THE term “minister” ordinarily means one who serves or attends on another; that is, a servant. And all those who have been savingly called by the Holy Spirit to the knowledge of Christ Jesus as their Redeemer and Lord, are said to be His servants. But in the Old Testament, and especially in the New, the designation “minister” is frequently and especially applied to such men as were called by divine authority to minister unto God and His Son Jesus Christ in the holy things of His sanctuary, and with respect to the preaching of the Word, the administration of the sacraments, and the government of the Church in New Testament times. Such men the Apostle Paul describes as “the ministers of Christ” (I Cor. iv. 1).
And so ministers of Christ are men who have had a definite, divine and authoritative call and commission to devote themselves wholly to the especial service of Christ in the Gospel Church. In Acts (chapter 26), Paul, in rehearsing the wonders of his conversion, proceeds to relate also the directions he received as to assuming the particular service of his new-found Saviour and Master, viz., “But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee” (verse 16). All this is very definite and weighty; and although Paul’s call to be a minister was so outstanding, yet we are of the opinion that every true minister of Christ is fully persuaded in his own mind that he has divine authority, more or less clear, for setting his face on this solemn work and the duties and hazards involved. There must surely be a counting of the cost before entering upon such service, with a due sense of one’s responsibilities.
The labours of a minister of Christ entail his faithful application to the work of preaching the whole counsel of God and the essential doctrines of the gospel of Christ, having in view the state and needs of sinners in general and of believers in particular, whoever will bear or forbear. For as we look out and look back upon the religious condition of the people of our land to-day, it is obvious that we are
under a terrible blight from an unconverted and unauthorised ministry. Hundreds of men professing to be the ministers of Christ are preaching “another gospel, which is not another,” and are by false doctrine and the withholding of essential saving gospel truth deceiving multitudes into thinking that they are Christians, God’s children, and are on the pathway to heaven, whereas they are on the broad way to outer darkness. And so the ministers of Christ who have truly the salvation of precious souls at heart must, without wavering, continue to tell their hearers of the awfulness of sin and the reality of eternal punishment with respect to the impenitent, and also the fundamental glories of Christ as to His incarnation, atoning death, blessed resurrection and intercession at the right hand of God; and that man must be “born again” of the Holy Ghost ere he can enter into the Kingdom of God; and, further, that God requires a holy walk and conversation of those who name the name of Christ. And so on. It matters not what the world, and the religious world, think of the minister of Christ: he must discharge this part of his service without fear or favour, consistently with the guidance of the Word and the Spirit and mind of the Lord Jesus.
The good, prosperity and peace of the Church and Kingdom of Christ must be highly and constantly regarded by Christ’s ministers. They are not to seek their own things, but those things which are Jesus Christ’s. However weak the cause of Christ may be, however strong the obstacles to its advancement, and however discouraging such circumstances may tend to be, the genuine minister of Christ is surely to betake himself to the throne of grace for grace, wisdom, strength and a right and Christ-honouring frame of mind, to be devoted, more if possible, to the service of his Master under such circumstances, leaving the issues with Him. When we read and think of all that the Apostles met with and endured from enemies of the Gospel and of Christ, and yet persevered in the activities of their office, they indeed shine, as they were intended to do, as examples for the Church and ministers of Christ to the end of time. The professed minister of Christ who falls into sloth and inactivity, and can bear to refrain from the Master’s service in the Gospel and subsidiary duties because of external discouragements, is either not a true minister of Christ at all or lacks to a lamentable degree a sense of his most solemn obligations to Christ, and indeed to the Church of Christ as well. We cannot play fast and loose with the office of the ministry without incurring guilt or, on the other hand, revealing manifestly that this office means really nothing to us. Many to-day, holding professedly the office of the ministry of Christ, are not daunted by the low state of true religion. They lend themselves as leaders in all manner of vanity within the pale of the so-called Christian Church. They permit dancing, card-playing, concerts, etc., as part of the “life” of the Church, and allow all kinds and classes to be partakers of the Lord’s Table, such as Sabbath-breakers and other profane persons. How many in
Scotland itself profess to be ministers of Christ and are only servants of Satan? And in England we have the organised activities of many professed ministers of Christ; to introduce into the State Church, the Church of England, Canon Laws which quite clearly are intended to reintroduce Romish practices into that Church, in a formal, open and unashamed manner. These men are not ministers of Christ in the searching light of New Testament and Apostolic doctrine and practice: they are the ministers of Popery and ritualism.
It is useful, therefore, that ministers of Christ watch the signs of the times with a keen eye and an intelligent consideration of what is taking place. It is therefore dutiful to take cognisance of all the known activities of Churches and religious bodies at home and abroad. And to submit to Scriptural scrutiny the actions of such as the British Royal Family, and the Ministers of State in the handling not only of home affairs but also international matters. The Saviour Himself referred to the signs of the times and reproved those who did not discern the signs of the times. Christ is being dishonoured in many ways at home and abroad, in Church and State, nationally and internationally. But then the world is not always to be principally under the sway of Satan. David prayed in his day, “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory” (Ps. lxxii). And so the ministers of Christ are to be watchful as to what may rise, what may be done, or what may be condoned by the powers that be, and which is contrary to the honour of Christ and the advancement of His Kingdom. And they are to be encouraged by the least indication that men and nations, in any particular case and manner, seem to be turning from darkness (both civilised and pagan) to the guidance and light of the Holy Scriptures. They are directed to be much in prayer, that the Lord will make Jerusalem, His Church, a praise on the earth: “And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth” (Isa. lxii. 7). This is the counsel given to the watchmen upon the walls of Jerusalem. And are not the ministers of Christ to be just such watchmen to-day upon the ramparts of the Church?
Finally, within the Scripturally organised body of the Christian Church ministers and all other Christians are to be subject one to another in the fear of God. The Church, the whole body of believers, are to be subject to Christ as the alone Head and King of the Church, in all things according to His revealed mind in the Scriptures. And also according to the divine order, the younger members of the Church are to submit themselves unto the elder. As it is written: “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder” (I Peter v. 5). And the Apostle Peter carries this matter a stage further when he writes: “Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (I Peter v. 5). This truly applies in a very special sense to ministers of Christ, and they are enjoined, like Timothy, to be an example, which we see from Paul’s advice to him as follows: “… be thou
an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (I Tim. iv. 12). And so the minister of Christ should be an example to others in submitting to his brethren, in the exercise of a gracious humility, unless in things that are clearly contrary to God’s Word, and when the brethren may manifest that they are indeed fallible and deplorably mistaken in any given matter. On the other hand a proud refusal to submit to one’s brethren in the Lord, where this submission is properly called for, then this cannot but be the forerunner of vexatious experiences. God, we are told, resisteth the proud, and this involves the sin of pride in any, including His people. This sin of pride has caused much havoc in Christ’s Church during its history. But the grace of humility has served the good of Zion down through the ages, to the praise of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a blessing it must be to the Church when the ministers of Christ are abundantly blest with the grace of humility, out of the fullness of Him, whose servants they are.
And so, when ministers of Christ are being removed from the earth to heaven, and others of them laid aside, it becomes all concerned with the good of the Cause of the Lord to pray that He would send forth labourers into His harvest, who would be, by divine grace, faithful, consistent and useful ministers to His honour.