exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry." To comfort Timothy under such a solemn charge, and in the view of such a weighty and arduous work, the apostle suggests the consolation which he had derived from having faithfully kept the faith of the gospel, which had been committed to his trust. "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." This was as much as to say, Be of good courage, Timothy, for I can assure you from my own experience, that if you faithfully discharge the important trust reposed in you, it will give you peculiar satisfaction and joy when you are about to leave the world. This, therefore, is the plain truth which presents itself to our present consideration:

That if ministers fight the good fight of faith in keeping the gospel, which is committed to their trust, it will afford them ground of consolation, when they are about to finish their course. I shall,

I. Show that the gospel is committed to the trust of ministers. II. That it is by a constant warfare that they keep this trust. III. That if they do keep it, it will afford them a ground of consolation, when they are about to finish their course.

I. I am to show that the gospel is committed to the trust of ministers. This the apostle plainly and repeatedly asserts. "Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me." Again he says, "All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." And again he says, "As we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts." Ministers are represented, both in the Old and New Testament, as men in office, who are vested with a peculiar right to preach the gospel, to administer divine ordinances, and to lead in the discipline of the church. The apostle says, "Let a man so ac

count of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God." He subjoins the reason. "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." This implies that ministers, like all other stewards, have a trust committed to them. And it is on account of their sacred character and official trust, that the apostle says to Christians, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account; that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." The gospel, which is committed to ministers, is the most solemn and sacred trust ever committed to men, and lays them under the highest responsibility to be faithful. I now proceed,

"I

II. To show that it requires them to maintain a constant warfare, in order to keep the gospel, which is committed to their trust. The apostle declares that he found it necessary to maintain a constant warfare, in order to keep the faith. have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith," by which he means the gospel, that was committed to him to keep. And if he could not keep the gospel without maintaining a constant warfare, we may well believe, that none of his successors in the ministry can keep it without equal struggles and conflicts. It is absolutely necessary that they should maintain this warfare, in order to keep the gospel, in various respects. And,

1. In respect to their own hearts. To keep the law of love in the heart, is to exercise that love which the law requires; and to keep the gospel of grace in the heart, is to exercise those gracious affections, which the gospel of grace requires. All the ministers of the gospel profess to receive the gospel into their hearts, and in consecrating themselves to their sacred office, they solemnly engage to keep the spirit of it there. They are bound to love all the doctrines, precepts, and prohibitions of the gospel, and constantly to exercise every Christian grace and virtue, which they teach and inculcate. The gospel binds themselves, as well as the people to whom they preach, to keep themselves in the love of God, and to guard their hearts against every selfish and sinful affection. But in their present state of moral imperfection, it requires a constant conflict, in order to keep the gospel in their hearts, against both their internal and external enemies. Their sinful affections are opposed to their holy affections, which creates a constant conflict within; and this internal conflict exposes them to an external conflict with the world, the men of the world, and the spirit of the world, which tend to alienate their affections from God, and from the gospel. The gospel condemns them, as well as their

hearers, for every worldly, sinful affection. While they preach the doctrines, the precepts, and the prohibitions of the gospel, they condemn themselves, if they do not love the doctrines they preach, if they do not internally exercise the virtues and graces which they inculcate, and if they do not resist and overcome the evil affections which they reprove and condemn. They need to wear, and constantly employ the whole Christian armor, in order to keep themselves in the love of God, and in the love of the gospel which they preach. No men have so much need to maintain a constant warfare with the world as the ministers of the gospel. It is their official duty to attack the world, which naturally excites the world to retaliate. And in order to retaliate the most effectually, they attack ministers in their most vulnerable parts, that is, their moral imperfections. They attacked Aaron in this part, and prevailed. They attacked the whole body of priests in the ten tribes, and prevailed. They attacked Peter in this part, and prevailed. And they still attack ministers in the same manner. They know that they are not perfectly free from selfishness, and consequently are vulnerable in point of moral imperfection. This is their weak side, which requires them to maintain a constant warfare, to defend it against the shafts of the world. And it is only by keeping the gospel in their hearts, and exercising those gracious affections which the gospel requires, that they can gain the victory over their spiritual enemies. Hence says the apostle John, "Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." The shield of faith is a spiritual weapon, upon which the ministers of the gospel may safely rely, to repel all the fiery darts that can be pointed against them.

2. Ministers must maintain a constant warfare, in order to keep the gospel in their lives, as well as in their hearts. To keep the gospel in their lives, is to live as the gospel requires. them to live, as men, as Christians, and as ministers of Christ. The gospel requires them to "live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world ;" and to be examples to believers, "in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity;" and like all other Christians, to do "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report," and to "abstain from all appearance of evil." It is impossible for ministers to live as the gospel requires, and discharge all their Christian and official duties, without incurring the displeasure of the ungodly. For "an unjust man is an abomination to the just; and he that is

upright in the way, is abomination to the wicked." Ministers cannot live godly lives, as the gospel they preach requires them to live, without contending with the ungodly and unbelieving. This the most faithful and exemplary ambassadors of God have found to be true, by painful experience. Elijah had to contend with Ahab, at the risk of his life; and Jeremiah had to contend with the rulers, the priests, and people of Israel, at the risk of his life; which made him lament his unhappy lot. "Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife, and a man of contention to the whole earth." The apostles had to fight their way in the world, in order to live and act according to the gospel they preached. They were charged with disturbing the peace, and turning the world upside down. The civil and ecclesiastical rulers commanded Peter and John not to speak, nor teach in the name of Jesus. But they boldly replied, "Whether it be right in the sight of God, to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." They have to contend with both the smiles and frowns of their people, which tend to make unhappy impressions on their minds. Ministers naturally desire to please, and as naturally fear to offend their people, with whom they live and converse, to whom they preach, and on whom they are peculiarly dependent. And if they do not maintain a constant warfare with their smiles and frowns, they will most certainly swerve from their duty of keeping the faith. But when they make it appear by their lives and conversation, that they love and obey the gospel which they preach, they carry conviction to the most thoughtless and stupid, that the gospel is a divine reality and infinitely important. Paul kept the faith by living under its powerful and transforming influence. He loved, believed, obeyed, and relied on the gospel, to save his own soul from everlasting destruction. Hence he says, "So fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away."

3. Ministers must maintain a constant warfare, in order to keep the faith, in their preaching. The principal part of their official work is to preach the gospel, which comprises a whole system of essential doctrines and duties. And whenever these have been properly preached, they have always been hated and opposed. Christ and his apostles met with great opposition in preaching the gospel in its purity and simplicity. Paul had to fight a good fight, in order to keep the faith in his preaching. And he did keep the faith, by preaching the gospel plainly and fully, at all events. This he frequently and solemnly declared,

and appealed to his hearers for the truth of his declarations He says to the Corinthians that he meant to preach the gospel to them as plainly as possible. "And I, brethren, 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 anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit, and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." "Therefore," says he again, "seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty; not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." And he said, that in preaching in the church, he had rather use five plain words, than ten thousand words that were unintelligible and uninstructive, and calculated to disguise the truth. He preached the gospel fully, as well as plainly. He preached all the great and essential doctrines and duties contained in the gospel, without reserve. He said to the Elders of Ephesus, "Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." But Paul had to contend earnestly, in order to keep this faith which was delivered unto the saints. He had to contend with the Jews, who complained of him for preaching against the law. "When Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judg ment-seat, saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law." He had to contend with false teachers, who came where he was preaching, and opposed the pure doctrines of the gospel, which he taught. He had to contend with apostates, who renounced the gospel which they once professed to embrace, and turned bitter enemies to it. Such were Hymeneus and Philetus, Demas and Alexander the coppersmith. He had occasion to reprove and rebuke Peter, who was once seduced into error by the dissimulation of the enemies of truth. And he was once greatly tried by the desertion of his friends,