Giving no offence .
.. that the ministry be not blamed.
Ministers cautioned against giving offence
To preach and to act so that none shall be offended would indeed be an impossible task; and that can never be our duty, which is wholly out of our power. The tastes of our hearers are so opposite and so changeable. The captious will censure our not doing what was either impossible or unfit to be done. Even truth and holiness give offence. But if men take umbrage at us for doing our duty, it becomes us to offend man rather than God. It is evident, therefore, the duty of giving no offence only means the giving no just cause of offence.
I. Our life and conversation should be inoffensive. Many eyes are upon us; and the same allowances will not be made for our miscarriages as for those of others. When our practice is manifestly inconsistent with our doctrines, the finest accomplishments will not screen us from deserved reproach. We move in a more exalted sphere than others; and, if we would shine as lights of the world, we had need to avoid every appearance of evil. The world expects that we should do honour to our profession. Many things, abstractly considered, may be lawful, which yet are not expedient.
II. We should give no offence by choosing injudiciously the subjects of our sermons.
III. We give offence if we do not insist on subjects suited to the spiritual state of our flocks, and to the dispensations of Providence towards them. A well-timed discourse bids fairest to strike and edify. In many cases we will instruct and admonish in vain, if we stay not till men’s minds are in proper temper to give us a fair hearing.
IV. We may give offence by a neglect or undue performance of the other public offices of our station. In leading the devotions of the Church, we give offence when either the matter, expression, or manner, is unsuitable. As to the discipline of the Church, we give offence if we exercise it with respect of persons; and, through a mistaken tenderness for any, or a fear of incurring their displeasure, allow them to live without due censure, who live inconsistently.
V. We give offence by the neglect or undue performance of the more private duties of our calling. (J. Erskine, D. D.)
In all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions.--
Ministerial duties
(Ordination charge):--
I. The nature of our office. We are “the ministers of God.” This implies--
1. That we are sent by God.
2. That you are to labour for God. If for God, then not surely for yourself. Some serve themselves by entering upon it merely with a view to temporal support; others, by entering it chiefly with a view to literary leisure and scientific pursuits. Draw by all means the waters of the Castalian fountain, cull the flowers of Parnassus, explore the world of mind with Locke, and the laws of matter with Newton; but not as the end of your entering the ministry. Not a few make the ministerial office tributary to the acquisition of mere popular applause. They ascend the pulpit with the same object which conducts the actor to the stage.
3. That you are responsible to God.
II. In what way the duties of our office should be discharged. Approve yourself the minister of God--
1. By faithfully preaching His Word. The pulpit is the chair neither of philosophy nor of literature, and therefore never act there the pedant. Nor is it merely the seat of the moralist, but it is the oracle of heaven.
(1) As to the matter of your preaching, take care that it is truly and faithfully the word of God. Beware of substituting the inventions of ignorance for the doctrines of inspiration. Pray to be led into all truth. Preach the whole counsel of God. Elucidate its histories; explain its prophecies, etc. As a steward of the mysteries of the kingdom you have access to exhaustless stores. Still, as a minister of the New Testament, remember that Christ’s Cross is the centre of the whole system, around which all the doctrines and the duties of revelation revolve; from which the former borrow their light, and the latter their energy.
(2) Now as to the manner of your preaching. It should be characterised by--
(a) Deep seriousness.
(b) A holy and moral tendency. The truth as it is in Jesus is “according to godliness.”
(c) Instructiveness. The preaching of some men reminds us of the breaking open of the cave of AEolus, and letting loose the winds. To a thinking mind, nothing is more ridiculous than to see a man blustering about in a perfect vacuity of ideas.
(d) Plainness. “Use great plainness of speech.”
2. By the manner in which you preside over the Church.
3. By the character of your visits to the houses of your flock. As an under shepherd of Jesus labour to say, “I know my sheep, and am known of mine.” Let all your visits be--
(1) Appropriate. Go as the minister of God, and go to approve yourself such.
(2) Brief. Avoid the character of a lounger and a gossip. You are to teach the value of time, and will do this best, practically.
(3) Impartial. Especially remember the sick and the poor.
(4) Seasonable; and certainly not late in the evening.
4. By your general conduct, spirit, and habits.
(1) By the unsullied purity of your outward conduct.
(2) By the prosperous state of your personal piety. Seek to have all your intellectual attainments consecrated by a proportionate growth in grace.
(3) By exemplary diligence.
(4) By prudence.
(5) By a kind, affectionate disposition.
(6) By a habit of importunate prayer. (J. Angell James.)