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 THE HEART GIVEN TO GOD 
 AND THE WORK: 
 
 AK 
 
 #rlrinatmi 
 
 ^ttmm, 
 
 PREACHED IN THE 
 
 CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD, 
 
 ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1856. 
 
 BY 
 
 DAVID ANDERSON, D.D. 
 
 T.OED BISHOP OF BUPERT's LAND. 
 
 |uWbIj«ir Iig 'gecumt. 
 
 LONDON: 
 THOMAS HATCHARD, 187 PICCADILLY. 
 
 1857. 
 
ti 
 
 LONDON: 
 rriuted by G. Barclay, Castle St. T/ciccstor Sq. 
 
TO THE RIGHT REVEFiKND 
 
 SAMUEL, 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF OXFORD, LORD HIGH ALMONER TO THE QUEICN, 
 
 CHANCELLOR OF THE ORDER OF THE GARTER, 
 
 AND TO THOSE 
 
 ORDAINED PRIESTS AND DEACONS 
 
 IN THE CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD, 
 
 ON SUNDAY, DEC. 21, 1S5G, 
 
 ips Btmm 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 
 
 BY ONE 
 
 WHO OFTEN, WHEN AFAR OFF, 
 
 THINK UPON OXFORD AND THE PAST. 
 
A SERMON. 
 
 ** My son, give me thine heart." — Prov. xxiii. 26. 
 
 Of the four appointed Ordination Seasons, the 
 one which follows Whitsunday, and that which 
 precedes Christmas, are, from their attendant 
 circumstances, the most impressive. And even, 
 if the former possesses its feature of distin- 
 guishing interest from heing associated with the 
 outpouring of the Holy Spirit on th^ early 
 Church, yet, viewed in every light, the latter 
 has, perhaps, a larger number of recommenda- 
 tions peculiarly its own. We have preceding it 
 the three striking preparatory Collects ; the one, 
 which, with the opening of the Ecclesiastical 
 year, places us in the attitude of an expectant 
 Church, looking out for the rapidly approaching 
 Advent of our Lord ; the second, which pleads 
 for the fuller and deeper comprehension of that 
 Word, which is the Church's peculiar treasure ; 
 and the third, which prays for a larger and more 
 extended blessing on the Ministers of God. 
 And then comes this intervening Sunday, set 
 
6 
 
 apart with such suitable preparation for or- 
 daining the heralds of the Cross. They go forth 
 on their work and errand, to commence their 
 labours, and open their iii<?h commission, with 
 that which was the burden of tlie an<Telic an- 
 nouncement, *' Glory to God in the highest, on 
 earth peace, good will towards men." 
 
 Whatever, too, is gained by numbers, asso- 
 ciated together with the same object and at the 
 same time, is secured. It is the season most 
 universally selected for the purpose over the face 
 of England. In almost every cathedral the same 
 solemn work is advancing this morning, and very 
 large will be thti multitude of preachers sent 
 forth to-dav, added to the number of those who 
 are alreadv witnesses for the Redeemer.* If, 
 then, there be any efficacy in united prayer — in 
 many voices urging the same entreaty on the ear 
 of the Most High ; if, even when two or three 
 agree together as touching any petition that they 
 present, there is a corresponding promise of an 
 answer from above, then have we every reason 
 to expect that some blessing may be poured out 
 upon us in answer to the supplications offered, 
 not only by those ordained, but by those con- 
 nected with them, by family ties, or friendship, 
 or ministerial bonds. 
 
 * By the returns of the week, the number reported was 
 293. Allowing for some omissions and including a few 
 ordinations on the preceding Sundays and those abroad, the 
 total would amount to more than 400. 
 
Beyond this, in the providence of God, it is 
 now permitted us to extend the range of our 
 thoughts. Not only is it a season so closely 
 linked with the welfare of each Diocese at home, 
 it is that most commonly observed also over the 
 widely extending field of labour abroad.* There, 
 too, are others joining with us to-day, and could 
 we bring into one view their position as similarly 
 engaged, from the distant East to the remotest 
 West, it would present the animating spectacle 
 of simultaneous prayer for one common end — 
 prayer for those who so deeply need it, the am- 
 bassadors of the Saviour throughout every region 
 of a fallen world. 
 
 Now, besides these peculiar advantages of the 
 present season, there is one which our ordina- 
 tions in general possess, and which is almost 
 limited to our own communion, the blending 
 together of the two services for the different 
 orders of the ministrv. It is a matter of no little 
 interest to find assembled together those who, 
 for the first time, and it may be with trembling 
 anxiety, lay hold of the Ark of the Lord j it is 
 
 ship. 
 
 * We have ourselves held seven ordinations in the seven 
 years at this season ; five of them as on this very Sunday ; 
 in 1853, for other reasons the ordination took place on 
 Christmas Day ; and our last was necessarily deferred for 
 one week, until the opening day of the new year. In this 
 way it has been our privilege, in the providence of God, to 
 hold our ordination at the Red River on January 1, 1856, 
 and on December 21 of the same year to preach the ordina- 
 tion sermon within the walls of our own University. 
 
8 
 
 surely for their encouragement that others arc 
 presented along with them, who have put their 
 hand to the plough, and would still go forward — 
 who have essayed the work, and, after a period 
 of trial, would now appear to testify that they 
 servo a good and gracious Master — that they 
 have felt enjoyment in His service, and are 
 anxious to devote to it their lives. There ought 
 to be something cheering to the very youngest, 
 in the presence of others who come to renew 
 and ratify their former pledges, while a sympathy 
 must surely be felt by such as have purchased to 
 themselves a good degree towards those who step 
 in to occupy their places, and to fill up the pro- 
 bationary rank which our Church has so wisely 
 retained. 
 
 The combination may, it is true, increase a 
 little the difficulty of the preacher, in selecting 
 his topics of address and making it exactly 
 suitable for those at the very outset of their 
 ministry, and those who have already tasted of 
 its pleasantness, and, I must add, of its weighty 
 responsibilities. Yet to both I trust that the 
 words chosen may not be without profit. To all 
 men, indeed, without any distinction of class, the 
 voice of God appeals through the wise king, 
 " My son, give me thine heart;" but if there be 
 any whose portion is peculiarly the Lord, and 
 who are in measure removed from the cares and 
 business of life and separated to the sanctuary, 
 to them surely the words of the royal preacher 
 
ity 
 the 
 
 ind 
 ind 
 
 ler 
 
 would pre-eminently apply. May the ;^ood Spirit 
 of (iod aid us in contciiiphiting from the passage, 
 the heart given to God and to the work, as the 
 great foundation of miii'sterial usefidness. 
 
 The first and leading suhject of thought thus 
 presented wouhl he the necessity of the heart 
 being given to God by all who would labour with 
 success in vvinnin<j souls. 
 
 Now this would take us into a hidden sphere, 
 and carry us deeper than anything which man 
 can fully discover. The ministry is in its very 
 nature a spiritual work ; its object is to exert an 
 influence upon the human soul and produce a 
 change within ; and before one can thus act 
 upon another, before there can be any sufl3icient 
 or adequate motive to lead one to plead with a 
 fellow-creature regarding his eternal welfare, the 
 heart must be entirely and unreservedly given 
 to God. While there is much that is encou- 
 raging to-day in the circumstances with which 
 you are sent forth — much that is calculated to 
 fill your mind with deep and lively emotion, and 
 on which you may reflect with advantage to your 
 latest hour, there is beforehand a secret matter 
 between you and your God — a preliminary ques- 
 tion into which no previous examination can 
 fully enter, which no friend, however familiar, 
 can decide for you, but which you have, we trust, 
 settled with your God. It has its appropriate 
 prominence in our services. After all has been 
 done during the week in the way of examination, 
 
10 
 
 'I 
 
 and of {iffoctionato mid carnost exhort sition, (he 
 tirst question to be pro])osed this mornini*- is 
 couched in those seareliing and penetratini,^ 
 words, " Do you trust tliat you are inwardly 
 moved by the Holy Gliost?" or as, with ecjual so- 
 lemnity, and more closely l)earin«r on our subject, 
 to those to be ordained Priests, " Do you think 
 in your hearts that vou be truly (tailed?" Here, 
 then, is the direct appeal to your hearts in the 
 presence of the hearr-searc:hin<r God. 
 
 The unchanged heart can surely, then, have 
 no place here. It can only he the heart, con- 
 verted by Divine grace and at peace with liod 
 through the blood of the Saviour, that can go 
 forth in hunibli; reliance on the promised aid of 
 the Spirit. God may, indeed, vouchsafe to bless 
 where all is otherwise, and the unworthiness of 
 the minister does not, we are encouraged to 
 think, restrain the operation of His free Spirit; 
 yet how little cLiim can he have to expect a 
 blessing* from above, who has trifled with God 
 at so solenm a crisis, and professed with the lip 
 a dedication to (jlod — an inward call of the 
 Spirit, of which the heart was scarcely con- 
 scious ? 
 
 Nor can the undecided heart advance with 
 that filial trust, which can lead us to feel that 
 our strength is in (iod. If the heart is still 
 w^avering between (lod and the world, the hesi- 
 tation and uiu'ertainty will soon appear in our 
 actions and in our counsels. There will be a 
 
11 
 
 \ 
 
 IS 
 
 oo 
 
 t'l 
 0(1 
 
 lip 
 
 he 
 ;oii- 
 
 itli 
 
 lat, 
 
 till 
 
 esi- 
 
 our 
 
 a 
 
 want of (Icfinitciioss and decision in our aim, Jind 
 vvi; shall run unct^rtainly as tlioso who beat the 
 air. Nothintr oreat will he attempted, because 
 the expectation will he small ; aiul nothin«»' «^reat 
 will ])r()hal)ly be etrected, from want of ssulH- 
 cicnt dependence on the one source of spiritual 
 blessing-. 
 
 It is tluis the entire surrender of the heart 
 wliich can alone secure for us the favour of (lod, 
 and undeviatin<»' happiness in our own consciences, 
 and in the various duties to which we nuiy be 
 called. If duly sensible of the <4lori()us liberty 
 of the children of (jod, we shall realise the en- 
 couragement which St. Paul gave to the youth- 
 ful Tinu)tliy, when lu; reminded him that " (lod 
 hath not given us the spirit of fear, hut of power, 
 and of love, and of a sound mind." And the 
 whole course of our ministry will take its t(me 
 and complexion from that which marks its out- 
 set. How smoothly and successfully will your 
 ministry proceed, though it may be with tempo- 
 rar} trials and difliculties ; yet how surely will 
 it be blessed in its end, if you can each one of 
 you listim to the voice which cries, *' My son, 
 give me tliine heart," and make the uncondi- 
 tional surrender. Then, although you have 
 *' the treasure in earthen vessels, the excellency 
 of the power will he of God." 
 
 Kut this would bring me to pass, by a natu- 
 ral and easy transition, from the heart so givcm 
 to (lod to the heart aiven to the work. Now 
 
12 
 
 the ministerial work is a life, demanding the 
 whole man, even to the end, if we are to make 
 full proof of our ministry, and therefore it is 
 very difficult to analyze the work, and break it 
 up into its component parts. Nor do our limits 
 allow of our examining" this life in detail. It 
 may be sufficient to trace the action of the heart 
 in the work, as called forth in study, in the house 
 of God, and in parochial visitation. 
 
 We place even in the forefront the heart in 
 study, because in this misapprehension is too 
 often prevalent. It is sometimes imagined, that 
 after the severer studies of the University are 
 over, the necessity for such study has ceased. 
 And yet, how different is the true state of the 
 case ! You are only furnished with the needful 
 preparation, with the weapons with which you 
 are to go forth and contend. The theory of 
 our University system would be, that the pre- 
 vious period is devoted to storing the mind with 
 the various branches of subsidiary knowledge, 
 which now you are to direct to one great end. 
 The languages of antiquity have been studied 
 for the improvement of your taste, the sciences 
 have been mastered with a view to accuracy of 
 thought and reasoning, and the stores and trea- 
 sures of theology have been opened ; but as yet 
 you have only entered the porch and gateway 
 of the great master-science. It cannot be com- 
 prised within the narrow limits of a University 
 course, nor grasped with the as yet undeveloped 
 
a ■' 
 
 13 
 
 fty 
 ed 
 
 faculties of the youthful mind. But a founda- 
 tion has been laid, and on it you are invited and 
 expected to build through life. 
 
 As then many of you have, we doubt not, en- 
 tered with intense energy and full devotion of 
 heart into the studies through which you have 
 passed, and, perhaps, at the sacrifice sometimes 
 of health and strength, been absorbed and car- 
 ried away by them, so we aftectionately ask of 
 you a corresponding energy and devotion of 
 heart in the yet nobler field which lies before 
 you. Nor can you be at any loss to know what 
 this field is. It would be the Bible and the 
 heart of man. And this the services of the day 
 would beautifully press upon you. It is the 
 Bible — the Scriptures of the New Testament, or 
 the full and complete volume of God — which is 
 solemnly committed to each one of you ; and in 
 the address to those of you called to the Priest- 
 hood, you are earnestly exhorted to draw all 
 your cares and studies this way : in the ques- 
 tions proposed you are asked, "Whether you will 
 be diligent in reading the Holy Scriptures, and 
 in such studies as help to the knowledge of the 
 same ?'* 
 
 We cannot, then, imagine a devoted minister 
 who is not an earnest student, growing in the 
 knowledge of the word as in grace. And how 
 vast the field! the word of God in all its parts — 
 each separate book in its fulness and in its con- 
 nexion with the rest of Scripture I This to be 
 
14 
 
 a matter of daily study, of deep and prayerful 
 consideration, so that you may bring out of your 
 treasures things new and old. This word, too, 
 in its infinitely diversified points of contact with 
 the human heart, studying it continually as the 
 physician would the various medicines adapted 
 to each form of disease. Now a certain portion 
 of well-planned study from the first will accom- 
 plish far more than even a longer period of mere 
 desultory reading. If each were induced to 
 commence on system from to-morrow's dawn, the 
 amount of knowledge gained might astonish you 
 at the year's end. But what I want to press 
 upon you is, that you have only reached the 
 starting-point; you have laid up something, 
 which you are now to use and turn to account. 
 In order to do so with effect, you must be ever 
 replenishing the stores, and going to the great 
 storehouse. And this is equally incumbent on 
 you, whether your sphere be one of seclusion 
 in the retirement of a lonely parish, or whether 
 your intellectual powers are called out by the 
 demands of a more refined congregation. In 
 the one case, labour is necessary to meet the 
 simplicity of the humble believer with the food 
 convenient for him ; in the other, toil and en- 
 deavour are no less needful to vary that which 
 is presented, and yet to intermingle the great 
 theme with every subordinate subject, to make 
 Christ and Him crucified prominent through- 
 out, yet to draw your teaching from the cere- 
 
15 
 
 monies of the law, the foreshadowing of t} pe and 
 prophecy, or the fully developed lessons of the 
 Gospel. At all events, the injunction of the 
 Spirit by the mouth of the Apostle is one from 
 which none can escape, — "Give attendance to 
 reading;" and again, "Meditate upon these 
 things, give thyself wholly to them, that thy 
 profiting may appear unto all." 
 
 If fed thus in study by communion with 
 God and his Word — if the heart is ever getting 
 fresh life from the fountain, it will manifest itself 
 unequivocally in the house of God. 
 
 In prayer — in offering up and leading the 
 worship of the congregation, there will be the 
 breathing and outpouring of the heart. For this 
 few rules are necessary ; as few, indeed, can be 
 given. In earthly things, we know the manner 
 of the tender and affectionate child, repairing in 
 full confidence to a parent's bosom ; and if we 
 take off all that there is of human infirmity, and 
 elevate our ideas to the throne of our heavenly 
 Father, deigning to accept the prayers of those 
 who are children of want, inviting them to pray, 
 and promising unto them the Spirit of prayer 
 and supplication, then may we arrive at the 
 proper conception of what ought to be our 
 manner of approach to God. That would be to 
 our minds the highest excellence of the minister 
 — hig greatest praise, if all were led to pro- 
 nounce of him that be prays from the heart. 
 And what more fitted to call forth its highest 
 
16 
 
 emotions than when a conffreijation unites toire- 
 ther in the lowly confessions and earnest inter- 
 cessions of the Litany, or in the exalted praise 
 and adoration of the thanksgiving, and we feel 
 that many hearts are all in unison with the 
 expression of our lips — all sending the same 
 incense heavenward ! 
 
 How suitable this introduction of heartfelt 
 prayer for that which follows, in which we stand 
 alone ; a single voice pleading with man for 
 God ! And here we have arrived at that in 
 which the purest affections of tlie heart, and the 
 noblest powers of the mind, have their highest 
 development. Must there not be the heart in 
 the pulpit, if by manifestation of the truth we 
 are to commend ourselves to everv man's con- 
 science in the sight of God? Why is it that God 
 has committed the ministry of reconciliation to 
 men rather than to angels ? Is it not because the 
 finer sympathies of our nature link more closely 
 the hearts of those who speak with the hearts of 
 those who hear ? 
 
 Very far are we, therefore, from admitting 
 the truth of the proposition sometimes advanced, 
 that other professions present nobler fields for 
 eloquence than that in which you now embark. 
 We can never allow, that the interests of a fellow- 
 creature connected with this passing life — his 
 position, when he stands arraigned before an 
 earthly tribunal with the one awful alternative at 
 stake, can vie in importance with that issue, in 
 
17 
 
 in 
 
 iced, 
 for 
 
 )ark. 
 
 Ilow- 
 
 his 
 
 an 
 
 re at 
 
 [e, in 
 
 which is involved an eternity of happiness or 
 misery beyond the grave, and his acceptance or 
 rejection before the appointed Judge of quick 
 and dead. Nor ought the events, however 
 critical, which bear upon the rise and fall of the 
 kingdoms of this world, the vicissitudes of war 
 and peace, the fluctuations of wealth and com- 
 merce, to stir so deeply the fountains of the heart, 
 as that which bears on the advancement of the 
 Redeemer's kingdom, and the extension of the 
 religion of peace among the millions now in dark- 
 ness and the shadow of death. 
 
 We may fall beneath our subject; through 
 the weakness of our nature and the mightiness of 
 the task committed to us, we may not rise to the 
 height of our great argument, but in the propor- 
 tion of eternity to time, and the value of the soul 
 in the world beyond to its shadowy existence 
 here, must the great theme which is our treasure 
 outweigh any other which earth can present. 
 The constant familiarity with it may sometimes 
 deaden our sensibilities, the repeated appeal may 
 lose something of its effect on our own heart as 
 well as upon that of the hearer : but against this 
 we must strive as a temptation ; and whenever 
 we prepare for the pulpit, — whenever we stand 
 up before the congregation, we must try to bring 
 before our minds the thought of that coming day 
 when we shall meet before our God. 
 
 An additional temptation, very naturally con- 
 nected with this spot, may be the inducement to 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 merge the appeal to the affections in the closely- 
 reasoned address to the intellectual powers. The 
 abstract studies of the place gain an almost 
 undue prominence, and, perhaps, acquire too 
 great an ascendancy, even when the sacred day 
 of rest comes round. And yet it is, if we mis- 
 take not, acknowledged bv manv, that the mind, 
 which has been so fully strung during the week, 
 and exercised i^ more abstruse speculations, 
 hails with delighc the recurrence of God's day, in 
 order that it may be unbent, and welcomes any- 
 thing which calls into lively play the warmer 
 affections of the heart. 
 
 And what a range of subjects is offered to 
 the preacher's choice I The soul, its being in 
 time, its blessedness or misery through eternity ; 
 
 — the Saviour, His love in its length, and 
 breadth, and depth, and height, — His glory with 
 the Father, His agony on the cross. His joy over 
 the redeemed ; — Creation, its fair aspect as seen 
 in Paradise, its marred condition since the fall, 
 the future beauty of a regenerate world ; — Satan, 
 the author of misery in the world, the tempter of 
 our first parents, the destroyer of man ever since; 
 
 — the Holy Spirit, the source of new life in the 
 soul, the Comforter of the children of God, the 
 earnest and foretaste of heaven's eternal joy. 
 What an exhaustless store of subjects to be 
 applied to the heart of each one entrusted to 
 your care — to be tasted first in their power and 
 sweetness by yourselves, and then out of the 
 
19 
 
 abundance of the heart to be imparted to others ! 
 Oh, surely coldness and the dryness of mere in- 
 tellectual argument must here be insufficient, if 
 we feel for others, having first felt for ourselves ! 
 
 But the heart has yet one remaining sphere 
 on which we can only touch for a moment. The 
 word received on the Sabbath is to take effect 
 through the week ; if mixed with faith* in those 
 who hear it, it is to assimilate with our nature, 
 and tinge our whole life. And the minister who 
 has thus spoken with tender affection from the 
 pulpit, would pass with the same emotions of 
 the heart to his parochial visitation. He would 
 watch how the Gospel may be penetrating the 
 life, and becoming visible in the daily conver- 
 sation of his flock, how the leaven may be leaven- 
 ing the whole mass. 
 
 There must be an identity, a correspondence 
 not to be mistaken, between the exhortations of 
 the pulpit and the exhibitions of character, as 
 witnessed by the people in the intercourse of the 
 week. The condr-^t must be such as to give 
 the impression of transparent sincerity t that we 
 preach, not because the duty lies upon us, but 
 because we long for souls ; that we seek to lead 
 
 • "SvyKtK^etfAivof T? vioTu. The metaphor, according to 
 some of the best commentators, is taken from the process of 
 the digestion of food ; the spiritual being compared to the 
 natural digestion. 
 
 f Eixix^tvux. For the meaning and derivation of this 
 beautiful word, see Trench on the Study of Words. " He 
 who to that Greek word which signifies ' that which will 
 
ao 
 
 men to God, not because it is our calling, but 
 because we wish their truest well-being. A 
 cheerfulness of Christian demeanour is therefore 
 all-essential, such a cheerfulness as shall convey 
 to others the undoubted persuasion that we are 
 ourselves possessed of inward happiness, that we 
 have succeeded in obtaining that joy and peace 
 in believing, which we do not hesitate to re- 
 commend from our own experience. The in- 
 fluence of such an habitual serenity, in winning 
 and attracting the weary and heavy laden, we 
 can scarcely overrate. 
 
 And take the heart in other scenes of paro- 
 chial life. How common the case of the burdened 
 conscience, bowed down under the weight of 
 depression, yet unable to find rest in God I This 
 in many different forms, resulting at times from 
 intellectual doubts, at others from the remem- 
 brance of cherished sin, now from the temptations 
 of our great adversary, and then, it may be, from 
 the temporary hidings of God*s face ; how 
 difficult to discern each separate case, and dis- 
 tinguish by subtle analysis the cause and the 
 appropriate cure ! Yet here, the heart that has 
 known its own bitterness, its own besetting sin, 
 
 endure to be held up to and judged by the sunlight,* gave 
 first its ethical signification of sincere, truthful, or, as we 
 sometimes say, transpai-ent, can we deny to him the poet'a 
 feeling and eye ?" Carry up the idea to Him ** whose eyes 
 are as a flame of fire, whose countenance is as the sun 
 shining in his strength," and "what manner of persons 
 ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness?" 
 
al 
 
 sin. 
 
 that watches the operations of the Spirit on itself 
 and others, is in measure prepared for each case ; 
 and, if we may say so with reverence, is able, 
 from having been tempted, to succour those that 
 are tempted. 
 
 And only, again, take the grand test and 
 touchstone of what we preach. The visit has 
 to be paid to the bed of the sick and dying; 
 to this you must be called at once, immediately 
 on your passage into the ministry.* How vain to 
 trust here to books or the labour of others ! how 
 trying your position, unless you have fully con- 
 templated death and feel that it is disarmed of 
 its sting, and the grave of its victory ! But with 
 the heart engaged in the work, how delightful to 
 pass to the bedside, and find that the word spoken 
 has not been in vain, and that the patient only 
 requires the same affectionate attention a little 
 longer, the same voice to bring forth the promises 
 which are adapted to the suffering and the 
 afflicted, and to offer up the petitions which may 
 prepare for entering the swellings of Jordan I 
 How delightful to have been the instrument in 
 guiding a fellow-creature to the Good Shepherd, 
 and to be able to commit him in sure trust to 
 that Shepherd, as he passes through the valley of 
 
 * This expression is a solemn and important one, and as 
 such is dwelt upon in an "Address to the Graduating Class 
 of the General Theological Seminary, New York," by Bishop 
 Burgess of Maine, in which are many valuable and striking 
 thoughts. See " The Passage into the Ministry." New York, 
 1850. 
 
'2<2 
 
 the shadow of death, fearing no evil ! Far dif- 
 ferent, however, at times are such scenes, — a sick- 
 bed without anv of the comforts of the Saviour, 
 a deathbed only full of the terrors of the world to 
 come I And what shall enable you to bear up at 
 such moments ? what but the heart which draws 
 its fulness of tenderness and love, as John did, 
 from the Redeemer's bosom, and trusts that He, 
 who welcomed the penitent thief in his expiring 
 hour, may stand by us and give to us a word in 
 season, which may prove, even in death, a word 
 of life to the soul ? 
 
 What then, in conclusion, is the consequence, 
 the reward, when the heart is thus given to God 
 and the work? It acts as a magnet to attract 
 others, and, by a beautiful law of our spiritual 
 nature, the minister becomes the heart and centre 
 of operation. Look abroad in this way on many 
 a parochial sphere, whether in town or country, 
 and does not the life seem to gather around the 
 minister, and every plan for active and energetic 
 good to emanate from him? As this happy 
 influence extends, the same zeal spreads, and is 
 communicated to others, and he finds many 
 helpers, many who are impelled by the contagion 
 of example. To be thus the heart and centre of 
 life of a parish, how rich a reward for any toil ; 
 but if the influence grow as has been described, 
 who shall estimate the responsibility under which 
 we lie, the power which we may possibly wield ? 
 
 But before some whom I address a diflferent 
 
23 
 
 trv. 
 
 sphere lies open. You may go hencp, not to 
 enter at once on the cares and duties of parochial 
 life, but to continue within ^he walls of the 
 University, to instruct, either here or elsewhere, 
 those who are to instruct others. Although, 
 however, thus differing in sphere, your reward 
 would be very similar to what has been described. 
 Deficient, indeed, must be the teacher whose 
 whole heart is not in the task, and who is not 
 filled with enthusiasm in prosecuting his work. 
 If labouring with such ardour, you will also soon 
 become centres of life and influence. You will 
 have the formation of character in your hands, 
 the training of the Christian layman, the mould- 
 ing of many a minister of God. Does not the 
 school or the college often reflect thus one leading 
 mind, which becomes the heart and centre around 
 which all seems to revolve ? To such an influence 
 you may look, to such an ascendancy over those 
 committed to you. Nay, we should rather say, 
 from it you cannot escape, it is a very condition 
 of your being ; and if so, it involves also a respon- 
 sibility, under which the very boldest may tremble. 
 Blessed be God, your sufficiency is in Him. 
 
 And, rising yet another step, is not this 
 University a heart of this mighty land, whose 
 pulses beat and are felt to its remotest corner? She 
 draws the youth of England to herself, and sends 
 them forth again, filled with the life, and learning, 
 and character acquired here. If, in this very 
 book of Scripture, we are told to " keep the heart 
 
*ll 
 
 li= 
 
 24 
 
 with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of 
 life," how diligently should we watch, how care- 
 fully pray, that the streams which flow from this 
 centre might be such as to fertilise and bless the 
 whole land I Nor it alone : the vast majority of 
 her sons will of course pass to occupy fields of 
 genial labour at home, but some few will have 
 their duty in other climes ; they will have to 
 plant the standard of the Cross in the wilderness, 
 amid the ancient superstitions of India, or the 
 rapidly peopling islands of the South. And how 
 pleasant, after some years of solitary wandering, 
 to revisit the much-loved spot, to be greeted 
 with kind and cordial welcome, and to find warm 
 and youthful hearts ready to buckle on their 
 armour and to do battle for the Lord I Not, 
 therefore, as a stranger, but as one trained and 
 nurtured among you, as one who remembers with 
 gratitude the instruction of bygone years, would 
 I ask you, beloved brethren, to give to God to- 
 day that which alone you can, — the only thing 
 which God will receive, — give to Him the aff^ec- 
 tions of your hearts, the service of your lives. And 
 may God grant the abundant outpouring of His 
 Spirit, not only to you, but to all this day ordained, 
 that labouring with hearts given to God, and 
 hearts wholly in the work, you may have fruit of 
 your ministry even on earth, and may have ever- 
 lasting cause of joy and rejoicing, in looking back 
 on that which you this day commence. 
 
 London : — Printed by G. BARcr.Av, Castle St. Loioestcr Sq.