There is sadly little prayer in the church for the rising ministry. You pray for those who are your pastors, and rightly so. “Brethren, pray for us,” you cannot do us a better favor. But there is so little prayer that God would raise up ministers! Know ye not that, as surely as the blood of Christ bought the redemption of his people, as surely as the resurrection of Christ was for the justification of the saints, so surely the ascension of Christ was for the distribution of ministry among the sons of men? Know ye not the passage, “He ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men and he gave [these were the gifts] some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers”?
Now, you plead the precious blood when you would obtain pardon, you plead the resurrection, and you receive justification; but how seldom do you plead the ascension, so as to obtain a faithful ministry!
From a sermon entitled "Sermons From Saintly Death-Beds," delivered December 1, 1867. Image by Noël Zia Lee under Creative Commons License.
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