07 - What is a Call Ministry
WHAT IS A CALL TO THE MINISTRY? BY REV. JAMES D. KNOWLES.
LETTER VII. MY DEAR BROTHER I have endeavored, in the preceding letters, to lay before you all the considerations which seem to me necessary to enable you to decide the question of duty respecting the ministry. You alone can judge respecting the application to yourself of several of the rules which I have mentioned. Allow me to present them again to your mind in the form of questions; and may He who judges the heart enable you to examine faithfully your feelings and motives. Are you satisfied that you have been born again; and can you, like Peter, say, “ Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee?” Do you habitually regard yourself as not your own, but as under sacred obligations to lire, not unto yourself, but unto Him who died for you and rose again? And do you feel an entire willingness to serve him, either in the ministry, or in the humblest station which he may please to appoint for you? Do you constantly feel it to be your duty to be as useful as possible; and do you seize every opportunity of.usefulness which is presented to you by the providence of God? Are you active in the Sabbath-school, punctual at the conference and prayer-meeting, and always ready to admonish and plead with the impenitent? Does a strong love for the Saviour’s cause, and for the souls of men, warm your heart; and do you desire to be a minister of the Gospel, that you may be entirely devoted to the work of spreading the knowledge of Christ and him crucified? Are you conscious that this desire springs from pure motives, from sincere love to the Saviour and compassion to perishing men, and not from ambition, nor from a wish for ease and emolument? Are you solemnly impressed with a sense of duty to preach the Gospel? Do you find your thoughts and feelings strongly directed towards the ministry, as the sphere in which, as you believe, you may be the most useful and the most happy? Does every other employment seem to you uninviting and irksome, not from indolence, but because you feel that your life may be spent more profitably in pleading the Saviour’s cause with men? Do you feel that it would render you unhappy, and make life a melancholy scene, if you should be denied the privilege of preaching the Gospel? And in your most devotional hours, when souls appear the most valuable, and the Gospel the most important and glorious, and your spirit draws the nearest to God, does the ministry then appear the most inviting, your duty the most plain, and your motives satisfactory to your own mind? And, finally, does the providence of God seem to indicate his will? Are you free from every engagement which might prevent your entrance on the ministry, and do the difficulties in the way disappear?
If you can, my dear brother, in the fear of God, answer these questions in the affirmative, you may confidently believe that you are called to the ministry, so far as that call can be inferred from your own feelings and observation.
There are other points, relating to your physical and mental constitution, your moral character, and your general habits, of which your brethren must judge. You ought to consult them, and if they are satisfied that you possess gifts which, with proper cultivation, will make you a useful minister, you have all the evidence which you can have, without a revelation from heaven, that it is your duty to preach the Gospel. I believe, my brother, you do possess the internal and the outward testimonials of God’s will; and I earnestly exhort you to hesitate no longer, but to arise and commence your preparation for the great work. I rejoice to observe your conscientious anxiety to ascertain your duty before you proceed. It is, indeed, of immense importance to be satisfied on this point; for no minister can be happy, or very useful, who is in doubt respecting his call to preach the Gospel. I need say nothing of the minister who has either ignorantly or presumptuously entered the sacred office, and still finds himself without love to the Saviour.
Such a minister, even admitting his deportment to be moral, is, nevertheless, a hinderance to the progress of religion; while he, as it has been strongly said> “ pursues the hardest road to hell which a man can travel.”
But, my brother, you may offend God by demanding proofs of his will which he may not be pleased to give. If you have the evidences which I have mentioned, you may and ought to proceed. That you may thus decide, and that God may make you a blessing to his church, and an instrument of turning many to righteousness, is my earnest prayer.
You will find the ministry laborious, and attended by many trials of patience and of faith. But it has many precious consolations and pleasures now, and there is reserved a glorious crown in heaven for all the faithful servants of our Lord. “ They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.”
If my voice could reach all the young men in the churches, I would now say to them, “My dear brethren, in what way will you serve the Saviour 1 How can you do most for his glory, and for perishing men? Why is it not your duty to preach the Gospel? Examine yourselves; apply the preceding observations to your own hearts, and alone, before God, with the cross of Christ, the world lying in wickedness, and the judgment-day before you, inquire, ’ Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?’ “And to the pastors and churches I would say, You have in this matter an important duty to perform. You ought to seek out the young men who furnish evidence of ministerial gifts. You ought to converse with them, and to encourage them. Often, it may be feared, do pastors and churches neglect their duty on this point. Young men are left to struggle with their feelings, without one word of advice or encouragement. The more modest they are, and therefore the more deserving of sympathy, the more reluctant they are to disclose their feelings, lest they should be attributed to pride and presumption. A sense of unfitness, the greatness of the work, doubts concerning duty, all throng upon the mind, and often produce inconceivable distress, which one word of kind sympathy and advice from a pastor or Christian friend might remove. Many young men, it cannot be doubted, who ought to preach the Gospel, are overcome by these anxieties, doubts, and fears, and relinquish the thought of the ministry. It is a mistake to suppose, that if it is a man’s duty to preach, he will force his way through every obstacle. A man may neglect to preach as he may fail to perform any other duty; and he is the more liable to neglect this duty, because the conscientious mind will probably consider it a less sin to refuse to preach, though it be a duty, than to preach when it is not.
If his doubts preponderate in the smallest degree, the mind of a conscientious man will be very liable to abandon the design, and thus the very best ministers may be lost to the church. But if a young man surmounts his doubts and discouragements, and makes his case known to his brethren, he is sometimes treated with cold suspicion,- and obstacles are thrown in his way on purpose to test the strength of his zeal. And if, at last, the proper encouragement is given, so much time may have been wasted, that it is too late to enter upon the work with advantage.
There may be cases, too, in which a young man may not have thought of the ministry, who may, nevertheless, furnish evidence of piety, talents, and zeal, which would make him useful as a minister. It is undoubtedly the duty of pastors and Christians to converse with such a person, in a judicious manner; to inquire respecting his feelings; to ask him if it is not his duty to preach the Gospel; to urge him to reflect and pray on the subject; and thus give his mind a direction towards the object. No reason can be given why it is not as much our duty to use the proper means in this case, as it is to persuade a sinner to be reconciled to God. In both cases God may employ us as instruments to accomplish his will. May God preserve us all from the guUt of neglecting our own duty, and of hindering others. May he send forth many laborers into his harvest, and may his kingdom come, and his will be done on earth, as it is ha heaven. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, my brother, and with all who love him in sincerity. Your affectionate BROTHER.
NOTE.: A premium, offered by a friend, was awarded to the author of this Tract HERALDS OF THE GOSPEL.
How beauteous are their feet Who stand on Zion’s hill! Who bring salvation on their tongues, And words of peace reveal.
How charming is their voice!
How sweet the tidings are!
“Zion, behold thy Saviour King;
He reigns and triumphs here.”
How happy are our ears, That hear this joyful sound, Which kings and prophets waited for, And sought, but never found!
How blessed are our eyes, That see this heavenly light;
Prophets and kings desired it long, But died without the sight! The watchmen join their voice, And tuneful notes employ;
Jerusalem breaks forth in songs, And deserts learn the joy. Watts (Page 19 missing) many laborers into his harvest, and may his kingdom come, urnl his wiil be dune on earth, as it is in heaven. The grace, of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, my brother, and with all who love him in sincerity. Your affectionate BROTHER.
NOTE. A premium, offered by a friend, was awarded to the:nithor of this Tract.
HERALDS OF THE GOSPEL.
How beauteous are their feet Who stand on Zion’s hill! Who bring salvation on their tongues. And words of peace reveal.
How charming is their voice!
How sweet the tidings are!
“Zion, Behold thy Saviour King;
He reigns and triumphs here.”
How happv are our ears, That hear this joyful sound. Which kinas and prophets waited for, And sought but never found!
How blessed are our eyes; That see this heavenly Light;
Prophets and kinas desired it long, But died without the sight! The watchmen join their voice, And tuneful notes employ;
Jerusalem breaks forth in songs, ANd deserts learn the joy
Watts er, and so, by degrees, lie advanced in knowledge. During six years, he omitted none of the hours usually appropriated to, manual labor, and he retired to rest regularly at ten o’clock. Yet at the age of thirty-one he had actually taught seventeen languages. FROM DR. SCUDDER’S APPEAL.
HAVING directed your attention to the wants of millions in our own country, permit me to entreat you to look over into this eastern world, and see six hundred millions, to whom the beloved name JESUS is unknown. When I take a view of these vast regions of.spiritual death, my heart sickens withiiaj me at the slow progress of Christianity. I have been here more than twelve years; but I regret to say that the number of missionaries, if at all, is but very little greater than when I came. The Christian world does not seem, to any great extent, awake to the momentous business of missions. ^ “ As the.work is now carried on, there is but one missionary to nearly two millions of souls. In, some instances.a single missionary is quite alone, and two, five, ten, or fifteen hundred miles from any fellow-laborer. In some cases, again, a number of missionaries are together, and have but a few thousand souls around them. But more commonly ybuv see one or two at a station, in the midst of ten, fifty, or a hundred millions of souls, with no other laborer to help forward the conversion of the surrounding multitudes. The mode of conducting missions at present, in most cases, is, “in fact, like sending one soldier to storm a forty ’five; to conquer a province, a hundred to subjugate an empire;” -While such is the case, shall I hold my peace? No. -This cannot be. If I forget you, ye perishing heathens, Jet my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember you, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not you above my chief joy. “ 0, when will the groans and dying agonies of a famishing world, which has long cried in vain for the bread of life, be heard, and the church of God roused to action?” Will it be said that it is impossible to send laborers abroad while the wants of our country are so great? I believe you will not think so in the day of judgment. In view of that day, let me address you in the words of two individuals who laid down their lives among the heathen. “0 Christians, fly to the work. Do it with your might. The motives to it are infinite. K”ow is the accepted tune. The heathen are before you. Their present miseries and their impending ruin call upon you to hasten to them the word of life. Your Redeemer bids you go and pluck them as brands from the burnings. Neglect it a little longer, and, alas, it will be too late. You and they are summoned to judgment. How can you meet them there? They knew nothing of that tremendous day: but you did; and you knew that if they died unwashed in the blood of Christ, that day must seal their eternal perdition; and yet you did not concern yourselves to acquaint them with that Saviour. Now you behold them standing on the left hand of the Judge, with unutterable horrors depicted on their countenance’s.
Now they know that while you and they were upon the earth, though they knew nothing of this awful day, you had it in strict charge from the Judge himself to make it known to them, that they as well as you might be prepared to, meet it in peace. But you neglected the charge. And now nothing remains for them but the dreadful doom, ’ Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.’ As they go in anguish and despair, they cast a parting look at you. Christians, what will you then think of those little sacrifices, those momentary exertions, which you are now exhorted to make to rescue millions from the tremendous doom?”, groans and dying agonies of a famishing World, which has long cried in vain for the bread of life, be heard, and the church of God roused to action?”
Hill it be said that it is imposible to send laborers abroad while the wants of our country are so great? I relieve you Hill not think so in the day of judgment. In view of that day, let me address you in the words of two individuals who laid down their lives among the Heathen. “O Christian, fly to the work. Do it with your might. The motives to it are infinite. Now is the accepted time. The heathen are befote you. Their present miseries and their impending ruin call upon you to hasten to them the Word of life. Your Redeemer bids you go and pluck them as brands from the burnings. Neglect it a little longer, and alas, it will be too late. You and they are summoned to judgment. How can you meet them there? They know nothing of that tremendous day: but you did; and you know that if they died unwashed in the blood of Christ, that day must seal their eternal perdition; and yet you did not concerní yourselves to acquaint them with that Saviour. Now you behold them standing on the left hand of the Judge, with unutterable horrors depicted on their countenances. Now they know that while you and they were upon the Herat, though they knew nothing of this awful day, you had it in strict charge from the Judge himself to make it known to them, that they as well as you might be prepared to meet it in peace. But you neglected the charge. And now nothing remains for them but the dreadful doom, ‘Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.’ As they go in anguish and despair, they cast a parting look at you. O Christians, what Hill you then think of tose little sacrificas, tose momentary exertions, which you are now exhorted to make to rescue millions from the tremendous doom?”