EXPOSITION VI. THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY; AND THE CHARACTER AND DESTINY OF ITS OCCUPANTS-WORTHY AND UNWORTHY. * * * LUKE xii. 35-37, 41-47.-"Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching: verily I say unto you, That he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them." * Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, That he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the men-servants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh nct for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." A DISTINCT apprehension, and a deep impression of the varied and awful responsibilities of the christian ministry, in all who are aspiring to that office, and in all who fill it, are of the greatest importance to the general interests of Christianity, as well as to those individuals themselves, and to those portions of the christian church with which they are more immediately connected. The want of, or the deficiency in, such apprehensions and impressions, in ministers and candidates for the ministry, may be justly considered as one cause, and a powerful one, of the low state of religion in our own country and in the christian world at large, and the general prevalence of an opposite state of thought and feeling would be at once a symptom of begun, and a security for continued, revival. At all events, just views and corresponding feelings on these subjects would prevent men from entering into the christian ministry with inadequate preparation, or from worldly or selfish motives, and would also prevent those who have entered it, from disgracing their high and holy calling, and bringing on themselves "a double destruction" by their error or immorality, their indolence or unfaithfulness. A most impressive view of the responsibilities of the christian minister, in an account of the nature and design of his office, and of the character and destiny of its occupants, worthy and unworthy, is presented to our minds in the words of our Lord, which I have just read. That these words have a direct reference to christian ministers, seems obvious from an attentive examination of the context. They were spoken in the presence of a promiscuous crowd, but they were plainly addressed to a very small and a completely distinct section of that crowd. When our Lord had come out of the Pharisee's house where he had dined, "there was gathered together an innumerable multitude of people," but he did not begin to address them; he began to speak "to his disciples" (ver. 1); and from the nature of the statements made to them, there can be little doubt that the term disciples is to be understood in its restricted sense, as equivalent to his apostles, or as at farthest including along with them "the other seventy whom he had appointed to go before his face into every city and place whither he himself would come." On one of the company" (ver. 13) interrupting him by a very unseasonable request to act the part of a civil judge, in a dispute. about property, he seized the opportunity thus presented of addressing the whole multitude (ver. 15) on the extreme folly of expecting real happiness from the possession of wealth, however abundant; and then turning himself again to his disciples (ver. 22), he gave them a variety of exhortations, including those which form the first part of our subject of discourse. As some of these exhortations seemed to be of a general character, Peter put the question to our Lord (ver. 41), whether they were to be consid ered as addressed to him and his brother disciples, or to all the multitude, and received an answer which distinctly enough intimated that they directly referred to those who stood to him in the relation of confidential servants. We conceive ourselves then not merely warranted, but obliged to consider the whole passage before us as referring to the christian ministry. The officials of the church of Christ are represented as the confidential servants of a prince or nobleman, who having gone from home, without informing them of the period of his return, has entrusted to them the management of his household during his absence. One class of these servants are "faithful and wise:" they regularly perform their duty to the household, giving to them their portion of meat in due season, and are constantly employed as persons expecting and preparing for their master's return. Such servants shall receive from their returned master the most substantial proofs of his approbation. Another class of these servants are unfaithful and unwise: they become during their Lord's absence careless of his will, and destroyers of that peace and good order of the family of which they were constituted guardians, smiting their fellow-servants, and eating and drinking with the drunken. Such persons shall be by their indignant master, ignominiously discarded from his service, and severely punished for their self-indulgence, oppression, and breach of trust. It is not my intention to give a minute exposition of the interesting paragraph I have read, nor to illustrate all the important principles which are contained in, or may be deduced from it, but merely to take a cursory glance of the great truths thus figuratively taught us respecting the Christian Ministry, and the character and destiny of its occupants-worthy and unworthy. I. THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. With regard to the Christian Ministry as an order in Christ's church, they are represented under the figure of a set of servants, constituted by the master, stewards, and rulers over his household, during his absence. 112 They are "servants," not lords. "We preach," says the apostle, "not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." 'We do not announce ourselves to you as your masters. We proclaim Christ Jesus to be the Master, and mindful of his words, "One is your Master, even Christ, we announce ourselves to you not your masters, but your servants for his sake. We seek not to make you our property that we may rule over you, by dictating to your faith, and controlling your conduct; but considering you as his unalienable property, which he "purchased with his own blood," and which having so dearly bought he highly values, we wish to serve Him by ministering to your improvement.' This is a view of the sacred office with which they who fill it cannot be too deeply impressed. They are Christ's servants. They have no authority, separate from his authority. To promulgate and administer his laws, not to make and execute laws of their own, is their legitimate province. But while they are, in all the extent and emphasis which can belong to the term, Christ's servants, and also in a limited and important sense of the word, the church's servants, for his sake, yet they are here represented as servants who, by the Lord of the household, have been made "rulers" in the family. They are entrusted by him with the subordinate management of the church. They are not princes, but they are "stewards;" they are not "lords," but they are guides; they must not prescribe new ways, but they are to direct to and in "the old path, and the good way;" they are not to appoint the work, but they are to instruct, as they have been instructed, in the right performance of the task which the Master has prescribed. This subordinate rule is all derived from Christ. It is the Lord who makes them rulers in his household. In that family none has authority in the strict sense of the term but HE. No king, no parliament, no man, no body of men, has any right to constitute men stewards over the family of God. That belongs to HIM who is by Jehovah "set as his King on the holy hill of 1 2 Cor. iv. 5. 2 Matt. xxiii. 8. 3 Acts xx. 28. All Zion," to Him who is set as a Son over his own house.”” church power comes forth from Him. He directly appointed the first office-bearers in the spiritual society which he established, and none are rightly constituted but those who are so in accordance with the principles laid down in the apostolical epistles, and exemplified in the practice of the apostolical churches. It is of importance, however, to remark, that though called to office by the instrumentality of their brethren, their authority is derived, not from them, but from their master: by him, not by them, are they to be directed in the performance of their duties, and to him, not to them, are they accountable for the manner in which they discharge them. It is his doctrine they are to teach -his laws they are to administer. The steward or overseer, though chosen, if such be the appointment of the Master, by his fellow-servants, is to be guided in managing the household, not by their will, but by the will of their common Lord. The minister of Christ who forgets this, and seeks in his official proceedings primarily to please those who have been committed to his charge, has lost sight of his high character as a servant of Christ. A fitter object of mingled blame, contempt, and pity, does not exist, than a man, bearing the name of a christian minister, who instead of fearlessly proclaiming and impartially administering the laws of Christ, is the slave and the executioner of the prejudices of his people. But though the christian minister is not to be ruled by those whom he is appointed to rule-is not to take laws from those to whom he is appointed to declare the law, he is never to forgetwhat the very names of his office are all intended and fitted to keep constantly before his mind-that he holds office in the church, not for his own aggrandisement and selfish interests, but for the benefit of his brethren-not to gratify his own ambition or love of ease, but to promote their spiritual improvement, to secure their ultimate salvation; and under the influence of this conviction, like the steward who finds that in promoting his master's interest, and the happiness of his fellow-servants, in the good order of the household, it is of great importance to be on good terms with those under his care, he will endeavor to "please his brethren to edification;" nay, he will seek to "please all men in all things, not seeking his own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved." Such is the view here given us of the general nature and design of the christian ministry. II. THE CHARACTER OF THE OCCUPANTS OF THE CHRISTIAN Let us now turn our attention to the view which the text gives us of the character of the occupants of the christian ministryworthy and unworthy. The two characters are placed in contrast. They have one thing in common: They "know their Lord's 4 Psal. ii. 6. 5 Heb. iii. 6. 6 1 Cor. x. 33. will." They have the means of ascertaining what he requires of them. In everything else, the one is just the reverse of the other. The characters are so drawn in the passage before us, as that to have a full view of either we must look at both. What the one wants the other has-what the one has the other wants. The negative assertions respecting the one must be converted into positive assertions respecting the other, and the positive assertions respecting the one must be converted into negative assertions respecting the other. The two characters then stand thus: The worthy occupant of the christian ministry, "knowing his Lord's will, prepares himself, and does according to his will.' So far as the household is concerned, he does not "smite his fellowservants, beating the men-servants and the maidens," but he "gives them their meat in due season. In reference to his Lord, he does not "eat and drink with the drunken," but with "loins girded about and lamp burning, he watches for his return," he continues in the discharge of his duties till the appointed period of his official service-in all this approving himself “a faithful and wise" servant. On the other hand, the unworthy occupant of the christian ministry, though "knowing his Lord's will," does. not "prepare himself," neither "does according to his will," but instead of "giving to the household their meat in due season," "beats his fellow-servants," and instead of standing "with loins girded about and lamp burning," waiting his Lord's return, having "said in his heart my Lord delayeth his coming, "eats and drinks with the drunken," thus showing himself as a servant to be both unfaithful and unwise. These are the outlines of the two contrasted portraits. Let us attempt in some measure to fill them up. § 1. Worthy. The worthy occupant of the christian ministry "knows his Lord's will." Though the Master of the household is absent, he has left full and particular directions for the conduct of all his servants, and especially of his stewards. These are not to be found in "the traditions of the elders," in the canons of councils, or in the decretals of popes. They are to be found in "the Scriptures of truth," "the word of Christ." "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Possessing this repository of the doctrine and law of his Lord, the good minister endeavors to make himself master of all its stores. He "searches the Scriptures," and becomes "a scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven." This is requisite to his being "like unto a man who is a householder, which bringeth out of his treasure things new and old." Thus knowing the will of his Master, the faithful servant prepares himself." These words may either mean 'gets ready 7 2 Tim. iii. 16. S Matt. xiii. 52. |