The Tenth of September.

AND SO YE BELIEVED --- 1 Corinthians 15:11.

"So we preach, and so ye believed." --- 1 Corinthians 15:11.

The method of the gospel is this: First, it proposeth things which are perculiarly its own. So the apostle sets down the constant entrance of his preaching, 1 Corinthians 15:3. It reveals its own mysteries, laying them as the foundation of faith and obedience; and it also inlays them in the mind, thereby conforming the whole soul unto them; Romans 6:17; Galatians 4:19; Titus 2:11, 12; 1 Corinthains 3:11; 2 Corinthians 3:18.

This foundation being laid, it then grafts all duties of moral obedience on the stock of faith in Christ Jesus. Where this foundation is not laid through ignorance, or rejected through prejudice, the gospel has nothing to do with such men; it neither renews their souls, nor produces any genuine fruit of obedience.

Thus, the apostle Paul, in all his epistles, teaches first the mysteries of faith that are peculiar to the gospel, and then descends unto those moral duties which are regulated thereby; so we must first hear the gospel and be acquainted with its discoveries, before we can believe aright; and when our faith is rightly founded, it is to show itself in practice of all those good works that are required of us in the Scriptures: "As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy, and upon the God of Israel."

Reveal mysterious gospel truth,
And plant it on my mind, O Lord;
So will my spirit be renew'd,
And yield obedience to thy word.

Devotion for September 10