"Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool;) I am more. In labours more abundant; in stripes, above measure; in prisons, more frequent; in deaths, oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice have I been beaten with rods; once was I stoned; thrice I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day have I been in the deep. In journeyings, often-In perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. -In weariness and painfulness; in watchings, often; in hunger and thirst; in fastings, often ; in cold and nakedness."

Now what, in our days, would have been thought of a man willingly submitting to all these distresses, for a cause that was every where discountenanced, disliked, and derided? Would he not have been regarded as a fanatic, or a madman? Would he not have been considered as under the influence of some unaccountable fatality, doomed to find the reward of his errors in the miseries they brought? Suppose such to have been the wise world's judgment. By St. Paul it was unheeded and despised. He felt, he knew, that the cause he served was one which the Supreme Ruler of the universe singularly acknowledged and approved; and, notwithstanding the incessant diffi

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culties that he was called to bear; that did, as it were, like evil spirits, start out upon him at every turning; he was neither alarmed nor discouraged. He suffered the loss of all things; he sacrificed the goods which the world might offer, and gloried in the tribulation of the cross. Every thing about him presented a gloomy aspect; a tempest of affliction hung ready to burst over his head; strangers looked upon him as an infatuated man, and his own countrymen conspired to take away his life. What then?-Did he sink under the pressure of these misfortunes ?-No; far, very far indeed from that: "None of these things moved him, neither did he count his life dear unto himself, so that he might finish his course with joy, and the ministry which he had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God."

IV. In the decline of life, it is natural for man to tread back his steps, and to ruminate upon the past. In the hurry and impetuosity of the passions, we but rarely calculate the value of things aright. The imagination is heated; the heart is on fire, while we pursue the distant object and it is not till the stimulus loses its power, and the ardour of the chase is over, that we are prepared to pronounce upon the character of the course we have pursued. If, at last, when the tumult has subsided, and hope and fear lie entombed in our bosom: if then, we can retrace our movements with satisfac

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tion; and feel secure that our conduct has, in the main, been such as our God, our Saviour, and our own conscience, approve; well may we be contented to resign this mortal existence, and hail the day-break of eternity!

In the review of his career, St. Paul felt this pure satisfaction. He saw no cause to repent of the sacrifices he had made, the sufferings he had borne. A halo of glory encircled his thoughts while he recalled the scenes he had passed through for the sake of Christ. The defences he had made before the bond and the free, the Greek and the Jew, the judge and the king, afforded him abundant joy. His grand design had been to "make known among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;" to save the world by the preaching of the Cross; "to turn mankind from darkness to light; from the power of Satan unto God." For this, he had faced opposition; for this, struggled with poverty; for this, confronted martyrdom. His ministry was now drawing to a close; his labours were at an end; his race was run; and like the glorious setting sun, he was withdrawing from life's horizon. How then, did he meet the grave? Did he feel that confidence now, of which he had talked so much in the strength and flower of his days? Or, at the last, did he faint in his mind, and feel that his hope was vain, and the Gospel he had taught a dream? Let this great Apostle answer for him

self. To his beloved Timothy-a young man for whom he seems to have indulged even more than a father's fondness; "being now such an one as Paul the aged;" in bonds for the Gospel; and in prospect of martyrdom ;-he thus writes. "I am now ready to be offered ;"-placed upon the altar, and immolated as a sacrifice;-"the time of my departure is at hand:"-what then?-Reviewing the past at this solemn moment, what does this great man think of the course he has pursued, and the doom he must expect? How eloquent! How heart-moving! are his own words on this subject: "I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith; henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." So that could we have seen him ere he was put to death, (for he died a martyr,) it is probable that the very language of the text would have been the exact counterpart of that which last dropped from his lips; nay more ;—in the hour of death, when the sword of the executioner was about to strike off the head from the trunk of the body, perhaps we should have heard him utter these very words: and dying for his Lord, triumphantly exclaim, "God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I have now presented to you such a view of the character of St. Paul, as the text seemed to suggest. In conclusion, I will recapitulate the points upon which the sermon has turned, in the form of questions, that we may the more easily ascertain what portion of the spirit of this venerable Apostle appears in ourselves.

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I. What opinions, then, have we formed of the doctrine of the Cross? Are we persuaded of its truth and divinity, or do we regard it as a cunningly devised fable?" Do we esteem it "the wisdom of God, and the power of God, unto salvation;" or is it in our account "a stumbling-block, and foolishness ?"

II. When we hear this doctrine of the Cross, which ought to be our glory, ridiculed and opposed, do we stand forward as its advocates, or do we join in the chorus of the scoffing infidels? Does the hallowed fire that lighted up the soul of St. Paul, burn within us when we hear the Saviour of the world reviled, or are we ashamed of that worthy name by which we are distinguished among the nations?

III. If persecution should happen, and who shall say that it will not?-but, if it should; are we prepared to "hold fast the profession of the faith?" If we were obliged, on a given day, to part with our faith, or with our fortune, which should we sacrifice? Let us remember, that a man cannot be