ed the tribe of Levi, to the priesthood, he consecrated all their time to his service. He discharged them from labor, from war, and from government, and required them to pursue their sacred work without interruption and without intermission. A minister's time is all consecrated and devoted time. He has none, therefore, to spend in idleness, in secular employments, or in any pursuits foreign from his own profes sion. Nor will he find the least occasion of using any of these methods of consuming, or rather, of killing time, if he only fulfils the duties of his office.

Ministers, indeed, should be frugal of time. They should divide it properly, and devote each part to some particular branch of their duty. They should live by rule. They should set apart particular days to particular studies; and particular parts of days to particular duties; and uniformly pursue their stated method, as far as unforeseen duties and avocations will permit. Dr. Doddridge, Mr. Edwards, and other great and useful divines, divided, devoted, and employed all their time to the best advantage. Ministers cannot be said, therefore, to give themselves wholly to their work, unless they devote the whole of their time to it. Their divine Master was diligent and indefatigable in his work, and devoted all his time to the ministry. And to justify his conduct, made an observation which all his ministers have particular reason always to remember and regard. "I must work the work of him that sent me while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."

5. Ministers must give themselves wholly to their work, by giving all their interests to it.

The apostles and primitive ministers were obliged to do this literally. They would not have been the ministers of Christ, without literally following his in

junction, to forsake all that they had. They did, therefore, actually take the spoiling of their goods joyfully, and give up all their temporal interests, for the sake of fulfilling the ministry, which they had received of the Lord Jesus. But though it seldom happens in these days, that ministers are called in providence, to sacrifice all their secular interests to the work of the ministry; yet doubtless some such cases may possibly happen, and whenever they do, it is still the duty of ministers to part with all for the sake of preaching the gospel.

Not to insist, however, on such extraordinary cases, I would go on to observe, that every minister is called, at least, to make all his worldly interests subservient to his holy and divine employment. He should plan all his secular affairs so as to render them the least embarrassing and the most useful to his main business. He should aim in all his worldly concerns, not to become rich in wealth; but to become rich in grace, rich in knowledge, rich in good works. His dress, his house, his furniture, his farm, should carry the marks of usefulness as his ultimate and supreme object. If other men are willing to sacrifice their wealth to their honor, or to their pleasure; surely ministers may be willing to devote their's to the duties of their office. Affluence is more detrimental to ministers, than to any other order of men. It directly tends to divert their thoughts, to interrupt their studies, to chill their devotions, to weaken their exertions, and to corrupt their hearts. They in particular, therefore, are charged "not to be greedy of filthy lucre." Money destroyed one of the apostles, and two of the primitive professors. And how many ministers and churches have been destroyed by it since, the corruptions of Rome, and of the whole Christian world, will Occa

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abundantly testify. Ministers then must make their work their ultimate, and their interest only a subordi nate end.

6. Ministers must give themselves wholly to their work, by making their secret devotions subservient to it..

They should give themselves to reading, meditation, prayer, and self examination; and in all these secret devotions have a particular reference to their public office. They should read devotional parts of scrip ture, and other devotional books, in order to keep their hearts in a proper frame, to discharge the devout and solemn duties, which belong to their holy and sacred calling. The book of Psalms, the history of Christ and the apostles, and the Epistles to Timothy and Titus, are peculiarly suited to warm, to animate, and to solemnize the minds of ministers. These therefore, they should peruse often, and with great attention, in the hours of retirement. For the same purpose, they should read the lives of great and good men, who were eminent for activity and faithfulness in the service of God. Such examples will tacitly reprove their negligence, and sensibly awaken their resolution, fortitude, and zeal in the cause of Christ.

To reading they should join meditation. They should frequently and seriously reflect what it is to be ministers of the gospel. What it is to be intrusted with the charge of souls. What it is to have the eternal interests of men lodged in their hands. By thus reflecting upon the nature and importance of their work, they will naturally be led to consider its obligations, duties, difficulties, and future consequences. And these again will lead them

to reflect upon their own conduct; their defects and

short-comings in duty; their guilt, weakness, and dependence; their constant need of grace, of strength, and of direction from the great Head of the Church. By such meditations they should fill their mouths with arguments in prayer, that they may grow in grace, in wisdom, and prudence; that they may be assisted in choosing, preparing, and delivering their public discourses; and that success may attend all their ministerial labors. In a word, they should always bear their people upon their hearts in secret, as the Jewish high priest bore the names of the children of Israel upon his breast, when he went into "the se cret place of the Most High."

And to all this they should add self examination. This is the great duty of ministers, who have none to examine them but themselves. And in this duty they should have a particular respect to their ministerial character and conduct. They should lay open their hearts before the bar of conscience, and inquire, whether their public discourses have flowed from love to God and love to men; whether they have declared the whole council of God; whether they have watched for souls as those who must give an account; whether they have taken pleasure and satisfaction in their work; whether they have properly endured the afflictions of the gospel; in short, whether, in the general course of their conduct, they have sought to please God, or to please man. Thus ministers should make all their secret devotions subservient to their public duties. And they may depend upon it, that their public duties will carry the marks of their secret devotions, and declare to the world, that "they have been with Jesus." This leads me to observe once more,

7. That ministers must give themselves wholly to their work, by living agreeably to it.

Their lives should resemble their sacred character, and be worthy of the imitation of the best of Christians. Accordingly the apostle exhorts them "to be an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." As they are to go before others, so they should never take a step, which others may not take with safety and propriety.. They should be more than free from vice, they should be virtuous. They should be more than virtuous, they should be pious. They should be more than not condemned of the world, they should condemn the world. Their lives should be a living law to all around them. There is a certain gravity, sobriety, solemnity, and circumspection, which always appears proper and beautiful in the character and deportment of a minister. This, Smith, in his Theory of Moral Sentiments, has taken particular notice of, and represented in a striking light. "We cannot expect, says he, the same sensibility to the gay pleasures and amusements of life in a clergyman, which we lay our account with an officer. The man whose occupation it is to keep the world in mind of that awful futurity which awaits them, who is to announce what may be the fatal consequences of every deviation from the rule of duty, and who is himself to set the example of the most perfect uniformity, is the messenger of tidings which cannot, in propriety, be delivered either with levity or indifference. His mind is continually occupied with what is too grand and solemn, to leave any room for the impressions of those frivilous objects, which fill up the attention of the dissipated and the gay. We readily feel therefore, that, independent of custom, there is a propriety in the manners which custom hath allotted to this profession; and that nothing can be more suitable to the character of