THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY MAGAZINE, AND ANNUAL. SUSTAIN YOUR MINISTER. BY THE EDITOR. THE pulpit is a consecrated place; it is the grand watchtower of the church. Ministers of the gospel occupy a station of immeasurable importance; their trust is one of tremendous responsibility, for to them is committed the care of immortal souls. So important was the trust of the Roman sentinel, that it was death, death inevitable, for him to be found asleep on his guard. But how much more important and sacred are the interests which the watchmen in Zion are called to guard and defend! If they are unfaithful, if they sound not the trump of alarm on the approach of evil, it is at the peril of the church-it is at the peril of their own souls. Ministers of the gospel are styled, "ambassadors for Christ." Men sent on an embassy to negotiate a treaty of peace between contending kingdoms, are mere worms sent to their fellow-worms. But ambassadors sent forth under the sanctions of the Son of God bear commissions of fearful interest, of weighty responsibility. The archangel who burns brightest in glory, and stands nearest the throne of God, can be invested with no higher honor than to bear the trust of an ambassador from the Court of Heaven to this revolted and apostate world. Every devoted servant of the Lord Jesus is an ambassador for Christ. "Now, 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." What are the temporal interests of a kingdom, compared with the weighty responsibilities which are intrusted to him who is sent to negotiate a treaty of peace with ruined men? The interests of the former are finite and temporary; of the latter, infinite in their bearing, and eternal in their duration. The one will perish in the wreck of nature and conflagration of worlds, while the other will be as indestructible and lasting as the throne of the Eternal! If such is the work of gospel ministers, such the amazing interests intrusted to them by the Head of the Church, may we not most earnestly plead that they be sustained? Far be it from us to bespeak for the ministers of Christ, as MEN, any special honor or favor, which is not due to others of equal rank in society. The respect due to them arises from the sacred office they bear, and the fearful consequences which would follow, should that ministry be despised which God has ordained as the grand instrument of redeeming the world. "He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me." Cast your eye over those lands where the pulpit has lost its power, where the gospel and sabbath have long ceased to exert their life-giving influences upon the souls of men, and you behold a night of intellectual and moral darkness. Would you, then, honor the great God our Saviour, whose interests his ministers are appointed to plead and defendwould you behold the growth of grace in the church—would you promote the salvation of those who are dead in trespasses, you will delight to honor the gospel ministry set over you in the Lord. 1. One important method of sustaining your minister, is by connecting your personal influence with his great plans of usefulness. How cheering it must be to the devoted servant of Christ, to feel assured that his people are heartily united with him in his plans and labors to build up the Redeemer's kingdom! While in his closet and study, and in his public administrations, he sees the pleasure of the Lord prosper in the work of his hands, as well as in the hour of severe labor and trial, nothing can cheer and animate his soul more than to feel that he is not ALONE; that in sympathy and effort his people are united with him. The influence of a FEW thus joined together in the church, will be greater than that of MANY, very many, whose plans and energies are divided and distracted. The motto, UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL " is of great practical importance in the church as well as state. In the successful issue of battle, much, it is true, must depend on the skill of the GENERAL; but in the hour of perilous onset, what can нE do, if single-handed and alone, but to retreat or fall? So the minister of Christ, surrounded by a scattered, divided people, can do nothing. Palsied will be hist arm, powerless will be his efforts, and the enemy of all righteousness will prevail. 2. Sustain your minister in his fidelity. His commission is from no earthly prince; it is from Heaven. As a man of God, he must be faithful, though it be at the risk of interest, reputation, and life. Should he be time-serving, or shun to declare the whole counsel of God, he may peril the dearest interests of the church; he may see perishing men slumber over their immortal welfare, and at the bar of the Judge he may be condemned as a traitor. We commend the skilful surgeon when called to administer relief in cases of life or death, though he administer harsh medicine, or use the probe, saw, or knife; and shall we not honor and sustain the minister of Christ, in the full discharge of his trust, while he presents the only remedy which the gospel provides for the maladies of the immortal soul? If ministers are uncompromising in their fidelity, they will often enkindle the rage of the natural heart. This should occasion no alarm in the bosom of the church; this often only proves that truth has found an avenue to the conscience, and by the grace of God it may reach the heart and be instrumental in the salvation of the soul. May not one important reason why the empire of sin remains comparatively so unbroken in our midst, be owing to the want of higher moral courage in the church? For the honor of the Saviour, for the purity and enlargement of Zion, for the safety of our children, and for the good of perishing sinners, the servants of Christ must be sustained in their fidelity. 3. Cheer your minister by your presence in the house of God, and at the stated meetings of the church. Give him your warm sympathies and kind offices; administer to his necessities of your good things; yet while you leave him to preach to naked walls and empty pews, you will greatly lessen his usefulness, if not break his heart and send him to an untimely grave. This is strong language, but the truth is stronger. Few things are more comforting and inspiriting to a public speaker, than a crowded house. If your minister possesses the spirit of his holy office, he has chosen his subject and prepared his message with much anxiety and prayer. He has adapted his discourse to the present wants of his people; but when he enters the house of God, and finds most of those ABSENT for whose benefit he has brought his message, well may his heart faint within him, and he complain in his closet, "Lord, who hath believed our report?" How can those fair-weather, half-day hearers, expect to receive extensive, saving benefit, though placed under the administration of the most able, faithful, and successful gospel ministry? 4. Shield the character of your minister from the assaults of the wicked. It may be taken for granted, if he is a faithful and devoted follower of his Master, that he will be persecuted for the gospel's sake. The most able and successful men have ever borne the severest shafts of the common enemy. Amidst these assaults let the church give her united influence for the cause of truth and righteousness, and the shafts of the enemy will fall powerless at her feet. We ask for those who bring the gospel into disrepute, no sheltering influence, though they bear the commission of the sacred office. How often might a few words, from some influential members of the church, when the character or motives of the minister were misunderstood, misrepresented, or impugned, have resulted in immeasurable good. How guarded ought parents and members of the church to be, in all their words and actions, lest through their influence they cause the gospel to be dishonored. How often has an unguarded, imprudent remark, destroyed the good impressions of a sermon on some awakened mind! A disrespectful conversation has, doubtless, not unfrequently resulted in the dismission of a devoted minister of the gospel. A sneer from a parent may prejudice the mind of a child against his pastor, and prove a strong barrier against the gospel forever. 5. Sustain your pastor by administering to his temporal wants of your abundance. In no age of the church have the ministers of Christ been characterized for their affluence. The divine preacher and Saviour of the world was so poor, that "he had not where to lay his head." Is it strange, then, that his disciples and servants should be characterized for their dependance on the church for a sustenance? ment. In this enlightened age, few things are more affecting than to see ministers of the gospel, who by their office are cut off from the means of procuring their own subsistence, and who give their labor and lives for the spiritual benefit of their people, placed in circumstances of want and pecuniary embarrassWe are told that ministers must not preach for MONEY; we answer, they must have money for preaching. Some-too many in the ministry, are so poor, that, were this a day of miracles, and had they the faith of Elijah, they might be fed by "ravens." Yet no duty of the church is more clearly taught, both in the Old and New Testament, than that of providing ample support for the servants of Christ. See the provision which God made for them under the Jewish dispensa |