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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
June, 1938
m O u r Ministry in the Light of
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U / m ^ 6 c < w v “As thou hast sent me into the 'world, even so have I also sent them into the world” (John 17:18). O UR text is a sentence from that matchless prayer uttered by our Lord as He stood within the falling shadows of the cross. About Him were gathered a little group of men who had been chosen to be the first heralds of re demption to a lost and hostile world. Con cerning them, not for the world, He prays, saying to the Father: “ As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” A t first thought it would seem a daring and presumptuous thing for us to attempt any comparison whatever between the min istry of mortal man and the glorious minis try of the Son of God. Yet it is clear that our text invites us to draw this very com parison. “As thou hast sent me,” He says, “ even so have I also sent them.” The true servant of the Lord indeed may find in the lives of the church’s illustrious preachers much that is worthy of emulation, but in the last analysis our ministry is not to find its perfect model in Moody, or Spurgeon, or Wesley, or Luther, or Chrysos tom, nor even in Paul. The flawless Proto type and Example of ministry is found in the glorious ministry of Him who “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Upon the authority of His own words, ut tered in this great High-Priestly prayer, I declare to you that there is a genuine re semblance between our ministry and the ministry of our blessed Lord. Certainly, there is a limit beyond which we may not press this resemblance without uttering blasphemy. He is G od; we are men. He was sinless; we are sinful. He alone, with no help of man, could pay the ransom price in death for the souls of men. Neverthe less, it is true that in His ministry we are invited to discover certain elements of that ministry into which God is calling men to day. As it was with Jesus Christ whom [This message by the present President of Grace Theological Seminary, Akron, Ohio, was delivered during a commence ment season at Biola and is brought to K ing ’ s B usiness readers in this special school number as setting forth the ministry and message to which the Lord is calling Christian students in America .— E ditor .]
the Father sent into the world, even so it must be with those whom Jesus Christ sends into the world. And how was it with Him? Out of the richness of His ministry it is not easy to select, but shall we not consider the following six facts? I. The Lord Jesus Christ Was "Sent" of God into the World. W e are fully aware that He came into the world voluntarily. I know there was no hard and immutable decree which com pelled Him to enter upon His earthly min istry. I know that He “ emptied himself,” that He “ humbled himself.” For all of this and for His sublime “ voluntariness” we thank God. But we also know that our Lord was sent into the world, sent of the Father. He was not one of those prophets who “ went” but were not “ sent,” concern ing whom God speaks in Jeremiah, saying: “ I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied” — self-appointed, self-ordained, and self-accredited prophets. Christ laid great emphasis upon this fact that He was sent. In the face of His deadly enemies, He lays down His tremendous claim: “ I . . . came forth from God” ; and then quickly He adds: “ Neither came I of my self, but he sent me.” In the Gospel of John, no less than forty-three times our Lord declares that He is sent of God. The first appears in John 3:17. The last is found in 20:21. In His great High-Priestly prayer the claim is made no less than six times (vs. 3, 8, 18, 21, 23, 25). Can we be wrong therefore in saying that herein lies the initial test of the true Chris tian minister: Is he sent of G od? It is not enough that men should go; they must also be sent! From the churches, the home field, and the foreign fields, the cry goes forth asking for volunteers— for men and women who ate intelligent, who possess ability, who are trained, who know the Word, and who are willing to make sacrifices. Surely, these are important qualifications, but a ■ young man or young woman may possess all of these qualities and still fail if that one is not sent of God. There is nothing quite so important to the laborer or worker, as being sent of God. When our Lord looked upon the vast multi tudes of the unsaved and was moved with compassion because they were as sheep not having a shepherd, did He say, “Pray ye
therefore the Lord of the harvest that laborers may go forth into His harvest” ? No! He said: “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth la borers.” When, in the year that King Uzziah died, the prophet Isaiah saw his astounding vision of Jehovah, you will re member that he heard a voice. And that voice asked of the prophet two questions— “Whom shall I send?” and “Who will go for us?” Have you ever noticed how un erringly the prophet chooses between these two questions? He does not say, “ Here am I ; I will g o ” but “ Here am I ; send me.” Isaiah was willing to go, but he wanted to be sent. He recognized the tragic possi bility that men might go, and not be sent. God give us a ministry of sent men! Give us more men borne down with an over whelming conviction that God has sent them to preach His Son I The church does not need more “ I will go” ministers and missionaries; it needs more ministers and missionaries who are sent of God! II. The Entrance of Jesus Christ Into His Earthly Ministry Involved Great Personal Sacrifice. “ Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” I wish to fasten forever in your minds two phrases from this scripture: “ He was rich.” “ He became poor.” I shall not pause to speak of His riches, riches that are unspeakable and full o f glory! But that you may somehow real ize the enormity of His personal sacrifice, let us bring together in sharp contrast two of our Lord’s utterances: A t one time we hear Him speaking of “the glory” which He had with the Father “ before the world was.” A t another time we hear Him say: “ The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” It cost the Son of God something to take up His ministry on earth for us. There are times when the pomp and glory of this world, its riches, advantages, and rewards, enter our hearts and steal away our vision. It is then that we begin to talk about the great sacrifices we are making in order to become ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ. A t such a time, may God make us to remember that “ He was rich, yet . . . he became poor.” Certainly, I would not seek to dismiss lightly those
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