“My
covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear
wherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before My name. The law of truth was in
his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips; he walked with me in peace
and equity, and did turn many from iniquity-Malachi
2:5-6”
“We
have the success of a faithful minister, “he did turn many from iniquity.” This
is the great end (result) of our ministerial work-the conversion of souls, and
it is this that makes it such a solemn, such a perilous undertaking, as one of
the fathers describes it-“A burden which even angels’ shoulders might shrink
from.” Nevertheless, having entered upon it, we are sacredly bound to give
ourselves wholly to it, and to make full proof of our ministry.
Our
errand is the same as our Master’s, to seek and save the lost. Our mind and
feeling must be the same as His-compassion for souls. Our great desire and aim
must be the conversion of sinners. Less than this we dare not seek. With less
than this we cannot be content. To be admired, to be applauded, to be followed,
is nothing, so long as our ministry is unfruitful and our labors unsuccessful.
Such were the apostle’s feelings, when he went about warning and entreating
sinners day and night “with tears”: and when he said, “My little children of
whom I travail in birth again till Christ be formed in you.” These surely ought
to be the feelings and desires of everyone who has given himself to the
ministry of the gospel, and bound himself by solemn vows to watch for souls. If
we are really earnest, nothing will satisfy us but success. If we have truly
“the desire of saving souls,” which we solemnly vowed at ordination, we can
never be at rest unless we see some fruit of our labor. How sad, how criminal
must be our condition, if we can go in and out among our people, and yet feel
no anxiety about their souls, no concern whether many or few, or none, are
turned from their iniquity? If souls are committed to us, and if souls are to
be required of us, how can we be indifferent about their state. To those who
treat the doctrines of regeneration and conversion as the dreams of fanaticism,
indifference may seem a virtue, but to those who believe them to be solemn
realities, it might appear a crime of fearful magnitude. Remissness in duty may
be lightly spoken of, and lightly thought of now; unfaithfulness in preaching, or negligence in visiting, may press lightly upon the
conscience now; but, oh, how different in the day of recompense, when the blood
of souls shall be required at the watchman’s hands! Then, how overwhelming the
anguish of the hireling shepherd that fed himself and not the flock! How agonizing
the remorse that shall seize upon is guilty conscience, and wring from him the
cry of the traitor Judas, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent
blood”? And how bitter the response from the companions of his despair-the
spirits that kept not their first estate-his seducers upon earth-“What is that
to us, see thou to that?” The sad state of unconverted men may not disturb the
easy quiet of his life; but oh, how dismal shall be the cry of lost souls
resounding throughout eternity in the ears of the unfaithful shepherd; the cry
of souls that were lost through his neglect, that perished because he never
watched for them, never warned them, never prayed for them, never sought their
conversion and salvation!
But
let us observe the connection here declared to subsist between faithfulness and
success in the work of the ministry; between a godly life, and the “turning
away of many from iniquity.” The end for which we first took office as we
declared at ordination was the saving of
souls; the end for which we still live and labor is the same; the means to
this end are a holy life and a faithful fulfillment of our ministry. The
connection between these two things is close and sure. We are entitled to
calculate upon it. We are called upon to pray and labor with confident
expectation of it being realized; and where it is not, to examine ourselves
with all diligence lest the cause of failure be found in ourselves; in our want
(lack) of faith-our want of love-our want of prayer-our want of zeal and
warmth-our want of 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 on earth can be bitterer to the soul of
a faithful minister than the want of it. To walk with 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 of our life-the consistency of our character-the
heavenliness of our walk and conversation. Our position is such that we cannot
remain neutral. Our life cannot be one of harmless obscurity. We must either
repel or attract-save or ruin souls! How loud then the call, how strong the
motive, to spirituality of soul and circumspectness (carefulness) of life! How
solemn the warning against worldly-mindedness and vanity, against levity and
frivolity, against negligence and sloth, and cold formality!”
-From
the Preaching of Horatius Bonar in 1840 in a sermon entitled “The Faithful
Minister Of The New Covenant”.
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