b 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. c 1 Cor. i. 7.
their master, when he shall find every thing clone, though not with absolute perfection, yet in all material points agreeably to his will. Thus we would have you with your loins continually girt, and your lamps burning with undiminished splendour11. But perhaps we may give a yet juster view of the state to which we would wish to bring you, if we compare you to " a bride preparing herself" for the arrival of her bridegroom. Such should be the holy, longing desire which you should feel after the coming of your Lord e : and to assist you in this pre- paration, that eventually we may present you to him in a state of complete readiness, is the blessed service which we have to perforin f.]
Such is the office of those to whom the cure of souls is assigned : and corresponding with it is,
II. The duty of those to whom we minister —
As we must not seek to please men, but to edify them, so they must not be satisfied with reaping mere instruction, but must determine,
1. To yield themselves up to the full influence of our labours —
[In coming to the house of God, all persons should re- semble Cornelius and his friends, when Peter came to minister unto them : " Now are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of Godg." There should be no disposition to cavil at what they hear, or to sit in judgment on the preacher, but a real desire to learn the will of God, and a full determination through grace to do it. If the minister endeavour to probe the conscience, they should wel- come the salutary wound, and cry unto the Lord, " Search me, O God, and try the ground of my heart!" If he be endea- vouring rather to bind up the broken spirit, they should thank- fully embrace the gracious promises of the Gospel, as those who most need the blessings which it offers. If, on the other hand, he be denouncing the terrors of the Lord, they should humble themselves before God in dust and ashes, if peradven- ture they may be lifted up in due time. And lastly, if he be expatiating on any duty, they should set themselves, like racers in a course, to run with ardour and with patience the race that is set before them. Whoever it be that speaks, and whatever it be that is spoken, provided only it be agreeable to the standard of truth, they should receive it, as the Thessalonians did, " not as the word of man, but as the word of Godh." The
d Luke xii. 35—38. e 2 Pet. hi. 12. with Tit. ii. 13.
1 Rev. xix. 7. 2 Cor. xi. 2. s Acts x. 33. h 1 Thess. ii. 13.