And, if the most zealous of His faithful servants, if the foremost masters of our Israel, be oppressed with a sense of this mighty responsibility; if they feel, as they cannot but feel, that, not in their own strength nor wisdom can they discharge its obligations, and, that, unless the grace of God sustain their spirits, not one of them is sufficient for these things; if the conviction of this truth impart fervour to their prayers, and constancy to their exertions; then how must the heart dread to contemplate the guilt and danger of the careless and unprofitable minister, of him, who exposes the truth to reproach, the Church to danger, and himself to shame; who, for the sake of worldly lucre or worldly honour, or with an hasty boldness or cold indifference scarcely less culpable, is content to hazard the dearest interests of immortal souls; not studying to show himself "approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth 1,”

ness into glory; it raiseth men from the earth and bringeth God himself down from heaven; by blessing visible elements it maketh them invisible grace; it giveth daily the Holy Ghost; it hath to dispose of that flesh which was given for the life of the world, and that blood which was poured out to redeem souls: when it poureth malediction upon the heads of the wicked they perish, when it revoketh the same they revive. O! wretched blindness, if we admire not so great power; more wretched if we consider it aright, and notwithstanding imagine that any but God can bestow it!'-Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, Book v. ch. lxxvii. 2. 1 2 Tim. ii. 15.

but "handling the word of God deceitfully';" and, in ignorance or forgetfulness of the sacred message intrusted to him, treasuring up unto himself, the heaviest of all woes,-the woe that shall fall upon the watchman who slumbers at his post, upon the steward who betrays his trust, upon the minister who obeys not, and preaches not, the Gospel of Christ?

Did we not say, then, with good reason, my brethren, that the subject presented to our notice in the text, is one both needful and salutary for the ministers of God to contemplate ?—that it is fitted to impart seriousness to the trifler, resolution to the wavering, and energy to the weak; that, to the highest not less than to the lowliest amongst us, it points out the nature and end of our duties, and the source from which strength to discharge them must be derived; and, that the principle, here laid down by the Apostle, must be found controlling every word, and deed, and thought of ours, if we would seek to follow him, as he followed Christ?

It is, indeed, a part of our subject so vast in its extent, and comprehending such numerous and important matters of detail, that it might well claim, upon its own account, a separate and undivided consideration. And, were it our office to address a congregation composed chiefly of our fellow-ministers, it would be right so to regard it, and to confine

1 2 Cor. iv. 2.

our thoughts solely to the strict examination of the grounds, upon which the authority of our office is established, and the character which is demanded of those who hold it. Such, however, is not the duty required from us at the present moment. We are now called upon to consider the relation which our office bears towards you, as well as towards ourselves. The words of the Apostle describe not only the character which the minister of God is required to maintain in his own person, but also the estimate of it, which ought to be entertained by others.

"Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God," is the declaration of St. Paul. Now, it needs but a very slight acquaintance with the world around us, to see that we are not so accounted. The ministerial office is, in very truth, frequently not regarded by others as it ought to be. Neither would it be difficult to show that such errors of opinion are not, like many others, harmless and inoffensive in their results, but fraught with serious mischief both to those who hold them, and to ourselves whom they concern. How low and degrading, for instance, is the standard by which some men would judge of the ministerial office! Esteeming it to consist merely in the formal and regular discharge of the public services of the Church; or in abstinence from certain amusements; or in conformity to the rules of conventional decorum; they forget, that, what

soever be the changing fashions of a changing world, the character of God's ministers, is independent of them all, and not to be controlled by any; and, that, whatsoever be the light in which the performance of our public duties is regarded, such duties are of no profit to ourselves, except so far as they be actuated by the spirit of Christian faith; that, if they want that spirit, they will be vain as the tinkling cymbal, vainer than vanity itself;—and, that, after all, they are but a portion, and perhaps not the most valuable portion, of that round of sacred duties which meets not the public gaze, but which, nevertheless, must be followed out with zeal, and perseverance and impartiality, by all who would seek to be faithful stewards of God's mysteries. Now, it cannot but be admitted, I think, that they, who entertain such partial and unworthy notions of the office of the Christian minister, must themselves have a false impression of the requirements of a Christian people. They demand not that "the priest's lips should keep knowledge'," because they themselves wish to receive none. They rejoice not in the zeal of the faithful messenger, because they themselves would go on calm and undisturbed. Neither knowing, therefore, nor desiring to know, the things that belong unto their peace, they deem any one competent to guide them along the same round of dull indifference. It is a task of mechanical formality which

1 Mal. ii. 7.

may safely be entrusted, in their estimation, to the feebleness of mind that is unable to grapple with the difficulties of a secular profession. They know and can appreciate the keen and active spirit, which is demanded for struggling with success through the difficulties of other walks of life. They value there the fixed resolve, the lofty impulse, the unwearied perseverance, the upright principle; and yet, they dream that they may calmly consign the mightiest interests of our immortal nature to the care of the weak, the careless, or the ignorant. No marvel, if this be the mistaken view which is taken by some men of the ministerial office; if, acting upon such perilous notions, they urge any one who looks up to them for guidance, to rush, unbidden, into the sanctuary, that "the enemies of the Lord should blaspheme'." No marvel that "the love of many" should wax cold 2;" that false teachers should infest the church of Christ; and that, in the day of trial, they who have thus been deceiving or deceived, should find their hope a mockery, and their strength but "the staff of a broken reed," which "shall go into their hand, and pierce it 3."

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Again, there is another error, coming indeed from an opposite quarter, but yet not less opposed to the Apostolic precept laid down in the text, nor less detrimental to the due discharge of the ministerial office than that already noticed. I mean the error,

1

2 Sam. xii. 14. 2 Matt. xxiv. 12.

3 Is. xxxvi. 6.