upon cities and kingdoms, is to send wicked Ministers among them: in this manner did he punish Jerusalem for all its transgressions. "I will give "them pastors," said he, "who shall call evil good, and good evil; who shall not build up "that which is fallen; and who shall walk ac cording to their own ways." This is the most terrible of his punishments. When he is not thoroughly provoked, he contents himself with arming kings against kings, and people against people; he reverses the order of the seasons; he strikes the country with barrenness; he spreads desolation, famine, and death on the earth. But when he says in his wrath, what chastisement have I yet in reserve to inflict on my people, and what is the last mark of mine anger that I can shew unto them-"They," says he, "which led them, shall cause them to err," Gracious God! what is my lot among thy Ministers! I have not surely so far forgotten thee as to devote my ministry to the service of the ene. my of mankind, and to lead to perdition those souls whom thou hast redeemed by the precious blood of thine own Son! If, notwithstanding, I pollute the ministry of thy word with a lukewarm spirit, or a carnal heart, "I am set for the fall of many;" and thou hast, perhaps, reserved me unto these times of supineness and degeneracy, as the most severe scourge with which thou canst punish the indolent inattention of some, and the daring profligacy of others! But, if an unworthy Minister be set for the fall and ruin, a godly Minister is, on the other hand, ordained for the rising and salvation, of many. A pastor is charged with the welfare of God's people; he is one of those messengers who are continually ascending and descending the ladder of Jacob: he descends from it in order that he may acquaint himself with the necessities of the Church; he ascends by prayer, that he may bear them before the throne of God, and open the bo som of inexhaustible compassion upon the wants of the Gospel-fold. Abundant are the graces, manifold the blessings, which the prayers of a righteous Minister bring down upon the Lord's vineyard. They are the supplications of a pastor ordained of God, who prays by virtue of his office in the name of the whole body of Christian people, and to whose prayers, through the merits and mediation of Christ, the ears of the Father are always open. There is nothing which the intercessions of a godly Shepherd of the flock cannot obtain of the Father of Mercies. We read, that the Almighty, unwilling to be prevented from punishing the Israelites, who had grievously offended Him, condescended to entreat Moses and Aaron not to withhold his arm, lifted up to chastise the iniquities of his people, but to suffer him to pour upon them his hot displeasure;" as though it had not been possible for him to withstand the power of their supplications. A pastor, who is a man of prayer, may, indeed, be said to be ordained for the salvation of many. A Minister appears in the sanctuary as the representative of Jesus Christ, beseeching the Father of Mercies to protect the Church against the attacks of error, to unite in its bosom those who have separated from its worship, and to direct and govern it in all its proceedings, wherever it is established in this character he offers prayers and supplications "for kings, and for all that are in authority," that they may, by their au thority, preserve the peace of the Church, and, by their example, enforce the sancity of its worship. To the fervent supplications of godly Ministers the Church is indebted for religious princes, faith. ful pastors, the birth of distinguished men, whom God raises up from time to time to awaken mankind to defend the faith against the subtilty of error, and to prevent vanity from usurping the place of truth: to the same source must we attribute unexpected occurrences in public calamities; the suspension of punishment; the termination of wars, in conjunctures which threatened a long continuance. Those who judge of circumstances by the view which human reason presents, ascribe them to the wisdom of princes, and the policy of their ministers; whereas, could they perceive events in their causes, they might find them to be produced by some obscure Pastors, who have greater interest, and more powerful sway, in public events, than those important men who appear at the head of affairs, and seem to hold in their hands the fate of empires. What a treasure, then, has the earth in a godly Pastor! how inestimable a blessing is he, not merely to the Church of which he is a member, but to society at large, to which he belongs! Powerful, then, my Reverend Brethren, are our motives, and animating our induces ments, to renew within us the spirit of our holy calling, and never to suffer that first fervor which consecrated us to the service of the alter, to cool into negligence, or be smothered with lukewarm ness. But a Minister of the Gospel is a fellow-laborer with God in the salvation of souls by the preaching of the Word, by the administration of the Sacraments, by the discharge of all the pastoral duties which conduce to the everlasting happiness of mankind. A holy and enlightened pastor is the instrument of various blessings to the world. How many righteous men are, through his means, supported in piety! how many careless sinners made sensible of their danger, awakened from their impenitence, converted to the truth by the force of his arguments, and the persuasion of his life! If he preach the Word, he informs the ignorant, convinces the doubtful, confirms the pious and such is the prevalence of his example, that it at once instructs and persuades, and is even : more instrumental in bringing sinners to God than his public discourses. What blessings then may not one apostolic Minister diffuse among men ! Twelve only were employed in the conversion of the whole earth. Although a righteous Minister shall confine all the good he does to the efficacy of an exemplary and edifying life, although he should only appear as a private character, his engaging demeanor, and pious conversation would authorize us to affirm that he is ordained for the salvation of many. Great, then, is the blessing to mankind, when God sends an holy Pastor, whose instructive piety is an object of admiration to men and angels! Such an one is a perpetual Gospel, which mankind have constantly before their eyes, and against which they have nothing to allege. If his example does not reclaim, it at least inspires them with a respect for virtue; it compels them at least to acknowledge that there are still some righteous men upon earth; it repairs the injury which is done to the sacred character in the public estimation by unworthy Ministers, and rescues it from the contempt into which it is fallen by the irregularity of their manners; it corrects, at least, the censures and derisions which profane men are continually throwing out upon the sacred ministry; it adds, if I may be allowed to say it, honor to the charac. ter. For it is, my Reverend Brethren, against us, chiefly, that the world delights to level its most poignant darts; it forgives nothing in a profli |