Scripture— 1 Tim. 4: 6-16; 2 Tim. 4:1-5; Tit. 2:7, 8
MY Brethren : I am to speak to you of the solemn, but blessed, responsibilities and opportunities of- fered in the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. My inability to speak with the wisdom befitting the occasion is perhaps more than compensated by the in- terest manifested by this large congregation assem- bled at this early hour to participate in these holy moments of consecrated dedication. Sufficient justification for the program of the morn- ing may be found, should Scriptural precedent for it be questioned. Special, solemn, prayerful services grace and dignify the important moment when young men are formally sent forth as ambassadors for Christ by a church great in its historic traditions, devotion and loyalty to the revealed will of Jesus Christ. Bethany Memorial Church has consented to lay its hands of blessing and approval upon you because it has confidence that you will honor your holy calling. Proof of your ministry has already been produced. You have brought some wave sheaves as an evidence of your skill in harvesting souls for the kingdom. This has been required that we might not violate the Pauline injunction to ''lay hands suddenly upon no man." The lofty sentiment of your motto, ''Not to be ministered unto, but to minister,'' is suggestive of high ideals and Christlike spirit. The prayers and heartfelt benedictions of the congregation thus honor- ing you will ever be an unfailing source of help and encouragement when passing through the trials and discouragements incident to a life of ministering. Let me first direct your attention to the message we entrust to you. You are to preach the Word, This means that you are limited to the same Word which Jesus and his apostles preached, the Word able to make men wise unto salvation, the Holy Bible, the only infallible teaching God has given to men. The spiritual epochs of the church have always been those in which the gospel has been preached in fidelity, and with convincing power. The message for a lost world remains the same through all generations. That which condemns men to-day condemned the first pair in Eden. The sinners, priests and rulers in Jerusalem sinned just as men sin now. Human passions, hopes, fears, joys, sorrows and needs have not changed through the centuries, but are the same as those that ruled in the hearts of Jesus' auditors nineteen hundred years ago. That which meets the deepest needs of life in one age is certain to meet them in every age. Therefore, your message requires no recasting. It is not new, but we hope it will be delivered with a new power. Proclaim it as if anointed with an unc- tion from on high. Preach Christ as living and reg- nant. Make him a personality throbbing with life, felt in the hearts of those to whom you minister. John Brown, of Haddington, once preached before the skep- tical scientist, David Hume. Hume went away saying, ''That is the man for me; he means what he says; he speaks as if Jesus were at his elbow.'' I tell you, brethren, Jesus is at the elbow of every one worthy of Him, whose supreme desire is to proclaim His gospel in its purity and simplicity. Preach Him as the world's only Saviour, the only one with authority to forgive sin. ''And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved." The salvation taught in the New Tes- tament as coming through Jesus Christ is the forgive- ness of sin. It is not a field for philosophic specula- tion, nor is it entirely a matter of character. It is a simple doctrine if taught as inspired men presented it; preach it with full assurance that you have the author- ity of Jesus Himself for your message. You have here avowed your faith in the Bible as God's inspired word. In your student life you have examined the evidences on which this faith is based, and found them convincing beyond doubt. Now, preach the Bible as if you believe it. Most of the in- difference so noticeable to-day in many quarters is due to a lack of faith in the old Book. Much present-day preaching, even, has lost its note of assurance. The questioning attitude of the university which boasts that its chief function is to raise doubts is being intro- duced into the pulpit with a resultant loss of faith in the eternal verities. A certain brand of criticism is offering us stones of humanitarian philosophy and "evoluted" eclecticism in religion, but we are hunger- ing for the bread of revelation from God. Do not imagine that your people either desire or need philo- sophic vagaries. They need the word of life. Trouble not the people with undigested theories, nor predigested tabloids of scientific, speculative dog- matism. There is so much golden truth, tested in the crucible of experience, tried in the fire of application, that there is no occasion for proclaiming untried and unproven theories which may contain much dross of error. "With the stone of fact hurled from the sling of confident faith, you can smite unbelief as it hides behind the shield of science, falsely so called. Your own studies, leading you into many fields and familiarizing you with substitute religions, may tempt you to offer some of your discoveries instead of the plain gospel story. Yield not to such temptation. No one will be fed with that kind of ministering, and the only thing satisfied by it will be your own vanity. Preach so as to weaken no one's faith. Even an imperfect faith is superior to doubt. Doubts are fiends ruled by the same law as other demons, thriving on attention, starving if not fed and fondly coddled. The normal state of every heart is one of belief rather than doubt. Make it clear in your preaching that the presumption is always against doubt. It is scarcity of argument or questionable testimony that makes a position doubtful. Otherwise it would be in the posi- tion occupied by faith. When compelled to go into the miasmatic lowlands of doubt, dread, despair, where duty may occasionally call you, tarry no longer than necessary to drain the infected region. Return speedily to the healthful highlands of faith and trust. It is courageous to enter plague-smitten districts to carry help, but foolhardy to abide there. Preach so as to bring men to repentance. Repent- ance is what men most need to-day. A new crusade in the spirit of John the Baptist is necessary to save the age. Men laugh at sin instead of fearing it. They toy with it instead of hating it. They view it through reversed telescope, then deny both its magnitude and hideousness. They are so blinded by the smoke of their sacrifices, offered upon altars of materialism and commercialism, that they can not see that what God requires is justice, mercy and a contrite spirit. Self, not Jehovah, is their god, and success rather than service their pole-star. Hesitate not to preach sin's punishment as eter- nal. Even if some have eliminated hell from their scheme of things, it has not been eliminated from God's word. Destructive critics may expurgate it from their eclectic bible, but that can not change the Bible whose truth shall never become falsehood. The certainty of future retribution must be proclaimed to touch certain natures. Perhaps the goodness of God may move more peo- ple, so neglect not that, but rather magnify it as your ability permits. There are always prodigals whose hearts will be melted by a portrayal of potential for- giveness in the Father's heart. Let despairing souls hear of God's love and self-righteous ones of his jus- tice and mercy. Preach positively and constructively. Guard against becoming mere rebukers and critics. Your ex- perience with frail humanity will tempt you to de- pend too much, perhaps, upon the plucking-up process. Jesus' teaching is that evil is to be remedied not so much by denunciation as by the growth of a new spirit. ''You must be born again" is still the law of regeneration and admission to Christ's kingdom. A heart with new ideals implanted is safer than one with old ideals uprooted. Your work is a hundred times more positive than negative. That is what makes it difficult. Little talent and weak energy are suf- ficient to pull down; the gravity of inertia performs most of such labor. But to construct, re-create, re- quires ability, skill, hard work and perseverance. A most vital truth is now suggested. Your word of teaching must be energized by incarnation. It was so with Jesus. He began '^both to do and to teach.'' The latter without the former would not have saved a single soul, even Jesus being powerless to work a miracle of that sort. How imperative, then, that his present-day representatives should live the life they expect of others. A chief reason why the spoken mes- sage produces so much more fruit than the written one is that it is illustrated in the person of the preacher. If the minister does not live his own teach- ing, he is sounding brass and clanging cymbal. You are to be living epistles. Right or wrong, the world will look to you for leadership in living, and will study more closely what you do than what you say. The flock of God has been ravaged by wolves in sheep's clothing often enough to be wary. Live much with God in prayer and meditation on His word that the peculiar temptations of the preacher may be overcome. The very intimacy of your association with the people will necessitate constant watchfulness and guarding, that it lead you not into temptation's power. A word on the urgency of your ministry. You are to preach to save the world. This has been af- firmed before, but its importance requires special emphasis. A gospel of salvation necessarily implies a lost state. If there is no hell, there is most certainly no heaven; the one necessitates the other. The gospel of Christ, which we to-day send you forth to preach with our sanction, will accomplish in the fullest sense the salvation of all who accept it. What an honor to be assigned a part with God in the remaking of marred images of his likeness. It is soul-thrilling to come to the kingdom for such a time as this. It requires no magic vision to see that we are in a period when a new age is being born, nor oracular powers to forecast the next decade or two as startlingly eventful. Another millennium is roll- ing round. The cloud of augury heralding its charac- ter has both a dark and bright side. The dark reveals that we have been walking on a very thin crust of civilization over a molten sea of barbarism. The politi- cal and industrial eruptions have become almost a con- stant roar. Smoke of threat and lava of destruction are belching out of furnaces of malice and hate in un- regenerate hearts. The red glare of materialistic com- mercialism makes lurid the plain of human activity. Priests of Mammon are parading their heartless god with brazen and thunderous acclaim. Why all this, when leaders in this unholy riot are flattering Jesus by prating the Sermon on the Mount? They are publicly lauding Him and His teachings to blind us to the fact that they are privately trampling them underfoot. Th(> German philosophy of the power of might (the legiti- mate child of modern evolutionary teaching) has sup- planted the New Testament doctrine that greatness con- sists in humility, purity, righteousness, service. It is time that men be made to understand that it is impos- sible to sow a theory of God's being chained, rendered helpless by his own laws through the operation of which the "fittest" survive, without reaping the harvest of ruthlessness, lust, contempt for contract, and all that has gone with German culture. That which illumines the bright side of the cloud is the fact that multitudes are being filled with hor- ror at the effects of the cold-blooded commercialism of the age, and are beginning to see the cause of the world's bitterness, hate and infidelity. They are try- ing the quack remedies of communism because its title spells brotherhood, and acclaiming every theory that promises peace. What a day for the preacher of the gospel of peace on earth, good will among men ! What an opportunity to show the inefficiency of the plans of selfish men, and the effectiveness of Jesus' plan on un- selfish service. What a time for men who, like Jonah, hesitate not to declare the fall of a nation that will not repent, and bring sinners to their knees in penitential confession. The real saviors of the times are the preachers courageous enough to rebuke sin wherever found. Men that fearlessly rebuke the rich who oppress and the poor who defraud. Who show that life con- sists in what it is, not in what it has. You must pull the bit on those who would recklessly rush to the charge, and use the spur on those who lag or are in- different to the battle raging about them. Show that the only way to pluck the world out of the abyss is to put God on the throne. Never have such burdens been laid on men's shoul- ders, but never have backs been so able to bear them. Not only does God temper the wind to the shorn lamb, He also suits the burden to the back that is to bear it. The intricate and complicated life of what has been called Christian civilization appalls us, and, were it not for one faith in God, would dishearten. But everywhere men are turning to the Bible with new interest and hope that it may furnish solution to our problems. The inevitable result of honest study of this sort is to deepen their faith in the program of Jesus as all-sufficient to meet every need of men. Forget not your study habits. Linger frequently in any field of study where Christ Himself tarried. Nature, God's unwritten Bible, will wonderfully en- rich your illustrative possessions. Fields and flowers, birds and bees, may provide more helpful sermonic material than the philosophic wisdom of Plato. Facts of science (not often, its theoretic speculation) will also serve you well in bringing lessons to the people to whom you minister. The God who inspired the Book established every law of nature, and they will always harmonize, and, at times, illumine each other. Be students of men. It is axiomatic that a knowl- edge of those whom you would serve is imperative if you would minister efficiently. The depths of your own soul will be the best text-book in the study of man, for the motives and thought methods of the race are one. You will need to keep in touch with the currents of social and religious thought also. Some new phases of life and duty will be presented for your considera- tion. Most of that which will pose as new, upon ex- amination will be found to be old philosophy or theory relabeled. You must be able to read discerningly in order to winnow the wheat of fact from the chaff of assumption. First, last, always, study the Bible. Paul exhorts Timothy *^to give heed to reading, to exhortation, to teaching.'' Again he is urged, ''Give diligence to pre- sent thyself approved unto God, a workman that need- eth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth/' Our New Testament provides you a larger library than Timothy had. Its fathomless wisdom, its correct appraisal of the human heart, its admonitions, its instruction in righteousness, its satisfying promises, its simple profundity, will constantly astonish and de- light you, bringing new assurance that it is in a most unique and peculiar sense God's word. How marvelous its completeness in moral content. It contains less than half the material of a metropoli- tan Sunday paper, yet in nineteen centuries no new moral truth has been discovered. You are to be teachers as well as students. This is a reason for being a growing student. There is little crowding in the ranks of real teachers of the holy Book. Here is a field worthy of your best endeavor, and fruitful beyond your highest hopes. This Word will never return void. Somewhere it will enrich and save the life of one lost. I have a conviction that we are entering a period in which the work of teaching will be restored to its New Testament prominence. As ministers, you will need to lead in this. There is a false liberalism abroad of which you must beware. It asks the surrender of vital New Testament teaching to what it is pleased to call ex- pedient practice of Christian union. On the plea of charity, it would alter the divine terms of membership in Christ's church. The true minister will be neither less nor more charitable than the New Testament warrants. The Christian world is groping for a platform for Christian union, and many are the bases suggested. Few who are doing what they think to be pioneer work in this matter appreciate the fact that the New Testament itself provides the only basis on which per- manent union can be consummated. You will have a coveted opportunity to present that basis when periods of discussion on this subject occur. You can, and you should, conscientiously agree to stand with every fol- lower of Christ on that platform. In the meantime, you should desire and cultivate the largest possible fellowship with all believers in Christ, consistent with absolute loyalty to Him. Your success will depend much upon the faithful- ness with which you discharge your pastoral duties. The good Shepherd gave his life for the sheep. So must you. Unless that is literally true, yours will not be a ministry. Faithful serving will be fully compen- sated in that day when the Lord knights you as a member of the Order of Basin and Towel. In closing, I direct your attention to the reward of the faithful minister. Your labor itself will be its own best remuneration. No wage is so satisfying as the peace and joy growing out of a consciousness that you are laboring together with God, in a partnership where both profits and losses will be mutually shared. When humiliated by apparent failure, the Lord will halve your burden by helping bear your disappoint- ment. When elated with success, he will double your joy by sharing it. There should be some relief in the knowledge that you will be spared the temptations of the rich. Your salary will be much less than you might have by em- ploying your talent otherwise, and it is well that it is so. The church can never afford to offer inducements to men who are worldly-minded, ambitious or greedy, no matter what their intellectual equipment. To do so would invite spiritual stagnation or death. The scanty monetary reward automatically sifts out such as are not consecrated, and no better plan can be de- vised. You will not measure your life by the stan- dards others use. It will not be rich in earthly pos- sessions, but rich in things moth and rust can not cor- rupt nor thieves steal; namely, gratitude, respect, love from those you serve. You will be admitted to the inner life of people where few are permitted to enter. You will be with them in their joys. At the banquet, family reunion, social circle, you will be an honored guest. In many homes where the intimacy of the family group is broken to admit just one outsider, the preacher is the one for whom the door swings wide. At the wedding, where united hearts are sealed, you will be invited to throw the mantle of religious ap- proval over the founding of a new home. Yours will be the privilege of sharing the deepest sorrows with those to whom you minister. This ex- perience may sadden, but it can wonderfully bless. You will learn the hidden meaning of the proverb that it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. When erring, careless members of the family are to be won back to Christ, when financial disaster drives its shaft of gloom and despondency, when the pall of death settles slowly or the sudden storm of tragedy breaks, yours will be the supreme joy of drawing forth, from the fountains of revealed truth, things new and old, that will heal hearts, quiet fears, renew courage, strengthen faith, rekindle hope. What a wonderful, blessed, rich life you may have! My prayer for you is that you may so labor that when nature's warning voices announce the approach of the life that is life indeed, you shall be able to find a true minister's joy in saying with Paul: ''I am al- ready being offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give to me at that day, and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing".