immediately proceed to another thing in which you should follow Christ, and that is zeal.

Here is no inconsistency. You may be as meek as Moses, or as Christ himself, and yet your heart may glow with a holy zeal for the glory of God, and the salvation of immortal souls. Look to Jesus! there you may see something to direct and animate your zeal. He said, and well he might say it, "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." He seemed to regard nothing else. He went about doing good; and was never so happy as when so employed. When he had been preaching all day, he would be praying all night; and found that doing the will of his heavenly Father was to him, meat, drink, and sleep.

"What, Sir," you may ask, "do you think that I, or any minister now, should do all this? Christ was an extraordinary person, and had extraordinary supports; but it were folly in me to attempt it. Neither my mind, nor my body, could bear such constant fatigue." Ah! my dear brother, we know not what we can do till we try. I believe few of us have yet been the worse for overworking. There is such a thing as the joy of the Lord being our strength. Others have found, that one duty only prepared them for another the more they did, the more they could do; and we, perhaps, might find it so too, if we had resolution enough to make the trial. Will you allow me to recommend it to you, to stir up the gift that is in you and to let it appear by your more abundant labours, that so much grace has not been bestowed upon you in vain? A minister who loves his Master and his flock, who knows the tremendous realities of

another world, and sees those whom he longs to save from perdition, running heedlessly on in the paths of the destroyer, cannot be lukewarm and inactive. He cannot help lifting up his voice like a trumpet, while he shows them their sin and their danger, and exerts himself to pluck them as brands from the burning." But you must not think it strange, if your pious and friendly warmth be not always so well taken as you know it was intended; yea, if they account you their enemy, because you tell them the truth; as if a man who was almost drowned, were angry with the person that saved his life, because he had bruised his arm in effecting his deliverance. But let them receive it how they will, whether they thank or quarrel with you for your concern about their souls, duty to God, and compassion to them, will oblige you to persevere in your endeavours to save as many as you can.

Once more; you are to follow your Divine Master in holiness. He was eminently and perfectly holy; without the least sinful taint in his nature, or the least sinful flaw in any part of his life. He was harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners; and the more you, my brother, are like him, the better. Our Lord had the eyes of many upon him, observing every house that he entered, and watching every word that he spoke. Once they thought that they had found some accusation against him: and what do you think was the heinous crime? Why, he became the guest of a man who was a sinner! Foolish people! where should the physician be, but in the company of those who are sick? The world is as captious now as ever it was, and will as narrowly watch your steps. Business, civility, many things, may call you to

houses where there is little religion.

But if you go

with the same view, and conduct yourself with the same prudence and piety, that Christ discovered, you will get no hurt, and may do some good. A bishop must be blameless: not merely not convicted of immoralities, but not so much as suspected. Even things which arc lawful, may not be expedient for you; but a swearing minister, a drunken minister, a wanton minister, is the most disgusting sight in the world. He must be a torment to himself, as well as a disgrace to his profession, who is a preacher of holiness one day, and a leader in wickedness all the week besides! I say not this by way of caution to you, Sir; for I know that your soul abhors the very thought of such impurities. But I mention it, to excite your gratitude to free grace, for making you to differ.

I might easily have multiplied particulars, but it is unnecessary. You have the copy before you, and whenever you are at a loss, you have nothing to do but to look to Jesus, and walk even as he walked: who has left you an example, that you should tread in his steps.

So far I have been setting before you your duty; and if I had mentioned many things more, you would not have thought them hard sayings. You would not have complained that his commandments were grievous, or that his service was burthensome or unpleasant. You love your Master, and you delight in his work; and if left to your choice, you would rather be among Christ's servants, than the world's princes. But if the employment be so agreeable, what will be the wages? For wages you shall certainly have: I

do not say, in proportion to your work for your reward shall be infinitely beyond your deserts, or your expectations. Only follow the Lord fully, and then, where he is, there shall also his servant be. There is more contained in those few words than the mind of man can conceive. The scriptures tell us, that, when Christ ascended up into heaven, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; and if you shall be where your master is !---O my dear brother, I wonder not that you are affected, and ready to sink under this exceeding weight of glory! I wonder not, to hear you cry out, in grateful astonishment, Is this after the manner of men, O Lord God? No, indeed, Sir, it is not. But you know that he is God, and not man. The kindest masters among men, admit not their servants to such freedoms: they treat them with tenderness, but they make them not their companions: they behave not to them as their equals; they allow them not, in general, to sit in the same room, or to eat at the same table; and, amidst every reasonable indulgence, they expect them to keep a decent distance, and remember that still they are but servants. There are two passages of scripture, which will convince you, that God's thoughts and ways are as much superior to ours, as the heavens are high above the earth. One is this: "To him that overcometh, will I grant, to sit with me on my throne; as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne." The other is this: "Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching; verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and

will come forth, and serve them." Our heads are

募

almost giddy with the wondrous elevation. We hardly venture to guess at the dignity and blessedness implied in these words. But we know that they must mean something strangely kind and condescending from Christ towards his servants; and we must be content to remain ignorant, till possession and experience give a full explanation.

But you are not to wait for all your reward till that period; for so says your gracious Master, in the concluding clause of the text; "if any man serve me, him will my Father honour."

The post itself is honourable. To be a servant of Christ; to be an ambassador from the King of Kings; to be employed in delivering messages of peace and goodwill from God to men, and in presenting their humble petitions to the throne of grace; to be intrusted with feeding the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood, and which therefore we may be sure he highly values, and dearly loves; this is a mark of high distinction. He will, besides, honour you in the eyes of the world: he will give you reputation in the place where you live: he will constrain those who have little religion themselves, to respect you, for your holiness and humility: an honour to which they, who vainly affect popularity, seldom attain. They may be admired for their brilliant talents; they may be followed a while, for their fine language, and graceful delivery, or for their sprightly and entertaining conversation; but there is nothing of that inward veneration and respect, which a holy, humble, plain-dealing minister of Christ extorts, even from those whose prejudices will scarcely suffer them to come and hear him preach. God may