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his ministry may call for gratitude, who saves a soul from death, still more does his, who, having done this, then puts that saved soul in the way of saving others. The one may make proof of his ministry, the other makes full proof. The one may make proof of his ministry to the Church, the other, besides doing this, adds the ministry of the Church to his own, and makes full proof of it to the world.

Aim at the high end described in the text, and you will so see the magnitude of your office that you will call in more than human aid. You will not merely and humanly strive -agonize - but agonize according to a Divine energy. Observe, you are not merely to be occupied with a Divine work, and to be impelled by Divine motives, but to be conscious of a Divine co-working-of being the medium and agent of a Divine power. You are not merely to work with the government of God, and to move in a line with His purposes; others may do this unconsciously, but you yourself are to be the conductor of a Divine energy. You are not to pray merely for ordinary aid, nor merely to intercede for your people, though intercession is to be an habitual part of your official work, as it is of your Master's; but you are to calculate on the real living conjunction, in your own person, of Divine and human forces! And all this, just because it is God's own work, and not yours. You have but just heard of it—caught a glimpse of it-adopted it. He is the creator of it-the author of the entire plan-the originator of all its means—has had even to incline you to take part in it.

What inspiration should there be for you in this fact— that this is God's house-not so much your working place as His-that, come here when you may, He is here before you -that, ask whatever energy you may, He is ready to give you more—to fill you up to the measure of your capacity— that strive as you may, He is striving still more, not only in you, but with you! Why it is as if the racer in the Grecian games-which the apostle had probably in his eye-as if the racer, with the goal before him, should be stimulated not

merely by the cheers of the myriads of excited spectators, but should feel as if they had all suddenly transferred and infused into Him all their own muscular energy. You are to regard yourself as labouring here in an atmosphere of Divine power.

Finally, aim at the end the apostle proposed, and what a reward awaits you! The same in kind as that which awaits your Lord himself. For why did He agonize-die? “That he might present it to himself a glorious church." "This was the joy set before him, and for which he endured the cross." This is the object which now, on His throne, He is "henceforth expecting"-the ideal is ever present to His mind-the prospect ever stretched out before His gaze. Of what a mighty cycle will that be the completion ! The new-creation week is still in process. The sixth concluding day is yet to come-when the self-destroyed creature shall be seen brought back again to the image of God in the perfected Church. Yes; that Divine ideal will yet be realizedwill be seen standing erect, temple-like, and complete―a glorious Church.

Live and labour, my brother, for that day. Erect no inferior standard. Aim to save all you address-to present them perfect in Christ Jesus. How shall we picture the joy of the faithful minister of Christ in that day! To meet alike the embrace of those who were the means of saving him, and of all who were saved by him. How Divine the delight of finding themselves all in the presence of the great Master-receiving His approbation-entering into His joysharing it with Him-rejoicing with Him in the harmony and welfare of all sanctified spiritual being, in the attainment of which He allowed them the honour to participate.

Live and labour, I say, for that day. And may the joy of the Lord be your strength. And may the Christian sympathies and congratulations of this evening be the prophecy and prelude of the well-done, good and faithful servant of that day. Amen.

CHARGE IIL

THE CAPABILITIES OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

2 TIMOTHY iv. 5.-" Make full proof of thy ministry."

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I HAVE the pleasure of addressing you, for the first time, not now as a student, but as a brother beloved;" called by a voice, of which the call of the Church is but the echo; ordained by the imposition of a hand, of which ours is but the symbol and recognition. "Grace be to you, my brother, and mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour."

As my business at this moment is exclusively with yourself-with no theory to propound, no argument to sustain, no multitude to move-with nothing to excite interest but the weight or worth of the remarks appropriate to your new position-let me hope that that attention may be voluntarily accorded, which I might not otherwise be able to secure. I wish to address you on the capabilities of the Christian ministry. The basis of my remarks you will find in 2 Tim. iv. 5, “Make full proof of thy ministry." Similar to this is the language of the same apostle in his Epistle to the Colossians, "Say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received of the Lord, that thou fulfil it." Only in the text there is a shade of greater urgency and stress. Indeed, the gist and force of all the apostolic charges to ministers-to Timothy, Titus, Archippus, and the elders at Ephesus, is this, Discharge all your duties to the utmost; make the most of your office.

I.

Now before we can see how this is to be done, or point to the motives for doing it, we must glance first at the nature of the ministry itself, and your connexion with it. A limb, a foot, or a wing, can be understood only in connexion with the body to which it belongs. And the text, simple and selfevident as it may seem, is part of a system, and derives all its significance from connexion with that system. Now the moment we lift up our eyes from the text to survey the great horizon of truth which surrounds it, we are everywhere met with one sight-the cross. We are conscious of a universal presence-Christ. As if you had suddenly woke up in the Jewish temple on the morning of the great day of atonement the altar, the high priest, the veil-everything speaks of sacrifice, propitiation, and acceptance. Now your ministry points back to His. "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how, though He was rich, for our sakes He became poor." He was a minister then-made full proof of His ministry-but in how peculiar and sublime a sense! You know the work which was then given him to do-a work for the Godhead-a service which no other being in the universe could have performed—a sacrifice such as can never be repeated. But, amazing as were the ever-deepening stages of His humiliation, never did He cease to serve and to suffer, till, lifting up His eyes to heaven, He could say, "Father, I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. I have magnified law; expiated guilt; demonstrated that Thou art love; laboured, agonized, to fulfil my commission. And now it is finished. Father, glorify Thy Son." Then closed His servitude. He dieth no more. He is a servant no more. He is a master now. He has a throne, He has servants of His own now. "For, for this cause Christ both died, and rose, and lives again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." He has ministers of His own now, and you profess to be among them.

But what does this imply? Christianity is one thing; your connexion with it is another. And yet your position this morning implies the vitality of your connexion with it. Christianity does not exist for you as something at a distance

-something standing outside your nature. The atmosphere not merely encompasses you, it passes into you, colours your blood, and sustains your life. And these gospel facts have passed from without into your nature. In their spirit and meaning, they have become a part of you. They belong to your experience. They have brought you a divine life; and you find yourself in the possession of it. Life itself-ordinary human life-was meant to be a great discovery-a series of surprises. With most, indeed, it is little more than a series of postponements-disappointments-or a state of somnambulism. But, as every morning awakens us afresh, life was meant to be a succession of awakenings and wonders. All the principles of external nature are lodged in us, and invite discovery. To the natural is added the supernaturalprinciples and powers which mere material nature could neither enclose nor express; and they are in us expressly that we may find them, feel them, live in the consciousness of them. But when Christ came, higher principles still were embodied in Him-principles which till then had been at large in the universe; dim and diffuse, as the poet represents the light, till it was collected and put into the sun. Bu “in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily "-power which no obstacle can limit-holiness no law can transcend -love incarnate--the heart of God beating and bleeding for man's recovery.

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Now, in the presence of God thus "manifest in the flesh," have found not only a new capacity for life, but capacity for a new life, and the means of living it. How often does a man, placed in a new position, find emotion, capacity, and aspiration which he never knew before! You have been lifted by a Divine hand into the visions of God. The character of Christ has flashed a new light on your own charac

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