of all the afflictions that can come upon him, he must say, " None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so tliat I may but finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God"."]
But in them must be conspicuous a spirit "of power " —
[They have more difficulties to encounter than others. They stand in the forefront of the battle : and they must be examples, not to the world only, but to the whole Church of God. To Timothy, whilst quite a youth, it was said, " Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity"." If a minister be over- come of any evil, the injury done to the Church of God is incalculable. The whole ungodly world will take occasion from it to exult over him, and to " blaspheme the very name of God himselfi' :" yea, they will harden themselves in their own ini- quities, and impute to the Gospel itself the evils which they see in himi. He must "be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord ; for then only shall his labour not be in vain in the Lord^"]
In them too, more especially, must be a spirit " of love "—
[Nothing but a love to immortal souls can reconcile them to all the labours and difficulties which they have to sustain. They should therefore " have compassion on them that are ignorant and out of the way^:" they should be able to "call God to witness that they have great heaviness and continual sorrow in their hearts" for their perishing fellow-creatures': and they should be ready to welcome even death itself, if it may but be subservient to the spiritual welfare of their bre- thren". At the same time, their whole deportment should be regulated by this benign principle. Every thing they do should proceed from it ; every thing which they suffer should call it into exercise : and their whole walk should be, like that of their Divine Master, in a spirit of love.]
But, in all their diversified circumstances, they must shew themselves under the influence of " a sound mind" —
[In no situation is wisdom so requisite, as in the discharge of the ministerial office: for, as the circumstances of the
" Acts XX. 24. " 1 Tim. iv. 12. P Rom. ii. 24.
n 2 Pet. ii. 2. r i Cor. xv. 58. « Heb. v. 2.
t Rom. ix. 1,2. " Phil. ii. 17, 18.