Gospel Workers' Department
By A. G. Daniells
Their divine calling, qualification, and preparation. Methods of labor, plans, etc. Conducted by A. G. Daniells IN the ministerial institutes held last year, many of our workers expressed a desire to secure the quotations that were read from various writers by those conducting the studies. Full references were given to the books from which the quotations were made. But as it will be difficult for some who desire the statements to secure all the books, and as it will be impossible for any one to carry so many volumes with him, we have decided to run the best of these selections through the Gospel Workers' department of the REVIEW. With each excerpt there will be given full reference to the work from which it is taken, and all will be grouped under the different divisions of the general subject to which they belong. The selections that will be made from various writers will cover the following topics:— The place of the ministry in the gospel plan.
The call to the ministry.
The Holy Spirit's place in the gospel ministry.
Conditions of receiving the Spirit.
Personal effort.
Evangelistic work.
Pastoral work.
Intellectual and spiritual development.
General preparation for the ministry.
Preparation of the sermon.
Delivery of the sermon.
Mannerisms.
Enlargement of vocabulary.
Value of time.
Improving opportunities. It scarcely seems necessary to suggest that these valuable selections from the very best writers on the ministry be preserved in a suitable, indexed scrap-book. We suggest a loose-leaf book about the length and width of a medium-sized Bible. In view of the character and the great volume of instruction that has come to gospel workers through the spirit of prophecy, our first selection will be taken from the "Testimonies to the Church," by Sister E. G. White. There have now been issued nine volumes of these Testimonies, containing 4,812 pages. The instruction in these volumes covers nearly everything relating to the church of Christ. Much of this instruction is to gospel workers of every rank. It is rather significant that the very first paragraph in all this instruction filling nine volumes, and nearly five thousand pages, is to the ministry, indicating that the ministry occupies the first place of importance in the Christian church, and implying that the most important consideration is for the ministry to be right. Really, that is the truth in the matter. Let the ministry be what it should be in spirituality, sincerity, faithfulness, and genuine loyalty to God and to his people and his cause, and all will be well. Hence the first word of warning, counsel, and exhortation in the Testimonies to his church is addressed to the ambassadors of Christ, the Head of the church:— "I saw that the Spirit of the Lord has been dying away from the church. The servants of the Lord have trusted too much to the strength of argument, and have not had that firm reliance upon God which they should have. I saw that the mere argument of the truth will not move souls to take a stand with the remnant; for the truth is unpopular. The servants of God must have the truth in the soul. Said the angel, 'They must get it warm from glory, carry it in their bosoms, and pour it out in the warmth and earnestness of the soul to those that hear.' A few that are conscientious are ready to decide from the weight of evidence; but it is impossible to move many with a mere theory of the truth. There must be a power to attend the truth, a living testimony to move them."—"Testimonies for the Church," Vol. I, page 113. This is most important and valuable counsel. Our attention was first called to this twenty-five years ago. We were then deeply impressed with the words of the heavenly watcher, that the ministers must get the truth "warm from glory, carry it in their bosoms, and pour it out in the warmth and earnestness of the soul to those that hear." Note the first sentence in this selection: "I saw that the Spirit of the Lord has been dying away from the church." And immediately attention is directed to the ministry, implying that they are responsible for this. The counsel given seems to be the remedy. Though this was given more than sixty years ago, the principle applies just the same to-day. Dear fellow workers, is not the abiding presence of the Spirit of the Lord our greatest need to-day? Should not we as Christ's representatives lay this to heart, and take every step necessary on our part to bring the Holy Spirit in full measure to the church? Let us ponder this counsel at the very opening of the great volume of instruction in the "Testimonies for the Church," and obey it most fully.