Patience and perseverance also are necessary qualifications for the Christian minister. “Ye have need of patience,” saith the Apostle St. Paul, “that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” “Add therefore,” saith St. Peter, “to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, _patience_.” “In your patience,” saith Christ, “possess ye your souls.” And because his difficulties are great, and the enemies with which he has to contend, numerous and powerful, he must put on the whole armour of God, in order to withstand the evil day, and having done all to stand. He must not only pray, but pray with all prayer and supplication in the spirit; he must not only watch, but watch with all _perseverance_. May it not, alas! be said of some, that they began well, but lacked patience to run the race that was set before them; as St. Paul complains of the Galatians (chap. v. 5), _Ye did run well_, and yet afterwards they made shipwreck of faith. The young Christian, when he feels himself as a brand plucked out of the burning, and experiences the love of Christ in his soul, constraining him to devote all his powers to the service of that God who called him out of darkness into marvellous light, like Peter, is ready to combat a host of men in his Master’s defence, wonders at his former blindness, and almost thinks it strange, that any should neglect the service of so good a Master. And in like manner the young minister, when first appointed to his charge, and opening his commission as one of God’s ambassadors, like the untried soldier, thinks of great things to be achieved, and the difficulties seem light; but by degrees both find that the course cannot be run without many a struggle, nor the victory won without many a battle. And the minister of Christ more than any other, will be assaulted by the great adversary of souls with temptations exactly suited to his circumstances and disposition, and all tending to one point, the making Christ, and Christ crucified, if I may so state it, a secondary object in his ministrations, first in name, second in reality, giving to other duties and doctrines, valuable in themselves and in their proper place, that pre-eminence which belongs to Christ alone. Alas! my brethren, do we not see too much of this in the present day! Bread is asked for, and a stone is given by some who once preached “Christ in everything, and everything in Christ.” But we can thankfully bear testimony to the perseverance of our dear departed brother in the right way; from the day of his admission into the sacred office of the ministry up to the hour of his removal from us, he looked unto Jesus, as the author and finisher of his faith, set Him always before him, and with deep humility sought to follow in his steps.