2 Tim. ii. 25, 26. In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves ; if God peradventure tvill give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth ; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken cap- tive by him at his will.
THE work of the ministry is arduous in the ex- treme, not only on account of the labours in which a
pastor has to engage, but on account of the opposi- tion he meets with from those whose welfare he seeks. He has to call men from all which by nature they affect, and to stimulate them to much for which they have an utter distaste. But the hope of ultimately benefiting immortal souls is sufficient to carry him forward ; and, if he be himself of a becoming spirit, he will persevere with patience and long-suffering, " meekly instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure may give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth."
To enter fully into the subject before us, I must set before you,
I. The state of unconverted men —
I am not aware that there is any other passage of Holy Writ that places this matter in a more humili- ating view, than that which we have just read.
The unconverted man is altogether a slave of Satan —
[The agency of Satan is but little thought of by us, though it occupies a very prominent place in the Scriptures of truth. His influence over Judas and Ananias shews what he can effect, if God see fit to withdraw the restraints which, from love to mankind, he has imposed upon him. This malig- nant fiend is, in fact, " the god of this world;" and all man- kind, whilst in their unconverted state, are his vassals
Yet it is not by force that he reigns over them, but by subtilty. He " takes them captive;" but it is by "snares" that he allures them, and draws them into his net. He knows what is suited to each, as a fowler or a fisherman does to the taste and appetite of the different creatures he would decoy : and he finds the wliole human race ready enough to yield to his devices, and to surrender up themselves to him ac- cording to his will To persons in early life he offers
the gratifications of sense ; and to those at a more advanced period the acquisition of wealth and honour. Nor is he more anxious to ensnare them, than they are to swallow the bait
which he has laid for their destruction In truth, if
they were to form a deliberate purpose to serve Satan as far as they possibly could consistently with the preservation of a good character among men, they could not do it more effectually than they already do. Satan would not wish them to live in a more entire neglect of God and of eternity than