CHARGE, Senior Pastor Of The Church. • Beloved Brother, The Redeemer and King of Zion has seen fit, in his sovereign wisdom, to appoint you a Minister of his everlasting gospel, and an Overseer of this flock, "which he hath purchased with his own blood." It is an appointment of unspeakable moment, taking hold on the judgment of the great day, and reaching, in its perpetually augmenting results, to interminable ages. Though as a minister of the gospel you were publicly and solemnly charged, when invested with the sacred office; yet it will not be deemed improper or superfluous that, on this important occasion, we should affectionately endeavour to stir up your pure mind by way of remembrance, and to impress upon you some leading considerations, relating more especially to your pastoral duty. The substance of the whole is comprised in the memorable apostolic injunctions, Take Heed To Thyself ;—Take Heed TO THE FLOCK ;—TAKE HEED TO THE MINISTRY. Take heed to thyself.—Whose heart has not been touched and melted, by. the Address of the Great Shepherd And Bishop Of Souls to one of his first ministers: Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me, more than these? Feed my lambs. Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Feed my sheep. The Ambassador of Christ must love him, with no common measure of affection; must be his devoted friend and follower, ready for any service, for any sacrifice, for any suffering, appointed by him. The Minister of reconciliation must himself be reconciled to God; to his character, to his law, to his government, to his truth, to the design and administration of his sovereign wisdom for the recovery of fallen mankind. The Christian Pastor or Bishop, who is to warn every man and teach every man, according to the gospel, that he may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, must himself be a man after God's own heart, doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly before him. We trust, dear Sir, that you have felt all this; and that you this day feel it most deeply. If so, you will also deeply feel the importance of taking heed to yourself that your heart be evermore humble, penitent, devoted, being kept continually under the allsubduing influence of the cross; that you dwell iipmoveably in God, through faith in Jesus Christ, and beholding his glory, be changed into the same image; that your breast unceasingly glow, with that divine charity which is the bond of perfectness, and without which, though you speak with the tongues of men and of angels, you will become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal; that you maintain the sacredness, elevation, and benignity of character befitting a legate of the skies, on an errand of heavenly mercy; that being crucified to the world, and the world unto you, its riches, its honours, its pleasures, its applauses, never seduce your heart, or turn you from your duty; that you be a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith; and that, never feeling as though you had already attained, but leaving the things that are behind, and reaching forth to them that are before, you be unremittingly pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Take heed unto all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you an overseer. It is a flock which, in no ordinary degree, will endear itself to pastoral affection, awaken pastoral solicitude, and require pastoral vigilance, diligence, wisdom, and energy. Within the memory of some yet living, this Church and Society have known what it is to struggle for existence. They have experienced perils, conflicts, and changes, which have served to exercise their minds, to quicken their sensibilities, to impart to them a particular interest in things, and to diffuse among them an apprehensive and active spirit, capable, under proper direction, of being turned to excellent purposes. God has been their Help; has favoured them with seasons of refreshing from his presence; has increased and strengthened them. They have a respect for religious institutions, a conviction of the importance of the gospel, and a readiness to make sacrifices and exertions for its support and spread. Some of them, we trust, have truly returned unto God, laid hold on the hope set before them, and made advances in the way of everlasting life. Many of them, we fear, after all the instructions, entreaties and warnings which they have received, and with all their convictions of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, are even until now disobedient to the gospel, alienated from the life of God, and under the guilt of having long refused the Saviour and resisted the Holy Ghost. All of them are on probation for eternity, endangered by the corruptions of the heart, by the fascinations of the world, by the influences of spiritual wickedness in high places. Take heed then, dear Brother, to all this flock, to the aged and the young, the professing and non-professing, the serious and the thoughtless. Take heed, that whatever is good among them be cherished and strengthened; and whatever is evil counteracted and suppressed; that they be not turned aside from the truth, or spoiled by philosophy and vain deceit; that they trust not in their religious privileges and distinctions, nor in any thing short of true renovation of heart and conformity in spirit and practice to the holy doctrines and precepts of the gospel; that their religious sentiments be sound, expanded and charitable; that they indulge not to pride and vain glory, and despise others; that no root of bitterness, springing up, trouble them, and many be defiled; that none of them slumber in fatal security, encompass themselves about with sparks of their own kindling, or quiet themselves in refuges of lies; that none of them fail of the grace of God, and perish through remissness or unfaithfulness on your part. Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received of the Lord Jesus, that thou fulfil it. As an Embassador for Christ, you are to beseech all people to be reconciled to God. Asa Watchman, you are to hear the word at the mouth of Jehovah, and give every soul warning from him, never sleeping upon your post, never shrinking from duty. As a Shepherd, you are to feed the sheep and the. lambs, to feed them with knowledge and with understanding; to strengthen the diseased, to bind up the broken, to bring again that which shall have been driven away, and to seelf that which is lost; to guard and defend the flock from the paw of the lion, from the wiles of the wolf, from the stratagems and assaults of every destroyer; and to go before them, and guide them to the Rock of safety, to the fold of everlasting rest. As a Steward of the mysteries of God, you are to bring forth, from his sacred and inexhaustible treasures, things new and old, giving to every one his portion in due season, and withholding nothing that may be profitable. As a Teacher, you are to open and allege the scriptures; not teaching for doctrine the commandments of men; not exhibiting for the gospel of salvation a vain and deceitful philosophy; not using enticing words of man's wisdom, but sound speech that cannot be condemned; not as many who corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity, as of God in the sight of God, speaking the truth in love. As an Elder, you are to rule in the church, not as lord over God's heritage; but with all meekness, and gentleness, and firmness, and wisdom to maintain the order and discipline which he has ordained for the perfecting of the saints, for the correction of the disorderly, for the edifying of the body, and for the conviction of the world. As a Bishop, you are to preside in, and to conduct the solemnities of divine service, with chastened sobriety and reverence, aiming to exhibit not yourself but Christ, and duly remembering that his house is eminently a house of prayer; to administer the seals of the New Testament to proper subjects, putting a difference, with all impartiality, between the holy and the unclean; and to bless the congregation in the name of Jehovah, with sacred care and devout affection. Finally, the things now entrusted to you among many witnesses, the same you are authorised to commit to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also; ever taking due heed that you lay hands suddenly on no man. My Brother, are you ready to cry out, who is sufficient for these things? The responsibility is indeed appalling. But the ministers of Christ must not shrink from it. In delivering this charge to you, we anew charge also ourselves. Upon him es \ |