me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. And Moses said unto the Lord, then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them,) and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou Lord art among this people! that thou Lord art seen face to face; and that thy cloud standeth over them; and that thou goest before them, by day-time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now, if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations, which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, the Lord is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people, according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now. And the Lord said I have pardoned, according to thy word: but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord!"*

This, my brethren, is I think enough for the purpose of showing that ministers of the gospel are something

Numb. xiv. 11-21.

more, than the orators of their age-but I must give you a New Testament example (I could give many) of the same import. I shall give you the example of Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, chapter first, "For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey, by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established."

Ministers of the gospel are intercessors with God on behalf of their people. "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit."* Luther was so mighty in prayer, that it is said of him quidquid voluit potuit, he could effect by prayer whatever he wished. The prayers of John Knox made the government of his country tremble. John Walsh, his son-in-law, one of the early Scotch reformers, spent eight hours a day in prayer. All those ministers of the gospel, who have been distinguished for successful labours have been men abounding in prayer; not merely remarkable for the fervor and efficacy of their public addresses to the throne of grace; but also for their regular and habitual private intercessions with God for a blessing on their labours, and the salvation of mankind.

Oh that we had all prayed more and studied less; had the hours of prayer been increased, and those of

* James v. 17, 18.

study and pulpit preparation diminished, it would, doubtless, have been advantageous to the souls of men, and in no measure detrimental to our own enrichment in the mysteries of the gospel. God can easily pour down his blessings upon the children of men, and among the means of obtaining them, none is more efficacious than prayer.

Whether the present age be, in any respect, more remarkable than those which have preceded, it is impossible to determine, and not very important to inquire; but it is of all periods in time, the most momentous to us, for it is, the season of all our operations upon earth; it is the day in which we must work, the night cometh in which no man of us shall be able to work. And when it is considered, how trifling an influence any man can exert upon the mighty movements of society at the present time; no farther argument will be necessary to impress us with the duty of incessant prayer to Jehovah, that he would arise in his majesty, and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

2. I conceive that every minister of the gospel should study to acquire some general knowledge of the meaning of those prophecies, whose fulfilment is future and approaching. I do not mean, that young ministers should immerse themselves in profound speculations on the minute things of prophecy; or in the attempt to effect accurate computations of prophetic periods; these are studies which I do not think very advantageous at any period of a man's life, but they are totally unsuited to young men. I mean to recommend no more than a general knowledge of the outline of prophecy, and the ascertainment of the main events which the church is to look for. The grand and prominent facts

may be ascertained with sufficient exactness for all practical purposes, without diverting ministerial studies out of their more usual and profitable channels. It is to be regretted, that the writers on prophecy should have, in so great a measure, defeated their own good intentions, and impaired the value of their labours, by attempting too much. It is not necessary to attempt a precise explanation of every circumstance in an unfulfilled prophecy, nor to calculate the time of its accomplishment with the precision of an astronomical problem; success has never crowned such attempts, and indeed, they seem to have originated in false views of the nature and ends of prophetic revelation. While God affords us a general sketch of some of the great events, which shall interest the future fortunes of his church, and has afforded the means of approximating pretty nearly to the period of prophetic accomplishment; he has still left so much of the veil upon futurity, as to exercise the faith and patience of the saints, and leave every age to regulate its conduct according to the revealed law of morals.

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The advantages which I conceive a minister derives from a sort of general anticipation of approaching events, are such as the following. He ascertains the position which he holds in the chain of God's providence; he finds the character which the spirit of God gives to his age, and casting his eye alternately from the scriptures to the world, and from the world to the scriptures, he judges with reasonable correctness on all that he sees. He can judge with tolerable accuracy respecting the probable success, or failure, of the measures which are adopted for the promotion of the cause of christianity. His hopes and fears,

respecting the general welfare are not entirely visionary. The lights which flow from prophecy, give him an interest in the approaching age, which he could not `otherwise have; and which serves him as a strong stimulant to his duty, that he, at least, may not injure his successors, but if possible bequeath them a blessing. And, to say no more, while his hopes and fears are kept in constant activity by his prophetic anticipation of events, his prayers are quickened, and he learns in all things to live by the faith in the Son of God.

3. The third duty which I consider to be imperatively obligatory on every minister of the gospel in this age, even beyond those of past ages, is to learn to make the scriptures not only the rule, but the instrument of his preaching, and of all that he says, and of all that he does. I have of late been so frequently occupied in inculcating this rule of ministerial action, in a great variety of ways, that I may perhaps be suspected of indulging something of that enthusiasm, which is so apt to drive ardent minds to extravagance, when fired with a favorite theme. My own judgment on such a question, is, certainly, not entitled to claim acquiescence on the part of other men; nor would I wish any to build either opinion, or resolve, on so sandy a foundation. My judgment however must suffice for myself; and I am in as little danger of surrendering it to other men, as of forcing it officiously upon them. But I voluntarily cherish every feeling, up to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, which would arm me with fortitude and courage, to maintain, in spite of all the inveterate habits and prepossession of this age, that the Bible alone is entitled to enlighten the understanding of rational man, on the subject of religion; to prescribe