PHILIPPIANS I 17.........Knowing that I am set for the defence of the Gospel.

THOUGH Paul was now a prisoner at Rome, and taken off from his public labours, yet he lost none of his ardour and zeal in the cause of Christ. Being sensible, that his sufferings might be construed either in favour of Christianity, or against it, he employed the only method in his power, to turn them to the advantage of the gospel, which it was his duty and desire to defend and promote. Agreeably to this general design, in writing to the Philippians, he first expresses his warm attachment to them, and his tender concern for their spiritual edification and growth in grace; and then informe them, for their consolation and encouragement, that his sufferings had produced very salutary effects among both the friends and enemies of the gospel. "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the, furtherance of the gospel; so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places: And many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will. The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds; but the other of love, "knowing that I am set for the defence of the Gospel." Though some peculiar duties were enjoined upon the Apostles, yet the defending of the gospel was a duty common to them and to all the ministers of Christ. All who are set to preach the gospel, in every age of the church, are equally set to defend the gospel which they preach. The text, therefore, plainly suggests this general observation to our present consideration :

That it belongs to the ministers of the gospel to defend it. I shall,

I. Consider why the gospel needs to be defended: And,
II. Shew how ministers ought to defend it.

I. Let us consider why the gospel needs to be defended.

The direct answer to this inquiry is, that all mankind have a natural disposition to oppose the gospel. The gospel is a scheme of pure disinterested benevolence, which must be totally disagreea

ble to all intelligent creatures, who are under the entire dominion of selfishness. The gospel is more hateful to a depraved heart, than all other hateful objects put together; for it exhibits all things in the universe as hostile to the happiness of depraved beings. All such beings, therefore, must hate the gospel, and their hatred must prompt them to oppose it. This mode of reasoning upon the nature of human depravity, is confirmed by universal observation and experience. Ever since the gospel was first preached, it has met with every kind of opposition, which it was in the power of man to make. The enemies of the cross have employed their religion, their learning, their laws, and every engine they could invent, to oppose, to suppress, and to extirpate Christianity. When our Saviour preached the gospel, the Scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees took every artful and every violent measure to destroy his influence, and defeat the design of his preaching. And he forewarned his Apostles, and through them all their successors in the ministry, that they should meet with the same opposition, which he had met with, and should be hated and opposed by all men, for his name's sake. His Apostles found his predictions fulfilled with respect to them; for whereever they carried the gospel, they found, that they preached Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, and raised the resentment and opposition of all the unbelieving world. Their successors in every age since, who have preached the same gospel that they preached, have found mankind equally opposed to the truth. Nor is there any alteration for the better, at the present day. When were there ever greater exertions made, than are now making, in Europe and America, to subvert the gospel, and entirely blot out the Christian name? Now the necessity of defending the gospel arises from such a strong and violent opposition to it. And this necessity will continue, as long as the opposition continues, and the opposition will continue, as long as the human heart remains totally corrupt. It will, therefore, belong to ministers to defend the gospel, as long as there remains any occasion to preach it. There may be more, or less opposition to the gospel, at one time than at another; but there will probably be no time, till the end of the world, when all opposition to the gospel will cease, and no necessity of defending it exist. I now proceed to shew,

II. How ministers ought to defend the gospel. This is a point of importance to ascertain. Many of the professed ministers of the gospel, have taken very unwarrantable measures to propagate and defend it. Christ never allowed his ministers to use violence, in promoting or defending his cause. Though in the parable of the marriage feast, he commands his servants to compel them to come in; yet it is evident both from his precepts and example, that

he meant no other than moral compulsion, or the force of moral motives. He never used violence himself, to bring men to a compliance with the gospel; nor would he ever allow his servants to fight for him, in defence of his life. He also solemnly cautioned his disciples against all violent measures to propagate the gospel and defend his cause. In the parable of the sower, he forbids all persecution and intolerance, and commands his servants to let both tares and wheat grow together until the harvest. When he had chosen his first preachers, he told them, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." This caution his Apostles and primitive ministers observed, and never attempted to defend the gospel by any compulsive means. Hence Paul declares to the Corinthians, "The weapons of our warfare, are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds." And he cautions Timothy and Titus, and all other ministers, not to use any other than spiritual weapons in the defence of the gospel. To Timothy he says, "The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." And to Titus he says, "A bishop must hold fast the faithful word, as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convince the gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers, and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped." Though the gospel be a solemn and important trust committed to ministers, and they are to guard it against all the attacks of its enemies; yet they may never use any violent measures in its defence. But there are various other ways, by which they may lawfully defend the gospel. They may defend it, by arguments drawn from profane history, from the miracles which were wrought in its favour, from the fulfilment of prophecy, from its rapid spread, without the aid of civil power, and in opposition to false religion, false philosophy, and the most inveterate prejudices of mankind. Any or all these means may be properly used in the defence of the gospel. But it has been found by long experience, that these methods are very ineffectual to check the progress of infidelity, and disarm the enemies of the gospel. Many volumes have been written, and much learning, ingenuity, and piety have been displayed, in setting the external evidences of Christianity in the most clear and convincing light, within the last century; and yet infidelity has never taken larger strides, than it has done in that period. Hence we may naturally conclude, that there is some other method better adapted to defend the gospel, and overcome its enemies, than any external evidences, that can be exhibited.

This leads us to observe, that the most proper and the most effectual method that ministers can possibly take to defend the gospel, is to preach it plainly. The truth of this observation will appear from various considerations.

1. Christ and the Apostles took this method to defend the gospel. We do not find in the discourses of Christ, that he ever undertook to silence the enemies of the gospel, by exhibiting the external evidences of it. His usual method was to preach the most essential and fundamental doctrines of his religion, in a plain and pointed manner. He dwelt much upon the character of God, his design in sending him into the world, and the guilty, perishing condition of sinners. No preacher ever set the doctrine of total depravity and the doctrine of divine sovereignty in so clear and strong a light as he did in his public discourses. This made his hearers say, that never man spake like this man, and that he spoke as one having authority, and not as the scribes. By preaching so plainly, the doctrines, which approved themselves to every man's conscience, he disheartened, confounded, and disarmed the enemies of truth. How plain and pointed was Christ's sermon on the mount, and his sermon at Nazareth. They were both directly calculated to carry cenviction in spite of all the prejudices and opposition of the human heart. The Apostles followed his example in preaching, and relied upon the plain and solemn truths they delivered, to bear down all opposition. How plain and pungent was Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. Without the least ceremony he charged upon the consciences of his hearers, the guilt of opposing the light of Divine truth, and of embruing their hands in the blood of the Lord of glory. And the plainness and pungency of his discourse, convinced and converted three thousand souls. When Paul was called to preach at Athens, before the most learned, the most subtle, and most determined enemies of the gospel, he plainly laid open the character, perfections, designs and agency of God, and the most obnoxious doctrines of Christianity, as the best defence he could make of the gospel; and his plain and pointed discourse carried conviction to one of the Judges of the supreme court, and to many others. Indeed, if we look into the history of the Apostles and first ministers of Christ, we shall find that their principal, if not their only method, to defend the gospel, was to preach it plainly. They knew, that no man in the world could really understand the gospel, without being convinced of its truth and divinity; because it carries the very visage and superscription of God upon the face of it. Now, we must suppose, that Christ and the Apostles employed the very best method to defend the gospel, against an unbelieving and opposing world. And from this, we may justly conclude, that their method

is the best, that ministers can ever take to defend the same against the same opposition.

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2. To preach the gospel plainly is the best way to defend it against the objections of its enemies. Some of these employ all their learning and ingenuity, to raise objections against the gospel, and pretend to oppose it upon rational grounds. But there is no objecdition of this kind, which they ever have raised, or ever can raise against the gospel, but what the gospel itself is sufficient to refute, when it is plainly and fully explained. If they object against its Divinity, the best way to refute this objection is, to lay open the great and glorious design of the gospel, which is a scheme of wisdom, goodness, grace, and justice, infinitely superior to any scheme, which created beings could ever devise or effect. It is as naturally impossible, that the gospel should be a cunningly devised fable, as that the heavens and the earth should be a fiction. For it is as much beyond the wisdom of man to form the gospel plan of salvation, as it is beyond his power to make a world. Hence the gospel, when plainly and fully preached, carries its own evidence of its divinity. It must come from God, because no other being could devise it; and the knowledge of it must come from divine inspiration, because no man, or number of men was capable of exhibiting such a great and glorious design, unless they had been divinely inspired, or moved by the Holy Ghost to exhibit it.

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If the enemies of the gospel say, it is inconsistent; the best way to remove this objection is, to preach the gospel plainly. All the apparent inconsistency of the gospel, has arisen from a partial representation of it. When the whole counsel of God is not preached, but only detached parts of it, there will appear inconsistencies in it. These its enemies often bring as so many objections against it. But if the whole scheme of redemption were laid open before them, they would see all their supposed inconsistencies in it vanish.— There are no inconsistencies in the gospel, and none could appear, if it were fully and clearly preached. And hence the best and only way to answer the objection of inconsistency, is to preach the gospel so plainly, as to make its consistency clearly appear.

Some of the enemies of the gospel complain of its obscurity, and say that it is beyond their capacity to understand it. The best way to remove this objection is to preach the gospel plainly, by exhibiting the whole counsel of God. There is no doubt but many do find a difficulty in understanding the gospel, when its first and fundamental doctrines, upon which all others depend, are always kept out of sight by preachers. But if they would bring all its leading doc trines into view, and explain them properly, the hearers would find

no difficulty in understanding each doctrine, and the whole collectively. The common people heard Christ and the Apostles gladly, because they understood the doctrines they preached. Plain preaching, therefore, is the best method to remove all obscurity from the gospel, and to stop the mouths of those who make this objection.