Consequently, the settlement of a gospel ministry among a people is the most important event that can befall them in the providence of God. Your minister has been this day set over you, not only for the defence of the gospel, but "for the fall and rising again" of many among you. For the gospel proclamation is backed with the sovereign authority of Jehovah. It is an offer of mercy carrying in it all the binding obligation of an imperative law. The same God who declares "the soul that sinneth, it shall die," also declares "he that believeth not shall be damned." So that the gospel of the grace of God may no more be trifled with than the law of his justice. And when a people have long enjoyed the means of grace to no good purpose-when religious duties sink into a mere form, so as to become "vain oblations"-when attainments in knowledge become the aliment of pride, so that a people are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight-when men are honored or despised in the church merely on account of their outward condition-when their profession is maintained according to the maxims of human policy-when there is respect of persons in judgment, so that "they justify the wicked for a reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him-when sordid avarice becomes the Alpha and Omega of their existence, so that they join house to house and field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth"-when mirth, and drunkenness, and debauchery absorb the faculties of the soul and fill up the measure of their days, so that they rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, and the harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine are in their feasts; then it is that their eyes are SHUT, their ears are CLOSED, and their heart made FAT. Then it is, that they become like barren spots of earth bringing forth only thorns and briars, and are rejected of God, are nigh unto cursing, and their end is to be burned. Then it is, that the gospel becomes a savour of death unto death; and the faithful preaching of the gospel only inflames the lusts, accelerates the downward course, and aggravates the eternal condemnation of such a people.

But beloved, we hope better things of you, and things which accompany salvation, though we thus speak. And that you may be made partakers of better things through the instrumentality of your minister, I charge you, in the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus

Christ

Give diligent and prayerful attention to his instructions. You have heard that he must give himself wHOLLY to the work of the ministry; and it follows that you must hear him constantly. For the duties of ministers and people are reciprocal. So far as outward means are concerned, the word is the grand instrument of salvation. It is by the word you must be born again. (1 Pet. i. 23.) It is by the word that your sanctification must be promoted and carried on to perfection. (John xvii. 17.) It is by the word that you must be preserved from apostacy and ruin. For you "are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation;" and "faith cometh by hearing." Alas! for the inattention, levity, and indifference of gospel hearers! Alas! how few attend the preaching of the gospel at all! And how few of those who do attend are benefitted! It appears as though God had poured upon this generation a spirit of deep sleep. The lively oracles of God have become to many a sealed book, "which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, read this I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, read this I pray

thee; and he saith, I am not learned." (Is. xxix. 11, 12.) One is too learned and another is too ignorant either to read the scriptures or hear the gospel preached; and so they wrap it up. But we beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, let your conduct be different. Letno unwarrantable excuse detain you from the house of God, whenever his word is spoken. It is not the authority of man but of God that binds you to pursue this course of conduct. For what saith the scripture ? "He that turneth away his ear from HEARING the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." (Prov. xxviii. 9,) And again, "Blessed is he that readeth and they that HEAR the words of this prophecy, and keep the things which are written therein; for the time is at hand."(Rev. i. 3.)

Submit yourselves in the Lord to the reproofs, admonitions, and if need be, rebukes of your minister. You have heard that he must watch for souls, for your souls. And it may become his painful duty at times not only to reprove, but also to inflict the just censures of the church, which have been ordained by the King of Zion, and which are designed for the recovery of the backsliding; for the excision of unsound members, and as a caution to all to be prayerful and watchful. "Of some have compassion, making a difference; and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." (Jude, verse 23.) In this work the minister's hands should be strengthened by the counsel and co-operation of the eldership, who are equally responsible with the minister for the comely order and purity of the congregation. Let not the faithful discharge of their official duties be offensive to you. Let not their smiting break your head; but account it as a precious oil. So long as they judge for the Lord, the Lord is with them in the judgment. Therefore, we beseech you, "obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy. and not with grief; for this is unprofitable for you."

Be much engaged in prayer for your minister. If an inspired apostle regarded an interest in the prayers of christians of so much importance, that he not only exhorted, but enjoined it upon them as a duty to pray for him; how much more urgent must be the necessity of ordinary ministers, and how much more imperious the obligation resting upon you to pray for your minister? You have heard that the work of the ministry is exceedingly great and difficult; that no man is sufficient for the right discharge of its high and holy functions any further than he is enabled by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Independent of the magnitude of their work, ministers of the gospel are more exposed to temptations than any other class of men on earth. "Within are fears;" he is conscious of his own weakness; that he himself has only a partial knowledge of divine mysteries; that he is constantly exposed from extraneous influences which bear upon him on every side; that his best performances are immeasurably below the excellency and dignity of the gospel; and he fears that evil may result through his imperfection, when he is most anxious to do good-"Without are fightings;" the selfishness of men raises their expectations of a minister's duties beyond all reasonable bounds, the ignorant will pervert his greatest virtues into unpardonable faults; the lukewarm and indifferent are offended with earnest appeals to the conscience; and the zealot, whose zeal is not tempered with knowledge, is amazed that a minister should be so cold and doctrinal. But in addition to this, party spirit, and prejudice, and the

natural versatility of man, and the love of novelty, and the natural repugnance of the human heart to that holiness which the gospel requires, and the restless malice, and the violent opposition of the enemies of the truth, together with the "fiery darts" of satan, all conspire to render the ministerial office one of difficulty and danger; and all unite in demanding from you a faithful discharge of this duty. Let, then, your minister be constantly borne up on your spirits to a throne of grace. Pray for him, not only this night when you retire from this worshipping assembly, but "always with all supplications." Let not your prayers, either for him or yourselves, be like rushing and turbed streams, produced by the thunder storm; but like living springs, which take their rise deep in the bowels of the earth, and cease not to send forth their refreshing streams, despite the drought of summer and the frosts of winter. "And so shall the Lord guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like springs of water, whose waters fail not.” (Isaiah lviii. 11.)

Pray that he may be endowed with all necessary gifts and graces of the Spirit; that compassion for the miseries of men, and agonizing desires for their salvation, may distinguish the whole course of his ministry; above all, that God would communicate messages of peace to your own souls through his instrumentality. For there is abundant evidence to believe that a general neglect of this duty is one cause why the gospel is attended with so little success. May it not be owing to this cause that our sermons are imbued with so little of the spirit and power of of the gospel? that we hear so much cavil, and complaint, and disgust with ministers and sermons? And would it not be well for people when retiring dissatisfied from the house of God, to put the question to themselves, whether sin lie not at their own doors? Did they, before entering the sanctuary, pray in secret for their minister? Did they pray that God would meet with and bless them in the observance of his own institution? If not, they have incurred the guilt of offering a "vain oblation ;" and no wonder at their disappointment; for it is the greatest of all wonders that wrath has not broken forth upon them. They entered the house of God with their heads and their hearts so full of the world; and so little affected either with a sense of their necessities, or of the mercies of God, that they had not a single petition to offer, nor even a secret desire that they might obtain the blessing. Is it at all surprising in such a case that spiritual food becomes unpalatable, and the preaching of the gospel unprofitable?

See that you provide an ample temporal support for your minister. You have heard that it is his duty to give himself WHOLLY to the work of the ministry. It follows of course that you must minister to his temporal necessities. Many very unscriptural notions have become prevalent on this point. The enemies of the gospel in order to overthrow it, have assailed its ministers in every possible shape and manner. And in none perhaps more successfully than in their efforts to divert the liberality of the people from the support of a gospel minis try. Some, who, by the way, are not very zealous to hear the word preached, profess to attach such an uncommon degree of sanctity to the ministry, that it would be little less than sacrilege to speak of money as connected with such a holy office. As though it were unholy for ministers to live like other men in the use of food and raiment! Others again, who can take one-half the Sabbath to indulge in indolence, take

medicine, or recreation, have such a horror at the thoughts of sabbathbreaking that they could not endure to hear a minister speak of the duty of supporting the gospel on the Sabbath. And even among professing christians some manifest their determination not to be guilty of supporting a "hireling ministry." Others give as a mere gratuity, or that they may obtain a right to a burial place, or church privileges for their children. And many regard money appropriated for this purpose as little better than thrown away; to such it is doubtless thrown away. For the support of gospel ordinances is a duty binding upon christians equally with any other. Therefore, a conscientious discharge of this duty, from a regard to the authority of God, is a mark of grace, for men will contribute their money for that which they value most. And the christian knows that it is the will of God that he should honor him with a portion of his substance. It is not the amount given, but the mind with which it is contributed. It should be a free will offering, proceeding from a ready mind; and when it is performed for conscience sake, the widow's mite may receive a higher commendation than the large sums which the rich contribute out of their abundance.

Owing to the sneers of ungodly men, or a false delicacy, it is to be feared that ministers are not sufficiently careful to remind people of their duty in this respect; for it is a part of the whole counsel of God which they are bound to declare. "Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things, live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ORDAINED, that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.' And "if we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?" Without a proper regard to the authority of God, in this respect you may, like Israel of old, be left to barren ordinances till you become sensible of your sin, and return again to your duty. "Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing till there be not room enough to receive it."

Finally: We beseech you, brethren, know them who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and esteem them highly in love for their works' sake. And be at peace among yourselves. And the God of peace that brought again from the dend our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everalasting covenant make you perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.Amen.

ART. III. Some Strictures on the Associate Presbyterian Magazine. Mr. EDITOR:-Shortly after you announced the new periodical styled the Associate Presbyterian Magazine, edited by Rev. P. Bullions, D. D., the first number fell into my hand. It would not be easy to give expression to all the thoughts that rose on the perusal of it, and it might not be for edification. Something of this nature was anticipated some

time ago. When men are convicted, they have but one alternative, either to confess and forsake their sins, or to cover them. I regret to find that these men have chosen the latter course. The cause

of truth does not require a formal answer to their allegations; to an unbiassed mind, they carry their own confutation. And I would not refer to their publication in any way, were it not for two or three things; but I shall be brief. Some of the scripture quotations require a few words, as some honest people may be imposed on by the appearance of scripture authority.

The first with which we meet is on page 2d, as follows: "We ought to obey God rather than man," (Acts v, 29.) It appears from the context that the Apostles had been performing many stupendous miracles in the name of Jesus, declaring in their discourses that he is the Christ, and that he is risen from the dead. At this "the High Priest and those that were with him (which is the sect the Sadducces) were filled with indignation," and cast them into prison. But this was to no purpose, for the Angel of the Lord opened it again and brought them out and commanded them to go and speak in the temple all the words of this life. For this they were again brought up: "And the High Priest asked them, did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name, and behold ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. "Then Peter and the other Apostles answered, We ought to obey God rather than men; the God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree; Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, &c." Here I would observe that the crime laid to the charge of the Apostles was preaching Christ and the Resurrection. For their doc trine they advance evidence which even the High Priest dared not to contest, and their authority to preach was immediately from heaven. There was not even an attempt to dispute it. And there was nothing set up against it, but the bare authority of man.

Let us now hear how these brethren apply this argument.

"It will doubtless be represented to you by those who have taken the lead in those offensive measures of which we complain, that if we wished merely for a redress of grievances and a return to scriptural principles of discipline, we ought to have submitted to the decisions of the Synod in the mean time. Representations of this kind may indeed mislead the simple and unsuspecting part of community, but they can have no influence on intelligent and consistent Protestants. They well know from the best authority, that We ought to obey God rather than man."

Questions for "intelligent and CONSISTENT Protestants."

1. Have these brethren given as clear and convincing evidence to the Synod or to any other party in the world, that they have Christ's authority for their present course as the Apostles gave to the council for theirs?

2. Is it as clear that the Associate Synod are enemies to Christ and his doctrine, as that the Sadducees were so?

3. Is the difficulty between them and the Synod, that THEY are determined to preach ALL the words of this life at the risk of poverty, reproach, suffering and death, and that the Synod are determined to stop them!

4. Has the editor of that Magazine been always fired with this holy zeal ever since he was licensed to preach? and is this the fault which