The ministry, then, is not chosen as a man chooses a profession, consulting his inclination or interest. It is entered in obedience to a special call from God, and the consciousness of this is essential to personal qualification for the work. The emphasis which the Scriptures place on the Divine vocation of the minister implies a distinction between a call to the ministry and the ordinary choice of a profession. This distinction, in one important element at least, may perhaps be thus expressed: In the case of the minister the work is one to which the conscience _obliges;_ he feels that he _ought_ to engage in it, and that he cannot do otherwise without _guilt._ But in the case of one choosing another profession it is a matter of aptitudes, tastes, interest; he feels that it is _right_ and _wise_ thus to choose, but there is no sense of imperative _obligation,_ so that it would be morally _wrong_ to do otherwise. In the one, there is the sense of positive obligation as expressed in its strongest form by Paul: "Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel" (1 Cor. ix. 16); in the other, there is a sense of the rightfulness of the choice made and a consciousness of the Divine approbation in making it, but the contrary choice would not necessarily be morally wrong. As to the manifestation of this call, two opposite errors are to be avoided. On the one hand, the call is conceived as consisting in a mere preference for the work of the ministry, and the result is that men influenced only by literary tastes or unhallowed ambition rush unbidden into the sacred office. On the other, it is regarded as a supernatural manifestation, like a voice from heaven, attended with intense mental struggles; and, as the result, men who ought to enter the ministry are, in the absence of such manifestations, deterred from entering it and mistake their true mission in life. Evidently, this duty is to be ascertained in the same manner as any other duty. The call, indeed, is a Divine act, but so also is regeneration; yet in neither case is the manifestation necessarily or ordinarily supernatural. The evidences of it are found in a prayerful examination of one's own experience compared with God's Word. Christian young men, therefore, should be urged to ponder carefully the question whether God is not calling them to the ministry. A pastor's utmost wisdom and discrimination should be employed in inspiring and guiding young men to right thinking in regard to their life-mission. Many a life-failure might thus be prevented, and many a noble man whose life otherwise had been devoted to secular pursuits would be saved for effective service in the pulpit. This call, I conceive, is manifested in the heart of the individual, in the convictions of the church, and in the providence of God.