On this page
-
Text (3)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
" For I determined not to know any thing among you , save Jesus Christ , and him crucified . " After shewing from the preceding chapter that this was a determination to teach no other doctrines than those of Christ , and to veil with no false glories the true nature of Christ ' s condition and office ; and after pointing out the incidental confirmation , arising from such a determination by such a man as Paul , to the truth of Christianity , the preacher proceeded to the fol - lowing inferences and remarks :
If this was the determination of a Christian apostle , should it not also be that of every Christian preacher ? And should not the conviction that it ought to be so , regulate the expectations of Christian hearers ? It appears to me , my friends , that both these consequences follow ; and I will endeavour to explain what would be the proper effect of attention to them . In a preacher , such a determination as that of the apostle would keep his mind directed to the Christian revelation , as the great source of moral and
religious truth . The gospel , the whole gospel , and nothing but the gospel , it would be the constant aim of his studies to learn , and of his teachings to communicate * He would look to Christ for the subjects on which he must speak , the duties he must enforce , the spirit he must cherish , the sanctions and promises which he must hold out . He would look to Christ for the character which he must ascribe to the Deity , and the interpretation with which he must read the Divine works ; for the interests and dangers which
he must represent as connected with the condition of man ; for the terms of acceptance with God ; for the qualifications required of those who would obtain everlasting life . He would look to Christ , and him crucified , —to the plain , unvarnished facts of his history , and the statements connected with those facts , for the warnings which he must address to the sinner , for the
hope which he may give the penitent , for the consolation which he may impart to the mourner , for the peace and joy which he may speak to the virtuous and humble believer . No subjects that could merely exercise and display his ingenuity—no speculations that could merely open a field for the excursions of his fancy—no mere efforts of learning , or genius , or eloquence •*—would seem permitted to one who had really determined not to know any thing save Jesus Christ , and him crucified .
And in like manner , a conviction that this ought to be the determination of the Christian preacher , would restrain and regulate the expectations of Christian hearers . With such a conviction really in their hearts , they would come to the preacher as to a minister of Christ , not as to a mere minister to their own gratification . They would wish him to deal faithfully with their souls—to hold back no unwelcome truths—to give no
false encouragement . They would desire to be built up by him in Christ Jesus . They would prepare their hearts to go along with him in his prayers to God for them—in his search ings of the Scriptures for them—in his earnestness for their Christian profiting *—in his appeals to Christian truths . They would think his labours successful in proportion as they found their minds directed and led on by him to Christ as their great teacher . It may appear to some that this would bring within very narrow limits the range of thought to which a-preacher " and his hearers must confine themselves . It may appear to them that the subjects are very few which
Untitled Article
( 660 )
Untitled Article
PHEACHING CHRIST : EXTRACT FROM A SERMON ON 1 COR . ii . 2 , BY THE REV . JT . G . ROBBERDS .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1829, page 660, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2576/page/60/
-