laboured in the work of catechi\u017fing among them: \"Let him that is taught in the word,\"\u2014according to the original, it is, \"Let him that is catechi\u017fed in the word, communicate unto him that catechi\u017feth, in all good things (k).\" Several great and worthy men, both in the earlier and later periods of the church, have employed much of their time in this \u017fort of exerci\u017fe among the people, and have found it exceeding profitable unto them. And I apprehend, the knowledge of the principles of religion, which generally obtains among\u017ft the commonalty in Scotland is in a good mea\u017fure owing to the laudable cu\u017ftom of catechi\u017fing practi\u017fed by their mini\u017fters: whereas in the countries where it is neglected, the commons are for the mo\u017ft part gro\u017fsly ignorant.\n\nSermons are addre\u017f\u017fed to a whole a\u017f\u017fembly, and by the far greate\u017ft number of the audience very little attended unto. Be\u017fides, the \u017fubject of a \u017fermon is probably but one \u017fingle point or doctrine of Chri\u017ftianity; whereas, at a diet of catechi\u017fing, one may hear the principal doctrines of the whole \u017fy\u017ftems opened up: and the attention of the people is better kept up, when they are particularly called upon to give the rea\u017fons of their faith and hope.\n\nLet us, then, who are mini\u017fters carefully di\u017fcharge our duty in this particular, e\u017fpecially among the younger \u017fort; and, through the divine ble\u017f\u017fing, it will have very good effects.\n\n3. Ministers \u017fhould make Chri\u017ft known among their people by occa\u017fional in\u017ftruction, exhortation, con\u017folation and reproof. Let us hear Paul's awful charge to his \u017fon Timothy:\u2014\"I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft, who \u017fhall judge the quick and the dead, at his appearing and his kingdom\"\u2014Strange! what mu\u017ft that be which the Apo\u017ftle charges with \u017fuch an awful \u017folemnity?\u2014\"Preach the word, be in\u017ftant in \u017fea\u017fon, out of \u017fea\u017fon: reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long\u017fuffering and doctrine (l)\" Mini\u017fters \u017fhould have a deep \u017fenic and impre\u017f\u017fion of the weight of their work always abiding upon their \u017fpirits, as al\u017fo a tender concern for the \u017ftate of their flock; and then they will readily embrace every opportunity of promoting their edification in faith and holine\u017fs Be\u017fides the \u017ftated and con\u017ftant parts of the mini\u017fterial work, which \u017fhould be diligently attended unto; a faithful mini\u017fter will find \u017feveral occa\u017fions of dealing with particular per\u017fons, for their conviction in ca\u017fe of offence, for their direction in difficulties, for their clearance in doubts, or for the comfort in di\u017ftre\u017fs. And the word, thus particularly applied by one having \"the tongue of the learned to speak a word in \u017fea\u017fon,\" has often been ble\u017f\u017fed with remarkable \u017fucce\u017fs.\n\n4. Ministers \u017fhould make Chri\u017ft known among their people by exemplifying his life in their own lives. Paul tells the The\u017f\u017falonians,\u2014\"Ye are witne\u017f\u017fes, and God al\u017fo, how holily, ju\u017ftly and unblameable we behaved our\u017felves among you that believe (m).\" Mankind have in all ages been more ea\u017fily influenced by example than by precept. And this is thought to be one rea\u017fon why the Heathen philo\u017fophers had \u017fo little \u017fucce\u017fs in reforming the world, viz. that many of them practi\u017fed tho\u017fe very vices in their lives, which they declaimed again\u017ft in their public lectures. Therefore mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel, above all men, \u017fhould be careful to \"adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour\" by their holy works:\u2014they \u017fhould not give the lea\u017ft countenance to the vices, vanities and frolics of the age.\u2014In any company where they happen to mix, they \u017fhould \u017fpeak and act in a \u017fuitablene\u017fs to their \u017facred and venerable character\u2014they \u017fhould be as \u017fo many living Bibles \u017fcattered up and down the Chri\u017ftian world, \"that they who know not the word, may al\u017fo, without the word; be won\" by their holy and exemplary conver\u017fation (n)\n\nIt was \u017faid of one of the mini\u017fters of the primitive church, that he thundered in his doctrine, and lightened in his life. And a greater than he was called \"a burning and a \u017fhining light,\" viz John Bapti\u017ft\u2014He called him\u017felf, in his great humility, a voice; \"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderne\u017fs, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.\" A voice! the lowe\u017ft of entities, which owes its very being to the breath of the \u017fpeaker. And, indeed, he was all a voice;\u2014voice in his conver\u017fation. If, then, we who are mini\u017fters would commend Chri\u017ft and his religion to the people, let us walk before them as he al\u017fo walked; and thus we will preach to them by our lives, as well as by our lips.\n\nIII. I proceed now to the third thing propo\u017fed, viz. To point out the excellency of the knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified above all other knowledge what\u017foever. On this head I offer the following particulars:\n\n1. The knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified excels all other knowledge in point of certainty. That \u017fuch a per\u017fon as Je\u017fus of Nazareth appeared in Judea, in the reign of Tiberius, is agreed by all:\u2014The birth of this per\u017fon, his manner of life, his doctrine, and his death, exactly corre\u017fpond with the prophetic accounts of the Me\u017f\u017fiah to be found in the ancient Jewi\u017fh records. He proved him\u017felf to be the \u017fame Me\u017f\u017fiah, the Son of God, and a divine per\u017fon, by his doctrine, and by a \u017feries of inconte\u017ftible miracles, not done in a corner or \u017fome \u017fmall incon\u017fiderable village, but done in Jeru\u017falem the capital of the nation;\u2014\u2014and not before friends only, or a \u017felect number of witne\u017f\u017fes, but publicly, in the pre\u017fence of thou\u017fands, the mo\u017ft of whom were his bittere\u017ft adver\u017faries, and had all the inclination imaginable to di\u017fprove them, had it been in their power. After they had murdered him, and laid him in his grave, under a triple \u017fecurity, the \u017ftone, the \u017feal, and the watch; yet, according to his own prediction, he ro\u017fe the third day after his death. He did not indeed appear publicly before the Jewi\u017fh nation after his re\u017furrection, as he had done before his death: but the whole college of the apo\u017ftles, men of \u017fufficient abilities for di\u017fcerning,\u2014\u2014men of untainted candour and integrity, go to death, one after another, maintaining the \u017fame thing, viz. that they \u017faw with their eyes Je\u017fus of Nazareth alive; that they eat and drank, and conver\u017fed familiarly with him, for no le\u017fs than forty days after he had been both dead and buried. Thus the re\u017furrection of Chri\u017ft, upon which the whole of chri\u017ftianity depends, \u017ftands upon the mo\u017ft undoubted evidence*. Now, my brethren, be\u017fides the external evidence for the truth of chri\u017ftianity, ari\u017fing from miracles and prophecies, which the acute\u017ft adver\u017faries have not yet been able to di\u017fprove; real believers have the inward witne\u017fs of the Spirit of God, convincing them of the truth of Chri\u017ftianity, with a certainty beyond all moral f(illegible text)\u017fions or mathematical demon\u017ftrations in the world.\n\n2. The knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified excels all other Knowledge in point of ea\u017fine\u017fs and plainne\u017fs. How difficult is it get any tolerable in\u017fight into the mo\u017ft of \u017fciences! how much time is nece\u017f\u017farily \u017fpent in the very rudiments and elements of them! and all this is but an introduction into them. How many years may a man live, and \u017ftudy hard too, and yet make but a \u017fmall progre\u017fs in the knowledge of natural philo\u017fophy? He may know much in re\u017fpect of others who are ignorant in the\u017fe matters, and yet know but very little in compari\u017fon of what yet remains to be di\u017fcovered in the va\u017ft continent of nature.\n\nThe honourable Mr Boyle, a great \u017fearcher into nature, a profound philo\u017fopher, and at the \u017fame time altogether a Chri\u017ftian, affirms, that the \u017fhortne\u017fs of man's life makes it impo\u017f\u017fible for him to under\u017ftand thoroughly any one thing in nature. Be\u017fides, it is not the bulk of mankind, nay, it is only a few of them, that have capacity or opportunity for philo\u017fophical enquiries. But Chri\u017ftianity being de\u017figned for the benefit of mankind at large, it is plain and ea\u017fy, and calculated for the weake\u017ft capacity: \u017fo that people of low life, and of little penetration, may make great proficiency therein. It is true, indeed, there are in the \u017fcriptures; things hard to be under\u017ftood, difficulties that will exerci\u017fe the judgment of the greate\u017ft \u017fcholars: but then, the\u017fe are remote from the e\u017f\u017fentials of Chri\u017ftianity, and people may remain ignorant of them without endangering their eternal \u017falvation: whereas the things ab\u017folutely nece\u017f\u017fary to be know are expre\u017f\u017fed in \u017fuch plain terms, that he who runs may read them. There are in the \u017fcriptures \u017fhallow places where lambs may wade, as well as depths where elephants may \u017fwim: and while learned men and di\u017fputers of this world contend about chronological difficulties, or critical nicities; the meane\u017ft and weake\u017ft of the hou\u017fhold of faith may re\u017ft \u017fatisfied, yea, be full of joy, while they know nothing but Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft, and him crucified.\n\n3. The knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified excells all other knowledge in point of \u017fublimity. Hence, the Chri\u017ftian joins i\u017f\u017fue with the devout P\u017falmi\u017ft, crying, \"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law (p).\" What is the knowledge of languages, of arts and \u017fciences? what is the knowledge of nature or of mankind. when compared with the knowledge of \"God in Chri\u017ft. reconciling the world unto him\u017felf, and not imputing their tre\u017fpa\u017f\u017fes unto them? The whole \u017fy\u017ftem of nature, which contains so many admirable curio\u017fities, was de\u017figned chiefly us a theatre to di\u017fplay the revealed \u017fy\u017ftem upon for a while; and therefore mu\u017ft be as an inferior unto it, as the \u017fcaffolding is to the building.\n\nThe go\u017fpel is the hi\u017ftory of God acting in triune economy for the recovery of mankind:\u2014it contains the grande\u017ft plot, plan, and contrivance that ever bred in the brea\u017ft of God, and which lay hid there from all eternity:\u2014\u2014it is \"the my\u017ftery God, and of Chri\u017ft; even the my\u017ftery that hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manife\u017ft to the \u017faints (q).\" This glorious go\u017fpel opens up unto us the love, grace, and manifold wi\u017fdom of the Father:\u2014the per\u017fon, natures, offices, and grace of the Son:\u2014the per\u017fon, nature, operations, and influences of the Holy Gho\u017ft, as the prime mini\u017fter in the mediatory kingdom: it \u017folves the grand problem of the Heathen world, (illegible text). the origin of moral evil, and at the \u017fame time discovers the only remedy, for it:\u2014\u2014it points out the univer\u017fal corruption of human nature, and the only mean of its renovation:\u2014it brings life and immortality to light, and opens unto us a joyful pro\u017fpect beyond the gloomy \u017fhades of death and of the grave. The\u017fe grand and important things, which the very angels de\u017fire to look into, are the \u017fubject of the go\u017fpel; and therefore, in point of \u017fublimity, it excels all other knowledge.\n\n4. The knowledge of Chri\u017ft, crucified excels all other knowledge in point of extent and compa\u017fs. In view of this, David \u017fays, I have \u017feen an end of all perfection; but thy commandment is exceeding broad. And the apo\u017ftle Paul prays for the Ephe\u017fians, That they may be able to comprehend with all \u017faints, what the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Chri\u017ft, which pa\u017f\u017feth kwowledge (P\u017falm cxix. 96. Eph. iii. 18. 19.) Other \u017fciences but \u017fhadows, the go\u017fpel is a boundle\u017fs bottomle\u017fs ocean: it is the manifold wi\u017fdom of God; a wi\u017fdom of many plies and folds, as the word imports. It is an allu\u017fion to a curious piece of needlework, wherein there are various expre\u017f\u017fions of art; and and \u017fo it is, as it were, the embroidered wi\u017fdom of God. Angels, who excel in knowledge as well as \u017ftrength, delight them\u017felves at pre\u017fent, and will do \u017fo through eternity, in contemplating this wi\u017fdom. It is in the \u017ftudying of Chri\u017ft as in the planting of some new di\u017fcovered country: at fir\u017ft men \u017fit down upon the \u017fhirts and borders, and there they dwell, till they \u017fearch farther into the heart of the country. And indeed, my brethren, tho\u017fe who have made the greate\u017ft progre\u017fs in the study and knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucifice; are but yet on the borders of this va\u017ft continent. For now we \u017fee as through a gla\u017fs darkly; now we know in part, and we prophe\u017fy in part: But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part \u017fhall be done away. (1 Cor. xiii. 9. 10. 12.)\n\n5. The knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified excels all other knowledge in point of profit and u\u017fefulne\u017fs: for godline\u017fs is profitable unto all things, having promi\u017fe of the life which now is, and of that which is to come. (1 Tim. iv. 8.)\u2014 Arts and \u017fciences, it mu\u017ft be acknowledged, have their u\u017fefulne\u017fs; philo\u017fophy is a valuable thing: but, alas\u01c3 of how little account are they, when compared with the knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified? What though a man perfectly under\u017ftand the heavenly bodies, in their nature, motion, and influences? yea, what though a man under\u017ftand all the \u017fecrets of nature, and could unravel her from the \u017fcycamore to the cedar? If he is ignorant of Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft, the Sun of righteou\u017fne\u017fs, the bright and morning \u017ftar, he with all his cargo of knowledge mu\u017ft be lo\u017ft and ruined for ever.\n\nCarnal rea\u017fon and philo\u017fophy cannot give a \u017fatisfying an\u017fwer to the weighty ca\u017fe of con\u017fcience proposed by the Jaylor; \"Sirs, what mu\u017ft I do to be \u017faved?\"\u2014All the wi\u017fdom of Egypt and Athens falls \u017fhort here, and leaves the inqui\u017fitive mind fluctuating in painful uncertainty. But the Apo\u017ftle, in very few words, fully an\u017fwers the ca\u017fe: \"Believe in the Lord Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft, and thou \u017fhalt be \u017faved. This an\u017fwer, as one ob\u017ferves, is \u017fo old, that with many it seems out of date: but it is \u017ftill, and will ever be, new, and fre\u017fh, and \u017favoury, and the only re\u017folution of this grand ca\u017fe of con\u017fcience, as long as con\u017fcience and the world la\u017fts. Let this then commend the knowledge of Chri\u017ft unto us, that it directs us in matters of the la\u017ft con\u017fequence and moment, viz. how we \u017fhall obtain the favour and friend\u017fhip of God, and how we \u017fhould \u017fteer our cour\u017fe for a ble\u017f\u017fed and happy eternity. In fine, this knowledge is profitable unto all things:\u2014it is profitable for pro\u017fperity, and for adver\u017fity:\u2014for \u017fickne\u017fs, and for health:\u2014for life, and for death;\u2014for time, and for eternity.\n\n6. The knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified excels all other knowledge in point of plea\u017fure and \u017fatisfaction: \"Wi\u017fdom's ways are ways of plea\u017fantne\u017fs, and all her paths are peace (x). The di\u017fcovery of truth, ab\u017folutely con\u017fidered, is accompanied with an intellectual, and therefore with a manly plea\u017fure, va\u017ftly \u017fuperior to all the delights of \u017fen\u017fe: and the more important and intere\u017fting the truth is which we di\u017fcover, the joy ari\u017fing from it is \u017fo much the greater. O then, how ravi\u017fhing, how tran\u017fporting beyond all expre\u017f\u017fion, mu\u017ft the di\u017fcoveries of Chri\u017ft be to the gracious \u017foul! 'Their money peri\u017fh with them,' \u017faid the famous Italian convert, 'who think all the gold of the Indies worthy to be compared with one hour's communion with the Lord Je\u017fus.' Surely the Chri\u017ftian who knows that God is his God in Chri\u017ft, has infinitely better rea\u017fon than Cicero, upon finding the tomb of Archimedes, to cry out, I have found it out! I have found it out!\n\nMoreover, the joy ari\u017fing from the knowledge of Chri\u017ft abides with the \u017faints in the day of di\u017ftre\u017fs, making them to glorify God in the fire, and to cry out in the dark and cloudy night, Hallelujah! he does all things well!'\n\nHowever much people living at ea\u017fe may be plea\u017fed with the fine di\u017fcour\u017fes of the Heathen philo\u017fophers about bearing misfortunes; yet, when one is deeply plunged in di\u017ftre\u017fs, all the fine \u017fpeeches of Seneca, the \u017fmart \u017fayings of Epictetus, and the \u017folemn coun\u017fels of Antoninus, prove but Job's comforters: and a \u017fingle \u017fentence of the Bible, \u017fet home upon the heart by the Holy Gho\u017ft, affords infinitely greater con\u017folation than all the philo\u017fophers put together. The \u017fweet \u017fen\u017fe and experience of this, made a great and good man expre\u017fs him\u017felf after this manner, in a letter to a friend:\u2014'I de\u017fire to ble\u017fs his holy name who has delivered me from the painful pur\u017fuit of what they call learning, and from the fooli\u017fh plea\u017fure of venting the little of it that I know. I write it on all my books, and de\u017fire to have it engraven upon my heart;\u2014\"I determined to know nothing, but Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft, and him crucified.\"\n\n7. Lastly, The knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified excels all other knowledge in point of duration and continuance. That head which carries the riche\u017ft cargo of human learning, will very \u017foon be emptied of all, and laid down, cold, and \u017fen\u017fele\u017fs, and \u017filent in a grave. The knowledge of policy, the art of war, languages, laws, cu\u017ftoms and hi\u017ftories, will be ju\u017ft as u\u017fele\u017fs the moment after death, as the knowledge of the meane\u017ft mechanic: but the knowledge of Chri\u017ft will go along with us into the eternal world; and the more it is improves here, it will be \u017fo much the more dilated hereafter. Now the\u017fe things being duly con\u017fidered, we need not wonder that Paul \"determined to know nothing but Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft and him crucified;\" and that \"he counted all things but lo\u017fs, for the excellency of this knowledge.\"\n\nI conclude with a few practical inferences.\n\n1. Here we may \u017fee the great worth and excellency of the Chri\u017ftian religion. It clearly and fully a\u017fcertains the terms on which God will treat with guilty \u017finners, in order to pardon and reconciliation:\u2014it gives a \u017fati\u017ffactory an\u017fwer to that mo\u017ft important and intere\u017fting enquiry, \"What \u017fhall I do to be \u017faved?\" while it directs the anxious enquirers to believing on the \u017flain Son of God, as the great ordinance of heaven for their re\u017ftoration into the divine favour.\u2014Chri\u017ftianity tells us what Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft has done for us and \u017fuffered for us;\u2014and what account God the Father makes of all this;\u2014and what God and Chri\u017ft require and expect of us as an expre\u017f\u017fion of gratitude for all this love and kindne\u017fs.\n\n2. If the knowledge of Chri\u017ft be \u017fo valuable, then \u017fhould not we lament the \u017ftate of tho\u017fe nations that fit in the darkne\u017fs of ignorance? My brethren, this go\u017fpel is not the privilege of mankind all the world over: nay, the proportion which the Chri\u017ftian world bears to the world at large, is computed but as five to thirty, which is a very \u017fmall one. Should not we then lift up a prayer for our fellow men, that the light of the glorious go\u017fpel may yet \u017fhine upon them? Surely, if we love the Lord Je\u017fus, we will de\u017fire an acce\u017f\u017fion to his kingdom; and therefore will, with a deep concern upon our \u017fpirits, put up the \u017fecond petition in the Lord's prayer, \"Thy kingdom come.\" Of \u017fix petitions that are in that prayer, the fir\u017ft three relate to the Redeemer's intere\u017ft in the world \"Hallowed be thy name;\u2014thy kingdom come;\u2014thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.\" It is common with us to bring in the\u017fe great affairs towards the end of our prayers, as it were to \u017fpin out the time, when the warmth and vigour of our \u017fpirits are well nigh \u017fpent. But the friends of Je\u017fus \u017fhould not leave that la\u017ft of all, which he has put fir\u017ft of all: at lea\u017ft, whatever place they align it in their prayers, it \u017fhould have great room in their hearts, and never be mentioned but with (illegible text)vency of \u017foul.\n\n3. What a \u017fhameful thing is it that \u017fo many of the daily hearers of the go\u017fpel \u017fhould be gro\u017fsly ignorant of Chri\u017ft? Ah my brethren, great numbers among us \"are de\u017ftroyed for lack of knowledge!\" and the ca\u017fe is not that they cannot get it, but that they are not for it. Their ignorance is not \u017fimple and involuntary, but willful and affected. The light is come unto them, but like bats and owls, they hate it, and \"chu\u017fe darkne\u017fs rather becau\u017fe their deeds are evil.\" They \u017fay unto God, \"Depart from us; for we de\u017fire not the knowledge at thy ways.\" (Job xxi. 14.) Well, remember, the day is fa\u017ft approaching, \"When he will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on all them that know not God, and obey not the go\u017fpel.\"\n\n4. The be\u017ft among us, whether mini\u017fters or private Chri\u017ftians, have rea\u017fon to lament and be a\u017fhamed that we have made \u017fo little progre\u017fs in the knowledge of Chri\u017ft crucified. Alas! \"we are yet but as babes in Chri\u017ft, and \u017fuch as have need of milk and not of \u017ftrong meat, being un\u017fkillful in the word of righteou\u017fne\u017fs.\" (Heb. v. 13. 14.) Let us then \u017fhake of \u017floth and indolence;\u2014let us \u017feque\u017ftrate our\u017felves from the bu\u017ftle and noi\u017fe to a vain vexatious world, and betake our\u017felves more clo\u017fely to the \u017ftudy and contemplation of the mo\u017ft glorious object; in other words, Chri\u017ft and him crucified. Angels are our condi\u017fciples and fellow \u017ftudents in this my\u017ftery, though their concern therein be not equal with ours. It was our nature that he a\u017f\u017fumed, and not the nature of angels;\u2014it was for us he laid down his precious life, and not for them;\u2014we have the honour to be members of his my\u017ftical body, not they!\u2014unto us is the go\u017fpel preached, not unto them. But they love to hear Chri\u017ft preached, and therefore they attend our wor\u017fhipping a\u017f\u017fembles, and learn the manifold wi\u017fdom of God from the church. So much the Apo\u017ftle intimates, when he \u017fays, \"To this intent, that now unto principalities and powers, in heavenly places, might be made known by the church, the manifold wi\u017fdom of God.\" (Eph. iii 10.). Let the\u017fe con\u017fiderations excite us unto a more earne\u017ft and diligent \u017ftudy of Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft, (illegible text) whom to know is life eternal.\"\n\nLastly, We that are mini\u017fters of the go\u017fpel \u017fhould learn hence both the matter and manner of preaching. Let us preach Chri\u017ft crucified. This was Paul's \u017fubject: and that man is certainly an ignorant, proud and u\u017fele\u017fs preacher, that refu\u017fes to follow Paul's example, and manages his mini\u017ftry as if he had determined to know any thing but Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft and him crucified.\u2014Let us endeavour to under\u017ftand, and to make our people under\u017ftand, how all the truths of the go\u017fpel meet in Chri\u017ft, as \u017fo many lines in their centre. And at the \u017fame time, let us be careful to urge obedience to all the laws of Je\u017fus, from \u017fuch motives & principles as the go\u017fpel \u017fugge\u017fts.\n\nAnd then, as to the manner of preaching, let us declare the truths of the go\u017fpel in the \u017ftyle and language of the go\u017fpel, which is certainly the true \u017fublime. The modern embelli\u017fhments of \u017ftyle are as much below the dignity of the go\u017fpel, as they are above the capacity of popular auditories, and \u017ferve only to display the pride, pedantry, and \u017filly affectation of the \u017fpeaker. They may, indeed plea\u017fe \u017fuch as go to the church from the \u017fame motive they go to the play-hou\u017fe, viz. for their amu\u017fement; but tho\u017fe who attend \u017fermons that they may be built up in faith and in holine\u017fs unto \u017falvation, will not find their account in them.\n\nI have often been much plea\u017fed with the character which Dr Bates gives Mr Richard Baxter as a preacher, in his funeral \u017fermon upon him. He \u017fays:\u2014'There was a noble negligence in his \u017ftyle; for his great mind could not \u017ftoop to the affected eloquence of words: he de\u017fpi\u017fed fla\u017fhy oratory: but his expre\u017f\u017fions were clear and powerful, \u017fo convincing the under\u017ftanding, \u017fo entering into the \u017foul, \u017fo engaging the affections, that tho\u017fe were as deaf as adders, who were not charmed by \u017fo wi\u017fe a charmer. He was animated with the Holy Spirit, and breathed cele\u017ftial fire, to in\u017fpire heat and life into dead \u017finners, and to melt the obdurate in their frozen tombs.'\n\nTo conclude: In our preaching, let us accommodate our\u017felves to the capacities of tho\u017fe with whom we have\nto do: let us chu\u017fe \u017fuch mea\u017fures as are adapted to the great end of preaching, which (illegible text)ing the hearer to the knowledge (illegible text) for Christ (illegible text)\n\nThis work was published before January 1, 1931, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.\n\nPublic domainPublic domainfalsefalse","title":"Excellency of the knowledge of Christ crucified","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":7374}