his favourite theme, this was the topic on which he every where insisted, and this he lived and died to make known to mankind. Have you, my brethren, ever allowed your minds to dwell upon this all-important subject with that seriousness which it deserves? You have read of it in your Bibles, you have heard of it in the Church, you have avowed your belief in it, when you have repeated the creed, or rehearsed your catechism. Yet it may be that you have never felt that it was good tidings of great joy. You may perhaps have never considered how deeply you are concerned in it; how entirely all your hopes of eternal happiness depend upon it. The apostle calls it "a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." The

angel said it was " good tidings of great joy which should be to all people, that to them was born a Saviour, Christ the Lord." All therefore, are concerned-deeply concerned in the fact.

And why is it a saying worthy of all acceptation? why is it good tidings to all people? why are all so deeply concerned in it? The apostle's words will answer the question, "There is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And thence he argues that none can be saved otherwise than freely-by grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

My dear friends, we have just been on our knees confessing before Almighty God, that this declaration of his

word applies to us, that we are miserable sinners; 'that we have erred and strayed from his ways like lost sheep; that we have left undone the things we ought to have done, and have done the things that we ought not to have done, and that there is no health in us.' We, then, are sinners; and if sinners, we are in danger of eternal misery. We therefore want a Saviour; and "there is salvation in none other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," but that of "Christ Jesus the Lord," whom St. Paul preached, and whom all the ministers of the gospel are commanded to proclaim. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."1 Such was the language our Lord used to Nicodemus. Let us reflect upon this for one moment. Men are likely to perish through their sins, but God so loved them as to give his only begotten Son "Christ Jesus the Lord "-" that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." This, brethren, "is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." When the jailor at Philippi, filled with terror, cried to Paul and Silas, "Sirs! what must I do to be saved?" they said unto him, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." They preached

'John iii. 16.

to him "Christ Jesus the Lord." And such, my brethren, is the errand on which we are sent unto you. We cannot conceal from you our full persuasion that both you and ourselves are sinners against God. Our consciences tell us that this is the case; we see death and judgment before us, and we tremble at the thought of what will be the consequence of sin in that world to which we are going. And we are persuaded that there is no means whereby we can escape the wrath of God ourselves, or by which you can escape it; but through Christ. We are assured that he is able to save to the uttermost all them that come to God by him. We therefore preach unto you Christ Jesus the Lord. We set him forth as the Saviour, "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." We beseech you to look to him for salvation, to believe in him that you may have everlasting life. If we have any of that mind in us which was in St. Paul, we can say, "We seek not our own profit, but the profit of many, that they

may be saved.” 1 For this purpose we preach

to you the Lord Jesus Christ; for we are sure that he is able to save you from sin and from hell, and to bring you to heaven; and we are equally sure thatyou can find no salvation but through him.

If then, brethren, in my future ministry among you, I should say much upon the subject of Christ

11 Cor. x. 33.

and of his salvation, I trust you will believe that I do so, because I am fully satisfied that thus only I shall rightly discharge my duty amongst you; that I shall best consult your advantage by directing you to this only source of happiness and peace.

I shall have much, very much to say to you, should GOD spare me, of the need of repentance, and of the necessity, the absolute necessity, of good works, of leading a sober, righteous, and godly life-without which no one can be a Christian, a traveller in the way to heaven; in this also I would follow the example of St. Paul and his brethren, and most earnestly do I hope that I may be able to say as he did, "we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake."

2. To this last clause of my text I must now briefly call your attention.

In his first Epistle, the Apostle declares to the Corinthians,-" All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas." These eminent ministers of Christ were all of them, as it were, the property of the church, for the advantage of which they were willing to spend and be spent. And in the ninth chapter of the same Epistle he says, "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became a Jew that I might gain the Jews-to them that are under the law, as under

the law, that I might gain them that are under the law-to them that are without law, as without law,... that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things unto all men, that I might by all means save some."

In these passages we have a striking comment upon the last clause of the text. "I have made myself the servant of all-I have become all things to all men, that I might save some." I am willing to sacrifice every interest and every pleasure, and to submit to any degradation and self-abasement; if I may but save some. Such was the spirit which glowed in the breast of St. Paul-such was the feeling that led him from kingdom to kingdom, preaching to the

Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."

Such too should be the feeling with which the Ministers of the Gospel engage in their duties. The love of Christ should constrain them to live no longer to themselves but to him "who died for us and rose again." The love of the immortal souls for whom Christ died, should make them willing to undertake any service, however mean, any duty however laborious or distressing, by which they may save some.

In this sense, brethren, we preach ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. We deem ourselves bound to labour for your good-to promote your