like a mighty wind passing through the whole mass, separating the chaff from the wheat, and driving it away, and leaving only the good corn lying all around him. This leads me to say that, apart from afflictions, temptations, and persecutions, the preaching of the gospel is in itself a means of dividing the true followers of Christ from those who are only his disciples in name; and wherever there is a faithful, Christlike ministry, you will find many going away from it for the very same reasons that