Today I want to expand on last weeks letter on Work of Ministry and the Church. I want to use some words by Charles Ellicott as he spoke about ministry- “The points that Paul is referring to is public teaching and public example. There must be no standing still, no resting, content with knowledge already acquired, no being satisfied with the present spiritual life, there must be a striving after the acquirement of new stores of knowledge, even deeper and more accurate, there must be a ceaseless endeavor to attain to a higher eminence in the spiritual life, and if the minister or teacher would be successful, the results of these efforts must be manifest to the brethren with whom his lot was cast.”
I often go to Mr. Ellicott as his depth of knowledge in the scriptures is always informative and even currently applicable to us. Charles was born in 1819 and died in 1905. Before I start to write on what I want to say I will use one more man of God, Matthew Henry (1662-1714) “those who teach by their doctrine must teach by their life. Ministers must mind these things as their principal work and business.”
But I am not a minister you may say, but let me remind you of this scripture. 2 Corinthians 5:18- And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6, informs us that once we become believers, we then become priests.
So our lives both personal and public should be lived to glorify God and uplift those who are looking at us to see Jesus in us. All of us are in this ministry by being made priest by God at the new birth in Christ Jesus when we became believers. We are always in the public’s eye! Live the life you have been given, knowing God is always looking at you, always!
Joseph Benson (1749-1821) comments on 1 Timothy 4:15 is a reminder to us to be focused, as Paul in verse 15 says “give yourself wholly to these things“, and then Joseph quotes Bengelius “He that is wholly in these things, will be little in worldly company, in other studies, in collecting books, shells, coins, wherein many pastors consume a considerable part of their lives.”
I can agree with this by just looking at my own life which is full of stuff, but little time to enjoy much of it, because of it. My ministry has been shoved aside by the demands of hobbies and stuff. Not that God does not want us to enjoy our life, but His life should be part of any hobby we may pursue. We need to put God first in everything we do or it really is not worth doing.
By faithfully discharging our duty, we will give satisfactory proof of the reality of our faith and love, and cause others to be drawn into Jesus, just as a fisherman slowly pulls in his net full of his catch. We must always be aware of our Bible life to others. What do they see? Jesus in us or the world in us? If we teach the doctrine of Jesus, do they see Him alive and working in us?
Albert Barnes (1798-1870) explainers “that meditate on these things, upon the train of events by which you have been led into the ministry, and upon the responsibilities and duties of the office. Let your mind be deeply impressed with these things, make them the subject of profound and serious thought.” This not only applies to those who teach and preach but also to each of us who call Jesus their Lord and Savior.
Mr. Barnes goes on to say “he who has one great purpose of life to which he patiently and steadily devotes himself, and to which he makes everything else bend, will uniformly rise to high respectability, if not eminence. He who does not do this can expect to accomplish nothing.
The minister must first be his own scholar before he can be another’s teacher. The scriptures should be read with care, and be industriously and laboriously searched into and passages in it should be carefully compared together with great attention and application. Your heart must be in the work of ministry or it will become a drudgery, just as in any other pursuit. If you love your job it will not be work but fun.”
So what have we learned? Most of us are not doing too good at our job of Christian occupation; but it is never too late to bring about change is it? I do hope you take this letter seriously and adjust your life accordingly. We all are in the ministry, so it’s time to do our part to get back in the race and help those we can. We must be ministers of reconciliation. We are on a temporary assignment on planet earth, not as Gods servants, but as His children.
We are to go about our Fathers business (Luke 2:49) just as our Lord Jesus did (John 5:19). We are priests unto God, and as priest we have an earthly function to minister to those who need to find Jesus just as we did. As Gods children we are ambassadors to the world around us, so bloom where you are planted. Remember you will make it, just don’t give up. See you next week.
In His Service As Kilted Priest
The Kilted Priest 