infinite power which created the world, that unsearchable wisdom which orders all things, that unspeakable goodness which employs them both; nay, "so to see God, as to become like unto him*;' and "beholding, with open face, the glory of the Lord, to be changed into the same image, from glory to glory;" to receive the continual illapses of the divine goodness, and the constant expressions of his favour and love; to have our own souls melted and dissolved, into the flames of reciprocal affection, and that fire fed and nourished, by uninterrupted enjoyments; in a word, to be continually transported into ecstasies and raptures, and swallowed up in the embraces of eternal sweetness, and to be lost, as it were, in the source and fountain of happiness and bliss! "Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him? or the son of man, that thou makest such account of him? and that thou shouldst set thine heart so much upon him § ? Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore." * 1 John, iii. 2. Amen. + 2 Cor. iii. 18. 206 SERMON VI. THE IMPORTANCE AND DIFFICULTY OF THE PREACHED BEFORE THE SYNOD OF ABERDEEN. 2 COR. II. 16. Who is sufficient for these things? REVEREND and dearly beloved men, brethren, and fathers: It is one of the advantages of that peace and tranquillity, with which Almighty God is pleased to bless the poor church, that its officers have liberty of assembling together on these occasions, for mutual assistance and counsel, in the exercise of their holy function. And, indeed, if there were no matter of public deliberation, yet, ought we gladly to embrace the opportunity of seeing one another's faces; not only, that we may maintain and express a brotherly correspondence and affection, but also, that we may animate and excite one another to greater measures of diligence and zeal; as coals, being gathered together, mutually receive and propagate some new degrees of vigour and heat. This, I have always looked upon, as none of the meanest advantages of these synodical meetings; and shall think myself very happy, if my poor endeavours, in the performance of this present duty, may, by the divine blessing, contribute any thing towards this excellent and desirable purpose. To this end, I have made choice of a text, which, I hope, may afford us some useful meditations, for awakening in our souls a deeper sense of those great engagements under which we lie. The blessed Apostle, in the former verse, and in the beginning of this, had been speaking of the different success the Gospel met with, among those to whom it was preached; that it was not like those weak and harmless medicines, which, if they do no good, are sure to do no hurt; but, like some perfumes, which are comfortable and strengthening to the wholesome, but troublesome and noxious to the weak, so does it prove a vital savour to those who receive and obey it, but a most deadly poison to all who reject and despise it: "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish; to the one, we are a savour of death, unto death; and to the other, a savour of life, unto life." And then, he takes occasion to consider, what a great matter it is to be employed in those administrations, which so nearly concern the happiness and misery of mankind : "and who is sufficient for these things?" We shall not detain you, with an explication of the words. Two things, I conceive, are implied in them: 1. The importance, 2. The difficulty, of the Ministerial Function. For, if a business be of small concern, it is little matter who have the management of it; there is no great harm done if it miscarry; any body is sufficient for that thing. On the other hand, let the matter be never so weighty, if there be no difficulty in it, no extraor dinary endowments are necessary, in those to whom it is committed; common prudence, and little care will suffice; there is no likelihood that it can miscarry. But the work of the ministry is at once so important and so difficult, of so great consequence, and so hard to be performed, that there is a great deal of reason for an emphatic interrogation: "Who is sufficient for these things?" I. First, Let us fix our thoughts awhile, on the weight and importance of the ministry; and we shall find, that it is a greater burthen lying on our shoulders, than if the greatest affairs of this world were devolved upon us, and we held up the pillars of the earth. This will appear, whether we consider the relation in which we stand to the Almighty God, or the charge of the flocks which are committed to our care. To begin with the first. That infinite Majesty which created, and which continually upholds, the earth, and all things in it, as the just Owner and Lord of the whole creation, (for all are his servants, and must obey his will,) is yet pleased to claim a special property in some things, which he chuses for himself, and employs for peculiar designs: "Nevertheless of old did he chuse a house for himself, and a place to be called by his name. At Salem was his tabernacle, and his dwelling-place in Zion. The Lord loved the gates of Zion, more than all the dwellings of Jacob." And the church, in all ages, has thought it fit, to separate some places from vulgar and common use, and to appropriate them to the service of God. Again, though all times and seasons belong unto God, yet has he set apart a day for his worship, and sanctified a sabbath for himself.* All men were created for the honour of God, and are infinitely obliged to serve him; yet, because the greater part of mankind are too much engaged in worldly affairs, and have their souls fettered in the distracting cares of this life, and almost buried in their bodies, it has pleased the divine wisdom to call forth a select number of men, who, being delivered from those intanglements, and having their minds more highly purified, and more peculiarly fitted for the offices of religion, may attend continually on that very thing. Religion is every man's general calling ; but it is our particular calling also: and, while the labourer is at his plough, the craftsman at his forge, and the merchant in his shop, the minister ought to be employed in the exercise of devotion, for the purpose of advancing piety, and the honour of our Maker. My beloved, you are deputed, as it were, by the whole creation, at least by the inferior world, to present their homage and service to God, and to praise him for all his works. You ought to maintain a correspondence between heaven and earth, to deprecate the wrath of God, and to avert his vengeance and plagues from mankind. Your business is the same with that of the holy angels : you dwell in the house of God, and should be continually praising him. And this is an employment so holy, that, were our souls as pure as cherubs, as zealous and active as the blessed spirits * See Joseph Mede's masterly sermon on 1 Cor. xi. 22., and Dr. Townson's discourse on The sabbath and sanctuary.' — ED. P |