CHARGE TO THE MINISTER
My dear Brother — It is not many years ago since you and I played together as children, and now, by the wonderful providence of God, I have been appointed to preside at your ordination to the office of the holy ministry. Truly his way is in the sea, and his path in the deep waters. Do not think, then, that I mean to assume an authority which I have not. I cannot speak to you as a father, but as a brother beloved in the Lord let me address a few words of counsel to you.
(1). Thank God for putting you into the ministry
“I thank Christ Jesus my Lord for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.” “To me, who am less than the least of all saints,” etc. Oh brother, thank God for saving your soul; for sending his Spirit into your heart, and drawing you to Christ! But this day you have a new cause of thankfulness to being put into the ministry. It is the greatest honour in this world. “Had I a thousand lives, I would willingly spend them in it; and had I a thousand sons, I would gladly devote them to it.” True, it is an awfully responsible office: the eternity of thousands depends on your faithfulness; but ah! the grace is so full, and the reward so glorious. “If,” said the dying Parson, “If ministers only saw the preciousness of Christ, they would not be able to refrain from clapping their hands with joy, and exclaiming, I am a minister of Christ! I am a minister of Christ!” Do not forget, then, dear brother, amid the broken accents of confession from a broken heart, to pour out a song of thankfulness. Thanks be to God, for my own part, during the few years I have been a minister; I can truly say that I desire no other honour upon earth than to be allowed to preach the everlasting gospel. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.
(2). Seek the anointing of the Holy Spirit
The more anointing of the Holy Spirit you have, the more will you be a happy, holy and successful minister. You remember the two olive-trees that stood close by the golden candlestick, and emptied the golden oil out of themselves. These represent successful ministers, anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. The Lord make you like one of them. Remember John the Baptist: “He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.” The Lord fill you in like manner, and then you will be a converting minister. Remember the apostles. Before the day of Pentecost they were dry, sapless trees — they had little fruit; but when the Spirit came on them like a mighty rushing wind, then three thousand were pricked to the heart.
Oh! brother, plead with God to fill you with the Spirit, that you may stand in his counsel, and cause the people to hear his words, and turn many from the evil of their ways. You know that a heated iron, though blunt, can pierce its way even where a much sharper instrument, if cold, could not enter. Pray that you may be filled with the fire of the Spirit, that you may pierce into the hard hearts of unconverted sinners.
(3). Do not rest without success in your ministry
success is the rule under a living ministry; want of success is the exception. “The want of ministerial success,” says Robinson, “is a tremendous circumstance, never to be contemplated without horror.” Your people will be of two kinds:
1st. The Lord’s people
Those who are already in Christ, seek for success among them. He gave some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints. Never forget Christ’s words: “Feed my sheep, feed my lambs.” Be like Barnabas, a son of consolation. Exhort them to cleave to the Lord. Do not say, “They are safe, and I will let them alone.” This is a great mistake. See how Paul laid out his strength in confirming the disciples. Be a helper of their joy. Do not rest till you get them to live under the pure, holy rules of the gospel.
2nd. The great mass you will find to be unconverted
Go, brother, leaving the ninety-nine, go after the one sheep that was lost. Leave your home, your comforts, your bed, your ease, your all, to feed lost souls. The Lord of Glory left heaven for this; it is enough for the disciple to be as his Master. It is said of Alleine, that “he was infinitely and insatiably greedy of the conversion of souls.” Rutherford wrote to his dear people, “My Witness is above, that your heaven would be two heavens to me, and the salvation of you all as two salvations to me.” The Lord give you this heavenly compassion for this people. Do not be satisfied without conversion. You will often find that there is a shaking among the dry bones — a coming together bone to his bone — skin and flesh come upon them, but no breath in them. Oh! brother, cry for the breath of heaven. Remember a moral sinner will lie down in the same hell with the vilest.
(4). Lead a holy life
I believe, brother, that you are born from above, and therefore I have confidence in God touching you, that you will be kept from the evil. But oh! study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this. Your sermon on Sabbath lasts but an hour or two — your life preaches all the week. Remember, ministers are standard-bearers. Satan aims his fiery darts at them. If he can only make you a covetous minister, or a lover of pleasure, or a lover of praise, or a lover of good eating, then he has ruined your ministry for ever. Ah, let him preach on fifty years, he will never do me any harm. Dear brother, cast yourself at the feet of Christ, implore his Spirit to make you a holy man. Take heed to thyself, and to thy doctrine.
(5). Last of all, be a man of prayer
Give yourself to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. If you do not pray, God will probably lay you aside from your ministry, as He did me, to teach you to pray. Remember Luther’s maxim, “Bene orâsse est bene studuisse.” Get your texts from God — your thoughts, your words, from God. Carry the names of the little flock upon your breast, like the High Priest; wrestle for the unconverted. Luther spent his three best hours in prayer. John Welch prayed seven or eight hours a day. He used to keep a plaid on his bed, that he might wrap himself in it when he rose during night. Sometimes his wife found him on the ground lying weeping. When she complained, he would say, “Oh woman! I have the souls of three thousand to answer for, and I know not how it is with many of them.” Oh that God would pour down this spirit of prayer on you and me, and all the ministers of our beloved church, and then we shall see better days in Scotland. I commend you to God, etc.
CHARGE TO THE PEOPLE
Dear Brethren — I trust that this is to be the beginning of many happy days to you in this place. Gifts in answer to prayer are always the sweetest. I believe your dear pastor has been given you in answer to prayer, for I do not think your wonderful unanimity can be accounted for in any other way.
(1). Love your pastor
So far as I know him, he is worthy of your love. I believe he is one to whom the Lord has been very merciful, that God has already owned his labours, and I trust will a thousand times more. Esteem him very highly in love for his work’s sake. You little know the anxieties, temptations, pains, and wrestlings, he will be called to bear for you. Few people know the deep wells of anxiety in the bosom of a faithful pastor. Love and reverence him much. Do not make an idol of him; that will destroy his usefulness. It was said of the Erskines, that men could not see Christ over their heads. Remember, look beyond him and above him. Those that would have worshipped Paul were the people who stoned him. Do not stumble at them. Would you refuse gold because it was brought you in a ragged purse? Would you refuse pure water because it came in a chipped bowl? The treasure is in an earthen vessel.
(2). Make use of your pastor
He has come with good news from a far country. Come and hear.
1st. Wait patiently on his ministry — He does not come in his own name. The Lord is with him. If you refuse him, you will refuse Christ; for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts.
2nd. Welcome him into your houses. He is coming, like his Master, to seek that which was lost, and to bind up that which is broken; to strengthen that which was sick, and to bring again that which was driven away. You have all need of him, whether converted or not. Remember there is an awful curse against those who receive not gospel messages. He will shake the dust off his feet against you, and that dust will rise against you in judgment.
3rd. Do not trouble him about worldly matters — His grand concern is to get your soul saved. He is not a man of business, but a man of prayer. He has given himself to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
4th. Go freely to him about your souls — “The minister’s house was more thronged than ever the tavern had wont to be.” These were happy days. There is no trade I would like to see broken in this place but that of the taverners. It is a soul-destroying trade. I would like to see the taverns emptied, and the minister’s house thronged. Do not hesitate to go to him. It is your duty and your privilege. It is your duty. It will encourage him, and show him how to preach to your souls. It is your privilege. I have known many get more light from a short conversation than from many sermons.
5th. Be brief — Tell your case. Hear his word and be gone. Remember his body is weak, and his time precious. You are stealing his time from others or from God. I cannot tell you what a blessing it will be if you will be very short in your calls. The talk of the lips tendeth to penury.
(3). God’s children, pray for him
Pray for his body, that he may be kept strong, and spared for many years. Pray for his soul, that he may be kept humble and holy — a burning and a shining light — that he may grow. Pray for his ministry, that it may be abundantly blessed — that he may be anointed to preach good tidings. Let there be no secret prayer without naming him before your God, no family prayer without carrying your pastor in your hearts to God. Hold up his hands, so Israel will prevail against Amalek.
(4). Unconverted souls, prize this opportunity
I look on this ordination as a smile of Heaven upon you. God might have taken away ministers from this town instead of giving us more. I believe the Lord Jesus is saying, “I have much people in this city.” The door is begun to be opened this day. The Spirit is beginning to shine. Oh that you would know the day of your visitation! This is the market-day of grace beginning in this end of the town, and you should all come to buy. Oh that you knew the day of your visitation! Some, I fear, will be the worse of this ministry, and not the better. The election will be saved, and the rest be blinded. Some will yet wish they had died before this church was opened. Be sure, dear souls, that you will either be saved, or more lost, by this ministry. Your pastor comes with the silver trumpet of mercy. Why will ye turn it into the trumpet of judgment? He comes with glad tidings of great joy. Why should you turn them into sad tidings of endless woe? He comes to preach the acceptable day of the Lord. Why will ye turn it into a day of vengeance of our God?
16th Dec. 1840