Who Put You In?

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry" (1 Tim. 1:12).

Paul knew who put him into the ministry. This is the key to his amazing career as an apostle of God. How else can one explain his matchless endurance of untold hard­ships, his boldness in the face of death, and the power of his penetrating messages? This man of God could preach with a Heaven-born conviction, for Christ put him in. Uncertainty on this vital point can mean shipwreck of one's ministerial service.

It is not sacrilege that we frankly admit that some men are now preaching who should be in other professions. And it is equally true that others whom God called to preach have, like Jonah, gone down to Joppa. Happy is that man who has no po­litical debt to pay, who knows that he was born to preach God's gospel, and who can say with the apostle: "Christ put me in."

Such conviction makes pleasing God the minister's first concern. Human pressures are unnecessary stimulants to such a man. He labors "not with eyeservice, as men­pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, do­ing the will of God from the heart" (Eph. 6:6). His motive is not to outshine his brethren, but to please Christ. Human ac­colades encourage him, but do not inflate his ego.

The gospel minister occupies a position that is unique in existing professions. In a sense that no other can claim, the minister can say: "I am not an employee. I work for no man." The minister works with men, not for them. His service is motivated by neither pay check nor pressure, but by the will and love of Christ. If Christ put him in, no man can put him out. Though ac­countable to his brethren, he is servant only to his sovereign Lord. This conviction will produce men upon whom the church can depend when they are not being watched; men who, though they seek coun­sel, are not dependent upon daily direction; men who when acquainted with their duty do it.

Are You Sure You Are Called?

The minister called by God to preach the gospel will know it. To some, the voice of God is an overriding urge, a passionate desire to do nothing else but preach the gospel. It may come early or late in life, but it comes. "For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for ne­cessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!" (1 Cor. 9:16). "Necessity is laid upon me," says the apos­tle. I can do nothing else and woe be upon me if I try.

"I do not just have to preach," boasted one brother; "I am well trained in other lines. If I do not succeed in this I will make it in another of my many skills."

This man knows nothing of the narrow­ness of the valley of decision. It is not an avenue bisected by alternative routes. It is a narrow one-way street, not intended for men who would reverse their course. It is a binding oath between a man and his Maker, absolute and irrevocable. The prophet Isaiah inquired of the Lord con­cerning the duration of the agreement. "Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate" (Isa. 6:11).

To some, the call to preach is a dramatic "Damascus way" experience. By direct con­tact, God reaches His man. That some have heard a literal voice and discerned a Pres­ence is not to be discounted. One of this movement's most powerful preachers re­ceived his call during intense physical afflic­tion. Who on earth is wise enough to de­cide for Jehovah how He should pick His men? He knows whom He wants and how to get him.

Many a young man received the call of God through other men. As the potential minister sat in the pew week by week, lis­tening to the voice of the man of God, con­viction was born. To more than one min­ister the call to conversion was a call to preach. And, some men like BaIaam have to be cornered by an angel. However the call comes, when it does come it is clear and unmistakable. If there is any doubt in one's mind that God has called him, he can be sure He has not.

Clear Evidences Given

There are evidences other than denomi­nationally granted privileges that distin­guish the minister from the layman.

1. Ministerial inspiration, the direct in­jection of God's ideas into man's mind, is one such evidence. This miracle may hap­pen in the course of the message, or dur­ing the preparation of the discourse. But to every God-called man, it comes, bringing Heaven-born ideas, planted in the mind by the Holy Ghost; thoughts that thrill both speaker and audience; divine ideas Heaven-dedicated, spoken in the tongue of angels by lips of clay.
2. Spirit possession in sermon delivery—the minister charged with the divine in­fluence—is yet another evidence of the call. To be conscious as one speaks of being un­der the divine influence, as words flow with the freedom of life-giving water—words that move the hearts of men because they are anointed with divine fire; and thoughts that are kissed with the breath of Heaven, bringing tears of repentance to the eyes of the hearer. And when the message is fin­ished, to hear men say, "The sermon helped me," brings a rewarding peace that nothing else affords.
3. The test of apostleship is the winning of souls. The end result of all preaching is soul saving. Orations may charm, essays in­struct, but preaching saves. The minister is more than a seed sower—he is a har­vester. "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isa. 55:11). The winning of souls is the minister's first work. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them . . ." (Matt. 28:19). Christ commanded that His ministers baptize. Neither time nor circumstances^– should turn them from this prime objective. There is no other excuse for the existence of the gospel minister than to turn men to Christ. If year after year no fruitage appears from one's ministry he may be sure that he is a displaced person, and there are other needy fields crying for his help.

The tragedy of an idle laity rests heavily on the minister's conscience. It is impor­tant that he remember that his call to preach is a call to train. The gospel is more loudly proclaimed in chorus than by solo. It is not enough to kindle a fire; many hands must make it spread. Every convert must be a maker of converts. To this also we are called.

God Sends and Attends

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John" (John 1:6). The God of heaven not only calls His men but sends them. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). The minister cannot be choosy about location. John preached in the wil­derness. The people heard him because God sent him. Ezekiel proclaimed to a val­ley of dead bones. There was a resurrec­tion because God sent him. When John touched Patmos, it became God's pulpit. To Livingstone, the dense jungle foliage was an invitation to service. That he was sent of God is the only explanation of Hutchinson's devotion to a South African shantytown. God sends; men go where they are sent. And in their wake the parched ground becomes fertile and the deserts blos­som as the rose.

To the God-called, God-sent man comes this promise of divine companionship: "And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28:20). This statement is both a promise and a re­minder. A promise of the presence of the Master and a reminder of man's utter de­pendency upon Him. The self-assured are the self-sent. God's men are ever distrustful of self, realizing their utter dependence upon God for life itself. If a soul is won God must do the work. "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work" (2 Cor. 9:8). Any success attending the efforts of a man of God is due entirely to the accompanying Presence. Fields that are difficult yield their fruit to the Master Gar­dener. In His presence, insoluble problems are simplified. The simple confound the wise because their Companion is all-wise. In His presence the weak are made strong, the unpromising adequate. Miracle follows miracle, in His presence. "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47).

Who put you in? There is all the differ­ence in the world between being "in­stalled" and being "called." In some reli­gious connections they have regular instal­lation services, and in many instances the men become "fixtures." The God-called man is afflicted with a contented restless­ness. The lost and the backslidden are his constant challenge. And his pursuit of the unsaved will not cease until the God who "put him in" shall call him home.

E. E. C.