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Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
a confidence that disposes them to idolize the man and look to him
more than to God, and in doing this they do not please God nor grow
in grace. They do great harm to the minister, especially if he is young
and developing into a promising gospel laborer.
These teachers, if they are really men of God, receive their words
from God. Their manner of address may be faulty and need much
improvement, yet if God breathes through them words of inspiration,
the power is not of man, but of God. The Giver should have the glory
and the heart’s affections, while the minister should be esteemed,
loved, and respected for his work’s sake, because he is God’s servant
to bear the message of mercy to sinners. The Son of God is often
eclipsed by the man standing between Him and the people. The man is
praised, petted, and exalted, and the people scarcely get a glimpse of
Jesus, who, by the precious beams of light reflected from Him, should
eclipse everything besides.
The minister of Christ who is imbued with the Spirit and love of
his Master will so labor that the character of God and of His dear Son
may be made manifest in the fullest and clearest manner. He will
strive to have his hearers become intelligent in their conceptions of the
character of God, that His glory may be acknowledged on the earth.
A man is no sooner converted than in his heart is born a desire to
make known to others what a precious friend he has found in Jesus;
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the saving and sanctifying truth cannot be shut up in his heart. The
Spirit of Christ illuminating the soul is represented by the light, which
dispels all darkness; it is compared to salt, because of its preserving
qualities; and to leaven, which secretly exerts its transforming power.
Those whom Christ has connected with Himself will, as far as in
them lies, labor diligently and perseveringly, as He labored, to save
souls who are perishing around them. They will reach the people by
prayer, earnest, fervent prayer, and personal effort. It is impossible for
those who are thoroughly converted to God, enjoying communion with
Him, to be negligent of the vital interests of those who are perishing
outside of Christ.
The minister should not do all the work himself, but he should
unite with him those who have taken hold of the truth. He will thus
teach others to work after he shall leave. A working church will ever
be a growing church. They will ever find a stimulus and a tonic in