BY C. H. SPURGEON.
YEARS ago, when I had newly commenced my ministry, I felt a burden from the Lord laid upon me; and this was the nature of it, — I was bound over not only to preach the gospel myself, but to see that others were helped to do the same. In Paul’s word to Timothy I found my own pastoral
charge: “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” (See 2 Timothy 2. 1, 2.)
How weighty a matter was thus laid upon me I did not perceive at the first, and peradventure I do not even yet fully estimate it, though much of it now lies open and clear in the words of the great apostle. It may be that the fullness of his meaning is not to be learned except by experience; certainly, by experience I have discovered that any enterprise taxes all my strength, and makes me cry for more. That I may obtain this extraordinary help, I desire the intercessions of all who have power with God. To win the prayerful sympathy of friends I will spend a little time in meditating upon the words of the apostle. My pert runs sermon fashion, and my heart is warm with my theme; forgive me, therefore, if I preach rather than write a report. I want to plead for myself, and for all who have to keep the charge of the Lord’s house; for we need the hearty good wishes and supplications of all our Master’s servants. I desire to put my readers in sympathy with one of our old hymns: —
“‘Tis not a cause of small import The pastor’s care demands;
But what might fill an angel’s heart, And fill’d a Savior’s hands.”
The exhortation of the apostle urges the man of God to be himself strong;
for the task imposed upon him is one for which no weakling is fitted.
“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus.”
Some read it,” be inwardly strengthened[‘ be invested with power such as only grace can bestow. Never were Paul’s words more needful than at this hour. “Quit yourselves like men, be strong,” is the most fitting exhortation for this critical moment. Strength of grace’ is needed in these evil times to avow the truth, and to remain constant to it in one’s own personal ministry;
but much more is required if we are to hand on the sacred deposit of revealed doctrine to others.
The simplicity and openness of the work are, in part, its trial. We are not allowed in this matter to use the craft which commends itself to minds of the Jesuitical order; for having received the doctrines of Christ, as Paul saith, “among many witnesses,” we know not the art of private
communication, and utterly abjure the idea of secret directions delivered
with closed doors. Our teaching might be written across the midday sky:
we desire nothing better. We have nothing to keep secret for the initiated:
for these things were not done in a corner, but were meant for the light of day, and for proclamation upon the housetops. The “many witnesses” are mentioned to show how open and aboveboard are the tactics of the servants of the Lord. We can only transmit to faithful men the open and simple truth of Christ Jesus, and the grace which is treasured up in him.
For the doctrina arcani, or secret traditional doctrine of the Catholics, we care nothing, and for private rules of brotherhoods and societies we care less: the thing which has been delivered to us to be handed on is nothing new, nothing of our own inventing, nothing which we can improve upon, but only the apostolic teaching which the Holy Ghost has written in the open Bible, and engraved upon our own hearts by his gracious operations.
This is the priceless treasure which we are to commit to faithful men, and in this :matter we are to give ourselves no rest till the sacred committal is perfected. Our work is plain, and the truth to be handed on is clear; and this fact lifts our service above the dreary depths of human cunning into the sublime difficulties of a Christ-like service. It is by no means a severe task to invent a system, and invest it with mystery; but to keep to plain, well- known truth, and nothing else, in the same: steady manner as our
forefathers did, is a trial of steadfastness which some minds’ cannot endure.
Committing the plain gospel to faithful men is not so small a matter as it looks to be. Since upon most minds the temptation is forcible to display personal ability by teaching novel doctrines or freshly-devised practices, the minister of Christ had need be strong in the grace which Is in Christ Jesus that he may boldly adhere to the old faith, and to scriptural methods, which so many are apt to deride as antiquated and worn-out. The disease of seeking some new thing takes possession of minds which are not fortified by the grace of God; so that to adhere in all points to the things which are verily believed among us, and yet to proclaim them with freshness, requires daily renewal of strength from the invisible fountain of power. Babes are soon blown off their feet by winds of doctrine, and boys run into the meadows after every nest which silly birds may choose to build: this is the natural frivolity of unstable, because unestablished, minds.
To be firm in the faith needs spiritual manhood, and to reach that manhood is not a thing of everyday occurrence: hence the need of the power of the Holy Ghost and of the prayers of all the saints that the minister of Christ
may attain thereto. The virtue for this age is steadfastness. In none is it more required than in the man who is set for the defense of the gospel. In his measure each believer in Christ is thus set by his Lord; yet there is a still most emphatic sense in which this is true of the more prominent among the Lord’s servants, and they therefore require a larger endowment of power from on high. The wind rages, and all cables are strained: the current rushes madly towards error, and all steam is needed to force the vessel up stream. “Brethren, pray for us,” is the cry of every one of those who contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints; and very piteously would some of us utter the entreaty, for we are of all men the most unhappy if we are deprived of the intercessions of our brethren.
Mischief is sure to be done if we fall into an error, which commonly waylays teachers at every turning while engaged in this weighty business:
the Christian tutor is liable to be led astray by a desire to stand well with his men, and with others engaged in similar pursuits. It is not; the easiest thing in the world to sink the instructor in the instruction; and to be nothing, that the truth taught may be all in all. We would prefer to be reckoned great and enlightened rabbis if it might be so, and our work be at the same time passably performed: to be mere old-fashioned teachers of a time-worn faith is no tempting object for ordinary carnal ambition. Tutors naturally like to be had in honor among their fellows; and even modesty suggests that they should not follow singularity for its own sake: hence, let no man deceive himself with the notion that we pride ourselves upon being called old-fashioned, and behind the age. If it were all the same to our critics, we would as willingly be thought to have some little culture as to have none: yet, as their opinions will not materially alter the fact one way or another, we do not intend to go down on our knees to pray them to deal mercifully with us. At the present time there is an affectation of liberalism abroad, and the desire to be had in repute as a person of enlarged views is a common snare to men of reading and influence. It flatters young men to let them imagine that they are not being taught any fixed dogmas; and in return they flatter their teacher by ascribing to him a breadth of mind and a candor of judgment which in all probability he does not possess. He is teaching heresy and they are believing a lie, and they mutually encourage each other. The blind lead the blind, and we know the consequences.
Unless grace is given to make a man strong in the Lord, educated believers are in these days frequently tempted to aspire after the position of “leaders of thought,” “men who are abreast of the times,” and “persons of
thoughtful minds.” Old-fashioned believers are at a discount, and are sneered at as a kind of idiots: this is not a pleasant experience for those who know that they are the. equals, if not the superiors, of their despisers.
If we are strong in the Lord, we shall cast off all tendency to give place by subjection to the theories of the hour, even as a vigorous constitution resists the malaria by which it is surrounded: but in all cases where men bear large responsibilities it is most desirable that daily prayer should be offered that they may be upheld by grace, so that the standard-bearers do not fall.
.Another influence may, however, entangle the feet of the teacher of those who are soon to be teachers of others. He will meet with many
discouragements because the work of the Lord does not appear to prosper in his hand; and by these discouragements he may be urged to vain devices.
Those whom he helps to become teachers may prove inefficient in the ordinary manner of ministry, and even among the more successful, progress may not attain to express speed; and herein lies the trial of hi.,;
faith in God and in the gospel. Weak minds are apt to rush upon plans and methods which promise to effect speedily what otherwise may be long in coming. Fascinating schemes, unauthorized by the Word of God, are gendered by the fermentation of heated brains; and all manner of noisy vanities go forth into the world in the name of him whose kingdom cometh not with observation. For the same reason truth is altered and twisted, so that by being accommodated to the carnal mind it may make more rapid progress; and the idol of compromise is set up, before which burns an altar consecrated both to God and to Belial. Everywhere the noxious endeavor to do something more than rehearse the teaching of revelation and obey the rules of King Jesus is working evil. Fever is mistaken for life, and noise is substituted for inward piety. Enterprises are attempted and carried out in ways which were never suggested by the Scriptures, nor by the Holy Spirit;
and God is asked to bless modes of spreading the gospel which he never authorized. The air around us at this time appears to be charged with the mephitic vapor of will-worship. We are traversing that part of the pilgrim road which was known to the great allegorist as The Enchanted Ground:
grace alone can now keep us pressing forward in the right way, and that grace had need be of a forceful character. Oh, that the Holy Spirit may be specially given to all the masters in our schools of the prophets, lest they commit to their students a deposit of mire and dirt from the troubled sea of human thought, or hand to them the mushroom spawn of fanaticism,
instead of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever.
As for myself and my associates, we believe the doctrines of the gospel to have been settled when the Spirit first inspired the Bible; the mode of its being spread to have been ordained when our Savior gave forth his commission; and the ordering of the church to have been determined by our Lord and his apostles; and therefore we feel bound to keep within given rules and fixed regulations. Whether such work as we judge to be prescribed us prospers or fails according to human judgment is no matter of weight with us; we have taken our resolve to abide by the old faith, and to leave the consequences with our Lord. We can do no other. God help us!
The evil tendencies which I have just mentioned are but two among :many which beset those who are put in trust with the gospel; but if I were so to enlarge as to mention all the perils which beset them, I should but have named one out of a thousand reasons why they :should be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus. It is assuredly true that a sevenfold measure of divine strength, is required in a man who, in addition to his own
testimony to the truth, endeavors to instruct others in the art of witness- bearing; for if he be not strong himself, his spiritual children are not likely to be vigorous; and what is to be done with weaklings in the ministry? We have enough dwarfs already, without knowingly increasing the number;
and yet, if the fathers be dwarfs, what are their sons likely to be? Herein is a solemn consideration, calling for supernatural help. Whatsoever diseases may weaken the teacher will probably be developed with greater force in those who are taught; and it will be a dreadful evil if, in committing the truth to men, we also transmit our own infirmities and deformities. Tutors should be what they wish their students to be; and what manner of men should ministers be? They should thunder in preaching, and lighten in conversation; they should be flaming in prayer, shining in life, and burning in spirit. If they be not so, what can they effect? If they be not spiritual Samsons how can the roaring lion be overcome? How can the gates of hell be lifted from their hinges? How can the house of evil be pulled down upon those who gather in it? Who is sufficient for these things? Truly, our sufficiency is of God; but how much we need that all who prize the truth of God should lift up their hearts and voices to heaven on. our behalf!
Provided that we know the truth and are confirmed in it by divine grace, it is yet no trifling work to pass on the heavenly treasure to those who are to become its guardians in the future. David had the ark of God in his land, but the Lord was not pleased with the manner of his moving it to its resting-place, and therefore he made a breach upon him. The like may happen to us in handing over the truth of God to others: it is a delicate and difficult service. A man must first know the truth in his own soul before he can effectually transmit it to those who sit at his feet: how shall he teach what he does not know? Knowing it, he must live in the daily enjoyment of it, or else his knowledge will become stagnant, and instruction will not flow from him in a clear, limpid stream, filling those who wait to receive it.
Only as the Holy Ghost overshadows a man’s mind can he influence other minds in a right manner. The spirit of the gospel must be in him as well as its doctrine, or he will bear the truth to his pupils with such rough,
unsteady, or uncomely hands that they will not care to accept it from him, their minds being far more distracted by the ill humor of their tutor than attracted by the preciousness of what he teaches. The best of food may be rendered unpalatable through the slovenliness of the cook: yea, an absolute abhorrence of dainty meat may be wrought by an uncleanly finger. We fear that certain highly orthodox teachers have been unconscious suggesters and promoters of heresy in the minds of those who have found their manner of stating the truth to be altogether intolerable. Right daintily and tenderly should the virgin of truth be escorted by those who have the honor to be her champions. The crystal vase of sound doctrine must not be rudely dashed at the feet of the learner, lest he wound his hands in gathering up the fragments of that which ought to have been presented to him as a thing of beauty and a joy for ever.
Even if the teacher were perfectly skilled in the art of transmitting the truth to others, another no less serious difficulty would remain in his way. He is charged to commit the gospel to men possessed of a twofold suitableness:
they are to be “faithful men,” and they are to be “able to teach others also.”
Where shall we find such men? Herein lies a demand for great care,
discrimination, and judiciousness in the selection of men from the numbers who apply. Where, at the outset, shall we find faithful men? Men of faith are none too common; but men full of faith are rare as diamonds. To be faithful in the sense intended by the apostle is something more even than being full of faith; it means to be trustworthy persons, fit to be relied upon.
These men who are to teach others must be faithful to Christ, as he is the..
Way, the Truth, and the Life; faithful, so that their conduct shows the road to heaven; faithful, so that their doctrine is the pure truth of God; faithful, so that their inner life quickens all that they do. We are to search out for men whose hearts are godly, whose minds have sincerely received the truth, and whose tongues are prepared honestly to preach it. It is at our peril that we lay hands suddenly on any man: there must be full
examination and prayerful judgment. The pearl of great price is not to be trusted to every thief who clamors for its possession. The wise man saith,
“One sinner destroyeth much good,” and this is especially true if he be admitted to minister in God’s sanctuary. The Egyptians chose their priests from their philosophers, and when they needed kings they chose them from their priests: ministers of God should be choice men who would be fitted to undertake the highest offices in the realm. Men who have a deep
experience of the things of God, and a grip of truth which they cannot relax, are likely to remain faithful to it, and are to be preferred. Faithfulness is better than scholarship. The two combined are best; but we can give the second, the first must come from God alone: therefore, to begin with, we must mainly keep our eye on the spiritual jewel of faithfulness. Alas, we are frequently deceived, and even the letters of pastors and the judgments of churches cannot save us from this calamity. Men who have been useful for years have been known to drop into an evil state of mind when the
prospect of the ministry has exalted them;.others are good as students; but in after-life, from ill acquaintance, or :from the pride of intellect, they fall into erroneous opinions. Too many lose the fire with which they burned at the first, and cool down into :mere professional repeaters of orthodoxy.
How have I been ready to ,weep my heart away when I have seen one man carried away with vainglory, another overthrown by heresy, a third enticed by riches, a fourth silenced by inconsistency, a fifth beguiled by novelty, a sixth ruined by unaccountable folly. Those who were supposed to be
“faithful men” turn out to be faithless men, and the treasure committed to them is discarded for some form or other of the world’s dross. Ah, the heartbreak of seeing hopeful usefulness wrecked upon the rocks at the moment when it seemed most likely to make a prosperous voyage! The choicer the fruit, and the more care taken in raising it, the greater the grief which sees the worm devour it. The sorrow of the Master himself in beholding Judas develop into a devil is repeated to us in our measure when we see the instructed disciple perverted into the betrayer of his Lord. Yet this desolating grief is not unknown to us. What do we do in this case?
Wounded, do we leave the field? Do we yield to the stunning force of a