tion, no exception whatever ; for, " whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved."
Behold then in few words the way of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ, who bare our sins in his own body on the tree, and " made reconciliation for us by the blood of his cross," is the one object of our faith and hope : and all who with humility and earnestness call upon him for salvation, shall surely find it, both in time and eternity.]
This salvation being designed for all, we cannot doubt,
II. The duty of diffusing universally the knowledge of it —
Without the instrumentality of human agents, it cannot be hoped that the knowledge of salvation should be spread throughout the earth —
[Doubtless God, if he pleased, might, as in the first crea- tion, speak the word only, and there should be spiritual light throughout all the dark regions of the earth. But this is not the way in which God has ever wrought to any great extent ; nor has he given us reason to expect that he ever will work in this way, for the conversion of those who are yet in darkness and the shadow of death. He has sent forth an order of men on purpose to preach his Gospel throughout the world. The Jews indeed could not endure this dispensation : they con- demned with most inveterate malignity the Apostle's conduct in preaching to the Gentiles : but he asks them in our text, How the Gentiles ever could attain the knowledge of sal- vation, if it were not preached to them ? The Apostle's argument is this : Ye Jews, know from your own prophets, that salvation is confined to those " who call on the name of the Lord." I by inspiration know, that that Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ. And now I ask, " How can the heathen call on him of whom they have not heard? or how can they hear without a preacher?" This argument is incontrovertible: and we appeal to it as a complete vindication of all the efforts that are made by different societies to diffuse the knowledge of salvation throughout the world.]
It is by this instrumentality that God himself has taught us to expect the wished-for event —
[The words cited from the Prophet Isaiah are undoubtedly to be understood in reference to the Gospel dispensation. They primarily indeed describe the joy occasioned among the captive Jews in Babylon, when they saw the messenger hastening over the distant hills to bring them certain tidings of their redemp- tion; but all the following context shews, that they refer to an
1891. UNIVERSALITY OF SALVATION BY CHRIST. Si)3
event in which the whole world was interested, " seeing that " God had made bare his arm in the eyes of all nations, and that all the ends of the earth were to see the salvation of God V Contemplate then the passage in this view. See the messenger of the Lord of Hosts running over the mountains to proclaim salvation to a ruined world. Those who are unconscious of any bondage, may deride his folly for giving himself so much un- necessary trouble. But how would it be with those who saw themselves under a sentence of condemnation, and were ex- pecting the executioner to inflict the judgment denounced against them? Would they not behold with interest his every step ? Would not his every motion, as it were, appear lovely in their eyes ? Would not the tidings produce on all who be- lieved them, the effect once wrought on the liberated Grecians, who all night long rent the air with that cheering sound, " A Saviour, a Saviour?" Look at the converts on the day of Pentecost; and know assuredly, that if, like Peter, we will unite in extending the knowledge of the Gospel, thousands shall in due time arise to attest, and to rejoice in, the tidings we proclaim. Yes, " the Gospel of peace" will be received by them as "glad tidings of good things."]