But we must not pass unnoticed the devotedness of Paul. It was his main characteristic. What he did, he did with all his being. He brought the great powers of his mind-the burning earnestness of his heart, the untired energies of his spirit— the exalted fervency of his soul—all to bear on the great work to which he was called. Paul's was no half service-there was no divided interest with him. The sacrifice which he offered of himself, was a whole burnt sacrifice! Instant in season and out of season; never discouraged; heeding not distance or peril-his heart embraced every work of labor and love for the Lord's sake. What did he not forego, when he resolutely took up the cross? He gave up opinions, rank, esteem, ease, worldly honor, all things which men hold dear! And what did he not undertake, when he resolutely took up the cross? He exposed himself to malice, to evil insinuations, to surmises, to the hatred of all men, to reviling, to be accounted the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things. But none of these things moved him. He had one work-to make known the unsearchable riches of Christ; and he had one whole and undivided heart to this work, and that he offered constantly a living sacrifice unto God; and if ever man did God's work on earth as the angels do it

in heaven-that man was Paul. He did it readily, he did it sincerely, he did it fervently, he did it devotedly.

And whence arose this devotedness of the Apostle's character? His mind was filled with the most ennobling conceptions. His unearthly spirit seemed to drink in such lofty ideas of God's love and purpose in Christ, that he was lost to all besides. The immense theme his soul surveyed was God's unbounded sovereignty; and gazing entranced and wondering at this-as the musing mind contemplates the far-stretching vastness of the ocean-his astonished exclamation was, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out." Paul's conversation was in heaven; his country-the better country which he sought-was there. He considered his light afflictions, which were but for a moment, as working out for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. His eye was fixed not on the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. Futurity's dark veil was upraised for him. He scanned the vistas of eternity. He was vouchsafed a glimpse of its glorious revelations when he was caught up into the third heaven-and its crown of glory, and its regions

incorruptible, and its buildings not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens, filled his thoughts. And thus animated, and pressing forward for the prize of his high calling, how could he be otherwise than earnest? His hope was of that high standard that it called forth diligence and devotedness, sacrificing all to God, "that through faith and patience he might inherit the promises."

Such was the Apostle's character; and animated by, and colored from it, was his style of preaching. Earnest, bold, faithful—his language fell not from his lips merely, but sprung with unrestrained feeling from his heart. An ambassador for Christ, he knew that his embassy brooked not delay, and therefore with mind, and soul, and spirit, he implored those to whom he addressed himself to be reconciled to God. In all things he approved himself-not for self-seeking, a pleaser of men—but, a minister of God, "by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth." Well instructed in the law-familiar with the learning of the refined Greeks-a close reasoner—a rhetorician not from art but from nature-an orator not from rule but from feeling-skilled in the words which man's wisdom taught and possessed by revelation of such things as it was not lawful for

man to utter he was especially furnished with all that was necessary to arouse, to persuade, to convince, to animate, to gain the hearts and the souls of those who heard him. His speech was with power. His accusers were silenced. His judges trembled; astounded at his wisdom and his ardency, those who tried him deemed him an enthusiast, and that "too much learning had driven him mad!" As he preached, conjurors burned their books; exorcists abjured their craft; demoniacs, turning their spirit of divination against their masters, cried "This man is the servant of the most high God, and showeth unto us the way of salvation." His deportment was a sermon; his doctrine conviction; his earnestness persuasion; his eloquence inspiration; his truth power. The court of Areopagus had rung to the spirit-stirring declamations of Demosthenes, but never had those walls echoed to such words of fervor, such eloquent truths, such glowing revealments, such elevating wisdom, and such divine utterings, as when Paul, standing there, addressed the Athenians in the well-known designation of their own orator, "Ye men of Athens!" Nor could his own infuriate countrymen resist the laudable artifice of his speaking, when perceiving that the council was divided in sentiment, he availed himself of their known tenacity to their

sect, by exclaiming "Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee. of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question." Of the success of his preaching, the consecutive lectures will be an illustration, but we must not conclude the present introduction before deducing from what has been said, wherein Paul is an eminent example.

I. He is an eminent example for his heavenlymindedness. His soul was far, far away. His affections were set upon things above. His heart was in heaven, and heaven was in his heart! The world in which his spirit lived, was the world unseen. Just as an exile from his father-land stands on some far-off shore, and, when the sinking sun tinges with its golden beams the cloud-islands in the west, fondly dreams that he sees in them his own country and his own shore, till recollection has half the substance, and half the influence of reality-so the Apostle, a stranger and a pilgrim, looked ever across the billows of time between him and his home, and oft entranced by faith, which was indeed to him the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, felt himself absent from the body, and present with the Lord. And what a treasure has the man who has heaven thus in his heart! And how strong is he, in that victory which overcometh the world, whose heart