t wisdom and duty of acceptance.

'Worthy of all acceptation,' says Paul. Yes, of course, if it is
reliable. That word of the Lord which is 'sure, making wise the simple,'
deserves to be received. Now this phrase, 'all acceptation,' may mean
either of two things: it may either mean worthy of being welcomed by all
men, or by the whole of each man.

This Gospel deserves to be welcomed by every man, for it is fitted for
every man, since it deals with the primary human characteristic of
transgression. Brethren! we need different kinds of intellectual
nutriment, according to education and culture. We need different kinds
of treatment, according to condition and circumstance. The morality of
one age is not the morality of another. Much, even of right and wrong,
is local and temporary; but black man and white, savage and civilised,
philosopher and fool, king and clown, all need the same air to breathe,
the same water to drink, the same sun for light and warmth, and all need
the same Christ for redemption from the same sin, for safety from the
same danger, for snatching from the same death. This Gospel is a Gospel
for the world, and for every man in it. Have you taken it for yours? If
it is 'worthy of all acceptation,' it is worthy of _your_ acceptation.
If you have not, you are treating Him and it with indignity, as if it
was a worthless letter left in the post-office for you, which you knew
was there, but which you did not think valuable enough to take the
trouble to go for. The gift lies at your side. It is less than truth to
say that it is '_worthy_ of being accepted.' Oh! it is infinitely more
than that.

It is, also, 'worthy of all acceptation' in the sense of worthy of being
accepted into all a man's nature, because it will fit it all and bless
it all. Some of us give it a half welcome. We take it into our heads,
and then we put a partition between them and our hearts, and keep our
religion on the other side, so that it does not influence us at all. It
is worthy of being received by the understanding, to which it will bring
truth absolute; of being received by the will, to which it will bring
the freedom of submission; of being received by the conscience, to which
it will bring quickening; of being received by the affections, to which
it will bring pure and perfect love. For hope, it will bring a certainty
to gaze upon; for passions, a curb; for effort, a spur and a power; for
desires, satisfaction; for the whole man,