Trait 37.

TRAIT 37.

His readiness to seal with his blood the truths of the Gospel. HE who is not yet prepared to die [or his Lord, has not yet received that “perfect love” which “casteth out fear:” and it is a matter of doubt, whether any preacher is worthy to appear in the pulpit, whose confidence in the truths of the Gospel is not strong enough to dispose him, in certain situations, to seal those truths with his blood. If he really shrink from the idea of dying in the cause of Christianity, is it for him to publish a Saviour, who is “the resurrection and the life?” And may he not be said to play with his conscience, his auditors, and his God, if, while he is the slave of sin and fear, he presents himself as a witness of the salvation of that omnipotent Redeemer, who, “through death, has destroyed him that had the power of death;” and who, by his resurrection, has “delivered them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage?” Hebrews 2:14, 15. Love, in the language of Solomon, “is strong as death:” but the true minister glows with that fervent love to Christ and his brethren, which is abundantly stronger than those fears of death which would prevent him, in times of persecution, from the faithful discharge of his ministerial functions. Such was the love of St. Paul, when he cried out to those who would have dissuaded him from the dangerous path of duty: “What mean ye to weep, and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus,” Acts 21:13. “And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying, that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus,” Acts 20:22-24. “For I know that this shall turn to my salvation, through your prayer, and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation, that Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all,” Philippians 1:19-21; 2:17. Thus “the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep: but he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep,” John 10:11, 12. Happy is that Church whose pastor is prepared to tread in the steps of “the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls!” St. Paul would not have been ashamed to acknowledge such a one as his companion and fellow labourer in the work of the Lord.