Political Duties of Ministers. The question of suffrage-of introducing politics into the Pulpit-of political offices and honors-of Chaplaincies, &c. 211 Frequent Dismissions—their causes and remedies. Caused, often, by the cir- cumstances of the times in which we live-or by the circumstances and acts of ministers or by the circumstances and doings of the people for whom they LECTURES. LECTURE I. Pastoral Qualifications. Piety-strong faith-the love of Christ-love to souls. Intellectual endowments. Common sense. Knowledge of men and things. Prudence. Social qualities. Easy manners. Energy and activity. Orthodoxy. General and professional Education. ONE of the first questions that meet us in approaching the general subject of these Lectures, is that of Pastoral Qualifications. What are they? What properties of mind and heart is it desirable that the Pastor should possess, in order to his highest usefulness? The first of all qualifications for the pastoral work is, doubtless, piety. Nothing can at all compensate for the absence of this. Without satisfactory evidence of this, no person is to regard himself as called or entitled to enter on the duties of the office in question. And when I speak of piety as a qualification for the ministry, I mean something more than barely to live and breathe in the spiritual world. I mean a stirring, vigorous, enlightened, consistent piety; and the more of this the better. Whatever else may be said on the subject of pastoral qualifications, this must stand first and foremost. This must never be overlooked or forgotten. Piety is lovely and excellent in all its developments; and not one of these should be wanting in the character of the ambassador of Christ. He should possess and exemplify all the precious fruits of the Spirit. He should have "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, meekness, temperance." He should be "pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." There are some forms of piety, however, which are of special importance to the minister of Christ, and on which it may be necessary for a moment to insist. One of these is faith-strong faith. "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith." There is no other principle of power sufficient to gain such a victory, and yet the faithful pastor must have gained it. He must have overcome the love of the world; the spirit of the world; the pursuits, the customs, the riches, pleasures and honors of the world. He must be willing to tread the world beneath his feet, and to forego his dearest earthly interests, for the sake of those higher and nobler interests which pertain to the kingdom of Christ. Now faith that faith which gives reality to the great objects. of hope-which brings invisible things near, and makes them seem to us as though they were near, can bring us into this state of mind;-and nothing else can. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, (Chapter 11th,) presents us with a great cloud of ancient worthies and witnesses, and tells us of their achievements in the Divine life; but these all were accomplished by faith. They could have been accomplished in no other way. The same faith the minister of Jesus needs-the same in nature and in power-to sustain him in all his cares and toils; to make him submissive and cheerful under trials; to prepare him for crosses and sacrifices in his Master's service; in short, to carry him through what is to be the labor of his life, and bring him off at last a conqueror. Wo to the individual, who assays to gird himself with the armor of the gospel, in his own strength! Who undertakes to perform the work, and bear the burden of a Christian pastor, without the sustaining power of faith! Another form of piety which should live and reign in every heart, and especially in the heart of a gospel minister, is the love of Christ.-If any one inquired of Paul as to the reason of that course of life which he pursued― a course which to some appeared so strange, that they were ready to say he was beside himself; he could only reply, "The love of Christ constraineth us." And if the inquiry was further pressed, Constraineth to what? we have his answer in the following verse: "That we should not henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto him who died for us, and rose again." In the breast of Paul, and of the primitive disciples generally, the love of Christ was a motive of great power. If it had less than simple faith that was sustaining and elevating, it had more that was tender, attractive, and subduing. When Polycarp was brought before the Proconsul of Asia, his persecutor required him to swear, and reproach Christ. But the venerable martyr replied, "Eighty and six years have I served Christ, and he hath never done me any wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour"! The effect of the love of Christ upon this holy, primitive, Apostolic man, was the same that it will be upon every other man, in whose heart it abides with equal strength. It will lead him to say, in the hour of temptation, what Joseph said to his seducer, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God"? How can I so displease and grieve my Saviour? No one at all acquainted with the peculiar trials and temptations of the minister of Christ, can fail to perceive how important this constrain ing principle must be to him. With it, he is united to Christ and his cause, by a bond which not earth or hell Without it, he is separated from the great source of light and life-cast forth as a useless branch, and is withered. can sever. I shall have time to notice but another form of piety, which is of special importance to the minister of Christ, and that is an ardent, quenchless love for souls. He should believe, with unhesitating assurance, all that the Scriptures assert, respecting the immortality of the soul; the worth of the soul; its present state, and its future destiny; and that "he who converts a sinner from the error of his way, shall literally save a soul from death." Impressions such as these, deeply engraven on the heart of a minister, will exert a most happy influence, not only upon his preaching and prayers, but upon his whole professional life. They will lead him to avoid all those things which may have a tendency to injure souls, and diligently to employ every means which will be likely to save them. They will not suffer him to waste, in secular cares, or in mere literary pursuits, that time, and those energies, which ought to be consecrated to the spiritual good of his people. They will not suffer him to with-hold from them any attention or service which he can consistently render, and which he thinks that the interests of their souls require. of Under the strong influence of which I speak, the minister of Christ will not much regard personal sacrifices. He will consent to waive often, not merely his private opinions and wishes, but his rights and interests, rather than incur the hazard of throwing obstacles in the way the recovery of some whom he desires to save. Knowing that, in the various movements of life, he has to do with immortal beings, who are continually watching him, and receiving impressions from his example; he will be exceed |