The Christian Ministry

by Charles Bridges

Wise and tender discipline will form the pliable spirit, ready to discern and follow our Father's will.

Let the Minister in seasons of anxiety cast himself upon the mercy of God, and doubt not of acceptance.

The character of the individual must have a prominent part in forming the Minister;

there is no more responsible thought connected with our work, than the obligation of giving ourselves to our people,

We are to be labourers, not loiterers, in the Lord's vineyard; not doing his work with a reluctant heart, as if we did it not, as if we feared being losers by him, or giving him more than he deserved.

A pastor ought to have nothing at heart but the work of God and the salvation of souls. This ought to be his delight and his life.'

Our responsibilities demand an entire devotedness of spirit to every soul, as if it were the sole object of our care.

All must be stamped with its holiness: all must be a part of a system strictly adhered to, of being constantly learning, and waiting the opportunity of imparting what we have learned in the things of God.'

A devoted Minister feels, that there is sufficient employment for his whole life in his work; that so far as he lives in the spirit of it, it is his highest pleasure; and that he can never rightly perform its duties, except he be wholly given to it.

faint not, nor be discouraged, but go on with cheerfulness and alacrity, as remembering, that they serve the best Master in the world; one that will not only stand by them and assist them, but reward them at last with a crown of righteousness.'

if the prohibition of conformity to the world, and the call of God to " come out and be separate," have any meaning at all, they must be supposed to warn the Minister of the sanctuary from the sports of the field or the chace, from the theatre, the ballroom, the card-table, and the race-course; and from that unprofitable, sensual life of folly, which unconsciously hurries us on from social intercourse to the ensnaring pleasures of sin.

what aptness to teach can be exercised or nourished, where the taste, time, talents, and activity are devoted to secular and self-indulgent engagements?

Perhaps few of us are aware of the keen eye, with which our dress, furniture, tables, and household are scrutinized, and the minuteness of comparison instituted between our Ministration and personal habits.

we should determine to venture into no society, but where we sincerely desire and endeavour, to introduce our Master.

Our Divine Master never intended, that we should confine our religion to the services of the sanctuary. As men of God, we should have it at heart and in hand, spreading a spiritual savour over the common walks of society, and stamping us with the mark of confessors of Christ in the midst of a world, who hold him still in the same contempt, as when eighteen centuries since they nailed him to the cross.

let it be remembered, that God never honours a compromising spirit. The character of our profession with the world must not be merely negative.

we should endeavour to make religion agreeable; but not to make ourselves agreeable by leading our company to forget religion.

The best-intentioned motives can never justify the infringement of a Divine obligation, even if (what in the present case is contrary to fact and experience) the prospect of eventual benefit were both assured and satisfactory.

a very large proportion of our inefficiency may be traced to the source of worldly conformity.

Even the faithful exhibition of the cross must be materially weakened by a want of the corresponding exhibition of its power, in crucifying its Ministers to the lusts and affections of the world.

Accurate and earnest statements of truth, combined with sociable conformity to the world, will give no offence, and bring no conviction.

If we go one step into the world, our flock will take the sanction to go two;

The Ministry is a grand and holy affair; and it should find in us a simple habit of spirit, and a holy but humble indifference to all consequences.'

How much more afraid are we of others going too far, than of coming short ourselves of the full requisitions of the Scriptural standard!—sometimes

The fear of man" often assumes the name of prudence, while a worldly spirit of unbelief is the dominant, though disguised, principle.

The voice of conscience and duty speaks with a weaker tone in a worldly atmosphere.

Thus, as the heart is more in the world, it is less in our work; our duties are consequently performed with reluctance, and unproductive in their results.

Where God is not honoured, he will not honour.

let the servant of God gird himself with his Christian panoply, and he will find ample provision made for his complete success.

Faith exercised in simplicity will bring to view an invisible and present God—a

unless our work exhibit the self-denying character of the cross of Christ, it is the Christian Ministry in the letter only, not in the spirit;

shall he take care of the church of God? Fidelity to God requires the abridgment or relinquishment of whatever is inconsistent with " giving himself continually to prayer, and to the Ministry of the word."

The dignified condescension of our Divine Master's Ministry furnishes the best pattern for his servants.

The duties of the Ministry will constantly exercise Christian self-denial.

We must be the pastors of the whole flock, not of a select few; not indulging ourselves with the most hopeful and interesting, but labouring for those, whose urgent need cries loudly for our instruction—like the good shepherd—bestowing our primary attention upon the lost sheep.

The meanest of our people must have his full share of our consideration. Let him have free access to us

Never' (says he) ' consider your Ministry at any period of it, as a situation of honourable repose. Think not of appropriating any time to yourself, if you can by a different application of it preserve only one soul from perdition.

Secular studies, however congenial to a person's taste, or necessary for his recreation, cannot possibly be the chief object of any Minister who is conscientiously devoted to his pastoral engagements.'

How fearful would be the responsibility of a soul passing into eternity unregarded and uninstructed, while our minds were engaged in some pursuit of literature, taste, accomplishment, or even abstract theology!

It is always dangerous to prefer the indulgence of study to the active exercises of the Ministry; or at least to " give ourselves to reading' so as to neglect the work of pastoral instruction.

The solemn ordination engagement impels us—if not to put away—yet at least to restrain within very contracted limits, many matters of legitimate Christian interest: under the conviction,

The best prospect of Ministerial fruitfulness is, with the heavenly view of Leighton, to ' count the whole world in comparison with the cross of Christ one grand impertinence:'

Let even recreation and animal refreshment be SO regulated, moderated, and subordinated, that they may not interfere with our grand employment, or unfit us for it; but rather recruit and prepare us for it, that they may all become subservient to our main object.'

In doubtful cases, Christian love and self-denial dictate the strait and the safest path.

Will not an honest self-scrutiny detect a criminal fondness for pleasure?

Whatever experience has proved to chill our fervour, to dissipate our mind, to divert our attention, or to occupy a large portion of time or interest, is the " right eye," that we are called to " pluck out, and cast from us."

The frequent Scriptural connexions of this selfish principle with the sacred office, were doubtless intended to warn the servant of God of a most prevalent temptation.

When we warn our people against " the love of money, as the root of all evil," they will look into our own garden for this destructive weed; which may possibly be growing there, even while we are seeking to root it out of every garden in our parish.

covetousness is an inordinate thought of, desire after, and employment in, the care of this world.

In the return of Apostolical simplicity, self-denial, and love, we may anticipate a Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit upon our Ministrations.