You may find them in the lives of the Apostles.

They were indeed living examples of the truth of the doctrines which they taught, elevated above the sordid pursuits of earth, their every thought and desire was for the glory of God, and the good of their fellow-men; they lived not to themselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; they wept, they prayed, they laboured; no sacrifice was too great; all merely earthly honours were regarded as worthless dross, and life itself was not counted dear, so that they might finish their course with joy, and the work which the Lord had assigned them. Nor have subsequent ages been wanting in noble examples of men who have served their generation by the will of God and fallen asleep in Christ. And even among the fathers and founders of the Denomination in which you have been cradled, and with which you are identified, there have been men, whose cheerful sacrifice of worldly prospects, whose patient endurance of privation, whose noiseless and self-denying course, whose faith and labours, you may safely imitate. But, above all, there is the example of Him who is the embodiment of all perfection, and whose meat was to do the will of his Father, and finish his work. He "suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow His steps."

But to be "approved of God" you must cultivate a prayerful spirit. It is the duty of all men to pray; but more especially is it the duty of Christian ministers. So essential is prayer to true religion, that its neglect cannot fail to extinguish the life of God in the soul. I speak now more especially of secret prayer, as your safety and success lie in the frequency and fervour of your private devotions. It has been said that prayer should be a minister's chief ornament and his principal means of securing aid; like the plumage of the eagle which serves him equally for ornament and flight. Strip him and you leave him helpless and dependent as a reptile of the dust; what the plumage is to the eagle, prayer is to the true minister; deprive him of this privilege, and you fix him to the ground without anything to adorn or support; but, on the other hand, language would fail me to describe the peace and joy, the healthful vigour, which its proper exercise brings into the soul, and the unbending firmness which sincere and earnest prayer gives a man. The Bible furnishes you with numerous examples of the power of prayer in the persons of those of whom "the world was not worthy."

"O wondrous power of faithful prayer!
What tongue can tell the Almighty grace."

The cultivation of the spirit of

prayer cannot fail to tell most favourably on your ministrations. The first ministers of the word were so deeply impressed with this truth, that they suggested arrange

ments which would allow them to give themselves "continually to prayer, and the ministry of the word." And the historian says, "the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith." True devotion to Christ, which is the very soul of piety, and the secret of ministerial success, can only be obtained and retained by cherishing the spirit of prayer, "uttered or unexpressed," by really living in its atmosphere. Holy ardour of soul will manifest itself by frequent and earnest supplication in secret. "Thoughts that breathe and words that burn" can only come from lips touched with living fire. If your ministrations are identified with the spirit of humble, believing prayer, the hand of the Lord will be with you, and you shall be gladdened with the conversion of sinners, who shall be your crown of rejoicing. "Them that honour me I will honour," says Jehovah; nor do we ever honour him more than when we manifest our dependence on him by earnest prayer and unceasing supplication, than when the consciousness of our utter helplessness is shewn by the frequency of our approaches to the mercy-seat, by the fervency of our penitence, and the unshaken character of our faith, when, Jacob-like, we refuse to loose our hold of the angel until the blessing sought is obtained. The address prepared with great care, and delivered with all the flow of the most impassioned eloquence, apart from divine influence, is powerless for good; it cannot open the eyes of the blind, or turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; it brings no balm to the sin-smitten conscience, it fails to soothe the troubled breast or ease the burdened soul; it is utter weakness, and therefore cannot bind up the broken-hearted, give "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord." It is so, brethren, because God hath chosen "things which are not, to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence." Bear with me, while I urge you to be earnest and frequent in your approaches to the throne of grace. It is said of Baxter, and of Fletcher, of Madely, that they stained their study walls with the breath of their devotional exercises; and that Baxter sent rivers of living water through Kidderminster, nor do I think Fletcher was less useful. Their success is no marvel, for

"When one who holds communion with the skies,
Has filled his urn where the pure waters rise,
And once more mingles with us meaner things
'Tis even as if an angel shook his wings :
Immortal fragrance fills the circuit wide,
And tells us whence his treasure is supplied."

Intercourse with the Holy One must make itself manifest. It was so with Moses, whose face shone when he descended from the Mount. It is intimate communion with the Unseen which gives he highest lustre to Christian character, and enables the redeemed of the Lord to reflect the image of Him whose name is Holy. It is by humble prayer, and meditation on his word, and waiting where he is wont to manifest his glory, that we imbibe his spirit and are blended into his moral likeness! These are the seasons more especially when we, "with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." It is this spirit of prayer and unceasing devotion that alone can lead you into the inner temple of our holy religion, that can give you that true tenderness of spirit, and that moving compassion for the souls of others, that will lead the people to "take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus;" that will make you abound in the work of the Lord, limited only by time are strength, and anxious to sow beside all waters in the joyful anticipation of the coming of the day of the Lord. This unwearied labour and fervent prayer will prove the sincerity of your profession, and demonstrate the ever-living power of your principles, that the gospel is not enfeebled with age, but is still the " God unto salvation to every one that believeth."

power of

It has been said that the gospel is propagated by the law of sympathy, and that its power rests in its unrivalled tenderness which touches the heart and melts the feelings in the mingled flow of contrition aud delight, and steals over the soul by a resistless power, subduing all things to itself, leading the soul captive before she is aware, and thus men learn of Christ because he is meek and lowly. Surely, then, that minister is best prepared for usefulness who imbibes most of the spirit of his divine Master, and who in "communion with him drinks most deeply of that well-spring of life that gushed from the heart of the Messiah in every thought, word, and action which he fulfilled upon the earth.”

There is nothing that can equal a prayerful spirit for the discovery of truth, or clothe it with so much energy when delivered. We are told that that celebrated sermon of Livingston's, under which five hundred were converted to God, was delivered after a whole night of prayer. It was after days and nights of waiting prayer in the upper room at Jerusalem, the Spirit descended, and the man who had before denied his Master became bold in his cause, and fearlessly charged home his death on his murderers, and thousands were brought to the penitent inquiry, " Men and brethren, what shall we do ?"

Prayer is the power that moves the hand that moves the world. What has it not done? It has divided seas, walled up flowing rivers,

marshalled the stars against the wicked, stopped the moon in her course, arrested the sun in his great race, given to the helpless few the most glorious victories, opened the prison doors for the liberation of the pious, in a word, for time would fail me to tell of all its wonders, it has never failed, when faithfully presented, to bring Jehovah to the help of his people. Look at Luther and his coadjutors, men of such mighty prayer with God that they broke the spell of ages, and laid subdued nations at the foot of the cross. Knox, through the prevalency of his intercessions, became the dread of tyrants. You have noble examples of prayerful devotedness in the lives of Brainerd, Elliott, Martyn, Knill, Bramwell, Stoner, Smith, and a host of others who "though dead yet speak," and call you to be instant in prayer. Once more I would say, look at your divine Master! no language can express his holy ardour of soul, his quenchless zeal. "Cold mountains, and the midnight air Witnessed the fervour of his prayer."

The testimony of the apostle Paul is that he "offered up prayer and supplication with strong crying and tears." Well might the spirit of prophecy speak of him—" the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up."

Time admonishes me that it will be prudent to bring this service to a close. I trust sufficient has been said to impress your minds with the importance of the work on which you have entered, and the overwhelming character of your responsibilities. I beseech you, brethren, gird yourselves afresh to the work, and resolve in the strength of grace, that the first object of life shall be to "study to shew yourselves approved unto God," workmen that need not be ashamed, "rightly dividing the word of truth." Let the language of the Psalmist be yours also, "I will go in the strength of the Lord, and make mention of his righteousness." It is not only your own souls that are at stake; but the souls of the multitudes which may be committed to your charge. Heaven or hell will assuredly ring with the memorials of your ministrations. There is a sense in which you may be said to be set for the rise or fall of faithful minister who perisheth, perisheth not alone. blind lead the blind both shall fall." O brethren! how solemn, how arousing the thought! Suffer me again to entreat you to bring into this great work, the noblest powers of your mind. Never, no never, let there be a careless preparation for the pulpit, or a drowsy discharge of its duties; but let the unceasing application of your minds to the truth be consecrated by your unremitting prayers, and “ your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord." Under a humble consciousness of your own weakness you may will tremble while looking at the magnitude of this work, and the consequences which it involves;

many. The unOh no! if the

yet let the fact that you are not sent on a warfare at your own charge encourage you. Your sufficiency is of God. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God," and you shall realize the truth of the Saviour's promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end;" and it shall be yours in the day of eternity to find yourselves with the congregated myriads of the ransomed of the Lord, among whom I trust will be many of your own children in the faith. "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." May we all share that blessed triumph. Amen.

THE WORLD IS PASSING AWAY.

It is a twice-told tale that the world is passing away from us, and there is very little new to be said on the subject. God has written it on every page of His creation, that there is nothing here which lasts. Our affections change. The friendships of the man are not the friendships of the boy. Our very selves are altering. The basis of our being may remain, but our views, tastes, and feelings, are no more our former self than the oak is the acorn. The very face of the visible world is altering around us; we have the grey, mouldering ruins to tell of what was once. Our labourers strike their ploughshares against the foundations of buildings which once echoed to human mirth-skeletons of men to whom life once was dear-urns and coins that remind the antiquarian of a magnificent empire. Today the shot of the enemy defaces and blackens monuments and venerable temples, which remind the Christian that into the deep silence of eternity, the Roman world, which was in vigour in the days of John, has passed away. And so things are going. It is a work of weaving and unweaving. All passes. Names that the world heard once in thunder are scarcely heard at the end of centuries-good or bad, they pass. A few years ago; and we were not. A few centuries further, and we reach the age of beings of almost another race. Nimrod was the conqueror and scourge of his far-back age. Tubal. Cain gave to the world the iron which was the foundation of every triumph of men over nature. We have their names now. But the philologist is uncertain whether the name of the first is real or mythical; and the traveller excavates the sand-mounds of Nineveh to wonder over the records which he cannot decipher. Tyrant and benefactor, both are gone. And so all things are moving on to the last fire which shall wrap the world in conflagration, and make all that has been the recollection of a dream. This is the history of the world, and all that is in it. It passes while we look at it. Like as when you watch the melting tints of the evening sky-purple,