death. So that, while to one portion of the train the fragrance of the atmosphere was the harbinger of life, to the other it was the immediate forerunner of a blow from the victor's sword. It is to this circumstance that St. Paul has been supposed to allude when he describes the gospel as being to some persons the savour of life unto life, and to others the savour of death unto death. And the application of the idea is obvious and striking. The conqueror is our Lord Jesus Christ.

When he rose from the dead, he placed himself at the head of a great triumphal procession. On the line of this procession he has stationed his servants to spread the word of his gospel, like a perfume in the air. And of those persons to whom the gospel is proclaimed, there are some to whom it is a fragrance of life unto life, and others, alas! to whom it is a fragrance of death unto death.

Our victorious Redeemer has been appointed to celebrate his triumph at the head of vanquished enemies, and in company with an innumerable host of friends and fellow-conquerors. We, at this moment, my Christian brethren, swell the train of that triumphal procession, which, after the lapse of centuries, continues to move on through the world; and it will be our own fault if we are not numbered among the

friends of the Lord Jesus Christ, when all enemies shall have been subdued, and his saints shall reign with him in heaven. In the mean time, let this important consideration dwell upon the mind of every one amongst us,—that the minister of the gospel, even now, is unto God a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish; to the one, the savour of death unto death, and to the other, the savour of life unto life. The word which he preaches is that which cannot return void to Him who gave it; and wherever or whenever he may be called to proclaim his message, he distributes what must become either a means of salvation, or a means of condemnation, to every one within the sphere of his sacred ministrations.

Let me now submit this truth to your serious attention. And let none of us forget that this is something in which we are personally concerned. Let us forget, for a time, Corinth and the early churches; let us forget even churches and communities existing round about us; and while, in humble hope of the divine blessing, we examine this important subject, let us diligently mark its application to ourselves.

The minister of the gospel is unto God a sweet savour of Christ. We may observe that the apostle not unfrequently magnifies his office.

But

let it be remarked that it is the office, and not the minister, that is exalted. St. Paul does not claim respect for the person of the minister, considered in himself, more than for that of any other man ; but he does claim respect for the office which he bears, and for the exercise of that office. "We have this treasure," says he, “in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God, and not of us." We are like poor earthen vessels filled with a costly perfume. The vessels may differ a little in their composition or their form; some may be of one mould, and some of another; some fashioned in this way, and others in that but this, after all, is as nothing; for none of these things are even worthy to be thought of in connection with that precious substance which these poor vessels hold. We speak then, with the apostle, not of our persons, but of our office and our work as ministers of the gospel. We are a fragrance of Christ. We are commissioned to perpetuate that preaching of Christ crucified which has been appointed to bring life and salvation to a sinful and ruined world. We have been charged to give a voice to those truths which were proclaimed by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by prophets and apostles, and which have been handed down, from generation to generation, to ourselves. These it is at once our privi

lege and duty to explain, to enforce, and to apply. These we seek to impress upon the memory, and to charge home upon the conscience and the heart. And then, commending our labours to the blessing of Almighty God, we leave these truths to work either life or death in the souls of those who hear us. May the Holy Spirit

enable all those who minister to hold up fully the truths of the gospel in their simplicity, their loveliness, and their glory ;—and may he bless those truths to the edification, the comfort, and the salvation, of all who hear!

I. In considering the language of our text, let us ask, what are the elements of that knowledge which may be called the fragrance of Christ?

The gospel, we know, reveals a scheme of salvation. The very mention of salvation supposes previous misery and ruin; and hence we are reminded of that which is, in fact, a primary truth upon which the superstructure of Christian doctrine rests. We are, by nature, in a state of alienation from God, and of rebellion against him; we are guilty in his sight; and therefore we are, by nature, children of wrath,—the objects of God's righteous displeasure. "Sin is the transgression of the law." Who is there, then, that may not know,-who is there that ought not

to feel,-that he is a sinner? Who is there that has never, in thought, word, or deed, transgressed the law of God? And, if all have sinned, who is there whom the law does not righteously condemn? But, in truth, we ask no question on this subject. We are commanded to declare that all the world is guilty before God, and that the wages of sin is death.-And there is another truth connected with that which has been named. Guilty man is unable to do away his guilt. The law of God having been once broken, the offender cannot repair the breach which he has made. The soul of man once lost, man himself cannot save it. Future obedience, if it were possible, could not atone for past transgression: the blood of bulls and of goats cannot take away sin the fruit of the body were given in vain for the sin of the soul: nor can one man, in any way whatever, make an atonement for his brother. Man then, that is to say, every man,-is sinful and guilty. And he is also utterly helpless and undone. These are two primary truths which we are commissioned to proclaim.-What, then, is the third? Is it that man is irrecoverably lost? Is it that sin, and guilt, and helplessness, must remain without remedy or aid? Is it that the violated law must indeed pour all its curse upon the sinner's head? And must the guilty soul be cast