accomplish that which I please ; it shall prosper in the thing vvhereunto I sent it." The word is still " the rod of God's strength," the wonder-working rod, which, in whose hand soever it may be, shall alike effect the object for which it is sent, whether to the dividing of the Red Sea, or the bringing forth of water from the flinty rock. Still " it is as fire, or as the hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces :" still is it " mighty through God to the pulling down of strong-holds :" " it is sharper than any two-edged sword, and shall pierce even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow." What if we be but babes in the delivery of it ? God will " ordain strength in the mouth of babes and suck- lings," and will shew, that the Gospel still is, no less than in the apostolic age, " the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth."
And here we will venture to make our appeal to those who hear us, Whether " the handful of corn which we have cast upon the top of these mountains has not grown up?" and, though we cannot say that " the fruit thereof shakes like the woods of Lebanon," or that converts amongst us " flourish as numerous and as beautiful as the grass of the earth"," yet some we have had as "seals to our ministry ;" and, " though poor" in ourselves, we have been the happy instruments of" making some rich ;" even richer far, than if we had imparted to them all the wealth of the whole world0. We quite mistake, if we suppose that any faithful minister shall be suffered to labour altogether in vain : the success of some may be small in com- parison of that of others : but none shall be left wholly without witness ; for our blessed Lord has expressly said, " Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world p."]
May we not observe from hence —
1. What a glorious work is that of the ministry —
[A pious minister, who devotes himself wholly to his blessed work, is like a cloud, pouring down " showers of bless- ings" wherever he goesq. God by his exertions " makes manifest the savour of the knowledge of Christ in every place1," and scatters with a liberal hand " the unsearchable riches of Christ." O blessed work ! what employment in the universe can be compared with it ? See it described in the passage cited from Isaiah by the Saviour himself s: and though that passage primarily relates to him, we may apply it with perfect propriety to all who go forth in his name : and, like him, we may justly say, " This day is this Scripture fulfilled
n Ps. lxxii. 16. ° 2 Cor. vi. 10. P Matt, xxviii. 20.
i Ezek. xxxiv. 26. r 2 Cor. ii. 14. s Luke iv. 18, 19.
1925. j THE GOSPEL A SOURCE OF BLESSINGS. 385
in your ears'." O that all who bear this sacred character, or look forward to. the assumption of it, might have a becoming sense of the dignity of their office, and live only for the pro- fitable discharge of it ! and that each in his place and station might be " a tree of life," from which multitudes may gather fruit unto life eternal"!]
2. What enemies to themselves are they who will not attend the ordinances of the Gospel ! —
[If Paul himself should " come hither in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ," what would they be benefited, who would not come within the sound of his voice ? The pool of Bethesda was endued with all its healing virtues in vain, to those who would not come and wait for the moving of the waters : nor can they be nourished by all the rich provisions of the Gospel, who will not accept the invitation to the feast. O brethren, do not be making foolish excuses : for God, who knows the state of your hearts, will put the right inter- pretation on your refusal ; and consider your answer, not according to the mere letter of it, " I cannot come," but ac- cording to the spirit of it, " I toill not come." To such contemners of God's mercy the Gospel will prove a curse, rather than a blessing : " to those to whom it is not a savour of life unto life, it will be a savour of death unto death :" and they who, "like Capernaum, have been lifted up to heaven" by the privileges they have enjoyed, " will be cast down the deeper into hell " for their abuse of them. The Lord grant that you may know the day of your visitation, and, " whilst ye have the light, may walk in the light, that ye may be the children of light ! "]