Evidences of a Call to the Ministry, or Bible Work
By A. E. Place
A. E. PLACE
“All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples.” “As my Father hath sent me, so send I you.”
The Son of God was about to leave the earth, to take a seat at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens. We may imagine him standing erect on that mountain top in Galilee, looking over the plain, the sea, and away toward old Jerusalem. How many scenes of his life in the flesh passed before his mind, especially those of the last three and one-half years! Perhaps he traces hastily that life from the manger to the tomb— the baptismal anointing at Jordan; the fast and temptation in the wilderness; the days of toil with the multitudes; the nights of prayer in the mountains; the bearing of our griefs and sorrows, “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” and learning obedience by the things which he suffered. Day by day his faithfulness in trial was increasing his strength and his power from on high. A mighty warfare had been fought, and a glorious victory won, and to-day, with his feet still on the rugged mountains of earth, with a few representatives of his noble work around him, we imagine a thrill passes through his very being with the consciousness that his work has been such a success that his Father can entrust him with all the power of the Godhead, not to use for self, but still for the salvation of fallen humanity, and turning to his beloved disciples, with whom and for whom he labored, he cries, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples.” We can but exclaim, What a wonderful Saviour! No wonder the beloved John should write of him, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.”
His success did not come as the result of any one great act, but the secret was in his victories daily. Of him in his childhood it is written, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.” Of his later life we read that he “went about doing good, . . . for God was with him.” This is an object lesson for the ministry of to-day.
In a most wonderful school of experience Christ had been teaching and fitting men to walk in his steps and carry on his earthly mission of love; and as in the days of the kings the mantle of Elijah fell upon Elisha, so Christ desired that his mantle of true unselfishness, or righteousness, might fall upon his followers, and that they might go forth into all the world to make disciples of all nations.
No human mind can ever overestimate the value of that three and one-half years in the school of Christ—that daily personal contact with the world’s Redeemer. The look of his eye, the gentleness of his voice, the tenderness in the touch of his hand as he removed physical infirmities, saying, “Thy sins be forgiven thee,”—all these experiences, from Jordan’s baptismal waters to that night in the upper room, when “he breathed on them,” yea, even to that moment when, standing with him on the mount, they heard him say, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,” were of great value to those men of Galilee. Their importance was not realized by the disciples up to that time as it was destined to be afterward.
A critical moment is reached, when the personal association of days gone by must be broken. The Lord is about to ascend to his work in the heavenly temple. The disciples are to go forth bearing the same ministry of reconciliation to the world, which he had borne from his Father. How important and9valuable the disciplinary drill in association with the Great Teacher. This would seem to be sufficient, but no, the final instruction to them is, “Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” This is worthy of our most careful and prayerful thought. As Christ, after thirty years in the home, in the field, and in the carpenter shop, received the anointing of the Holy Ghost before entering the wilderness of temptation and the path to final sacrifice on the cross, so before his disciples can successfully enter the same path in his name, they must have the same unction. They must to-day follow in his steps, sit at his feet, and know his life, by sharing his burden for a lost world, not as a theory, but as a divine fact, by the enlightenment of the Holy Ghost.
Back there the disciples “tarried” according to his word. They were “with one accord” in prayer and supplication, in the study of the Word, the study of the life of the One who had walked before them, and as a result they received the promised blessing, and then, as shown by the beloved disciple on Patmos, they “went forth conquering, and to conquer.”
That same Jesus still lives. His commission has not passed away. The same conditions are necessary now as then for the success of the ministry, and the work of God in all its departments. This life is for us; the promise is to us, and all who will accept the terms are called to service.
The call is to “go.” It indicates the unceasing activity of the Christ life. It is a divine command from him who holds in his possession all the power in heaven and in earth. He therefore has the right to command, and is able to meet all the contingencies in carrying the request into fulfilled action. To doubt this would be to deny the call, and he who doubts it therefore has no call.
“Go ye.” I would impress the fact that the commission, or call, is to those who had followed him, in daily experience, over sea and land; who had sat at his feet to receive his lessons of divine truth,—disciples who knew him, and his power to heal the sick, to loose the prisoners, and to forgive sins,—the “Christ, the Son of the living God.” Such were called to “go.” Such are called to-day. Few sense the sacred and awful responsibility of the ministry of Jesus Christ.
So surely as cause produces effect, and effect follows cause, so surely the individual who studies carefully and prayerfully the life and spirit of Jesus Christ till he can go forth as Christ went forth, is called, and he may be assured that divine power will attend him. He will doubtless suffer reproach. So did Christ. He may wear a crown of thorns, and be crucified; but he will surely open blind eyes, turn many from darkness to light, and in the resurrection, like his Master, he will “come forth with the tread of a conqueror” to a seat in glory.
No man has a right in the ministry who does not study and pattern after the life of Christ. He who does not do this, and do it daily, is not in the ministry; for the ministry is the ministry of Christ. “Ministry” signifies service. It does not mean simply working for. It does not mean simply that we do what he says. It does not mean simply that we minister to Christ or serve Christ, but it means that we serve Christ to the world. The world is starving. Christ is the bread of life. The minister is called to serve Christ, the bread of life, to dying humanity. No change has ever been made in the true ministry of Christ. It means to-day, “Christ in you,” in me, “the hope of glory,”—Christ in the flesh, touched with the feelings of man’s infirmities, ministering to man’s necessities. Do you, do I, feel sensibly the weight of this truth in the soul? Then we are called of God to minister the same to others; we are ministers of Jesus Christ. Such a man does not need to wait for a conference to stimulate him with tithes from the treasury before he shows evidence of a burden for souls. That man need not look to a pulpit as his platform of action, or to a foreign field as the only place where he can labor. Let him give proof of his call by a Christlike ministry in his home, in the homes of his neighbors, in the Sabbath-school, in the prayer-meeting. Let him labor for souls where he is; let him see results, and both he and the conference will know that he is called of God to the work of Christ. “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.”
Let no one step hastily or carelessly into the path moistened with the tears and blood of a divine life. No one is called to “go” who has not followed Christ as portrayed in the Word. No one is called to go, or has the right to go, who has not by faith so associated himself with that life that its molding influence has changed his own, so that when he goes, he can represent Christ, and not himself, to the world. We are to be witnesses unto him. What a sad thing to misrepresent or witness against him who died for us!
“All power.” It is necessary for us to note that the “all power” was given to Christ as a result of a wise and proper use of the power given day by day. The all power can not be entrusted to us till we have given evidence in our lives that we would use it wisely. There are doubtless many to-day who are crying to God for the power of the Holy Ghost, who might far better cry for a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Can God give us his power while we are judging, criticizing, one another, and nursing jealousies in our hearts?—No, his power is given to testify of deliverance from these evils, and to witness to the deliverance in the life.
“Go ye therefore and make disciples [“teach all nations”].” Success is in the call of God. It is not a call to talk, but a call to make disciples, to bring souls to the cross of Christ, and to the kingdom. Christ bases the logical and just conclusion upon the broad and solid platform of his completed life in the flesh. We are to expect success. We are to expect souls won to God, and we should be alarmed for ourselves if we “go” and do not feed and save souls.
What shall we teach?—The living Word of God. “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Go teach that which you have received of me. I have taught you “the way, the truth, and the life.” “The way.” It is narrow, crucifying the true disciple to the sins of the world. It is ever on the incline, never on the decline, each step raising the traveler to a higher plane and a clearer vision. “The truth.” The truth is the sanctifier of the obedient soul. “Thy word is truth.” Teach the word with voice, pen, and life. “The life.” Life is the soul of all teaching,—life in Christ,—the life of Christ,—the gospel,—“the power of God unto salvation.” Teach the life that is able to save men who will believe,—the life which brings light into darkened homes, leads men dead in trespasses and sins out of the grave of despair into the peace and joy of believing. Such life teaches. He who has it and lives it is a great teacher. He must teach. He is called of God to teach, and sent by him to teach. He can trust him to go into any nation, and by the power of his Holy Spirit establish the work of his hands. “And they that be wise [teachers] shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” O blessed, happy man who enters this ministry!
He who can give a faithful witness in Jerusalem (his own home), in Judea (his own neighborhood), in Samaria (his enemies, from whom he shrinks perhaps most of all), has God-given credentials for any field in the world, and he can go with the assurance that many stars will be found in his crown of rejoicing in that day when the witnessing is over.
In conclusion, permit me to refer once more to the command, “Go.” This might indicate to some that the Master is sending his disciples from him into an untried field and alone. But not so. No, “never alone.” His comforting assurance to the faithful minister is, “I will not leave thee.” “My presence shall go with thee.” “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Let all the people say, Amen. May the Lord in mercy teach us daily what it means to be called to his ministry.