himself; all had "companied" with Him during the period of His ministry;
all had listened to His sermons; all had been spectators of His works of
wonder; all were empowered to perform miracles; all seem to have
conversed with Him after His resurrection; and all appear to have
possessed the gift of inspired utterance. [50:1] But in another sense
every "good minister of Jesus Christ" is a successor of these primitive
preachers; for every true pastor is taught of God, and is moved by the
Spirit to undertake the service in which he is engaged, and is warranted
to expect a blessing on the truth which he disseminates. As of old the
descent from heaven of fire upon the altar testified the Divine
acceptance of the sacrifices, so now the descent of the Spirit, as
manifested in the conversion of souls to God, is a sure token that the
labours of the minister have the seal of the Divine approbation. The
great Apostle of the Gentiles did not hesitate to rely on such a proof
of his commission from heaven. "Need we," says he to the Corinthians,
"epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men;
forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ
ministered by us, written, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the
living God, not in tables of stone, but in the fleshy tables of the
heart." [50:2] No true pastor will be left entirely destitute of such
encouragement, and neither the Twelve nor the Seventy could produce
credentials more trustworthy or more intelligible.





CHAPTER IV.