(The ministry given by God: its high and necessary functions, 1-3)
1. WHY DOES GOD NEED MEN’S SERVICE?
Now we must speak of the order by which the Lord willed his church to be governed. He alone should rule and reign in the church as well as have authority or pre-eminence in it, and this authority should be exercised and administered by his Word alone. Nevertheless, because he does not dwell among us in visible presence [<402611>
Matthew 26:11], we have said that he uses the ministry of men to declare openly his will to us by mouth, as a sort of delegated work, not by transferring to them his right and honor, but only that through their mouths he may do his own work—just as a
workman uses a tool to do his work.
I am constrained once more to repeat what I have already explained.F54 He could indeed do it either by himself without any sort of aid or instrument, or even by the angels; but there are many reasons why he prefers to do it by means of men.
For by this means he first declares his regard for us when from among men he takes some to serve as his ambassadors in the world [cf. <470520>
2 Corinthians 5:20], to be interpreters of his secret will and, in short, to represent his person. And by this evidence he proves it to be no idle speaking that he often calls us his temples [<460316>1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19; <470616>
2 Corinthians 6:16], since from the lips of men, as from the sanctuary, he gives his answers to men.F55
Again, this is the best and most usefill exercise in humility, when he accustoms us to obey his Word, even though it be preached through men like us and sometimes even by those of lower worth than we. If he spoke from heaven, it would not be surprising if his sacred oracles were to be
reverently received without delay by the ears and minds of all. For who would not dread the presence of his power? Who would not be stricken down at the sight of such great majesty? Who would not be confounded at such boundless splendor? But when a puny man risen from the dust speaks in God’s name, at this point we best evidence our piety and
obedience toward God if we show ourselves teachable toward his minister, although he excels us in nothing. It was for this reason, then, that he hid the treasure of his heavenly wisdom in weak and earthen vessels [<470407>
2 Corinthians 4:7] in order to prove more surely how much we should esteem it.
Further, nothing fosters mutual love more fittingly than for men to be bound together with this bond: one is appointed pastor to teach the rest, and those bidden to be pupils receive the common teaching from one mouth. For if anyone were sufficient to himself and needed no one else’s help (such is the pride of human nature), each man would despise the rest and be despised by them. The Lord has therefore bound his church together with a knot that he foresaw would be the strongest means of keeping unity, while he entrusted to men the teaching of salvation and everlasting life in order that through their hands it might be communicated to the rest. Paul had this in view when he wrote to the Ephesians: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift” [<490404>
Ephesians 4:4-7]. On this account he says: “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.... He who descended is the same one who ascended... that he might fill all things. And he gave some to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of full adulthood; so that we may no longer be children... carried about by every wind of doctrine… but seeking truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the Head, into Christ, in whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is
supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love” [<490408>
Ephesians 4:8, 10-16].
2. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MINISTRY FOR THE CHURCH Paul shows by these words that this human ministry which God uses to govern the church is the chief sinew by which believers are held together in one body. He then also shows that the church can be kept intact only if it be upheld by the safeguards in which it pleased the Lord to place its salvation. “Christ ascended on high,” Paul says, “that he might fill all things.” [<490410>Ephesians 4:10.] This is the manner of fulfillment: through the ministers to whom he has entrusted this office and has conferred the grace to carry it out, he dispenses and distributes his gifts to the church;
and he shows himself as though present by manifesting the power of his Spirit in this his institution, that it be not vain or idle. Thus the renewal of the saints is accomplished; thus the body of Christ is built up
[<490412>Ephesians 4:12]; thus “we grow up in every way into him who is
the Head” [<490415>
Ephesians 4:15] and grow together among ourselves;
thus are we all brought into the unity of Christ, if prophecy flourishes among us, if we receive the apostles, if we do not refuse the doctrine administered to us. Whoever, therefore, either is trying to abolish this order of which we speak and this kind of government, or discounts it as not necessary, is striving for the undoing or rather the ruin and destruction of the church. For neither the light and heat of the sun, nor food and drink, are so necessary to nourish and sustain the present life as the apostolic and pastoral office is necessary to preserve the church on earth.
3. THE PRESTIGE OF THE PREACHING OFFICE IN SCRIPTURE
I have accordingly pointed out aboveF56 that God often commended the dignity of the ministry by all possible marks of approval in order that it might be held among us in highest honor and esteem, even as the most excellent of all things. God testifies that, in raising up teachers for them, he bestows a singular benefit upon men when he bids the prophet exclaim,
“Beautiful are the feet and blessed the coming of those who announce peace” [<235207>Isaiah 52:7], and when he calls the apostles “the light of the world” and “the salt of the earth” [<400513>
Matthew 5:13-14]. And this
office could not be more splendidly adorned than when he said, “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me” [<421016>
Luke 10:16].
But no passage is clearer than that of Paul in the second letter to the Corinthians, where he, as if purposely, discusses this question. He therefore contends that there is nothing more notable or glorious in the church than the ministry of the gospel, since it is the administration of the Spirit and of righteousness and of eternal life [<470406>
2 Corinthians 4:6;
3:9]. The purport of these and like passages is that the mode of governing and keeping the church through ministers (a mode established by the Lord forever) may not be ill esteemed among us and through contempt fall out of use.
How great the necessity of the ministry is, he has declared not only in words but also by examples. When God willed that the light of his truth should shine more fully upon Cornelius, he sent an angel from heaven to direct him to Peter [<441003>
Acts 10:3-6]. When he willed to call Paul to the knowledge of himself and to engraft him into the church, he does not address him with his own voice, but sends him to a man from whom he is to receive both the doctrine of salvation and the sanctification of baptism [<440906>
Acts 9:6]. It is not by chance that the angel, who is God’s
interpreter, abstains from declaring God’s will, but orders a man to be sent for to declare it. It is not without reason that Christ, the sole teacher of believers, entrusts Paul to the teaching of a man—that very Paul whom he had determined to catch up into the third heaven and make worthy to receive a wonderful revelation of things unspeakable [<471202>2 Corinthians 12:2-4]. Who, then, would dare despise that ministry or dispense with it as something superfluous, whose use God willed to attest with such proofs?
(The Scriptural offices of the ministry described, 4-9)
4. THE SEVERAL SORTS OF OFFICERS ACCORDING TO EPHESIANS CHAPTER 4
Those who preside over the government of the church in accordance with Christ’s institution are called by Paul as follows: first apostles, then prophets, thirdly evangelists, fourthly pastors, and finally teachers
[<490411>Ephesians 4:11]. Of these only the last two have an ordinary office in the church; the Lord raised up the first three at the beginning of his Kingdom, and now and again revives them as the need of the times demands.
The nature of the apostles’ function is clear from this command: “Go, preach the gospel to every creature” [<411615>
Mark 16:15]. No set limits are allotted to them, but the whole earth is assigned to them to bring into obedience to Christ, in order that by spreading the gospel wherever they can among the nations, they may raise up his Kingdom everywhere, Accordingly, Paul, in desiring to prove his apostleship, recalls that he did not gain any one city for Christ but propagated the gospel far and wide, and did not put his hands to another man’s foundation but planted
churches where the name of the Lord was unheard [<451519>Romans 15:19- 20]. Apostles, then, were sent out to lead the world back from rebellion to true obedience to God, and to establish his Kingdom everywhere by the preaching of the gospel, or, if you prefer, as the first builders of the church, to lay its foundations in all the world [<460810>1 Corinthians 8:10].
Paul applies the name “prophets” not to all those who were interpreters of God’s will, but to those who excelled in a particular revelation
[<490411>
Ephesians 4:11]. This class either does not exist today or is less commonly seen.
“Evangelists” I take to be those who, although lower in rank than apostles, were next to them in office and functioned in their place. Such were Luke, Timothy, Titus, and others like them; perhaps also the seventy disciples, whom Christ appointed in the second place after the apostles
[<421001>
Luke 10:1].
According to this interpretation (which seems to me to be in agreement with both the words and opinion of Paul), these three functions were not established in the church as permanent ones, but only for that time during which churches were to be erected where none existed before, or where they were to be carried over from Moses to Christ. Still, I do not deny that the Lord has sometimes at a later period raised up apostles, or at least evangelists in their place, as has happened in our own day.F57 For there was need for such persons to lead the church back from the rebellion of
Antichrist. Nonetheless, I call this office “extraordinary,” because in duly constituted churches it has no place.
Next come pastors and teachers, whom the church can never go without.
There is, I believe, this difference between them: teachers are not put in charge of discipline, or administering the sacraments, or warnings and exhortations, but only of Scriptural interpretation—to keep doctrine whole and pure among believers.F58 But the pastoral office includes all these functions within itself.
5. TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT OFFICES
We have now in mind which ministries in the government of the church were temporary and which ones were so instituted as to endure
permanently. But if we group evangelists and apostles together, we shall then have two pairs that somehow correspond with each other. For as our teachers correspond to the ancient prophets, so do our pastors to the apostles. The prophetic office was more eminent on account of the
singular gift of revelation in which they excelled. But the office of teachers is very similar in character and has exactly the same purpose. So the Twelve chosen by the Lord to publish the new preaching of the gospel to the world surpassed the rest in order and rank [<420613>Luke 6:13;
<480101>
Galatians 1:1]. Now, by the meaning and derivation of the word all ministers of the church can properly be called “apostles,” because all are sent by the Lord and are his messengers. Nevertheless, because it was very important that men should have sure knowledge of the mission of those who were to put forth a new and unheard-of thing, it was necessary for those twelve (to whose number Paul was afterward added) to be
distinguished above the rest by some special title. Paul, indeed, applied this name in another place to Andronicus and Junias, whom he calls “men of note among the apostles” [<451607>
Romans 16:7]. But when he wishes to speak with strict accuracy, he applies the term only to that first order.
And this is the common usage of Scripture [<401001>
Matthew 10:1]. Yet pastors (except that they each govern the several churches assigned to them) have the same charge as the apostles. Now let us hear more clearly what its nature is.
6. APOSTLES AND PASTORS
The Lord, when he sent out the apostles, gave them (as has just now been saidF59) the command to preach the gospel and to baptize those who believe unto forgiveness of sins [<402819>
Matthew 28:19]. abut he had previously commanded that they distribute the sacred symbols of his body and blood after his example [<422219>
Luke 22:19]. Here is the holy, inviolable, and perpetual law imposed upon those who took the place of the apostles, by which they receive the command to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments. From this we infer that those who neglect both of these pretend falsely to be apostles.
But what about the pastors? Paul is speaking not only of himself but of them all when he says, “This is how men should regard us, as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” [<460401>1 Corinthians 4:1].
Likewise elsewhere: “The bishop must hold to the faithful word, which is, according to the teaching, that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to confute those who contradict it” [<560109>
Titus 1:9].
From these and similar passages which frequently occur, we may infer that in the office of the pastors also there are these two particular functions: to proclaim the gospel and to administer the sacraments. The manner of teaching not only consists in public discourses, but also has to do with private admonitions. So Paul calls the Ephesians to witness that he shrank from nothing that was in their best interest, but warned and taught them publicly and from house to house, testifying, to Jews and Greeks alike, repentance and faith in Christ [<442020>
Acts 20:20-21]; likewise, a little later, that he did not cease to admonish them one and all with tears [<442031>
Acts 20:31]. Yet it is not my present intention to set forth in detail the gifts of the good pastor, but only to indicate what those who call themselves pastors should profess. That is, they have been set over the church not to have a sinecure but, by the doctrine of Christ to instruct the people to true godliness, to administer the sacred mysteries and to keep and exercise upright discipline. To all who have been appointed watchmen in the church the Lord announces: if, by their neglect, anyone perish through ignorance, he “will require the blood at their hand” [<260317>Ezekiel 3:17-18]. To them all applies what Paul said of himself: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.... [since] I am entrusted with a commission”
[<460916>
1 Corinthians 9:16-17]. Finally, what the apostles performed for
the whole world, each pastor ought to perform for his own flock, to which he is assigned.
7. THE PASTOR IS BOUND TO HIS CHURCH
Although we assign to each pastor his church, at the same time we do not deny that a pastor bound to one church can aid other churches—either if any disturbances occur which require his presence, or if advice be sought from him concerning some obscure matter, abut to keep peace in the church, this order is necessary: that to each be assigned his task to keep all from being in confusion, at the same time dashing about aimlessly without an assignment, rashly gathering together in one place, and forsaking their churches at pleasure, because they are more concerned about their own advantage than about the upbuilding of the church. Consequently, this arrangement ought to be observed as generally as possible: that each person, content with his own limits, should not break over into another man’s province.
This is not of human devising but ordained by God himself. For we read that Paul and Barnabas created presbyters in the individual churches of Lystra, Antioch, and Iconium [<441422>
Acts 14:22-23]; and Paul himself bade Titus appoint presbyters in every town [<560105>Titus 1:5]. So in one place Paul speaks of the bishops of the Philippians [<500101>
Philippians 1:1]; in another, of Archippus the bishop of the Colossians
[<510417>
Colossians 4:17]. And in Luke there is a notable sermon of Paul’s to the presbyters of the church at Ephesus [<442018>Acts 20:18-19].
Whoever, then, would take upon himself the government and care of a church should know that he is bound by this law of divine call. He is not bound, as it were, to the glebe (to use the lawyers’ term),F60 that is, bound over and fastened to it so that he cannot move his foot from it though public welfare demand it, even if the demand be made duly and in order.
But he who is called to one place ought not to think of leaving or to seek release (considering it to be to his advantage). Then, if it be expedient for anyone to be transferred to another place, still he ought not to attempt this on his own private resolve, but to await public authority.