The Christian Ministry

The Apostle’s reference to the ministry (v. 29) naturally leads to a fuller explanation of “the Word of God” which he proclaimed. Whenever a new ambassador comes from a foreign court he has to present his letters of introduction, by which he is proved to be the authorised representative of his country. These letters are most naturally called “credentials.” St. Paul here may be said to present his “credentials” as “an ambassador for Christ” (2 Cor. 5:20), and the features of his ministry are particularly worthy of careful consideration, because of their application to all who proclaim the Gospel of Christ.

I. The Character of the Ministry

He calls the Divine Word “the riches of the glory of this mystery,” and each term needs thorough attention. In speaking of “riches,” he naturally thinks of the abundance whereby its possessors are made rich. These Epistles of the captivity are particularly noteworthy for their reference to the wealth of the Gospel (Eph. 1:7, 18; 2:7; 3:8, 16; Col. 2:2). The word “glory” is also found frequently to describe the magnificence and splendour of the message. But the word “mystery” is specially significant. It is found 21 times in the New Testament, and invariably means something that was once hidden, but is now revealed. Here the Apostle is writing of what apparently had always been hidden, and only revealed a little time before, something, therefore, which, until that revelation, had not formed a part of the Divine message which he had to make known. This seems to have been the special feature of the stewardship committed to him (v. 25; Eph. 3:2, 9). What, then, does he mean by the “mystery” which he defines as “Christ in you the hope of glory”? At first sight it would seem as though he only meant that those who belonged to Christ are saved by Him, but when the phrase “hidden from the ages and from the generations, but now made manifest” is considered, there must be a reference to some special revelation which had not been known in old days. Salvation by Christ had assuredly been revealed in the older Scriptures (Gen. 12:3; Isa. ch. 53), and we are also told that Christ “illuminated” older truths through the Gospel (2 Tim. 1:10, Greek). And yet in the parallel passage, Eph. 3 :2-9, the mystery is said to have been hidden from all previous periods and not to have been announced until revealed to St. Paul. This seems to show that there must be something more in the word than mere salvation in Christ. The Ephesian passage clearly indicates that the reference is not to the salvation of Gentiles by Christ, which was no secret at all, but to the truth that the Gentiles should be associated with the Jews in one spiritual body on terms of perfect equality in Christ, and this, it would seem, is the meaning of the text here. Christ was to be in the Gentiles “the hope of glory” in its fullest sense, including all the blessings of the Gospel. Gentile believers are to enjoy the hope of supreme glory, and Jewish Christians can obviously have nothing more than this. If, therefore, this is the meaning of the passage, as it certainly is of Ephesians, the truth refers to Christian fellowship, Gentile believers being equally enriched in the fulness of the blessing of Christ. This would mean not only equality of acceptance in Christ, but equality of association in the Church, which is His Body.

The three words are also well worthy of notice in the reverse order “mystery” “glory,” “wealth.” Dr. F. B. Meyer has somewhere used the apt illustration of a man coming to his old home, after many years of absence in a foreign country, and sitting down with his mother to a meal. At first she does not recognise him, and this means “mystery”; then he reveals himself to her, and the result is the “glory of the mystery”; and, lastly, he tells her of his wonderful prosperity in the far country, and of the riches he has brought home to her, and this is the “wealth of the glory of the mystery.” So it is in things spiritual; at first we do not realise all that is stored up in Christ, but He reveals Himself to us, and in that revelation will be found the “riches of His grace.” This is the great and precious thought of the Apostle when he says of God, “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also freely with Him give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32.)

II. The Theme of the Ministry

The passage tells us four things which sum up the essential features of Christian preaching. It is the proclamation of a Person, “Whom” we preach. While it is true, of course, that in a sense we can also speak of “what” we preach, yet this is only secondary. The theme of Christianity is not a theory, not a set of rules, not simply a code of morals, not even a system of truth, but a living Person and all these in Him. It is the peculiar characteristic of the religion of Christ that we cannot take the message and put aside the Speaker of the message. There are great teachers in the world, like Confucius, Socrates, Buddha, Mohammed, in whose writings may be found many truths, but those truths can be enjoyed without any reference to the person who uttered them. The sacred books of the East may be read and appreciated without knowing or caring who wrote them. But it is altogether different with the teaching of Christ, for His Person is inextricably bound up with His teaching. All that He says centres round Himself. If He speaks of the kingdom, He is the King; if He declares the terms of entrance, it is faith in Him. The cause He advocated, the salvation He brought, the future He promised, all depend on Himself.

This Person is explained in the text in one word, “Christ.” Here come in the facts of His life and work in order to show the value of His person. The word “Christ” means a great deal to the Jews, for it is the equivalent of their word “Messiah,” the Anointed One, and in it are comprised all God’s purposes and preparations for the redemption of mankind. It looks back to Old Testament scenes from the Garden of Eden, through type and prophecy, to the time of our Lord. It means the One set apart as Prophet, Priest, and King; Prophet to reveal, Priest to redeem, and King to rule.

Then follow two little words, “in you,” and without these the former truth would be virtually useless. The Objective Person, Christ, must be inwardly appropriated. It is not enough that He came, lived, died, and rose. He must be personally abiding in the heart of each one. Those who accept intellectually the facts of Christ’s Person and Work find that these avail them not, until they have made Christ personally their own in the confidence of the heart. Christ must be welcomed into the soul and dwell there by faith.

The chain is completed by the phrase, “the hope of glory,” which refers to the future, as the other two truths refer to past and present. It is impossible to avoid inquiring about and looking towards the future. With the uncertainty of life we naturally ask whether we can be sure of the life to come, and the only answer is, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” It is sin that makes the future uncertain, and when this is put away through the acceptance of Christ, all fear of the future goes with it,#and with the consciousness that Christ is ours we face the future confidently and cheerfully, knowing that the possession of Him is the pledge and foretaste of future blessedness. Thus, we see that Christ is All-sufficient.

This, then, is the blessed and glorious theme of the ministry: Christ the Divine Person; the Anointed Saviour; the Revealer of God; the Atonement for Sin; the Guide, Satisfaction, and Completion of Life; the Refuge of the Past; the Stay of the Present; the Hope of the Future.

III. The Methods of the Ministry

We must now see how this great Theme is to be brought in contact with men, and, again, there are four thoughts to ponder. The Apostle speaks first of “warning.” This is especially necessary in the case of those who have not received Christ, because it tells of sin and its sure results. Yet even afterwards this method must be prominent, because believers are often apt to have superficial views of sin and its consequences. “Warning” is like salt, which prevents surrounding corruption, and may be described as the moral aspect of Christianity. The New Testament claims to apply the principles of Christ to every part of life, and the Christian preacher and teacher needs to sound this note of “warning” to the indifferent and careless, to the presumptuous and wilful, to show them their dangers and to claim their lives for Christ.

Then will follow “teaching.” This seems to have special reference to those who have begun the Christian life, and may, perhaps, be called the intellectual side of the Gospel. Teaching is needed at every stage of the journey, for the Christian religion is essentially educational. At every step of life’s pathway, from the beginning to the end, we need the fingerpost of Divine teaching, saying, “This is the way; walk ye in it.” Teaching is not merely to be a quiet resting-place, but a fresh starting-point, inform¬ ing the mind and guiding the soul in everything.

The words “every man” are found three times in this one verse, and they show clearly the Apostle’s idea. The false teachers against whom he was writing had much to say of a wisdom for a peculiar few only, but St. Paul’s soul spurned such restriction and rejoiced in the Gospel for all. He maintains that Christianity also has a wisdom, but it is for everybody, and the doors are flung open and all are invited to enter. This is the universality of the Gospel, involving a message for all nations, all capacities, all stations of life, a message for rich and poor, old and young, respectable and outcast, peer and peasant, because, amid all the differences of sphere and capacity, there is the same sin, the same heart, the same need, and therefore the same salvation.

But these words “every man” also suggest the individual application of the Gospel, not only a message for all, but a message for each, the Christian preacher being able to say, “I have a message from God unto thee.” This individual and solitary aspect needs to be emphasised. Our lives are our own, and, notwithstanding our surroundings, each one of us lives in a little world of his own. And so God’s truth comes to man alone, dealing with him as an individual, not merely as one of a number.

The phrase “in all wisdom” further emphasises the difference between the false teachers and St. Paul. He claimed to teach every single man all the wisdom that he could grasp, dealing with him according to his nature and as far as his capacity allowed. As each man has his own peculiar characteristics, it was St. Paul’s aim to deal with him wisely by giving him food convenient, and all that he could accept and assimilate.

IV. The Object of the Ministry

Why does the Apostle do all this work? He has a definite aim, a specific object, in what he has to preach and teach. This is first suggested by the word “perfect,” which means here, as often elsewhere, maturity, ripeness of character and experience. The term “perfection” never means sinlessness, but almost always the mature in contrast with the immature believer. From the moment of our conversion we are to make progress until we all arrive at the full ripeness of our position in Christ (Eph. 4:13).

This maturity is intended for all, and once again the Apostle emphasises this by using the term “every man.” No sin must be excused, no weakness palliated, even with differences of capacity. Each capacity must be and can be ripe and mature up to its limits. The motive is further explained by the term “in Christ Jesus,” showing that all this is to be realised, not in ourselves, but in Him. As “in Christ” is the source of our life here, so “in Christ” will be the source of our maturity hereafter. It is specially notable that we start here below with “Christ in us,” and we end yonder above with ourselves “in Christ.”

But there is another word which must not be over¬ looked, “that we may present.” Here is the beautiful picture of the minister presenting his converts to Christ, introducing them, as such, to Him. As we have seen, the thought finds a threefold illustration in the New Testament (2 Cor. 11 :2; Eph. 5 :27; Col. 1 :22). Just as at the royal levee or drawing-room some are presented to the king or queen by others, so here we have the picture of the minister presenting his disciples to the Master. This is the goal of the Christian worker; for this he lives and labours. Happy is the man who is thus privileged; it is the highest possible joy.

V. The Accompaniment of the Ministry

The Apostle not only preached, but worked (v. 29), and everything he said and did was with reference to the end, “whereunto I labour also.” His position as an Apostle of Christ involved far more than a mere proclamation of the Gospel. It included effort and fatigue. Like an athlete in a contest, the Apostle strove with all his might, and yet there was the inspiration that, whilst he worked, Christ was working also, and in proportion as the Apostle laboured, Christ strove mightily in him to accomplish all this purpose. It is one of the most encouraging assurances of Christian service that our work may and can be done in exact proportion to God’s work in us. “It is God who worketh in you both to will and to work” (Phil. 2:13). In all our service, therefore, let us keep in mind that, as we labour, we are striving according to His working, which worketh in us mightily.

As we review this wonderful passage, telling of ministry, we cannot help noticing with wonder and thankful¬ ness (1) the magnificence of the theme, (2) the simplicity of the purpose, (3) the thoroughness of the method, and (4) the reality of the life. May God enable us to be equally faithful “ministers of His that do His pleasure.”