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SERMON.

2 TIM. I. 13.

HOLD FAST THE FORM OF SOUND WORDS ✶ ✶ ✶ IN FAITH AND LOVE WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS.

THE affection of St. Paul for the Church which he planted at Ephesus, is beautifully illustrated in the history of his Christian labours. Ephesus had been the scene of his faithful ministrations; where he had proved, in many trials and afflictions, with what sincerity of heart he had embraced the religion of his once-persecuted Master. He had, in that city, served the Lord in all humility of mind, and with many tears, teaching repentance and faith both to the Jew and to the Greek, and setting before them the whole counsel of God; and thus, even in that proud seat of idolatrous magnificence, he had erected a spiritual house, an holy temple, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone. The boast of Asia and the admiration of the Gentile world was therefore endeared to him by the remem

brance of his sufferings for the sake of the Gospel, and the triumphant success with which they had been crowned: and we might reasonably expect that he would commit the care of a Church thus rescued from heathen darkness, and surrounded by the delusions of idolatry, only to one in whose fidelity and zeal he could repose unshaken confidence. Such a disciple he had in Timothy; his own son in the faith, who had laboured with him in the Gospel with truly filial affection and sympathy; whose pious education and unfeigned reception of the truth he well knew, and whom he could on all accounts remember with thankfulness in his prayers night and day. To him therefore he consigned the precious charge of those whom he had converted, at Ephesus, to the faith of Christ-but neither affection, nor well-grounded confidence in his choice, induced the Apostle to lay aside the language of advice and caution. On the contrary, there are no parts of the sacred writings so full of direction for the proper fulfilment of the ministerial duties, as the two Epistles which St. Paul addressed to this his beloved friend and faithful disciple. Even on him it was thought necessary by the Apostle to enforce the important counsel of the text, which is a brief, but most comprehensive summary of all that is required in the minister of Christ: "Hold fast the form of sound words in faith and "love which is in Christ Jesus."

An exhortation given with such earnestness to such a guardian and teacher of the Christian Church must demand the most serious attention from every one who is separated to the work of the ministry, whatever may be his fitness for the sacred office. There is no singleness of purpose-no devotion of the heart to God-no qualification of learning or eloquence-no benevolent zeal for the happiness of our human brethren, which can enable the Christian Minister safely to divert his attention from what is enjoined by this precept of profound wisdom. For as long as we have to struggle with those infirmities which contaminate our holiest things, so long shall we have to fear lest we should be led astray even in the indulgence of our best feelings; and so long will it be necessary that the Christian minister should keep steadily in view this outline of his sacred obligations, and remember that the effectual preacher of God's word must be distinguished at once by the soundness of his doctrinal views, the stedfastness of his adherence to the truth, and the decided but humble manifestation, in his daily life, of every Christian affection towards God and man:-that he must, in the language of the Apostle, "Hold fast "the form of sound words in faith and love which is "in Christ Jesus."

The foundation of ministerial usefulness must be

laid in SOUND DOCTRINE. The Almighty has condescended to impart to man the knowledge of his will in all things which relate to the moral discipline of the soul, and its restoration to once-forfeited happiness and neglected love. We are taught in the holy Scriptures the real condition of our fallen nature the dangers with which we are surrounded in our pilgrimage the spiritual assistance that will be graciously afforded to our sincere endeavours after holiness; and the Atonement, by which the demands of inflexible justice are answered, and the triumph of forgiving mercy completed-the necessity therefore of our being, in this our state of trial, humble and vigilant, conscious that our sufficiency is alone from God, who "worketh in us to will and to do;" and yet, that we have to "work out our own salva"tion," that through faith in the perfect merits and satisfaction of Christ our Saviour, we can alone hope for our justification in the sight of God; and yet that we must strive to "grow in grace," and to labour as earnestly as if all depended on ourselves. These are some of the important doctrines which the sacred Scriptures reveal, and the duties which naturally result from their proper reception; but how does the pride or the weakness of man destroy the simplicity, or impair the integrity, of this consolatory and practical instruction? How often do we find partial representations of scriptural truth

produce, in effect, a separation between the doctrines and duties of Christianity, and give an appearance of undue exaltation to one of the essentials of the Christian character, Faith or Works, as the mental habits of the individual may incline towards devotional sentiment, or the moral observances of life. How frequently is some mysterious part of the Christian doctrine exhibited as if it were the whole of Christianity: and attention to those topics of affectionate exhortation, which the more directly practical parts of Scripture may suggest, considered as some forgetfulness of our commission to preach the Gospel. As if the great object of all Scripture was not to make "the man of God per

fect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." As if it were enough to be " fervent in spirit" without "serving the Lord." As if a single moral virtue could lose, in any degree, its importance and its beauty, because "the grace of God that bringeth "salvation has appeared unto all men!" Surely this is to preach another Gospel than that which has been delivered to us, which connects the interests of time and eternity, and teaches us that "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus "Christ.”

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