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Address to Ministers
443
evidence that God has especially selected them to teach the people
the way to life; yet frequently their conversation is not profitable, and
they show that they have not the burden of the work upon them. Their
own souls are not energized by the mighty truths which they present
to others. Some preach these truths, of such weighty importance, in
so listless a manner that they cannot affect the people. “Whatsoever
thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” Men whom God has
called must be trained to put forth effort, to work earnestly and with
untiring zeal for Him, to pull souls out of the fire. When ministers
feel the power of the truth in their own souls, thrilling their own
being, then will they possess power to affect hearts, and show that
they firmly believe the truths they preach to others. They should
keep before the mind the worth of souls, and the matchless depths
of a Saviour’s love. This will awaken the soul so that with David
they may say: “My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the
fire burned.”
Paul exhorted Timothy: “Let no man despise thy youth; but be
thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity,
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in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to
exhortation, to doctrine.” “Meditate upon these things; give thyself
wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto
thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this
thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” What a weight
of importance is here attached to the Christian life of the minister
of God! What a necessity for his faithful study of the word, that he
himself may be sanctified by the truth and may be qualified to teach
others.
Brethren, you are required to exemplify the truth in your life.
But those who think that they have a work to do to teach others the
truth are not all converted, and sanctified by the truth. Some have
erroneous ideas of what constitutes a Christian and of the means
through which a firm religious experience is obtained; much less do
they understand the qualifications that God requires His ministers
to possess. These men are unsanctified. They have occasionally
a flight of feeling, which gives them the impression that they are
indeed children of God. This dependence upon impressions is one of
the special deceptions of Satan. Those who are thus exercised make
their religion a matter of circumstance. Firm principle is wanting.