صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

ploys in frivolous and unnecessary engagements, all the days that he passes in folly and dissipation, all are days and moments which he owes to the sal vation of his brethren, and for the just application of which he must answer at the judgment-seat of Christ. His leisure, his occupations, his talents, are consecrated possessions, the joint heritage of his flock, which ought to be invariably adapted, and judiciously applied, to produce the amend ment of sinners, the confirmation of the doubtful and the perseverance of the righteous,

Surely, then, a Christian Minister ought not to be employed in going with idle curiosity, from house to house, from one scene to another. What! shall he consume his valuable time in ease and indolence! not only reproachful to his character as a Clergyman, but even, in general estimation, improper in any one who has the pre-eminence of an intelligent, or the virtue of a moral, being? You! a man of God, an interpreter of his law, his ambassador among men-will you forget your title, your calling, his interests, his glory, and your own?-and will you depreciate your dignity by a conduct which renders you, not only the disgrace of the Church, but the very bane of civil society, and an object of contempt in the eyes of those "who see nothing" in Religion "that they should desire it?" Every state hath its peculiar duties: the magistrate, the soldier, the merchant, the artisan, all have their several employments; a worldly Minister, whose cares, it might be ex

pected, would increase in proportion as the vices of men are multiplied, he alone hath no serious employment; he passes his days, if not in indolence, at least in cares foreign from his profession: and the life which ought to be the most occupied, and the most respectable in society, becomes the most disgraceful and contemptible.

So long as their are sinful creatures to reclaim ignorant people to instruct—weak men to support -and gainsaying unbelievers to convince-ought a Minister of the Gospel to be immersed in reproachful avocations? It is related in the Sacred Writings, that Nehemiah occupied in building the temple, was solicited by the officers of the King . of Persia to meet them in the plain of Ono, to renew a covenant with them; but this holy man, engaged in so pious an undertaking, and not thinking himself warranted in interrupting it on so slight an occasion, replied-" I am doing a great work, "so that I cannot come down: why should the "work cease whilst I leave it?" Is a Minister, occupied in repairing the spiritual edifice of the Church, in raising a temple to the living God in the hearts of men, charged with a work of less importance? And what should be his reply to those, who, under frivolous pretences, would engage him in the folly of the world? Whatbut the wise answer of the Jewish chief-" I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down; why should the work cease whilst I leave "it ?" What more worthy of his ministry, and

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

more respectable in the eyes of men, then not to suffer himself to be diverted, by the most importunate solicitations, from the duties of his calling? than to act upon the persuasion, that all the time which he unnecessarly gives to the world, is so much time which he alienates from the building of the holy Jerusalem, and which delays the accomplishment of the work of God upon earth?

IV. In the fourth place, the spirit of our ministry is a spirit of Knowledge. "The lips of the "priest," says the Scripture," should keep know

[ocr errors]

ledge, and the people should seek the law at "his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord "of Hosts." We are commanded to read, with attention, the Sacred Volume, devoting to it all the labour of application, and fatigue of study, which the profound subjects contained in it demand; we are to be supported by the bread of life, derived from the heavenly writings; we are to adorn the inward part of our souls with the law of God, as the Jewish priests ornamented the outside of their garments. The Holy Scriptures are the substance, the foundation, of the Christian priesthood. The Ministers of the Gospel have been sometimes compared to the two great lights which are placed in the firmament, to rule over the day, and over the night; over the day, in directing the faith and confirming the piety of Christians; and over the night, in enlightening the darkness of error, and expelling the evils of unbelief. We are the interpreters of the law, appointed of God to

resolve the doubts of his people, and to make known his will; the guardians of the Church, in the midst of the schisms which divide, of the troubles which afflict, and of the malignity which distracts it.

Fulfil now, if it be possible, these important duties, in the midst of pursuits which alienate, and of engagements which corrupt, the mind; for the knowledge required of a Clergyman is essential to, and inseparable from, a right and conscientious discharge of the sacred ministry. Now, nothing is more adverse to the love of study, than the love of the world; its pleasures and dissipations first suppress, and afterwards extinguish, the taste for reading, and the love of meditation; if we would possess and indulge an inclination to read, we must have a mind accustomed to think, to meditate, to be collected within itself; we must feel an ardent desire progressively to advance in useful learning, and professional knowledge; we must so arrange our life, and regulate our time, as to be able to give an account to ourselves, whether the parts of the day appointed for serious study and ministerial avocations, be uniformly applied to the intended purpose. For the want of this proper arrangement of time, and the right application of it, we see some Clergymen more conversant with the nature of diversions, of amusements, and of secular business, than with their professional duties: hence too many, who, by an ignorance of their profession, disgrace the sacred character. When

once study is neglected, piety declines. The love of books, alone, my Reverend Brethren, can render you superior to the love of diversions; and so long as you do not find within yourselves a resource for indolence, the diversions of the world will, it is too probable, become essential to your happiness; you will not be able to live with. out them. In vain you may prescribe to yourselves fixed limits, and certain rules; in vain you may form resolutions of appropriating your time in part to your studies, and in part to your amusements: the love of the world will encrease every day, and in proportion as it encreases, the love of books will decline, and knowledge, professional knowledge, will cease to be estimable. Not only so, but your dislike to the study of the Holy Scriptures will hourly gain ground; you will not be able to support a moment of severe application, or serious reading; and idleness and dissipation will have such an ascendancy over your pursuits and habits, that whatever remains of your profession will serve but to reproach and condemn you.

V. The spirit of our ministry is, in the last place, a spirit of Piety. By a spirit of piety, I mean, not only innocence of manners, but that peace of conscience, that love of God, which the very appearance of evil disquiets and alarms: the spirit of piety is the great support of our ministry. We may be said to live under its sacred influence. In the midst of our congregations, in the preaching of

« السابقةمتابعة »