Sinclair Ferguson on the Apostle Paul, Patrick Hamilton and the Voice of the Gospel

You must listen to this sermon by Sinclair Ferguson. It was preached this past Reformation Sunday at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, PA.

At one point in the sermon Ferguson quotes Patrick Hamilton on the difference between the voice of the Law and voice of the Gospel. The quote is priceless:

The Law saith to the sinner, ‘Pay thy debt.’
The Gospel saith, ‘Christ hath paid it;’
The Law saith, ‘Thou art a sinner, despair, thou shalt be damned.’
The Gospel saith, ‘Thy sins are forgiven thee. Be of good comfort, thou shalt be saved.’

The Law saith, ‘Make amends for thy sin.’
The Gospel saith, ‘Christ hath made it for thee.”
The Law saith, ‘The Father of Heaven is angry with thee.’
The Gospel saith, ‘Christ hath pacified Him with His blood.’

The Law saith, ‘Where is thy righteousness, goodness, and satisfaction?’
The Gospel saith, ‘Christ is thy righteousness, goodness and satisfaction.’

The Law saith, ‘Thou art bound and obliged unto me, to the devil, and to hell.’
The Gospel saith, ‘Christ hath delivered thee from them all.’1

1. Peter Lorimer,  Precursors of Knox,or Memories of Patrick Hamilton, the First Preacher and Martyr of the Scottish Reformation (Edinburgh: Thomas Constable and Co., 1857) pp. 110-111