I shall take for my text the one word "gospel." I do not think there
is a word in the English language that is so little understood in this
Christian land of England as this very word "gospel." We have heard it
from our earliest childhood up. There is not a day, and with many of
us not an hour during the day, but that we hear the word "gospel." And
yet, I say, a partaker of the gospel is a long time before he really
knows the meaning of the word. It means "good tidings." I think it
would do us good sometimes to get a dictionary and hunt up the meaning
of some of the words we use so often; some of those Bible words, such
as "gospel" and "Christ." I think it would change our ideas. I think
this would be a very joyful meeting to-night, if every one really
believed that the gospel is good news. Let a man or a boy bring a
despatch into this audience and hand it to any one here, and if that
brings good news you can see it immediately in the man's face; his
face lights up when he opens the despatch. You can see he really
believes it. And if it is really good news, if it brings him the
tidings of a long-lost boy coming home, why, if his wife is sitting
next to him, he passes the despatch to her; he wants her to have
knowledge of it too. He does not wait for her to ask for it; he does
not wait till they get home. So when I preach, those who really
believe the gospel, if I am near enough to look into their eyes, I see
their faces light up and they look remarkably sharp; but those who do
not believe it put on a long face, and look as if you had brought them
a death-warrant, or invited them to attend a funeral.