ri , +- =6^iS AN APPROVED MINISTRY. DIBCOU RlS E li-ENKY 'B. ELLlte, PASTOR Ok THE FIRST C'0#GREG W'tOTiL CHURCH, * « STAMFORD, COM'" *f | NEW -YORK: ,| „'[ JOHN F. TfOW, PRINTER, 37?- .<& i#9 I.BRO ADIA^ -jl (GG-UfHiT. OK WHITE ETJIEpTY) ')$ AN APPEOVED MINISTEY. A DISCOURSE, BY HENRY B. ELLIOT, PASTOR OF THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, STAMFOED, CONN. NEW YORK: JOHN F. TROW, PRINTER, 377 & 379 BROADWAY, CORNER OF WHITE STREET. 1856. The following Discourse is printed chiefly because desired by the people to ivhom the author statedly ministers. To them it is affectionately dedicated, and to their serious perusal it is commended. SERMON. "These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation.1' Acts, xvl IT. The divine origin of the human soul and its intrinsic likeness to the Creator, are in no way more forcibly manifested than by the spontaneous assent which it gives to the truths of God, and the testimony which it hears, when faithful to its own con victions, to the excellence of those truths. Though the affec tions, in their corrupted state, may he averse to the word of Jehovah ; though the will in its perversion, may repudiate it ; though the whole moral being and the whole outward life may he in contrariety to its demands ; there is yet to be found in the depths of every conscience, and in the clear moments of every understanding, a response to all its cardi nal features ; proving not only God's condescending adjust ment of His revelation to finite minds, hut equally the natural adaptedness of the human mind to any revelation by which the essential character of Deity can be exhibited. This fact is, of course, especially apparent in the case of those who have been enlightened by the Holy Ghost, and whose renovated spirits have become conformed to their Fa ther's spirit. To them every declaration of what God is, or of what He requires, commends itself in proportion to the degree of their sanctity. Their hearts accord with all His utterances ; they long to completely possess His will, and to be completely possessed hy it ; and they therefore hail with gladness all the methods hy which He would unfold His at tributes to them, or enforce His purposes upon them. But beyond this holy and happy class, the children of God, and " partakers," in a high and peculiar sense, "of the divine nature," the principle which I have announced is also of universal apphcation, varying only in the measure of its in fluence with the amount of knowledge acquired, and the greater or less blinding effect of sin, but evidencing its power in some measure, in all cases where opportunity is offered for its exercise. Even in the deepest degradation, and un der the grossest darkness of Paganism, when the "only living God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent," are pro claimed, the answer breaks forth from burdened souls, " Lo, this is He whom we have waited for ! " and the very opposition which is often awakened, the raging of an unsub dued will under the promptings of the adversary, the foam ing of lusts and passions unprepared for the restraints which God would impose, are only startling proofs how deeply and sharply the truth has penetrated. Following readily upon these remarks is another, which will bring us nearer the particular theme suggested hy the text. The various means of God's appointment, by which He would extend the knowledge of His name, and promote His sovereign plans, equally commend themselves to the judgments of men. His people love all the instruments of divine grace. They cherish humbly and joyfully every institution of religion, and every appliance which infinite wisdom has devised for per petuating those institutions, and making them effective for their desired end. They perceive how every ordinance works for His glory. They see how closely they are linked in mutu al dependence, are grieved when any part of them is deprived of what is needed to its completeness, and seek eagerly that it may be refurnished for its perfect operation. And even those who have no sympathy with the Lord's people in their spiritual interest, yet have a respectful regard, and a degree of personal concern for these things. Though they love not the institutions of the gospel, they do silently reverence them, know their value, confess them to be of God, and deprecate any thing which would endanger their existence, or diminish their force. Let me select one of these agencies, and bring your minds to its definite consideration, with a view to the principle which I have been stating. Pre-eminent among them is what we are accustomed to term the Ministry. This word has dropped out of its original meaning, and become almost exclusively techni cal in our modern use. Yet so universal is this use, that I need not pause to explain it as designating a certain office in the Christian economy and the system of active influence devolved by the Head of the Church, upon those who occupy that office. I do not hesitate to say, that of all the agencies ordained hy God for the furtherance of the gospel, none is so important as this. None has been so notably marked with the tokens of His interest ', none is so intimately associated with His 'own revelation ; none has been so inwoven with whatever pertains to the eternal welfare of men, or with what ever progress the world has made in knowledge and virtue. If, therefore, the idea which I have developed is correct, — if God's truth wakes an echo in the human soul, and the means which He has appointed for its advancement are so adapted to the wants of the mind, that they answer the claims of the con science and the judgment, — then we shall assuredly find that a genuine ministry will stand approved before men ; admired by the saints ; respected, even though not loved, hy the un godly. Do we find it thus ? Has it been so ? Is it so now ? — Questions of the most serious importance to us all. The student of history will notice that past ages seem far from harmonious in their testimony on this point. In the earliest period of the Christian dispensation, he observes the ministry attracting the most profound attention of all classes, and winning the most signal honor every where. Stripes, im prisonment and death were indeed the lot of those who entered it. They were hunted from city to city, and the clamor of the ignorant or the malignant often overbore their message ; yet for their office, and themselves, they wrought a marvellous work in the convictions of the people, and kings on their thrones could not command such reverence as was accorded to those humble men. A few generations elapse, and what posi tion does the historian then assign this same agency and its actors in the general estimate ? It is dreaded, loathed, scorned. The very title, priest, suggests infamy and wrong. The vicious, the ruthless, the atheistic sustain it ; the good and wise shrink from it in horror or in sorrow. — Again we look, and the scene is changed. Contempt has given place to deference ; aversion, to affection. Sanctuaries are thronged, instruction sought ; the minister moves among appreciating multitudes, and the world's mightiest do obeisance to him. So does the record of the centuries show us the ever changing estate of the ministry, — rising and falling, blessed and scoffed. Nor does our own time exhibit it in an entirely stable and just po sition yet. In different lands, in different parts of our own, among different religious organizations, there is still a wide difference in the public regard for it. It is still in some places despised and hated, while in others all hearts rally around it. At one point it seems utterly inoperative, at another it is the most potent of influences. How shall we account for this va riance ? Not by attributing it to varying circumstances ; nor by imagining human nature and its aptitudes to vary with ages and climes ; nor by supposing it. to rest primarily upon a mysterious sovereignty, causing variety according to His dis- 6 criminating purposes. No — it is not a diversity in the oppor tunities or facilities for the work, nor in the divine blessing upon it, nor a diversity of gifts under the same spirit, which elevates or lowers the ministry, so much as it is a diversity in the spirit possessed, the object sought, the work attempted by it. It is a lamentable, an unauthorized, a criminal variety of ministries ; not of the manner, but of the matter of them ; not of ability, but of intent. I would not needlessly disparage individuals nor classes. God forbid that I should appear to vaunt personal integrity, while denouncing the un faithfulness of others ; but I cannot "magnify mine office" without deprecating the abuses to which it is too often sub jected. And when we take a broad view, including all periods, localities and sects, the old world and the new, Popery and Protestantism, the confused, conflicting, barren condition of much nominally Christian ministry is too patent to be denied. Under the divine commission it has one outstanding charac teristic, one grand design, one general method ; and if it always were and appeared to be thus, there would be little diver sity in the estimate placed upon it. If men could always see what a true ministry is, and what it aims at, there is enough of the image of God yet left on them, and enough of His fear yet before them, to cause them to highly esteem it, even though they would not obey it. The ministry of Paul, of Fenelon, of Luther, and Calvin, and Whitfield, and Edwards, and Payson, how it was honored I though many gnashed their teeth against and perished under it. It showed itself to be of God, and the seal of the divine commission, even God's enemies could not behold without awe. This, therefore, is our doc trine, — let the ministry prove itself ordained of God, and it will ever and every where occupy its position in society with dignity, and move in its work with power. We have thus reached the central point of the subject, which I desire to present to you. It will be indicated by the inquiry, How shall the ministry prove its divine commission, and so attain its appropriate standing before the world ? The answer can be drawn from the text, and may be expressed in a single sentence. By making, as the supreme, unswerving object of its pursuit, which shall give character to all its labors, and tone to ¦ all its utterances, the showing unto men the way of salvation. When the fidelity of any occupant of the sacred office to this one purpose is manifest to those to whom he ministers, they will invariably think and feel (if they do not, like the woman of Philippi, cry out), " this is a "servant of the Most High God." I know no other means by which a minister can estab- lish this point for himself, or hy which he can assume his right attitude in the public view. He must link himself with the Infinite Sovereign in the sublime and blessed design which He cherishes for our fallen race, and make the message of the throne so evidently the burden of his heart, and the theme of his speech, that the disobedient and gainsaying, as well as the docile and devout, shall recognize his embassage. Not otherwise may he hope for favor with God, or a worthy repute with man. But this proposition, simple as it is in its announcement, involves more than may at first appear. I proceed, therefore, to develope it further, under three divisions. 1st. The minister who would verify his divine commission, must habitually so present truth as to make it manifestly and pre-eminently bear upon the salvation of the soul. The Most High, in His mode of regarding men, and in the construction of His revelation to them, considers them not primarily as rational beings to be enlightened and perfected in intelligence, nor as social beings to be made useful and happy in their mutual relations ; but before all, and above all, and in all, as fallen immortals to be saved. Accordingly the Bible is a book, whose chief characteristic is not its science, nor its ethics, won derful as it is in the former, and incomparable as it is in the latter ; but it lies before every mind in this one foremost aspect, as a chart of the way to eternal life. In the immense range of its teachings, while it corrects all that is evil in the entire man and in society, it bends every thing toward one theme, and makes every thing subsidiary to one design, — salvation. Nor is this an uncertain fact. All men possessing the Scriptures know it. Hence the candid judgment of mankind every where demands, and always will demand, of the minister who would be recognized as from God, that his utterances shall he corres pondingly full of salvation. And a true ministry meets this demand. It has been well said, " If we examine the preaching of the great divines of all ages, we find but one general strain and tone. Every thing is tinged with' sin and redemption. The fall and the recovery of the human soul, paradise lost, and paradise regained are the substance of their sermonizing. Like some great painters, they are monochromatic ; they employ only one principal color. And yet," it is added, " there is va riety in thisunity." Nay, the unity itself necessitates variety ; for this one topic has such an immeasurable reach of applica tion, and this one object requires such numberless modes of effort, that no mind can exhaust the theme, no lifetime employ all its means. But the unity, not the variety, the singleness 8 of aim, not the diversity of method, is that which especially marks such a ministry, and gives it position among men ; even as it stamps and signalizes God's word. Let me add, I fear, that the secret of loss of pulpit power in some quarters, and often the lessened reverence for the pulpit, is to be found in a false estimate and wrong practice in this particular. Some congregations have apparently ceased to desire the ministry, and ask only for lecturers and orators, or at the best for leaders in the moral enterprises of the day ; and yet, so conscious are they that this is not the substance of the divine message to them that when they have obtained what they desire in greatest eminence, they do not respect it as from the Lord. Indeed, the more they are gratified the less is their reverence awakened, until at length they entirely discard from their conceptions of a religious teacher the idea of an ambassador for God. And thus does the pulpit, with all its charming or its arousing elo quence, with all its stimulus to philanthropy, and its resist ance of civil wrong, become, in their esteem, nothing higher than the lyceumdesk, or the reform platform'; and they who weekly officiate in it are regarded as seeking only human ends, and under human impulses. The old significant appellation, " a divine," has lost all its appropriateness in their view, be cause they fail to perceive that their ministers are clothed as God says his priests shall be " clothed with salvation." Yet let one come before such a congregation evidently animated by earnest zeal to deliver souls from going down to the pit, his whole manner and matter imbued with the spirit of Him who came to seek the lost; let him traverse every field of study, but bear all the gathered fruit as an offering at the shrine of re demption; let him bring forth from his treasury things new and old, but bathe each gem of thought in the droppings of the cross ; how quickly would every hearer be constrained to con fess " this is a servant of the most High God." Such were the first preachers, such will be the last, and such only ever really preach. Further : The minister who would stand in such a char acter before men must not only present truths which point to salvation ; he must, in the second place, freely and distinctly declare the whole counsel of God in regard to that salvation as revealed in the gospel. No man can substantiate his claim to be accredited as from God by any thing less than. a con scious and well authenticated completeness in the delivery of his message. Any observed deficiency in this respect will cause the suspicion that he speaks for himself and from him self. It was of such the Lord said of old, " I sent not these 9 prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied." The true prophet will not omit nor shun to de clare any part or point of what the Eternal Mind directs. Precisely, exclusively and fully that, will he interpret and re iterate, not as pleasing men, but God, who trieth the heart. Christians sometimes ask, " Is it necessary to bring such and such doctrines before the people ? We acknowledge that they are true and scriptural, but they are offensive to some hear ers ; they are not universally believed even in the Church. Why present them ? Why provoke discussion and opposition ? Cannot men be saved without the knowledge or reception of them ? " Ah ! this is not the spirit of a worthy ambassador. If the king has prepared a message, what right has the ambas sador to select from it what he will deliver, and what with hold. His business is to speak what his Lord has dictated. The responsibility of its wisdom and utility is not with the ser vant, but with the master. No sooner does the minister harbor such thoughts, than he detracts from the evidence in his own soul of his acceptance by the Most High. If he fears to ut ter the mandates of heaven, he ought to doubt whether he is in communion with its Infinite Majesty. If, he consults the in clinations or prejudices of men as the guide of his lips, he ought to doubt whether they have been touched by a coal from the altar. If, from apprehension of repelling them he points his hearers only to those features of the way of life which are attractive to them, he ought to tremble lest he fail utterly to lead them into the true way. Moreover, such a sentiment, carried into action, will inevitably lower his ministry among the people. They will feel the lack of completeness in it, and will observe the feebleness which must be the result. They may chafe under fidelity, but they will respect it. They may be at ease under a timorous or a partial ministry, but they will lightly esteem it. It is true, indeed, that God suffers and requires the exercise of discretion on the part of His mes senger, as to the time and mode and connection of the several portions of the message ; but as to the fulness and explicit- ness with which every fraction of it shall be communicated, He allows no choice, nor should the preacher attempt any, nor the people permit it. Who gives him liberty to preach divine clemency, human ability, the pardon of sins, the works of the law, the delights of piety, and kindred topics, because the world love to hear them ; while he omits infinite sovereignty, eternal purposes, the creature's dependence, the divine de mand of propitiation, unending punishments, the righteousness of faith, the new birth, cross-bearing, and non-conformity of 10 life, because they are repugnant to the camal mind, or shrink ing disciples doubt their expediency ? Such a defective, im becile ministry bears little trace of its commission by Him who proclaims, " I am God, and beside me there is no Saviour. I will work, and who shall let it ? " We do not wonder that men fail to revere it. Eevolted subjects, perishing in exile, receiving an overture from their offended, though compassion ate monarch, ask not for a few smooth, garbled extracts from it. " The message," they cry, " give us the message in its in tegrity — the whole of it — in its majesty as well as condescen sion ; with its denunciations, as well as invitations ; with its conditions, as well as promises ; that we may know whether to yield or resist, to live or die." Nor would any insignia of his office secure from their indifference or ^contempt the herald who should deal otherwise with them. And so does human nature, even when fallen and rebellious, and surely when reno vated and submissive, require the entire word of God, and no herald of salvation is true or wise, or safe or honored, who with holds it. I remark, 3dly. The minister must verify his divine commission by exhibiting the truth under such forms of statement as shall make it appear to be simply 'and directly God's word. There is a theory gaining currency in our Churches, and a practice some what in vogue corresponding with it, which is antagonistic to this principle, and which, I cannot but think, has reduced the ministry, in some instances, to the level of mere pulpit ora tory, or religious charlatanism. The theory is, that the chief study of the minister, that on which he is most to rely for suc cess in his work, is the knowledge of human nature. " Let him," it would say, " acquaint himself with the springs of hu man action, and the avenues to the human heart ; then let him so couch his doctrine, that it shall fall in with men's daily methods of decision, and they shall receive it on the ground of their own convictions." Assuming that the unrenewed, as they like not God, will not like His word as such, the preacher's craft must be to disengage it from its distinctive garb, and present it as a question of pure reason ; his object being to retain the truth in its essence, and lodge it in the understand ings of his hearers, while they are unconscious that it is any thing more than the determination of their own sound and candid judgment. Thus, it is supposed, the gospel will be in corporated with their habits of thinking, exert its control over their lives, without encountering their prejudices against the Scriptures, or exciting their hostility to God. A most plausible scheme indeed, and flattering enough to the pride of men. 11 Most earnestly let us discard and disavow it. It saps the foundations of virtue, ignores the very idea of godliness, repu diates faith, and makes religion only a higher naturalism. Such a ministry has no need of a divine commission, and cer tainly cannot consistently claim it. No ; the chief study of the preacher should he, not the human mind, hut the mind of God. He should acquaint himself, not primarily with the springs of human action, but with the springs of the divine will, the fountain of divine authority. If he discovers the ave nues to the human heart, it should be, that he may enter them with the unfurled banner of the cross, and make all the re cesses of the soul audience chambers for Immanuel. Let him know the science of mind, and obtain insight into its opera tions, but let the object of his study be that he may under stand its movements under the Providence and Spirit of God, and be ready as a steward of the Sacred Oracles to bring forth in due season such portions thereof as the Holy Ghost has designed for its varying conditions. Let him be quick in learning the state of his hearers, that he may sound the trum pet with no uncertain note, but cry, " Ho, all ye ! come and hear what the Lord saith unto you." This is the grand object of all psychological knowledge in the preacher, that he may be better fitted to speak in time the words which infinite wisdom has inspired ; not that he may acquire skill in charming the attention, not that he may insinuate into the thoughts certain sentiments so cunningly that it shall scarce be known whence they came or how they were received. I aver (and ask for the assertion your serious consideration) that they whose sentiments have been so received, have not yet believed the gospel. Their faith stands, as Paul has said, " in the wisdom of men," not in the power or grace of God. Such preaching "with enticing words" is not preaching the gospel. The gospel is not a mere bundle of opinions, no matter how conveyed, and how apprehended, if only accepted. It is tidings from the Almighty to a dying world ; tidings of what He wills, whose thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor His ways as our ways ; and it must be embraced as such, or there is no life in it. Though all the angels in heaven proclaimed it, it would be no gospel, if the Lord of angels did not an nounce it. Even Jesus, himself the way and the truth, was careful to declare, " I have not spoken of myself, but the Fa ther gave me commandment what I should say." I aver, moreover (and commend this also to your notice), that they, whose discourse is after the method to which I have objected, do not gain for themselves, among their auditors, the position 12 and name of commissioned, recognized ministers of God. Popular declaimers, vigorous reasoners, eloquent of speech, gathering multitudes and swaying them at their pleasure, all this may be admiringly said of them. But who, as he sits be fore them, says within himself, " This is a servant of the Most High, and I must listen as to a message from on high ? " Who, as he departs, exclaims, " Thou art near, 0 Lord and all thy commandments are truth ? " 0 believe it, there is a rad ically false foundation, and a perilous tendency in this matter. " The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream ; but he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully." " What is the chaff to the wheat ? saith the Lord." " Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, ' what hath the Lord answered thee, and what hath the Lord spoken ? '" I have thus indicated, so far as my limits will allow, the answer to the question, " How shall the ministry substantiate its claim to a divine commission ?" I have spoken as though the preaching of the whole gospel were identical with what is termed in the text the showing of the way of salvation. I have not stayed to discuss this point, but have believed and as sumed it to be so. The gospel is designed to open the way of salvation, and prompt the lost to enter it. Its author would encumber it with nothing * extraneous or unnecessary, and I know not that we are warranted in supposing any part unim portant, To receive Him whom the gospel reveals, to believe what it inculcates, to do what it requires, constitutes the way of salvation. ¦. Who will say, therefore, that it is safe in any one who would secure salvation, to deny or fail to know any part of that gospel ? Through the mysterious grace of God some may be drawn to the Eedeemer while ignorant of, or even rejecting many truths ; but to make such instances a precedent is unspeakably perilous. The path of life is not easy of discovery nor of pursuit by the natural heart, and they who would be sure of finding it must take this volume in its entireness, and its luminous though profound statements, as their only guide ; and they who would point men to that path must be exceedingly solicitous, lest by omissions of truth, or by un authorized methods of representing them, they virtually fal sify the gospel, and become blind leaders of the blind. I turn from the discussion to refer you, in closing, to some practical inferences — the summing up and condensation of it all. We see by what standard the minister should be. estimat ed. Consider the sublimity of his position, as he stands before a people to exhibit to them God's character and will, and point them to eternal realities. Sent by Jehovah, as no other class of mortals can claim to be, shielded by the prerogatives 13 of the King immortal and invisible, announcing a Gospel awful with the solemnities of judgment, and radiant with the light and blessedness of heaven ! What a station ! what a work ! " 'Tis what might fill an angel's heart ; it filled a Saviour's hand." It is an office hallowed for ages with divine sanctions, and crowned with glory richer than all the diadems of earth. We claim for it, and feel that we have a right to claim, the reverential regard of all the people. Lamentable will be the day, should it ever come, when they cease to so regard it. The desolation of the heritage of God, the moral night of the world, will be nigh at hand when this shall be. To exalt and purify it, is the glory of Israel aud the hope of mankind ; to dishonor or neglect it is the blight of religion, and the destruction of souls. I know no language too strong to express its amazing dignity and value. All other offices of human ordering, of human aspiration and emolu ment, are low and mean in comparison with it. Woeful will he the account of any occupant of it, who shall do aught to degrade it, or to make men think and speak lightly of it. Such should be our estimate of the office. But I would for a moment carry you further, and remind you from our subject, by what standard you should measure the man in the office. Our meditations have led us steadily to but one conclusion on this point. Let us frankly receive it, and gravely ponder it. The minister is to be valued in proportion to the fidelity with which he discharges his special function ; — not according to his talents, his address, his prominence in society, his suc cess in attracting hearers ; but according to the clearness, the fulness, the fervor with which he shows to men the way of salvation. In all other respects he may be the companion, equal, even the inferior, of many of his people. But if he performs this mission faithfully, he is a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, and should be highly esteemed for hi8 work's sake. On the other hand, though in every thing else he were eminent, facile in every other work, and attractive in every other relation, if he does not this palpably, and with supreme desire, his ministry profiteth nothing. The moral Sense of society should rise up and repudiate it. Aye, and it will repudiate it, vindicating God's cause, and confirming His will. May this be the rule by which the Church of Christ here ghall regulate their desires and judgments. By it may every occupant of this pulpit stand or fall ; and may you evince it to all onlookers, whether friendly or hostile, by your choices and actions. 14 Again, let our subject remind you that a minister should receive every practicable encouragement and assistance from those to whom he ministers. He assumes a charge, and under takes a work, the magnitude of which no superficial mind can perceive. How much it involves ! It involves the pulling down of the strongholds in which sin intrenches itself, not only in the individual heart, but in all surrounding society ; the restraining of worldliness and frivolity, whose currents are drowning men in perdition ; the dislodgruent of multiform errors which hinder the Gospel ; the discovery in the Church of self-delusions, and the arrest of hackslidings ; the rebuke of prevailing faults, by which the shining of true believers is ob structed ; the quickening of Christian graces, and development of piety in earthly relationship. All this is involved in his work, for it all bears upon his one object of salvation. He is not merely to stand aside, and point out to men the way of life. He is to go before, and take out the stumbling blocks from it, and draw them into it, and sustain them in its diffi culties, and cheer them to the end of it, and with them to extend the knowledge of it all around, and gather the multi tudes to it. For such a task he is incompetent alone ; nor does it belong to him alone. The people — all the people, but especially God's people, are alike interested in it, and must cooperate with him. Their hearts must be knit with his for its promotion ; their liberality must supply his necessities ; their sympathies expressed must animate him ; their fidelity in their spheres must provoke his zeal ; their advancing spiritual ity and ripeness for heaven must be his assurance of success ; while, above all, the presence, and grace, and smile of God, procured through his prayers and theirs commingled, must radiate his path, and be his exceeding great reward. Never should a people leave their minister alone. Servant of the Most High though he may be, and his commission proved by all his labors, yet his hands will droop, if he cannot feel the warm pressure of theirs, his heart will grow dull, if he cannot feel the quick beatings of theirs. Give him an attentive, gen erous, faithful people, and he will not labor in vain, nor spend his strength for naught. I add, finally. The procuring of such a ministry for the churches, as well as its moral support when obtained, depends largely upon the people themselves. The obvious fact, that ministers are the offspring of the churches — their own young men converted, educated, spiritually moulded by them, is suf ficient proof of this assertion. Trained under the influence of his superiors and associates in the Christian communionj more 15 than under that of books or seminaries, or historic models, the young preacher will commence, if he does not continue his work, controlled by the impressions of its nature and method which he has received from that communion. Hence churches low in their spiritual life, and with slight interest in the salva tion of the lost, will not only send few of their youth into the sacred office, and thereby leave the world to perish for lack of the tidings of life, but will cause even the few whom they do send to enter it with inadequate conceptions of its require ments, and will thus perpetuate in yet other churches their own unworthy, unchristian state. The divine prediction, " it shall he as with the people, so with the priest," was founded upon a most natural principle ; and nothing but God's own Spirit teaching his ministers anew, and rebaptizing them as they assume their stations, will prevent such a result. But it is in another sense that I would now particularly urge the declaration that the people are responsible for obtain ing a true ministry. The preacher, though he may firmly pur pose to be none other than a servant of the Most High, is yet a man of ordinary susceptibilities and infirmities, liable to be influenced by the tone of sentiment, the current of desire and interest, amid which he may be placed. What he observes, — nay, what he is made, by their manner and speech, distinct ly to feel to be his people's wish as to the service he shall render them, will undoubtedly affect him in his preparations to meet them. From extreme views as to the need of con ciliating in order to benefiting them, or from a secret love of applause, or from reluctance to the effort required in order to a spiritual work under discouragements which their lack of sympathy presents, he will refrain from earnestly exercising a pure ministry among them, if it be evidently distasteful to them. But if the Church demand, as their deepest necessity and their cordial choice, a strong, fervent, scriptural ministry, having as the object which it shall habitually seek, the salva tion of souls, and manifest that demand in all appropriate modes, they can and will obtain it. They will attract to themselves men eager to enter it and to be spent in it, fur nished for it by enlightened minds and hearts full of faith and the Holy Gho'st ; they will recall to it, by the affectionate pressure of their zeal, those who, knowing "the word of life," and having intrinsic fitness for "holding it forth," have, by whatever cause, been tempted to forget its glory while they pur sued lower aims ; they will drive from the sacred order men whom God's election hath not numbered among the sons of Levi, whose hearts disqualify them for the work, and whose 16 censers, however brilliant they may seem to vain admirers, as they swing in pride before the altar, contain strange fire, offensive to the Lord. On the Church, therefore, is laid a solemn weight of respon sibility in this matter. True, the pulpit is under still more solemn obligation to awaken and maintain the right spirit among those who wait upon its teachings. But " if the bless ing descends not from the pulpit to the pew, let it ascend from the pew to the pulpit." There are enough of God's hidden ones, with whom is the secret of the Lord, now in the Church, to exert, if they view this subject aright, a mighty influence in both directions. Let them take their appropriate position, let them make their desire for laborers having "the same mind which was also in Christ," felt upon the company of be lievers with whom they are associated ; let them evince to those unto whom is committed the stewardship of divine mys teries their longing that that chiefest " mystery, Christ in us the hope of glory," should be " made manifest" in the perish ing ; above all, let them call unceasingly upon Him who has said, " I will give you pastors according to mine heart." Yea, let even the few who " prefer Jerusalem above their chief joy," and who understand its vital need in this regard, be thus faithful to each other, to their pastors, and to the great Bishop of souls, and most assuredly they would have a ministry of apostolic fervor, who should preach the word with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. In the language of one of our most experienced living counsellors, " such men, with few exceptions, the Church has not obtained ; and is it not equally true that such men the Church has not sought ?" With profoundest sense of personal dependence upon God and the Church, I would ask, " Brethren, pray for us." Ah ! when we each in our place, and all unitedly, shall be found thus believing, watching, praying, then shall be brought to pass that saying of our King, " t will clothe her1 priests with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy."