through a sacrifice more meritorious than the typical sacrifices of the ceremonial law? Let the apostle answer the inquiry. "And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not in excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the

God."

power of

The conversion of the Corinthians, then, was not the result of superior intellectual qualification in the individual, who was the instrument in God's hand of accomplishing this great work, but of the message which he delivered; it was to be referred, not to any forcible appeals of human persuasion, but simply to the "preaching of the cross," which was thus manifestly set forth to be the power of God. "He preached not himself, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and himself their servant for Jesus' sake." We are not to suppose, indeed, that St. Paul scorned to employ the powers of oratory which he possessed, or that he scrupulously avoided enforcing his appeals in language calculated to arrest the atten

tion, or that he had not, even as an apostle of the Lord Jesus, derived benefit from the instruction of that doctor of the law, at whose feet he was brought up, and who was "had in reputation among all the people;" but the great work of conversion was accomplished by the faithful display of those doctrines, which "the natural man receiveth not, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned," but which were brought home to the hearts of the people of Corinth by that eternal and blessed Spirit, by whose energy upon the soul, the truth as it is in Jesus was made instrumental to the illumination and conversion of those to whom it was preached. At Rome, at Ephesus, in Galatia, at Colosse, at Philippi, at Thessalonica, the same effect might be traced to the same cause; and in every case where any mighty moral transformation has been effected in more modern times, it has been by the same instrumentality; for the prediction has been verified" And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me."

It is only when the cross of the Redeemer has been planted in the moral and spiritual wilderness, that the " dry land has become pools of water." It is only when the banner of the Redeemer has waved over the barren and waste places of the earth, that "they have rejoiced and

blossomed as the rose, that the glory of Lebanon has been given to them, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon." It is only when men have been instructed in the leading doctrines of the gospel, that feeling its entire adaptation to the relief of their spiritual infirmities, and to the supply of their spiritual wants, they have cordially embraced the truth as it is in Jesus. It is only when Christ has been preached as an all-sufficient Saviour, through whom God is waiting to be gracious, and to bestow pardon even on the chief of sinners, that sinners have been turned from their iniquities, and begun to "cleave with full purpose of heart unto the Lord." Nor need this excite our astonishment; for the gospel alone can heal the diseases, and supply the wants, and minister to the necessities of a perishing mortal. All other means which can be adopted for his recovery are proved to be inefficacious, for it alone is the power of God unto salvation. The fact is not to be lost sight of, that the only way to render men moral in their characters, is to stamp upon their hearts the impress of the cross; that until this is effected, it will be as vain to expect a life of vital godliness, as to look for tropic fruits amidst the icebergs of the Pole. Man must be led in humble faith to the Saviour; he must begin to realize the love of the Saviour in dying for his enemies; he must receive it as a

faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;" he must perceive that he stands in need of a Saviour such as the Lord Jesus is, and then will the life which he "lives in the flesh" be "a life of faith in the Son of God," and "his conversation as becometh the gospel." It will be speedily apparent that the soul is brought under the Saviour's dominion; that the idols which were once enshrined in the heart, have been cast out; and that Jesus occupies the seat which he is entitled to occupy that of supremacy over the affections. Awakened from the torpor of spiritual slumber, in which his soul has been too long entranced, and raised from the "death of trespasses and sins," to walk in "newness of life," the sinner will begin to testify that a mighty transformation has been wrought upon his soul,-that "old things are passed away, and all things are become new," that he has a motive for action to which he was at one time a stranger,—and that there burns in his bosom a flame where once all was cold, and dark, and cheerless, and that he is not only touched, but influenced, by a love which he never before felt, and is enabled to exclaim, in the words of the apostle, on the review of the great things which God hath wrought for his soul, "The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all

с

dead and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."

What the gospel was able to effect at Corinth, on Jew as well as Gentile, it can effect now, and will continue to effect until time shall be no longer; for it has lost none of its transforming power, or its life-giving energy. Its living waters flow on in inexhaustible abundance. It is still the "power of God unto salvation," for like its divine Author, it is without variableness or shadow of turning-" the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." How great the encouragement, then, to proceed in the important work of the conversion of God's ancient people, no less than of the heathen perishing for lack of knowledge, recollecting that the weapons of the Christian warfare are not carnal but spiritual; how important to bear in mind, that wherever the gospel is carried, there is carried the message of reconciliation to rebel man; that the preaching of the cross is destined eventually to triumph over human prejudice and human passion; that the Saviour shall continue to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, as well as to be the glory of God's people Israel; and that the gospel shall not have done its work, as far as this world is concerned, until "at the name of Jesus every