Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org

If Christ be a priest for ever, there can be no succession of priests; and
if he have all power in heaven and in earth, and if he be present wherever
two or three are gathered together in his name, he can have no vicars; nor
can the church need one to act in his place, when he, from the necessity
of his nature, fills all places and is everywhere present. This one
consideration nullifies all the pretensions of the Romish pontiff, and
proves the whole to be a tissue of imposture.
A man may be well taught in the things of God, and be able to teach
others, who has not had the advantages of a liberal education.
Teachers who preach for hire, having no motive to enter into the
ministry but to get a living, as it is called ominously by some; however
they may bear the garb and appearance of the innocent useful sheep, the
true pastors commissioned by the Lord Jesus, or to whatever name, class,
or party they may belong, are, in the sight of the heart-searching God, no
other than ravenous wolves, whose design is to feed themselves with the
fat, and clothe themselves with the fleece, and thus ruin, instead of save
the flock.
He who preaches to get a living, or to make a fortune, is guilty of the
most infamous sacrilege.
Even in our enlightened country, we find prophets who prefer hunting
the hare or the fox, and pursuing the partridge and pheasant, to visiting
the sick, and going after the strayed, lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Poor souls! they know neither God nor themselves; and if they did visit
the sick, they could not speak to them to exhortation, edification, or
comfort. God never called them to his work, therefore they know nothing
of it. But O what an account have these pleasure-taking false prophets to
render to the Shepherd of souls!
"His blood will I require at thy hand:"—I will visit thy soul for the loss
of his. O how awful is this! Hear it, ye priests,—ye preachers,—ye
ministers of the gospel; ye, especially, who have entered into the ministry