Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org
Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org
Who so prejudiced as not to see that God put no honour on Inman, the curate, but chose Susanna Wesley to do the work of the evangelist? The abundance of gracious fruit which sprang from this seed proved that the master sower was Jesus, the Lord of the harvest. Lord, thou wilt send by whomsoever thou pleasest; and wilt hide pride from man, in order to prove that the excellence of the power is of thee! When the great Head of the church calls a man to preach the gospel, he in effect says, "Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." He never confines his own gift and call absolutely to any place; but leaves them under the direction and management of his own providence. The call of God to preach is a missionary call; and they who have it know that they are not their own, and must do the Master's work in the Master's own way, place, and time. Hence all the ministers of his gospel have a missionary spirit; let providence direct, as it chooses, their way. Does any man inquire what is the duty of a gospel minister? Send him to the second chapter of the Epistle to Titus for a complete answer. There he will find what he is to believe, what he is to practise, and what he is to preach. Even his congregation is parcelled out to him. The old and the young of both sexes, and those who are in their employment, are considered to be the objects of his ministry; and a plan of teaching, in reference to those different descriptions of society, is laid down before him. He finds here the doctrine which he is to preach to them, the duties which he is required to inculcate, the motives by which his exhortations are to be strengthened, and the end which both he and his people should invariably have in view. The charge of St. Paul to the pastors of the church of Christ at Ephesus and Miletus contains much that is interesting to every Christian minister:—1. If he be sent of God at all, he is sent to feed the flock. 2. But, in order to feed them, he must have the bread of life. 3. This bread he must distribute in its due season, that each may have that portion that is suitable to time, place, and state. 4. While he is feeding others, he
should take care to have his own soul fed: it is possible for a minister to be the instrument of feeding others, and yet starve himself. 5. If Jesus Christ intrust to his care the souls he has bought by his own blood, what an awful account will he have to give in the day of judgment, if any of them perish through his neglect! Though the sinner, dying in his sins, has his own blood upon his head, yet, if the watchman has not faithfully warned him, his blood will be required at the watchman's hand. Let him who is concerned read Ezekiel xxxiii, 3-5, and think of the account which he is shortly to give unto God. The very discoveries which are really useful have been made by men who feared God, and conscientiously credited divine revelation; witness Newton, Boyle, Pascal, and many others. But all the skeptics and deists, by their schemes of natural religion and morality, have not been able to save one soul! No sinner has ever been converted from the error of his ways by their preaching or writings. In all this enumeration, where the apostle gives us all the officers and gifts necessary for the constitution of a church, we find not one word of bishops, presbyters, or deacons; much less of the various officers and offices which the Christian church at present exhibits. Perhaps the bishops are included under the apostles, the presbyters under the prophets, and the deacons under the teachers. As to the other ecclesiastical officers with which the Romish Church teems, they may seek them who are determined to find them, anywhere out of the New Testament. It is natural for men to run into extremes; and there is no subject on which they have run into wider extremes than that of the necessity of human learning; for, in order to a proper understanding of the sacred Scriptures, on one hand, all learning has been cried down, and the necessity of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as the sole interpreter, strongly and vehemently argued. On the other, all inspiration has been set aside, the possibility of it questioned, and all pretensions to it ridiculed in a way savouring little of Christian charity or reverence for God. That
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Who so prejudiced as not to see that God put no honour on Inman, the<br />
curate, but chose Susanna Wesley to do the work of the evangelist? The<br />
abundance of gracious fruit which sprang from this seed proved that the<br />
master sower was Jesus, the Lord of the harvest. Lord, thou wilt send by<br />
whomsoever thou pleasest; and wilt hide pride from man, in order to<br />
prove that the excellence of the power is of thee!<br />
When the great Head of the church calls a man to preach the gospel,<br />
he in effect says, "Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every<br />
creature." He never confines his own gift and call absolutely to any place;<br />
but leaves them under the direction and management of his own<br />
providence. The call of God to preach is a missionary call; and they who<br />
have it know that they are not their own, and must do the Master's work<br />
in the Master's own way, place, and time. Hence all the ministers of his<br />
gospel have a missionary spirit; let providence direct, as it chooses, their<br />
way.<br />
Does any man inquire what is the duty of a gospel minister? Send him<br />
to the second chapter of the Epistle to Titus for a complete answer. There<br />
he will find what he is to believe, what he is to practise, and what he is to<br />
preach. Even his congregation is parcelled out to him. The old and the<br />
young of both sexes, and those who are in their employment, are<br />
considered to be the objects of his ministry; and a plan of teaching, in<br />
reference to those different descriptions of society, is laid down before<br />
him. He finds here the doctrine which he is to preach to them, the duties<br />
which he is required to inculcate, the motives by which his exhortations<br />
are to be strengthened, and the end which both he and his people should<br />
invariably have in view.<br />
The charge of St. Paul to the pastors of the church of Christ at Ephesus<br />
and Miletus contains much that is interesting to every <strong>Christian</strong><br />
minister:—1. If he be sent of God at all, he is sent to feed the flock. 2.<br />
But, in order to feed them, he must have the bread of life. 3. This bread<br />
he must distribute in its due season, that each may have that portion that<br />
is suitable to time, place, and state. 4. While he is feeding others, he
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