The Ministry Which God Will Own And Bless

A Paper Read At A Conference Of Ministers

By Pastor Edwin White, Woolwich

Brethren, at you request I submit some thoughts on this important subject, and, with no further words of introduction, proceed to observe, firstly, 

I.

That to attain this great object WE MUST RIGIDLY ADHERE TO THE WORD OF GOD. We believe that the truth He has revealed and given us to preach will best commend itself to men’s consciences, and that we shall approve ourselves unto God by continually drawing from the resources which He has provided for our use. We have the highest example and precedent for this in the preaching of our Lord and His apostles. Their sermons and writings were always endorsed and enforced by quotations from Holy Writ. It is not denied that they laid under tribute the works of nature and books written by men, but these were referred to more to illustrate their subjects than to give them authority. A “Thus saith the Lord,” as they knew, carried more weight than the words of the poets or philosophers of the age. We, as preachers, have to deal with men as immortal beings and as having lost souls, and nothing will meet their deep need but that which is revealed in God’s Book. This He knew, and for this He has provided in the eternal grasp of His infinite mind. If, therefore, we set aside His Word, our ministry will be displeasing to Him, and unprofitable for the great ends for which it is designed—man’s recovery, renovation, salvation from sin and all the dread consequences of the Fall. We shall never be greeted by the Master’s “Well done” unless we are faithful to His Word.

II.

WE MUST EXALT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Sincere personal love and profound admiration for Him are essential. We must not question His Divinity, nor, indeed, can we, if He has saved us. We shall know that only an Almighty Saviour could have rescued us, and we shall preach Him in the “exceeding greatness of His power” “to save to the uttermost.” We shall have no doubts about the perfection of His character and righteousness. We shall not waste precious time in discussing such points as whether He was peccable and liable to sin. Our certainty as to His immaculate purity will be too exalted to admit of our speaking dubiously of His perfection. We shall have lofty views of His death as a veritable sacrifice for our sins, and not merely as a splendid exemplification of unparalleled loyalty and love. We shall present Him not merely as an Example to be imitated and emulated, but as the real and only Propitiation, who “was wounded for our transgressions,” and “made a curse for us,” that through Him we might be justified and forgiven all our trespasses. We shall thus glory in the cross on which sin was dealt with efficiently, and all penalty borne away for ever.

We shall also glory in the conquests our Lord achieved over all the powers of evil, and as we view Him coming forth from the conflict “arrayed in majesty and blood,” our hearts will thrill with holy admiration as we tell of “the diadem” which “adorns the mighty Victor’s brow.”

We shall exalt Him in His resurrection, His ascension, His intercession, His Kingly honours, His universal dominion, and the growing triumphs of His glorious reign. In so doing we shall commend ourselves to His Father, who on the Mount directed His disciples to Him alone, to the exclusion of all others, by His ever-memorable words, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.” In so doing we shall uplift before the eyes of sin-burdened men the one great, all-sufficient provision for their spirits’ deepest needs, and the glorious Person, of whom alone it may be said:—

“Jesus, Thou art enough the mind and heart to fill;

Thy life—to calm the anxious soul; Thy love—its fear dispel.”

III.

WE MUST GIVE EQUAL HONOUR TO ALL THE ATTRIBUTES AND PERFECTIONS OF GOD. His holiness, which renders all sin abhorrent to Him, must be clearly enforced—His justice, which cannot abate its claims, and suffers no compromise with evil, but demands perfect obedience from all His subjects—His Omniscience, which penetrates the innermost thoughts of the heart—His infinite Wisdom shining resplendent in all its grand provisions in the Gospel—His unfathomable mercy, as it is displayed in meeting the deep-seated misery into which sin has brought mankind, and the riches of His grace in its elevation above all our faults—and His almighty power to create, to destroy, and to hold all things within His control—these all must have due enforcement. 

Such testimony will beget trust in Him in Whom is “everlasting strength,” and make the rebellious tremble before Him; nor must we overlook His sovereign right and power to do as He wills without giving an account of His procedure to any creature. The infinite and everlasting love which marks all His dealings in grace and providence toward His chosen, will claim special attention, and, if faithfully declared, will present God in a comprehensive aspect, in which no attribute is exalted at the expense of others, but we shall display Him in the full-orbed glory of His greatness and majesty. Before such a view of God, men will hear and fear, and, if it is His will, learn to trust in His most holy name. In a word, every Divine attribute and perfection must separately and conjointly be the theme of our ministry when we attempt to “show the way of salvation” as “the servants of the Most High God” (Acts 16:17).

IV.

It is solemnly incumbent upon us TO ADVANCE ALL THE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL in their harmonious connection “according to the proportion (or analogy) of the faith” (Rom. 12:6).

Every doctrine of the Gospel is harmoniously related to all the rest, and should be enforced as important in its relation to others of equal importance. Hence we must preach Justification by Faith through Christ, and Sanctification by the inwrought work of the Spirit. If we insist that apart from Christ “we can do nothing,” we must remind our hearers of him who wrote “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” If we portray the Christian’s anguish as a “wretched man” we must also describe his raptures when, from the delectable mountains, he surveys the distant Homeland through the “perspective glass” of a good hope.

We shall give due prominence to all parts of the Bible, and, like the householder of whom the Lord speaks, “bring forth out of” this “treasure things new and old“—the new and blessed truths of God’s words of mercy; and these, as they are exemplified and illustrated in the old book which was “written aforetime for our learning” (Matt. 13:52; Rom. 15:4).

Humbling truths, so often overlooked, should have much of our attention. Many whom we address are “dead in trespasses and sins.” We must, therefore, insist on the absolute need of regeneration ere man can “see” or “enter into the kingdom of God,” or perform any spiritual action which He can regard with complacency and approbation.

“The Law was never meant to give new strength to man’s lost race;

We cannot act before we live, and life proceeds from grace.”

Hence the obligation which lies on us, if we are solicitous to declare “all the counsel of God,” to reiterate with all solemnity of emphasis the momentous words, “Ye must be born again.”

Then we are bound to insist on the necessity of repentance; the illumination of the mind by which only we see what sin is; and true contrition, which moves the heart to godly grief for the nature and extent of our transgressions and the iniquity of our rebellious hearts in God’s sight. We must also insist on a cordial acceptance by faith of the truths of the Gospel as a sinner’s only hope, conjoined with a firm and exclusive reliance upon the merit, the blood, and the person of the Redeemer as mighty to save. Further, that sinners who are quickened, repentant, and firmly trusting in Jesus Christ, are perfectly and for ever justified, and that they stand complete in Christ.

These we should also assure that their standing is owing to God’s sovereign and unmerited mercy, which flows out of His everlasting love “according to His eternal purpose and grace.” Adoption into God’s family; joint heirship with Christ, and all the vast glories of heaven with the eternal bliss secured to them in Christ, must also have due prominence, and that they will certainly be “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.”

V. 

A further branch of a God-owned testimony will be THAT FAITH IN CHRIST IS ACCOMPANIED BY A LIVING EXPERIENCE. The soul which participates in the blessings we have enumerated, is favoured with joy, peace, assurance, reconciliation to God, and access with confidence to Him through Christ by the Spirit. Liberty from the bondage of the Law and enjoyment of the privileges of the Gospel are accorded, together with a felt right to plead the promises of God. In a word, the sorrows and joys, the castings down and the gracious upliftings of the true believer should be described by those who desire that God would “give testimony to the word of His grace” as they attempt to preach it (Acts 14:3).

VI.

Nor should the RESPONSIBILITIES WHICH OUR HOLY OFFICE INVOLVES BE IGNORED. A full surrender to the will of Christ must be given, an impartial and unquestioning obedience to His word, so that our habitual conduct may be well pleasing in His sight.

VII.

A DEEP CONCERN FOR SOULS IS ALSO ESSENTIAL if we are to be instrumental in bringing sinners to God. We must burn as well as shine. Our work will consume us even as the lamp consumes the oil which feeds the flame. Thus we shall imbibe the Spirit of Christ, whose love for men led Him to forsake the royalties of heaven. Like Him we shall wrestle at midnight with God for souls. The view we have had of the awful danger from which we have been rescued, will make us long to pluck sinners as brands out of the fire. In these things we surely have the mind of Christ and the approval of our God.

This is a God-given passion which none but true ministers of Christ feel. The joy we experience in our own safety will make us yearn that others may be likewise favoured to “stand upon the mount of God with sunlight in their souls.” We preach because we must. The glad tidings of redeeming love have thrilled our souls, and we would have other hearts made glad with the heavenly music. This treasure is given to us not to hide but to dispense. The knowledge we possess of a precious Saviour we must publish, that those who are “sitting in darkness and the shadow of death” may know that He has “brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel.”

Paul’s review of his labours at Ephesus—so faithful, truthful, assiduous, tender and tearful, as recorded in Acts 20:17-26—is worthy of our close attention. It must have had the Master’s sympathy, sanction and blessing. May it form our ideal, far as we may come short of realising it. Such a ministry our Master enjoins. For this the pressing need of perishing sinners, the sacred office to which we have been called, and the commendation we hope to receive when the Lord returns, imperatively call. “Let,” therefore, 

“Zion’s watchmen all awake and take the alarm they give.

Now let them from the mouth of God their awful charge receive.”