Imagens da página
PDF
ePub

illustrate the question. The failure of a harvest may arise from the nature of the soil, or of the seed, or from the unfavourableness of the weather, or from some defect in the sowing or culture. To similar causes may we trace the want of success in the spiritual husbandry of the clergy; and first,

The SOIL.-The chief impediment to the reception of the Gospel, is the natural unpreparedness of the human heart: it is a soil over-run with thorns and briars, hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, and needing deep culture to fit it for producing any fruit of righteousness. Our Lord, in the parable just adverted to, mentions very particularly the different characteristics of the soil;-the stony or rocky, or superficial ground; the way side, where the seed was exposed to be trodden down by every passing footstep; the uncleared and untill ed, where it was choked with weeds, and impeded in its efforts towards vegetation; and the honest and good heart, prepared for its reception by the Holy Spirit, and where the seed sown sprung up and bore fruit abundantly, thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold.

All these, and similar hindrances, deeply as they must be lamented by the faithful minister of Christ, are beyond his power to remʊve; he cannot change the natural character of the human heart, and must be prepared to encounter its opposition, rather than to expect its willing concurrence.

But it is not intended at present to dilate upon those general marks of unfitness in the soil which are applicable to the whole human race, and which, arising from the universal extension of original and actual sin, “the infection of which remaineth even in them that are regenerated," are not to be reckoned among the local but the permanent impediments to the practical reception of religious truth. Nor shall we dwell upon various kindred causes, all springing from this general depravity; such as inattention in hearing the word of God; want of love in its reception; the absence of a humble and teachable spirit; and negligence, so to speak, în harrowing in the seed when sown by meditation, and imploring the dews of the Divine blessing upon it by fervent and continual prayer.

But still it is a consideration of much importance, whether this unpreparedness of the soil might not have been anticipated, and in some degree provided against by early culture. On taking possession of the spiritual functions of a parish, it but too frequently happens that a minister finds the large majority of his charge, not only deficient in personal piety, and perhaps swayed by those prejudices against practical religion which are inherent in our fallen nature, and are to be found in every clime and under every circumstance of human life; but also uneducated, uncatechised, untrained to pious habits, unused to a regular attend ance upon public worship, and ignorant of the principles, as well as indisposed to the cordial practice of the duties, of true religion. Under such circumstances, a minister has perhaps to toil for years before his parish begins to exhibit any signs of spiritual culture; he has to fence out bis vineyard from the waste, to break up new ground, and in many cases to begin almost as if nothing had been done to his hands. Now, passing over the great radical cause, the fallen condition of mankind, and the conse quent distaste of the human heart for every thing holy and like God, here is clearly one principal cause, among those of a subordinate kind, of the want of success in the Christian ministry; a cause which is capable of being in a great measure removed by preliminary provisions. It is of incalculable importance therefore to the spiritual labours of the clergy, that our population should be every where inured by early education to those tastes and

principles, and to that preparatory knowledge, which are requisite for giving due effect to pulpit instruction. Wherever a clergyman finds his public ministrations unsuccessful, let him impartially examine whether he has done all that was practicable towards preparing the soil for the reception of the Divine word; whether greater advances may not be made in his parish in educating the young and uninstruct ed; in public and private catechising; and in training his flock for understanding and taking an interest in the discourses which are prepared for their edification. In addition to all which, there are in most vicinities some peculiar and local impediments which a minister ought to study with a view to remove them. The soil may be equally unprepared in a large or a small parish; a town or a country parish; a rich or a poor parish; a commercial, or an agricultural, or a manufacturing parish; but the hindrances in these various cases will differ materially in their character, and should be carefully considered as they arise in the actual circumstances of a neighbourhood. It should be an habitual question with every minister of Christ, not only, What am I myself doing for the souls of my people? but, Are there any causes of impediment to the exercise of my ministry in the character of the soil to be cultivated, which it is in my power to lessen or remove? It is probable that many excellent men, absorbed in the diligent personal exercise of their vocation, do not devote sufficient attention to the powerfully efficient, though often silent and slowly progressive, object of preparing instruments of future usefulness; gradually sapping the foundation of local evils which could not be destroyed by direct effort; and, in short, imitating the conduct of a skilful and persevering agriculturalist, who, in reclaiming a barren waste, thinks little of the immediate crop in comparison with mak

ing such permanent improvements in the soil itself, as may afford in future years the prospect of many an abundant harvest. A minister's own lease, if we may thus familiarly pursue the allusion, is but short, even though for life; but he should ever keep in mind, that nations and parishes are of a more permanent character, and that therefore prospective measures, though not always the most gratifying at the moment, are usually in the end the most useful. It requires indeed far stronger faith and greater self-denial to plant the seedlings for a forest of future oaks, which are to flourish in strength and verdure long after the hand which first nurtured them has mouldered in the dust, than to sport amidst an unserviceable shew of luxuriant foliage and flowers, which die away after their ephemeral bloom, and leave no hope of succession or perpetuity; but it cannot be a question which system is, in the result, most honourable and most beneficial to the world.

The next consideration relates to THE SEED. "Now the seed," remarks our Saviour, "is the word" of God. It is a point, therefore, for serious reflection whether that seed is in any measure counterfeited or adulterated; for if this be the case, it is not surprising that the harvest is either unproductive, or is productive only of a noisome crop. It has been already stated, that it is not intended to include in the present remarks those grosser cases in which the spiritual busbandman is clearly unfaithful to his charge. In such instances, no good fruit can for a moment be expected. If the doctrines of a minister be unscriptural, he sows weeds and briars instead of corn; and the natural crop is either impiety, heterodoxy, pharisaism, antinomianism, spiritual pride, or utter recklessness of religion, as the case may happen, in due accordance with the characteristic qualities of the seed and the soil,

But, passing by these broadly marked cases, even the most conscientious minister has ample reason to inquire whether the seed which he sows is of a right quality; whether his doctrines are strictly scriptural; whether he gives to every part of Divine revelationdoctrinal, preceptive, hortatory, consolatory-its just proportion; whether he keeps back any thing; whether he over-states any thing; or whether in any other particular be is acting as an unwise or unfaithful husbandman, as respect this important part of bis labours. It is not perhaps sufficiently considered by some concientious and religious ministers, how much care, and thought, and patience, are requisite to ascertain if we may thus keep up the allusion, the various kinds of soil which come under their culture, and the many minute circumstances which may affect the ultimate product. A minister, even though anxious for the spiritual welfare of his people, may yet be deficient in clearly exhibiting in his discourses some of the doctrines of Divine truth; or in bringing down those doctrines to practice; or in discriminating the characters, and ascertaining the necessities, of different classes of hearers, with a view to adapt the seed to the soil; not administering false comfort where reproof is requisite, or, on the other hand, making the hearts of the righteous sad, whom God hath not made sad; but applying his instructions, his admonitions, and his consolations, after the model of the sacred Scriptures, and with a just adaptation to the circumstances of his people. There is often a great defect, even among clergymen of piety, in not studying the human heart, and not taking sufficient pains to suit their discourses to the actual wants of their hearers. A minister has not sown aright merely because he has enounced again and again certain fundamental truths of Divine revelation; he must diligently pray and study, in order to

be skilful in the discharge of his ministerial duties, " rightly dividing the word of truth." It would be endless to enumerate the various ways in which the well-meant discourses of a pious clergyman may be defective. Some have been already intimated; others are as follow:-he may be too little solicitous to probe the hearts of his hearers; or he may go beyond the depths to which they can follow him; or he may dwell too much in general positions, without reaching their affections, or coming home to their necessities; or he may spend more time in proving that certain doctrines are true, than in applying them to the heart and conscience; or he may propound as matters of controversy what should rather be taken for granted, and converted to the purposes of direct instruction; or he may be unable to throw himself, as it were, into the minds of his hearers, to sympathize with their feelings, and to meet their prejudices. These are but a few of the many illustrations which might be offered; and which every minister may easily follow up as far as they may be applicable to his own case.

But in vain, in the natural world, does a sower sow the best seed, and on the most prepared soil, unless the genial influences of heaven, the sun, and air, and moisture, are duly vouchsafed from the Author of every temporal and spiritual benefit, to promote its vegetation. The pious husbandman therefore looks up to Him who maketh his sun to shine upon the just and upon the unjust, to afford him these ordinary blessings of his gracious providence. And shall not the Christian labourer in his Lord's vineyard, look up to his Divine Master for corresponding benefits? While he mourns over the inadequate success of his ministry, should be not ask whether he has kept before his eyes with sufficient prominence, his constant dependence upon God, who alone can crown his labours with

expiated human transgression; he had been delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification; and nothing now remained but that he should ascend to the right haud of the Majesty on high, to claim his promised exaltation, and to confirm and dispense the blessings of his mediatorial kingdom. His ascension consummated the mysterious plan of our redemption; as the Apostle teaches,"Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believ

Success; whether he has liabitually looked up for the grace of the Holy Spirit for himself and the people committed to his charge; and whether he has, both in his preaching and living, worthily honoured that Divine Agent, the supreme Enlight ener, and Comforter, and Sanctifier of the human soul? The Holy Spirit is represented in Scripture as capable of being "grieved" and "resisted," and at length " quenched;" and will not some, or all, of these consequences result, not only where a minister is notoriously careless and unfaithful; but where, though diligent, he trusts, in self-ed on in the world, received up confidence, to his own clear statements, and impressive appeals, and active labours, -as if the efficacy were in the means and instrument, and not in the grace of that overruling Power who directs them to their appointed end.

But, even where the seed is good, and the soil is prepared, and the influences of heaven are favourable, there still may be faults in the sowing, as respects time, or place, or manner, or various other circumstances which may affect the future harvest;-or, to drop the metaphor, there are many points in the personal conduct and character of the clergy, even among those who are sincere and pious, which may greatly impede the success of their ministerial labours. A few of these will be attempted to be specified in a future paper,

(To be continued.)

FAMILY SERMONS.-No. CLXII.

Luke xxiv. 51.-And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

THE text relates to the last action of our Lord upon earth. He had fulfilled all the objects of his first advent; he had unfolded his Divine doctrines; he had exhibited his own spotless example; he had

into glory." With a view to our spiritual profit, in considering the passage before us, we shall first make a few remarks on the subject of our Lord's ascension, and secondly endeavour to shew what improvement we should derive from it.

I. In considering our Lord's ascension, we are naturally led to view it in connexion with his previous sufferings and humiliation. It was only in consequence of these that he became capable of any exaltation, in addition to that which he had enjoyed with his Father before all worlds. His Divine nature could neither be diminished nor exalted: he was from eternity" in the form of God," endued with every possible excellence and perfection. No addition could be made to his power or his wisdom; to his immeasurable happiness, or eternal duration. But, in mercy to us guilty and perishing sinners, by a mysterious union, he had assumed our nature; he had been made in the likeness of man, and, being found in fashion as a man, had humbled himself to death, even the death of the cross. The Godhead could not suffer: but, by means of his incarnation and mediatorial office, he had become subject to pain, and reproach, and death itself; and speaking of him in this capacity, the Apostle adds, "Therefore," that is, precisely on account of his having gone through the

work of his humiliation, “ there fore God hath highly exalted him." This exaltation commenced on the third day after his crucifixion, that hour of his deepest abasement; for then he burst the bonds of death, and asserted his victory over the grave, His triumph thus begun, he shewed himself for forty days as a victor, in the very scenes of his late humiliation; when at length the appointed time for his return to his Father being accomplished, having discoursed with his disciples respecting the affairs of bis kingdom, and given them a command to teach and baptize all nations, he led them out to Bethany, and lifted up his hands and blessed them; and while they beheld, he was parted from them, and was carried up into heaven, His exaltation was now complete. He was raised to the right hand of God, as a conqueror returning with the spoils of his great victory. He bad "come from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, glorious in his apparel, travelling in the great mess of his strength, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save." The Apostle describes his exaltation to heaven in the most triumphant language: "God raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet." Thus exalted to his throne in heaven, he was exhibited in his eternal supremacy, and invested with a claim to universal adoration; as the same Apostle informs us, in the conclusion of the passage from the Epistle to the Philippians already quoted; where he says, "God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue

should confess that Jesus. is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

But his own personal exaltation was not the only purpose of the Redeemer's triumphant ascension to heaven, and his session at the right hand of God. For we learn, that it was for us that he thus entered within the veil, as the great High Priest of our profession. The attitude in which the text describes bim, blessing his disciples as he ascended, well depicted the nature of the office which he was about to assume. He went to prepare mansions for his people, that where he is they might be also. He went also, as the Apostle teaches, as "a forerunner;" thus giving his followers a pledge of their own ascension in due time, to the same scenes of everlasting enjoyment. He went, moreover, "to appear in the presence of God for us;" bearing our names engraven on his breast-plate, and pleading his atoning sacrifice for the remission of our sins. He went also to bestow gifts upon men; not merely those special and miraculous gifts which he shed abroad upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, but every spiritual blessing to the end of time. He was exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and remission of sins. His characteristic gift, that which constituted the great promise of his ministry, as his own first advent did of the ministry of those who went before him, and his second advent of the ministry of those who have followed him,-was the effusion of the Holy Spirit; a gift which he still conti nues to dispense in the ordinary influences of that Divine Agent, as the Instructor, the Comforter, and the Sanctifier of his people. Every blessing of the new covenant, our repentance, our regeneration, our faith, our pardon, our peace with God, our progress in holiness, our victory over our spiritual enemies, and our final glorification, flows from this inexhaustible fountain.

« AnteriorContinuar »