The Supreme Object.

¶ THE one supreme object of the Christian ministry is to preach Christ, and Him crucified. The noble roads, by which the Romans bound the Iron Empire together, travelled from the ends of Europe to converge on the golden milestone in the City of the Seven Hills, and all sermons must culminate and find their loftiest purpose in the Divine Redeemer. We must never forget that, as its ministers, we have been allowed of God to be trusted with the gospel, and to us has been committed the ministry of Reconciliation ; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. In the letter which the late Principal Rainy wrote to the Madras College students he said: “We possess nothing so precious, we value nothing so much; we have no source of good so full, fruitful, and enduring; we have nothing to compare with the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him we bear witness.”; “Whom we proclaim”; cried the apostle,”; admonishing every man, teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ”; Brethren, let us strive and labour towards the same end ! Let our Lord Jesus be the one abiding reality with us, in our innermost thought, our private devotions, our ministry, and our preaching! Let Him be first, and last, and midst, and all-in-all ! Let us wake with Him in the morning, walk with Him all day, and lie down to sleep in the quiet sense of His presence ! To present Him to men, by life and ministry and written or spoken speech, must be the thread on which are strung all the incidents of our varied experiences !