The second part of Ministerial Education is intellectual furniture. On this topic we shall be brief, as we had occasion to discuss it partly when speaking of the duties of the ministerial office. We have already seen that the study of Geography and History, of Poetry and Philosophy, and of the original languages of the Bible are necessary to render the minister a skilful interpreter of the Divine word. In addition to this, we mention Ethics as only a branch of Christian Theology, anl Mental Philosophy as necessary not only to guide the minister in the training of his own mind, but also to assist him in distinguishing the various forms of religious character, and to discriminate between the movements of the animal, the intellectual, and the moral part of our being. It is not to be expected that the student of Theology will make himself master of all the interesting ficts which science spreads out to the eye of the man of letters. To attain perfection in any one science would be the labor of a life time, and the student whose ambition would be unsatisfied with any less preparation than a perfect acquaintance with any less preparation than a perfect acquaintance with all the minutia of science, would drop into his grave while yet in the preparatory stages of his educatton. But the great outlines at least the general principles of science, and especially those which have a direct bearing upon the office which he seeks-these should be known and treasured in the memory; and, until this be obtained, he cannot be esteemed a well-furnished minister of Jesus. He may at times be eloquent: the sensibilities of his audience may occasionally do homage to his genius or his fancy, but he cannot come forth to his people from Sabbath to Sabbath, and from year to year, like a well-instructed Scribe, bringing out of his treasure things new and old.

The third part of Ministerial Education is the power of communicating to others the treasures of the mind. A minister must not only be learned: he must be apt to teach. His very office is that of a teacher, the highest of whose qualifications is the power to impress upon his pupils the sentiments which are burning in his own bosom. Success in the acquisition of knowledge without the power to dispense the treasures which are gained, would be as useless to the public as the marble which forever remains in the quarry, or the gold which rusts in the box of the miser. Furnished by the researches of his study, the minister is to come forth to his people, fitted to instruct and convince them in regard to the great truths which he is commissioned to proclaim. Although not always necessary, yet, when the occasion demands it, he should bring out to view the trains and processes as well as the results of his investigations: by a luminous disposal of his facts and arguments, to pour into other minds the intellectual treasures with which his own is enriched. The great object which should dwell in the eye of his ambition, should be to make his hearers fully master of the great doctrines which he preaches, and through the medium of the understanding to awaken the dormant sensibilies of the heart. To accomplish this he must study simplicity and copiousness of illustration, precision of language, lucidness of arrangement, and unity of design, and without these, whatever be his powers of utterance or fluency of expression, his discourse will but play upon the ear without reaching the intellect or the heart. For let it be remembered most distinctly that, by this power of communicating thoughts, we mean not any rhetorical elegance or fluency. This is sometimes connected with perfect obscurity: oftentimes that very freedom of the popular declaimer which awakens the gaze of the listening multitude, arises from the multiplicity of his topics-the wideness of a fancy unrestrained by the laws of taste-the absence of a great point or object in his reasonings, and the introduction of whatever may be suggested to the mind of the orator, whether relevant or not to his theme. The hearers of such a minister may be pleased, captivated, perhaps ready to extol him to the skies, but they will return from his pulpit exhibitions as uninstructed as ever; while the more discerning will wonder why all this tempest of eloquence is raised for no imaginable purpose, or for none more valuable than "to waft a feather or to drown a fly." The power of which we speak is a very different talent from that of empty declamation. It is the dealing which one mind has with another: the ability to spread out its thoughts upon the surface of another intellect, with the same vividness with which the painter transfers to his canvas the beauties of earth and heaven.

If learning was ever necessary for the ministry of any age, it is for that of the present. The aspect of the times is portentous. Both the moral and the political sky are overcast with clouds, and storms are gathering which threaten to rock to their foundations both the Church and the State. Heresy, Infi lelity and the Man of Sin are mustering their forces against the "sacramental host of Gol's elect," the struggle of the contending armies has already begun, and the noise of their arms may be heard from every part of the battlements of Zion. In the State, the spirit of party, the conflicts of prejudice, interest and political ambit on, at stated seasons sweep over the land, rocking the whole republic, threatening (unless the God of Providence prevent,) the speedy dismemberment of our Union, and perhaps the termination of our political freedom. The age is a feverish one: the fever which preys upon the body politic has its ebbs and flows; now perhaps it has a complete intermission, but soon it rises with a sudden violence which threatens our social and political systems with dissolution. In this ominous aspect of the times to whom should we look for guidance? Who should lead on the armies of the church to their glorious warfare, and stand or fall with them in the terrible conflict with the Atheistic and the Papal powers? Who should mould the public mind, soothe its ragings, inspire it with the firmness of principle, and give direction to its power? Who should preside over our colleges? To whom should the youth of our country and the destinies of posterity be entruested? To whom but a ministry eminent for Piety and Knowledge. It was in a measure owing to the patriotic zeal and efforts of an enlightened ministry, and of the Presbyterian ministry particularly, that we are indebted for the success of our Revolutionary struggle. The learned and venerable Witherspoon stood forth the first and fearless advocate of the Declaration of Independence on the floor of the American Congress, and the pulpits of the land rang with discussions on the duties of the citizen and the patriot in those times which "tried men's souls." And do we not need in this age a ministry who shall be indeed the saviors of their country-who shall infuse into our youth, our families and throughout this great republic, those principles which are calculated to assuage the swellings of popular commotion, to soothe the jealousies of party, to humble the pride of ambition and to overthrow the battlements of the enemies of the church? And to what ministry shall we look for the accomplishment of all this, but to one drinking deeply of the fountains of learning, and breathing at the same time the moral atmosphere of heaven?

And now, fathers and brethren in the ministry, let us apply this subject to ourselves. We have passed through, it is true, our preparatory stage: we have entered upon the duties and trials of our ministry; let us not think, however, our preparation for usefulness completed, or that we may, for the future, dispense with the toil of our pupilage. The years which are spent in a literary and theological course we should esteem but as the inceptive stages of an education, which ceases not till the soul ceases its union with the body. In the college we but learn how to improve our own powers; we receive only the clements of investigation, and on ourselves must depend the rearing up and the perfecting of that superstructure, the foundation of which was laid by our Alma Mater. We should remember that the true honor of a Christian minister consists in pastoral faithfulness and capacity-in copying the example of the Great Shepherd, who feeds his spiritual flock with the richest stores-" takes them to the green pastures and leads them beside the still waters." We must be men of patient investigation and accurate research, and not merely fervid declaimers: we should make it a great object to add to our own stores while we benefit others, remembering that knowledge like "charity is twice blessed." We must believe an I act upon these principles, if we hope extensively to influence and to bless the world. In conclusion, let me quote, as applicable to our own case, the declaration of the Synol of Geneva, when making its annual report of the state of religion for the year 1832: "If we would see the Lord God walking among us again in glory and power: if we would be blessed again and refreshel, our ministers must remain in their places, and study, and study, and stuly. They must preach systematically and fully the whole counsel of God, and feed their people with knowledge and understanding."

THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS, THE POWER OF GOD.

1 COR. 1:18. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

In the preceding verse the apostle affirms that Christ sent him not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect: and lest the power and results of his preaching should be attributed to the eloquence of speech, and to the learning of man instead of the doctrine of Christ crucified, accompanied by the influence of the divine Spirit. In consequence of this direction from Christ, the apostle, as he relates in the beginning of the second chapter of this epistle, came to the Corinthians, not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom, declaring unto them the testimony of God, for he determined not to know any thing among them, save Jesus Christ and him crucified: and therefore his speech and his preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that their faith might not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. However, to those who were spiritually enlightened his speech was not destitute of wisdom, but it was not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, for that comes to nought. But it was the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew; for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But God has revealed this wisdom unto us, my brethren, by his Spirit; and as no man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him, so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Therefore the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. On this account "The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God."

The text contains two distinct propositions. First, that the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness. Secondly, that to us which are saved it is the power of God. To each of these, in their order, your prayerful attention is now solicited.

I. THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS IS, TO THEM THAT PERISH, FOOLISHNESS.

"He that believeth

All men, by nature, are in a lost and perishing condition. not is condemned already," and "dead in trespasses and in sins." 66 To be carnally minded is death." Such is the condition of all impenitent and unconverted men. They are the children of wrath. To such the text affirms the preaching of the cross to be foolishness, because they receive not the things of the Spirit of God, and cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned. To show that the expression," them that perish," does not refer exclusively to those in hell, but includes also the impenitent on earth, it is only necessary to observe, that it is used antithetically to the expression, us which are saved," which of course included

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Paul himself, and all other living saints. If, therefore, our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.

On this first proposition, the two following points are raised, viz.: 1. The doctrines of the cross are foolishness to the unrenewed. 2. The preaching of the cross, as an instrumentality for the conversion and salvation of men, is likewise foolishness in the estimation of carnal reason.

"We

1. The doctrines of the cross are foolishness to the unconverted. preach," says Paul in the 23d verse, "Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks, foolishness." Although bloody sacrifices from the time of Abel, down to the last victim that was offered up in the temple before our Lord's crucifixion, were typical of this great atoning sacrifice, yet such was the blindness that had come upon Israel, that even the priests, who officiated at the altar, lost sight of the substance, of which these rites were the shadow. God had decreed that without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sins; hence Cain's offering of the first fruits was unacceptable, while Abel's bloody sacrifice secured the divine favor. It was through these bloody sacrifices that the pious, of every age, were accustomed to look forward in faith to that one offering, by which they that are sanctified are perfected for ever. But the great mass of Jewish worshippers looked not beyond the bleeding victim that smoked upon the altar before them. The humble manner in which the Messiah appeared among the Jews, although his humiliation was a part of his great plan, secured their rejection of Him. And although he was foretold in this character by the prophets, they nevertheless poured contempt upon his pretensions, and treated his claims to be their king, with scorn and cruel hatred. His vicarious death, though typified by their own economy, distinctly foretold in their own scriptures, and but recently prophesied by their own high priest, was effected through malice, and the doctrine of its exclusive efficacy to salvation, rejected, with the bitterest animosity, as foolishness and blasphemy. The Pharisee, discarding the doctrine of justification by faith, trusted to their own righteousness for acceptance, and when the resurrection was preached, the Saducees mocked.

Christ, and him crucified, was a stumbling block to the Jews. But to the Gentiles, who had not been taught the doctrines and commandments of the Bible, it was foolishness. To them the method of fallen man's recovery, through a vicarious atoning sacrifice, was unknown. The discovery of such a method was far above the conceptions of a finite mind. It is a matter exclusively of revelation. Carnal reason cannot receive it; and because this and kindred doctrines are beyond its reach, they are stigmatized as unreasonable: as such they are regarded by every grade of rationalism at the present day. That Jesus Christ should be truly God and truly man at the same time: that He should have endured that penal suffering which the law of God denounced, and which the justice of God demanded: that the sufferings of one who knew no sin, should atone for the guilt of many others: that man is justified in the sight of God by merit and righteousness, not his own, but another's, imputed to him: that human works of benevolence, of virtue, of mercy and of piety, should be of no account as the ground of pardon and salvation: that a radical and lasting change is wrought in the human heart by the efficient, yet mysterious, agency of the divine Spirit-are doctrines unacceptable to carnal reason, and which, in the judgment of man's wisdom, are fairly entitled to the appellation of foolishness.

The doctrine of faith in Christ, in order to salvation, is the more regarded in this light, because of its mystery and simplicity. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, is the doctrine of the gospel. Carnal reason pronounces it preposterous and absurd. Faith, although unknown to the law of God, yet secures the believer, a. perfect obedience. Faith, although it respects things unseen, yet with infallible certainty, rests upon a firm and safe foundation. Faith, although it respects a future possession, is nevertheless a present subsistence. It cannot be. It is unworthy of the mind of God. It is a dream of the enthusiast. It is the cant

of the fanatic. Such is the soliloquizing infidelity of proud and carnal reason. This unhumbled and self-confident spirit of the natural man, was eminently illustrated in the history of the Assyrian leper. The simplicity and apparent unreason. ab'eness of Elijah's prescription, enraged the bosom of the disappointed Naaman, who, in all the pomp an elegance of eastern royalty, had waited upon the prophet, with his own vain and preconceivel opinion of the remedy to be applied. The direction to wash seven times in the river Jordan was rejected with scorn as foolishness; especially when Aban and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, were better in his estimation than all the waters of Israel.

The worl rendered in our text "foolishness," may also bear the meaning of “insipidity," and "contemptibleness."

The preaching of the cross is to them that perish insipidity. They have no relish for such doctrines, and can derive therefore no pleasure from the study and contemplation of them. A darkening of the understanding and a blindness of mind induced by sin, and which is a part of their depravity, shut out from their vision the glories of the cross. They apprehen led them not because spiritually discerned. To such, therefore, the things of the Spirit of God are foolishness or insipidity. A man born blind can form no just idea of color, and therefore can neither appreciate nor enjoy the varied hues with which the God of nature has adorned and beautified his works. He can have no relish for the study of those works of art and nature whose prominent excellence appeals to the sense of sight. To him, therefore, the liveliest descriptions of beautiful landscape and brilliant scenery, would be devoid of interest and entertainment. Such things are not received by him, neither can he know them, because they are discerned by a sense of which he is destitute.

The preaching of the cross is to them that perish contemptibleness. The Jews treated with derision and contempt the pretensions of the Messiah to be their Lord and King. Although the time, manner and circumstances of his appearing had been long foretold, and although his suffering and death, with many minute particulars, had been also foretold, yet because of the blindness of their mind and the hardness of their hearts, they turned away from the full import of the prophetic page, or read it with the veil upon their hearts, and indulged the vain and unfounded expectations of a temporal prince appearing in all the pomp and splendor of imperial majesty, to free them from the yoke of Roman bondage, and elevate them above all the other nations of the earth, in power wealth and happiness. But O, with what ineffable contempt did they behold a poor despised Nazarene, the son of a carpenter, born in a stable and cradled in a manger, riding into Jerusalem upon an ass, and claiming to be King of the Jews. While some, whose feelings prompted more to ridicule than wrath, mocked his high pretensions and regarded him as insane, others more filled with fear and jealousy by the honor paid him by the shouting multitude, gnashed their teeth on him, and longed for, and studiously sought a ground of accusation against him. As proselytes increased and his doctrines and character became generally known, enmity and scorn endeavored more - assiduously to excite popular prejudice against him; to this end appeals were alternately made to the religious feelings of the people, and to the fears and jealousies of the political government. They at length effected their object, and without designing it, they effected his purpose also. Hell pierced its own bosom with the very thrust that shed his precious life-giving blood. When the Jews were afterwards told that through their enmity they had effected the very object of Christ's mission to this earth, and that it was by his death alone that the divine favor could be secured, they were the more enraged. They despised the doctrine of salvation through a crucified malefactor, as they declared Christ to be. They disduned to be saved by a cross on which the vilest criminals were executed. And to this day the preaching of the cross is not more acceptable to the carnal heart. It is a mole of salvation too humiliating for the proud, rebellious spirit of man, which will not, of itself, stoop to such abasing terms of reconciliation with God. It is a humiliating plan of salvation we frankly acknowledge. It lays the