The Principle Work of a Pastor
Aug 12, 2009
The gospel is to be heard and the principal way it is to be communicated is by proclamation. In Romans 10:14-17, the apostle Paul inseparably links the gospel, preaching and saving faith. When the gospel is central, preaching will be central and saving faith will be the fruit.
In his sermon entitled, "By what Means may Ministers best win Souls?," Robert Traill preaching from 1 Timothy 4:16, wrote,
"This description of the people, them that hear thee, saith, That the principal work of a minister is preaching; and the principal benefit people have by them, is to hear the Lord's word from them; though there be a seeing (i.e. of their holy conversation; "behavior"-J.F.) that is also useful, Phil. iv. 9. But the apostle knew no such ministers as were only to be seen in worldly pomp and grandeur, and seldom or never heard preaching.
Thou shalt save them. The great end of both preaching and hearing, is salvation; and if salvation were more designed by preachers and hearers, it would be more frequently the effect of the action," (The Works of Robert Traill, vol. 1, pp. 237-238).
May the Lord be pleased to raise up many gospel preachers and hearers!
Comments
Dave Maddox on Aug 14, 2009 11:44am
John, great reminder. How can anyone, or should anyone, say anything so as to detract a minister away from an earnest desire to be a faithful herald of God's holy Word.
Yet, it is curious that "teaching" or "doctrine" does not earn Paul's priority of mention in 1 Tim. 4:16. That spot Paul gave to "keep a close watch on yourself." Why is that do you suppose?
Is 1 Tim. 4:16 an encouragement parallel to Col. 1:23, "...continue in the faith, stable and steadfast..."? Or does Paul employ a reflexive pronoun so as to fly our minds to the decibel-elevated caution about hypocrisy in his Roman letter? "You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?" (2:21).
E.M. Bounds wrote, “Preaching is not the performance of an hour but the outflowing of a life.” Did he have 1 Tim. 4:16 before him when he wrote that? The parallels are substantial it seems to me.
Is there not evidence elsewhere in 1 Tim. supporting the idea that in Paul’s mind “the principle work of the minister” is “keep a close watch on yourself”?
4:12, “…set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”
6:11, “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.”
And especially, 3:1ff, “Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach…”
To be fair, I’m confident Robert Traill would not disagree with the priority of a minister’s communion with Christ and the consequent forming of Christ’s character in the minister. Surely, Rev. Traill assumes a certain interior life of the minister. It just that in 1 Tim. 4:16 Paul didn’t. And so maybe we shouldn’t.