66 world, he commanded them to go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost;" and promised to be with them "alway, even unto the end of the world." For this, the first apostles and their successors carried on "the ministry of reconciliation," ordaining "elders in every church," and commending "them to the Lord, on whom they believed 3," For this, they were exhorted to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; and the things which they had heard among many witnesses, the same they were commanded to commit to faithful men, who should be able to teach others also 1. It is no other work than this, which we, this day, are assembled to promote. The Church, of which we are the ordained ministers, is established for no other end than this:-to carry out the saving knowledge of God's truth, and God's mercy, through the length and breadth of the land; to bring home to the king upon his throne, and to the peasant in his cottage, the same message of holiness, by the tenour of which they must both stand or fall in the sight of the Almighty; to deliver it unto all men without partiality and without hypocrisy ; to confirm it by reference to "the whole counsel of God," set forth in his sacred volume; to illustrate 1 Matt. xxviii. 19, 20. 2 2 Cor. v. 18. 4 2 Tim. ii. 1, 2. it by the ordinances of his grace, appointed for our edification; to shew that the consolations of Divine Love follow you whithersoever ye go, and in whatsoever ye do; that by these, the infant babe is received into the ark of Christ's Church by baptism; by these, his growing intellect is taught the words and works of holiness; by these, the energies of his ripened manhood are devoted to the service of Him who gave it; by these, each hope and fear, each joy and sorrow of his chequered life, is sanctified; and by these, having their perfect work within the heart, may he be sustained, whether in health or sickness, whether in tribulation or wealth; and, when his race is run, his warfare is accomplished, by these, may he depart in peace, for his eyes shall have seen the salvation of the Lord'. Yea, by these, may the men who weep for him be taught not to be sorry as without hope, for them that sleep in Jesus, but to commit the body of their departed brother to the ground, -earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,-in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself?.? Such are the transcendant mercies of the Gospel ordinances; and to keep up the efficiency of these 1 Ps. xxiv. 5. Luke ii. 30, 31. 2 Burial Service. means of grace, in places where they are already known and valued; to impart the knowledge of them to others, whose opportunities of enjoying them have been either altogether withheld, or exist only in a limited, or partial form; to uphold them at all times, and amid all men, by a system of operation not temporary, but permanent-not partial, but uniform-a system, not dependent for its support upon the caprice and fashion of the day, but based upon the sure word of Christ, and calmly and consistently proclaiming the joyful tidings of that word, from generation to generation-this is the avowed end and object of an established ministry. For how shall men " call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear, without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent1?" Men do not so earnestly, or so regularly, provide for the supply of their spiritual, as of their bodily wants, simply because they do not feel the privation to be so great. It is not with the ignorant, and careless, and hardened sinner, as with the sick, or the hungry, or the naked sufferer 2. The latter feel the pressure of their sorrows, and, by an instinctive impulse, spring forward to the quarter where relief or re 1 Rom. x. 14, 15. 2 See Chalmers on Endowments, p. 436, &c. Dr. Dealtry's Charge, 1834. medy are to be found; but the former never dream of the dangers of ignorance, or indifference, or unrepented sin, and consequently seek no help, because they desire none. The things which are seen and temporal, are more congenial to our fallen nature, and have a firmer hold upon our affections, than those which are not seen and eternal. It is a more urgent matter to care for things present, than things future; to provide for the body that perisheth, rather than for the soul that liveth; and hence to dwell in our ceiled houses, whilst the house of the Lord lies waste; to think no time too soon to secure the comforts of earth, and any time soon enough to look for the joys of heaven, is a temptation confined not to Judah's land, nor to Judah's people. In our own land, and amid our own people, it finds a parallel. Hence arises the necessity of maintaining the ordinances of Christian worship, in all their purity and truth,-of repeating the Gospel message in all its variety of application,-of being instant in season, and out of season,-of meeting the demands of an increasing population, with increasing efforts,-of multiplying the means of Christian grace, in proportion as the wants, and passions, and prejudices of our brethren multiply: and so casting all our care upon that God who careth for us. To this end were the people of God, in the days of Haggai, exhorted to restore the glory of his worship; and, in furtherance of the same end, is the invitation now extended even unto us, to come "into his courts with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise 1." It is only upon this ground, the ground of its subservience to the public good,-that our National Church is established; and only upon this ground, do we claim the affection and support of upright citizens. We, who have received such a ministry, may well be overcome with a sense of the deep responsibility that is laid upon us; and crave, with most earnest entreaty, the prayers and co-operation of the whole Christian brotherhood. For must it not indeed be confessed that the "harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few?" that there is still around us a frightful mass of ignorance, and profligacy, and profaneness, whose deep and appalling shadows have not yet been put to flight by the purifying beams of the Sun of righteousness? that they, whose office it is to point to that light, and lead others to the brightness of its rising, are oftentimes borne down amid the din and clamour of conflicting interests, and trampled under foot by the incessant multitude of cares that crowd upon them? The limits, indeed, which originally bounded their respective fields of operation, and within which they might, in earlier days, have found the opportunity of adequately discharging the office entrusted to their hands, may still remain; but 'Ps. c. 3. 2 Matt. ix. 37. |