The Authority of God's Ministers
THE power, the authority, of the true minister of God, does not vest in his person, or in his office, but in the message of his Master which he bears. Said the angel to the apostles, "Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life." Acts 5: 20. John the Baptist bore no credentials of men, had no descent of which to boast, no predecessors in whose stead he stood; he was not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor that prophet; but in God's plan he was all-sufficient for that time. Listen: "I am the Voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah." John 1: 19-23. John's greatness was in bearing the message, the Word of the Most High; and per contra he could tell the Pharisees who boasted of their long lineage and holy offices: "Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." Matt. 3: 9. And therefore tho men in every station or any station refuse to give this Word, He can and will give voice to the insensate stones. Luke 19: 39, 40.