the East to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had "At that time Herod the Tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, SERMON I. THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS. 1 CORINTHIANS i. 18. "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." THERE is no earthly distinction so great, or so momentous, as that which exists between the two classes of persons referred to by St. Paul in the text, namely, "those which are saved, and those that perish :" in other words, between those who are made partakers of the great salvation revealed in the gospel, (for salvation is a present privilege,) and who are delivered from the guilt, and the dominion, and the punishment justly due to sin; and those who, having rejected the offers of pardoning mercy, perish in their iniquities. No distinction of rank, of В talent, of endowment, of wealth, of external circumstances, can be compared in importance to this. The two classes are citizens of a different country, they breathe a different atmosphere, are actuated by different motives, inspired by different hopes, swayed by different opinions, are hastening to a different end; and yet to one or other of these classes each individual belongs. How important, then, is the inquiry for each one seriously to make,-Among which class may I fairly be ranked? To remain for one moment in doubt upon a subject of such vital interest is folly in the extreme; for, unquestionably, of all infatuated men he is the most infatuated, whose mind is at rest while there is the most remote chance that he may ultimately perish, and not find pardon and acceptance in the day of the Lord Jesus. The text affords a satisfactory test whereby we may try our characters, and scrutinize the ground of our hopes. If to us the preaching of the cross is foolishness, then, unquestionably, we are in danger the most imminent; if, on the contrary, we experience it to be the power of God, then have we good ground to believe that the gospel has been instrumental in furthering our salvation, and that at the last we shall stand forth monuments of its transforming power, when the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall place upon our head the crown of righteousness. I. The first point for our inquiry, in further considering the declaration of the text, is the meaning of the apostle when he uses the expression, "the preaching of the cross." From the whole tenor of this epistle, as well as from his other writings, he obviously intended by this preaching, the full display of all those glorious doctrines, which form the sum and substance of the New Testament revelation; and which are inseparably interwoven in its texture. In an especial manner, he referred to the fundamental doctrine of atonement, by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ; and the importance which he attaches to this preaching cannot be more strikingly illustrated than when he declares, "if any man preach, nay, if an angel from heaven preach any doctrine contrary to this, let him be accursed." When Philip, the deacon, went down to Samaria, and preached Christ to the people, so that there was great joy in that city, and when he so preached Jesus that the eunuch of Ethiopia went on his way rejoicing, carrying to the land of his nativity the news of redeeming mercy, the doctrines preached were those of the cross. The cross of Christ is then only preached, when, as Moses at God's command directed the perish |