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A
RATIONAL DEFENCE
OF
THE GOSPEL.
[SEEM.
XV..
glory
in,
it.
is
that
I
am' a
christian Once
I
was
a phari
-_
see,
and
I
counted
it
my gain and my
honour
;
Phil.
iii.
7,
8.
But
what things
were
gain
to
me,
those
I
counted
loss
for
Christ ;
.
yea,
doubtless,
and
I
count
all
things
but
Coss
for
the
excellency
of
the
knowledge
of
Christ
Jesus
mu
Lord. I
glory in being
a minister
of
the
gospel;
it
is
the highest honour
God
could have
put
upon
me,
who am less than the least
of
all saints.
TO
me
is
this
grace
given
to preach among the gentiles
the
unsearch-
able riches
of
Christ,
Eph.
iii.
8.
I
glory in
it
to that
degree,
that I
am
dead
to
all
things
else.
God
forbid
I
should
glory
in
any
thing
save in the cross
of
our
Lord
Jesus,
whereby the world
is
crucified
to
me,
and
I
to
the
world.
Gal.
vi.
14.
I
glory in
my
sufferings
for
Christ:
and
my
friends,
if
ye
understood the value' of
these
things, they
are your
glory
too.
If
I
am offered
up
a
sacrifice for
the
service
of
'vour
faith,.
I
joy
and rejoice
together
with
you
all.
Phil.
ii. 17.
O
!
that
you would
but
rejoice'
together
with me
in it.
Thus
I
have shewed
you
that
all
these things
are im-
plied
in
St.
Paul's not
being
ashamed
of
the
gospel
of
Christ,
and I
have
proved it
to
you
from
other parts
of
his epistles.
The
third
general head
I
proposed
to
speak
to,
was
this,
What
is
there
in
this
gospel
that
may
be
supposed
to expose
any man
to
shame
?
And
this
question
is very
needful
;
for
if
there were
nothing
in
it
that
men might take
occasion
to
throw
their
scandals and.
to
at,
it had been
no.
great matter
for
St.
Paul
have cried
out,
I
am
not
ashamed
of
the
gospel
of
Christ.
To
this I answer
in
general, this
was
a
gospel
that
con-
tradicted
the
rooted
prejudice's
of
the Jews,
and
was
se-
v.erely
,reproached
by
those
that
professed
great
know-
ledge
in
their
law
it
was
also
a
new
and strange thing
to the
gentiles.
h
crucified
Christ
was
a 'stumbling
-
block to
the
Jews, and
foolishness to the
Greeks.
1
Cor.
i. 23.
There
was something in the faith,
and practice,
and
worship of
the gospel
so
contrary
to the course
of
their education
in
the world,
so
opposite to their
carnal
inclinations, and
to the customs
and
fashions
of their
country,
that
a man
might
well
be
afraid and ashamed
to profess
it,
when they lift
their
tongues, and
their