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8. His wisdom. This reigns over all his soul. He is prepared for it by the God of nature, and endued with it by the God of grace. He was born to govern. He is "as wise as a serpent." His eye continually pervades the whole circle of his work, and yet who so blind as he? Isa. xlii, 19. He is all ear, and yet none is so deaf. He sets his feet in the centre of his sphere, and feels the smallest motion through every parallel. He knows with clear precision when to speak, and when to be silent; when to move, and when to be still; when to parry, and when to thrust. He has a quick discernment of men and manners; but he "lays hands suddenly on no man." His choice of laborers proceeds from the ripest judgment, and from the clearest evidence that can be procured. He feels all the strength of his resources, as if they were wholly centred in himself, and knows how and when to draw them forth. He is acquainted with the various views, the knowledge, the situation, the circumstances and the wishes of the people; and the various gifts, graces, and abilities of the pastors. He makes them all to tally. He brings out all his force against the common enemy, he spreads out all his sails to every favorable wind, he keeps in motion every wheel of the machine, and uses to the uttermost every person and every thing within his power for the glory of God and the prosperity of his church.

9. His communion with God and confidence in him. These support him under all his trials. He lives within the veil. His soul cleaves to God; and he waters all his endeavors with fervent prayers. He bears upon the altar of his heart the interests of the church of Christ, and sends them up to the throne of grace with all the sacred fervor of devotion. He spreads out all his hopes and all his fears before his God, and "makes all his requests known unto him ;" and then returns to his labors with cheerfulness and vigor. He "walks with God," and moves with a full confidence and divine assurance of success, so far as the means he uses can answer the great end of every thing he does the glory of God and the good of mankind.

Lastly: his seriousness. Though he lies at the feet of all the lovers of Jesus, yet he never debases himself. He knows his station, and "magnifies his office." The enemies of God may fear and hate him, but they cannot despise him. No lightness of spirit is observable in him; all is dignity as well as love. The company of the greatest upon earth affects him not. He lives in the presence of his Master, and says nothing but what is becoming the audience chamber of the King of kings.

O what a blessing to the world is the man who answers this description, "a polished shaft in the quiver" of God, "a burning and a shining light!" His spices are continually perfuming the place where he is, (Cant. iv, 16,) and "rivers of living water flow out of his belly" (John vii, 38) for the benefit of all among whom he sojourns. When he visits a people, he comes "in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel, and his Master's feet are heard behind him." He husbands every golden moment, picks up every fragment of time, and devotes his little all to the service of his Lord. He looks with the deepest contempt on filthy lucre, and is perfectly satisfied with the "riches of Christ."

"O thou lover of souls, who willest not the death of a sinner, have pity on the world! Remember Calvary, hear the pleading Intercessor,

and raise up men after thine own heart, full of the Holy Ghost, full of love and full of zeal! Guide them by thy Spirit, accompany them with thine omnipotence, that they may tread down the kingdom of Satan under their feet, and on its ruins build up thy glorious church."

You may now easily perceive the dreadful effects of raising immoral or unconverted men to the government of the church. The baneful influence of their example is so extensive, that all the skill and cruelty of devils can hardly fabricate a greater curse than an irreligious bishop.

But, "O thou man of God, follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness. Be thou an example to the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Keep that which is committed to thy trust. Be not thou ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, but be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God. Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Do the work of an evangelist, and make full proof of thy ministry." And thy God will open to thee a wide door indeed, which all thine enemies shall not be able to shut. He will carry his gospel under thy direction from sea to sea, yea, perhaps from one end of the continent to the other. Only feel thine importance, and feel thy danger, and let "not the foot of pride come against thee;" but preserve thyself in all humility, and chastity, and holy love, and thou shalt be a vessel of gold in the sanctuary of God, thou shalt bring millions to righteousness immediately or remotely, and shalt shine in glory as a star of the first magnitude for ever and ever. Dan. xii, 3.

O thou who art the Holy One and the true, consecrate this thy servant with the fire of divine love, separate him for the most glorious purposes, make him a star in thine own right hand, and fulfil in him and by him all the good pleasure of thy goodness!

For the Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review.

TRUE PIETY INDISPENSABLE IN A GOSPEL MINISTER.

An Address intended to be delivered before the "Young Men's Society for Mental and Moral Improvement," of the Baltimore Conference, Georgetown, D. C., March, 1840.

BY REV. T. O. SUMMERS, MISSIONARY TO TEXAS, LATE OF THE BALTIMORE CON.

MY BRETHREN,-Another conference anniversary has summoned us together in this place; and among the duties which claim our attention are those which belong to our own association. And by your appointment the incipient exercise devolves on him who now addresses you.

As time measures off its annual circuits, it is impossible for a contemplative mind not to travel through the scenes of each departed cycle, and to bring up for reflection the events with which that part of our history comprised within the given limits may have been identified. As Methodists, we review the past year with undying interest, seeing that it was hallowed by the eucharistical centennial services of

the thousands of our Israel! My brethren, it was a glorious year; yea, it was an unspeakable privilege with which we were favored to celebrate the first centenary of our beloved Methodism. But to many of us it was also a year of trial. The stern hand of affliction was laid upon us-we were made to tremble in its iron grasp, and to sink beneath its leaden weight. Mysterious providences lowered around us; and the vision of faith could alone discover the gracious smiles which were secreted behind the gathering frowns. Ah! there are seasons which try men's souls-seasons which put their religion to the test--which bring into requisition all their grace—which throw them upon their resources--no; not upon their resources, but upon the resources of their God! And, O! what a mercy if they can then verify the confidential and triumphant language of the sacred poet, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” When the spirit is, as it were, fluttering between two worlds, not knowing of which, in a single hour, it will be the inhabitant—in that state of awful uncertainty, when the stoutest hereos are made to cower and be afraid-then to feel calm and resigned, and confiding in the merits of the Redeemer, to be enabled to exclaim, "To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain;" O what a privilege is this! At such a time what a shade is cast upon "the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them!" Superior splendors and surpassing beauties, the ravishing glories of paradise, and the ineffable loveliness of the Saviour, having attracted our attention, and charmed our raptured spirits, we are enabled to sympathize with St. Paul in the sublimated feelings which prompted the noble exclamation, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

Moreover, under these circumstances, how clearly does a minister discover the imperfections which have characterized his ministry; how deeply does he deplore them; how fervently does he pray that, should his life be prolonged, he may be enabled to give himself more fully to his important work! How earnestly does he resolve that, obtaining help from on high, this shall be the case! that the work of saving souls, building up the church, advancing the Redeemer's glory -these as paramount objects shall receive his first and last regardshis constant and exclusive labors! that those habits of thought and action which are calculated to subserve these ends, and those alone, shall obtain his attention!

My brethren, I have not sketched you a fancy picture. You are aware of this. I am, therefore, relieved of the task of adverting more directly to those circumstances which originated the reflections which I have just submitted. When surrounded with the circumstances in question, I was led to reflect much upon the qualifications requisite in a minister of the gospel for the due discharge of his important duties; and you will not be surprised at my considering true, genuine piety, an indispensable qualification--a sine qua non in the ambassador for Christ--without which all other qualifications are as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

Purity of character is so perfectly congruous with the work of a minister that it would seem as though the very fitness of things would be a sufficient motive to preserve him from the pollutions of the

world. There is not a single act that he is called upon to perform but is a holy act. He handles the vessels of the sanctuary, and upon every one of them is inscribed, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD. He ministers in that sacred place concerning which it is said, "Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever." To display the peerless perfections of God; the unspotted purity of his perfect law, and the lovely features of his holy gospel; to form the lives of Christians after the divine model; to allure them to virtue by an exhibition of its enchanting characteristics, and the hallowed enjoyments with which it will be rewarded in the holy city where nothing that is impure can ever enter; these are the exercises in which the gospel minister is called to engage. Can any thing be more shocking to our ideas of consistency than to imagine a man whose character is the reverse of what we have stated, profanely mingling in these sacred services, and presumptuously exercising these holy functions-putting forth his hands polluted with the filth of earth, and taking the vessels of the Lord, the meanest of which in the Christian temple are like the golden bowls which were before the Jewish altar; and daring, with a temerity greater than that of Nadab and Abihu, to present unto the Lord the devotions of his people? When on a subject like this, I know, my brethren, that you will forgive me for these impassioned exclamations. And I am certain that you will believe me when I say, that a man may have a decent respect for religion, and indeed may wish it success, and may sincerely labor to advance its interests, but unless his heart be right in the sight of God, unless the love of Christ constrain him, there is no affinity between him and his work, he has no adaptation to it, he is not moving in his proper orbit, and there is an incon. sistency in his entire career.

But personal piety is necessary to give us a knowledge of our work as ministers of Christ. Whatever other qualifications we may possess, depend upon it we must graduate in the school of Christian experience, and receive our diploma from the Holy Spirit, before we can be able ministers of the New Testament. It is evident that a man must understand the nature of that work which he would perform before he can accomplish it: now, the work which we have to perform is a heart work; and it is necessary that we should understand the work of God in the heart before we can properly exercise the ministerial functions. And we scruple not to affirm that no man who has not experienced the work of God in his own heart can form a correct estimate of its real nature. Can any man conceive adequately of the infinite purity of the divine law, and the exceeding sinfulness of sin, until he has passed through the state described by St. Paul in the seventh chapter of his Epistle to the Romans? Can any man under. stand clearly the nature of those painful and powerful emotions which characterize "repentance unto life" until he has been made the subject thereof? Can any man form a correct idea of that faith which is the gift of God, and upon which is suspended the salvation of the soul, until he has himself believed with a heart unto righteousness? Can any man imagine how deep and extensive the peace, how pure and rapturous the joy, how elevating and inspiring the hope, how heavenly and ardent the love, which religion originates in the heart, until he himself has been constituted a subject of the kingdom of grace? Can

any man opine justly of those inward trials which Christians suffer, and that rigid discipline to which they are subjected, until he himself has girded on the divine panoply, and encountered the armies of the aliens? No, my brethren; "The heart knoweth its own bitterness, and a stranger intermeddleth not with its joy." But the points embraced in these interrogatories comprehend the sum and substance of the minister's work. And unless he is familiar with them he cannot make full proof of his ministry-if any proof at all. True, a man whose views are evangelical and orthodox may descant upon these subjects, and sometimes to the advantage of his people, even though he may have neither part nor lot in the matter; but his experienced hearers will soon discover that though taught of man he has never been taught of God, and that, consequently, there is a deficiency in his ministrations which words cannot well describe. Thus if he dis. courses on the precepts of the divine law, he is deficient in power; if on the sins of his hearers, he is deficient in point; if he would describe repentance, with tearless eyes, he tries in vain to show the meltings of a broken heart; if he attempts to open the door of faith to the penitent inquirer, he knows not how to use the sacred key; if he would administer to the afflicted and the tempted believer, he wants sympathy; if he would discuss the privileges of Christianity, he lacks unction. In short, he cannot adopt the language of St. Paul, "We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak." No, my brethren; he cannot speak the deep things of God, for they never have been revealed unto him. But the minister who has the mind of Christ speaks a language with which he is perfectly familiar when he discourses on these divine verities.

Furthermore in the absence of personal piety a minister is destitute of those graces which are necessary to the successful exercise of his important functions.

The man who never has felt the impotency of human nature can never act in the spirit of self-distrust which is inseparable from success in this holy work. A minister has so many temptations, arising from his peculiar circumstances, to indulge in ideas of his own importance, that if the pride of his heart has never been subdued by the grace of God, it is impossible for him not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think. And thus, instead of saying with St. Paul, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but all our sufficiency is of God;" he will be disposed to depend upon his own strength, upon his own wisdom, eloquence, or address. Possessed of such feelings he will be inclined to preach himself, and not Christ Jesus the Lord. He lacks that humility which would induce him to exhibit the Saviour to his people, and to hide himself behind him, thereby declaring, "I have determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified." And, O! my brethren, if it be true that "God resisteth the proud," how overwhelming the consideration, that while a man is professedly laboring to promote the cause of God, he might hear the voice of the Most High addressing him, "Behold, I have come out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me. It is a settled point in the divine administration to hide pride from man, and, therefore, it

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