"As, my brethren, the ulterior design of our public ministry is to recover sinners from their apostasy from God, into a state of fellowship with him, ought we not ourselves to live in an habitual contemplation of his excellencies, and in the exercise of spiritual communion with him? Ought we not to rise above the mere forms and ceremonies of devotion, into that immediate intercourse with the Holy One which the Scriptures describe by the appropriate phrase of 'walking with God?' May we not fairly presume that such an hallowed exercise will have a most material influence in inducing within us that pure and ardent spirit of devotion, without which the duties of our sacred profession will be discharged in a cold, formal, and unimpressive manner? And can we expect to shed the lustre of piety around us unless we are imbued with its spirit, by a constant association with Him who alone can infuse it into the mind, and keep it from a state of relaxation and decay? "It has been remarked that the copy which the rest of mankind write after should be remarkably correct. Hence the exhortation which St. Paul addressed to Timothy is strictly applicable to each of us: 'Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity' (1 Tim. iv. 12). The apology which has sometimes been offered for ministerial irregularity cannot be admitted--'Do as we say, but not as we do;' for is not example more powerful than precept? If the priest be profane, will not the people abhor the sacrifice? If we addict ourselves to the vices of the age, can we warn the people against them with any hope of success? If we follow the amusements and diversions of this world, will they believe that we are in earnest when we exhort them to abstain _from the appearance of evil_? If we secularize our habits, enter with spirit into the intrigues of the politician, and discover a restless ambition to reach the summit of human fame, will they give us credit for being sincere, if we exhort them, as we ought to do, _to set their affections on things above, and not on things on the earth_?