"Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child.

"But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak." JEREMIAH i. 6, 7.

Ir may seem presumption in any one, to enter, of his own accord, into the sacred office of the ministry. To undertake, voluntarily, to stand, as it were, between God and man, a medium of communication from the one to the other, might justly be deemed presumption. It would be as if Moses had dared, without a Divine call, to leap the bounds that were set around Sinai, and, rushing up through the smoke and flame that covered the mountain, to stand unbidden before the God of Israel.

He who enters, then, upon this high office, must be called to it, or sincerely believe himself so to be. Such a belief may be founded on various considerations;

* Delivered on the occasion of the writer's ordination into the New Church Ministry, in the Temple at Cincinnati, August 22, 1841.

on inclination, on a deep study of his own character, and a serious conviction of the suitableness of his peculiar bent of mind to the duties of the office, and upon a close observation of his own past life. There he must see, or believe that he sees, the hand of Providence leading and guiding and preparing him to be a servant in His holy temple, to be a minister at His altar.

But let me not be misunderstood. I by no means intend to convey the idea that one must be miraculously called into the office of the ministry. Far be it from me, to claim any "Divine right" for the ministers of the church. I mean simply to say, that one must be called into the ministry, just as every good man is called to any other office or use, namely, by what appears to be a train of providential circumstances, and by the apparent adaptation of his own mind to the peculiar duties of that office. We learn from the Writings of the New Church, that every one is formed for some peculiar place and use in the great society of human beings, and is prepared by Divine Providence for that use. From which we may infer, that if men would not interfere with that Providence by their own wills, by ambition, avarice, or other evil desires which oppose Divine order, they would be led, each one to his own proper place, and to his own peculiar use. We may conclude, therefore, that if any one so far strives to subdue his own stubborn will, as to be ready to give himself up to the leadings of Providence,—that is, to be willing to enter upon any course, which seems to be that of duty, he will be led, or (to use a

common term) called into his proper office. The sum of the whole is this: that, in entering the high office of the ministry, a man must be sure that he does it from no selfish motive; that he is not drawn to it by any desire for reputation, or wealth, or ease, or merely to gain a livelihood, or, in fact, from any other end whatever than that of doing good and being useful to his fellow-men. He must be sure, moreover, that he did not set out to attain this end, from any planning or scheming or will of his own; but that, while simply and humbly following the line of duty, he had been, gradually, and perhaps unconsciously to himself, and hardly knowing whither he was going,-led on, step by step, till he found himself before the altar. If all these things are so, he may then, perhaps, without presumption, regard himself as called.

"Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child."

But called though he may feel himself to be, the young minister obeys the call with trembling. He is going forth to a great duty. He is going forth to teach men, when he himself is but as a child. He is called upon to be a guide to others through the wilderness, when he himself is almost a stranger to the way. What but a conviction and firm belief that it was the hand of God that led him hither, and that that hand will continue to lead him,—what else could uphold him under this trial, and give him boldness to undertake so great and difficult a work? For, what is the nature of the duty which the clergyman is called upon to perform? Let us consider it.

In the first place, he is to preach Divine truth. This is the most laborious, and, perhaps, the most important of his duties. He must prepare, at stated and frequent periods, thoughtfully and carefully, and prayerfully too, portions of spiritual food for his hearers. And how cautious must he be in this preparation! That food is, as it were, to affect their very life, and to be nourishment or poison, just according to its character: nor is it their natural life only, that is to be affected-that were of less consequence-but their spiritual and eternal life. It is in the power of the preacher—if he be a man of ability-to send forth from the pulpit, thoughts, that will sink so deep into the hearts of his hearers, and so penetrate their minds, as to influence powerfully their future course and conduct, and, being thus brought into life, to become fixed with them, and remain with them forever. those thoughts be truths, drawn from Revelation and the Word of God,-drops from the fountain of living waters, then, the mind that receives and applies them, will, with the aid of the Lord's Holy Spirit, be so far cleansed and purified, so far made true and of a heavenly form, so far brought into conjunction with the Lord, and consequent salvation and blessedness. If, on the other hand, those thoughts be falsities, parts of a false system of doctrine, or if they be coined from the speaker's own brain, or derived from a selfish and evil heart,-then, who can estimate the full extent of the harm they may do? lead to evils of life; evils of life lead to misery, ruin, spiritual death. Nor does the harm stop with the

If

Falses of doctrine

immediate hearers only: by them it may be communicated to others, and thence to others, till gradually a large circle in the community is infected with the poison. It may go down, too, to posterity, and descend from generation to generation, (as subtle errors of doctrine are so often seen to do,)-so that the false words spoken to-day, may perhaps be found hereafter putting themselves forth in secret and evil acts by beings yet unborn.

How great a responsibility, then, lies upon the preacher !

And this reflection leads to another important subject of consideration, namely, the question in what light the teachings of the minister ought to be regarded by his hearers. Are they to be received and obeyed as infallible truths, as unerring guides for life and conduct? Are they to be listened to implicitly, as instructions from on high, as the inspired expression of the Divine will? I answer unhesitatingly,-No! I know of no such Divine commission given to ministers as this, either in the Word of God, or in the teachings of the Church. In the latter, it is true, it is declared, that the clergy, on account of their office, and to enable them to discharge its peculiar duties, have special illustration or illumination from the Lord.* Yet I am not aware, that in any part of those Writings, they are declared to be gifted with infallibility. And if not infallible, then they are liable to error; and if so, some means must be provided for detecting and correcting their errors :- - those means are the Divine * "Universal Theology," n. 146, 155.