VIII.

Ashamed of Christianity?

WE have seen that Christ's death was atoning, that it was the great subject of the Apostle's preaching, and that risen from the dead he intercedes for us. In what Christ our Passover was in himself, and in what he accomplished on the Cross for us, there is nothing of which a Christian ought to be ashamed, but everything in which a Christian should always and everywhere glory and rejoice.

The Epistle to the Romans was addressed to the Christians resident at Rome by the Apostle Paul, an accomplished scholar, and a devoted Christian. To those who might be expected, from their peculiar views, to have little sympathy with him, he says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." You will recollect that the virtues the gospel inculcates, the motives it implants, the ends it contemplates, and the process by which it proposes to accomplish those ends, were all substantially unintelligible to the Roman, and not likely to be appreciated by a people who had no taste for the softer virtues that elevate and adorn, but who rather gloried in the more terrible magnificence of war and victory. But, says the Apostle, whether in the Acade

mus on the banks of the Ilyssus, amidst the philosophers of Greece, or in the Forum by the waters of the Tiber, amidst the warriors of Rome, I am neither ashamed of professing, nor will I shrink from glorying in the gospel of Christ.

Can there be any in modern times who should hesitate to say, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ?" There are few who shrink from the proprieties and decencies of Christianity. Most people like to have their children baptized, to come to public worship, to profess to be Christians. This is all proper; but there is something beyond all this. Are there not many who would not be ashamed of Christianity on the whole, but who would shrink from being thought spiritual, religious, godly people? And yet, if the gospel be what the Apostles pronounce it to be, why should any man be ashamed of it? If it be the most excellent thing in the universe, the inspiration of wisdom, the exponent of love, the salvation of souls, the study of angels, the glory of God, what ignorance, or what crime, in any one to be ashamed of such a gospel! Did you ever hear of a scholar ashamed of his learning, a rich man of being thought so, or a beauty ashamed of its charms? Can a Christian be ashamed of that which is the beauty of the universe, the safety of souls, the glory and the inspiration of God?

But let me show you by some plain, but, I think, conclusive facts, that there is no reason whatever for being ashamed of anything that is in the gospel, but, on the contrary, every reason for manfully avowing whose we are and whom we serve. We have no reason whatever for being ashamed of the great Author and theme of the gospel-Christ and him crucified. True,

he was a sufferer, and acquainted with grief. That was his shame; but it was his glory that he suffered not for himself. He lay in a manger; but angel choirs chanted his praise while he lay there, and royal personages came from afar to do him homage. True, he wept; but every tear was the extinction of a sin, or the exhaustion of a curse. He died; but the rending rocks, the quaking earth, the retiring sun, the thick darkness of noonday, composed a pall that never rested on the most illustrious dead. He lay in a grave, but it was its vanquisher, and not its victim, who was there. We must measure the greatness and the glory of the gospel's Author by a line stretching from the throne of heaven downward to the Cross of Calvary; from the adoration of cherubim to the execration of earth: and when we can measure that immeasurable descent, we shall have some conception of the glory and magnificence of him who is the Author and the End of the gospel.

It is a remarkable fact, that in all the worst assaults of scepticism, infidelity, and irreligion, the life and character of Jesus they have never dared to impugn. It is recorded by Josephus, that when the Roman soldiers under Titus and Vespasian came into the holy of holies of the Temple of Jerusalem, they were so struck by the awful magnificence of the place, that they did not dare to lay a profane hand upon it. Infidelity has assailed our Bible, our sacraments, our Christianity; but it has not dared to assail the character or impugn the principles of Jesus of Nazareth; and it is Rosseau himself, the profane infidel of France, who has pronounced upon our Lord the most eloquent eulogium ever enunciated perhaps in any tongue. We have

no reason for being ashamed of the Author of the gospel.

But there is no reason for being ashamed of its doctrines. The great question that perplexed ancient philosophy was, How shall God be just, and yet pardon sinners? Surely a religion that casts light upon this question is one of which we should not be ashamed. It tells us that Jesus endured all that we deserved, and paid all that we owed; and that by virtue of the first we are emancipated from the curse of a broken law, and by virtue of the second we are entitled to the reward of a law that we were not able to obey. What light has this gospel cast on the dreariest and darkest places of the human heart! What blessed joys has it awakened where all was sorrow and sadness before! What specimens of whatsoever things are pure, and just, and lovely has it created! Its doctrines have been proved by the experience of eighteen hundred years to be according to godliness. Are we ashamed of the character it gives of God? of the prospect it holds out of the future? of the work of the Holy Spirit? Is there one doctrine in this blessed book that does not bear the impress of a Divine original?

But again, we have no reason to be ashamed of the evidences upon which Christianity rests. Witnesses unimpeachable attest its divinity; history from its thousand chapters proclaims it to be from God; ancient prophecies, meeting in confluent streams in its majestic current, show that it was the object of the predictions of four thousand years; ancient types find their illustration in it; and all facts combine to show that it is no priestly fable. What efforts have been made to quench this light, and lo! it only burns

brighter. What efforts have been made to arrest its progress! and it moves only more enthusiastically in its appointed orbit, giving irresistible proof to all who will think, that this religion is the ambassadress of heaven, and the benefactress of earth. Well might the Apostle say, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ."

We have no reason to be ashamed of the means by which the gospel has been promoted amongst mankind. If the religion of the New Testament had been a mere human religion, it would have allied itself with every earthly element. Mahometanism has trusted to the scimitar; and Romanism asserts its supremacy by its proscriptive and sanguinary laws. If Christianity had either cheated its way to ascendency, or cloven its way to supremacy, I should be ashamed of it; but it seeks to obtain universal sway by persuading the judgment, convincing the reason, and softening the heart; and therefore I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

But if you will look at the fruits it has produced, you will come to the very same conclusion. Do not quote fanaticism, persecution, bigotry, intolerance; of such, alas! there has been plenty in the world. The apple-tree is not to be cut down because the spider weaves its web amongst its leaves; and Christianity is not to be rejected because of the parasite plants that cling to it, and have tried to identify themselves with it. The fruits of Christianity are temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, whatsoever things are pure, just, honest, lovely, and of good report. These are its fruits; and where they are not, Christianity is