“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by
Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to
wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not
imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the
word of reconciliation.”
IN every work carried on by man we are perfectly certain to meet with
human infirmity, and human error; and the work of the ministry forms no
exception to the rule. It is carried on by common men, with common flesh
and blood, exposed to the common temptations of common life, so that we
are sure to find in it the common failures of our common humanity. Yet,
with all this, it fills a most important place in the life of all of us.
It not only imparts a distinctive character to our public worship, but it
reaches our home life; so that there is not a family in a parish that is
not, in some way or other, more or less affected by the ministry in the
Church. The influence may not always be for good, but it always exists.
In some cases it may be simply negative, and actually do harm by not
doing good. In some cases it may be positively mischievous, as when it
is made the means for the dissemination of deadly error. While in many
it is made God’s means for conferring incalculable blessings; so that
through it the young are instructed, the careless awakened, inquirers
directed to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the children of God confirmed in
faith and aroused to holy energy for their Lord. The position of a
clergyman is such that the influence of his ministry is sure to be felt
throughout his parish. He has the sacred privilege of leading the
worship of the religious portion of his people. They are all brought
into contact with his office, and all are, some way or other, affected by
the manner in which that office is fulfilled.
It follows, therefore, that the subject of the ministry is one respecting
which it is of great importance that our views should be scriptural. And
yet, for obvious reasons, it is one seldom preached upon. The great
object of the servant of the Lord is to throw Self out of sight; and it
is so hard to disconnect the office from the office bearer, that too
little is often said about the office from the fear that too much
attention should be drawn to the man. It will be well, therefore, for us
to take the subject of the ministry for our careful study this morning.
And may God enable me so to speak, and you so to hear, that we may all
receive God’s word in faith, and may, together, be compacted as a holy
people in the Lord!
It is, of course, impossible to attempt a discussion of the whole
subject, so that we must confine our thoughts to the lessons from this
one passage,—“He hath committed to us the ministry of reconciliation;”
and there will be in it quite sufficient important matter, as the words
will suggest three most important points,—the authority of the ministry,
the object of the ministry, and the means by which that object is
accomplished.
I. On the _authority_ of the ministry this text is perfectly clear; for
the Apostle traces it to no human source when he says, “All things are of
God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to
us the ministry of reconciliation.” The ministry, therefore, is a gift
from God, and not a plan of human contrivance. It is not an arrangement
adopted by the great Christian society as a means for its own
improvement, but it is an institution by the authority of the Founder of
that society, God Himself. Both the office and the men are gifts from
God. In this passage he speaks of the office, and says, “God hath given
us the ministry of reconciliation;” and in v. 19, “hath committed to us
the word of reconciliation.” The men, therefore, received their office
from their God. Just so he said to Archippus (Col. iv. 17), “Take heed
to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil
it.” But perhaps the most striking passage on this subject is St. Paul’s
address to the elders of the Church of Ephesus, in Acts, xx. 28; for he
there teaches not merely that the ministry in general was given to these
elders, but that they had been made by the Holy Ghost overseers of that
particular people amongst whom they were called to labour. “Take heed,
therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy
Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God which He hath
purchased with His own blood.” Now, bear in mind that these persons were
not apostles, nor persons holding any extraordinary office, as some did
in those early days, but ordinary clergymen; some, probably, ordained by
St. Paul himself, and some by Timothy, appointed to labour together
amongst the rapidly increasing church in the large heathen town; and mark
well the fact, that the Apostle does not say, “To which I appointed you,”
or “to which Timothy appointed you,” but he regards the appointment as
from God Himself, and says, “Whereof the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers.”
I verily believe that the fact of this Divine appointment of the ministry
is too often forgotten; and that thereby God’s people—and more
particularly God’s faithful ministers—often miss the great encouragement
to be derived from it. There is a tendency in some minds to suppose that
God gives a special blessing on irregular efforts, and that the stated
ministry of God’s word in church is not accompanied by the same blessing
as the preaching of laymen in town-halls, iron-rooms, and theatres. God
forbid that I should speak with the smallest disrespect of these
irregular efforts, for I rejoice in the zeal of those who make them, and
I firmly believe that in many cases God has greatly blessed them; so
that, if only these gentlemen would but be content to act with God’s
appointed ministry, instead of taking their own course entirely
independent of it, I believe we might, with great advantage to ourselves
and our people, avail ourselves of their devotedness and power. But it
would be a sin to believe that God’s blessing is limited in any way to
that which is irregular; that the only fleece on which the dew fails to
distil is that which He Himself has placed to catch it. If He Himself
has given us our ministry, if He has made us overseers of the flock, it
would be doubting the fundamental principles of Divine fidelity to
believe that having called us, having placed us, and having Himself given
us our great commission, He would leave us to struggle on alone,
untaught, unaided, and unblessed by the presence and power of the Holy
Ghost. We may apply to the ministry what St. Paul says to the
Christian,—“Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it;” and
all of us, whether ministers or people, while we look for great gifts,
great blessings, and great results, may rest assured that God is
faithful, and will never leave those whom He Himself has appointed for
His work.
II. This then being, I trust, clear, our next subject will be the object
of the ministry; and this is taught very clearly in the words,—“The
ministry of reconciliation.” The reconciliation of the sinner to God is
the great result, to attain which God founded the ministry. The question
has been raised whether, by the reconciliation here mentioned, is meant
the reconciliation of God to the sinner, or the reconciliation of the
sinner to God. Surely both are included. In our guilty and ruined
condition there is a double enmity. Man, through his corruption, is at
enmity with God; and God, through His righteousness, is at enmity with
rebellious man. And as there is a double enmity through sin, so,
likewise, is there a double reconciliation through Christ. God, His law
being satisfied, is reconciled to the sinner; and the sinner, his heart
being changed, is reconciled unto God.
The reconciliation of God to the sinner has been wrought out for us by
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the great work of God incarnate, and He
wrought it alone, in His great sacrifice of propitiation. Of this part
of the work, therefore, the Apostle says,—“To wit, that God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.”
This, then, is the mighty work of God in Christ: and this passage proves
its nature; and shows that it consists, not in the change of disposition
in man, but in the non-imputation of sin on the part of God,—“To wit,
that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them.” You observe that the words teach that there
were trespasses and real guilt: such trespasses that, if they were
imputed, or allowed to stand for the condemnation of the sinner, there
could be no reconciliation, and the sinner must die. But God in Christ
does not impute our trespasses unto us: and, therefore, the barrier is
removed; and in Him there is complete reconciliation. But we have not
yet done with the subject; for the question arises, How is it consistent
with the righteousness of God, that He should thus not impute trespasses
to those who are really guilty? What has become of His government, if
real guilt is not reckoned to the real sinner? The question is answered
in v. 21: for we are there taught that guilt is not imputed to us,
because, in the marvellous counsel of God, it has been imputed to the
Lord Jesus Christ in our stead: for look at his words,—“For He hath made
Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him.” There is no explanation of this passage,
except that He who knew no sin was reckoned sinful, in order that we, who
are deeply sunk in sin, might be reckoned righteous. Sin is not imputed
to man; because the Lord Jesus Christ became our substitute; and it has
been imputed to Him in our stead.
Now all this is complete—it is finished; it was a Divine act, and man can
add nothing to it. But, notwithstanding all this boundless mercy, man
remains unchanged—a sinner still, and an alien from God. Though by
atonement God is legally reconciled to him, he remains, through ignorance
and hardness of heart, unreconciled to God; as far from life, therefore,
as if nothing had ever been done for his salvation. And now you see at
once the office of the ministry. The minister of reconciliation is to be
the bearer to his fellow-sinners of the great reconciliation wrought out
for us in Christ Jesus. He is employed by the Holy Ghost as a human
instrument for bringing those who are still unreconciled into the sacred
privilege of reconciliation with God. Sinners reconciled to God,
therefore, are the great result of the ministry. It is very delightful
to see a full church and attentive congregation; very encouraging to see
large schools well taught and well filled—a very great cause of
thankfulness to see kindness and good feeling prevailing in a parish.
But all these things fall short of the great result. The real result is
the reconciliation of precious souls to the Lord Jesus Christ by the
blood of atonement shed for their sins on the cross. The real result is
conversion to God, a new birth by the power of the Holy Ghost; and if
that be wanting, though all beside seem prosperous, the minister of
reconciliation should be brought on his knees with great searching of
heart, and never rest till he can look on precious souls reconciled to
God, to whom he may say, as St. Paul did to the Corinthians, “Such were
some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
III. But our third question still remains,—“In what way, or by what
means, is this great object to be attained?” I am, of course, speaking
of the human instruments, and not of the sovereign power of God the Holy
Ghost, without whom nothing is strong, and nothing holy.
One thing is perfectly clear. It is not done by the offering of any
fresh sacrifice. This was the chief duty of the Jewish priests, but it
forms no part of that of the Christian minister. From one end of the New
Testament to the other you can find no allusion to any such thing as a
Christian sacrifice for sin. The one sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ
was once and for ever, final, complete, and sufficient for all the sins
of the whole world. The work of sacrifice is finished, as we are taught
in the words, “To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto
himself;” and if there can be no sacrifice, it is perfectly plain that
there can be no sacrificing priest. Nor can the idea be gathered from
the Prayer-book any more than it can from the New Testament. There is
not an allusion there, either to a sacrifice or a sacrificing priest,
except where it says, in Art. xxxi., “The sacrifices of masses, in the
which it was commonly said that the priest did offer Christ for the quick
and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables
and dangerous deceits.” There is no Christian sacrifice recognised by
the Church of England but the thankful dedication of heart and life on
the part of those who have been saved by the sacrifice of the Lord. But
this sacrifice requires no priest to offer it. It may rise at any
moment, and from any place, from the depths of any thankful heart. Thus,
according to our Communion Service, all offer it together, and the whole
congregation having together met around their Father’s table, and
together tasted the joys of their Father’s love, together bring their
sacrifice, and say, “Here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord,
ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living
sacrifice unto thee.”
Again: it is not the office of the minister to forgive sins. If our
Lord, in His words of John xx. 23, had really connected such a power with
the ministry of reconciliation, it is most extraordinary that in all the
many portions of the New Testament which relate to the ministry there is
no allusion to it. There are three whole Epistles directed exclusively
to the chief pastors of the Church, besides several addresses to
presbyters both in the Acts and Epistles; and is it not a most remarkable
fact, that there is not a single allusion in any one of these passages or
epistles to the forgiveness of sins, as forming a portion of the ministry
of reconciliation? There are full directions respecting preaching,
praying, reproving, instructing, and behaviour to all the different
classes of the flock, but of forgiveness of sin by the minister, not one
word can you find anywhere; and yet forgiveness itself is the great
subject of the whole New Testament. But it is always traced at once,
without any intermediate mediation, to the Lord Himself. It is always
ascribed to His blood, His redemption, and His grace, and is never once
connected in any way with any power of forgiveness bestowed by a priest.
I am not now dwelling on any one particular passage, but rather on the
omission of the whole subject from the word of God; and I cannot but
think that that omission is a proof, beyond contradiction, that the
Apostles, writing by inspiration, did not understand our Lord as teaching
in these words that the forgiveness of sin by a priest formed any part of
the ministry of reconciliation.
But I do not deny that the text is one of considerable difficulty. The
first great difficulty is to ascertain to whom the words were spoken.
From Luke, xxiv. 33, we find that the persons present were “the eleven,
and them that were with them;” and there is nothing in the record to
decide whether the words were addressed to the eleven Apostles
separately, or to the whole company—including, of course, laymen and
women. My own belief is, that they were addressed to the eleven
separately, and conveyed a special judicial power to these inspired men.
That they possessed such a power is clear from history; for when Peter
retained the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, God ratified his decision by
their death; and when St. Paul passed sentence on the incestuous person
at Corinth, he clearly claimed a supernatural power of judgment when he
said (1 Cor. v. 3–5), “For I verily, as absent in body but present in
spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him
that hath so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus
Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the
flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” So
when he remitted the same sentence he clearly claimed special right to do
so; as he said, “If I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your
sakes forgave I it, in the person of Christ.” But if this were the case,
and if the power was given to the Apostles as a part of their apostolic
office, it follows that with the Apostles it must have ceased for ever.
Accordingly, in our Lord’s words there is not the smallest hint at
transmission; and as for the idea that the Apostles could transmit it to
the Bishops, and the Bishops to the Presbyters, it is altogether without
foundation in the word of God. In fact, the case of the Corinthians
proves clearly that it was not so transmitted. There cannot be a doubt,
that when the epistle was written there were Presbyters in the Church of
Corinth; and it is clear that Titus had just been there on a special
mission, for he it was who brought to St. Paul the tidings of the
repentance of the Corinthians (2 Cor. vii. 6, 7, and xii. 17, 18). But
yet none of these persons appear to have had a transmitted power. It was
necessary to refer the case to St. Paul himself. He retained and he
remitted; and he did both “in the person of Christ.”
But our Lord’s words may have been addressed to the whole company; and if
so, the laity, and even the women, had as great a share in them as any
others. Now, no one supposes that every Christian has the power of
forgiving sin; and the only way of understanding our Lord’s language is
to regard His words as conveying to His Church the power of Christian
discipline. It is clear that such a power is essential to the well-being
of the body; for the Church would cease to be a Church if its most sacred
privileges were open indiscriminately to all kinds of characters. There
must be the right of excluding the wicked, of admitting converts, of
excommunicating those who disgrace their profession, and of restoring
such persons when the Church is satisfied respecting their repentance.
But this authority, if it is not given here, is given nowhere. When our
Lord said, as we read in Matt. xviii. 18, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven;” He gave His disciples the power of regulating
Church order; and it is reasonable to suppose that in these words He
gives a similar authority with reference to persons, for in the one
passage it says “whatsoever,” and in the other “whomsoever.”
In support of this view of the passage it should be observed, that He
does not say that the sins are remitted in heaven, or by God, or by
Himself; but simply says they are remitted, as though He had said, “I
give you full authority to decide; and when you do so, the decision is
final.” If this be the true view of the passage, we can perfectly
understand the use of it in the Ordination Service. The whole Church
cannot exercise this power, and must depute it to executive officers.
These officers are the elders, or presbyters, or priests; and, therefore,
when they are ordained, the Bishop first asks them, “Will you give your
faithful diligence always so to administer the doctrine, and sacraments,
and discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded, and as this Church
and nation hath received the same?” And after the commission has been
given he adds, “And be thou a faithful Dispenser of the Word of God, and
of His holy Sacraments.”
We see, then, that the ministry of reconciliation is neither by
sacrifice, nor by priestly forgiveness; but we have still to consider by
what means the great work is carried on.
For the decision of this point, let us compare the 18th and 19th verses.
In v. 18 we read,—“God hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”
But in v. 19 there is a slight variation; but one of great importance in
the exposition of the passage; for we there find—“Hath committed to us
the word of reconciliation.” The word of reconciliation, therefore, is
the substance of the ministry: the grand work is to make known the
perfect reconciliation wrought out for us in Christ Jesus, to act on the
example set us by St. Paul himself, when he burst out in the grand appeal
which follows, and said,—“Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As
though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye
reconciled unto God.”
But this ministry of the word of reconciliation will vary according to
circumstances.
Sometimes it will be necessary to apply it to individuals, when the
conscience is troubled by the conviction of sin. Our Church alludes to
this in two passages often referred to. The first is from the close of
the invitation to the Lord’s Supper,—“And because it is requisite that no
man should come to the Holy Communion but with a full trust in God’s
mercy, and with a quiet conscience; therefore, if there be any of you,
who by this means cannot quiet his own conscience herein, but requireth
further counsel or comfort, let him come to me, or to some other discreet
and learned minister of God’s word, and open his grief: that by the
ministry of God’s holy word he may receive the benefit of absolution,
together with ghostly counsel and advice, to the quieting of his
conscience, and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness.”
The second is from the rubric in the service for the Visitation of the
Sick, where we read—“Here shall the sick person be moved to make a
special confession of his sins, if he feel his conscience troubled with
any weighty matter.”
It is clear at a glance, that there is no allusion in either of these
passages to general or habitual confession; and that the case
contemplated is that of a person troubled by some particular sin weighing
on the conscience, and keeping the soul from peace. It is just in such a
case that the ministry of the word is required for the help of the
individual; and that something more is wanted than the general preaching
of the truth. Such a person requires the Gospel to be applied to his own
particular anxiety, in order that he may be assured of God’s forgiveness
of that particular sin which keeps his soul in trouble. It is this
assurance which is called in the Prayer-book “absolution.” There is a
vast difference between a judicial act of forgiveness, and a declaration
or assurance of the forgiveness by God. Thus, to “absolve” is not to
“forgive,” but to assure the troubled heart of the full forgiveness,
freely granted, by the Lord Himself. {64} Nothing can be clearer than
this distinction in the absolution in the service for the Visitation of
the Sick. “Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to His Church to
absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in Him, of His great
mercy forgive thee thine offences: and by His authority, committed to me,
I absolve thee from all thy sins, In the Name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
In that passage it is perfectly clear that our Lord Jesus Christ is said
to forgive, and the Church to absolve. The change of words is most
remarkable, and clearly proves the doctrine. The Church is said to have
power to absolve; and the Lord Jesus Christ is entreated to forgive. The
minister, therefore, absolves, and at the same time prays that the Lord
may forgive: and who can doubt that, when the troubled heart truly
repents and believes in Him, the prayer is answered, the forgiveness
granted, and the absolution, or declaration, ratified in heaven?
And let me add, that I believe there are many troubled consciences who
would find great assistance in their difficulties if they acted more on
the advice of the Communion Service. It is a hard thing to bear a burden
alone, and I am thoroughly persuaded there are many who might find great
help under serious and painful difficulties from the confidential opening
of the heart’s wound to a clergyman or Christian friend. I have known
many such cases, and I believe that our just dread of the Romish
confessional—and no one can dread it more than I do—combined with our
national shyness of character, cuts off many from that which might be an
important help to them in their anxious struggle for the peace of God.
But the ministry of the word must also have its public character, and the
glad tidings of reconciliation must be publicly preached to a ruined
world. It was this that appeared to be the prominent idea in the
Apostle’s mind when he spoke of the ministry of reconciliation; for he at
once proceeded to give a specimen of it in the great appeal which
immediately follows:—“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though
God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye
reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no
sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Cor. v.
20, 21.)
There are many points of deep instruction in this passage, but we have
not time to dwell on them. Here is the foundation of the whole message,
viz. a double imputation—the imputation of sin to the Lord Jesus, and the
imputation of righteousness to all that are in Him. There is the tender
earnestness of entreaty, which does not merely lay the message before the
sinner and leave it there, but with a compassionate urgency in the Lord’s
name beseeches and entreats. And there is the most remarkable fact, that
these words are not addressed to the heathen, or to those who had never
heard of Christ; but to a Church of professing believers, all baptized
into the name of Jesus: so that we are brought to the conclusion, that
amongst the baptized Christians in the Church of Corinth there were those
to whom it was still needful to make the appeal—“We beseech you in
Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” Does not that fact teach us,
that amongst ourselves the same message may be equally necessary, and
that, although we are all baptized, and all professing Christians, there
are yet those amongst us who must be brought back to the great elementary
question of their reconciliation to God; for they are not yet reconciled,
and not yet accepted through His grace? To all such persons, then, must
we speak as St. Paul did; and if any present are not yet reconciled, not
yet forgiven, not yet justified before God, look, we beseech you, at the
cross of Christ; look at His substitution of Himself for sinners; look at
the hope of full forgiveness set before you through His blood; and
listen, I implore you, to the words spoken by His own authority,—“As
though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye
reconciled to God.”
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LONDON:
STRANGEWAYS AND WALDEN, PRINTERS,
28 Castle St. Leicester Sq.
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