J.C. Ryle: The Honor of the Ministerial Office

"Let us settle it firmly in our minds that the ministerial office is an honorable privilege.  It is an honor to be the ambassador of a king.  The very person of such an officer of state is respected and called legally sacred.  It is an honor to bear the tidings of a victory such as Trafalgar and Waterloo before the invention of telegraphs.  It was a highly coveted distinction.  But how much greater honor is it to be the ambassador of the King of kings, and to proclaim the good news of the conquest achieved on Calvary!  To serve directly such a Master, to carry such a message, to know that the results of our work, if God shall bless it, are eternal, this is indeed a privilege.  Other laborers may work for a corruptible crown, but the minister of Christ for an incorruptible.  Never is a land in worse condition than when the ministers of religion have caused their office to be ridiculed and despised.  It is a tremendous word in Malachi: 'I have made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as you have not kept my ways' (Mal. 2:9).  But, whether men will hear or forbear, the office of a faithful ambassador is honorable.  It was a fine saying of an old missionary on his deathbed, who died at the age of ninety-six: 'The very best thing that a man can do is to preach the gospel.'"  (J.C. Ryle, Holiness)

The Fields are White for Harvest

Imagine with me a farmer in the midst of planting his fields in April, working diligently and feverishly to get the crops in before the heavy rains come.  All summer long the farmer faithfully cares for the crops, nurturing them, preventing weeds from overtaking and choking them.  But when the time for harvest arrives the farmer stays in the house, watching football and relaxing on the couch.  The crops, ripe for reaping, stay in the fields, untouched by the farmer.  All the work of sowing and caring with no one to reap the bountiful harvest.

As Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well his disciples arrive, startled that he would have any conversation with a Samaritan woman.  Jesus has revealed to this woman the truth of the gospel message and now he takes the time to teach his disciples about reaping the harvest that he has sown.

Join us this week at ElmCreek Community Church as we read John 4:27-42, seeking God’s will and call for our lives as his disciples in reaping fields white for harvest.

Striving to know Christ and make Him known,

Pastor Mark

J.C. Ryle: The Office of the Minister

"Let us take notice of what Paul says of his ministerial office.

"There is a grand simplicity in the apostle's words about this subject.  He says, 'Grace is given unto me that I should preach.'  The meaning of the sentence is plain: 'To me is granted the privilege of being a messenger of good news.  I have been commissioned to be a herald of glad tidings.'  Of course we cannot doubt that Paul's conception of the minister's office included the administration of the sacraments, and the doing all other things needful for the edifying of the body of Christ.  But here, as in other places, it is evident that the leading idea continually before his mind was, that the chief business of a minister of the New Testament is to be a preacher, an evangelist, God's ambassador, God's messenger and the proclaimer of God's good news to a fallen world.  He says in another place, 'Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel' (1 Cor. 1:17).

"I fail to see that Paul ever supports the favorite theory, that there was intended to be a sacerdotal ministry, a sacrificing priesthood in the church of Christ.  There is not a word in the Acts or in his Epistles to the churches to warrant such a notion.  It is nowhere written 'God has set some in the church, first apostles, then priests' (1 Cor. 12:28).  There is a conspicuous absence of the theory in the Pastoral Epistles to Timothy and Titus, where, if anywhere, we might have expected to find it.  On the contrary, in these very Epistles, we read such expressions as these: 'God has manifested His Word through preaching;' 'I am appointed a preacher.' 'I am ordained a preacher.' 'That by me the preaching might be fully known,' (Titus 1:3; 2 Tim. 1:11; 1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 4:17).  And, to crown all, one of his last injunctions to his friend Timothy, when he leaves him in charge of an organized church, is this pithy sentence, 'Preach the Word,' (2 Tim. 4:2).  In short, I believe Paul would have us understand that, however various the works for which the Christian minister is set apart, his first, foremost and principal work is to be the preacher and proclaimer of God's Word" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle).

God Seek People to Worship Him in Spirit and in Truth

I once had a conversation with a gentleman concerning the type and style of music played during the worship services.  He was very insistent upon a piano and organ playing only hymns found within the hymnal.  All other music or instruments were not appropriate to be used during a worship service.  The reasoning behind his thinking was that true worship of God can only be done through certain types of music and instruments.

Clearly this man misunderstood the meaning of the worship of God.  Worshiping Him is far greater and deeper than music, singing, and instruments.  In John 4:1-45 Jesus uses a conversation with a Samaritan woman living deeply in sin to teach her (and subsequently us) about true worship of God.

Join us this week as we read and study John 4:16-26, seeking where, how, and whom we are called to worship.  May Jesus’ words to this woman drive us to understand and experience the glory and greatness of the one whom we worship.

Striving to know Christ and make Him known,

Mark