THE MINISTER'S FAINTING FITS

As it is recorded that David, in the heat of battle, waxed faint, so may it be written of all  the servants of the Lord. Fits of depression come over the most of us. Usually cheerful  as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the  wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy.  There maybe here and there men of iron, to whom wear and tear work no perceptible  detriment, but surely the rust frets even these; and as for ordinary men, the Lord knows,  and makes them to know, that they are but dust. Knowing by most painful experience what  deep depression of spirit means, being visited therewith at seasons by no means few or far  between, I thought it might be consolatory to some of my brethren if I gave my thoughts  thereon, that younger men might not fancy that some strange thing had happened to them  when they became for a season possessed by melancholy; and that sadder men might know  that one upon whom the sun has shone right joyously did not always walk in the light. It is not necessary by quotations from the biographies of eminent ministers to prove that  seasons of fearful prostration have fallen to the lot of most, if not all of them. The life of  Luther might suffice to give a thousand instances, and he was by no means of the weaker  sort. His great spirit was often in the seventh heaven of exultation, and as frequently on the  borders of despair. His very death-bed was not free from tempests, and he sobbed himself  into his last sleep like a great wearied child. Instead of multiplying Gases, let us dwell upon  the reasons why these things are permitted why it is that the children of light sometimes  walk in the thick darkness; why the heralds of the daybreak find themselves at times in  tenfold night. Is it not first that they are men? Being men, they are compassed with infirmity, and heirs of  sorrow. Well said the wise man in the Apocrypha, (Ecclus xl. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5-8) "Great travail is  created for all men, and a heavy yoke on the sons of Adam, from the day that they go out of  their mother's womb unto that day that they return to the mother of all things—namely, their  thoughts and fear of their hearts, and their imagination of things that they wail for, and the  day of death. From him that sitteth in the glorious throne, to him that sitteth beneath in the  earth and ashes; from him that is clothed in blue silk, and weareth a crown, to him that is  clothed in simple linen—wrath, envy, trouble, and unquietness, and fear of death and rigour,  and such things come to both man and beast, but sevenfold to the ungodly." Grace guards us  from much of this, but because we have not more of grace we still suffer even from ills  preventible. Even under the economy of redemption it is most clear that we are to endure   infirmities, otherwise there were no need of the promised Spirit to help us in them. It is of  need be that we are sometimes in heaviness. Good men are promised tribulation in this  world, and ministers may expect a larger share than others, that they may learn sympathy  with the Lord's suffering people, and so may be fitting shepherds of an ailing flock.  Disembodied spirits might have been sent to proclaim the word, but they could not have  entered into the feelings of those who, being in this body, do groan, being burdened; angels   might have been ordained evangelists, but their celestial attributes would have disqualified  them from having compassion on the ignorant; men of marble  might have been fashioned,  but their impassive natures would have been a sarcasm upon our feebleness, and a mockery  of our wants. Men, and men subject to human passions, the all-wise God has chosen to be  his vessels of grace;  hence these tears, hence these perplexities and castings down. Moreover, most of us are in some way or other unsound physically. Here and there we meet  with an old man who could not remember that ever he was laid aside for a day; but the great  mass of us labour under some form or other of infirmity, either in body or mind. Certain  bodily maladies, especially those connected with the digestive organs, the liver, and the  spleen, are time fruitful fountains of despondency; and, let a man strive as he may against  their influence, there will be hours and circumstances in which they will for awhile  overcome him. As to mental maladies, is any man altogether sane? Are we not all a little  off the balance? Some minds appear to have a gloomy tinge essential to their very  individuality; of them it may be said, "Melancholy marked them for her own;" fine minds  withal, and ruled by noblest principles, but yet most prone to forget the silver lining, and to  remember only the cloud. Such men may sing with the old poet (Thomas Washbourne.) "Our hearts are broke, our harps unstringed be, Our only music's sighs and groans, Our songs are to the tune of lachrymœ, We're fretted all to skin and bones." These infirmities may be no detriment to a man's career of special usefulness; they may  even have been imposed upon him by divine wisdom as necessary qualifications for his  peculiar course of service. Some plants owe their medicinal qualities to the marsh in  which they grow; others to the shades in which alone they flourish. There are precious  fruits put forth by the moon as well as by the sun. Boats need ballast as well as sail; a  drag on the carriage-wheel is no hindrance when the road runs downhill. Pain has,  probably, in some cases developed genius; hunting out the soul which otherwise might  have slept like a lion in its den. Had it not been for the broken wing, some might have  lost themselves in the clouds, some even of those choice doves who now bear the  olive-branch in their mouths and show the way to the ark. But where in body and mind  there are predisposing causes to lowness of spirit, it is no marvel if in dark moments the  heart succumbs to them; the wonder in many cases is—and if inner lives could be written,  men would see it so—how some ministers keep at their work at all, and still wear a smile  upon their countenances. Grace has its triumphs still, and patience has its martyrs;  martyrs none the less to be honoured because the flames kindle about their spirits rather  than their bodies, and their burning is unseen of human eyes. The ministries of Jeremiahs  are as acceptable as those of Isaiahs, and even the sullen Jonah is a true prophet of the  Lord, as Nineveh felt full well. Despise not the lame, for it is written that they take the prey;  but honour those who, being faint, are yet pursuing. The tender-eyed Leah was more  fruitful than the beautiful Rachel, and the griefs of Hannah were more divine than the  boastings of Peninnah. "Blessed are they that mourn," said the Man of Sorrows, and let  none account them otherwise when their tears are salted with grace. We have the treasure  of the gospel in earthen vessels, and if there be a flaw in the vessel here and there, let none  wonder. Our work, when earnestly undertaken, lays us open to attacks in the direction of depression.  Who can bear the weight of souls without sometimes sinking to the dust? Passionate  longings after men's conversion, if not fully satisfied (and when are they?), consume the soul  with anxiety and disappointment. To see the hopeful turn aside, the godly grow cold,  professors abusing their privileges, and sinners waxing more bold in sin—are not these  sights enough to crush us to the earth? The kingdom comes not as we would, the reverend  name is not hallowed as we desire, and for this we must weep. How can we be otherwise  than sorrowful, while men believe not our report, and the divine arm is not revealed? All  mental work tends to weary and to depress, for much study is a weariness of the flesh; but  ours is more than mental work—it is heart work, the labour of our inmost soul. How often,   on Lord's-day evenings, do we feel as if life were completely washed out of us! After  pouring out our souls over our congregations, we feel like empty earthen pitchers which a  child might break. Probably, if we were more like Paul, and watched for souls at a nobler  rate, we should know more of what it is to be eaten up by the zeal of the Lord's house. It is  our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus. We are not to be living specimens   of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices, whose lot is to be consumed; we are to  spend and to be spent, not to lay ourselves up in lavender, and nurse our flesh. Such  soul-travail as that of a faithful minister will bring on occasional seasons of exhaustion,  when heart and flesh will fail. Moses' hands grew heavy in intercession, and Paul cried out,  "Who is sufficient for these things?" Even John the Baptist is thought to have had his  fainting fits, and the apostles were once amazed, and were sore afraid. Our position in the church will also conduce to this. A minister fully equipped for his work,  will usually be a spirit by himself, above, beyond, and apart from others. The most loving  of his people cannot enter into his peculiar thoughts, cares, and temptations. In the ranks,  men walk shoulder to shoulder, with many comrades, but as the officer rises in rank, men  of his standing are fewer in number. There are many soldiers, few captains, fewer colonels,  but only one commander-in-chief. So, in our churches, the man whom the Lord raises as a  leader becomes, in the same degree in which he is a superior man, a solitary man. The  mountain-tops stand solemnly apart, and talk only with God as he visits their terrible  solitudes. Men of God who rise above their fellows into nearer communion with heavenly  things, in their weaker moments feel the lack of human sympathy. Like their Lord in  Gethsemane, they look in vain for comfort to the disciples sleeping around them; they are  shocked at the apathy of their little band of brethren, and return to their secret agony with  all the heavier burden pressing upon them, because they have found their dearest  companions slumbering. No one knows, but he who has endured it, the solitude of a soul  which has outstripped its fellows in zeal for the Lord of hosts: it dares not reveal itself,  lest men count it mad; it cannot conceal itself, for a fire burns within its bones: only before  the Lord does it find rest. Our Lord's sending out his disciples by two and two manifested  that he knew what was in men; but for such a man as Paul, it seems to me that no helpmeet  was found; Barnabas, or Silas, or Luke, were hills too low to hold high converse with such  a Himalayan summit as the apostle of the Gentiles. This loneliness, which if I mistake not  is felt by many of my brethren, is a fertile source of depression; and our ministers, fraternal  meetings, and the cultivation of holy intercourse with kindred minds will, with God's blessing, help us greatly to escape the snare. There can be little doubt that sedentary habits have a tendency to create despondency in  some constitutions. Burton, in his "Anatomy of Melancholy," has a chapter upon this cause  of sadness; and, quoting from one of the myriad authors whom he lays under contribution,  he says—"Students are negligent of their bodies. Other men look to their tools; a painter  will wash his pencils; a smith will look to his hammer, anvil, forge; a husbandman will  mend his plough-irons, and grind his hatchet if it be dull; a falconer or huntsman will have  an especial care of his hawks, hounds, horses, dogs, &c.; a musician will string and unstring  his lute; only scholars neglect that instrument (their brain and spirits I mean) which they  daily use. Well saith Lucan, "See thou twist not the rope so hard that it break." To sit long  in one posture, poring over a book, or driving a quill, is in itself a taxing of nature; but add  to this a badly-ventilated chamber, a body which has long been without muscular exercise,  and a heart burdened with many cares, and we have all the elements for preparing a  seething cauldron of despair, especially in the dim months of fog— "When a blanket wraps the day, When the rotten woodland drips, And the leaf is stamped in clay." Let a man be naturally as blithe as a bird, he will hardly be able to bear up year after year  against such a suicidal process; he will make his study a prison and his books the warders  of a gaol, while nature lies outside his window calling him to health and beckoning him to  joy. He who forgets the humming of the bees among the heather, the cooing of the   wood-pigeons in the forest, the song of birds in the woods, the rippling of rills among the  rushes, and the sighing of the wind among the pines, needs not wonder if his heart forgets  to sing and his soul grows heavy. A day's breathing of fresh air upon the hills, or a few  hours, ramble in the beech woods? umbrageous calm, would sweep the cobwebs out of  the brain of scores of our toiling ministers who are now but half alive. A mouthful of sea  air, or a stiff walk in the wind's face, would not give grace to the soul, but it would yield  oxygen to the body, which is next best.  "Heaviest the heart is in a heavy air, Ev'ry wind that rises blows away despair." The ferns and the rabbits, the streams and the trouts, the fir trees and the squirrels, the  primroses and the violets, the farm-yard, the new-mown hay, and the fragrant hops—these  are the best medicine for hypochondriacs, the surest tonics for the declining, the best  refreshments for the weary. For lack of opportunity, or inclination, these great remedies are  neglected, and the student becomes a self-immolated victim. The times most favourable to fits of depression, so far as I have experienced, may be  summed up in a brief catalogue. First among them I must mention the hour of great success.  When at last a long-cherished desire is fulfilled, when God has been glorified greatly by   our means, and a great triumph achieved, then we are apt to faint. It might be imagined  that amid special favours our soul would soar to heights of ecstacy, and rejoice with joy  unspeakable, but it is generally the reverse. The Lord seldom exposes his warriors to the  perils of exultation over victory; he knows that few of them can endure such a test, and  therefore dashes their cup with bitterness. See Elias after the fire has fallen from heaven,  after Baal's priests have been slaughtered and the rain has deluged the barren land For him  no notes of self-complacent music, no strutting like a conqueror in robes of triumph; he flees  from Jezebel, and feeling the revulsion of his intense excitement, he prays that he may die,  lie who must never see death, yearns after the rest of the grave, even as Caesar, the world's  monarch, in his moments of pain cried like a sick girl. Poor human nature cannot bear such  strains as heavenly triumphs bring to it; there must come a reaction. Excess of joy or  excitement must be paid for by subsequent depressions. While the trial lasts, the strength is  equal to the emergency; but when it is over, natural weakness claims the right to show itself.   Secretly sustained, Jacob can wrestle all night, but he must limp in the morning when the  contest is over, lest he boast himself beyond measure. Paul may be caught up to the third  heaven, and hear unspeakable things, but a thorn in time flesh, a messenger of Satan to  buffet him, must be the inevitable sequel. Men cannot bear unalloyed happiness; even good  men are not yet fit to have "their brows with laurel and with myrtle bound," without  enduring secret humiliation to keep them in their proper place. Whirled from off our feet by  a revival, carried aloft by popularity, exalted by success in soul-winning, we should be as  the chaff which the wind driveth away, were it not that the gracious discipline of mercy  breaks the ships of our vainglory with a strong east wind, and casts us shipwrecked, naked  and forlorn, upon the Rock of Ages. Before any great achievement, some measure of the same depression is very usual.   Surveying the difficulties before us, our hearts sink within us. The sons of Anak stalk  before us, and we are as grasshoppers in our own sight in their presence. The cities of  Canaan are walled up to heaven, and who are we that we should hope to capture them?  We are ready to cast down our weapons and take to our heels. Nineveh is a great city,  and we would flee unto Tarshish sooner than encounter its noisy crowds. Already we  look for a ship which may bear us quietly away from the terrible scene, and only a dread  of tempest restrains our recreant footsteps. Such was my experience when I first became  a pastor in London. My success appalled me; and the thought of the career which it  seemed to open up, so far from elating me, cast me into the lowest depth, out of which I  uttered my miserere and found no room for a gloria in excelsis. Who was I that I should  continue to lead so great a multitude? I would betake me to my village obscurity, or  emigrate to America, and find a solitary nest in the backwoods, where I might be sufficient  for the things which would be demanded of me. It was just then that the curtain was rising  upon my life-work, and I dreaded what it might reveal. I hope I was not faithless, but I  was timorous and filled with a sense of my own unfitness. I dreaded the work which a  gracious providence had prepared for me. I felt myself a mere child, and trembled as I  heard the voice which said, "Arise, and thresh the mountains, and make them as chaff."  This depression comes over me whenever the Lord is preparing a larger blessing for my  ministry; the cloud is black before it breaks, and overshadows before it yields its deluge  of mercy. Depression has now become to me as a prophet in rough clothing, a John the  Baptist, heralding the nearer coming of my Lord's richer benison. So have far better men  found it. The scouring of the vessel has fitted it for the Master's use. Immersion in  suffering has preceded the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Fasting gives an appetite for the  banquet. The Lord is revealed in the backside of the desert, while his servant keepeth  the sheep and waits in solitary awe. The wilderness is the way to Canaan. The low valley  leads to the towering mountain. Defeat prepares for victory. The raven is sent forth  before the dove. The darkest hour of the night precedes the day-dawn. The mariners go   down to the depths, but the next wave makes them mount to the heaven: their soul is  melted because of trouble before he bringeth them to their desired haven. In the midst of a long stretch of unbroken labour, the same affliction may be looked for.  The bow cannot be always bent without fear of breaking. Repose is as needful to the mind  as sleep to the body. Our Sabbaths are our days of toil, and if we do not rest upon some  other day we shall break down. Even the earth must lie fallow and have her Sabbaths, and  so must we. Hence the wisdom and compassion of our Lord, when he said to his disciples,  "Let us go into the desert and rest awhile." What! when the people are fainting? When the  multitudes are like sheep upon the mountains without a shepherd? Does Jesus talk of rest?  When Scribes and Pharisees, like grievous wolves, are rending the flock, does he take his  followers on an excursion into a quiet resting place? Does some red-hot zealot denounce  such atrocious forgetfulness of present and pressing demands? Let him rave in his folly.  The Master knows better than to exhaust his servants and quench the light of Israel. Rest  time is not waste time. It is economy to gather fresh strength. Look at the mower in the  summer a day, with so much to cut down ere the sun sets. He pauses in his labour, is he  a sluggard? He looks for his stone, and begins to draw it up and down his scythe, with  "rink-a-tink—rink-a-tink—rink-a-tink." Is that idle music? is he wasting precious  moments? How much he might have mown while he has been ringing out those notes  on his scythe! But he is sharpening his tool, and he will do far more when once again he  gives his strength to those long sweeps which lay the grass prostrate in rows before him.  Even thus a little pause prepares the mind for greater service in the good cause.  Fishermen must mend their nets, and we must every now and then repair our mental  waste and set our machinery in order for future service. To tug the oar from day to day,  hike a galley-slave who knows no holidays, suits not mortal men. Mill-streams go on  and on for ever, but we must have our pauses and our intervals. Who can help being out  of breath when the race is continued without intermission? Even beasts of burden must  be turned out to grass occasionally; the very sea pauses at ebb and flood; earth keeps the  Sabbath of the wintry months; and man, even when exalted to be God's ambassador, must  rest or faint; must trim his lamp or let it burn low; must recruit his vigour or grow  prematurely old. It is wisdom to take occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall do  more by sometimes doing less. On, on, on for ever, without recreation, may suit spirits  emancipated from this "heavy clay," but while we are in this tabernacle, we must every  now and then cry halt, and serve the Lord by holy inaction and consecrated leisure. Let  no tender conscience doubt the lawfulness of going out of harness for awhile, but learn  from the experience of others the necessity and duty of taking timely rest. One crushing stroke has sometimes laid the minister very low. The brother most relied upon  becomes a traitor. Judas lifts up his heel against the man who trusted him, and the  preacher's heart for the moment fails him. We are all too apt to look to an arm of flesh, and  from that propensity many of our sorrows arise. Equally overwhelming is the blow when  an honoured and beloved member yields to temptation, and disgraces the holy name with  which lie was named. Anything is better than this. This makes the preacher long for a lodge  in some vast wilderness, where he may hide his head for ever, and hear no more the  blasphemous jeers of the ungodly. Ten years of toil do not take so much life out of us as we  lose in a few hours by Ahithophel the traitor, or Demas the apostate. Strife, also, and  division, and slander, and foolish censures, have often laid holy men prostrate, and made  them go "as with a sword in their bones." Hard words wound some delicate minds very  keenly. Many of the best of ministers, from the very spirituality of their character, are  exceedingly sensitive—too sensitive for such a world as this. "A kick that scarce would  move a horse would kill a sound divine." By experience the soul is hardened to the rough  blows which are inevitable in our warfare; but at first these things utterly stagger us, and  send us to our homes wrapped in a horror of great darkness. The trials of a true minister are  not few, and such as are caused by ungrateful professors are harder to bear than the coarsest  attacks of avowed enemies. Let no man who looks for ease of mind and seeks the quietude  of life enter the ministry; if he does so he will flee from it in disgust. To the lot of few does it fall to pass through such a horror of great darkness as that which  fell upon me after the deplorable accident at the Surrey Music Hall. I was pressed beyond  measure and out of bounds with an enormous weight of misery. The tumult, the panic, the  deaths, were day and night before me, anti made life a burden. Then I sang in my sorrow— "The tumult of my thoughts Doth but increase my woe, My spirit languisheth, my heart Is desolate and low." From that dream of horror I was awakened in a moment by the gracious application to  my soul of the text, "Him hath God the Father exalted." The fact that Jesus is still great,  let his servants suffer as they may, piloted me back to calm reason and peace. Should so   terrible a calamity overtake any of my brethren, let them both patiently hope and quietly  wait for the salvation of God. When troubles multiply, and discouragements follow each other in long succession, like  Job's messengers, then, too, amid the perturbation of soul occasioned by evil tidings,  despondency despoils the heart of all its peace. Constant dropping wears away stones,  and the bravest minds feel the fret of repeated afflictions. If a scanty cupboard is rendered  a severer trial by the sickness of a wife or the loss of a child, and if ungenerous remarks  of hearers are followed by the opposition of deacons and the coolness of members, then,  like Jacob, we are apt to cry, "All these things are against me." When  David returned to  Ziklag and found the city burned, goods stolen, wives carried off, and his troops ready  to stone him, we read, "he encouraged himself in his God;" and well was it for him that  he could do so, for he would then have fainted if he had not believed to see the goodness  of the Lord in the land of the living. Accumulated distresses increase each other's weight;  they play into each other's hands, and, like bands of robbers, ruthlessly destroy our comfort.  Wave upon wave is severe work for the strongest swimmer. The place where two seas  meet strains the most seaworthy keel. If there were a regulated pause between the  buffetings of adversity, the spirit would stand prepared; but when they come suddenly and  heavily, like the battering of great hailstones, the pilgrim may well be amazed. The last  ounce breaks the camel's back, and when that last ounce is laid upon us, what wonder if  we for awhile are ready to give up the ghost! This evil will also come upon us, we know not why, and then it is all the more difficult to  drive it away. Causeless depression is not to he reasoned with, nor can David's harp  charm it away by sweet discoursings. As well fight with the mist as with this shapeless,  undefinable, yet all-beclouding hopelessness. One affords himself no pity when in this  case, because it seems so unreasonable, and even sinful to be troubled without manifest  cause; and yet troubled the man is, even in the very depths of his spirit. If those who  laugh at such melancholy did but feel the grief of it for one hour, their laughter would be  sobered into compassion. Resolution might, perhaps, shake it off, but where are we to find  the resolution when the whole man is unstrung? The physician and the divine may unite  their skill in such cases, and both find their hands full, and more than full. The iron bolt  which so mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirits in gloomy prison,  needs a heavenly hand to push it back; and when that hand is seen we cry with the apostle,  "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the  God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to  comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are  comforted of God." 2 Cor. i. 3, 4. It is the God of all consolation who can— "With sweet oblivious antidote Cleanse our poor bosoms of that perilous stuff Which weighs upon the heart." Simon sinks till Jesus takes him by the hand. The devil within rends and tears the poor  child till time word of authority commands him to come out of him. When we are ridden  with horrible fears, and weighed down with an intolerable incubus, we need but the Sun  of Righteousness to rise, and the evils generated of our darkness are driven away; but  nothing short of this will chase away time nightmare of the soul. Timothy Rogers, the   author of a treatise on Melancholy, and Simon Browne, the writer of some remarkably  sweet hymns, proved in their own cases how unavailing is the help of man if the Lord  withdraw the light from the soul. If it be enquired why the Valley of the Shadow of Death must so often be traversed by the  servants of King Jesus, the answer is not far to find. All this is promotive of the Lord's  mode of working, which is summed up in these words—"Not by might nor by power, but  by my Spirit, saith the Lord." Instruments shall be used, but their intrinsic weakness shall  be clearly manifested; there shall be no division of the glory, no diminishing the honour  due to the Great Worker. The man shall be emptied of self, and then filled with the Holy  Ghost. In his own apprehension he shall be like a sere leaf driven of the tempest, and then  shall be strengthened into a brazen wall against the enemies of truth. To hide pride from  the worker is the great difficulty. Uninterrupted success and unfading joy in it would be  more than our weak heads could bear. Our wine must needs be mixed with water, lest it  turn our brains. My witness is, that those who are honoured of their Lord in public, have  usually to endure a secret chastening, or to carry a peculiar cross, lest by any means they  exalt themselves, and fall into the snare of the devil. How constantly the Lord calls  Ezekiel "Son of man"! Amid his soarings into the superlative splendours, just when with  eye undimmed he is strengthened to gaze into the excellent  glory, the word "Son of man"  falls on his ears, sobering the heart which else might have been intoxicated with the  honour conferred upon it. Such humbling but salutary messages our depressions whisper  in our ears; they tell us in a manner not to be mistaken that we are but men, frail, feeble,  apt to faint. By all the castings down of his servants God is glorified, for they are led to magnify him  when again he sets them on their feet, and even while prostrate in the dust their faith yields  him praise. They speak all time more sweetly of his faithfulness, and are the more firmly   established in his love. Such mature men as sonic elderly preachers are, could scarcely  have been produced if they had not been emptied from vessel to vessel, and made to see  their own emptiness and the vanity of all things round about them. Glory be to God for  the furnace, the hammer, and the file. Heaven shall be all the fuller of bliss because we  have been filled with anguish here below, and earth shall be better tilled because of our  training in the school of adversity. The lesson of wisdom is, be not dismayed by soul-trouble. Count it no strange thing, but a  part of ordinary ministerial experience. Should the power of depression be more than  ordinary, think not that all is over with your usefulness. Cast not away your confidence,  for it hath great recompense of reward. Even if the enemy's foot be on your neck, expect  to rise amid overthrow him. Cast the burden of the present, along with the sin of the past  and the fear of the future, upon the Lord, who forsaketh not his saints. Live by the day— ay, by the hour. Put no trust in frames and feelings. Care more for a grain of faith than a  ton of excitement. Trust in God alone, and lean not on the reeds of human help. Be not  surprised when friends fail you: it is a failing world. Never count upon immutability in  man: inconstancy you may reckon upon without fear of disappointment. The disciples of  Jesus forsook him; be not amazed if your adherents wander away to other teachers: as they  were not your all when with you, all is not gone from you with their departure. Serve God  with all your might while the candle is burning, and then when it goes out for a season,  you will have the less to regret. Be content to be nothing, for that is what you are. When  your own emptiness is painfully forced upon your consciousness, chide yourself that you  ever dreamed of being full, except in the Lord. Set small store by present rewards; be  grateful for earnests by the way, but look for the recompensing joy hereafter. Continue,  with double earnestness to serve your Lord when no visible result is before you. Any  simpleton can follow the narrow path in the light: faith?s rare wisdom enables us to march  on in the dark with infallible accuracy, since she places her hand in that of her Great Guide.  Between this and heaven there may be rougher weather yet, but it is all provided for by our  covenant Head. In nothing let us be turned aside from the path which the divine call has  urged us to pursue. Come fair or come  foul, the pulpit is our watch-tower, and the ministry  our warfare; be it ours, when we cannot see the face of our God, to trust under  THE SHADOW OF HIS WINGS. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 - 1892) was a noted English Baptist minister who  preached to throngs of people in the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, which seated six  thousand people. His success and popularity were due in a large measure to his natural gift  of oratory and his thoroughly Biblical expository sermons. This article is taken from Spurgeon's marvelous book, Lectures to My Students which is a  compilation of his addresses delivered to the students of The Pastors' College, Metropolitan  Tabernacle from 1856.

SPEND IT ALL

“And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.”  (II Corinthians‬ ‭12:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

There is something to be said for taking care of yourself--getting rest, proper diet, and some exercise.  After all, our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Yet, we are not taking these bodies with us.  We have a limited shelf life.  I've quoted this truth hundreds of times, "Only one life, 'twill soon be past; Only what's done for Christ, will last."  Paul speaks of his willingness to "spend and be spent" for the cause of Christ--to invest his last ounce of energy on behalf of the church.  Though there is nothing we can take with us, we can invest in the eternal and send it on ahead where it will pay rich dividends in Heaven's reward.  So, my prayer today is that I would not be a pampered preacher, but a poured-out pastor who when he reaches the finish line of earth's race does not have a drop of gas left in the tank!

HEAVY DUTY

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,

2 To Timothy, a true son in the faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.  (1 Tim.1:1-4 NKJV)

The call to pastoral ministry is heavy duty.  It is a burden thrust upon the man of God.  Paul certainly understood this and wanted to press upon young Timothy the gravity of his responsibility (v.1).  These words have been preserved by the Spirit of God that we may weigh our obligation as ministers of the Gospel today.

Ministry is not a vocation we seek from a number of options of employment, but is one we are compelled to obey.  Only those who have this sense of calling can understand the solemnity of it.  Without it, don't attempt it!

Timothy's primary call was not to service, but to salvation as a "true son in the faith..." (v.2).  His service would arise out of his salvation.  Saved preachers make better pastors!  The "grace, mercy, and peace," we proclaim passionately arises from our own experience of regeneration.

Sound doctrine is foundational to our ministry--both in our commitment to it personally and to what we teach and allow to be taught in the church (v.3-4).  Proclaiming personal opinions and questionable interpretations that take us past the gate of centuries of church tradition will lead us down the path of schism.  Is it likely that we will discover some new insight that great Bible scholars of the past have not found and commented on?  How much better to stick to orthodoxy which builds up the members in the faith!  The pursuit of novelty can bring disaster to the preacher and the people--illustrated by Hymenaeus and Alexander, mentioned by the end of this first chapter (v.20).

Dear Lord, 
May you help each man of God reading these words to relive their call until it rekindles their enthusiasm for ministry.  Let them tarry in the place of prayer until these truths stagger them with the sense of duty.  May they rise compelled to preach the Gospel!  Guard us from the desire to present some novelty, and focus our attention on orthodoxy.  
In Christ's Name and for His glory. 
Amen.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE BY BEING DIFFERENT: The Church Confronting the Culture or Compromising with It

“Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  (1 Corinthians 1:1-3)

When Jesus described what His Kingdom people were to be, He used the metaphors of salt and light—both of which have a disproportionate impact on their environment due to their distinctive qualities.  A little salt can season a lot, and a small light can illumine a room.  There is no question we live in a society that is rotting and needs the preservative nature of salt, and that we are in a time of spiritual darkness which desperately calls for the light of the Gospel.  That is our assignment as a church.  It is the duty of church leadership to direct the church to fulfill that holy calling.

Paul understood this.  That is why we find him writing the church at Corinth.  Three times in the first three verses, he mentions our call—that we are sanctified, set apart—for a sacred responsibility. The church will never be the church until she is confronted with her calling, and that is the calling of the preacher.  I do not do what I do because of a vocational choice I made, but because of the will of God thrust upon me.  I am not an apostle, but when I speak their words I am communicating with apostolic authority.

The church at Corinth was facing a daunting task.  They were to grow and bear fruit in a hostile environment.  It would be far easier to cave to the pressure to compromise with the pagans around them, than to convert them to faith.  It might even seem reasonable to “adapt” the message to better suit the culture with a view of reaching the culture.  Yet, the reality is that the church is always most effective when it is being different and thus making a difference.

The good news is that the seeming impossibility of the assignment is made possible by the supernatural resources God gives: grace and peace.  They are always in that sequence.  You can’t have peace with God until you experience the grace of God.  Grace means that God gives us all the tools to do what He wants in this world.  There is a peace in knowing I don’t have to accomplish anything on my own.  The God who called me will equip me!

A GRIEF OBTAINED

Years ago, the great Christian thinker, C.S. Lewis, wrote a book entitled, “A Grief Observed.”  In this brief, but poignant volume, he describes his struggle after his wife dies.  The pious platitudes and Christian clichés so often employed in the midst of sorrow were found to be hollow.  Lewis wavered in maintaining a faith that had seemed so rock-solid.  Once he spoke with such conviction about the things of God, as if he had all the answers.  Suddenly, he was thrust into an abyss where answers could not be found.

The reality of a loved one’s death was brutal…and it still is.  Have you ever watched a seven-year old granddaughter who had been so full of life a year ago be consumed with cancer?  Have you ever sat down with your son-in-law and your daughter to plan a funeral service that you will conduct?  I hope not—and pray you never do!  The pain is excruciating. I know that many of you who read this have been in similar times—a spouse, a sibling, a son—someone so dear and near and now all that remains are tombstones and memories.

I recall as a young pastor, visiting the hospital, seeking to minister by encouragement, Scripture, and prayer—and maybe somewhat effectively.  Nothing helped me be more helpful than when I was hospitalized for a week with a major operation, requiring a month to recuperate.  My sympathy factor increased exponentially and I believe my ministry was enhanced.  It was no longer theory, but experience that gave me a platform of compassion.

I believe that is what Paul was saying in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.   If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.  Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. (ESV)

I have no idea how many hundreds of funerals I have officiated, and can truly say I have sought to weep with those that wept and bring them comfort.  People have told me that they have been helped by my ministry.  Yet, I know now what I have never known before.  In the space of a week I have spoken at my father and granddaughter’s funerals, and felt a heartache from which I will never recover until the great Resurrection Day.  That hope seems more precious than ever to me!  I can testify that God’s grace is enough—that His comfort is real—and He will do the same for you, no matter what trial may come.  “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21 ESV)

STARTING RIGHT

"You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."  (2 Tim.2:1-2 ESV)

I can still remember my zeal as a young man called to Gospel ministry--that it was zeal without knowledge.  While my passion for serving Christ and His church did not need to diminish, my understanding of how to fulfill my assignment needed to grow--and quickly.  If you don't know where you are going, you'll get there every time!

Theological education can certainly help.  Seeking counsel from older, godly pastors will be beneficial.  You will hear many opinions--and a lot of it good--some even contradictory.  This can add to the confusion. 

There is no substitute, however, for simply asking the Holy Spirit to open your understanding of the Word of God--especially the pastoral epistles, for these were written to young preachers for the express purpose of equipping them for their task.  With this in mind, an examination of 2 Tim.2:1-2 will be foundational.

Paul reminds his youthful protégé' that he must ever depend on grace.  The minister's assignment is always too large for him--the burden too heavy--and what is required is supernatural power--the grace that flows from Christ's life within us as His grace operates in us and through us.

Pulpit ministry is vital, beyond question.  The masses in the congregation need your message.  But, we dare not think that will be sufficient.  We must prayerfully seek out faithful men.  These will be men of character, "faithful," and competence, "able to teach."  Gathering this group, we commit to relay what God has taught us in view of them training others--and this is the discipleship process.  It is life-on-life--pouring yourself into equipping a few leaders who will extend your effectiveness and multiply your ministry far beyond what you can do alone.

There will be many distractions--and some of these will be good things others in the congregation demand that you do.  You must not allow the good to divert you from the essential.  Gather those men--three at minimum and twelve at maximum--and equip them even as you are growing in your leadership capacity.  Pour yourself into them.  Be with them in contexts outside the "class" time--in recreation and home life--so that truth is not only taught, but caught--through the power of incarnational application of your life example.

If I could start all over, this would be my focus.  I did some, but not enough.  Perhaps, you have been in ministry for a long season.  Is there hope for pursuing this Biblical philosophy which you have neglected?  Of course!  Do what you can starting now, for as long as you can into the future.  Should any of you like to know more, then please email me and we can connect and discuss this non-negotiable in ministry effectiveness.  I want to encourage and/or equip you as I God gives me grace to do so.