heaven and earth to testify of his fidelity in executing the office that had been assigned him.
Let it not be thought that we would presume to institute a comparison between that holy man and ourselves. We well know how infinitely short of him we have come, in the whole of our personal and official character. Yet we do hope that we can so far adopt his words, as to appeal both to God and man, that, during the years that we have ministered amongst you, we have faithfully, according to our ability, " set life and death before you."
1. We have ministered the same truths unto you6 — [In the preceding verses, Moses speaks particularly re- specting the Gospel, which he had made known unto the people. " This commandment, which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it ? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it ? But the word is very nigh unto thee ; in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. See, I have set before thee this day, life and good, and death and evilf." The exposition of these words is given us by St. Paul, who tells us, that in them Moses spake, not of the righteousness of the Law, but of the righteousness which is of faith, even of that very faith which Paul himself preachedg."
And what has been the subject of our ministrations ? You yourselves will bear me witness, that, from the very first hour that I came amongst you, " I determined to know nothing amongst you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified V What Moses preached in types and shadows, I have declared in the plainest terms ; shewing, at all times, that " the moral law was a schoolmaster to bring you to Christ1;" and that the ceremo- nial law, in all its ordinances, held forth the Lord Jesus Christ as the great sacrifice, that taketh away the sins of the world k. Never, at any period, have we attempted to lay any other foun- dation than this1: nor have we ever hesitated to affirm the sufficiency of this to bear the weight of the whole world m.]
e In quite a young minister this kind of address would be inex- pedient : but in an aged minister, who had spent his whole official life in superintending one congregation, it would be thought quite in character.
f ver. 11—15. e Rom. x. 5—9. h 1 Cor. ii. 2. * Gal. hi. 24.
k Heb.x. I— 10. ] 1 Cor.iii. 11. m Acts xiii. 39.
227.1 A FAITHFUL minister's appeal. 455
2. We have too, according to our ability, mini- stered with the same fidelity —
[We hope we may, without presumption, appeal to you, as the Apostle Paul did to the elders of Ephesus, not only that " we have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you," but that " we have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God ; and are therefore, as far as relates to that, pure, not from your blood only, but from the blood of all men11." You yourselves will bear me witness, that, notwith- standing " the offence of the cross, which neither is ceased, nor can cease °," I have at all times gloried in it, and exalted it as the only means of our reconciliation with Godp. Nor have I ever amused you with speculative theories: no; I have preached the Gospel practically ; and not in a cold and formal manner, but as a matter of life and death. I have never ceased to exhibit it with all its awful sanctions ; assuring you of life, if you would believe in Christ; and denouncing the wrath of God against all who would not obey the Gospel ; executing in this respect the commission given me, to preach the Gospel to every creature, saying, " He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved ; and he that believeth not shall be damnedq." Never, at any time, have I dissembled these truths ; " never daubed the wall of God's sanctuary with untempered mortar," nor " sewed pillows to the armholes of my people," to let them find ease in sin : never have I " spoken peace to you, when there was no peace," or " promised life " in any other way than a total surrender of yourselves to Godr. And here 1 will mention one point, which, from the beginning, I have kept in mind without turning to the right hand or to the left — I have never perverted one passage of Scripture to make it speak the language of human systems. I have been anxious to set before you the "unadulterated word" of Gods; and to let it speak for itself, without ever concerning myself what human system it either countenanced or opposed : having been " allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel, we have spoken, not as pleasing men, but God, who trieth our hearts4;" and with the "utmost plainness" toou, "not with enticing words of man's wisdom," " lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect*."