tliat " faith shall come by hearing :" and where no minister is sent to till the ground, there is one great desert, in which no plant of righteousness is found, no real goodness exists. The land uncultivated brings forth nothing but briers and thorns.
Human learnmg, to whatever extent it be carried, can produce no spiritual change in the heart of man. The most learned philosopher needs instruction from God's ministers, no less than the untutored savage : yea, and to the end of life, no less than at the commencement of his Christian course, does every saint requii'e the aid of ministerial exertions, to "water" that which Divine grace has " planted" in his soul: and the more exalted any man's attainments are, the more highly will he esteem the ordinances of God, and the more sensible will he be of his dependence on them for a supply of those blessings which he stands in need of.]
They are, however, mere instruments, and nothing more —
[They can effect nothing of themselves : not even Paul himself, with all his eloquence and force of reasoning, could bring conviction to the minds of his hearers : the very dis- courses which converted some, only irritated others against him, and caused them to regard him as " a babbler," and a maniac ^ If any received his word aright, it was because God had " opened their hearts to attend to it." " Whether he planted, or Apollos watered, it was God alone who gave the increase." This is universally felt and acknowledged in the natural world. There may be a great disparity between the skill and industry of different labourers : yet no one ever thinks of ascribing the harvest to the skill of man : every one knows, that without the influences of the sun and rain the husbandman will cultivate his land in vain. And the same is true respecting ministers, who will labour to no purpose, if God do not accompany their word with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. The very best of men are but as " a voice crying in the wilderness," as unable in themselves to convert a soul as they are to raise the dead.]
The manner in which St. Paul speaks of them, will lead us to consider,
II. The importance of forming a right estimate of their labours —
A just view of them will teach us,
1. To moderate our regards for man —
^ Acts xxvi. 24.