"And the Publican standing afar off would not lift up so "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to SERMON S. SERMON I. THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD. 1 THESS. ii. 13. FOR THIS CAUSE ALSO THANK WE GOD WITHOUT CEASING, BECAUSE WHEN YE RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD WHICH YE HEARD OF US, YE RECEIVED IT NOT AS THE WORD OF MEN, BUT AS IT IS IN TRUTH THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH EFFECTUALLY WORKETH ALSO IN YOU THAT BELIEVE. THE message of the gospel is in itself wonderfully calculated to excite attention and to awaken interest. It is connected with the highest and the dearest interests of mankind. It speaks alike to the hopes and fears, the sympathies and the affections of every one whom it addresses. If there be gratitude, or generosity, or the desire of happiness in the human breast, the gospel applies itself to these and kindred emotions. And yet the mere adaptation of the gospel to the actual wants of the soul would be wholly inefficient to insure VOL. II. B |