incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away;-does it teach even the poorest, that God hath chosen them; that the gospel is preached to them; that they are rich in faith, and heirs of a kingdom; that they are placed under a special providence, and favoured with the ministry of angels; that they are redeemed to be a royal priesthood to God; in short, that all things are theirs-the world, life and death, things present, and things to come; and can they believe these things, and live under the influence of them, and not have their minds elevated, enlarged, invigorated? Christianity is calculated to form characters of whom "the world is not worthy," and who look upon the whole world as not worthy to be an inheritance and portion to them; who would not be bribed by it to do an action which is dishonourable to the holy name which they bear, and the family in heaven and earth to which they belong ; and who, though all its kingdoms, with all their glory, were laid at their feet, would not make it their god, or say to it,

Thou art my confidence.' Brought to a close and entire dependence on God, they feel independent of all things else; and though ready to "become the servants of all men" for their good," will not be brought under the power of any," by yielding them a slavish subjection. Reconciled to God, and assured that nothing can separate them from his love in Christ, they live above the world while in it; its changes do not essentially affect their happiness; they are prepared to quit it, and look forward to death as the period of their emancipation; and yet they look upon it as their high duty to glorify God here, and do not consider that they are at liberty to throw away their lives, or to leave their present station, until they are relieved and dismissed by him to whom they live and die. Secure in the protection of the Omnipresent, they fear no evil; assured of the help of the Omnipotent, they deem no task to which they are called hopeless or impracticable. Such is the genius of Christianity, and such the characters which it forms.

But every man in his own order. There is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; and even one star differeth from another star in glory. All have

not the same clear and comprehensive knowledge of the gospel, all have not the same full and overpowering assurance of its truth; the hearts of all are not alike laid open, and kept open, to its influence, so as that it should "have free course and be glorified," by occupying and swaying their every faculty and power. ،، There is a diversity of operations," though "it is the same God that worketh all in all." Nature has endowed some men with a greatness of soul above others; and there is a similar diversity and gradation in the creations of grace. When Saul was anointed by Samuel to be king of Israel, the Spirit, we are told, came upon him, and "God gave him another heart; "a generous, noble, princely spirit, qualifying him for the high station to which he was destined. And when the New Testament Saul was set apart to a high office in the church, "God gave him another heart;"--a magnanimity corresponding to the greatness of the work to which he was called, not only as an apostle, but the apostle of the Gentiles the apostle of the world.

You may be disposed, my brethren, to compare the work allotted to Paul, to that of one who, in our day, sets out on a mission to convert the heathen. But they are, in fact, very different. The modern missionary must, no doubt, make sacrifices, and lay his account with difficulties; but he has great encouragements. He leaves behind him a multitude of friends, who take a warm interest in his welfare, and are ready to receive him back with cordiality, provided he is unsuccessful. He goes out from a country the very name of which is sufficient to procure him a ready reception and protect him from personal danger from the most distant and barbarous tribes. Above all, he has the satisfaction of reflecting, that Christianity is already established in the earth, and can be exposed to no risk from the failure of his expedition. But Paul left few friends behind him. His own countrymen were his greatest enemies; and, instead of offering him the prospect of an asylum, if he were forced to retreat, were the means of stirring up persecution against him wherever he went. He had no earthly protector or patronage to look to. "Christ crucified," who had been "to the Jews a stumbling block," had not yet been "preached to the

Gentiles ;" and that he should be "believed on by the world," was then in the highest degree improbable, according to all the views of human reason. The obstacles which resisted the propagation of the gospel presented themselves on every side, rising one behind another-the jealous policy of rulers, the pride of philosophers, the self-interest of a crafty and long-established priesthood, and the ignorance, superstition, and brutal rage of a licentious populace. What a combination of qualities did it require in the person of the individual, who, in the name of God, first attacked and broke through these barriers ! What faith, confidence, and courage in making the attack! What firmness, self-possession, caution, circumspection, in keeping the ground which had been gained! What fortitude, resolution, and patience in enlarging it! It required a soul raised to a high pitch, not by sudden impressions and the force of a heated imagination, but by enlightened and steady principles; a soul wound up in all its faculties, intellectual and moral, regulated, balanced, sustained, and furnished with a spring which could bear the severest pressure, which would not wear itself away by its own motion, nor suffer derangement from the changes of external circumstances; a soul exalted above the world, and all those worldly motives by which men are ordinarily actuated, attracted, or repelled; and disengaged from all selfishness, effeminacy, envy, illiberality, and those narrow prejudices. which are founded on the distinction of nations, classes, and conditions in life; a soul filled with supreme love to God, and ardent love to man, fired with heavenly ambition to advance the divine glory in the highest, and promote the eternal welfare of mankind, and which, in pursuing this noble object, was prepared to make all sacrifices, sustain all fatigues, run all hazards, endure all sufferings. And such, my brethren, was the soul of Paul. At the call of God, he went forth into the world, "bearing" (it was all his armour)" the name of the Lord Jesus"—not knowing whither he went, but prepared to go wherever Providence pointed the way, to the north, the south, the east, or the west; and not knowing what would befall him, nor moved by the warnings which he received in

every city, that bonds and imprisonments awaited him. His heart was enlarged to all the world, and he trusted to his Master to open before him the door of faith, and to preserve him as long as he had services for him to perform. Never did conqueror, whose breast swelled with the love of fame, pant so eagerly for a field on which to signalize his prowess, as he panted to enlarge the boundaries of the kingdom of grace, and to multiply the bloodless triumphs of the cross. When he had planted the gospel in one city or country, he took his departure to another, leaving it to others to enter on the fruits of his labours; and uninterrupted as his exertions, and rapid as his movements were, they were yet outrun by the celerity of his desires, which had marked out beforehand as the scenes of future labours, spots which, there is reason to think, he never reached during the limited period of his usefulness. Hear his own words to the Christians at Rome, whom he had not yet personally visited, and mark how he speaks of a projected expedition into Spain :-" I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise; so, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also. Now, having no more place (of usefulness) in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you, whenever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you. And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ." * How was he sure of this? Because he had long felt, and at that moment continued to feel, that gospel flowing out of his heart in irrepressible desires to be the means of blessing them. What a strong expression of the state of his feelings! He knew the gift of God, and had drunk of that spiritual water, which was in his heart a well of living water springing up to the supply of himself and of many, and which, the more that was drawn from it, flowed the more freely and copiously, because it was supplied by the Spirit, from him in whom "all fulness dwells." But did he forget those churches which he had

Rom. i. 14, 15; xv. 23, 24, 29.

planted, in his eagerness to christianize the barren and waste. parts of the world? The frequent visits which he paid them, and the letters and messengers he sent to them from time to time, testify in the negative. The passion which he felt to convert souls was equalled by the agony (I use his own word), the agony which he felt for their conservation; so that, when thrown into doubt about their state, he "travailed in birth the second time." His capacious soul could admit, and received, so far as they were known to him, all the concerns, the joys, and griefs" of all the churches." Take only one instance among many which might be produced. From a tender and considerate regard to the good of the Christians at Corinth, he had determined not to revisit them until their unseemly heats and factions were allayed. How was he affected while he waited at Ephesus to receive the tidings of this longed-for, but protracted issue? "O ye Corinthians! our mouth is open unto you; our heart is enlarged!" What a picture of a heart! We see him standing on the shore of the Ægean sea, over against Corinth, with his arms extended towards that city, and in the attitude of speaking. We hear the words by which he seeks to relieve his overcharged breast, heaving and ready to burst with the fulness of those desires which he had long felt to come among them, satisfy them of the sincerity of his affection, and replenish their souls with the consolation with which he himself had been comforted. "O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open to you, our heart is enlarged! Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. Now for a recompense in the same (I speak as unto my children), be ye also enlarged." *

4. Our attention is particularly called to two qualities, by which, whether they are viewed as entering into the formation of magnanimity, or as produced by it, our apostle was eminently distinguished-intrepidity and independence. Elevated as his mind was, and borne up by such powerful principles, he felt as moving in a region which danger could not reach. Incased in the divine panoply of the gospel, he was

2 Cor. vi. 11-13,