THERE is a quotation which indicates how we may increase our baptisms. The formula is simple but demanding. It consists of the greatest energy and powerful action available to the minister in this age.
"If we would humble ourselves before God, and be kind and courteous and tenderhearted and pitiful, there would be one hundred conversions to the truth where now there is only one."—Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 189.
There are four elements which go to make up the structure of that rare but essential characteristic, love—kindness, courtesy, tenderheartedness, pity.
One of the things the church at Ephesus lacked, according to the testimony of the True Witness, is indicated in this scripture:
"I hold this against you, that you do not love as you did at first. Remember then how far you have fallen. Repent and live as you lived at first. Otherwise, if your heart remains unchanged, I shall come to you and remove your lampstand from its place" (Rev. 2:4, 5, Phillips).*
Loss of the Love Principle Endangers the Church
Much has been said and written in these days by certain ones regarding the condition of the church during and after the Minneapolis meeting in 1888. Without going into debate as to what is right and what is wrong with some of these essays, I would have you consider a few statements from a letter written by Sister White to O. A. Olsen, September 1, 1892, four years after that memorable meeting when the church turned the corner and began its positive proclamation of that great theme of Bible truth, "the just shall live by faith."
Speaking of the minister, she said the "burden of his message should be, 'Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.' "—Letter 19 d, 1892.
Then she launched into an exposition regarding the loss of love in the church and the effect of this loss upon the church.
"Is love abiding in the church? Is it not almost extinct? . . . Brethren do not love brethren. . . . The True Witness represents all who have left their first love as fallen. Did He not know their peril?"—Ibid.
Loss of this "first love" opens the doors of hearts as well as of churches to great spiritual dangers.
"The loss of the first love has opened the door to a great amount of selfishness, evil surmisings, evil speaking, envy, jealousy, hard-heartedness. This is the fruit borne when the fervor of the first love has grown cold. There has been but little restraint upon the tongue; for prayer has been neglected. A Pharisaical righteousness has been cherished; there is a deadness of spirituality; and a lack of spiritual eyesight is the result."—Ibid.
Sanctification of Minister Essential to Success
We hear much about powerful preaching, preaching with eloquence which grips the attention of the listener. But we do not hear enough about the sanctification of the preacher—sanctified by the message he preaches. This is important as the following indicates:
"When the truth is presented by one who is himself sanctified through it, it has a freshness, a force, that gives it a convincing power to the hearer. The truth, in its power upon the heart, is precious, and the truth addressed to the understanding is clear. Both are needful, the word, and the inward testimony."—Ibid.
As ministers, none of us are free from the danger of spiritual lassitude, a sort of "well enough" attitude. As one minister was overheard to say when asked how the work was going: "I'm doing as well as the other fellow, so why should I overexert myself to do more?" Well might we as ministers, undershepherds of the flock over which God has made us overseers, look into our own hearts when we talk of the terrible rate of apostasies to the faith found among us in America. Ponder the following statement:
"There are many in the ministry who have no love for God or for their fellow men. They are asleep, and while they sleep, Satan is sowing his tares. The flock of God is in need of help from heaven, and the sheep and lambs are perishing for food. . . . Christ is to be lifted up before the people; for by beholding Him we are to become changed to His image."—Ibid.
In my travels among churches and at camp meetings and other convocations I have become consciously aware of the deep rift there is in our churches regarding the essentials of true Christianity. We sing "Rescue the Perishing" but do not throw out the life lines of salvation. Could it be that the pressures of financial goals, of building churches, of this and that campaign, good as these things may be, have blinded our eyes and hardened our hearts to the heart cries of our people, "the flock of God" purchased with the precious blood of the Lamb of God? May God have mercy upon us, as we go about the work of the gospel ministry.
Do We Pray for Our Flock?
Brother minister, do you pray for your flock? Do you pray for the individual persons, young and old, of your flock? Give careful attention to this portion of the prayer of Jesus for His blood-bought children:
"'Father of goodness and Truth, the world has not known you, but I have known you and these men now know that you have sent me. I have made your self known to them and I will continue to do so that the love which you have had for me may be in their hearts—and that I may be there also' " (John 17:25, 26, Phillips).*
Yes, the minister must have Jesus in his heart. He is not only to teach boys and girls to sing "Into my heart, into my heart, Come into my heart Lord Jesus," but he must experience the reality of this heart cry. The minister's heart must be fully sanctified to the extent that the tremendous love that Jesus had for humanity may be transmitted to him. Nothing else can be acceptable before God.
"The evidence consists in this, that God has given us Eternal Life, and that this Life is in his Son. He who possesses the Son possesses Life. He who does not possess the Son of God does not possess Life" (John 5:11, 12, Authentic New Testament).
Humanly speaking, we cannot generate love at will. It is a divine attribute shed abroad in our hearts through the mediation of the Holy Spirit. As Paul writes: "God's love has pervaded our minds by the Holy Spirit which has been given us" (Rom. 5:5, Authentic New Testament).
We May Have the Pentecostal Experience Now
The experience of Pentecost at the beginning of the Christian Era was not due to a Bible conference at which the ministers sought to iron out problems of doctrines. It was a period of deep heart searching for the purpose of discovering that essential factor so necessary to the success of their ministry, which they had failed to develop while Jesus was still with them in the flesh. Writing about that tremendous event, Ellen G. White has said: "After the descent of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were so filled with love for Him and for those for whom He died, that hearts were melted by the words they spoke and the prayers they offered. They spoke in the power of the Spirit; and under the influence of that power, thousands were converted."—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 22.
Do You Love the Pugnacious?
Brother minister, search your heart before you answer this question: Do you love the people to whom you preach? Do you love your church members? I mean all the church members—the pugnacious, controversial ones; the critics and the slow of heart—do you really love them all? Would you lay down your life to save them for God's kingdom? If you find in your heart the positive answer, then you need have no fear for success in your ministry.
Love Is the Dynamism of Successful Ministry
Let us summarize: Success in spiritual ministry is dependent upon the dynamism of love, the "power of quality" which imparts energy or force, that will cause the hearts of men to be turned away from sin unto righteousness by beholding the Lamb of God upon the cross taking away their sins.
In the words of Paul: "Follow, then, the way of love, while you set your heart on the gifts of the Spirit" (1 Cor. 14:1, Phillips)*
Without this love all your efforts will be as "the crashing of cymbals" and would "amount to nothing at all," and would "achieve precisely nothing."
Take with you the words of Paul, which come to us down through the centuries of time, as sweet counsel for that abiding success in living and serving our Lord..
"With deep roots and firm foundations, may you be strong to grasp, with all God's people, what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ, and to know it, though it is beyond knowledge. So may you attain to fullness of being, the fullness of God himself" (Eph. 3:1719, NEB).+
Note:
"From The New Testament in Modern English, © J. B. Phillips 1958. Used by permission of The Macmillan Company.
+The New English Bible, New Testament. © The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press 1961.
