Horatius Bonar - Words to Winners of Souls

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Words to Winners

of Souls Horatius Bonar



Table of Contents

I IMPORTANCE OF A LIVING MINISTRY ...................................... 1 Baxter's Burning Sincerity ................................................................ 4 Our One Object: to Win Souls .......................................................... 7 Meet "Opinion" With the Truth ....................................................... 11

II THE MINISTER'S TRUE LIFE AND WALK .................................. 15 "Walking With God" ....................................................................... 19 Study the Speakers, Not the Sermons .............................................. 20 Faithfulness Essential to Success .................................................... 22

III PAST DEFECTS ............................................................................. 27 The Tragedy of a Barren Ministry ................................................... 30 For God's Glory and Man's Good .................................................... 33 Submission Involves Renunciation ................................................. 35 Covering Falsehood With Truth ...................................................... 38

IV MINISTERIAL CONFESSION....................................................... 40 Glad to Find Excuses ...................................................................... 44 Loving Pleasure More than God ..................................................... 48



Trusting in Our Own Ability ........................................................... 50 Attitude Toward Our Opponents ..................................................... 53 Archbishop Ussher's Example ......................................................... 58 Worldliness Stunts the Conscience ................................................. 62 Afraid to Tell the Whole Truth........................................................ 68 Preaching Self Instead of Christ ...................................................... 70 Too Little Emphasis on God's Word ............................................... 73 Time for Everything but Prayer....................................................... 74 Seeking the Spirit's Strength ........................................................... 77 Too Little Imitation of Christ .......................................................... 79

V REVIVAL IN THE MINISTRY ....................................................... 81 Today's Need for Revival ................................................................ 84 How Myconius Learned His Lesson ............................................... 86 Reaping the Great Harvest .............................................................. 89 Preaching to Plague Victims ........................................................... 91 Should We Ever Be Less Earnest? .................................................. 94 Unbelief Weakens Our Testimony .................................................. 95



"Ready to Tremble" ........................................................................ 98



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I

IMPORTANCE OF A LIVING

MINISTRY

"How much more would a few good andfervent men effect in the ministry than amultitude of lukewarm ones!" saidOecolampadius, the Swiss Reformer -- a man

who had been taught by experience, and whohas recorded that experience for the benefit ofother churches and other days.

The mere multiplying of men callingthemselves ministers of Christ will avail little.They may be but "cumberers of the ground."They may be like Achan, troubling the camp;or perhaps Jonah, raising the tempest. Even



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when sound in the faith, through unbelief,lukewarmness and slothful formality, they

may do irreparable injury to the cause ofChrist, freezing and withering up all spirituallife around them. The lukewarm ministry ofone who is theoretically orthodox is oftenmore extensively and fatally ruinous to soulsthan that of one grossly inconsistent orflagrantly heretical. "What man on earth is sopernicious a drone as an idle minister?" saidCecil. And Fletcher remarked well that"lukewarm pastors made careless Christians."Can the multiplication of such ministers, to

whatever amount, be counted a blessing to apeople?

When the church of Christ, in all herdenominations, returns to primitive example,

and walking in apostolical footsteps seeks tobe conformed more closely to inspiredmodels, allowing nothing that pertains toearth to come between her and her living



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Head, then will she give more careful heed tosee that the men to whom she intrusts the

care of souls, however learned and able,should be yet more distinguished by theirspirituality, zeal, faith and love.

In comparing Baxter and Orton, thebiographer of the former remarks that "Baxterwould have set the world on fire while Ortonwas lighting a match." How true! Yet not truealone of Baxter or of Orton. These twoindividuals are representatives of two classesin the church of Christ in every age and of

every denomination. The latter class are farthe more numerous: the Ortons you maycount by hundreds, the Baxters by tens; yetwho would not prefer a solitary specimen ofthe one to a thousand of the other?



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Baxter's Burning Sincerity

"When he spoke of weighty soul concerns,"says one of his contemporaries of Baxter, "youmight find his very spirit drenched therein." Nowonder that he was blessed with suchamazing success! Men felt that in listening tohim they were in contact with one who wasdealing with realities of infinite moment.

This is one of the secrets of ministerialstrength and ministerial success And who cansay how much of the overflowing infidelity of

the present day is owing not only to the lackof spiritual instructors-not merely to theexistence of grossly unfaithful andinconsistent ones-but to the coldness of manywho are reputed sound and faithful. Men can

not but feel that if religion is worth anything.,it is worth everything; that if it calls for anymeasure of zeal and warmth, it will justifythe utmost degrees of these; and that there is



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no consistent medium between recklessatheism and the intensest warmth of religious

zeal. Men may dislike, detest, scoff at,persecute the latter, yet their consciences areall the while silently reminding them that ifthere be a God and a Saviour, a heaven and ahell, anything short of such life and love ishypocrisy, dishonesty, perjury!

And thus the lesson they learn from thelifeless discourses of the class we are alludingto is, that since these men do not believe thedoctrines they are preaching there is no need

of their hearers believing them; if ministersonly believe them because they make theirliving by them, why should those who makenothing by them scruple about denyingthem?

"Rash preaching," said Rowland Hill,"disgusts; timid preaching leaves poor souls



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fast asleep; hold preaching is the onlypreaching that is owned of God."

It is not merely unsoundness in faith, nornegligence in duty, nor open inconsistency oflife that mars the ministerial work and ruinssouls. A man may be free from all scandaleither in creed or conduct, and yet may be amost grievous obstruction in the way of allspiritual good to his people. He may be a dryand empty cistern, notwithstanding hisorthodoxy. He may be freezing or blastinglife at the very time he is speaking of the way

of life. He may be repelling men from thecross even when he is in words proclaimingit. He may be standing between his flock andthe blessing even when he is, in outwardform, lifting up his hand to bless them. The

same words that from warm lips would dropas the rain, or distill as the dew, fall from hislips as the snow or hail, chilling all spiritualwarmth and blighting all spiritual life. How



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many souls have been lost for want ofearnestness, want of solemnity, want of love

in the preacher, even when the words utteredwere precious and true

Our One Object: to Win Souls

We take for granted that the object of theChristian ministry is to convert sinners and toedify the body of Christ. No faithful ministercan possibly rest short of this. Applause,

fame, popularity, honor, wealth-all these arevain. If souls are not won, if saints are notmatured, our ministry itself is vain.

The question, therefore, which each of us has

to answer to his own conscience is, "Has itbeen the end of my ministry, has it been thedesire of my heart to save the lost and guidethe saved? Is this my aim in every sermon I



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preach, in every visit I pay? Is it under theinfluence of this feeling that I continually live

and walk and speak? Is it for this I pray andtoil and fast and weep? Is it for this I spendand am spent, counting it, next to thesalvation of my own soul, my chiefest joy tobe the instrument of saving others? Is it forthis that I exist? To accomplish this would Igladly die? Have I seen the pleasure of theLord prospering in my hand? Have I seensouls converted under my ministry? HaveGod's people found refreshment from mylips, and gone upon their way rejoicing, or

have I seen no fruit of my labors, and yetcontent to remain unblest? Am I satisfied topreach, and yet not know of one savingimpression made, one sinner awakened ?''

Nothing short of positive success can satisfy atrue minister of Christ. His plans mayproceed smoothly and his external machinerymay work steadily, but without actual fruit in



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the saving of souls he counts all these asnothing. His feeling is: "My little children, of

whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you" (Galatians 4:19). And it is thisfeeling which makes him successful..

"Ministers," said Owen, "are seldom honoredwith success unless they are continually

aiming at the conversion of sinners." Theresolution that in the strength and with theblessing of God he will never rest withoutsuccess, will insure it. It is the man who hasmade up his mind to confront every

difficulty, who has counted the cost and,fixing his eye upon the prize, has determinedto fight his way to it -- it is such a man thatconquers.

The dull apathy of other days is gone. Satanhas taken the field actively, and it is best tomeet him front to front. Besides, men'sconsciences are really on edge. God seems



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extensively striving with them, as before theflood. A breath of the Divine Spirit has

passed over the earth, and hence themomentous character of the time, as well asthe necessity for improving it so long as itlasts.

The one true goal or resting-place wheredoubt and weariness, the stings of a prickingconscience, and the longings of an unsatisfiedsoul would all be quieted, is Christ himself.

Not the church, but Christ. Not doctrine, butChrist. Not forms, but Christ. Not

ceremonies, but Christ; Christ the God-man,giving His life for ours; sealing theeverlasting covenant, and making peace forus through the blood of His cross; Christ thedivine storehouse of all light and truth, "In

whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom andknowledge" (Colossians 2:3); Christ the infinitevessel, filled with the Holy Spirit, theEnlightener, the Teacher, the Quickener, the



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Comforter, so that ~'of his fulness have all wereceived, and grace for grace" (John 1: 16). This,

this alone is the vexed soul's refuge, its rockto build on, its home to. abide in till the greattempter be hound and every conflict ended invictory.

Meet "Opinion" With the Truth

Let us, then, meet this "earnestness" which isnow the boast, but may ere long be the bane,

of the age, with that which alone can bringdown its feverish pulse, and soothe it intoblessed calm, the gospel of the grace of God.All other things are hut opiates, drugs,quackeries; this is the divine medicine; this is

the sole, the speedy, the eternal cure. It is notby "opinion" that we are to meet "opinion ; itis the Truth of God that we are to wield; andapplying the edge of the "sword of the Spirit"



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to the theories of man (which he proudly callshis "opinions"), make him feel what a web of

sophistry and folly he has been weaving forhis own entanglement and ruin.

It is not opinions that man needs: it is Truth.It is not theology: it is God. It is not religion: itis Christ. It is not literature and science; butthe knowledge of the free love of God in thegift of His only-begotten Son.

"I know not," says Richard Baxter, "whatothers think, but for my own part I am

ashamed of my stupidity, and wonder atmyself that I deal not with my own andothers' souls as one that looks for the greatday of the Lord; and that I can have room foralmost any other thoughts and words; and

that such astonishing matters do not whollyabsorb my mind. I marvel how I can preachof them slightly and coldly; and how I can letmen alone in their sins; and that I do not go



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to them, and beseech them, for the Lord'ssake, to repent, however they may take it,

and whatever pain and trouble it should costme.

"I seldom come out of the pulpit but myconscience smiteth me that I have been nomore serious and fervent. It accuseth me notso much for want of ornaments and elegancy,nor for letting fall an unhandsome word; butit asketh me, 'How couldst thou speak of lifeand death with such a heart? How couldstthou preach of heaven and hell in such a

careless, sleepy manner? Dost thou believewhat thou sayest? Art thou in earnest, or in jest? How canst thou tell people that sin issuch a thing, and that so much misery isupon them and before them, and be no more

affected with it? Shouldst thou not weep oversuch a people, and should not thy tearsinterrupt thy words? Shouldst thou not cryaloud, and show them their transgressions;



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and entreat and beseech them as for life anddeath?'

"Truly this is the peal that conscience dothring in my ears, and yet my drowsy soul willnot be awakened. Oh, what a thing is aninsensible, hardened heart O Lord, save usfrom the plague of infidelity andhardheartedness ourselves, or else how shallwe be fit instruments of saving others fromit? Oh, do that on our souls which thouwouldst use us to do on the souls of others!"



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II

THE MINISTER'S TRUE LIFE AND WALK

The true minister must be a true Christian. Hemust be called by God before he can callothers to God. The Apostle Paul thus states

the matter: "God . . hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministryof reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18). Theywere first reconciled, and then they had givento them the ministry of reconciliation. Are we

ministers reconciled? It is but reasonable thata man who is to act as a spiritual guide toothers should himself know the way ofsalvation. It has been frequently said that "theway to heaven is blocked up with dead

professors"; but is it not true also that themelancholy obstruction is not composed ofmembers of churches only? Let us take heedunto ourselves!



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As the minister's life is in more than onerespect the life of a ministry, let us speak a

few words on ministerial holy living.

Let us seek the Lord early. "If my heart beearly seasoned with his presence, it will savofof him all day after." Let us see God beforeman every day. "I ought to pray before seeingany one. Often when I sleep long, or meetwith others early, and then have familyprayer and breakfast and forenoon callers, itis eleven or twelve o'clock before I beginsecret prayer. This is a wretched system. It is

unscriptural. Christ rose before day, andwent into a solitary place. . . Family prayerloses much of power and sweetness, and Ican do no good to those who come to seek forme. The conscience feels guilty, the soul

unfed, the lamp not trimmed. Then, whensecret prayer comes, the soul is often out oftune. I feel it far better to begin with God, to



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see His face first, to get my soul near Himbefore it is near another.

. . . It is best to have at least one hour alonewith God before engaging in anything else. Atthe same time, I must be careful not to reckoncommunion with God by minutes or hours,or by solitude." (McCheyne.)

Hear this true servant of Christ exhorting abeloved brother:

"Take heed to thyself. Your own soul is your

first and greatest care. You know a soundbody alone can work with power, much morea healthy soul. Keep a clear conscience throughthe blood of the Lamb. Keep up closecommunion with God. Study likeness to Him

in all things. Read the Bible for your owngrowth first, then for your people."



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"With him," says his biographer, "thecommencement of all labor invariably

consisted in the preparation of his own soul.The forerunner of each day's visitations was acalm season of private devotion duringmorning hours. The walls of his chamberwere witnesses of his prayerfulness -- Ibelieve of his tears as well as of his cries. Thepleasant sound of psalms often issued fromhis room at an early hour; then followed thereading of the Word for his ownsanctification: and few have so fully realizedthe blessing of the first psalm." Would that it

were so with us all! "Devotion," said BishopHall, "is the life of religion, the very soul ofpiety, the highest employment of grace. It ismuch to be feared that "we are weak in thepulpit because we are weak in the closet."



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"Walking With God"

"To restore a commonplace truth," writes Mr.Coleridge, 'to its first uncommon luster, youneed only translate it into action." Walkingwith God is a very commonplace truth.Translate this truth into action -- howlustrous it becomes! The phrase, howhackneyed ! -- the thing, how rare! It is such awalk -- not an abstract ideal, but apersonality, a life which the reader is invitedto contemplate. Oh, that we would only setourselves in right earnest to this rare work of

translation!

It is said of the energetic, pious andsuccessful John Berridge that "communionwith God was what he enforced in the latter

stages of his ministry. It was, indeed, his ownmeat and drink, and the banquet from whichhe never appeared to rise." This shows us thesource of his great strength. If we were



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always sitting at this banquet, then it mightbe recorded of us ere long, as of him, He was

in the first year visited by about a thousandpersons under serious impressions."

Study the Speakers, Not the Sermons

To the men even more than to their doctrinewe would point the eye of the inquirer whoasks, Whence came their success? Why, maynot the same success be ours? We may takethe sermons of Whitefield or Berridge or

Edwards for our study or our pattern, but it isthe individuals themselves that we mustmainly set before us; it is with the spirit of themen, more than of their works, that we are tobe imbued, if we are emulous of a ministry as

powerful, as victorious as theirs. They werespiritual men, and walked with God. It isliving fellowship with a living Saviour which,transforming us into His image, fits us for



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being able and successful ministers of thegospel.

Without this nothing else will avail. Neitherorthodoxy, nor learning, nor eloquence, norpower of argument, nor zeal, nor fervor, willaccomplish aught without this. It is this thatgives power to our words and persuasivenessto our arguments, making them either as thebalm of Gilead to the wounded spirit or assharp arrows of the mighty to the conscienceof the stout-hearted rebel. From them thatwalk with Him in holy, happy intercourse, a

virtue seems to go forth, a blessed fragranceseems to compass them whithersoever theygo. Nearness to Him, intimacy with Him,assimilation to His character -- these are theelements of a ministry of power.

When we can tell our people, "We beheld Hisglory, and therefore we speak of it; it is notfrom report we speak, but we have seen the



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King in His beauty" -- how lofty the positionwe occupy! Our power in drawing men to

Christ springs chiefly from the fulness of ourpersonal joy in Him, and the nearness of ourpersonal communion with Him. Thecountenance that reflects most of Christ, andshines most with His love and grace, is mostfitted to attract the gaze of a careless, giddyworld, and win restless souls from thefascinations of creature-love and creature-beauty. A ministry of power must be the fruitof a holy, peaceful, loving intimacy with theLord.

Faithfulness Essential to Success

"The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity

was nol found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away frominiquity" (Malachi 2:6). Let us observe theconnection here declared to subsist between



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faithfulness and success in the work of theministry; between a godly life and the

"turning away many from iniquity." The endfor which we first took office, as we declaredat ordination, was the saving of souls; the endfor which we still live and labor is the same;the means to this end are a holy life and afaithful fulfillment of our ministry.

The connection between these two things isclose and sure. We are entitled to calculateupon it. We are called upon to pray and laborwith the confident expectation of its being

realized; and where it is not, to examineourselves with all diligence, lest the cause ofthe failure be found in ourselves; in our wantof faith, love, prayer, zeal and warmth,spirituality and holiness of life; for it is by

these that the Holy Spirit is grieved away.Success is attainable; success is desirable;success is promised by God; and nothing onearth can be more bitter to the soul of a



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faithful minister than the want of it. To walkwith God, and to be faithful to our trust, is

declared to be the certain way of attaining it.Oh, how much depends on the holiness ofour life, the consistency of our character, theheavenliness of our walk and conversation!

Our position is such that we cannot remainneutral. Our life cannot be one of harmlessobscurity. We must either repel or attract-save or ruin souls! How loud, then, the call,how strong the motive, to spirituality of souland circumspectness of life! How solemn the

warning against worldly-mindedness andvanity, against levity and frivolity, againstnegligence, sloth and cold formality!

Of all men, a minister of Christ is especially

called to walk with God. Everything dependson this; his own peace and joy, his own -future reward at the coming of the Lord. Butespecially does God point to this as the true



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and sure way of securing the blessing. This isthe grand secret of ministerial success. One

who walks with God reflects the light of Hiscountenance upon a benighted world; andthe closer he walks, the more of this lightdoes he reflect. One who walks with Godcarries in his very air and countenance asweet serenity and holy joy that diffusestranquility around. One who walks with Godreceives and imparts life whithersoever hegoes; as it is written, out of him "shall flowrivers of living water" (John 7:38). He is notmerely the world's light but the world's

fountain, dispensing the water of life onevery side and making the barren waste toblossom as the rose. He waters the world'swilderness as he moves along his peacefulcourse. His life is blessed; his example is

blessed; his intercourse is blessed; his wordsare blessed; his ministry is blessed! Souls aresaved, sinners are converted, and many are



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turned from their iniquity.



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III

PAST DEFECTS

"0 my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God . . . 0 our God, what shall wesay after this?"- EZRA 9:6,10.

To deliver sermons on each returning Lord'sDay, to administer the Lord's Supperstatedly, to pay an occasional visit to those

who request it, to attend religious meetings --this, we fear, sums up the ministerial life ofmultitudes who are, by profession, overseersof the flock of Christ. An incumbency ofthirty, forty or fifty years often yields nomore than this. So many sermons, so manybaptisms, so many sacraments, so manyvisits, so many meetings of various kinds-these are all the pastoral annals, the parish



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records, the ALL of a lifetime's ministry tomany! Of souls that have been saved, such a

record could make no mention.

Mulitudes have perished under such aministry; the judgment only will disclosewhether so much as one has been saved.There might be learning, but there was notongue of the learned to speak a word inseason to him that is weary." There might bewisdom, but it certainly was not the wisdomthat "winneth souls." There might even be thesound of the gospel, but it seemed to contain

no glad tidings at all; it was not soundedforth from warm lips into startled ears as themessage of eternal life -- "the glorious gospelof the blessed God." Men lived, and it wasnever asked of them by their minister

whether they were born again! Men sickened,sent for the minister and received a prayerupon their death-beds as their passport intoheaven. Men died, and were buried where all



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their fathers had been laid; there was a prayerat their funeral and decent respects to their

remains; but their souls went up to the judgment seat unthought of, uncared for; noman, not even the minister who had vowedto watch for them, having said to them, Areyou ready ? -- or warned them to flee fromthe wrath to come.

Is not this description too true of many adistrict and many a minister? We do notspeak in anger; we do not speak in scorn: weask the question solemnly and earnestly. It

needs an answer. If ever there was a timewhen there should be "great searching ofheart" and frank acknowledgment ofunfaithfulness, it is now when God is visitingus -- visiting us both in judgment and mercy.

We speak in brotherly kindness; surely theanswer should not be of wrath and bitterness.And if this description be true, what sin mustthere be in ministers and people! How great



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must be the spiritual desolation that prevails'!Surely there is something in such a case

grievously wrong; something which calls forsolemn self-examination in every minister;something which requires deep repentance.

The Tragedy of a Barren Ministry

Fields plowed and sown, yet yielding nofruit! Machinery constantly in motion, yet allwithout one particle of produce! Nets castinto the sea, and spread wide, yet no fishes

inclosed! All this for years -- for a lifetime!How strange! Yet it is true. There is neitherfancy nor exaggeration in the matter.Question some ministers, and what otheraccount can they give? They can tell you of

sermons preached, but of sermons blessed theycan say nothing. They can speak of discoursesthat were admired and praised, but ofdiscourses that have been made effectual by



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the Holy Spirit they can not speak. They cantell you how many have been baptized, how

many communicants admitted; but of soulsawakened, converted, ripening in grace, theycan give no account. They can enumerate thesacraments they have dispensed; but as towhether any of them have been "times ofrefreshing" or times of awakening, they cannot say. They can tell you what and howmany cases of discipline have passed throughtheir hands; but whether any of these haveissued in godly sorrow for sin, whether theprofessed penitents who were absolved by

them gave evidence of being "washed andsanctified and justified," they can give noinformation; they never thought of such anissue!

They can tell what is the attendance atSunday school, and what are the abilities ofthe teacher; but how many of these preciouslittle ones whom they have vowed to feed are



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seeking the Lord they know not; or whethertheir teacher be a man of prayer and piety

they can not say. They can tell you thepopulation of their parish, the number oftheir congregation, or the temporal conditionof their flocks; but as to their spiritual state,how many have been awakened from thesleep of death, how many are followers ofGod as dear children, they can not pretend tosay. Perhaps they would deem it rashnessand presumption, if not fanaticism, toinquire. And yet they have sworn, beforemen and angels, to watch for their souls as they

that must give account! But oh, of what useare sermons, sacraments, schools, if souls areleft to perish; if living religion be lost sight of;if the Holy Spirit be not sought; if men are leftto grow up and die unpitied, unprayed for,

unwarned!



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For God's Glory and Man's Good

It was not so in other days. Our fathers reallywatched and preached for souls. They askedand they expected a blessing. Nor were theydenied it. They were blessed in turning manyto righteousness. Their lives record theirsuccessful labors. How refreshing the lives ofthose who lived only for the glory of God andthe good of souls. There is something in theirhistory that compels us to feel that they wereministers of Christ-true watchmen.

How cheering to read of Baxter and his laborsat Kidderminster! How solemn to hear ofVenn and his preaching, in regard to which itis said that men "fell before him like slakedlime"! And in the much-blest labors of that

man of God, the apostolic Whitefield, is therenot much to humble us, as well as tostimulate? Of Tanner, who was himselfawakened under Whitefield, we read that he



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"seldom preached one sermon in vain." OfBerridge and Hicks we are told that in their

missionary tours throughout England theywere blessed in one year to awaken fourthousand souls. Oh, for these days again! Oh,for one day of Whitefield again!

Thus one has written: "The language we havebeen accustomed to adopt is this; we mustuse the means, and leave the event to God;we can do no more than employ the means;this is our duty and having done this wemust leave the rest to Him who is the

disposer of all things." Such language soundswell, for it seems to be an acknowledgment ofour own nothingness, and to savor ofsubmission to God's sovereignty; but it isonly sound -- it has not really any substance

in it, for though there is truth stamped on the face of it, there is falsehood at the root of it. Totalk of submission to God's sovereignty is onething, but really to submit to it is another and



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quite different thing.

Submission Involves Renunciation

"Really to submit to God's sovereign disposaldoes always necessarily involve the deeprenunciation of our own will in the matterconcerned, and such a renunciation of thewill can never be effected without a soulbeing brought through very severe and tryingexercises of an inward and most humbling

nature. Therefore, whilst we are quietlysatisfied in using the means withoutobtaining the end, and this costs us no suchpainful inward exercise and deep humblingas that alluded to, if we think that we are

leaving the affair to God's disposal, wedeceive ourselves, and the truth in this matteris not in us.



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"No; really to give anything to God impliesthat the wil4 which is emphatically the heart,

has been set on that thing; and if the heart hasindeed been set on the salvation of sinners asthe end to be answered by the means we use,we can not possibly give up that end without,as was before observed, the heart beingseverely exercised and deeply pained by therenunciation of the wilt involved in it. When,therefore, we can be quietly content to use themeans for saving souls without seeing themsaved thereby, it is because there is norenunciation of the will-that is, no real giving

up to God in the affair. The fact is, the will --that is, the heart -- had never really been setupon this end; if it had, it could not possiblygive up such an end without being broken bythe sacrifice.

"When we can thus be satisfied to use themeans without obtaining the end, and speakof it as though we were submitting to the



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Lord's disposal, we use a truth to hide afalsehood, exactly in the same way that those

formalists in religion do, who continue informs and duties without going beyondthem, though they know they will not savethem, and who, when they are warned oftheir danger and earnestly entreated to seekthe Lord with all the heart, reply by telling usthey know they must repent and believe butthat they can not do either the one or theother of themselves and that they must waittill God gives them grace to do so. Now, thisis a truth, absolutely considered; yet most of

us can see that they are using it as a falsehoodto cover and excuse a great insincerity ofheart. We can readily perceive that if theirhearts were really set upon salvation, theycould not rest satisfied without it. Their

contentedness is the result, not of heart-submission to God, but in reality of heart-indifference to the salvation of their own souls.



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Covering Falsehood With Truth

"Exactly so it is with us as ministers: when wecan rest satisfied with using the means forsaving souls without seeing them reallysaved, or we ourselves being broken-heartedby it, and at the same time quietly talk ofleaving the event to God's disposal, we makeuse of a truth to cover and excuse afalsehood; for our ability to leave the matterthus is not, as we imagine, the result of heart-submission to God, but of heart-indifferenceto the salvation of the souls we deal with. No,

truly, if the heart is really set on such an end,it must gain that end or break in losing it."

He that saved our souls has taught us toweep over the unsaved. Lord, let that mind

be in us that was in Thee! Give us thy tears toweep; for, Lord, our hearts are hard towardour fellows. We can see thousands perisharound us, and our sleep never be disturbed;



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no vision of their awful doom ever scaring us,no cry from their lost souls ever turning our

peace into bitterness.

Our families, our schools, our congregations,not to speak of our cities at large, our land,our world, might well send us daily to ourknees; for the loss of even one soul is terriblebeyond conception. Eye has not seen, nor earheard, nor has entered the heart of man, whata soul in hell must suffer forever. Lord, giveus bowels of mercies! "What a mystery! Thesoul and eternity of one man depends upon

the voice of another!"



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IV

MINISTERIAL CONFESSION

"Remember there/ore from whence thou art fallen,and repent, and do the first works; or else I willcome unto thee quickly, and will remove thy

candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

-REVELATION 2:5.

In the year 1651 the Church of Scotland,feeling in regard to her ministers "how deeptheir hand was in the transgression, and thatministers had no small accession to thedrawing on of the judgments that were uponthe land," drew up what they called a humbleacknowledgment of the sins of the ministry.This document is a striking and searching



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one. It is perhaps one of the fullest, mostfaithful and most impartial confessions of

ministerial sin ever made. A few extractsfrom it will suitably introduce this chapter onministerial confession. It begins withconfessing sins before entrance on theministry:

"Lightness and profanity in conversation,unsuitable to that holy calling which they didintend, not thoroughly repented of. Notstudying to be in Christ before they be in theministry; nor to have the practical knowledge

and experience of the mystery of the gospelin themselves before they preach it to others.Neglecting to fit themselves for the work ofthe ministry, in not improving prayer andfellowship with God, opportunities of a lively

ministry, and other means, and not mourningfor these neglects. Not studying self-denial,nor resolving to take up the cross of Christ.Negligence to entertain a sight and sense of



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sin and misery; not wrestling againstcorruption, nor studying mortification and

subduedness of spirit."

Of entrance on the ministry it thus speaks:

"Entering to the ministry without respect to acommission from Jesus Christ, by which it

hath come to pass that many have rununsent. Entering to the ministry not from thelove of Christ, nor from a desire to honor Godin gaining of souls, but for a name and for alivelihood in the world notwithstanding a

solemn declaration to the contrary atadmission."

Of the sins after entrance on the ministry, itthus searchingly enumerates:

"Ignorance of God; want of nearness withHim, and taking up little of God in reading,meditating and speaking of Him. Exceeding



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great selfishness in all that we do; acting fromourselves, for ourselves and to ourselves. Not

caring how unfaithful and negligent otherswere, so being it might contribute a testimonyto our faithfulness and diligence, but beingrather content, if not rejoicing, at their faults.Least delight in those things wherein liethour nearest communion with God; greatinconstancy in our walk with God, andneglect of acknowledging Him in all ourways. In going about duties, least careful ofthose things which are most remote from theeyes of men. Seldom in secret prayer with

God, except to fit for public performance; andeven that much neglected, or gone about verysuperficially.



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Glad to Find Excuses

"Glad to find excuses for the neglect of duties.Neglecting the reading of Scriptures in secret,for edifying ourselves as Christians; onlyreading them in so far as may fit us for ourduty as ministers, and oft-times neglectingthat. Not given to reflect upon our own ways,nor allowing conviction to have a thoroughwork upon us; deceiving our-selves byresting upon absence from and abhorrence ofevils from the light of a natural conscience,and looking upon the same as an evidence of

a real change of state and nature. Evilguarding of and watching over the heart, andcarelessness in self-searching; which makesmuch unaquaintedness with ourselves andestrangedness from God. Not guarding nor

wrestling against seen and known evils,especially our predominants. A facility to bedrawn away with the temptations of the time,



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and other particular temptations, accordingto our inclinations and fellowship.

"Instability and wavering in the ways of God,through the fears of persecutions, hazard, orloss of esteem; and declining duties becauseof the fear of jealousies and reproaches. Notesteeming the cross of Christ, and sufferingsfor His name, honorable, but rather shiftingsufferings, from self-love. Deadness of spirit,after all the sore strokes of God upon theland. Little conscience made of secrethumiliation and fasting, by ourselves apart

and in our families, that we might mourn forour own and the land's guiltiness and greatbackslidings; and little applying of publichumiliation to our own hearts. Finding of ourown pleasure, when the Lord calls for our

humiliation.

"Not laying to heart the sad and heavysufferings of the people of God abroad, and



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the not-thriving of the kingdom of JesusChrist and the power of godliness among

them. Refined hypocrisy; desiring to appearwhat, indeed, we are not. Studying more tolearn the language of God's people than theirexercise. Artificial confessing of sin, withoutrepentance; professing to declare iniquity,and not resolving to be sorry for sin.Confession in secret much slighted, even ofthose things whereof we are convicted. Noreformation, after solemn acknowledgmentsand private vows; thinking ourselvesexonerated after confession. Readier to search

out and censure faults in others than to see ordeal with them in ourselves. Accounting ofour estate and way according to theestimation that others have of us. Estimationof men, as they agree with or disagree from

us.

"Not fearing to meet with trials, butpresuming, in our own strength, to go



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through them unshaken. Not learning to fear,by the falls of gracious men; nor mourning

and praying for them. Not observingparticular deliverances and punishments; notimproving of them, for the honor of God, andthe edification of ourselves and others. Littleor no mourning for the corruption of ournature, and less groaning under, and longingto be delivered from, that body of death, thebitter root of all our other evils.

"Fruitless conversing ordinarily with others,for the worse rather than for the better.

Foolish jesting away of time with impertinentand useless discourse, very unbecoming theministers of the gospel. Spiritual purposesoften dying in our hands when they arebegun by others. Carnal familiarity with

natural, wicked and malignant men, wherebythey are hardened, the people of Godstumbled, and we ourselves blunted.



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Loving Pleasure More than God

"Slighting of fellowship with those by whomwe might profit. Desiring more to conversewith those that might better us by theirtalents than with such as might edify us bytheir graces. Not studying opportunities ofdoing good to others. Shifting of prayer andother duties, when called thereto -- choosingrather to omit the same than that we shouldbe put to them ourselves. Abusing of time infrequent recreation and pastimes and lovingour pleasures more than God . Taking little or

no time to Christian discourse with youngmen trained up for the ministry. Commonand ordinary discourse on the Lord's Day.Slighting Christian admonition from any ofour flocks or others, as being below us; and

ashamed to take light and warning fromprivate Christians. Dislike of, or bitternessagainst, such as deal freely with us byadmonition or reproof, and not dealing



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faithfully with others who would welcome itoff our hands.

"Not praying for men of a contrary judgment,but using reservedness and distance fromthem; being more ready to speak of them thanto them or to God for them. Not weighed withthe failings and miscarriages of others, butrather taking advantage thereof for justifyingourselves. Talking of and sporting at thefaults of others, rather than compassionatingof them. No due painstaking in religiousordering of our families, nor studying to be

patterns to other families in the governmentof ours. Hasty anger and passion in ourfamilies and conversation with others.Covetousness, worldly-mindedness, and aninordinate desire after the things of this life,

upon which followeth a neglect of the dutiesof our calling, and our being taken up for themost part with the things of the world. Wantof hospitality and charity to the members of



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Christ. Not cherishing godliness in thepeople; and some' being afraid of it and

hating the people of God for piety, andstudying to bear down and quench the workof the Spirit amongst them.

Trusting in Our Own Ability

"Not entertaining that edge of spirit inministerial duties which we found at the firstentry to the ministry. Great neglect ofreading, and other preparation; or

preparation merely literal and bookish,making an idol of a book, which hinderethcommunion with God; or presuming onbygone assistance, and praying little.Trusting to gifts, talents, and pains taken for

preparation, whereby God is provoked toblast good matter, well ordered and worded.Careless in employing Christ, and drawingvirtue out of Him, for enabling us to preach



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in the Spirit and in power. In praying forassistance we pray more for assistance to the

messenger than to the message which wecarry, not caring what becomes of the Word,if we be with some measure of assistancecarried on in the duty. The matter we bringforth is not seriously recommended to Godby prayer, to be quickened to His people.Neglect of prayer after the Word is preached.

"Neglect to warn, in preaching, of snares andsins in public affairs by some; and too much,too frequent, and unnecessary speaking by

others of public business and transactions.Exceeding great neglect and unskillfulness toset forth the excellences and usefulness of(and the necessity of an interest in) JesusChrist, and the new covenant, which ought to

be the great subject of a minister's study andpreaching. Speaking of Christ more byhearsay than from knowledge andexperience, or any real impression of Him



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upon the heart. The way of most ministers'preaching too legal. Want of sobriety in

preaching the gospel; not savoring anythingbut what is new; so that the substantials ofreligion bear but little bulk.

"Not preaching Christ in the simplicity of thegospel, nor ourselves the people's servants,for Christ's sake. Preaching of Christ, not thatthe people may know him, but that they maythink we know much of Him. Preachingabout Christ's leaving of the world withoutbrokenness of heart, or stirring up of

ourselves to take hold of Him. Not preachingwith bowels of compassion to them that arein hazard to perish. Preaching against publicsins, neither in such a way, nor for such anend, as we ought-for the gaining of souls and

drawing men out of their sins; but ratherbecause it is to our advantage to saysomething of these evils.



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Attitude Toward Our Opponents

"Bitterness, instead of zeal in speakingagainst malignants, sectarians, and otherscandalous persons; and unfaithfulnesstherein. Not studying to know the particularcondition of the souls of the people, that wemay speak to them accordingly; nor keepinga particular record thereof, though convincedof the usefulness of this. Not carefullychoosing what may be most profitable andedifying; and want of wisdom in applicationto the several conditions of souls; not so

careful to bring home the point byapplication as to find Out the doctrine, norspeaking the same with that reverence whichbecomes His word and message.

"Choosing texts whereon we have somethingto say, rather than those suited to theconditions of souls and times, and frequent preaching of the same things, that we may not



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be put to the pains of new study. Such a wayof reading, preaching and prayer as puts us

in these duties farther from God. Too soonsatisfied in the discharge of duties, andholding off challenges of conscience withexcuses. Indulging the body, and wastingmuch time idly. Too much eyeing our owncredit and applause; and being pleased withit when we get it, and unsatisfied when it iswanting. Timorousness in delivering God'smessage; letting people die in reigning sinswithout warning. Studying the discharge ofduties rather to free ourselves from censure

than to approve ourselves to God.

"Not making all the counsel of God known toHis people; and particularly, not givingtestimony in times of defection. Not studying

to profit by our own doctrine, nor thedoctrine of others. For most part, preachingas if we ourselves were not concerned in themessage which we carry to the people. Not



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rejoicing at the conversion of sinners, butcontent with the unthriving of the Lord's

work amongst His people, as suiting bestwith our minds; fearing, if they should thrivebetter, we should be more put to it, and lessesteemed of by them -- many, in preachingand practice, bearing down the power ofgodliness. We preach not as be ore God, butas to men; as doth appear by the differentpains in our preparation to speak to ourordinary hearers and to others

to whom we would approve ourselves.

"Negligent, lazy, and partial visiting of thesick. If they be poor we go once, and onlywhen sent for; if they be rich and of betternote, we go oftener and unsent for. Not

knowing how to speak with the tongue of thelearned a word in season to the weary.



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"Lazy and negligent in catechising. Notpreparing our hearts before, nor wrestling

with God for a blessing to it, because of theordinariness and apprehended easiness of it;whereby the Lord's name is much taken invain, and the people little profited. Lookingon that exercise as a work below us, and notcondescending to study a right and profitableway of instructing the Lord's people. Partialin catechising, passing by those that are richand of better quality, though many of suchstand ordinarily in great need of instruction.Not waiting upon and following the ignorant

but often passionately upbraiding them."

These are solemn confessions-the confessionsof men who knew the nature of that ministry

on which they had entered, and who weredesirous of approving themselves to Himwho had called them, that they might give intheir account with joy and not with grief.



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Confessing our Shortcomings

Let us, as they did, deal honestly withourselves. Our confessions ought to be no lessample and searching.

1. We have been unfaithful. The fear of man and

the love of his applause have often made usafraid. We have been unfaithful to our ownsouls, to our flocks, and to our brethren;unfaithful in the pulpit, in visiting, indiscipline, in the church. In the discharge of

every one of the duties of our stewardshipthere has been grievous unfaithfulness.Instead of the special particularization of thesin reproved, there has been the vagueallusion. Instead of the bold reproof, therehas been the timid hint. Instead of theuncompromising condemnation, there hasbeen the feeble disapproval. Instead of theunswerving consistency of a holy life whose



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uniform tenor should be a protest against theworld and a rebuke of sin, there has been

such an amount of unfaithfulness in our walkand conversation, in our daily deportmentand intercourses with others, that any degreeof faithfulness we have been enabled tomanifest on the Lord's Day is almostneutralized by the want of circumspectionwhich our weekday life exhibits.

Archbishop Ussher's Example

Few men ever lived a life so busy and sodevoted to God as Ussher, Archbishop ofArmagh. His learning, habits of business,Station, friends, all contributed to keep hishands every moment full; and then his was a

soul that seemed continually to hear a voicesaying: "Redeem the time, for the days areevil." Early, too, did he begin, for at ten yearsof age he was hopefully converted by a



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sermon preached on Romans 12:1: "I beseechyou therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,

that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice." Hewas a painstaking, laborious preacher of theWord for fifty-five years.

Yet hear him on his death-bed! How he clingsto Christ's righteousness alone, and sees in

himself, even after such a life, only sin andwant. The last words he was heard to utterwere about one o'clock in the afternoon, andthese words were uttered in a loud voice:"But, Lord, in special forgive me my sins of

omission." It was omissions, says hisbiographer, he begged forgiveness of with hismost fervent last breath -- he who was neverknown to omit an hour, but who employedthe shred ends of his life for his great Lord

and Master! The very day he took his lastsickness, he rose up from writing one of hisgreat works and went out to visit a sickwoman, to whom he spoke so fitly and fully



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that you would have taken him to havespoken of heaven before he came there. Yet

this man was oppressed with a sense of hisomissions!

Reader, what think you of yourself -- yourundone duties, your unimproved hours,times of prayer omitted, your shrinking from

unpleasant work and putting it on others,your being content to sit under your vine andfig tree without using all efforts for the soulsof others? "Lord, in special forgive me my sins of omission!"

Hear the confession of Edwards, in regardboth to personal and ministerial sins: "Often Ihave had very affecting views of my ownsinfulness and vileness; very frequently to

such a degree as to hold me in a kind of loudweeping, sometimes for a considerable timetogether, so that I have often been forced toshut myself up. I have had a vastly greater



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sense of my own wickedness, and thebadness of my heart, than ever I had be-fore

my conversion. My wickedness, as I am inmyself, has long appeared to me perfectlyineffable, swallowing up all thought andimagination. I know not how to expressbetter what my sins appear to me to be thanby heaping infinite upon infinite, andmultiplying infinite by infinite. When I lookinto my heart and take a view of mywickedness, it looks like an abyss infinitelydeeper than hell. And yet it seems to me thatmy conviction of sin is exceedingly small and

faint: it is enough to amaze me that I have nomore sense of my sin. I have greatly longed oflate for a broken heart, and to lie low beforeGod."



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Worldliness Stunts the Conscience

2. We have been carnal and unspiritual. The toneof our life has been low and earthly.Associating too much and too intimately withthe world, we have in a great measurebecome

accustomed to its ways. Hence our tasteshave been vitiated, our consciences blunted,and that sensitive tenderness of feelingwhich, while it turns not back from sufferingyet shrinks from the remotest contact with

sin, has worn off and given place to anamount of callousness of which we once, infresher days, believed ourselves incapable.

Perhaps we can call to mind a time when our

views and aims were fixed upon a standardof almost unearthly elevation, and,contrasting these with our present state, weare startled at the painful changes. And



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besides intimacy with the world, other causeshave operated in producing this deterioration

in the spirituality of our minds. The study oftruth in its dogmatical more than in itsdevotional form has robbed it of its freshnessand power; daily, hourly occupation in theroutine of ministerial labor has engenderedformality and coldness; continualemployment in the most solemn duties of ouroffice, such as dealing with souls in privateabout their immortal welfare, or guiding themeditations and devotions of God'sassembled people, or handling the

sacramental symbols-this, gone about oftenwith so little prayer and mixed with so littlefaith, has tended grievously to divest us ofthat profound reverence and godly fearwhich ever ought to possess and pervade us.

How truly, and with what emphasis, we maysay: "I am carnal, sold under sin" (Romans7:14). The world has not been crucified to us,nor we unto the world; the flesh, with its



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members, has not been mortified. What a sadeffect all this has bad, not only upon our

peace of soul, on our growth in grace, butupon the success of our ministry!

3. We have been selfish. We have shrunk fromtoil, difficulty and endurance, counting notonly our lives dear unto us, but even ourtemporal ease and comfort. We have soughtto please ourselves, instead of obeyingRomans 15:2: "Let every one of us please hisneighbor for his good to edification." We havenot borne "one another's burdens, and so fulfil

the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). We havebeen worldly and covetous. We have notpresented ourselves unto God as "livingsacrifices," laying ourselves, our lives, oursubstance, our time, our strength, our

faculties -- our all -- upon His altar. We seemaltogether to have lost sight of this self-sacrificing principle on which even asChristians, but much more as ministers, we



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are called upon to act. We have had little ideaof anything like sacrifice at all. Up to the point

where a sacrifice was demanded, we mayhave been willing to go, but there we stood;counting it unnecessary, perhaps calling itimprudent and unadvised, to proceedfurther. Yet ought not the life of everyChristian, especially of every minister, to be alife of self-sacrifice and self-denialthroughout, even as was the life of Him who"pleased not himself"?

4. We have been slothful. We have been sparing

of our toil. We have not endured hardness asgood soldiers of Jesus Christ. Even when wehave been instant in season, we have not beenso out of season; neither have we sought togather up the fragments of our time, that not

a moment might be thrown idly orunprofitably away. Precious hours and dayshave been wasted in sloth, in company, inpleasure, in idle or desultory reading, that



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might have been devoted to the closet, thestudy, the pulpit or the meeting! Indolence,

self-indulgence, fickleness, flesh-pleasing,have eaten like a canker into our ministry,arresting the blessing and marring oursuccess.

It can not be said of us, "For my name's sake[thou] hast labored, and hast not fainted" (Revelation 2:3). Alas! we have fainted, or atleast grown "weary in well-doing." We havenot made conscience of our work. We havenot dealt honestly with the church to which

we pledged the vows of ordination. We havedealt deceitfully with God, whose servantswe profess to be. We have manifested butlittle of the unwearied, self-denying love withwhich, as shepherds, we ought to have

watched over the flocks committed to ourcare. We have fed ourselves, and not theflock.



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5. We have been cold. Even when diligent, howlittle warmth and glow! The whole soul is not

poured into the duty, and hence it wears toooften the repulsive air of routine and form.We do not speak and act like men in earnest.Our words are feeble, even when sound andtrue; our looks are careless, even when ourwords are weighty; and our tones betray theapathy which both words and looks disguise.Love is wanting, deep love, love strong asdeath, love such as made Jeremiah weep insecret places for the pride of Israel, and Paulspeak "even weeping" of the enemies of the

cross of Christ. In preaching and visiting, incounseling and reproving, what formality,what coldness, how little tenderness andaffection! "Oh that I was all heart," saidRowland Hill, "and soul, and spirit, to tell the

glorious gospel of Christ to perishingmultitudes!"



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Afraid to Tell the Whole Truth

6. We have been timid. Fear has often led us tosmooth down or generalize truths which ifbroadly stated must have brought hatred andreproach upon us. We have thus often failedto declare to our people the whole counsel ofGod. We have shrunk from reproving,rebuking and exhorting with all long-suffering and doctrine. We have feared toalienate friends, or to awaken the wrath ofenemies. Hence our preaching of the law hasbeen feeble and straitened; and hence our

preaching of a free gospel has been yet morevague, uncertain and timorous. We aregreatly deficient in that majestic boldness andnobility of spirit which peculiarly markedLuther, Calvin, Knox, and the mighty men of

the Reformation. Of Luther it was said, everyword was a thunderbolt."



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7. We have been wanting in solemnity. Inreading the lives of Howe or Baxter, of

Brainerd or Edwards, we are in companywith men who in solemnity of deportmentand gravity of demeanor were truly of theapostolic school. We feel that these men musthave carried weight with them, both in theirwords and lives. We see also the contrastbetween ourselves and them in respect of thatdeep solemnity of air and tone which mademen feel that they walked with God. Howdeeply ought we to be abased at our levity,frivolity, flippancy, vain mirth, foolish talking

and jesting, by which grievous injury hasbeen done to souls, the progress of the saintsretarded, and the world countenanced in itswretched vanities.



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Preaching Self Instead of Christ

8. We have preached ourselves, not Christ. Wehave sought applause, courted honor, beenavaricious of fame and jealous of ourreputation. We have preached too often so asto exalt our-selves instead of magnifyingChrist, so as to draw men's eyes to ourselvesinstead of fixing them on Him and His cross.Nay, and have we not often preached Christfor the very purpose of getting honor toourselves? Christ, in the sufferings of His firstcoming and the glory of His second, has not

been the Alpha and Omega, the first and thelast, of all our sermons.

9. We have used words of man's wisdom. Wehave forgotten Paul's resolution to avoid the

enticing words of man's wisdom, lest heshould make the cross of Christ of noneeffect. We have reversed his reasoning as wellas his resolution, and acted as if by well-



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studied, well-polished, well-reasoneddiscourses, we could so gild and beautify the

cross as to make it no longer repulsive, butirresistibly attractive to the carnal eye! Hencewe have often sent men home well satisfiedwith themselves, convinced that they werereligious because they were affected by oureloquence, touched by our appeals orpersuaded by our arguments. In this way wehave made the cross of Christ of none effectand sent souls to hell with a lie in their righthand. Thus, by avoiding the offense of thecross and the foolishness of preaching we

have had to labor in vain, and mourn over anunblest, unfruitful ministry.

10. We have not fully preached a free gospel. Wehave been afraid of making it too free, lest men

should be led into licentiousness; as if it werepossible to preach too free a gospel, or as if its freeness could lead men into sin. It is only afree gospel that can bring peace, and it is only



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a free gospel that can make men holy.Luther's preaching was summed up in these

two points -- "that we are justified by faithalone, and that we must be assured that weare justified"; and it was this that he urged hisbrother Brentius to preach; and it was by suchfree, full, bold preaching of the gloriousgospel, untrammeled by works, merits, terms,conditions, and unclouded by the fanciedhumility of doubts, fears, uncertainties, thatsuch blessed success accompanied his labors.Let us go and do likewise. Allied to this is thenecessity of insisting on the sinner's immediate

turning to God, and demanding in theMaster's name the sinner's immediatesurrender of heart to Christ. Strange thatsudden conversions should be so muchdisliked by some ministers. They are the most

scriptural of all conversions.



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Too Little Emphasis on God's Word

11. We have not duly studied and honored theWord of God. We have given a greaterprominence to man's writings, man'sopinions, man's systems in our studies thanto the WORD. We have drunk more out ofhuman cisterns than divine. We have heldmore communion with man than God. Hencethe mold and fashion of our spirits, our lives,our words, have been derived more fromman than God. We must study the Biblemore. We must steep our souls in it. We must

not only lay it up within us, but transfuse itthrough the whole texture of the soul.

12. We have not been men of prayer. The spirit ofprayer has slumbered amongst us. The closet

has been too little frequented and delightedin. We have allowed business, study or activelabor to interfere with our closet-hours. Andthe feverish atmosphere in which both the



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church and nation are enveloped has foundits way into our closet, disturbing the sweet

calm of its blessed solitude. Sleep, company,idle visiting, foolish talking and jesting, idlereading, unprofitable occupations, engrosstime that might have been redeemed forprayer.

Time for Everything but Prayer

Why is there so little anxiety to get time topray? Why is there so little forethought in the

laying out of time and employments so as tosecure a large portion of each day for prayer?Why is there so much speaking, yet so littleprayer? Why is there so much running to andfro, yet so little prayer? Why so much bustle

and business, yet so little prayer? Why somany meetings with our fellow-men, yet sofew meetings with God? Why so little beingalone, so little thirsting of the soul for the



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calm, sweet hours of unbroken solitude,when God and His child hold fellowship

together as if they could never part? It is thewant of these solitary hours that not onlyinjures our own growth in grace but makesus such unprofitable members of the churchof Christ, and that renders our lives useless.In order to grow in grace, we must be muchalone. It is not in society -- even Christiansociety -- that the soul grows most rapidlyand vigorously. In one single quiet hour ofprayer it will often make more progress thanin days of company with others. It is in the

desert that the dew falls freshest and the air ispurest. So with the soul. It is when none butGod is nigh; when His presence alone, likethe desert air in which there is mingled nonoxious breath of man, surrounds and

pervades the soul; it is then that the eye getsthe clearest, simplest view of eternalcertainties; it is then that the soul gathers in



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wondrous refreshment and power andenergy.

And so it is also in this way that we becometruly useful to others. It is when coming outfresh from communion with God that we goforth to do His work successfully. It is in thecloset that we get our vessels so filled withblessing, that, when we come forth, we cannot contain it to ourselves but must, as by ablessed necessity, pour it out whithersoeverwe go. We cannot say, as did Isaiah: "MyLord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in

the daytime, and I am set in my ward wholenights" (Isaiah 21:8). Our life has not been alying-in-wait for the voice of God. "Speak,Lord; for thy servant heareth" (1 Samuel 3:9),has not been the attitude of our souls, the

guiding principle of our lives. Nearness toGod, fellowship with God, waiting uponGod, resting in God, have been too little thecharacteristic either of our private or our



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ministerial walk. Hence our example hasbeen so powerless, our labors so

unsuccessful, our sermons so meagre, ourwhole ministry so fruitless and feeble.

Seeking the Spirit's Strength

13. We have not honored the Spirit of God. It maybe that in words we have recognized Hisagency, but we have not kept this continuallybefore our eyes, and the eyes of the people.We have not given Him the glory that is due

unto His name. We have not sought Histeaching, His anointing-the "unction from theHoly One, [whereby] ye know all things" (1 John2:20). Neither in the study of the Word northe preaching of it to others have we duly

acknowledged His office as the Enlightener ofthe understanding, the Revealer of the truth,the Testifier and Glorifier of Christ. We havegrieved Him by the dishonor done to His



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person as the third person of the gloriousTrinity; and we have grieved Him by the

slight put upon His office as the Teacher, theConvincer, the Comforter, the Sanctifier.Hence He has almost departed from us, andleft us to reap the fruit of our own perversityand unbelief. Besides, we have grieved Himby our inconsistent walk, by our want ofcircumspection, by our worldly-mindedness,by our unholiness, by our prayerlessness, byour unfaithfulness, by our want of solemnity,by a life and conversation so little inconformity with the character of a disciple or

the office of ambassador.

An old Scottish minister thus writesconcerning himself: "I find a want of theSpirit -- of the power and demonstration of

the Spirit -- in praying, speaking, andexhorting; that whereby men are mainlyconvinced, and whereby they are a terror anda wonder unto others, so as they stand in awe



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of them; that glory and majesty wherebyrespect and reverence are procured; that

whereby Christ's sermons were differencedfrom those of the Scribes and Pharisees;which I judge to be the beams of God'smajesty and of the Spirit of holiness breakingout and shining through His people. But myfoul garments are on! Woe is me?. The crownof glory and majesty is fallen off my head; mywords are weak and carnal, not mighty;whereby contempt is bred. No remedy forthis but humility, self-loathing and a strivingto maintain fellowship with God."

Too Little Imitation of Christ

14. We have had little of the mind of Christ. We

have come far short of the example of theapostles, much more of Christ; we are farbehind the servants, much farther behind theMaster. We have had little of the grace, the



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compassion, the meekness, the lowliness, thelove of God's eternal Son. His weeping over

Jerusalem is a feeling in which we have butlittle heartfelt sympathy. His "seeking of thelost" is little imitated by us. His unwearied'teaching of the multitudes" we shrink fromas too much for flesh and blood. His days offasting, His nights of watchfulness andprayer, are not fully realized as models for usto copy. His counting not His life dear untoHim that He might glorify the Father andfinish the work given Him to do, is but littleremembered by us as the principle on which

we are to act. Yet surely we are to follow Hissteps; the servant is to walk where his Masterhas led the way; the under shepherd is to bewhat the Chief Shepherd was. We must notseek rest or ease in a world where He whom

we love had none.



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V

REVIVAL IN THE MINISTRY

It is easier to speak or write about revivalthan to set about it. There is so much rubbishto be swept out, so many self-raised

hindrances to be dealt with, so many oldhabits to be overcome, so much sloth andeasy-mindedness to be contended with, somuch of ministerial routine to be brokenthrough, and so much crucifixion, both of self

and of the world, to be undergone. As (Christsaid of the unclean spirit which the disciplescould not cast out, so we may say of these:"This kind goeth not out but by prayer andfasting."

So thought a minister in the seventeenthcentury; for, after lamenting the evils both of



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his life and his ministry, he thus resolves toset about their renewal:

"(1) In imitation of Christ and His apostles,and to get good done, I purpose to rise timelyevery morning.

"(2) To prepare as soon as I am up some work

to be done, and how and when to do it; toengage my heart to it; and at even to callmyself to account and to mourn over myfailings.

"(3) To spend a sufficient portion of timeevery day in prayer, reading, meditating,spiritual exercises: morning, midday,evening, and ere I go to bed.

"(4) Once in the month, either the end ormiddle of it, I keep a day of humiliation forthe public condition, for the Lord's people



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and their sad condition, for raising up thework and people of God.

"(5)I spend, besides this, one day for my ownprivate condition, in fighting against spiritualevils and to get my heart more holy, or to getsome special exercise accomplished, once insix months.

"(6) I spend once every week four hours overand above my daily portion in private, forsome special causes relating either to myselfor others.

"(7) To spend some time on Saturday,towards night, for preparation for the Lord'sDay.

"(8) To spend six or seven days together, oncea year, when most convenient, wholly andonly on spiritual accounts.



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Today's Need for Revival

Such was the way in which he set aboutpersonal and ministerial revival. Let us takean example from him. If he needed it much,we need it more.

In the fifth and sixth centuries, Gildas andSalvian arose to alarm and arouse a carelesschurch and a formal ministry. In thesixteenth, such was the task which devolvedon the Reformers. In the seventeenth, Baxter,among others, took a prominent part in

stimulating the languid piety and dormantenergies of his fellow ministers. In theeighteenth, God raised up some choice andnoble men to awaken the church and lead theway to a higher and bolder career of

ministerial duty. The present century standsno less in need of some such stimulatinginfluence. We have experienced manysymptoms of life, but still the mass is not



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quickened. We require some new Baxter toarouse us by his voice and his example. It is

melancholy to see the amount of ministeriallanguor and inefficiency that still overspreadsour land. How long, 0 Lord, how long!

The infusion of new life into the ministry oughtto he the object of more direct and specialeffort, as well as of more united and ferventprayer. The prayers of Christians ought to hemore largely directed to the students, thepreachers, the ministers of the Christianchurch. It is a living ministry that our country

needs; and without such a ministry it can notlong expect to escape the judgments of God.We need men that will spend and be spent -- thatwill labor and pray -- that will watch and weep for souls.



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How Myconius Learned His Lesson

In the life of Myconius, the friend of Luther,as given by Meichior Adam, we have thefollowing beautiful and striking account of anevent which proved the turning point in hishistory and led him to devote his energies tothe cause of Christ. The first night that heentered the monastery, intending to become amonk, he dreamed; and it seemed as if hewas ranging a vast wilderness alone.Suddenly a guide appeared and led himonwards to a most lovely vale, watered by a

pleasant stream of which he was notpermitted to taste, and then to a marblefountain of pure water. He tried to kneel anddrink, when, lo! a crucified Saviour stoodforth to view, from whose wounds gushed

the copious stream. In a moment his guideflung him into the fountain. His mouth metthe flowing wounds and he drank mostsweetly, never to thirst again!



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No sooner was he refreshed himself than hewas led away by his guide to be taught what

great things he was yet to do for the crucifiedOne whose precious wounds had poured theliving water into his soul. He came to a widestretching plain covered with waving grain.His guide ordered him to reap. He excusedhimself by saying that he was whollyunskilled in such labor. "What you know notyou shall learn," was the reply. They camenearer, and he saw a solitary reaper toiling atthe sickle with such prodigious effort as if hewere determined to reap the whole field

himself. The guide ordered him to join thislaborer, and seizing a sickle, showed himhow to proceed.

Again the guide led him to a hill. He

surveyed the vast plain beneath him, and,wondering, asked how long it would take toreap such a field with so few laborers. "Beforewinter the last sickle must be thrust in,"



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replied his guide. "Proceed with all yourmight. The Lord of the harvest will send

more reapers soon." Wearied with his labor,Myconius rested for a little. Again thecrucified One was at his side, wasted andmarred in form. The guide laid his hand onMyconius, saying: "You must be conformedto Him."

With these words the dreamer awoke. But heawoke to a life of zeal and love. He found theSaviour for his own soul, and he went forthto preach of Him to others. He took his place

by the side of that noble reaper, MartinLuther. He was stimulated by his example,and toiled with him in the vast field tilllaborers arose on every side and the harvestwas reaped before the winter came. The

lesson to us is, thrust in your sickles. Thefields are white, and they are wide incompass; the laborers are few, but there aresome devoted ones toiling there already. In



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other years we have seen Whitefield and Hillputting forth their enormous efforts, as if they

would reap the whole field alone. Let us joinourselves to such men, and the Lord of theharvest will not leave us to toil alone.

Reaping the Great Harvest

"When do you intend to stop?" was thequestion once put by a friend to RowlandHill. "Not till we have carried all before us,"was the prompt reply. Such is our answer

too. The fields are vast, the grain whitens, theharvest waves; and through grace we shall goforth with our sickles, never to rest till weshall lie down where the Lamb himself shalllead us, by the living fountains of waters,

where God shall wipe off the sweat of toilfrom our weary foreheads and dry up all thetears of earth from our weeping eyes. Some ofus are young and fresh; many days may yet



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be, in the providence of God, before us. Thesemust be days of strenuous, ceaseless,

persevering, and, if God bless us, successfultoil. We shall labor till we are worn out andlaid to rest.

Vincent, the non-conformist minister, in hissmall volume on the great plague and fire inLondon, entitled "God's Terrible Voice in theCity," gives a description of the manner inwhich the faithful ministers who remainedamid the danger discharged their solemnduties to the dying inhabitants, and of the

manner in which the terror-strickenmultitudes hung with breathless eagernessupon their lips, to drink in salvation ere thedreaded pestilence had swept them away tothe tomb. Churches were flung open, but the

pulpits were silent, for there was none tooccupy them; the hirelings had fled.



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Preaching to Plague Victims

Then did God's faithful band of persecutedones come forth from their hiding-places tofill the forsaken pulpits. Then did they standup in the midst of the dying and the dead, toproclaim eternal life to men who wereexpecting death before the morrow. Theypreached in season and out of season. Week-day or Sunday was the same to them. Thehour might be canonical or uncanonical, itmattered not; they did not stand upon nicepoints of ecclesiastical regularity or

irregularity; they lifted up their voices liketrumpets, and spared not. Every sermonmight be their last. Graves were lying openaround them; life seemed now not merely ahandbreadth but a hairbreadth; death was

nearer now than ever; eternity stood out in allits vast reality; souls were felt to be precious;opportunities were no longer to be trifledaway; every hour possessed a value beyond



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the wealth of kingdoms; the world was now apassing, vanishing shadow, and man's days

on earth had been cut down from threescoreyears and ten into the twinkling of an eye!

Oh, how they preached! No polished periods,no learned arguments, no laboredparagraphs, chilled their appeals or renderedtheir discourses unintelligible. No fear ofman, no love of popular applause, no ever-scrupulous dread of strong expressions, nofear of excitement or enthusiasm, preventedthem from pouring out the whole fervor of

their hearts, that yearned with tendernessunutterable over dying souls.

"Old Time;" says Vincent, "seemed to stand atthe head of the pulpit with his great scythe,

saying with a hoarse voice, 'Work while it iscalled to-day: at night I will mow thee down.'Grim Death seemed to stand at the side of thepulpit, with its sharp arrow, saying, 'Do thou



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shoot God's arrows, and I will shoot mine.'The grave seemed to lie open at the foot of

the pulpit, with dust in her bosom, saying --

'Louden thy cry

To God,

To men,

And now fulfill thy trust;

Here thou must lie--

Mouth stopped Breath gone,

And silent in the dust,'

"Ministers now had awakening calls toseriousness and fervor in their ministerial



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work, to preach on the side and brink of thepit into which thousands were tumbling.

There was such a vast concourse of people inthe churches where these ministers were to befound that they could not many times comenear the pulpit doors for the press, but wereforced to climb over the pews to them; andsuch a face was seen in the assemblies asseldom was seen before in London; sucheager looks, such open ears, such greedyattention, as if every word would be eatenwhich dropped from the mouths of theministers."

Should We Ever Be Less Earnest?

Thus did they preach and thus did they hear

in those days of terror and death. Men werein earnest then, both in speaking and hearing.There was no coldness, no languor, nostudied oratory. Truly they preached as



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dying men to dying men. But the question is,Should it ever be otherwise? Should there ever

be less fervor in preaching or less eagernessin hearing than there was then? True, life wasa little shorter then, but that was all. Deathand its issues are still the same. Eternity isstill the same. The soul is still the same Onlyone small element was thrown in then whichdoes not always exist to such an extent;namely, the increased shortness of life. Butthat was all the difference.

Unbelief Weakens Our Testimony

Why then should our preaching be lessfervent, our appeals less affectionate, ourimportunity less urgent? We are a few steps

farther from the shore of eternity; that is all.Time may be a little stronger than it was then,yet only a very little. Its everlasting issues arestill as momentous, as unchangeable. Surely



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it is our unbelief that makes the difference! Itis unbelief that makes ministers so cold in

their preaching, so slothful in visiting, and soremiss in all their sacred duties. It is unbeliefthat chills the life and straitens the heart. It isunbelief that makes ministers handle eternalrealities with such irreverence. It is unbeliefthat makes them ascend with so light a step"that awful place the pulpit," to deal withimmortal beings about heaven and hell.

Hear one of Richard Baxter's appeals: -- "Ihave been ready to wonder, when I have

heard such weighty things delivered, howpeople can forbear crying out in thecongregation; much more how they can resttill they have gone to their ministers andlearned what they should do. Oh, that heaven

and hell should work no more upon men! Ohthat everlastingness should work no more!Oh, how can you forbear when you are aloneto think what it is to be everlastingly in joy or



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in torment! I wonder that such thoughts donot break your sleep; and that they come not

in your mind when you are about your labor!I wonder how you can almost do anythingelse; how you can have any quietness in yourminds; how you can eat or drink or rest tillyou have got some ground of everlastingconsolations!

"Is that a man or a corpse that is not affectedwith matters of this importance? that can bereadier to sleep than to tremble when heheareth how he must stand at the bar of God?

Is that a man or a clod of clay that can rise orlie down without being deeply affected withhis everlasting estate? that can follow hisworldly business but make nothing of thegreat business of salvation or damnation; and

that, when they know it is hard at hand?Truly, Sirs, when I think of the weight of thematter, I wonder at the very best of God'ssaints upon earth, that they are no better, and



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do no more in so weighty a case. I wonder atthose whom the world accounteth more holy

than necessary, and scorns for making toomuch ado, that they can put off Christ andtheir souls with so little; that they pour notout their souls in every supplication; thatthey are not more taken up with God; thattheir thoughts are not more serious inpreparation of their accounts. I wonder thatthey be not an hundred times more strict intheir lives, and more laborious andunwearied in striving for the crown than theyare.

"Ready to Tremble"

"And for myself, as I am ashamed of my dulland careless heart, and of my slow andunprofitable course of life; so, the Lordknows, I am ashamed of every sermon I



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preach; when I think what I have beenspeaking of, and who sent me, and that men's

salvation or damnation is so much concernedin it, I am ready to tremble lest God should judge me as a slighter of His truths and thesouls of men, and lest in the best sermon Ishould be guilty of their blood. Methinks weshould not speak a word to men in matters ofsuch consequence without tears, or thegreatest earnestness that possibly we can;were not we too much guilty of the sin whichwe reprove, it would be so."

We are not in earnest either in preaching or inhearing. If we were, could we be so cold, soprayerless, so inconsistent, so slothful, soworldly, so unlike men whose business is allabout eternity? We must be more in earnest if

we would win souls. We must be more inearnest if we would walk in the footsteps ofour beloved Lord, or if we would fulfill thevows that are upon us. We must be more in



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earnest if we would be less than hypocrites.We must be more in earnest if we would

finish our course with joy, and obtain thecrown at the Master's coming. We must workwhile it is day; the night cometh when no mancan work.



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Horatius Bonar - Words to Winners of Souls