God has ordained that by a holy ministry the Gospel shall be preached, and the world brought back to Christ. Thus far the call to the ministry has been stated by way of preface. God makes choice of His own laborers for this, the grandest of all positions in this life, preaching the Gospel. We cannot take this responsibility upon ourselves, if we do we are simply hirelings, as is the case, we fear, with too many that occupy the sacred desk. Many, I have no doubt, have been called to the pulpit by their parents. They have looked upon the ministry as an exalted and an honorable position, and have entertained an all-absorbing desire that their boy should preach the Gospel. They may have been pious and devout people, but have made a very common mistake of supposing their desire to be the voice of the Spirit calling their boy to the ministry. In order to meet the obligations of the ministry, what God requires, and what the people demand, the call to this high and holy position _must_ come from God. In these days of compromise and corruption there are too many pulpits, instead of being a light-house erected upon a dangerous coast, to warn the mariner of their imminent danger, giving an uncertain sound. God’s ministers have all been called into the ministry. They have not taken it upon themselves. It has come to them like an awful night-mare in the still hours of the night; when about their daily cares; sleeping or waking; journeying by land or sea; among friends or foes; whether suffering from poverty or abounding in wealth; woe is me if I preach not the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This will look like a stupendous job, almost like an insurmountable task to the person truly called of God to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. At the same time they will feel, O, how poorly qualified I am for such an undertaking. And the more they look at themselves the greater the burden seems to grow. To be an embassador of the Lord Jesus Christ, chosen of Him, commissioned to treat with a rebel government, those in open rebellion to His divine majesty, is higher honor than was ever bestowed upon any other mortal. The crowned heads of this world might well envy the very smallest man or woman that wears the royal diadem that Christ puts on the brow of His servants. To me, there was always a sacredness connected with the ministry of Christ. From my earliest recollection I have looked upon the minister of God as occupying the very highest position and receiving the highest honor awarded to any of earth’s subjects; and how men thus called, can come down from so high and holy a calling to mingling in the rottenness of the day, is a profound mystery to me, and how men can consent to be put in a semi-nude state, cable-towed, hoodwinked, and then take upon themselves obligations too horrible for humanity, and by those professedly called to be a minister of Christ, to me is certainly incomprehensible.