unto me, My Father, Thou art the Guide of my

Youth?

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SERMON XX.

THE WORD OF THE LORD GLORIFIED.

2 THESSALONIANS, iii. 1. Finally, Brethren, pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you. 312

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SERMON I.

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.

JUDGES, iii. 20.

I have a Message from God unto thee.

If we turn to the chapter from which these words are taken, we shall find, that they were spoken by Ehud; a man whom God had raised up to be a deliverer to his people Israel and they were addressed to Eglon king of Moab, whom the Israelites had served for eighteen years. Long had they groaned under his yoke: but at length they cried unto the Lord; and He heard their cry, and helped them. Ehud, acting under a divine commission, went to the king; and being admitted into his presence, addressed him in the words of the text, "I have a message from God unto thee." And what was the message? It was a message of wrath a message, dreadful to him, to

whom it was sent: a message delivered not in word, but in deed; not with the lips, but with the hand. For no sooner did the king arise out of his seat, but Ehud seized a dagger, which had been purposely concealed, and thrust it into his body and slew him.

In reading this history, let us not suppose that it is related for our imitation. We are not, in this manner, to free ourselves, even from oppression and tyranny. Nothing but a divine commission could have justified Ehud in thus taking away the life of the king of Moab. Without such a commission, the whole proceeding would have been very sinful. The Lord however is not confined in his use of means. He may employ any that He pleases. And whether He execute his judgements by one instrument, or by another, by sickness and disease, by storm and tempest, by the hand of a man, or by the sword of an angel, He is still "righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works." Let us then rather learn from this narrative to fear God and his judgements; to dread provoking the Lord to anger; and to pray that we may not be cut off in our sins. "From sudden death, good Lord, deliver us!"

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But though such was the occasion on which these words were spoken, they need not in our application of them be limited to it. We

may consider them as spoken by all the Lord's servants. Every Minister of the Gospel in one sense may use them. And in this view, there is not a single individual in any congregation to whom the Minister may not solemnly address himself, and truly say, "" I have a message from God unto thee.' "This is the use which I now purpose to make of these words; and to do it with the greater effect, I shall first offer some few observations, which will help to explain and justify this application of the passage. I observe, then,

I. That the Ministers of the Gospel are God's messengers. They are not indeed his messengers in the sense in which Ehud was his messenger. They do not claim to themselves, as he might have done, an express and a personal commission from God. Neither are they his messengers in the sense in which the Prophets and Apostles were his messengers. They have nothing to reveal to men. They do not profess to make any new communication of the Divine Will. They make no pretensions to any miraculous power or inspiration, nor to any such authority as that which the first Christian Preachers possessed. Still, however, they may be truly said to be God's messengers: for they are sent by Him to remind men of His will. They are especially appointed to

the office of teachers, and remembrancers. They come in God's name; and are sent to declare his truths. The Scriptures are the Book from which they profess to receive their instructions: and so far as they comply with these instructions, and preach according to this Book, so far the message which they deliver is in fact God's message. Though delivered by man, it yet virtually comes from God: and in this sense, then, those who bring it are his messengers. It is in the same sense, that they are sometimes said to be" Workers together with God," and at other times, his " Ambassadors," whọ address men in his stead, and by whom, as it were, God is said to beseech them. I observe,

II. That the Ministers of the Gospel must be faithful in delivering their message. Being God's messengers, being put in trust with the Gospel of Christ, they must discharge their trust with boldness and fidelity, as those that must give account. There is no choice left to them in this matter. They are not at liberty to do as they please; to withhold the message or not, as their own inclination may lead them: but they are to speak boldly, as they ought to speak; with "great plainness of speech," not "handling the word of God deceitfully," nor