Acts 13:26 Men and brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and whoever among you fears God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. I. THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE GOSPEL. The gospel is "the word of this salvation" — 1. As being the sole authority on which we ascertain the possibility of that salvation. Without it we should be inextricably bewildered on the question whether or not our salvation could be made consistent with the character of God. (1) We may learn much respecting the Divine character without the aid of written revelation. The "heavens above, the earth beneath, the waters under the earth," startle us with the conviction that He who made them and still preserves them must necessarily be a God of wisdom and knowledge. We gaze on the stupendous structure and mechanism of the universe, and we perceive inscribed on every part of it the signs of an almighty hand. We look upon the creatures of various kinds that people this world of ours, and we remark indications equally expressive of the goodness of Him "by whom all things consist." And in addition there is, in the law He has promulgated, a revelation of His perfect purity and justice. (2) But whence are we to ascertain His mercy? Or by what means may we discover that "God may be just and yet the justifier" of those who have broken His commandment? From other quarters we look for information in vain. Or, if an answer come, it is to assure us that God "will by no means clear the guilty."(3) It is the gospel only, which satisfies us in this great inquiry, Here and here alone we learn that in the restoration of our nature, mercy and truth may meet together, and righteousness and peace embrace each other. 2. As it reveals to us the plan and means of our "salvation." It opens to us the very principle and motive in which the plan originated, by assuring us that "God so loved the world," and that it is "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He hath saved us." Do we inquire in what manner the purpose of this grace and mercy was carried into practical effect? We are informed it was by the gift of His well-beloved and only-begotten Son. Are we desirous of knowing in what respect this Son was given? We learn that though, "being in the form of God," yet He "humbled Himself" and "took upon Himself the form of a servant," and finally was put to death. Do we inquire, what was the immediate issue of the amazing series of sufferings through which He passed? We are assured that on the third day He "rose again from the dead," and that therefore "God hath highly exalted Him to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and remission of sins." Are we concerned to know by what means we are to receive the benefit of all this love and condescension? Directions clear and numerous are set before us, so that we need not miss our providential way. 3. As being the instrument by which it is effected. It is not merely the wisdom of God, or the grace of God, it is also "the power of God unto salvation." The gospel is indebted for its former and its present triumphs, not to the zeal or eloquence of its ministers, but to that Divine power which was breathed into it on its original promulgation, and which still continues to make it effectual. "Not by power, nor by might, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." 4. The character of the gospel as a "word of salvation," becomes still more strikingly apparent, when it is compared with preceding revelations. (1) Let it be compared, for instance, with the law of Moses. That law was eminently — (a) A word of terror. How different were the circumstances under which "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ to those under which the law came." Instead of being terrified and driven back with "thunderings and lightnings," we are encouraged to "come with boldness to a throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy," etc. (b) A word of condemnation. How different are the accents in which the gospel speaks to us. For, whilst it fully secures the glory of the Divine holiness, it assures us at the same time "that through this Man is preached unto us the forgiveness of sins."(2) And the gospel is distinguished from all preceding revelations, as in comparison they were at best but words of promise. In their clearest discoveries they were but as the dimness of the twilight which precedes the glory of the risen day. (3) And in contrast with false systems of religion, which, as regards their effects on the habits of civil life and of domestic society, are systems of destruction and cruelty, the gospel is a "word of salvation"; since it instructs us to "do ourselves no harm," and directs us to love our neighbour as ourselves. And if it be contrasted with such systems, with regard to their effect upon man's spiritual and eternal interests, they appear not only systems of cruelty to the body, but also systems of awful destruction to the soul. II. THE PRACTICAL DUTIES WHICH RESULT FROM ITS COMMUNICATION. It has not indeed been sent to you as it was sent originally to the Jews, by special revelation from heaven, or by the personal ministry of Christ. Still it has been sent. And the practical duties are — 1. To receive implicitly the "form of doctrine" which that word inculcates. In matters which depend on human authority we have a right to doubt, and if we please, to contradict and to deny. But the "word of the gospel" is not" the word of men"; it is "in truth the word of God." As such, it is clothed with an authority which precludes at once all right on our part to question any doctrine it proposes. "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker." 2. To gratefully accept the benefits it offers. 3. To expect that salvation which constitutes the subject of it. The very reason why, notwithstanding your repeated rejection of this word, it has continued to be sent to you, has been that God willeth not the death of a sinner, but would rather that all men should repent and live. 4. To send it to others. For every benefit bestowed upon us involves an obligation to be "merciful even as our leather who is in heaven is merciful." (Jonathan Crowther.) Parallel Verses KJV: Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. |
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