in accordance with these positive precepts, there are also individual expressions of the Divine will. The same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others. For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. It is said of Paul, that his letters were weighty and powerful. And, speaking of himself, he testifies, though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge. It is also said of Apollos, in the way of commendation, that he was an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures; that he spake boldly in the synagogue, and mightily convinced the Jews. From these Scripture testimonies it is evident, that it is well pleasing to God to have a ministry of a vigorous and well cultivated mind, as well as of a pious and devoted heart; of a high intellectual, as well as of a religious character; able to teach and instruct the ignorant and those who are out of the way; of sound speech that cannot be condemned; well furnished with all the qualities for making a deep, vivid, and lasting impression upon the public mind.

That an able ministry is ordained of God as a blessing to his church, is also evident from the fact, that all the most important movements in the church, have taken place under the instrumentality of such a ministry. Why were Moses and Aaron selected to rescue Israel from bondage, to instruct them on their journey to Canaan, and to arrange for them a splendid system of civil and religious polity? Why, but for their peculiar qualifications? the one being learned in all the wisdom of the age, as well as divinely inspired, and the other, a man of ready and commanding address. Who have displayed nobler powers, a superior genius, a higher and more commanding eloquence, than David and some of the prophets? But why were not men of inferior capacity selected to be thus honored of God, if talents and intellectual power are of no account with him? In moral, as well as in physical results, the means must be adapted to the end. Men do not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles.

So, also, in the gospel age, the chief actors in establishing the Christian religion have not been less illustrious. The twelve disciples, who were selected as the chief instruments in planting the gospel among the nations of the earth, although taken from men in the humble walks of life, were not sent forth to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ till thoroughly trained, and fully qualified for the most wise and powerful action. The Apostle Paul, was the most eminent man of the age. He had great mental capacity; he had a quick and penetrating perception; he had a warm and lively imagination; he had genius; he had a well cultivated and disciplined mind; he had stores of varied, important, and useful learning. Commissioned by the great Head of the church, and animated by the spirit of his Master, he went forth bearing his name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. He labored in this cause with unremitting diligence and untiring zeal for the

space of thirty years; exhibiting a firmness of purpose which neither difficulties nor dangers could shake, and a purity of life the breath of calumny could not tarnish. During this short space of time, he visited all the principal countries of the old world, and proclaimed to them the gospel of the Son of God. And how brilliant and triumphant was his course from city to city, and from province to province! And why did Divine wisdom enlist those gigantic powers, cultivated, enlarged, and disciplined at the feet of Gamaliel, in the work of the ministry? Why, but that the work called for a powerful instrumentality?

Another period of the gospel history has also been marked by its wonderful achievements; the reformation from papal corruptions. And who were the men first to discover, refute, and demolish the papal errors and the papal tyranny? Who, but the men of the most vigorous minds, cultivated and enlarged by sound learning, and deep piety? This event gave immortality to the names of Wickliffe, Huss, Jerome of Prague, Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, Latimer, Ridley, Cranmer, Knox, and a hundred others, as eminent for literature as for religion, for integrity and courage as for zeal and ardor in the cause of truth. They seem to have been eminently fitted for the accomplishment of the great work assigned them by Divine Providence. Men of less learning, talent, wisdom, and courage, could hardly have accomplished what they effected. Think of the torrent of wickedness which had nearly deluged the Christian world, and nearly buried in ruins the whole Christian fabric; think of the ignorance and prejudice which had bound the multitude with the chain of superstition for ages; think of a domination over reason and conscience, supported by the combined energies of church and state, throughout an entire continent; think that every stir for freedom, every movement for the acquisition of knowledge, was watched with a jealous eye by prelates and emperors; think that the church had slept for centuries, had nearly become extinct, and that pomp, show, and the mummery of pagan rites and superstitious ceremonies, had superseded almost every vestige of piety. What must have been the inflexibility of character, the moral courage, the intellectual strength, the rich resources, the bold daring, that could successfully engage in an onset against such an array of sin and despotism? The conflict came, the powers of darkness were scattered, and nations were emancipated from the yoke of ignorance and superstition, and brought into the possession and enjoyment of religious and civil freedom.

But the great work of reformation did not stop here; at a later period, another emergency brought up a Wesley, a Whitefield, a Penn, the immortal Edwards, and a host of others, to emancipate the world from the thraldom of spiritual bondage, and to reinstamp upon the heart of man the image of his God; to rescue the church from worldliness, formality, and the most fatal errors. From the days of these eminent and devoted servants of God, the great work

of spiritual reform has been gradually and steadily advancing. The church has been roused from that deadly stupidity and lethargy into which she had been sunk for ages, and measurably waked up to a sense of her duty; the most active and efficient measures have been devised and put in operation for the conversion of the world, both at home and abroad. And who does not know that the pioneers and chief actors in these great movements, have been men of vigorous intellects and accomplished scholars, as well as of deep piety and expansive benevolence? And the work still demands, for its advancement and final success, a ministry of equal piety, talents, and learning, to that which commenced its operations.

Finally, the sanctified learning and talent of the church, is the source from whence we derive the principal means of religious instruction. Who wrote the commentaries, the church histories, and the valuable sermons which have been handed down to us? Who have translated the Scriptures into the various languages of the earth? Who are the authors of the various books that enrich our Christian libraries? Who have furnished us with the evidences of Christianity? Who have successfully assailed and demolished the bulwarks of infidelity, which genius and learning have reared up, from the earliest period of the gospel history to the present time? Have they not been the most acute, the best disciplined, and the most learned men the church could furnish in the ages in which they flourished? And is not this remark true in relation to every period of the gospel history, from the days of the apostles to the present time? We, then, are indebted to the sanctified learning and talent of the church for nearly the whole of our ideas of religion. If all the monuments of genius and learning, which the church has reared up' for the last eighteen hundred years, were levelled to the earth, and the church herself flung back into a state of ignorance, and then the Scriptures put into her hands in the native language in which they were written, how deplorable would be her condition! And what a length of time, and what an amount of labor it would take to advance her to her present happy state. From these remarks, we may learn something of the value and importance of a Christian education.

Thus, it appears that cultivated talent and learning, as well as deep piety, have been associated with every important moral revolution, under both the Jewish and Christian dispensations. When learning declined, religion degenerated. When learning had vanished, religion was nearly extinct. When letters revived, religion again flourished and assumed a purer form. From this fact, we deduce an argument for a ministry of native talent, cultivated intellect, and elevated character. There is as much scope for effort, as much demand for energy, for skill, for comprehensiveness of plan, and boldness of action now, as at any former period of the church. The great principles upon which the Divine Sovereignty has always acted, are still in operation, and will continue to remain

in operation through successive ages to come. And, that ministry which would be useful and successful, must be conformed to the Divine plan of operation. If the providence of God has glorious objects to be achieved, and the gospel ministry be its chief instrumentality, it will still demand a ministry of intellectual strength, of moral courage, of rich resources, as well as of personal piety.

The importance of an able ministry may be further argued from the express provision God has made for training and supporting it. Under the Jewish economy, various regulations were made, designed to secure eminent qualifications in the sacred office. There were nearly fifty schools established, for the express purpose of educating those designed for the priestly office. None were allowed to enter the priesthood till thirty years of age. Large funds were appropriated and set apart for sustaining men, both in their preparation and actual service; funds so ample and so abundant, as to take away all temptation to deviate from all appropriate study and labor. And none were expected to entangle themselves in the affairs of this life, either before or after entering the sacred office. These wise and salutary provisions proved a most effectual bulwark and safeguard to the Jewish religion; and, especially, to the preservation, in their original purity, of both the law and the prophets.

The spirit of these arrangements was transferred to the Christian dispensation. The twelve apostles, as has been already observed, had the very best of Instruction and training, before they were authorized to preach the gospel. They were under the direction and tuition of the great Teacher himself, with little interruption, during his ministry of three years. When he sent them forth on special messages to the different parts of Judea, he forbade them taking either bread or money, or even two coats à piece; but instructed them to rely entirely on others for the means of support. He also conferred upon them miraculous powers. After his crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, he bestowed upon them still higher gifts, larger measures of the Spirit, and the power of speaking in different tongues; gifts, all designed and adapted to make able ministers of the New Testament. Thus, qualified with both gifts and graces, they assailed the powers of darkness with astonishing and surprising success. The word of God, as proclaimed by them, had free course and was glorified. How efficacious and resistless was the majesty of truth from their lips!

But the personal example and instructions of Christ are now withdrawn. The power of miracles, the gift of tongues, and the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, have ceased. And what does this providence indicate, but that other preparatory means of corresponding efficacy and force, are to be substituted? There is the same perverseness of human nature, and the same indisposition to the reception of Divine truth now, as in the days of the apostles. The opposition of a corrupt heart to the gospel is the same in every age. The minister of this day, then, needs as fully to understand

the gospel, and to proclaim it with as much energy as did the apostles themselves.

The importance of an able ministry is further evident, from the strength and number of the forces to be encountered and overcome. The human heart, in every age, is desperately wicked, and, consequently, opposed to the holiness and purity of the gospel. It is stealed against every impression of Christianity. It has its false attachments, its thousand errors and prejudices, its thick darkness and delusion. To attack, with success, this heart filled with enmity against God, demands all the skill and power of the best cultivated, as well as sanctified talent. There is also a deep-spread and wide infidelity, which embraces in its service, talent, genius, learning, wealth, and station. And it never exhibited more stratagems, boldness, or energy and malignity of purpose, than now. To expose its sophistry, to silence its blasphemies, and to rescue the millions it would ensnare and ruin forever, requires a ministry that can pour forth light like the sun in its strength. But, error is continually breaking forth in new forms, assuming different shades, and taking different directions. It sometimes approaches us masked in friendship, and by its artful insinuations, would beguile us from the simplicity that is in Christ. But we wrestle not merely against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, against the prince of the power of the air. Here are a host of enemies combined, under the direction of a wily adversary, of strong intellect, and of great knowledge. And where is an adversary whose movements are more insidious, varied, complicated, and rancorous against God and human welfare? Who can count the armies, and estimate the resources, wielded by this master-spirit of sin and delusion? And can it be wise to send out men of feeble minds, of slender intellect, and of small resources, to expose the devices, thwart the schemes, and subvert the empire of such an adversary? It is not thus that Ceristianity is to make its way over the earth. While it trusts in the grace, it demands for the conflict, the ablest as well as the best minds heaven has created and sanctified. The better these forces are disciplined, furnished, and directed, the more sure and speedy will be the triumph of truth.

A ministry of power and strength is called for, by the greatness and importance of the object to be obtained. The field of action is a revolted, degraded, and ruined world. The Christian ministry is an embassy of reconciliation from its rightful and legitimate Sovereign. Its aim is to bring back an erring world to the path of rectitude, to restore sinful man to the favor of God, and to reinstamp upon him the Divine image. What enterprise in the whole compass of thought is so grand, so momentous? Who can measure the interest at stake in the issue? Who can contemplate the fearful consequences of a failure of success? Who can tell the