Neglect Not the Gift
by J. C. Ryle
"Neglect not the gift that is in you, which was given you
by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." 1 Timothy
4:14
Brethren, the leading topics of the subject committed to
me appear to be the ministerial office, and the imperative duty of not
neglecting it. Paul speaks to Timothy of his office, as "a gift." And he
says of this gift, "neglect it not." In opening the subject I trust I may be
allowed to remind my brethren that the orders of Timothy and Titus ought to
be specially interesting to them.
I consider that, strictly speaking, no minister of the
Gospel of the present day, whatever may be his church or denomination, has
any right to regard himself as a "successor of the apostles." I believe
that, in strict accuracy, the apostles had no successors at all. Their
office was a peculiar office. Their order was a peculiar order.
Both office and order ceased at their death. The apostles were specially
called, and immediately set apart by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. They had
the power of speaking with other languages. They were enabled to confirm the
doctrines they preached by miracles and signs. They had the power of
infallibly declaring God's truth, and expounding His mind to the world. They
were commissioned to bind and loose sins with authority. They could confer
gifts upon others. In all these respects they stood alone. We are not their
successors. They never had any successors! They were an order
intended to continue until the Canon of Scripture was concluded, and no
longer. The ministers of the present day are the successors of Timothy and
Titus; but not of Paul, Peter, James, and John. I feel that this is a
digression, but the importance of the subject must be my apology.
I. With regard to the ministerial office, the first thing
that I would notice—is the importance of regarding it as an office which is
built on plain warrant of holy scripture.
It is "a gift," solemnly and publicly conferred
with "the laying on of hands." There is great danger of forgetting this in
the present day. On one side the reaction and rebound from Romish error, and
the natural tendency of our minds to fly from one extreme to another, are
calculated to make us underrate the value of a regular ministry. On the
other side the bold assertion of the Plymouth Brethren, and others, that all
forms, ministry, and systems are wrong, is likely to make us undervalue the
importance of having an order of men specially called and set apart to
preach the word, and attend to holy things. I abhor the idea of setting up
ministers as mediators between Christ and the soul. I believe it was never
intended that the outward government of Christian churches should be always
one and the same. But notwithstanding all this, I firmly hold the opinion
that the Christian ministry is of divine appointment. I am satisfied from
examination of Scripture, that in every visible church there should be an
order of men called and set apart for preaching and pastoral work. And with
every feeling of respect for Christians who think otherwise, I must declare
my own firm conviction, that the Christian ministry is plainly set forth in
the epistles to Timothy and Titus, as an institution of God.
I would remark, in the next place, that although
the Christian ministry is a Scriptural institution—we must be careful not to
attach a superstitious value to what are commonly called
"ordination," and the ministerial office .
There is always danger of doing this. The human
mind is so weak, that it is constantly inclined to extremes. It is very
common to see ministers taking an extravagant view of the benefits, powers,
and privileges conferred on themselves by their ordination. Let it be a
settled principle in our minds, that ordination is no magic charm. It
does no one good automatically. It conveys no necessary accompaniments of
grace or gifts. It endows a man with no infallibility. It does not invest
him with any special capacity for expounding, explaining, and interpreting
the Word of God without danger of mistake. It does not give him any power of
conferring grace upon others. Above all, it does not make him a sacrificing
priest, and a mediator between God and man.
All this should be well remembered. No doubt the man who
offers himself for ordination with an honest and good heart, inwardly moved
by the Holy Spirit, and sincerely desirous to preach not himself, but
Christ—such an one may reasonably expect a special blessing on his
ordination—a greater blessing than if he undertook to preach the Gospel of
his own will, without any outward call. But the chief danger in the present
day, is that of attaching an extravagant value to ordination. Let us
be on our guard.
The next remark I will make, is one near akin to the
last. We should beware of resting our claim to the people's attention on our
outward call only. It will never do to tell our people, "We are your
ordained ministers, and therefore you must believe and follow whatever we
tell you." On the contrary, we must tell them to prove our teaching by
Scripture, and not to receive it unless it is scriptural. That man has no
right to expect the attention of his people, who does not preach the Gospel
and live the Gospel. The rule of Paul is clear on this point. He told the
Thessalonians to esteem their ministers very highly "for their work's
sake." (1 Thess. 5:13.)
When there is no "work" done, it is vain to expect the
people's esteem. It should never be forgotten, that men have often received
the outward call, and been regularly set apart and ordained—and yet been
rather a curse to the Church of Christ than a blessing! Hophni and
Phineas were in the regular succession from Aaron, and yet they made men
abhor the offering of the Lord. (1 Sam. 2:17.) Annas and Caiaphas were in
the right line from Aaron, and yet delivered our Lord to Pontius Pilate.
Councils of regularly ordained and consecrated bishops have frequently
sanctioned and decreed great heresies!
At the same time it is notorious that God has
frequently granted large blessings to the labors of men who were never
ordained at all. I need hardly remind you of the Quakers, of Howell
Harris, of Robert Haldane, and many others. After all, I will take leave to
remind my brethren, that the servant's message is of far more
importance than his ordination; and the physician's skill in using
medicines more valued by the patient, than his diploma. It is honorable to
be sent as an ambassador from the King of kings on so important a matter as
that of offering the peace of God to a sinful world. But the title of
'ambassador' is of no value at all, if we carry no message of peace, and
have no tidings to tell about the King.
II. With regard to the other main part of my subject,
that is, the imperative duty of "not neglecting the gift given to us,"
I deeply feel my own need of exhortation from others. I trust that in
speaking of it, you will believe I am addressing myself as well as others.
Let Paul's words ring in our ears this day: "neglect not the gift."
All ministers of the Gospel are in danger of neglecting their duty. There is
a risk of getting into a state of melancholy and depression, when the first
excitement and novelty of our office are worn off. Many, perhaps, expect
what they have no right to expect, and then relapse into despondency, under
the idea that they can do nothing, when they see sin and unbelief abounding
around them. Against this desponding frame of mind all ministers need to be
on their guard.
Above all men they need patience. He who cannot
"wait" for fruit, as well as "work," never ought to be ordained. But I may
be allowed to say, that of all ministers, none are in such peculiar danger
of "neglecting their gift," as the ministers of the Established Church of
England. Their position, no doubt, has its special advantages. But it has
also its special perils. About the nature of these perils I beg leave to
offer a few suggestions.
I would suggest, for one thing, to my brethren, that we
all need to beware of ministerial indolence. It is painful to observe
how easy it is for a watchman of souls to go back from his "first love," and
subside into a cold, apathetic, torpid frame of mind. No one is more liable
to this, perhaps, than the rector of a parish in a rural district. I speak
feelingly on this point. It is my own position. I am persuaded that we have
certain peculiar temptations, from which our brethren in towns are very much
exempt. The rector of a rural parish has frequently a sufficient income, a
good house, and a small population. Very often he has no neighbors to hold
communion with. His parishioners are probably farmers and laborers—people of
little or no reading, or mental cultivation. The field for exercising his
talents is naturally excessively small. It is difficult to fill up his time
with ministerial work. The range of subjects he can handle in the pulpit is
necessarily confined. I describe a common case, I believe. I declare my own
conviction, that no state of things can be conceived more likely to bring
over a man's mind, insensibly almost to himself, stagnation and rust.
In fact, I firmly believe, that many a young minister, who at college
distinguished himself, and took a good degree, has been lost, engulfed, and
buried—so far as usefulness goes—by unhappily giving way to the habits of
indolence, which such a position is calculated to engender. Many a clergyman
who, at one time, did run well and bade fair to be an ornament to the Church
of Christ, winds up with the ignominious label, of being nothing more than a
clerical farmer, gardener, musician, or painter. I implore my rural
brethren to remember this. I feel the approach of this plague often myself I
am sure we have special need to beware of indolence.
I suggest, for another thing, that we ought to beware
of neglecting the habit of reading. I do not wish to make an idol of
learning and book knowledge; but I am satisfied that an unlearned ministry,
in these days of progress and wide-spread education, will never command a
people's respect. Men must read, if their ministry is not to become
threadbare, thin, and a mere repetition of hackneyed commonplaces. Always
taking out of their minds, and never putting in—they must naturally come to
the bottom. Reading will alone make a full man. And here I will just remark,
that to meet the evils of the day, ministers must read books they do not
agree with. They must show that they know the false doctrines they have to
combat. Just as a doctor must be familiar with morbid anatomy and poisons,
so must a minister be acquainted with the false doctrines of the present
day.
I would suggest, for another thing, that we must
beware of neglecting the preparation of our sermons. I am sorry to say
there seems to me great need for this caution. I fear that many are apt to
spend their whole time in their schools, in visiting their people, in
attending to the sick, or in contriving and working "church machinery", and
so to leave themselves little or no time for preparation fo their sermons. I
deeply regret this. It is a great mistake. No possible labor of a practical
kind can ever compensate for inadequate preparation for the pulpit. A
minister's sermons should be incomparably the first and chief thing in his
thoughts, every week that he lives. He must ever recollect that he is not
ordained to be a schoolmaster, a relieving officer, or a doctor—but to
preach the Word of God. The minister who slurs over his preaching under the
excuse of other work, has no right to expect God's blessing.
Men talk of "the foolishness of preaching," as if that
was a reason for neglecting their sermons. It should be remembered, that the
foolishness of preaching is one thing, and foolish preaching
quite another. It is impossible that a sermon which costs neither time
nor thought, can, as a general rule, be good. What costs nothing—is
generally worth nothing.
As to the idea of some, that preaching is not of so much
importance now as formerly, I believe it to be wholly fallacious. On the
contrary, I believe there never was a time when the pulpit had such power as
it has now. Education has not made sermons useless. On the contrary,
education has made men better judges of what sermons ought to be, and less
likely to be satisfied with a weak and ill-digested sermon, than they were
fifty years ago.
I cannot help remarking before I leave this part of my
subject, how much it is to be regretted that the preparation of young men
for the ministerial office, is so thoroughly inadequate as it is at
present. Is there a single theological college at this day, to which anyone
could, with entire satisfaction, recommend a young man to go? I believe in
my conscience, that there is none. I regard this as one of the gloomiest
points in the position of the Church of England. The sources from which the
ministry is supplied are not trustworthy. I consider one of the great needs
of the day to be a new theological college, in some central position, for
training young men for the ministry, at a moderate expense, on a thoroughly
sound Protestant and evangelical basis. I earnestly hope the day may come
when such a college may be called into being.
I would suggest, in the next place, that we must
beware of conformity to the world. The ministers of the Church of
England are in special danger of this. Their position in society lays them
open to many temptations. Their families are often occasions of shortcoming.
Worldliness is destructive to usefulness. The clergyman whose own
life and family are worldly, will find exhortations against worldliness go
for very little with his people.
I would suggest, in the last place, that we must
beware of formality. Familiarity with sacred things is very dangerous.
Unless a minister watches his own spirit, he may get into the habit of doing
the most spiritual acts in a mere perfunctory way. It is possible to
preach the truth forcibly—to read the service solemnly—and visit a parish
regularly—and yet to have a heart wandering away into the ends of the earth.
This is a point on which the utmost vigilance is needed.
I will conclude all I have said, by reminding you, that
the secret of our strength, must be daily communion with the Lord Jesus.
To be safe, we must be watchful, humble, self-denying, prayerful, and given
to much private meditation.
I am satisfied that the happiest minister is the man who
most diligently discharges the office committed to him. None, I am sure, is
so miserable as the minister, who, from indolence, or any other motive,
lives below his light, and neglects his work. After all, no work is so
satisfactory, and so lasting—as the work of a faithful preacher of the
Gospel. None have so good a Master. None will receive such wages. A
missionary who had labored for the Wesleyan Society, and died at the age of
ninety-five, heard his friends round his death-bed saying one to another,
"What would our old friend do, if he had to live his life over again?" He
rose on his pillow, and said, "The very best thing that a man can do, is to
preach the Gospel!"
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