Timothy: "My beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord," 1 Cor. xv, 58. "Thou, Timothy, hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry; for I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand," 2 Tim. iii, 10-12; iv, 5, 6.

Thus triumphantly St. Paul advanced toward the end of his course. And thus the faithful minister, pouring fresh oil into his lamp as the night advances, goes forth to meet his approaching God, whom his faith already considers as a merciful Judge, and his hope as a munificent Rewarder.

TRAIT XL.

His triumph over the evils of life, and the terrors of death.

THE living faith that sustains a good pastor, or a believer in Christ, afnid all the difficulties and afflictions of life, causes him more especially to triumph at the approach of death in all its terrific appearances. Ever filled with an humble confidence in Him, who is the resurrection and the life, he frequently expresses the assurance of his victorious faith, at this solemn season, in the manner of St. Paul: "Thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ," 2 Cor. ii, 14. Knowing, that He who raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you: therefore we faint not: but though our outward man perish, yet the inner man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," 2 Cor. iv, 14. Thus holding up the shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one, and to receive the piercing arrows of the angel of death, he expects his last hour without fear or impatience; cheerfully leaving the time, the place, the manner, and the circumstances of this concluding trial, to the disposal of that God whose wisdom, goodness, and power, are all combined to insure him the victory. Whether he be called by the providence of God, in a chamber or upon a scaffold, to taste the bitter cup of which his Master drank so deeply, he prepares himself to accompany a suffering Saviour, encouraged with the hope that he shall not be tempted above his strength; and that, if he should suffer and die with the King of glory, he shall also rise and reign together with him.

At length the fatal shaft is thrown,—whether by accident, by disease, or by the hand of an executioner, is of little consequence; the true Christian, prepared for all events, sees and submits to the order of Providence. He receives the mortal blow, either with humble resignation, or with holy joy. In the first case, his soul is sweetly disengaged from its earthly tabernacle, while he breathes out the supplicatory language of happy Simeon, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for

mine eyes have seen thy salvation." But in the second case, he leaves the world in a state of holy triumph, crying out in the fullest assurance of faith, My persuasion takes place of sight, and without the help of vision I endure, as seeing him that is invisible; as effectually sustained, as though, contemplating with Stephen an open heaven, I saw the Son of man standing at the right hand of God, ready to save and glorify my soul. Of these two manners of holy dying, the most enviable appears to have been the lot of St. Paul, if we may judge from the anticipated triumph he describes in several of his epistles, and particularly in the last he addressed to Timothy from Rome, where he received the crown of martyrdom. "I desire to depart and to be with Christ, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death,” Phil. i, 13; iii, 8–10. "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: to whom be glory for ever and ever," 2 Tim. iv, 7, 8, 18. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or the sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus," Rom. viii, 35, 39. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. xv, 55-57.

Thus the great apostle went forth to meet his last trial, counting it an honour to suffer in the cause of truth, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. The enemies of Christianity rendered him at last conformable to Christ in his death:* but while they severed his head from his body, they united his happy spirit more intimately to that exalted Jesus, who had once met him in the way, and who now was waiting to receive him at the end of his course. Happy are the faithful, who, like this faithful apostle, live unto the Lord! yet happier they, who, like him, are enabled to die unto the Lord! "Their works do follow them, while they rest from their labours," and wait in peace the resurrection and the sublime rewards of the righteous.

* Tradition informs us, that St. Paul, in the second journey he made to Rome, received the crown of martyrdom under the Emperor Nero, about thirty-five years after the crucifixion of our blessed Lord. St. Clement, the contemporary of St. Paul, speaks of that apostle in the following terms, in his first epistle to the Co. rinthians: " By means of jealousy, Paul has received the prize of perseverance. Having been seven times in bonds; having been evil entreated and stoned; having preached in the east and in the west, he has obtained the glorious prize of his faith. After having instructed all the world in righteousness, coming into the west, he has suffered martyrdom under those who command; and thus quit. ting the world, after having shown in it a great example of patience, he has gone into the holy place."

THE PORTRAIT

OF

LUKEWARM MINISTERS AND FALSE APOSTLES.

CHAPTER I.

THE essence of painting consists in a happy mixture of light and shade, from the contrast of which an admirable effect is produced, and the animated figure made to rise from the canvass. Upon this principle we shall oppose to the Portrait of St. Paul, that of lukewarm ministers and false apostles, whose gloomy traits will form a back ground peculiarly adapted to set off the character of an evangelical pastor.

If the primitive Church was disturbed and misled by unfaithful ministers, it may be reasonably presumed that, in this more degenerate period of its existence, the Church of God must be miserably overrun with teachers of the same character. There is, however, no small number of ministers who form a kind of medium between zealous pastors and false apostles. These irresolute evangelists are sincere to a certain point. They have some desire after the things of God, but are abundantly more solicitous for the things of the world: they form good resolutions in the cause of their acknowledged Master, but are timid and unfaithful when called upon actual service. They are sometimes actuated by a momentary zeal, but generally influenced by servile fear. They have no experience of that ardent affection, and that invincible courage with which St. Paul was animated. Their wisdom is still carnal, 2 Cor. i, 12; they still confer "with flesh and blood," Gal. i, 16. Such was Aaron, who yielded, through an unmanly weakness, to the impious solicitations of his people. Such was Jonah, when he refused to exercise his ministry at Nineveh. That this prophet was possessed of a holy confidence in God, and a desire for the salvation of his fellow creatures, we have every reason to believe: but we find, that neither the one nor the other was sufficiently powerful to engage him in a service which appeared likely to endanger his reputation among men. Such were also the apostles before they were endued with power from on high. To every pastor of this character, that expression of Christ, which was once addressed to the most courageous man among his disciples, may be considered as peculiarly applicable: "Thou art an offence unto me, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men," Matt. xvi, 23.

Lukewarmness, false prudence, and timidity, are the chief characteristics by which ministers of this class may be distinguished. Perceiving the excellence of the Gospel in an obscure point of view, and having little experience of its astonishing effects, they cannot possibly discover that religious zeal which is indispensably necessary to the character they affect to sustain.

The pious Bishop Massillon gives the following representation of these unqualified teachers, and the ill effects of their unfaithfulness. "Manners are every day becoming more corrupt among us, because the zeal of ministers is daily becoming colder; and because there are found among us few apostolical men, who oppose themselves, as a brazen wall, to the torrent of vice. For the most part, we behold the wicked altogether at ease in their sins, for the want of hearing more frequently those thundering voices, which, accompanied with the Spirit of God, would effectually rouse them from their awful slumber. The want of zeal, so clearly discernible among pastors, is chiefly owing to that base timidity which is not hardy enough to make a resolute stand against common prejudice, and which regards the worthless approbation of men, beyond their eternal interests. That must needs be a worldly and criminal consideration, which makes us more anxious for our own glory than for the glory of God. That must truly be fleshly wisdom, which can represent religious zeal under the false ideas of excess, indiscretion, and temerity: a pretext this, which nearly extinguishes every spark of zeal in the generality of ministers. This want of courage they honour with the specious names of moderation and prudence. Under pretence of not carrying their zeal to an excess, they are content to be entirely destitute of it. And while they are solicitous to shun the rocks of imprudence and precipitation, they run, without fear, upon the sands of indolence and cowardice. They desire to become useful to sinners, and, at the same time, to be had in estimation by them. They long to manifest such a zeal as the world is disposed to applaud. They are anxious so to oppose the passions of men, that they may yet secure their praises; so to condemn the vices they love, that they may still be approved by those they condemn. But when we probe a wound to the bottom, we must expect to awaken a degree of peevishness in the patient, if we do not extort from him some bitter exclamation."

"Let us not deceive ourselves," continues the same author; "if this apostolical zeal, which once converted the world, is become so rare among us, it is because, in the discharge of our sacred functions, we seek ourselves, rather than the glory of Christ, and the salvation of souls. Glory and infamy were regarded by the apostle with equal indifference, while he filled up the duties of his important office. He knew it impossible to please men, and to save them; to be the servant of the world, and the servant of Christ. Nevertheless, there are many among us who are seeking to unite these different services, which the apostle believed to be irreconcilable."

Mons. Roques agrees with the pious bishop in condemning those ministers who neglect to copy the example of St. Paul. "The little piety that is to be found among ministers," says this excellent writer, "is the most effectual obstacle to the progress of the Gospel. By piety, I mean that sincere and ardent love for religion, which deeply interests a man in all its concerns, as well as in every thing that respects the glory of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ. If this Divine love were found reigning in the hearts of those who proclaim Christ; if every preacher of the Gospel were enabled to say, with the sincerity of Peter," Lord! thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee," John xxi, 15; thou knowest that I have no ambition but for thy glory, and that my highVOL. III.

6

est pleasure consists in beholding the increase of thy kingdom-we should then perceive the sword of God in their hands like a two-edged sword, cutting asunder the very deepest roots of sin. But as the Gospel is preached more through contention, through vain glory, and through the desire of getting a livelihood by serving at the altar, than through an ardent zeal to advance the glory of God; hence it is that ministers fall into several errors, giving evident proofs of that indolence and unconcern, which afford matter of scandal rather than of edification.”—Evangelical Pastor.

Mons. Ostervald speaks the same language in his Third Source of the Corruption which reigns among Christians. "A great part of our ecclesiastics," says this writer, "may be justly charged with the corruption of the people, since there are among them many who oppose the re-establishment of a holy discipline; while others render the exercise of it totally useless, by an ill-timed softness, and a shameful indulgence." "I except those," continues this venerable pastor, "who ought to be excepted. But on a general view, in what do ecclesiastics differ from other men? Do they distinguish themselves by an exemplary life? Their exterior, indeed, is somewhat different: they lead a more retired life; they, in some degree, save appearances; though all do not go thus far. But beyond this, are they not equally attached to the world, as much engaged with earthly things, as wholly taken up with secular views, as constantly actuated by interest and passion, as the generality of mankind?"

Christian prudence required that these portraits of lukewarm ministers should be exhibited as the designs of pastors who have been eminent for their piety, their rank, and experience, and who, on that account, had a peculiar right to declare those truths, which might give greater offence were they to come from less respectable persons.

CHAPTER II.

The portrait of false apostles.

BETWEEN the state of careless ministers, and that of false apostles, there is not, in reality, so vast a difference as many are apt to imagine. An unworthy labourer in the spiritual vineyard gives speedy proofs of a lukewarm temper in the service of his Lord; shortly after his heart becomes entirely cold with respect to piety; and what is still more lamentable, he frequently manifests as warm a zeal for error and vice as the true minister can possibly discover in the cause of truth and virtue. Such is the state of those who may properly be termed preachers of the third class, and who are spoken of by St. Paul under the title of "false apostles," 2 Cor. xi, 13.

These unworthy ministers are known by their works. Like many of St. Paul's unfaithful fellow labourers, 2 Tim. i, 15, they prefer the repose and pleasure of the world before the service and reproach of Christ. Like Judas and Simon the sorcerer, they love the honours and revenues of ministers, while they abhor the crosses and labours of the ministry. Like Hophni and Phinehas, they are sons of Belial, and know not the