Subscriptions and Donations in aid of the General Baptist Missionary Society will be thankfully received by T. Hill, Esq., Arboretum Street, Nottingham, Treasurer; and by the Rev. J. C. Pike and the Rev. H. Wilkinson, Secretaries, Leicester, from whom also Missionary Boxes, Collecting Books and Cards may be obtained.

THE

GENERAL BAPTIST

MAGAZINE.

OCTOBER, 1866.

THE SERVANT OF CHRIST.

An Address to Thos. B. Summerfield, on the occasion of his designation to the Pastoral Office at Holbeach, May 22, 1866.

BY THE REV. T. W. MATHEWS.

DEAR BROTHER, I reverently avail myself of the opportunity presented by the sacred engagements of this day to offer to your fraternal acceptance a few remarks on the solemn position you have come to occupy as a servant of Christ in this town, as a preacher of His gospel, and as a pastor over His flock assembling within these walls.

I. Allow me first to contemplate you as a servant of Christ, that is, as a Christian man, "living not to yourself, but to Him who loved you and gave Himself for you;" as one who, according to the brief but interesting history you have given us of your religious life, has devoted himself to the will of Christ in all things. Amongst us, as a religious denomination, it is presupposed that every one who aspires to the ministry has been truly, personally, intelligently, and voluntarily converted to God; that from a painful sense of his guilty and sin-ruined state, both by nature and practice, he has penitently and thankfully embraced the mercy of God revealed in the blood of Jesus Christ, and has committed his whole being, body, soul, and spirit, and all his interests for time and eternity, to the care, guidance, and government of the Holy Ghost; that he has received a life from God very different indeed from what he inherited by nature, and from what some imagine to be communicated to unconscious infants by baptism; that he is not to become spiritual by ordination of men, but has previously become so through faith in the Word of God; that he is spiritually-minded, caring for the things of the Spirit, having the mind of Christ; that the gospel is his life; that he prays in the Spirit; and that his affections are set on things above.

Now mind, dear brother, that this inward, conscious, righteous heartlife be never regarded by you as a secondary matter. Let it never be merged in ministerial activity. It is infinitely more important than every other qualification or attainment. Could you attain to a popularity like VOL. LXVIII.-NEW SERIES, No. 34.

Spurgeon's, could you soar to the eloquence of an angel, without this living union with Christ, your eloquence would be but sounding brass, and your popularity a tinkling cymbal.

We would not knowingly, could we avoid it, have an unconverted man, a man unsanctified in heart, to be a minister in our body-no, not for the world. Nay, we would not admit him to be educated at our School of the Prophets. First, let a man be a Christian, and then, if otherwise qualified, a Christian minister.

Mind, therefore, brother, that your piety be ever growing in real fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." If it do not grow, it will be smothered with the undergrowth of ministerial performances. Cherish it, therefore, by constant prayer in the closet in the depth of your spirit. Use means for this specific purpose. Pray over the Bible, not only as a teacher, but as one who needs to be taught of God. Use books of devotion; hymns which breathe a devotional spirit; the Psalms of David; biographies which disclose the inward emotions, as well as the serviceable actions, of former saints who walked with God.

And keep ever before you that Great Day when some unhappy ones will say—"Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name done many wonderful works?" but to whom the righteous Judge will profess" I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." And hold fast the resolution of Paul when he said- I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

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II. The next class of remarks, dear brother, regards you as a minister of Christ in this particular locality.

Consider, then, that though you are a neighbour among neighbours, you are not altogether like the rest of the neighbours. They are here in the pursuit of their secular callings; but you have no business here but as you are called to be a minister of religion. This is your vocation: may you ever walk worthy of it!

1. In every way be ready to serve your generation, to benefit your neighbours as a philanthropist, as a cultivator of true science, as one acquainted with public business, as a leader of the people in everything that becomes Christian citizens; but ever recollect that you are only to engage in these concerns as a minister of Christ. In acts as well as in words preach Christ as the Master, and present yourself as the servant of all men for Jesus' sake.

2. Oh, brother, be blameless, be exemplary; and that you may be blameless, be debtless. With a deeply sympathizing heart I speak of the difficulty a dissenting minister must often experience in keeping himself free from debt. You can afford to pinch, and almost to starve, but you cannot afford to be in debt. I lately met with a gentleman, who, having witnessed the misery his father brought on himself by living beyond his means, resolved on his entering into life that he would never go into debt; and by steadily adhering to this wise resolution, he has procured not only the reward of temporal comfort, but the richer reward of inward peace, and the esteem of all his acquaintance.

It was a sad thing to be said of a minister not long deceased, a man eminent in theology, letters, and science, that he was a self-indulged man. Let nothing of that sort, brother, ever be said of you.

III. But you are more especially a minister of Christ to the church and congregation assembling in this house; and here your office is twofold. You are to be a preacher, and you are to be a pastor. These two offices are distinguishable, and are sometimes distinct, though they may be properly and profitably, as they are generally, united in the same person. May it be allowed me, however unworthy, to say a few words on each? 1. You are a Preacher; that is, a teacher of the truth as it is in Jesus, of that truth which is able to save both yourself and them that hear you. Now it would be pleasing to me to hear, if it should please God, that you were popular; but however that may be, may you at any rate be acceptable! May all who hear you revere you for your sincerity, and value you for your instructiveness. May you ever find out acceptable words, which shall convince by their truth, and persuade by their sweetness; which, like goads, shall impel your hearers to every useful labour; and which, like nails, shall penetrate the understanding, and keep hold of their memory and conscience. (Eccles. xii. 10.)

That your ministrations may be thus characterized (as you cannot expect those miraculous endowments with which the prophets and apostles were favoured), you must derive your aptness to teach from the conscientious use of ordinary means-I mean from prayer and study. Get your subjects where an excellent young minister of my acquaintance told me he finds his. He falls on his knees, waiting before God, and muses till the fire burns, then he speaks with his tongue. Remember Luther's words-" Bene orasse est bene studuisse." Carry also a little memorandum book, that if on any occasion, while reading, conversing, travelling, or resting, a topic impresses itself with interest on your mind, you may make a note of it, and like a bee, store it up as honey for future use.

Prepare your sermons with care-as much care as will consist with a due regard to other duties. I cannot recommend you as a general rule, indeed only on rare occasions, to read your discourses; still less to recite them from memory. But let your mind be so imbued with their tenor, that you may with confidence and ease impart it to others. The first thing is to be deeply interested in the subject; the next to arrange it with such charms and neat simplicity, that it will engage the attention and fix itself in the memory of your hearers. Adduce scriptural authority or other adequate evidence for the support of what you advance as a doctrine; and then from the storehouse of your knowledge produce illustrations to adorn, to endear, and to enforce your instruction. And even with the diction take so much pains at least, that, if it do not soar into sublimity, it may never grovel in imbecility. Know also when and where to stop, and how to close with impressiveness.

All this implies that your barns be filled with plenty. Burnet shows that an extemporary preacher needs to know nearly everything. But without venturing on extemporaneous discourses, there is scarcely any kind of knowledge which may not with advantage be pressed into the service of one who would prove himself to be a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing and commending the Word of Truth. That your knowledge may be commensurate with your necessities, read. Read as broadly as your opportunities will admit. Read authors on all sorts of subjects, of all ages, countries, and creeds. You may well be

thankful for the great abundance of instructive works now comparatively accessible.

Read the Holy Scriptures first of all, as beyond all price and all comparison. Let them be to you the supreme authority on every question, the light in which all other objects shall be viewed, the jewel to which all other knowledge shall serve merely as the setting. Search the Scriptures. Study them-the words, the connection, and ascertain why this and that thing has been therein recorded.

Read Expositions-not slavishly to accept their opinions, but as you would listen to the thoughtful conversation of a friend well-informed and trustworthy. Read them through, and not merely for occasional reference on a difficult passage.

Possess yourself of good Dictionaries, if possible, on all subjects; and these not merely as books of reference, but some of them for systematie reading. It would give me pleasure to hear that your congregation has presented you with Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. Any congregation that does so will surely have its reward.

Read Histories, ancient and modern, secular and ecclesiastical. Read them by the light of the Bible. They will illustrate, and confirm, and endear the Bible, and enrich and commend your sermons.

Give as hearty a welcome as you can afford to "fair science and her ample page, rich with the spoils of time." True science is simply the knowledge of what God has made, whether it go under the name of Geography or Astronomy, Natural History or Chemistry, Anatomy or Physiology, Botany or Geology. And surely God's works may well be employed to illustrate God's words. "Consider the ravens." "Consider the lilies." "Learn a parable from the fig tree, and all the trees." And let the little sparrow preach to you from the house top many a sermon on the care and providence of God.

Refuse not to let your mind be polished till, if possible, it glitter with the charms of Imagination. Read Poetry; venture even to poetize yourself. Only in this flowery field, remember, serpents lurk in the grass. The regions of fancy are haunted with evil spirits. But there are poets "whose fire was lighted by the prophet's lamp." And the discerning bee can suck nectar even from hemlock.

Some, for the sake of imagination, would recommend to you works of fiction in prose, that is, Novels. It is difficult and dangerous ground. In themselves they cannot be simply wrong. Everything depends on their tendency. As a repose to the mind, as an armoury where you may procure the arrows of imagination, a little carefully guarded indulgence may be granted. However, they are not needful, and it is universally acknowledged they are dangerous.

Strive by a frequent revision to keep yourself in possession of every thing you ever learned. Let nothing rust and perish. Repeat now and then whatever beautiful things you may have formerly committed to memory. And by reading at least a few lines every day, keep fresh your knowledge of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, or any other tongue.

IV. But besides your labours as a preacher, you are also to sustain the office of a pastor-a shepherd. May you be a good shepherd! A good shepherd, dear brother, lays down, or at least spends, his life for the sheep. A shepherd-not a lord, not a tyrant; an under-shepherd, yet