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The Goal of a Ministry.
"That we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."
(Col. 1: 28).
pp. 63, 64
The apostle, writing about his earlier ministry, said, "I have planted, Apollos watered,
but God gave the increase". And again, "As a wise master builder, I have laid the
foundation, and another buildeth thereon". "Ye are God's husbandry, Ye are God's
building" (I Cor. 3: 6, 10).
It is evident that beyond the responsibility of sowing true seed, and of laying the true
foundation, the apostle looks to God to "give the increase"; and even the work actually
performed by him was "according to the grace of God which is given" unto him. There is
therefore from this standpoint a holy care-less-ness, a sense of irresponsibility that must
ever accompany the labours of one who realizes that God alone gives life and growth and
fruit.
That this does not by any means present a complete aspect of ministry the epistles to
the Corinthians will abundantly show. How these epistles reveal the heart of this faithful
apostle, yearning, fearful, anxious for his children in the faith! What an epistle that
written to the Galatians is in this same particular! This other phase of ministry is brought
before us in Col. 1: 28:--
"Whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom: that we
may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."
For this the apostle "laboured", and "strove", and had a great "conflict". It must ever
be the same, while truth and the world and the flesh remain unchanged.
One cannot but be anxious at the state of Christian testimony. The signs of the times,
while not directly referring to the Church of the One Body, point clearly to the
approaching end of the age. The coming of the Lord to the earth, the meeting of the Lord
in the air must be anticipated, if by ever so small a space, by the realization of the "hope
of glory";--
"When Christ, Who is our life, shall be manifested, THEN you also shall be
manifested with Him IN GLORY" (Col. 3: 4).
As professing Christianity more and more openly leaves the Lord and His truth, as
leagues and combines encircle the earth in their deadly embrace, how can we stand by
and watch dear children of God dallying with that which they themselves will finally
repudiate as an unholy thing? The apostle not only desired that the Corinthians should
build upon the One true foundation , but that also what they built would stand the test of
the fire of that day.