Prayer, Preaching, Power

    “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all” (Luke 6:12-19).

    In the paragraph before us we have the Holy Spirit’s description of our Lord’s calling and ordination of his twelve apostles. Though the apostolic office ceased with the apostolic age, the calling of these men is still very instructive. This passage teaches us much concerning the blessed work of the gospel ministry.

    These twelve men were the first men set apart by Christ in this gospel age and sent forth to proclaim the glad tidings of God’s free grace in him. This was the beginning of what is often called “the Christian ministry”. Without question, all the prophets of the Old Testament preached the same gospel these men preached. John the Baptist preached the same message, too. And God’s servants today preach that same glorious gospel of the grace of God. The singular message of God’s servants is Jesus Christ and him crucified. As Pastor Scott Richardson once said, “Any sermon that does not have Christ for its beginning, middle and end is a mistake in its conception and a crime in its execution.”

    This was the first ordination service of the New Testament era. Let it be observed that the ordination of a man to the work of the gospel is the work of the Lord God himself. If a man is called and sent of God to preach the gospel that is his ordination. Our public ordination services are only the public recognition of a man’s gifts by the local church. We have no ability to make men preachers. All we do in ordaining a man to the ministry is publicly acknowledge our recognition of his gifts and publicly identify ourselves with him, commending him to men as God’s messenger.

    How far we have degenerated from the pattern of the New Testament in all things! This degeneration is seen most clearly in this first ordination of gospel preachers. What is called “ordination” today is similar only in name. When our Lord ordained twelve, the whole affair was simple and solemn.

    As in all things relating to the Church and kingdom of God, everything concerning the work of the gospel ministry depends upon and is determined by Christ alone.

    When the Lord Jesus ordained these first twelve preachers, he did so after much prayer. “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles” (vv. 12, 13).

    This fact is here recorded to teach us the great place and importance of prayer in all aspects of divine service. It is particularly designed to show us that God’s servants ought always to be the objects of his people’s fervent prayers.

    The most important thing for a congregation to do when seeking a pastor is pray. Pray for God to send a pastor after his own heart (Jeremiah 3:15). The most important thing for a man to do, before he takes up the work of the gospel ministry, is pray. Pray, like Moses did in Exodus 33:13-15, that God will direct him and show him plainly what his purpose is. “Show me now thy way ... If thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence.”

    I will not attempt to say who is or who is not called of God to preach the gospel. That is God’s work alone. But this I know: if God calls a man to this work he will be a man chosen of God for the work. “Of them he chose twelve.” The Lord will give him the gifts sufficient for the work and a burden for the work. God’s people will want to hear him; and God will put him in the work. If the Lord God puts a man into the ministry, he will give that man a love for the work; and he will give him success in the work.

    An ego trip is not a call of God. Let no man run who has not been called and sent of God with the message of grace burning in his soul. Preachers who are not sent of God are a hindrance, not a help in the work of the gospel.

    If you would help the cause of Christ, pray for his servants. “Brethren, pray for us.”

    “And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13).

    “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith” (2 Thessalonians 3:1, 2).

    If your pastor is to be useful in the hands of God, he needs your prayers. He must be faithful in prayer, in study, in the Word, in doctrine, and in behaviour. But you must be faithful in prayer for him. The work is heavy. He carries the burden of the Word of the Lord. The responsibilities are enormous. Your pastor, if he is a faithful man, carries the weight of speaking in God’s name the message of life or of condemnation to eternity bound sinners! Yet, those men who preach the gospel know themselves to be insignificant, weak and sinful, nothing but worthless worms. The work of preaching the gospel requires wisdom, “knowledge and understanding;” but we are ignorant.

    “Who is sufficient for these things?” Gospel preaching is a work for which God alone can make a man sufficient. “Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor” (vv. 14-16).

    Look at these twelve men. Four of them were fishermen. One of them was a publican. They were, for the most part at least, Galileans. Not one of them was wealthy, politically connected, powerful, or influential. They were, obviously, in the world’s esteem, “unlearned and ignorant men” (Acts 4:13). What are we to learn from these facts? Why were these things written?

    The church and kingdom of God is entirely independent of the world. God’s church is not built by might, nor by power, but by his Spirit (Zechariah 4:6; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31). The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Romans 1:15-17).

    I must not fail to call your attention to the fact that one of the first twelve preachers was Judas Iscariot, a devil and a betrayer. I have often wondered why the Lord Jesus put Judas among the twelve. Have you? The Master knew that Judas was a graceless man, that he was a deceiver and a hypocrite from the beginning. Yet, he put him among the apostles, preached with him and sat with him at the Lord’s Table. Why? There are some things about this which ought to be obvious.

    Our Lord would teach all preachers of the gospel the necessity of constant, personal self-examination. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall.” God’s servants must not be idolized. Esteem them highly. Pray for them faithfully. Follow their faith, their doctrine and their example. But do not make an idol out of any man. “Let no man glory in men.” No faithful man desires either adulation or blind allegiance (1 Corinthians 3:5-9; 2 Corinthians 4:1-7).

    Yet, in the church of God, so long as we are in this world, we must expect to find the bad mixed with the good, tares among wheat, goats among sheep and unbelievers among faithful men. God will, in his time, separate the precious from the vile. We have no ability to do so. If a man’s message is a false gospel, he clearly identifies himself as a false prophet. But we dare not assume that we can read the motives of a man’s heart. So long as he preaches the gospel and lives uprightly, we must not attempt to judge whether he is or is not God’s messenger.

    The great secret to the power and efficacy of gospel preaching is the presence of Christ. “And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all” (vv. 17-19).

    The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down. “He came down with them and stood in the company of his disciples.” The people who came to hear the gospel came with great needs. They came to hear him. They came with great need desiring to be healed. And they sought to touch him. When they did, “Virtue went out of him and healed them all.” May God the Holy Spirit ever show us and make us to know our great need of Christ. May he enable us, every time we gather with his saints to worship our God, to seek to hear our Saviour and seek to touch him and be touched by him, that virtue may come out of him to our souls!