$ 
 
 THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY, 
 
 A X 
 
 INAUGURAL SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED IX THE 
 
 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 
 GALENA, SUNDAY MORNING, OCT. 26, 1856, 
 
 / I * 
 
 -'I! 
 
 BY 
 
 ARTHUR SWAZEY, PASTOR. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 
 
 m% GALENA: 
 
 H. H. HOUGHTON k CO., PRINTERS, GAZETTE & ADVERTISER. 
 
 1856. 
 
 km 
 
 X 
 
THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY, 
 
 INAUGURAL SERMON, 
 
 I>p]LIVERED IN THE 
 
 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 
 GALENA, SUNDAY MOKNING, OCT. 26, 1856, 
 
 ARTHUR SWAZEY, PASTOR. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 
 
 . GALENA: 
 
 H. H. HOUGHTON & CO., PRINTERS, GAZETTE AND ADVERTISER OFFICE. 
 
 1856. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 https://archive.org/details/workofministryinOOswaz 
 
^ \/^ P i 
 
 S E R M O . 
 
 
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 -Lot a man so account of ns as of the Ministers of Onaisr, and Slew 
 avds of the mysteries of God.”— I. Cor.; iv, 1. 
 
 
 The Church may exist temporarily without the Ministry, but it is 
 chmplete and permanent in its organization only when it is supplied 
 
 with Pastors and Teachers. 
 
 In the passage before us, the Apostle, haring carefully guarieti 
 against seeming, even, to desire an over-estimate of Imnse , claims 
 nevertheless, to be heard and heeded in the church at Corinth, on the 
 ground that he is set apart of God for the express purpose of opening 
 the secrets and applying the principles of the gospel, - that his ministiy 
 is with authoritv. —that it comprehends a work the bretliien ca , 
 fully perform, namely; The Stewardship of the mysteries of God. 
 
 Xor may it be supposed that this claim had reference altogether to 
 the Apostolic office, in distinction from the general office of the Chiis. 
 tian Ministry. If, at the beginning of Christianity, there was need of a 
 steward. 5 hip of the mysteries of God, there is now the same need, or, 
 by the same mysteries the world is to be saved. There being the same 
 office, the claims that were made on the ground of that office, are war- 
 
 ranted in the ministry at the present day. 
 
 I'he importance of the ministry to the Church is set forth in a fami - 
 iar paragraph of the Epistle to the Ephesians, (iv;7-15):^ “But unto 
 eveiT one of us is given grace according to the gift of Christ. Where¬ 
 fore he saith, When he ascended upon high, he led captivity captive, an 
 gave gifts unto men. ^ ^ And he gave some, apostles; and 
 
 some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastoi^s and teachers; 
 for the perfecting of the saints; for the work ot the ministry; loi the 
 edifyino- of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity ol tb^ 
 faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man. 
 
4 
 
 * * * That we * * may grow up into him, in all things, which 
 is the head, even Christ.” The ministiy, then, is a gift of God — 
 designed to build up the church — to bring men to the same faith and 
 knowledge of the Son of God; to make them sound in doctrine, strong- 
 in heart; until they come into the likeness of Christ, and are made 
 one with each other and with Him in love. 
 
 There were originally five offices in the Christian Ministry. Three of 
 them were in their nature temporary. The apostles, so far as they were 
 a distinct order in the ministrv, were witnesses of the resurrection of 
 Christ, and had special powers, over all others, in the organization and 
 discipline of the infant Church. In strict language, therefore, they 
 could have no successors. The evangelists were, perhaps, missionary 
 preachers, endowed with peculiar gifts of speaking. The prophets were 
 those who received special revelations, to be communicated to others. 
 These three orders of the ministry have in a measure passed away. 
 AVe have, however, a sphere of labor akin to that of a New Testament 
 evangelist; and, for aught we know, prophets may ari.se at any time in 
 the Church. The different offices of pastor and teacher have been 
 merged into one, though we have only a single page of history to turn 
 back, to find the Puritan Fathers ordaining both a pastor and a teacher 
 over a single Church. AYhether or no there has been a departure fi’om 
 the original design in the institution of the ministry, as matter of fact 
 the stewardship of the mysteries is committed, ordinarily, to a single 
 man, and that process of “establishing,” “edifying,” and “perfecting,” of 
 the saints, is within the measure and range of his commission, as a ser¬ 
 vant set apart to a peculiar work. 
 
 The importance of the Christian Ministry is to be inferred from the 
 Apostle s comparison of it to the Mosaic Ministry. He says, writing to 
 the Corinthians, (2 Cor., hi, 3.): “Ye are manifestly declared to be the 
 epistles of Christ, ministered by us, wntteii not with ink, but with the 
 spirit of the li^ing God. * * * Not that we are sufficient of our¬ 
 
 selves, but our sufficiency is of God, who also hath made us able minis¬ 
 ters of the New Testament. * * * But if the ministration of 
 
 death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, * * how shall 
 
 not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious. For if the min¬ 
 istration of condemnation be glorv, much more doth the ministration of 
 righteousness exceed in gloiy * * God hath given unto us the min- 
 
 istiT of reconciliation.” If it might be said that none had arisen greater 
 
5 
 
 than John the Baptist, and yet the least in the kingdom of Heaven is 
 greater than he, so, may it not be said, that the office of the law-giver 
 to Israel, great as it was, was less than the office of the least of those 
 who are accredited and faithful ministers of Christ, and stewards of the 
 newlv revealed mvsteries of God ? 
 
 But the greatness and importance of the work of the ministiy, may be 
 seen by entering more particularly into the nature and aim of the work 
 itself. 
 
 WHAT IS THE OFFICE WOEK OF A CHEISTIAN 
 
 MINISTER? 
 
 A part of this office work is to administer the sacraments. Whether 
 the administration of them, in peculiar circumstances, may not be the 
 privilege of the laity, is a question it is hardly necessary for us to decide. 
 Whatever answer may be given, it is quite clear, that to officiate in the 
 ritual of Christianity, belongs naturally, and by arrangement, to the simple 
 functions of Christ’s ministiy. 
 
 That a certain power of discipline belongs to the ministry, is 
 strongly intimated, if not directly asserted, in the New Testament. 
 Passing by all that is said or implied of apostolic authority, as referring 
 to a class of men specially endowed for a special purpose, and there are 
 left yet, indications that, so far as government is concerned, a minister 
 occupies a place not occupied by any layman in the Church. A pastor 
 is not to lord it over God’s heritage, but to be an ensample to the flock. 
 The very injunction laid upon him not to abuse power, is a sign of 
 power committed to him. The power is limited and balanced in a vari¬ 
 ety of ways, but it is nevertheless vested in him when duly accredited 
 and freely chosen. Timothy and Titus are the only ministers aside from 
 the apostles, of whom we know much from the New Testament. St. 
 Paul, writing to the former, says of a Bishop, that “ he must be one who 
 ruleth his own house well, for if a man know not how to rule his own 
 house, how shall he take care of the Church of God? ” “Against an 
 elder,” he says, “ receive not an accusation but before two or three wit¬ 
 nesses,” as though Timothy had a special responsibility and authority 
 in cases of discipline. To Titus, who was pastor of the Church in 
 Crete, he says: “I left thee in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the 
 things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city.” “ These things 
 apeak, and exhort with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” “A 
 
6 
 
 man that is a heretic after the first and second admonition, reject.” We 
 learn from various other scriptures, on the other hand, that the power 
 of discipline resides in the brethren, or those of them who may be cho¬ 
 sen to take charge of the afiaire of the Church. We must therefore 
 interpret the passages we have quoted in conformity with sucli a usage. 
 And so interpreted, while they take an irrisislible or irresponsible power 
 out of the hands of a minister, make it incumbent on him to see that 
 the things that are wanting are set in order, and that heretics, or dis¬ 
 turbers of the Church, are properly dealt with. He has the general 
 oversight of these affairs, and may act with reference to them as it may 
 not be competent for any other person to act, being, as he is, a bishop 
 and shepherd of souls. 
 
 A minister may, and must, rebuke and warn; — not as one man may 
 rebuke and warn another, but with a certain authority which is not to 
 be despised, and which makes it simply a discharge of duty in him to 
 do that, which, in another man, might justly be regarded as officious and 
 meddlesome. He is resj)ousible as no other man can be for the purity 
 and growth of the Church. It is his charge, for which he must give 
 account, and therefore he must be authorized to have the control of its 
 affairs beyond that of others, who have not the weight of his resjDonsi- 
 bility upon them. And if any think it is assumption or usurpation on 
 his part to exercise that superior control, they should be as eager to 
 reduce his responsibility to the same measure as their own. 
 
 The Church is not what it is sometimes conceived to be, a pure dem¬ 
 ocracy. It is eminently democratic in its constitution and government 
 but is a modified democracy. A social club, Avhich has no officers, and 
 in which everything is determined directly by the popular voice, is a 
 pure democracy; A State Government, in which the most ignorant — 
 or the wisest — have not so much voice as the duly constituted officers 
 of the commonwealth, is a modified democracy — a republican govern¬ 
 ment. And so is the Church, after its organization is complete, and 
 powers are put, according to scriptural authority and usage, into certain 
 hand. The Christian Ministry is a ''gift "—or rather, a combination 
 of many of the "gifts" of the Xew Testament. The minister is set 
 apart by the laying on of the hands of the Presbyteiy; but no one 
 supposes he is any the holier on that account, but rather that he 
 is clothed with power, without which it is impossible to conceive 
 of office, and that as he is ordained of God, he has the pledge of God, 
 
t 
 
 under conditions, for wisdom suitable to the sphere to which he is called. 
 For no man taketh the ofi!c3 of bishop upon himself. He has an inward 
 and outward call thereto. He does not choose the ministry out of his 
 
 V 
 
 natural will, as one of the professions of life; but is urged to it by the 
 feeling'—“Woe is me if I preach not the gospel!” and is acknowledged 
 by the church as competent to the work, by reason of their faith in 
 the attendance of the Spirit upon him. 
 
 While, however, as a ruler in the Church a Christian minister must 
 not suffer his office to be stripped of its dignity, and authority, by those 
 who may be restive under the established order of the gospel; and must 
 sometimes follow the Apostle’s counsel to Titus, and rebuke sharply 
 those who answer to the description given of the ancient Cretians by 
 one of their own projDhets; must “stop the mouths of those who sub¬ 
 vert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not,” and give no 
 place to disturbers — no, not for an hour; his authority is not like 
 that conferred by any human government. He is to “ set in order the 
 things that are wanting,” not by decrees of his own ; not by an arbi¬ 
 trary determination of what the divine decree requires; nor by the 
 rigid technicality of an acknowledged law; but by instructing,— by 
 stirring up the mind to remembrance,—by leading others to see from his 
 own point of observation, and bringing them into the light and glow of 
 the truth. He is to rebuke with all long suffering and j^atience — to 
 be more of a servant than a master — more of a shepherd than a king 
 His art of ruling is persuasion. Single-handed he can inflict no penal¬ 
 ties, though he can, and must, insist upon the “ thus saitli the Lord,’» 
 from which, when duly determined, there is no appeal. 
 
 The great work of the ministry is to 'preach the gospel. The com¬ 
 mission is “ Go teach all nations.” It is by the foolishness of preach¬ 
 ing that the world is to be saved. There are various ways, however 
 of preaching. It may be done from house to house, in the fields, 
 in the workshop, in the market place, or in a temple consecrated to the 
 worship of God; by a book or by a sermon; in fine, in every way in 
 which the ear can be gained and the heart reached. The Apostles 
 preached in the streets and on the sea shore; in attic chambers,in court¬ 
 houses, on the steps of theatres, in palaces and prisons, in synagogues} 
 in the temple; by letters, by sermons, by allegories and parables, by pri¬ 
 vate conversation; and where or how most effectively, (if we pass by 
 Pentecost) it would be difficult to decide. 
 
8 
 
 As tlie people believed and churches gathered, 2 )reaching began 
 TO be centralized. Set places and times were appointed for hearing the 
 word. The Apostles were most, if not all of them, missionaries, who 
 traversed the world to make known the remission of sins through Christ 
 crucified, and remained here or there but a little time. Their first work, 
 however, after planting churches, was to ordain elders in the churches 
 they had formed; and the next generation of preachers after them, are, 
 for the most part, the regular ministei-s of a particular charge. The 
 work of the ministry, while it is essentially the same, now begins to 
 assume something of a new phase. The preacher is to address the same 
 peoj)le — to establish and build them up in the faith; to fortify a strong¬ 
 hold in the very midst of Judaism, or heathenism, and to keep alive the 
 flame kindled by the apostles. A new convert himself, or an elder, who^ 
 from presiding over the assembly has come to be a teacher, he must now 
 enlarge the bounds of his biblical learning, and furnish himself for a 
 clear and constant exhibition of the prirtleges and the hopes of the gos¬ 
 pel. He must now give himself to reading; he must meditate on these 
 things, and lead his flock into fresh pastures day by day. Street-preach¬ 
 ing, field-preaching and house-preaching, are not abandoned; but there 
 are now regularly organized assemblages of the saints; others are gathered 
 with them, and in these congregations is exercised, in a peculiar manner 
 the stewardship of the mysteries of God. 
 
 The ministry, in suiting itself to the different ages of the Church, has 
 always made use of appointed seasons for exhibiting the riches of grace. 
 The ordinance of a Sabbath-Sanctuaiy has come down to us, and the 
 puljnt rightly claims to be the place for instructing and quickening the 
 people in the knowledge of God. AYhatever other work the Christian 
 minister may do or leave undone, the set preaching of the gospel is pri¬ 
 mary, and to it everything else must yield. 
 
 And as the minister must not only speak to the people, but, in speak¬ 
 ing, feed the flock, he must ^be thoroughly furnished for his work. The 
 Having doctrines of the gospel lie open to view, but to bring them into 
 order in the minds of men, and into contact with their hearts, is no super¬ 
 ficial or hasty work. Besides spiritual quahfications, the work impera¬ 
 tively demands a clear understanding, learning enough to know the folly 
 of all mere teaming, a knowledge of human nature, a thorough discipline 
 of the intellectual powers, and above all, a knowledge of the revelation 
 of God, and a stretch of mind that can make all things tributary to the 
 
honor of Christ, and the verification of the truth. TVe repeat, the 
 preacher must hQ furnished for his work. 
 
 In the first place, that he may not falsify the principles and method 
 of the divine government. A man may be a good man — have the life 
 of Christ in him, and yet be ignorant of the genius of the gospel, and 
 so be poorly qualified to be a teacher of the things of the kingdom of 
 God. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,” is 
 the simple covenant of life. But all the rest of the Bible was not 
 written in vain. The numerous books are not stale repetitions nor anti¬ 
 quated histories, nor worn-out conceits; but each of them, and all together, 
 a treasury of wisdom and strength for the Church, and an arsenal of 
 powder for the subjugation of the world. The gospel reveals a system 
 of truth that has to do v»^ith the wddest range of thought, the deepest 
 sentiments of the mind; the interpretation of nature, providence and 
 history, and the secret springs of universal holiness and happiness. The 
 system is peculiar in itself; now coinciding w’ith certain sympathies and 
 judgments of men, now* contradicting them; now^ stooping to common 
 thoughts, now transcending the noblest reasoning; now revealing to us 
 some feature of godlikeness and possible glory in man, now frowming 
 upon our guiltiness, and darkening the future wfitli terrific storms; pre¬ 
 senting to us no\v a law^ now a plan of mercy; now the duty and privilege of 
 hope, and now the need of fear lest we should come short of rest; 
 now declaring that he that wavereth shall receive nothing of the Lord, 
 now that faith as a grain of mustard seed shall cast mountains into the 
 sea; now' exhorting us to be perfect, as God is perfect, now declaring 
 that the best saint on earth is a liar if he says there is no sin in him; 
 now admonishing us to remember the pit from which we were digged, 
 now encouraging us to forget the things that are behind; now publish¬ 
 ing the jorosperity of the righteous and the sorrow's of the wicked, now 
 the fatness of the wicked, and the sorrow's of the people of God; now 
 insisting on obedience to God rather than men, and now' upon 
 obedience to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake; and every¬ 
 where announcing the sovereignty of Jehovah, and the fiee-w'ill of all 
 intelligent creatures! 
 
 These truths are as harmonious as the spheres that roll above us, and 
 illustrate each one the other. ISTay, they are centripetal and centrifu¬ 
 gal forces, that impel every soul that yields to them into the circle of 
 steady motion ar.ound the Eternal Light. The letter killeth. It is tlie 
 
10 
 
 spirit that niaketh alive. .A^ud it is au easy thing for him ’*ho does 
 not study earnestly the mind of the spirit, to yield himself to the letter, 
 till he mases the government of God hostile to itself, and disciples under 
 bis intruction become the sorrowful \dctims of anarchy. 
 
 The first weapon on which infidelity seizes, is often some dislocated 
 form of words, that in the scriptures, articulated as an arm of beauty 
 and strength on the shoulder of truth. The first railroad stage to fanat¬ 
 icism, is frequently a blind zeal for a fragmentary text, that strikes a 
 chord of the natural heart, w’hile the spirit of the divine word orders a love 
 and a discipline of life, which the man who writes the letters on his fore¬ 
 head knows nothing of. And for these things, the preachers of the 
 gospel, who think they know' enough of God’s government, his scheme 
 for saving men, and the processes of the gospel in the w’orld, because 
 they know what the beginning of repentance is, must answer, somewdiat, 
 each according to his negligence of the written laws of the kingdom, 
 and, his dependence upon the inspiration of his own heart. 
 
 To have well balanced ideas of religion, so that he is cpialified to 
 preach intelligently, and with profit, a minister of Christ must be ever 
 exploring, with the helps of history, science and criticism, the depths of 
 the unfathomable word of God. 
 
 Common sense, that rarest sense in all the w'orld, of which we all 
 prate so much and wdiich so few' of us have, will not stand in the stead 
 of the utterances ol the Most High. Conscience, that royal master 
 when unfettered, but w'hich, in bonds, has made the altar of God an 
 inquisition or an auction block thousands of times, or sent forth the 
 maniac with his flaming torch to set the world on fire in order to burn 
 up sin, cannot stand in the stead of the oracles of serene and unchang¬ 
 ing truth. Xor may the religious instincts, often so holy, and yet so 
 liable to put passion tor love, egotism, even, for humility, and man’s 
 judgment for God’s, be a guide, instead of the written and unvariable 
 inspirations of the Holy Ghost. Xor may long established opinions or 
 practices in the Church, which have so many times proved to be as 
 creeping vines, that have thickened till they hid the sun and smoth¬ 
 ered the life of faith; or as stagnant reservoirs of a once living tide, an¬ 
 swer instead of “ the law of the Lord, which is perfect, converting the 
 soul; and the commandment of the Lord, which is pure, enlightening 
 the eyes.” The Bible is the guide, and therefore, as far as may be, must 
 be understood by the preacher of righteousness. Empiricism may 
 
11 
 
 be allowed anywhere el^^e; but never in him who handles the word of 
 life. 
 
 In the second place, the Christian minister should be furnished in order 
 that the gospel may be declared effectively. And we may say at the 
 outset, that the times are such, and all men see and hear so much that is 
 vigorous and earnest,— so much that has length and beam to it, that, 
 tvhether right or wTong, they are quite disinclined to hear the gospel at 
 all, unless there be something of the same elements in the preaching of it. 
 
 But what is better worth considering, is the need of the people. Of 
 varied education, employments, and habits of thought; of varied expe¬ 
 rience and age, each must receive his portion in due season. 
 
 There are believers, divided into almost as many classes as there are 
 men, women and children in the church: some, babes in Christ, and 
 needing the sincere milk of the w'ord; some, muscular men, veterans of 
 the king’s household; some, alw'ays hoping too much, and never seeing 
 evil; some, hoping too little, and alw^ays in darkness and sorrow’; some, 
 troubled with hard doctrines, and stumbling at the very mysteries by 
 which they live; and some, w’hose faith girdles the mighty pillars of 
 God’s secret judgments; some, alw’ays shrinking from responsibility; 
 others, bold enough to their unholy hands to the tottering ark, 
 though it be forbidden them; some, skeptical and cold by nature; others, 
 distempered and fanatic; and all wnth the seeds of life in them. These 
 he is to nurture and guide and advanee in the right way. 
 
 Surely to meet the w^ants of characters so various, the preacher should 
 understand the gospel, so far as possible, from its Alpha to its Omega,— 
 from the first pulse of nascent life, to the last throb of the saint about to 
 be glorified. He should know’ the road to the Better Land: every 
 spring that gladdens the w’ayside; eveiy evangelist that w’elcomes and 
 cheers the traveler; eveiy chamber of peace; the top of every delecta¬ 
 ble mountain; every spot of enchanted ground; every lion, chained or 
 unchained; eveiy by-way hung with the garlands of deceit; and all the 
 ingenious and gracious devices of heaven for the care and guidance of 
 the pilgi’im. What is good counsel for one,may be bad counsel for another- 
 That w’hich encourages the desponding, may make the presumptuous 
 more secure. 'I hat w'hich aw’akens and startles the supine and careless, 
 may alarm the timid but sincere disciple. That which is a stone of 
 strength to a man, may be a stone of stumbling to a child- And yet he 
 sho’uld be able to instruct all and hinder none; and w'eave the truth into 
 
12 
 
 such various forms, that it shall be a garment of sackcloth for the per¬ 
 verse, and a princely robe for ail who have a right to the consolations of 
 Christ. In the store house there is that which is just suited to the need 
 of every man, however weak or strong, self-willed or obedient; how^- 
 ever complicated the disorders that embarrass his life, or however lofty 
 the heights to which he may have attained. The preacher must explore 
 this treasury of divine knowledge, till, from the abundance of God’s 
 word and providence, he establishes the life and secures the thrift ot 
 every member of the family of Christ, that he may present them all—at 
 last—to God without spot, or w’rinkle, or blemish, or any such thing; for 
 the design of the ministry is, that the Church may “grow up into him in 
 all things, which is the head, even Christ.” 
 
 There is another class of persons who are to be reached by the preach¬ 
 ing of the gospel. Those w^ho assent, but do not believe; whose intel¬ 
 lects cannot deny the truth, but w’hose hearts refuse to receive Christ as 
 the Savior. Some of them are given to business, and some to pleasure* 
 Some there are, w'hose honorable life shields them from conviction; 
 others, whose irregularities forbid them to lay any claim to righteous¬ 
 ness; some w'ho just begin to have conscious opinions in matters ot 
 religion; others who have long heard the gospel, andjare hardened under 
 it; some who have passed through many awakenings, and have not 
 been renewed; others who look to the recurrence of such seasons as the 
 hope of their salvation; some who have been brought up under the 
 training of pious parents, and are yet prodigal; others, w^ho never knew 
 the family altar, never heard a father’s prayer; some, who cannot feel; 
 others, who can only despair; some, who are seeking after God, if haply 
 they may find him; others, who, having once put their hands to the 
 plough and looked back, are not fit for the kingdom of heaven; some^ 
 who have stood upon the threshold of life for years, in the peril of those 
 who halt betw^een two opinions; some, w’hom fear alone can move; and 
 many, who fear nothing but the loss of their good things here. 
 
 Surely, Christ’s minister needs the wisdom that comes down from above 
 and is profitable to direct; to have arrows upon his bow-string fresh 
 from the quiver of God, and tempered in heaven; to possess the meek¬ 
 ness of them that inherit the earth; the love of an angel, the guile of 
 the serpent, th determination and strength of the warrior, and, "withal, 
 to be furnished and refurnished, by ever new acquisitions of the knowl¬ 
 edge of the powers of grace, that he may utter a distinct and individual 
 
call to every iium’.s heart, and yhape the gospel to him as the remedy for 
 his sin, and the only way of his salvation. One by one, must he tear 
 down the refuges of lies; one by one, must he pluck away those slippery 
 hopes from which the incorrigible shall slide in due time; one by one, 
 must he strip off the gilding from the lying ]u’omiscs of the world, until 
 the hearers repent and receive Christ, or the gospel itself is made a more 
 terrible witness against them, and, having been exalted to heaven, they 
 are thrust down to hell. 
 
 Is there a man on earth of so much devotion that all of it would not 
 be requisite to this work? Is there a man on earth, of gifts so affluent, 
 of learning so varied, of so great a stretch of mind, of powers so ingen¬ 
 ious, and words so eloquent, that they would be superfluous in this min¬ 
 istry of reconciliation? How, then, must we, whose piety is so feeble, 
 whose knowledge would be contemptible, only that it has in it something 
 of Christ, recoil under the pressure of this ministry, when in view of it 
 an Apostle, gifted with natural genius, and under the supernatural guid¬ 
 ance of the Holy Ghost, was forced to exclaim, “Who is sufficient for 
 these things?” 
 
 There is still another class of men Avith whom the preaching of the 
 gospel has to do: those who deny and oppose the doctrines of the cros£^ 
 intellectually as Avell as spiritually; in numbers many, subtle deceivers, 
 and being deceiA^ed; of all degrees of learning — of all stations in soci¬ 
 ety; of all descriptions of character, from the openly profligate, to men 
 of uprightness and integrity in the affairs of the world; using all modes 
 of attack, from downright blasphemy, to the craft of Jesuits; from the 
 scorn of atheism, to the skeptical, but smooth and friendly, betrayal of 
 the gospel. Their strong holds are bar-rooms, theaters, printing offices- 
 lyceum halls, colleges, and consecrated churches. Their weapons are 
 ridicule, superstition, and the smatterings of philosophy and science^ 
 Their coadjutors are the passions of men, pride of intellect, and pride 
 of life. NcA'cr, or rarely, do they hear an evangelic sermon in the house 
 of God. The preacher must reach them, if at all, through society. He 
 must so preach that the immediate hearers shall be completely armed 
 against open or secret assaults; so preach, also, that the firmness and 
 faith of disciples, and the earnestness of their liv^es, shall utter the 
 call of Christ in the ears of those Avho do not visit his sanctuary, perad- 
 venture to the saving of their souls. 
 
 To cope with the subtle influence of a skeptical literature alone, filthy 
 
u 
 
 and refined, in this reading age, would consume the strengiii and drain 
 the resources of the most gifted mind! To dissipate the miasma that 
 arises from a seir-suCicient Christianity alone, would require more of the 
 electric current than could be discharged from the brains of all the 
 clergy m the nation, joined together as the plates of one stupendous 
 
 galvau.c battery! To cut down the grateful shade of charms,— to dig 
 the roots of superstition out of society, so that no man should trust in 
 amulets, or festivals, or tinkling bells, or mitres; till Fetichism should be 
 confined to Africa, would exhaust the most ingeuious dialectics of any 
 age of the Church, and leave no time nor strength to cope with any 
 
 other device of satau! 
 
 And 3 ’et it is the aim of the preaching of the gospel, to bind the 
 jaws and fetter the limbs of every monster of unbelief; to shut up infi¬ 
 delity and superstition to their own corruption, till they rot and perish; 
 to snatch victims couiinually from the altar of death, and to lead the 
 slaves of sin into the liberty of Christ. There are powers in the word 
 of God, and in the gospel of his Sou, able to batter the huge structures 
 that cast their gloomy shadows across the world, and tumble them 
 into ruins, and to mow down the bristling ranks of the enemies of the 
 faiih; but who shall handle these j^owers? Who shall carry a staff that 
 is like a weavers beam? AVho shall be the artilleryman of the ord- 
 nance of God? Who shall ride the war-horses? Who bear the armor of 
 the great Captain of Salvation? Well might the Apostle take the 
 words out of the mouths of the enemies of the cross, and call that “the 
 foo lishiess of preaching,” by which the world is to be saved! If the 
 ministry were ordained of man, the Church might well despair. But 
 this ministry is “committed to earthen vessels, that the excellency of the 
 power may be of God.” “It is not by might, but by my Spirit, saith 
 the Lord.” And yet, God works by means; by the industry, faithful¬ 
 ness, intelligence and wisdom of his ministers. A sharp axe will cut bet¬ 
 ter than a dull one, if God is the maker of them both. A clear, dis¬ 
 criminating exhibition of the truth as it is in Jesus, illustrated by the 
 abundance God has provided, is more effective than confused and point¬ 
 less lucubrations, though it be true that when Paul plants and Apollos 
 waters, it is God that giveth the increase. The gospel is the highest 
 truth, the purest reason, and is received in, and giveth, light. God is 
 Light, and in him there is no darkness at all, and the stewards of his 
 mysteries, instead of daikeniughis couu&elshy icords without knoivledge 
 should make them blaze with the radiance of the Eteruai Throne, 
 
There is another sphere of ministerial labor, of great importance,— 
 commonly called “ pastoral ” labor. The fulfillment of its duties is, 
 properly, only another mode of preaching the gospel. As, however, it 
 is ordinarily considered separately, we shall speak of it by itself. 
 
 There are the sick, the infirm and the aged, who cannot go up to the 
 house of God, to whom the ministrations of a good pastor are invalua¬ 
 ble, both for consolatiun and profit, d hey can read the Bible, and they 
 have favorable opportunities for meditating upon the wonderful ways of 
 God. They may also, some of them, have the privilege of domestic 
 worship, and may sit together in heavenly places in Christ wnlh Christian 
 friends. But, however happily they may be situated in these respects, 
 they need, also, the sympathy and counsel of one whose life is given to 
 the cure of souls, and wdiose constant study is how he mav reclaim the 
 wayward, and comfort and strengthen the believer. 
 
 There are the dying, from whom the w’orld is fading away, and upon 
 whom the morning of eternity is soon to break. The ambassador for 
 Christ should be with them, to utter distinctly to the confused mind, the 
 veritable issues of life; to offer at the last hour, in the name of his master, 
 the remission of sins, by faith in the crucified Savior; to dispel the 
 doubts of the faint-hearted, to comfort still more the joyful expectant of 
 immortalitv, and to carry home wdth him lessons of vanity and faiih for 
 his own high calling. 
 
 There are those, also, who are in affliction. The Lord has given them 
 sorrow’ to drink; their hearts bleed; the w’orld is dark, and there is no 
 help in man. But there is help in God, and he who can move them to 
 take hold on the promises; assist them in coming nearer to him wdio is 
 all love and all wisdom, and offer them a real sympathy of spirit, as a 
 good pastor may, fulfills one of the highest offices of the ministry, and 
 does a w’ork pre-eminently like the work w Inch Christ did, w hen he was 
 in the world. Jde can say no more than others. He may Inive a heart 
 no warmer, but he is a consoler auihorized of God to sjieak peace to 
 the believer, and to show’ to the unbeliever, the warmth of eternal love. 
 
 The w’ork we hav’c spoken of thus far, is, in our view', altogether the 
 important part of pastoral labor. There is, however, another kind of 
 w’ork: visiting from house to house. It affords occasions for deepening 
 the convictions of the unbelieving, and increasing the joy of the sa'nt. 
 A w’ord fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver; and from 
 bouse to house, the gospel may be preached, especially in seasons or 
 
16 
 
 awakening, with encouraging success. And yet, after all that may be 
 said, the advantage of ordinary parochial \isitations, we apprehend, is of 
 another kind than it is generally supposed to be. Where the attention 
 of the people is arrested, and there are no strangers in the family circle 
 religious conversation may be easy and profitable. But quite frequent¬ 
 ly it occurs, by reason of a thousand circumstances over which the jias- 
 tor has no control, that his visit must, in ail propriety, be simply of a 
 social character. Nor is it unimportant in this point of view. To know 
 the habits of living, the habits of thought, the prejudices, susceptibili¬ 
 ties, and ruling ideas of his people, is of vast moment to him as a 
 preacher who W'Ould adapt his ministry to the minds he endeavors to 
 teach. He must know his people. And it is a fair question to raise 
 whether he who keeps himself always up to the point of religious 
 exhortation, can know" them, except the few w"ho are ready to open their 
 hearts to him. An hour’s conveisalion upon commerce, or agriculture, 
 or music, or anything else, wuth the ease that puts others at ease, and 
 leaves them to be themselves, is of great value to him for right 
 preaching, wdiile it serves as an entering w’edge to rift the close grain of 
 natural reserve, and open a wmy for the indw'elling of the truth. There 
 is no class of men in the world so much imposed upon, as to wdiat is 
 really in 1he world, and as to w"hat their owm people really are, as minis¬ 
 ters of the gospel; for the reason that they are absent much from 
 society, and wdien in it, see, ordinarily, only the unruffled and unsoiled 
 Sunday dress of human character. 
 
 Ordinary pastoral visiting, wdiich must be done to a great extent by 
 the day of the month, rather than by the choice of occasions, should 
 aim, indeed, at direct spiritual improvement; and yet, if it falls some¬ 
 what short in this respect, it is still important as the means of per¬ 
 sonal interest and good understanding, between the pastor and his 
 people. 
 
 It is a difficult thing to be a good pastor. And it is not at all sur¬ 
 prising to any minister, and probably is not to the people generally, that 
 in the New Testament, pastors and teachers w"ere distinct in office, and 
 that the office of pastor is enumerated among the “charisms^^ “or gifts" 
 of the gospel. It requires intelligence and w-isdom, but especially some¬ 
 thing else, which is neither intelligence nor wisdom: an indescribable 
 capability, wdiich embraces both, and is a hundred fold more besides. 
 There are many good preachers w'ho are not good pastors; and many 
 
17 
 
 good pastors who are not good preachers; and rarely is it that men are 
 found who excel in both these departments of ministerial labor. The 
 two offices are joined together, and it is easy to see how they help one 
 another in theory, and, to an important extent, practically; and yet it 
 must be confessed that they are very diverse from each other. The 
 question may occur. Which shall give way, when, in the multiplied cares 
 of the ministry, one must yield a little to the other? Evidently, the 
 ministrations of the sanctuary, 'where the multitude go to hear of God 
 and of the way of salvation, and where they receive their impressions as 
 to what Christianity is, must be maintained. If not for salvation, as a 
 witness, the gospel must be preached 'publicly, and if preached at all, be 
 preached with all the discrimination and power that God vouchsafes to 
 his servants. 
 
 IN CLOSING, WE RPMARKt 
 
 l«f. A minister must have his study. We have said that he must 
 have a well furnished mind, and that nothing can take the place of it. 
 He must have a right heart, and be under the guidance of the Spirit^ 
 or, whatever else he may be, he will be as sounding brass and a tinkling 
 cymbal. But even a right heart and the measure of the spirit which 
 God ordinarily bestows upon his ministers, cannot secure a thorough 
 acquaintance with the Divine Government, and a discriminating appli¬ 
 cation of the principles of that government to the Church and the 
 world, without the study and mental discipline of the man. The resour¬ 
 ces from which he may draw, are abundant; but there are no expresses 
 commissioned to bring great ingots to his door while he is at ease, or 
 engaged in thoughts of other things. Nor do these ingots lie scattered 
 in the summer fields where he may gather them in a morning walk. The 
 gold is buried deep. He must dig, and wash, and bear it away upon 
 his own shoulders, and smelt it over fires kindled by his own hands. 
 Pearls of thought are like the pearls of the sea. He must dive down 
 after them, and from ocean caves, sometimes with bleeding nostrils, bring 
 up the jewels that are to adorn his people forever. Knowledge is not 
 so cheap a thing as to be obtained without a price. The workings of 
 the human mind are not so obvious that he may learn them in a day. 
 God’s government is not so narrow that he can scan it by a glance. The 
 doctrines of Christ are not so meagre,— the privileges of the saints are 
 not BO thin and shallow, that a few choice sermons can bring into obser- 
 
ration the manifold wisdom and grace of God. It is of Jehovah, the 
 greatest of all beings, that he speaks. It is the Bible he expounds, so 
 profound and varied in its lessons of wisdom, that sages have found 
 themselves, at three score years and ten, just entering upon its glories. 
 The mind upon which he plays is a harp strung with a thousand delicate 
 chords, from which are swept eternal harmonies only by the hand of a 
 master. There are, however, no gifts of God without labor. And it 
 labor, there must be time and opportunity. The minister must have 
 his study, ample in its hours and sacred to toil. If he is kept on foot 
 like an errand boy, the bible will be a sealed book; the ministry of 
 the abundance of God will be only a sign of famine, and the lining word 
 become the bandaged mummy of ages that are dead. 
 
 2iid. The minister of Christ must keep to his calling. There is work 
 enough for him to do in it, without putting his hand to any other enter¬ 
 prise. There are a great many things that ought to be done, but it ia 
 not every man that ought to do what ought to be done. There are dif¬ 
 ferent callings; let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called. 
 Russia ought to be a good quiet member of the brotherhood of empires. 
 There ought to be good harbors on all the lakes. There ought, perhaps, 
 to be a lock at the mouth of our own river. But there are men whoso 
 honorable calling it may be to look after these important affairs. The 
 minister’s calling is the cure of souls. All that can be done by preach¬ 
 ing Christ crucified, by leading the people to behold the Lamb of God 
 which taketh away the sins of the world, by traversing the length and 
 breadth of that kingdom which is not of this world, and showing its 
 powers and graces to the elect of God; all that can be done with the 
 sword of the spirit to cut through the front of wrong evei^where, but 
 more particularly in the customs and habits of those w^ho are within the 
 sphere of his immediate influence, the minister of Christ may do,—but 
 no more. When there are no passages of revelation that are dark to 
 him, when the whole scope and glory of the scheme of salvation ia 
 comprehended, when he has exhausted the wisdom of the gospel upon 
 believers and unbelievers, and has no more to learn or to teach, when he 
 has solved the difficulties of every seeker after the truth, and brought hia 
 people up to completeness in Christ, so that there is no more for them 
 to attain in this life; or w’hen a new and better way of saving the world 
 is discovered than that of preaching Christ, the reception of whom is 
 the beginning and the middle and the end of all reformation, then, and 
 
not till then, may be yield up the stewardiship of the mysteries of God, 
 for the thousand good enterprises that are not compassed and guided 
 by, or advances of, the faith of the cross. 
 
 3d. In order to make his office truly honornble, and to do well the 
 work which is given him to do, a minister of the gospel should cultivate 
 an independent spirit. He is not to be reckless and heady; not to be 
 opinionated and self-confident; not to be stubborn and overbearing; 
 not to be unsusceptible to the influence of custom or a healthy public 
 opinion; but he should be himself, and have an individuality as marked 
 as that of other men. That he is a minister ought to make him none 
 the less a man everywhere, who has the same rights in society, the same 
 independence of character in reference to his habits of living and the 
 free expression of his opinions upon all questions that agitate the com¬ 
 munity or the world, that other men claim for themselves. He may 
 not make the pulpit the place for utteriug all that he thinks and believes, 
 except it be in reference to the gospel and its progress among men; but 
 out of the pulpit, we undertake to say, he is something less than a man, 
 and worthy of less respect than a man, if he cannot command for him¬ 
 self the freedom that belongs to every intelligent and upright citizen. 
 No company of men may assume the supervision of his private affairs. 
 Nor may they begrudge him his opinion on matters not directly relig¬ 
 ious, whether they be expressed in the street or in the drawing-room or 
 at the ballot box, any more than he in return may arraign them in the 
 sanctuary to answer for theirs. He has duties to perform as a neighbor 
 and as a member of the body politic, from which he is not exempt be¬ 
 cause he is called to preach the gospel; and no fair minded community 
 would wish to deprive him of the immunities and advantages, be they 
 greater or less, that correspond to these duties. 
 
 It would be an affront to the intelligence and liberality of the people 
 to whom we are called, to suspect a dissent on their part from proposi-. 
 tions so self-evident to all but narrow and ignoble minds. A servile, 
 spongy character, that sucks in its sentiments and opinions indifferently 
 from any company into which it may happen to be thrown; that swells 
 into almost any dimensions when there is no outward pressure, and may 
 be squeezed into almost any shape by the hands of others, is as little 
 worthy of regard in the eyes of high-minded and discerning men, as it is 
 impotent to any good work in the world. 
 
 A minister must be independent, also, in the pulpit. He must not go 
 
20 
 
 beyond the Evangelic Commission; nor within the range of proper pul¬ 
 pit ministrations must he set himself up as wiser than all the rest of 
 the world. He must not dogmatize nor command, and yet he must 
 speak with fearlessness, uttering the whole counsel of God; nor stop to 
 ask the question whether it will please or displease those who hear him. 
 He must be wise, seize upon favorable opportunities; clothe his speech 
 with meekness, and warm it with love; and instead of thrusting himself 
 before the truth, always hide behind it; but never moderate one tittle of 
 the law or one iota of the gospel because it rasps the consciences of 
 men, runs athwart their plans, and excites hostility to him or the church 
 of which he is the pastor. 
 
 He is sent to be a leader in Israel, to utter the truths of Christ; not to 
 fatten himself upon applause, nor to gain his livelihood through the 
 favor w^hich smooth wmrds and a pleasant song may secure to him. His 
 commission is to awake the dead, inspire the living, make known God’s 
 pleasure, fortify the truth, and to drive home the arrows of conviction 
 wherever transgTession has lodged in the heart or the life. He is to 
 know nothing of an expediency that compromises the truth; nothing of 
 the importance of securing the good will of any man, be he with or with¬ 
 out influence, in the church or out of it. He speaks for his master, the 
 great Head of the Church, and asks only, with simplicity of heart 
 ‘‘ Master, what is thy will? ” and reutters that will, though he inherit the 
 penury of the Xazarene, and although it happen to him as it did once 
 to our Lord Vvhen many who had followed him hitherto were offended 
 at his hard sayings, and went no more after him. The minister of Christ 
 is a leader in Israel; and if he only floats with the current of thought, 
 feeling and practice that glides smoothly through society, or if he falters 
 at the judgment of men; if, for example, he waits till all the members of 
 the church have risen up against the companies in w'hich they are stock¬ 
 holders, because they send forth their trains of avarice to whistle and 
 scream for gain in the sabbath stillness of every city and village in the 
 land, before he thinks it wise to preach against the prostitution of God’s 
 holy day; if he fears to lay his hand on pharisaism, and strip off, as well 
 as he may be able to, its broad phylacteries, and pronounce the woes of 
 Christ against its anointed hypocrisies, because he will be accounted 
 himself as wanting in spirituality; if he fears to let out the whole tide 
 of his emotional nature into the call of God to the unbelieving and per¬ 
 ishing; or takes counsel wuth flesh and blood in proclaiming any of 
 
21 
 
 Christ's words to men, he is eminently unfit to be an “Ambassador,”— a 
 “Minister" of Christ, a “Steward of the mysteries of God.” Nay, if he 
 be a man of ordinary parts, he is guilty of the profoundest folly. He 
 has already thrown his prospects for this world to the winds, in ente¬ 
 ring upon his high calling; and then, after having laid himself upon the 
 altar, to stammer and cringe for a little favor, is to lose both the world 
 and his everlasting reward! 
 
 We have said these things in part to indicate our own purpose, 
 and quite as much to fortify ourselves against temptation. For we of 
 the ministry, with our susceptibilities to friendship, to personal and pub¬ 
 lic favor; with our families looking to us for bread and the means of 
 education, and with our little faith in the promises of God, for which we 
 ought to be heartily ashamed, find that it is of no little moment to us 
 whether we please or displease, and so are tempted to accommodate the 
 gospel, to the disposition and tone of society,— not with such a naked 
 proposition before us, but by the reality of it, under the specious plea 
 of “expediency,” “Christian policy,” and like heavenly considerations. 
 God grant that the fear of man may never be a snare to us! 
 
 4thly. A minister of Christ should live near to God. The work in 
 which he is engaged is God’s work, and his commission is from Him. 
 The design of it is to bring God into honor among men, and to bring 
 men into the knowledge and blessedness of God. He must, therefore* 
 sympathize with His government, and identify himself with the interests 
 of Ills kingdom. He must breathe the atmosphere of the Celestial 
 Court, and partake of the spirit of those who dwell about the '1 hrone, 
 in order to be a faithful and efficient servant. He cannot trust himself 
 in the interpretation of the word, without the guidance of the Spirit. 
 He cannot utter the call of life, and repeat the issues of unbelief, he 
 cannot plead the cause of righteousness and salvation, unless he can say 
 to his Father, “all thy thoughts are precious;” nor labor effectively 
 without the assurance that God is with him, nor bear the heat and bur¬ 
 den of the day, unless he realizes that the everlasting arm is under him. 
 
 He is a co-worker with Christ, in whom are all the springs of redemp¬ 
 tion; and he must let his pitcher down into the well of His abounding 
 zeal and grace, for the draught that shall refresh and quicken him in 
 every good word and work. In Christ alone does he find life for him¬ 
 self. In Christ alone can he levy upon the riches of the gospel for his 
 people. Christ must be a Savior to him, so that he shall /ee/that there 
 
•2*J 
 
 are foundations under him. Christ must be a Master to him, so that he 
 may not waver between divided counsels. Christ must be a Friend to 
 him, so that the secrets of the Lord may come into his heart. A work 
 is put into his hands he would not lay a finger to, did he not believe him¬ 
 self called of God. He is ignorant, weak, perverse, exposed,— and he 
 must have help from above. His words may be ingenious, but they will 
 fall like water upon the ground, unless they are filled with the Holy 
 Ghost. He may have a little learning, but it will be thin and lean with¬ 
 out the breath of God in it, and all the material of the schools nothing 
 better than a formless void unless there be the brooding of the Spirit. 
 If the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch, and he is blind, 
 if Christ does not anoint his eyes day by day. 
 
 My friends, it is four months since I began to preach the gospel among 
 vou. I come to vou now, however, for the first time on the Sabbath 
 day, officially clothed with the responsibilities of a pastor. Nothing 
 could have induced me to commit myself to a position so arduous, and 
 involving so many issues, both for time and for eternity, but a desire to 
 serve the Master, and so to fulfill my course in the world. The work of 
 the ministry, besides its responsibleness, is burdened with labors that are 
 never finished, and from which there is no release; and, withal, by its 
 cares and anxieties makes, perhaps, a greater draft upon the vital ener¬ 
 gies than any other calling. It is, however, a most delightful work, iden¬ 
 tifying one, as it does, wdth the cause of the Savior, and engaging the 
 attention here upon the constitution and growth of a kingdom that shall 
 have no end. And I desire to give thanks publicly to Almighty God 
 for the privilege of being among the least of those to whom, for the 
 growth of this kingdom is committed the ministry of reconciliation. In 
 my labors among you, I hope to have your hearty sympathy, and your 
 unw^earied co-operation. The kind attentions you have bestow’ed upon 
 me and my family,—your liberal endeavors to make us comfortable and 
 happy in this, to us, new and strange country, assure us of friendship and 
 personal esteem quite beyond our deserts, and make us confident that 
 you will appreciate our responsibilities, bear with our infirmities and re- 
 v-oeivo our words in love. 
 
23 
 
 While we do not dream of realizing our own ideal of ministerial labor 
 or of meeting the expectations in which you are so generous as to in¬ 
 dulge, it shall nevertheless be our care and our pleasure to serve you in 
 the gospel according to the grace that may be given us. All our pow¬ 
 ers of body and mind and heart, are yours. 
 
 The words of welcome that greeted us at our installation,—words whose 
 mellow cadences fell upon our spirit like a sweet dream and made us be¬ 
 lieve that we were installed really in your hearts, we accept as the voice of 
 you all; and we pray God that our ministry may be such, that you who 
 in word or spirit have welcomed Christ’s minister here, may be w'elcom- 
 ed of Christ in heaven, and share wdth him his exceeding glory. 
 
 \ 
 

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 ■ ,C/’ 
 
 • fii*