Address to Ministers
287
perfect in Christ Jesus: whereunto I also labor, striving according to
His working, which worketh in me mightily.”
Here the ministers of Christ have their work, their qualifications,
and the power of God’s grace working in them, clearly defined. God
has been pleased recently to show me a great deficiency in many who
profess to be representatives of Christ. In short, if they are deficient in
faith and in a knowledge of vital godliness they are not only deceiving
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their own souls, but are making a failure in the work of presenting
every man perfect in Christ. Many whom they bring into the truth are
destitute of true godliness. They may have a theory of the truth, but
they are not thoroughly converted. Their hearts are carnal; they do not
abide in Christ and He in them. It is the duty of the minister to present
the theory of the truth; but he should not rest with having done this
merely. He should adopt the language of Paul: “I also labor, striving
according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.”
A vital connection with the Chief Shepherd will make the under-
shepherd a living representative of Christ, a light indeed to the world.
An understanding of all points of our faith is indeed essential, but it is
of greater importance that the minister be sanctified through the truth
which he presents for the purpose of enlightening the consciences of
his hearers. In a series of meetings not one discourse should be given
consisting of theory alone, nor should one long, tedious prayer be
made. Such prayers God does not hear. I have listened to many prosy,
sermonizing prayers that were uncalled for and out of place. A prayer
with one half the number of words, offered in fervor and faith, would
have softened the hearts of the hearers; but, instead of this, I have
seen them wait impatiently, as though wishing that every word would
end the prayer. Had the minister wrestled with God in his chamber
until he felt that his faith could grasp the eternal promise, “Ask, and ye
shall receive,” he would have come to the point at once, asking with
earnestness and faith for what he needed.
We need a converted ministry; otherwise the churches raised up
through their labors, having no root in themselves, will not be able
to stand alone. The faithful minister of Christ will take the burden
upon his soul. He will not hunger after popularity. The Christian
minister should never enter the desk until he has first sought God in
his closet and has come into close connection with Him. He may, with
humility, lift his thirsty soul to God and be refreshed with the dew of