1. 132 Hymn 7s. 80807 
2. 551 Hymn C.M. 
3. 136 Hymn. L.M. 
A discourse on the text: 
"If our Gospel be hid, it is hid 
to them that are lost." II Cor IV: 3.  
In the estimate to be formed in 
regard to the Revelation which God 
has made to us, a due discrimination 
is to be preserved between what 
is [palpably] unquestionably mysterious and beyond 
our mortal grasp, and what is 
merely obscure to us through our 
own indisposition to its study, & 
our inability to appreciate it. 
The former is in its nature unfathomable, 
and not so because one 
man's intellect is [more] less vigorous 
than another's but the difficulties 
 
 
which [they] Bible mysteries involve are precisely of  
such a character as to be solved 
by no vigor of intellect however 
mighty & by no process of investigation 
however patient, profound 
and persevering. They are mysteries 
because they are "the secret things 
that belong unto the Lord our God." 
We do meet such obscurities in 
the course of our meditations 
upon the plan of Divine Revelation. 
Nor do we regard the  
objection raised against the 
Word of God on the score of 
its mysteries, as anything more  
than a childish quibble, the mere 
 
 
futile effort of Infidelity to shake 
off the pressing conviction of the 
Truth of Revelation, which has 
taken fast hold upon [his] the Conscience. 
For whatever emanates from God 
must partake to some extent of 
His own character, and as He is 
beyond our capacity to search out, 
We naturally expect to find some 
things in His revelation which  
would be also beyond the grasp 
of the most gigantic intellect. And 
we do not object to this state of 
things; for were it otherwise, it 
would dethrone God, and destroy 
our reverence for His character. 
 
 
Since in the language of Dr Spencer, 
"A comprehensible God, is no 
God at all, for what is comprehensible 
is not infinite." 
This is one class of subjects which 
are set forth in Scripture, concerning 
which it may be said 
they are hid from all, not 
from those "that are lost" only, 
but from all finite minds. But 
there are many points of immense 
weight and importance which  
have no intrinsic mystery no 
inherent obscurity about them 
which are presented for our 
consideration in the Word of God, 
 
 
about which men, the majority of men 
affect to find such darkness and 
insolvable mystery, that to them 
at least these matters seem 
to be hidden in the gloom of 
moral midnight. Now as we gave 
the reason why the former Class 
of mysteries were inscrutable, so 
we say of this Class, that they 
owe their apparently mysterious 
character to nothing at all in 
their nature inherently, but to 
the fact that men will not 
turn their thoughts with earnest 
intensity upon them, and hence 
the plainest representations of 
 
 
these matters are so entirely disregarded by them 
as to make it a necessary consequence 
that they fail properly 
to appreciate them. Hence of 
course they are hid from them. 
There is no occasion for this. I 
conceive that this is what the 
Apostle means to convey in the 
announcement of the whole 
verse: Oh! Ye who complain that 
there is an unintelligible mystery 
in our Gospel, notwithstanding 
that in presenting it, we have 
not handled the word of God 
deceitfully, nor wacked in craftiness 
but by manifestation of the truth 
 
 
commended ourselves to every 
man's conscience in the sight of 
God," Know ye, that "if our Gospel 
be hid, it is hid to them that are 
lost." 
And who are they? A momentous 
question! In the terms of its answer are included 
the immense majority of the human 
race. All over the Earth 
are found those who are lost and 
to whom "the Gospel is hid." I  
know you will readily admit 
that in those dark and dreary 
regions of the Earth where the 
Light of the blessed Gospel has never  yet  
been kindled there the people 
 
 
that sit in that region and shadow 
of Death, are lost and ruined. 
They are involved in ignorance 
immersed in superstition, degraded 
in idolatry, and sunk in 
Barbarism, for "the dark places 
of the Earth are full of the 
habitations of cruelty." To these 
wretched beings "The Sun of Righteousness" 
has never yet arisen 
"with healing in his beams," and 
in their fearfully degraded 
condition, it is obviously true 
that to them that are [th??] 
lost, the Gospel is hid. They 
have no knowledge of its nature 
 
 
or its Author, of its provisions, or 
of its precious and unspeakable 
importance to their soul's eternal 
interests. And hence not only its 
mysteries, but everything connected 
with it remotely or more nearly 
is hidden and unknown to them 
We may add that it is the experience  
of Missionaries who have 
been laboring for years to bring  
the Gospel to bear upon them 
in their benighted condition, that 
the mind of a heathen Idolater 
covered over with this thick veil 
or previously implanted superstition, 
seems almost proof against 
 
 
any impression which they strive 
to produce. And now what is 
true of these Heathen Idolaters 
is found verified in many a  
mournful instance, in thousands  
of cases, in this Christian Land. 
Change the name of the cause 
from ignorance & Superstition 
to "Pride, prejudice, and ungodly 
lusts," and you will find here in 
our very midst those upon 
whose hearts rests a thick impervious 
veil, that effectually hides 
the Gospel from them. It is of 
special importance to bear 
constantly in mind that the veil 
 
 
is not upon their Gospel. That is 
unveiled, thanks to God, in this 
glorious Protestant Land, where 
we have an open Bible and a 
free Press, and no State dare 
as yet enact a Law forbidding 
the people to obey the Sacred 
mandate of Jesus Christ, to "Search 
the Scriptures." No veil is on the 
Gospel. But the veil is on the 
hearts of men themselves. And 
worst and most unpromising 
feature of all, men are drawing 
its folds more & more closely 
over their hearts, that the Gospel 
may be more effectually hid. Let 
 
 
us look into the manner of the operation 
of these causes and endeavor to 
ascertain how it is 1st that Pride 
prevents the access of the Gospel 
to the heart. And I remark that 
this constitutes one of the most 
formidable barriers to the success 
of the Spirit of God in His 
operations upon the heart. It 
was in full view of this fact, that 
our Savior so often warned his 
disciples against it. "Whosoever 
is ashamed of me & my words 
in this wicked and adulterous 
generation of him will I be  
ashamed when I come with the 
 
 
glory of my Father and His Holy Angels 
"Blessed is he whosoever shall not be 
ashamed of me!" [*offended in me.*] When Christ 
made His appearance upon the Earth,  
so humble in his origin, and when 
his condition was so lowly & 
his associates were so mean in  
the esteem of the World, and more 
especially when He preached doctrines 
so humiliating to the 
Pride of the human heart, it  
was so revolting to the haughty 
spirits of the Jews that they 
rejected Him, and all His instructions 
and refused to receive 
Him as the Messiah at all, 
 
 
persecuted, crucified, & slew Him 
as a malefactor. I have not 
a doubt that the offended Pride 
of the Nation more than any 
other cause, led to this fearful 
catastrophe. And still we find 
men who are swayed by the 
same Spirit, and who show most 
clearly by their conduct, that had 
they lived in that age, & had 
they been Jews [too], they too would 
have imbrued their hands 
in the precious blood of this 
humble Jesus of Nazareth. 
And nothing proves this more 
conclusively than their rejection 
 
 
with so much bitterness, the doctrines 
of the Gospel. The grand fundamental 
doctrine of the total depravity of human Nature 
is among those points which are 
held in the utmost destestation 
and abhorrence by the mass of 
unrenewed men. And I pray  
you to bear in mind that this 
is hateful most of all to the 
Pride of the human heart. 
It is this which makes it hateful 
The heart loves to cherish the 
delusion, (it is flattering) that 
there is something good & praiseworthy 
in itself. And there is nothing 
so objectionable to the impenitent 
 
 
impenitent man, as to preach to him 
that he is by Nature corrupt & 
alienated from the Life of God. 
He revolts at it. He pulls away 
the shoulder, he stoppeth the 
ear, he refuses to hear it. And 
in many cases, the experience of 
men would be that the greater 
efforts made to prove the doctrine 
and to convince men 
of its truth, the greater resistance  
is offered to it. And  
yet this doctrine rejected &  
disbelieved men must be lost 
eternally. I would "that men could  
understand that this is true 
 
 
that the salvation of the soul is intimately 
connected with a knowledge 
and belief of the doctrine [& belief] 
of the total Depravity of human 
Nature. For then it would occupy 
that position in the theological creed 
to which its vast importance entitles 
it. But alas! such is the Pride of the 
human heart that it is one of 
the parts of our Gospel which 
seems to be "hid" from the men 
of the world. But if the nature 
of man be not radically corrupt 
and depraved why does the Bible 
tell us that "the imagination of 
the heart of man is only evil and 
 
 
continually?" That "God looked upon the 
Earth, and behold it was corrupt?" 
Why does God say of man "Who can bring a 
clean thing out of an unclean?" Not one. 
What is man that he should be clean? 
Or he which is born of a woman that 
he should be righteous? Why did 
David exclaim in the bitterness of his 
agony & remorse "Behold I was 
shapen in iniquity and in Sin did 
my Mother conceive me?" Why does 
God say "The wicked are exchanged 
from the womb. They go astray 
as soon as they be born speaking 
lies?" And what means the Apostle  
when he tells the Ephesians "Ye were 
 
 
by nature the children of wrath, even 
as others?" I can understand nothing 
at all from these passages except 
that the Bible teaches that the 
nature of man is totally & radically 
depraved. And I would ask, upon 
what other principle are we to explain 
the universal prevalence of wickedness 
all over the Earth, if not that there 
is in the heart an everwelling 
fountain of corruption which 
every man brings into Life with 
him? If, as some teach, the moral 
character of every human being 
is like a pure unsullied sheet 
of paper, at his birth, upon which 
 
 
each man with his own hand writes 
his own character & destiny 
how comes it to pass, that all 
invariably without exception have 
written in the same dark and  
gloomy colors the character 
he is to bear through Life? 
Upon what principle is it to be  
accounted for, that all are wicked 
and that from the earliest demonstrations 
of the disposition? 
Why is that the world is desolated 
by War, Society broken up by 
envy & malignity, hatred, wrath 
strife & variance? Why is "man 
a wolf to man?" I account for 
 
 
it on the scriptural doctrine of the 
radical & universal depravity of 
the human heart. And I have 
not a doubt that were all the 
restraints of God's Providential 
Gov.t withdrawn, such would 
be the fierceness of its course 
and the violence of its exhibitions 
that the Earth would become 
a lazar house of misery 
and a Pandemonium for the 
residence of the Spirits of 
Darkness. But present this 
doctrine to be recd by men, & 
the Pride of the human heart 
(only one of the developments of 
 
 
its native depravity) is at once 
aroused, and the doctrine is 
denounced as a slander upon 
human Nature. And in many 
cases it is best to restrain argument 
with such cases. The surest 
way to secure conviction 
upon the mind is to leave them 
to their own experience. And  
the Word of God, and the 
experience of men on this 
subject is, that one of the first 
effects produced upon the 
mind by the Holy Spirit, is to 
enlighten the seeking soul in 
the knowledge of its own 
 
 
deep & inveterate depravity. Until 
this conviction is fastened upon the 
heart, not one step can be gained 
in the progress of the Soul towards 
its Salvation. We must 
Know it. We must feel it. We 
will feel it. The very difficulties 
which arise in the pathway of 
the inquirer are all traceable 
to this fundamental cause. 
Hence until its existence is ascertained, 
& believed no step 
will be taken aright, & it is 
in consequence of the Pride 
of the heart, that the Gospel 
is hid to them that are lost." 
 
 
And no man need ever expect to have 
the ear of God bent in listening 
Condescension and Graciousness, 
while he comes to the Throne of 
Grace, under the impression 
that in him "That is in his flesh 
there dwelleth any good thing." 
"God," we are told, "resisteth the Proud, 
but giveth grace unto the humble." 
Surely he scorneth the scorners, 
but he giveth grace unto the lowly." 
"Humble yourselves therefore under 
the mighty hand of God, that 
[He will] ye may be exalted [you] in due time." 
The Gospel will remain hidden 
effectually to you, until Pride is subdued. 
 
 
But Pride rejects another doctrine 
which is of vital importance, to 
the Sinner, (i.e.) the Sinner's inability. 
It is not to be wondered at that 
men in their unregenerate state 
are opposed to this doctrine, since 
we find even Ministers of the Gospel, 
who in dilating upon human responsibility 
dwell with so much delight 
upon the exalted faculties with 
which men are endowed, & 
thence deduce the obligation 
to serve God, by turning to Him 
of their own Will & by their own 
power. This is the doctrine that 
is so sweet to the unrenewed. And 
 
 
hence when the True doctrine is 
presented to them; when men 
are told that "By the original 
Corruption of our Nature, we are 
utterly indisposed, disabled, and 
made opposite to all good" 
it is the most natural of all impulses 
to reject the doctrine. It 
cuts the roots of all pride & 
self esteem. It brings down all 
lofty conceptions of self, & subjects 
the sinner to the most entire dependence 
upon God as his only 
Helper. No natural heart can receive 
this doctrine with cordiality. 
Let a Gospel sermon be based upon 
 
 
and fairly & honestly develop the text 
"No man can come to me except 
the Father which sent me draw 
him" Let a man preach upon 
the other declaration of Xt. "Without 
me ye can do nothing!" And 
the carnal heart rejects it at once. This 
Gospel is hid from those who are 
thus lost. It requires too [hard a] costly a 
sacrifice for them to yield up the 
cherished thought that there 
is something that they can do, 
that will not only effect their 
salvation, but by which they 
can meritoriously purchase the 
favor of God. This in the language 
 
 
of a modern Divine is what they call 
their "favorite doctrine of ability" 
but which is on the contrary 
"a favorite falsehood." Preach to 
them if you will of "their obligation to 
repent, their duty to be Xtians, & tell 
them "that there is much to do, that 
they must do freely & voluntarily, 
and then add to this, that their 
keep is in God, that they are 
undone and dependent Sinners 
to be saved if saved at all by 
grace through Jesus Christ" 
and this is the hardest of all things 
to receive; they cannot understand 
it. They do not believe it;" it 
 
 
is hid from them through the 
influence of the Pride of the 
heart. The term "Lost" is well 
applied to those from who our 
Gospel is thus "hid." They are 
indeed lost to all proper estimate 
of their own truest 
highest interest and happiness. 
They are lost to all clear 
understanding of the great 
truths of the Gospel, and all 
idea of the Way of Life thro' 
the scheme of Redemption. 
They are like travellers who 
have mistaken their way, & 
having wandered in a wilderness 
 
 
wilderness of confusion, "Where wilds 
immeasurably spread seem 
lengthening as they go," they 
become finally lost utterly 
& irretrievably. So the man to 
whom this Gospel is hid 
has so long been treading 
the devious paths of worldly 
wisdom, & worldly enjoyment 
that his mind is totally involved 
in confusion, and 
is so completely lost "stumbling 
over the dark mountains 
of perdition," that he has not 
even a correct idea as to 
the direction of the way that 
 
 
leads to Life eternal. And unless 
a Heavenly Light be shed upon 
his pathway, and the Holy Spirit 
the Divine Guide be sent to 
him in his lost condition 
his confusion & perplexity will 
only deepen, and darken until 
he finally reach the precipice 
of Despair over which he will 
sink into the bottomless pit of Perdition. 
How sad the reflection that men 
in this awfully lost condition 
are so lost also to their  
danger! "[Awake] What meanest thou, oh Sleeper 
arise & call upon thy God, if so 
be that God will think upon thee 
that thou perish not!" 
 
 
Nor is Pride the only influence that 
casts a veil upon the heart, But 
2dly Prejudice also hides the Gospel 
from those who are lost. 
A baleful influence is it that prevents 
a man from examining for 
himself a truth of vital importance 
to him, and merely because he 
has conceived improper views of it 
from false representations [of] 
[it,] chooses to reject it as false & 
hateful. This influence Prejudice 
exerts. Many of the doctrines of 
the Gospel have been caricatured 
and travestied so absurdly as 
to present them in any other 
 
 
than their true light. They have been 
clad in such repulsive garb 
as to drive men away even from 
their slightest investigation. 
[As] In proof that it is the influence 
of Prejudice which thus prevents 
men from embracing these truths 
we need only reflect that very 
frequently when the self same  
doctrines are presented fairly 
and these men have an opportunity 
of considering them in their 
true light, all objection vanishes 
at once and they see their 
entire reasonableness and 
consistency. And furthermore, it is 
 
 
a well known fact that certain great 
doctrines of the Gospel have had 
certain distinctive names affixed 
to them by which they are known 
and such objectionable features have 
been supported without examination 
to belong to these doctrines, that 
the very utterance of the names by which they 
are known, is sufficient to 
arouse the opposition & hatred of 
many men. And yet present 
the substance of these doctrines 
& conceal the name, or call 
them by some other name, and 
no objection whatever is raised 
but the doctrines are admitted & received. 
 
 
And I know not how else save by attributing it to Prejudice to account 
for a phenomenon which is not 
unfrequently exhibited by men 
who in their unregenerate condition 
reject these doctrines 
and yet when a radical change 
has been wrought in their natures 
by the regenerating influences 
of the Holy Spirit, the 
same doctrines are insensibly  
embraced as those most perfectly 
natural and consistent 
with the System of Divine  
Truth, and the nature of 
man, and the exigencies 
of the Soul. They have been trained 
 
 
and educated in the hatred of 
these doctrines and no amount 
of argument however profound 
and unanswerable 
will ever produce in their minds 
a conviction of their truthfulness. 
But, it has been found, in more 
cases than one, that if left to 
the[ir] influences of the Holy 
Spirit if they ever are 
regenerated at all, among 
the very first doctrines received 
& embraced by them 
are these once so hateful. 
The elements of this form of 
prejudice as ignorance early 
 
 
education, and intellectual 
Pride. They are ignorant of 
the true nature of the Gospel 
& hence form incorrect notions 
in regard to it. They are 
trained from early youth, to regard 
the Gospel [with] in some of 
its parts, with abhorrence, and this 
seems [one] of all barriers the most difficult 
[barriers of all] to overcome. 
And many men having conceived 
the idea that they are possessed 
of a most exalted Intellect, refuse 
to receive any doctrine which 
they cannot comprehend. 
And as there are many things 
 
 
in the Gospel hard to be understood 
and which require an humble 
and docile disposition in order 
to their being properly understood, 
they refuse to receive them & as 
of old these are to the one set 
"a stumbling block," & to another 
"foolishness." The immediate 
inevitable & inseparable effects 
of Prejudice are that it contracts  
the views, it hardens the 
hearts, it blinds the understandings 
and congeals the genial flow 
of the social affections of men. 
It is not to be wondered at 
then, that to men thus lost to 
 
 
"whatsoever things are true, honest, just 
pure, lovely, and of good report" 
our "Gospel is hid." I could 
particularize, but deem it best 
& most expedient to leave the 
subject in its mere outline 
so that each may have as 
wide a margin as possible 
for a personal application 
to his own case. With one 
remark I pass from this to [t?ie]. 
Whatever may be the form in  
which Prejudice operates to 
produce its dreadful effects 
upon the mind, one thing is 
certain, that if the veil it 
 
 
draws over the mental vision 
be not removed, while it surely 
proves them in one sense 
to be lost + ruined now, it 
will ultimately terminate in the irretrievable 
loss of the Soul. 
But I have assigned, as a  
3d cause why the Gospel 
is hid, the dominion of some 
ungodly lust. The operation of 
this cause differs somewhat 
from that of the two former, 
in that along with this [existence] dominion, 
and while cherishing some 
lust sinful in its nature, there 
may be some considerable intellectual 
 
 
intellectual Light. Much of the Theory 
of the Gospel may be Known, & 
there are times when the facts 
that the heart is depraved, that 
we must be born again, that 
God is angry, Heaven shut, & 
Hell open for the sinner, are 
far from being hid from the 
man that is lost. And in the 
time of some dire extremity 
when he is brought nigh to 
the eternal world, and the 
tribunal of Eternal Justice 
he sees enough to realize in 
some good his imminent 
peril. But alas! When the clouds 
 
 
of terror are dispersed, and the 
things of this goodly Earth 
once more array themselves 
in all their wonted smiling 
& deceitful garb, then he forgets 
his danger, and the veil is 
again drawn over his hardened 
heart, and the Gospel 
is effectually hid from 
him. The experience of the 
man of God furnishes him 
with melancholy instances of 
the influence of such lusts 
over men in Keeping men 
from a correct appreciation 
of the blessings of the Gospel. 
 
 
It is recorded of one man that he 
[The man] called upon his Pastor 
"one evening in the greatest anxiety 
of mind.... He had become suddenly 
alarmed on account of his condition 
as a sinner. His feelings 
quite overcame him. He wept 
much. He was an intelligent, well 
educated man, who had seen 
much of the world, & evidently 
possessed a quick & ready mind... 
He had a good degree of intellectual 
knowledge on the subject of 
religion. He was evidently 
man of sound understanding. 
He continued to call on his Pastor 
for months: but he attained no 
 
 
peace of mind no hope in Christ. 
He appeared from the first so sincere, 
so earnest, attended all the  
religious services so punctually 
and in all respects manifested 
so much determination, that 
the confident expectation was indulged 
that he would become 
a Christian. But he continued in 
much the same mind, and not 
even a conjecture could be  
formed why a man who appeared 
to know the truths of the 
Gospel so well, and feel them 
so deeply, should not make some 
progress in his religious attempts. 
 
 
A few weeks after this, his Pastor saw 
him in such company as to suggest 
to his mind the thought that 
he might possibly be addicted 
to the use of intoxicating drink. 
On inquiry he found this to be so. 
The man was told of this affectionately 
by his Pastor & warned that 
it was a device of Satan to hide 
the blessed hope of the Gospel from 
him. He at first acknowledged the 
fact, but did not believe it injured, 
afterwards promised to quit but 
did not, he kept on he lost 
all regard for religion he forsook 
the Church and is for aught that 
 
 
is known to the contrary, is still 
an irreligious man." Now this 
is but an illustration of the way 
in which the cherishing of a sinful 
lust blinds the mind to the 
blessings of the Gospel. And 
this is but one lust. The celebrated 
Mr. Nettleton is said once to have 
remarked "if a hard drinking 
man gets a hope, it will be 
likely to be a false hope!" 
I care not what may be the 
name or Xter of the reigning 
lust - the love of the world - 
in any of its forms, will just 
as effectually as strong drink hide 
 
 
the Gospel from the hapless 
subject. 
I will venture to conclude 
what I have to say on this 
subject, by repeating the remark, 
that there is no veil on 
the Gospel. Oh no! Praise [at] be 
God! In this Land 
where no [rude grasp] diabolical hand of Ecclesiastical 
Tyranny dare lay its ruthless 
& polluted grasp upon the 
pure Gospel, here it is 
open & uncovered & "he may 
read that [???s]." "The wayfaring 
man tho' a fool need not 
err therein." Ten thousand fulfilled 
 
 
through this broad land of civil 
& Religious liberty, Sabbath after 
Sabbath are holding it forth 
in its purity, brightness, 
simplicity & truthfulness, & 
all are welcome to read 
& understand. Over 40 millions 
of copies of the blessed Volume containing 
"Our Gospel" have been 
issued since 1804. How then can 
it be hid? It is not hid! There 
is no veil upon it. And so 
plain and simple and clear 
is it in its heavenly instructions that we may well conclude 
"If our gospel be hid, it is 
hid to them that are lost."