SERMON XXI.

THE CHURCH THE CONVERTER OF THE GENTILES, AND THE GLORY OF CHRIST THEREIN.*

PSALM xcvi. 9, 10. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before Him, all the earth. Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: He shall judge the people righteously.

THESE Six† psalms describe in very lofty language the power and glory of Christ in his kingdom, i. e. in the Church, as extending over all people, and reaching to the "ends of the earth;" and call upon all, in a lofty and joyous tone, upon all nature, animate and inanimate, the heaven, the earth, and sea, the fields and trees of the wood, to rejoice before the Lord; to "sing unto Jehovah, and bless his name, and be telling of his salvation from day to day." From hence we may surely learn, that the Gospel doctrine ought to sound joyfully in our ears, and that we ought to

* Preached for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.

† See the preceding Sermon, p. 332.

tell of it gladly. What tidings can come more welcome to our hearts than the news of a Saviour, a divine Saviour, that God himself hath provided salvation for us, that his own Son hath wrought it out, that he hath offered himself as a sacrifice for us, that he now liveth to make intercession for us, that he is exalted to the throne of heaven, and sends his Holy Spirit with abundance of grace and power into the hearts of his servants, that he hath conquered Satan and the power of death, and has the key of the invisible world, and will in the end subdue all evil, and give everlasting rest to the faithful? What more joyful tidings than these? For is it not of these things that we want to be fully assured, that so we may have peace and comfort in this vale of tears, and go on our way rejoicing? What peace can there be to the fearful soul, conscious of sin, and of its deadly nature, but without any certain knowledge of a Saviour? What peace to the troubled heart which is full of sorrow or of care, and knows not where to seek relief? What hope after death, unless from Him who hath taken away its sting, and opened life and immortality to us? What hope of deliverance from the power of Satan and of all his wicked instruments, except we believe that the Son of God "shall bruise him under our feet

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shortly?"* All these things are brought to light by the Gospel, and "blessed are the eyes that see the things that we see, and hear the things that are given us to hear." Blessed, if we receive them into our hearts, and cherish them, and bring forth fruits answerable to them. For the hearing the truths of the Gospel with the outward ear will only increase our condemnation if we do not suffer them to sink into our hearts; just as those unhappy men brought the heavier judgment upon themselves, who had prophets and apostles sent to them, and even saw with their eyes the blessed Jesus, the Saviour of the world, yet turned away, and would not be converted and saved. Oh! speak to your hearts with joy and thankfulness of the doctrine of salvation, and of your part in it; of the kingdom of Christ, and that you are among his subjects in it; and then turn your thoughts to those poor benighted heathen, who are living in ignorance of saving truth, and of your own countrymen in foreign lands, who have no means, or very scanty means, of worshipping the God of their fathers; and bless Him that He has promised that "all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of Godt," and that you are yourselves enabled to bear your share in the great and good work, *Rom. xvi, 20, † Psalm xcviii. 3.

by contributing according to your means, with a willing heart. For "God," we know, "loveth a cheerful giver," and "a willing mind shall be accepted, according to that a man hath, not according to that he hath not."+

One of the gracious promises to which I have referred, assuring us that "all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God," is to be found in the psalms before us, which contain many and explicit declarations to the same effect; viz. the conversion of the heathen, and bringing them into the Church. For the Church is the kingdom of Christ, and they who are converted to the faith of Him, and received into his Church by baptism, are admitted into his kingdom, and become his subjects, and heirs of the kingdom which shall be hereafter for ever in heaven. Thus in Psalm xcvi., from which I have taken a short passage for my text: "O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord all the whole earth." At the close of Psalm xcv. David had recounted the rebellion of the Israelites, which occasioned their being shut out of the promised land; a fearful warning, and sign of the disbelief and disobedience of their posterity in a later age, and of their banishment from that same land which God had given them. He then † 2 Cor. viii. 12.

* 2 Cor. ix. 7.

proceeds to call upon the whole earth to "sing a new song" unto Jehovah, that is, to Jesus the Lord. The term "new" is of itself, according to the frequent use of the word, sufficient to show that this is to be a Christian hymn; a song fit for the voices of renewed and regenerate persons, the members of Christ's Church, like that heard by the beloved disciple*; a new song which no man could learn but those who had been redeemed from the earth; a hymn of praise to the Father and his dear Son for the wonderful mercies of redemption. The second verse repeats the same animating exhortation: "Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; show forth his salvation from day to day." The word "bless" is truly a Gospel phrase, employed to signify the announcing of joyful news; as in that passage of Isaiah: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings!" So here, "Sing unto the Lord Jesus, publish the good tidings of his name." What better tidings? what more joyful sound than the name of a Saviour, and that this name shall be known throughout all the earth? "Be not silent," then, you who have been saved by him: "show forth his salvation from day to day." "Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people."

*Rev. v. vii. xiv.