SERMON OK MINISTERIAL EDUCATION, PREACHED BEFOEE THE Georgia SBajifet Connfntian, ra .Suffix Wt WMFBSMJSh April 25, 1852, BY REV. SYLVANUS LANDRUM, PASTOB OF THE MACON BAPTIST CHTJECH. PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE CONVENTION PENFIELD: PSZHTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE CHRISTIAN IKDEZ. 1852. ,J. T. Blain, Printer> SERMON. "// much dignity, ditiiculty find responsibility. 4*It is not a cause of small import The pastor's care demands, But what might iill an angel's heart And filled a Savior's hands." It would seem evident that men occupying such a post, engaged in such a work, should be educated; and educated too for the post and for the work. They should be men of wisdom. 1 >y wisdom I understand, both the possession of knowledge and the power of applying it. A man may have much ac¬ quaintance with Botany, Chemistry, and Mineralogy; much 4 knowledge of soils and plants, and yet lie may be very defi¬ cient in the practical operations of forming. So in the min¬ istry, a man may possess much learning and yet foil in that wisdom which the great end of the ministry demands. But he who winneth souls, God has said, is wise. '-He that winneth souls is wise." From this text I present two propositions: That the great end of the Christian Min¬ istry is to win souls to Christ; and that for the attainment of this end, great jwactical wisdom is necessary. 1. The great end of the Christian Ministry is to win souk in Christ. I need not dwell upon this thought. The con¬ stant aim of the priests of Romanism—a corrupted Christiani¬ ty—is to gain disciples to the Church, to the Tope, but it will be admitted b}T this audience that the great end of the min¬ isters of true religion is different—it is their aim to win souk to Christ. So readily will you admit this that no labored ar¬ gument is necessary, no extended illustration is demanded. We see the harbinger, John the Baptist, on the banks of the renowned Jordan, pointing the multitudes which hung upon his lips for heavenly wisdom, to the Lamb of God.— And when the disciples were sent out to preach during the humiliation of the Redeemer, they were to declare the king¬ dom of heaven at hand—at hand, because the Messiah had come. Thus they called attention to Jesus. After the resur¬ rection of the Lord of Glory, lie most solemnly commissioned his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations: go and win souls to Christ. This commission was to be universal, and perpetual; applying to ministers of every country, and to the end of time; for it is linked with this promise, "lo! I am with you alway even to the end of the world." The great end of the ministry is, therefore, the same to-day as when the apostles were sent forth. To every minister the Great Head of the Church is now saying, "You are my am¬ bassadors; 'go preach the preaching that I bid you'—go win 5 souls to me.*1 This! winning souls to Christ, is tlie great end of the Christian Ministry. II. For the attainment of this end, great practical loisdorn it necessary. I use the terra necessary in no sense, of course, which would imply a conflict with the doctrines of the scrip¬ tures; that salvation is of grace, and that the regeneration of the soul i.s the work of the Holy Spirit. But I use it in the sense in which God has constituted ministers necessary agents in promoting His cause in the world. The wisdom which winneth souls to Christ implies certain things and includes others. First, It implies that he who possesses it is a spiritual man. It is true that many ungodly men have occupied the sacred desk, and I doubt not but that God has often over¬ ruled their position and talents for the accomplishment of some good. But the rule is that the minister mutt he a re¬ generated man, and the more thoroughly he is "tilled with the spirit," the more thoroughly is he fitted for his noble work. A man cannot understand the deep current of spirit¬ ual life which pervades the lively oracles, unless he has him¬ self drunk of the welling fountain of life. lie will not perse¬ vere in the incessant and overwhelming labors, nor m.-et with scriptural resignation the sorrows, disappointments, and per¬ secutions < f the ministry, unless he has himself been baptized in the Holy Ghost. Secondly, It implies that he is Divinely called. This is the minister's groat right and authority for preaching the gospel. 1 he essentials of this call have been thus summed up : "A holy, blameless life; an ardent and constant inclina¬ tion and zeal to do good; abilities suited to the work, and an opportunity afforded in providence to be useful.'" The apos¬ tle Faul describes it when he says, "unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.— ILi gave some, apostles; some, prophets; some, evangelists; 6 and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." Thus the wisdom which winnefh souls Implies spirituality and Divine calling. It includes many thing*. Some may be mentioned: and, First, It includes general knowledge. It is a fact most cheerfully admitted, that there have heen many ministers eminently useful without what is called learning; hut none have heen so without some degree of knowledge. . Let mathematics train the mind to connected and ab¬ stract thought; let natural philosophy untold the laws of na¬ ture; let astronomy disclose the wonders, glories, and bound¬ lessness of God's universe; let rhetoric and logic teach to cor¬ rect error and apply truth with clearness and power; let his- ry point out the track of error and the path of truth in all ages and among all people of the world. The more general knowledge the better. The demands of this earnest, progres¬ sive age, force upon the ministry the necessity of knowledge. The minister must be at the head of his congregation in re¬ gard to intelligence, or his usefulness suiters. He must never lag behind, but by unwearied exertion, must go before—must rise higher and higher, bidding his congregation follow and ascend with him in all that is pure, good, and useful. I know it has been objected, that learning is unfriendly to that spirituality of mifid which is so necessary to a christian minister. But is this opinion sustained by experience? Have not some of the most learned men been at the same time the 7 most holy men? Did learning destroy the spirituality of Baxter, Edwards, Payson, and a. host of such men Loth dead and living-? Look at many of our missionaries, Judson an I such men, the moat useful and holy, and yet the most eminent for learning. It is said again that learning makes ministers proud. Suppose it does, what does ignorance do? I am sure that ignorance is not very remarkable for making men humble. And I am sure of another thing, that among the most humble men in this Convention, all of us are ready to mention some of our most learned brethren. The wisdom which winneth souls includes general knowl¬ edge, and the more of it the better. Secondly, It includes special knowledge of the Bible. The Bible is the armory of the minister, where his spiritual weap¬ ons are found; the great granary whence he brings forth the bread for starving souls; the touchstone by which all his owtx thoughts, feelings, and actions are tried. Here is the mind of his C»od. And l;£re his own mind gazes upon the givat central doctrine of revelation in all its illustrations, and glory —that God was in, Christ reconciling the world vnto ht/nm If —ffnzes until his own soul is fired with love and zeal. r» * The wise minister must understand the great principles of the Bible. AVithout principles he can accomplish nothirg, but by accident. Evrery minister must have a system of tlic< (logical truths, and if he is wise that system is taken out of, and gathered from the Bible. The wise minister und t- stands what the Bible teaches upon Church organization, the ordinances, the agencies and instrumentalities for the world's conversion. lie cannot understand the Bible without a knowledge of th§ country in which it was written, and the people to whom it was first given. Indeed he must learn to live under an eastern sky, to gaze upon eastern mountains, hills, rivers, and deserts; he must travel with eastern tvilxs and encamp with them under their wide-spreading palm trees, 8 if he "would clearly perceive all the mysteries of the "Bible's eastern dress. It is necessary for him to understand the his¬ tory of the nations to which the Bible alludes and also the history ay hi eh shows the striking fulfilment of its wonderful prophecies. And if those ancient languages which Jehovah has mad«' the vehicle of inspiration are understood, so much the better. But I need not dwell longer here, a special knowledge of the Bible is included. Thirdly, It includes an intimate acquaintance lo'tth human nature. We may learn much from books, and especially from the Bible as to man's character, the philosophy of his mind and the total depravity of his heart, but this is not enough. The Bible shows us that sin is a nature and that that nature is guilt—that "we are by nature the children of wrath"—but it is necessary for the minister to know the practical character, and the development of that nature. Hence many very learned men in the ministry are very un¬ successful, almost useless men, and it is wonderful to many, but why? The failures of these men are the natural result of their ignorance of men. They have many splendid theo¬ ries in their heads, but poor men they do not know what to do with them. Such men like certain learned bo< >ks will do to fill up a library but for the duties of a living, earnest, pas¬ torate they are clumsy—useless. To have the wisdom that winneth souls it is necessary to know how men think and feel in real life; to know what re¬ ligious opinions they hold; what peculiar forms of error they cherish, and what prejudices they entertain. Many men pos¬ sessing this intimate acquaintance with human nature, with but a small amount of what is called learning, have proved themselves among the very best ministers of Jesus Christ; emphatically wise to win souls. Fourthly, The wisdom that winneth souls includes, the power of applying the Bible to the heart. The minister is to 9 go forth with the Bible in one hand, and the map of the human heart in the other, ever ready to apply the one to the other. The gospel is a remedy for a disease. To apply the remedy properly, the disease and the remedy must both be well understood. The minister must know what truths to bring out to wake up a sleeping church and keep her at work; what truths will find sinners in their hiding places, and alarm their guilty souls. Now it is objected to Theological Semi¬ naries that many of those whom they send out are wanting in this practical wisdom. The objection is not without foundation. Young men shut up with books, away from the affairs of life for years, and instructed by learned but impractical men must be miserably fitted for the appropriate work of the ministry. Many of them placed in a revival would kill it. They have Theological knowledge, Bibli¬ cal knowledge, but they know nothing of how the common people think; and the common people do not hear them "gladly." They do not understand the throbbings of the world's great heart, they have no sympathies in common with their hearers. But this is not by any means a necessary consequence of going to a Theological Seminary. Theological students and graduates may be both learned, and practical; they may be wise men for the times and the age. Let these students be trained by professors who have themselves filled the re¬ sponsible position of pastor; men who have learned to feel for the woes of men, to weep with those who weep and re¬ joice with those who rejoice; to see and meet the sins of the church, and the world in all their Protean forms. Another thing suggests itself to my mind as very im¬ portant. It is this. That our Theological students should spend their vacations in the useful work of colportage. Let three months in each year, for three years be spent in this vray. "Let them take their bundles of books, and with their 10 eyes and ears open, go on foot to all classes of people. Let them. go where conventional restraints are removed; wheiv poverty is pressing; where enterprise is struggling; where iniquity, and sensuality, and infidelity, and a backslidden Christianity are hiding themselves," and they w ill get im >re insight into the true feelings of the people, their >u;nis, their prejudices, their strange misapprehensions, and the Lest way of approaching them, than they could by hearing lecture5 all their days. Again, let such students preach frequently (luring their course of study. I ain aware that here I may dilier with wise and good brethren, but my opinion is founded in expe¬ rience^ and observation. After five years in the pasti mite I have never once regretted that I preached frequently aJiiL at Tenfield. I know too that many of those who are now liiobt useful, pursued the same course while there. By these means we shall do much in supplying the p>v/c- ileal element in ministerial education—a v,ant deeply telt by professors, and friends. "We shall thus secure men, true men, men of God, earnest practical men, to do a great v» ork iu this eminently practical country and age. Such men will burn tip their scholastic discourses—discourses which speak of the "governmental theory of the atonement, and are garnished with such words, as 'predicate' 'potential,' and subji ctiv— discourses which smell of the class room, and over whkh an inquest has been held by a theological class." They an ill preach plainly; doctrine it is true, but doctrine made practical; truth, but truth simplified, and purged of scholastic techni¬ calities. They will not only be learned, but wise, wise to win souls to Christ. Having shown that the great end of our ministry is to win souls to Christ, and that for the attainment of this end great practical wisdom is necessary, I now remark* that for the attainment of a large, and invaluable part of this wisdom, 11 Mercer University in its Literary and Theological departments furnishes the most ample facilities. Thanks to the pious dead and the pious living too, this institution is well endow¬ ed. It has money, but it is richer still in the prayers of God's people. It has an efficient, pious, laborious, and able faculty. In the literary department the elements of that general knowl¬ edge of which I have spoken may be obtained and confessed¬ ly more thoroughly obtained than any where else in this State. In the Theological department we have Professors who have themselves been pastors—who know the demands of the great work to which their younger brethren are look¬ ing forward. They afford that special knowledge of the Jiible, that practical direction of its doctrines, which consti¬ tutes so invaluable a part of the wisdom which winneth souls. These are not mere suppositions—an experiment to be tried. Mercer University has already accomplished much for our denomination and ministry. Her sons may be found along the lines of our rail waj^s, in the retired villages, and neighborhoods of our commonwealth, everywhere elevating the standard of education and ministerial usefulness. Some of them are scattered throughout the South; a few have been gathered to the skies. The first fruits have been garnered. God send the rich and glorious harvest! I can hardly deny myself, 011 this occasion, the privilege of expressing for myself, and for those who like myself have enjoyed her advantages, heart-felt gratitude to our fathers in the gospel who founded, have sustained, and fostered, Mercer University. Deeper gratitude to Him who inspired them with so noble an undertaking! Believe us! while we have tongues to plead, hearts to feel, or an influence to exert, they shall be at the service of our Alma Mater—Mercer University!