Ghost. — ^Happy are those ordinations, in which all con- cerned have the mind that was in Christ, and come together in a prayerful spirit !
Do we desire to help forward the cause of pure and undefiled religion in the world P Then let us never forget to pray for ministers, and especially for young men about to enter the ministry. The progress of the Gospel, under God, will always depend much on the character and conduct of those who profess to preach it. An unconverted minister can never be expected to do good to souls. He cannot teach properly what he does not feel experimentally. From such men let us pray daily that the Church may be delivered. Converted ministers are God's special gift. Man cannot create them. If we would have good ministers, we must remember our Lord's example, and pray for them. Their work is heavy. Their responsibility is enormous. Their strength is small. Let us see that we support them, and hold up their hands by our prayers. In this, and in too many other cases, the words of St. James are often sadly applicable, ''Ye have not, because ye ask not." (James iv. 2.) We do not ask God to raise up a constant supply of converted young men to fill our pidpits, and God chastises our neglect by withholding them.
Let us observe, secondly, how little toe are told of the worldly position of the first ministers of the Christian Church, Four of them, we know, were fishermen. One of them, at least, was a publican. Most of them, pro- bably, were Galileans. Not one of them, so far as we can see from the New Testament, was great, or rich, or noble, or highly connected. Not one was a Pharisee, or