SERMON III.

MARK XVI. 15, 16.

He

And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned.

THE topics contained in these verses are the most momentous that can be offered to the attention of man. They concern every individual of the human race, and involve his greatest happiness or misery, not only during the few short years of his sojourn on earth, but in that eternal world, for which we are all destined. Our blessed Saviour represents us as placed here in a state of trial, in which it is for ourselves to decide what shall be our future and everlasting condition; a state, however, in which, through human error and frailty, and the effects of our Creator's just displeasure, we are beset with manifold difficulties and dangers; while at the

same time we are ignorant of any effectual means of surmounting or escaping them. But, moved with compassion for our infirmities and wretchedness, the Son of God, having obtained all power, and having been appointed Judge of all things, in heaven and in earth, sends forth his messengers to proclaim help from Him that is mighty to save, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind"." He sends them forth into all the world, bearing the glad tidings of peace from God, and salvation, " to every creature."

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The terms on which He announces these inestimable benefits, are easy; and the tribute which He requires, is light: "He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved" but they are also indispensable; for the same authority declares, that "he that believeth not, shall be damned." He that believeth, openly professing his belief, and manifesting his reliance on the Son of God, by receiving the sign and seal which He has appointed in confirmation

of his Gospel, shall be furnished with the means of working out his salvation; and, continuing to use those means, he shall finally attain everlasting life. But he that believeth not, whatever may be his professions, howsoever punctilious he may be in assuming and wearing the external badges of Christ's service, remaineth in his sins; and at the day "" when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed," he shall find that the just, and then inevitable, recompence of his sins is death.

The belief, which is thus necessary to salvation, is called in general terms a belief of the truth: and as the Gospel was appointed to be the subject of the Apostle's preaching, it is evidently a belief of the Gospel, and of the chief truths contained therein, which is required. But if we turn to the corresponding passage in the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we shall find more particular information on this point. The Apostles are there commissioned to "teach all nations," and to baptize "them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy

Ghost"." And this passage has been always thenceforward received as containing a brief epitome of the Gospel and of the Christian faith. For when we ask the question, who are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the shortest satisfactory answers we could give, would embrace the facts particularized in the Apostles' Creed; and when to these, are added their reasons, objects, and consequences, the brief baptismal formulary will be perceived to comprehend, or to imply by strict consequence, every article which the holy Catholic Church sets forth as essential to the integrity and efficiency of the Christian faith.

But these subjects are not intended to be received as mere matter of knowledge or inoperative opinion: they must be comprehended indeed by the understanding; but they must be also treasured up in the heart. It is with the heart that man believeth unto righteousness, for out of the heart are the issues of life. The Gospel addresses us not merely as contemplative, but as reasonable and active, beings, whose b Matthew xxviii. 19, 20.

every deed bears upon the great question to be decided at the termination of our trial. It professes to regulate our life, and therefore appeals to that part of man, which bears the chief sway over him. If the Gospel receive the bare assent of the understanding as a matter of historical fact, in which those interests which we most value are but little implicated, it will plainly have as little effect upon the conduct but if it be received as involving, with exclusive and inevitable reality, our everlasting salvation; it will sink deep into the heart, and from thence will exercise a salutary and uniform influence on the life.

In thus receiving the faith of Christ into the heart, and in submitting our life to its control, our former evil and dangerous ways are forsaken: in coming to the good and the right way, we abandon the paths of wickedness. Repentance, therefore, is implied in that belief which is necessary to salvation. There is, in truth, no middle way between doing that which is evil and that which is right in the sight of the Lord,