Pastor (16)
Needless avocations from study are carefully to be avoided by ministers, especially young ones.
The work of the ministry is not to contend with ghosts and opinions antiquated, but the errors and sins of the present time. Look, as it is the duty of Christians to spend the heat of their indignation on the main sin with which they are surprised: "I kept myself from mine iniquity" (Ps. 18:23); so must ministers chiefly bend their zeal and strength against the present guilt.
Indeed, few or none will speak against learning but those that have not so much of it as to make them understand its use. I dare not bid ministers, as some fanatics have done, burn all their books but the Bible. No, but I would exhort them to prefer it above all their other books and to direct all their other studies to furnish them with Scripture knowledge; as the bee that flies over the whole garden and brings all the honey she gets from every flower therein into her hive, so should the minister run over all his other books and reduce their notions for his help in this, as the Israelites offered up the jewels and earrings borrowed of the Egyptians to the service of the tabernacle.
My dear flock, I have, according to the grace given me, labored in the course of my ministry among you to feed you with the heartstrengthening bread of practical doctrine; and I do assure you, it is far better you should have the sweet and saving impressions of gospel truths feelingly and powerfully conveyed to your hearts than only to understand them by a bare ratiocination or a dry syllogistical inference.
Those ministers that give men no rest nor quietness in their sins must expect but little rest or quietness themselves. What is it for ministers to preach home to the consciences of others but to pull down the rage of the world upon their own heads?
Let us see that our knowledge of Christ is not a powerless, barren, unpractical knowledge. Oh that in its passage from our understanding to our lips it might powerfully melt, sweeten, and delight our hearts! Remember, brethren, a holy calling never saved any man without a holy heart; if our tongues only be sanctified, our whole man must be condemned. Oh, let the keepers of the vineyard look to and keep their own vineyard! We have a heaven to win or lose as well as others.
Build in God's way. Expect not to see the happiness of the church by man-pleasing or flattery; this fabric will not stand if it be daubed with untempered mortar. Be faithful to the souls of men, though in so doing you displease them. Still aim at holiness; be always pressing forward toward perfection. So shall the counsel of peace at last be established.
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It is an office of love here to take away the stones and to smooth the way to heaven. Therefore, we must take heed that under pretense of avoidance of disputes we do not suffer an adverse party to get ground upon the truth, for thus may we easily betray both the truth of God and souls of men.
The worst of men are in a dead sleep, and the best of men are too often in a sinful slumber; and therefore faithful ministers have need to cry aloud, they have need to be courageous and zealous, to awaken both sinners and saints, that none may go sleeping to hell. Cowardice in a minister is cruelty; if he fears the faces of men, he is a murderer of the souls of men. Smooth Stones
Vinedressers are rewarded according to their diligence and faithfulness, though some vines never bear nor bring forth fruit at all. As ministers are diligent and faithful, so the reward, the crown shall be given full at last. This is many a faithful minister's grief, that he takes a great deal of pains in rubbing and washing, as it were, to make souls white and clean, pure and holy, and yet they remain, after all, as black as hell; but surely their reward shall never be the less with God. The nurse looks not for her wages from the child, but from the parent.
The preacher must 'convert himself to a pastor, descending from the pulpit to the cottage.'
The pastor ought to have two voices: one for gathering the sheep, and another for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves.
Unfortunately, this is a foreign concept to most Christians in our culture. Most pastoral search committees never even bother to meet a man's wife and children, let alone observe him at home or question those close enough to know how he teaches the Word to his family, leads them in family worship, disciplines, instructs, and encourages his children, or loves his wife. This may seem like a separate issue, but I assure you it is right on point. The fact that we no longer require exemplary family life from those who lead us is indicative of the fact that we have dropped the ball on this issue from the top down. In fact the term preacher's kid has become a euphemism for the poorly behaved, rebellious, oft-neglected sons and daughters of our leaders. If our leaders are failing as husbands and fathers, what hope is there for the rest of our families?Family Driven Faith
If all is well and this world is all that matters, a pastor may become jealous of prosperous people who spend their time in leisure. But if suffering abounds, and if prosperity is a cloak for the true condition of frisky, fun-loving perishing Americans, then being a pastor may be the most important and glorious of all work.
My heart hath been so wrapped up in the glory of this excellent work, that I counted myself more blessed and honored of God by this, than if I had made me the emperor of the Christian world, or the lord of all the glory of the earth without it.
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1. Thomas Watson (196)
2. Charles Spurgeon (135)
3. J.C. Ryle (117)
4. Thomas Brooks (113)
5. John Calvin (107)
6. John Flavel (96)
7. J.I. Packer (95)
8. William Gurnall (93)
9. George Swinnock (88)
10. John Piper (87)
11. John Owen (74)
12. Thomas Manton (70)
13. A.W. Pink (68)
14. Louis Berkhof (63)
15. C.S. Lewis (59)
16. B.B. Warfield (59)
17. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (58)
18. R.C. Sproul (55)
19. Richard Baxter (54)
20. Matthew Henry (54)
2. Charles Spurgeon (135)
3. J.C. Ryle (117)
4. Thomas Brooks (113)
5. John Calvin (107)
6. John Flavel (96)
7. J.I. Packer (95)
8. William Gurnall (93)
9. George Swinnock (88)
10. John Piper (87)
11. John Owen (74)
12. Thomas Manton (70)
13. A.W. Pink (68)
14. Louis Berkhof (63)
15. C.S. Lewis (59)
16. B.B. Warfield (59)
17. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (58)
18. R.C. Sproul (55)
19. Richard Baxter (54)
20. Matthew Henry (54)
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1. Sin (241)2. Prayer (186)
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5. Preaching (130)
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14. Justification (63)
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17. Death (52)
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21. Children (46)
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