The Believer Not Ashamed of the Gospel

by Edward Hoare

Transcribed from the [1850] edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org

THE BELIEVER NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL.

THE SIXTH ANNIVERSARY SERMON
OF THE
Church of England Young Men’s Society,
PREACHED IN ST. BRIDE’S CHURCH, FLEET STREET,
ON TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 23, 1850,
BY THE
REV. EDWARD HOARE, M.A.
INCUMBENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, RAMSGATE.

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.”—Romans i. 16.

There is nothing more strange than human nature. It is afraid where no fear is: yet bold in the midst of danger. It is ashamed where there is no disgrace; and yet shameless, when it ought to be abased, even to the dust. It is proud of things which do it no honour, and yet ashamed of gifts which are the wonder and admiration of the saints in heaven. If a man is possessed of great intellectual attainments, he is never found to be ashamed of them! If he is successful in the accumulation of wealth, he is never known to be ashamed of that; if he is remarkable for worldly wisdom, he is never tempted to be ashamed of that; nor, if he deduces his pedigree from a long line of ennobled ancestry, does he show any tendency to be ashamed of that. But if, on the other hand, he be made partaker of the highest gift that the world has ever known—the gift of the grace of God in his heart—the most blessed and glorious gift within the reach either of man or angel—then, strange to say! such is the folly of human nature, that he is strongly tempted to be ashamed of that; ashamed of the deep emotions which the Spirit of God has kindled within his soul, ashamed of that which, in the secrets of his own heart, he acknowledges to be his hope, his joy, his salvation, and his glory.

Now this is no new thing in the church of Christ, and the words of the text are a clear recognition of its existence in the days, and even in the heart, of St. Paul. He was not “ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.” But the temptation was there; the sense of shame did arise in his heart, and did struggle there; but the grace of God overcame it. So that in allusion to this victory, he makes the declaration of the text. Now what does this declaration imply? and what is the full force of the sentiment contained in it? Clearly that he was not ashamed of confessing Christ, and of acknowledging, before both Jew and Gentile, that his whole life was wrapt up in Christ. Nay, more! that he was not ashamed of preaching Christ, of consecrating his every power to the holy work of proclaiming Christ before the world. The text, therefore, appears well suited for an address to the Church of England Young Men’s Society, as I trust it may be said of the great body of young men composing it, that they are not “ashamed of the Gospel of Christ;” not ashamed of confessing Him before men, nor of uniting together, as a holy band of faithful labourers, in the earnest endeavour to spread His Gospel through the world.

Let us examine, then, into the reasons why St. Paul was not “ashamed of the Gospel of Christ,” and we shall find three especially mentioned in the text—the Divinity of its origin, the blessedness of its end, and the magnificence of its terms.

I. The Divinity of its origin. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God.” By which he means that it is no human system, but a Divine scheme, divinely planned and purposed; a scheme contrived by no human wisdom, nor carried into effect by any human power; a scheme Divine in its plan, Divine in its execution, and Divine in its application to the soul. The purpose was His, arranged in His own eternal counsels; the execution was His, and His alone to perform the vast work by which atonement and mediation could be provided for the sinner; the application again is His, for who but Himself can really bring home the Gospel with appropriating power to the soul, can really touch the hard heart, and soften down the rebellious sinner into the humble and believing child of God? The whole, therefore, is Divine; from first to last it is the work of God; and thus it stands out, far above every other system, as the most marvellous combination, which the world has ever witnessed, of Divine wisdom, Divine love, and Divine omnipotence.

There are many practical lessons to be learned from such a fact.

It should teach us, in the first place, the proper limits of human inquiry with reference to the Gospel. We must never forget that the human understanding has its own most important sphere of action, and that its enlightened exercise is essential to the right reception of the truth of God. We are not at liberty, for example, to shut up the understanding, and deliver ourselves blindfold to the guidance of any church which may call itself infallible, but we are bound as thinking men to examine the credentials of its assumed infallibility. And so with reference to the Word of God itself, it is our manifest duty to study well the proofs of its inspiration, and the careful examination of scriptural evidences is a legitimate and noble theme for the diligent exercise of an enlightened understanding. Then again the understanding must be employed in the patient study of the contents of the inspired Book. Having learned that it is the Book of God, we must next inquire what it teaches, and being satisfied that it contains the truth, we must proceed to examine what the truth is which it contains. But this truth being once ascertained, the understanding must immediately give place to faith, and the inquiring spirit must simply believe what the inspired Word is found to teach him. The Gospel is the power of God, and therefore the human mind must be prepared to find in it many things altogether beyond its range. If it were the work of man we should of course expect to find the whole within the compass of man’s intellect; but as it is the power of God, His own plan and His own purpose, we must be prepared to meet with deep and unfathomable truths, bearing some proportion to His infinite and unfathomable attributes. Thus, for example, our finite minds are unable to comprehend the great mystery of the incarnation, or how one person can be at the same time both God and man; but such a difficulty is no stumbling-block to the believer, for though by reason he cannot understand it, yet he finds it written in the Scriptures, and by faith he receives it, for the Gospel is the power of God. It was the neglect of this principle that led to the error of the Sadducees, as we are taught by our Lord in the twenty-second chapter of St. Matthew, and the twenty-ninth verse: “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.” They had not employed their understanding when they ought to have done so, namely, in the investigation of their Bibles, but they had employed it where it could give them no safe guidance, namely, in vain speculation on fancied difficulties in the plans and purposes of God. To avoid a similar error we must bear in mind that the Gospel, being Divine in its origin, is likewise superhuman in its arrangements, and we must adhere strictly to the great principle of diligent investigation when we want to know what God has taught us, and of simple faith when we have once discovered the vast truths revealed to us by His Spirit.