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thoughts; the springs of action and the secret movements of the mind, are all naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

We cannot question for a moment but what there are many selfish, sinister, and impious principles and motives at work in the human mind. Sensuality sways the world, and worldly-minded men are wholly under its dominion. Moved by the cursed lust of gold, the miser "throws up his interest in both worlds." For the love of honour, the ambitious man pursues "the bubble reputation even in the cannon's mouth :" and to gratify the licentious passion for amusement, crowds of pleasure-taking tribes fly to the haunts of dissipation,

"And wear about the mockery of woe,

To midnight revels and the public show."

And it is to be feared that many have usurped the office of the Christian ministry, under the influence of motives not a whit more justifiable in the sight of God, nor more creditable to themselves, than those which I have mentioned.

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And how many minister at the altar for a maintenance, and insinuate themselves into the Priest's office for a morsel of bread! Therefore take heed to your principles; guard against the influence of selfish motives. If you are really the Ministers of Christ, as you profess to be, and as we esteem you, then he has put you into the ministry; and love to Christ, and a sincere, soul-absorbing desire to promote his glory, and extend his knowledge in the world, must be your spring of action. "The love of Christ," saith the Apostle, constraineth us," bears us away and carries us forward in the discharge of our high commission. And if you love Christ, you will love the souls he purchased with his blood; you will deem no sacrifices too great, no labours too arduous, to bring back to Christ his long-lost property. For nothing constrains like love, its attractions are irresistible: "many waters cannot quench love; neither can the floods drown it." It brings all its offerings, and lays them at the feet of its object; and in the spirit of sacrifice it does all to please that object. 3. Take heed to the manner of your teaching.

Very much of the success of the Gospel depends on the manner in which it is preached. Many mar the work of their own hands, and prejudice the cause which they desire to promote. Take heed that your teaching be plain and intelligible. Make your hearers to understand your meaning. Do not aim at instructing them by adopting a style and phraseology which they cannot comprehend. The far greater part of your auditory will generally be plain people, people in the humble walks of life, without literature, and perhaps without

education you should aim therefore at a divine simplicity in communicating instruction. It was quaintly said by one of the ancients, that "a Divine ought to calculate his sermon as an astronomer does his almanac, to the meridian of the place and people where he lives." St. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, says, We use great plainness of speech." "And I, brethren," says he again, "when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God; for I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified: and my speech and my preaching was not with the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." "For," says he, addressing himself to the same people, "except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken ?" Some darken counsel, by uttering words without knowledge; having confused notions themselves, their words convey no determinate meaning, and their hearers understand them not, because they themselves know not what they say, nor whereof they affirm. But while, on the one hand, you guard against metaphysical subtleties, bombastic language, and high-sounding epithets, take heed that you do not, on the other, adopt a coarseness of expression inconsistent with the majesty of evangelical truth vulgarity is no virtue; and a low colloquial style of preaching often offends, rather than conciliates, and excites prejudice rather than attention. Religious truth should be set forth in its native simplicity and grandeur; and its Ministers should learn to discriminate between real beauties and meretricious decorations,-between the ornamental clothing and the tawdry vestment.

Take heed that your teaching be pointed and persuasive. In order to this, select such texts and subjects for discussion, as have a direct bearing on the present and endless interests of your hearers. Revealed truth is universally important; but it is not all of equal importance. There are superior and subordinate truths in religion: some of these are frequently brought forward, largely discussed, and pointedly insisted on in the holy Scriptures; others are only incidentally mentioned, and are rather intended as ornaments to decorate the temple of truth than pillars to support it. And, there are duties which, like the payment of tithe of mint, anise, and cummin, must not be left undone; but there are others, such as judgment, mercy," and faith, which are called by our Saviour, "weightier matters of the law," which demand peculiar attention. Therefore bring before your congregations truths, the knowledge and practice of which are essential to their salvation; and do not satisfy yourselves merely with propounding, explaining, or even confirming these truths, but press them upon the acceptance of your hearers; make the most powerful, pointed, and earnest appeals to their consciences. St. Paul, in the synagogue at Ephesus, "spake boldly for three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God." And, writing to the Corinthians, he says, "Knowing

therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." You, too, must seek to persuade men: persuade them to break off their sins by repentance; to cast away all their abominations; to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; to fly with outstretched arms to God their Saviour, and to do it without delay. And while you have the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, you can never be at a loss for strong reasons, persuasive arguments, and subjects of forcible appeal to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

Take heed that your teaching be kind and affectionate. The law was a ministration of condemnation and of death; and the Jewish Prophets were frequently sent with messages of unmingled-wrath, and commissioned to menace the people with God's terrible judgments,— to smite with the hand, and stamp with the foot, and say, "Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel!" The Gospel is a ministration of mercy; it is a proclamation of peace, and good-will towards men; and therefore you must put on bowels of mercies, and affectionately entreat your hearers to be reconciled to God. Hear what the Apostle of the Gentiles said to the Thessalonians: "We were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children; so, being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the Gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us." "Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblamably we behaved ourselves among you that believe: as ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children."

But while you teach the people kindly and affectionately, take heed to do it faithfully. Do not let your affection degenerate into effeminacy, or pusillanimity. Guard against the indulgence of a mean, timeserving temper; and never imagine that a soft, apish affectation will pass as a substitute for Christian kindness or ministerial affection. A more affectionate and deeply interested man than St. Paul the world has seldom seen; for he counted not his life dear unto himself, so that he might fulfil the ministry that he had received of the Lord Jesus at the same time, there were combined in him a dignified demeanour, and an inviolable fidelity that rendered him proof against every temptation. With what faithfulness did he address himself to the Corinthians!" I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth." Do not fail, therefore, to be faithful: faithful to the people, in keeping back nothing that would be profitable unto them; appointing to every man his portion of meat in due season. For "it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful." 4. Take heed in your teaching that you keep in mind the great design for which the Gospel ministry is established.

Remember it is not to amuse your hearers with flights of fancy, or flowers of rhetoric. Nor is it merely to call them away from their secular avocations to the services of the sanctuary. Nor is it to make

proselytes to mere opinions. But a Gospel ministry is established, first, to enlighten men's minds. Darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people; hence they walk in darkness, and dwell in the land of the shadow of death. But "the entrance of thy word," saith the Psalmist, "giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple." "I send thee," said Christ to St. Paul, "to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness unto light." Let your preaching, therefore, be luminous and instructive. The Gospel is a great light,-a light shining in a dark place; and Ministers especially are to "be the lights of the world," that being illuminated with true knowledge and understanding of God's word, they may, by their preaching and living, set it forth and show it accordingly.

Secondly. A Gospel ministry is established for the purpose of affecting men's hearts. The human heart is naturally hard and unfeeling, and no mortal power can soften or subdue it. For however susceptible it may be of impressions from worldly objects, or however affected by the recital of a tragic story or a plaintive tale, yet, towards the things of God and its own eternal interests, it is as cold and callous as a stone. But the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword." "Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces ?" See the effect of Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost, when his hearers were pricked in their hearts, and, from a conviction of their heinous wickedness, in crucifying the Lord of glory, exclaimed, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Aim therefore at producing similar effects by your preaching. Keep in mind that you are not only to open blind eyes, but to soften hard hearts; not only to illuminate the understanding, but to convict the conscience. And that you may affect others, be affected yourselves. He who speaks from the heart, speaks to it:

"There is in souls a sympathy with sounds;

Some chord in unison with what we hear

Is touch'd within us, and the heart replies."

Thirdly. A Gospel ministry is established for the purpose of regenerating men's souls. Regeneration is an essential preparative for heaven; for "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And this divine change is instrumentally effected by the preaching of the Gospel. "Of his own will," saith St. James, "begat he us by the word of truth." "I have begotten you," saith St. Paul, to the Corinthians, "through the Gospel." "Being born again," saith St. Peter, "not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." Take heed, therefore, in your teaching, to insist on the absolute necessity of regeneration; that nothing short of a new creation, or an entire renewal of the soul in righteousness, can produce a moral meetness for the enjoyments of heaven; and from a deeply radicated conviction of the utter inefficiency of mere human teaching to effect this highly important change in the soul of

man, cry mightily to God that his Gospel, delivered by you, may come not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much

assurance.

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Finally. A Gospel ministry is established for the purpose of building up believers on their most holy faith. 'When Christ ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." "And now, brethren," said St. Paul to the Ephesian Elders, "I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up." And, as Ministers, you have much to do, not only in seeking to convert sinners from the error of their ways, but in promoting the instruction and edification of saints. Have they many privileges to enjoy? These must be explained, and urged upon their attention. Are they exposed to many temptations? Against these they must be cautioned, and warned, and guarded. Are they discouraged because of the way? To inspire them with confidence, the promises of grace and the consolations of the Gospel must be plainly and explicitly set before them. And as Apollos" helped them much which had believed through grace," so you must labour to urge on believers to seek higher attainments in personal holiness, that they may be filled with all the fulness of God.

And remember it is imperative upon you to take heed to your teaching, no less than to yourselves. You should do it for your own sake. There is a weight of responsibility resting upon you, of which you cannot divest yourselves. Your own salvation, in common with that of your hearers, depends on your personal and ministerial fidelity. The Apostle, after having charged Timothy to take heed to himself and the doctrine, adds, for in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." You cannot neglect your ministerial duty without endangering your own salvation, and incurring the vengeance of Him who hath said, "If thou warn not the wicked, but he die in his sins, his blood will I require at thy hands."

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You should do it for the people's sake. While they supply you with carnal things, you are bound to minister to them spiritual things. In a subordinate sense, their interests are placed in your hands, and their destiny for eternity depends, in no inconsiderable degree, upon your conduct. You are over them in the Lord, you watch for their souls, and you may become the instruments of their salvation; for Ministers are prophetically denominated, saviours," who should "come upon Mount Zion, to judge the mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's."

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You should do it for God's sake. You are stewards of the mysteries of God. You are not only his offspring, but his professed, consecrated, and devoted servants. His vows are upon you. He has invested you with talents and qualifications for the work of the ministry; and has

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