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 THE DIGNITY AND THE DUTY OF A 
 MINISTER OF CHRIST. 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 Rev. EDWARD JESSUP, M. A., 
 
 RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER, 
 BROOKLYN, N. Y . 
 
THE 
 
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 A SEEMON, 
 
 PREACHED IN 
 
 BROOKLYN, IV. Y., 
 
 The Third Sunday after Trinity, 1864. 
 
 By the Rev. EDWARD JESSIJP, M. A., Rector. 
 
 .-1 
 
 Published by a Committee of the Congregation. 
 
 ""Will you maintain and set forwards, as much as lieth in you, quietness, 
 peace, and love, among all Christian people, and especially among them that 
 are or shall be committed to your charge ? 
 
 " I will so do, the Lord being my helper."— The Ordinal. 
 
 $*fo-gork : 
 
 JAMES POTT, Kos. 5 and 13 COOPEE UNION", 
 
 FOTTBTH AtESTJB. 
 
 1864. 
 
^ 
 
SERMON. 
 
 Acts xx. 24. — " But none of these things move me, neither count 
 i my life dear unto myself, so that i might finish my course "with 
 joy, and the ministry, "which i have received of the lord jesus, to 
 testify the gospel of the grace of god." 
 
 St. Paul here speaks in the character of an 
 ambassador of Christ, and a faithful, large- 
 hearted shepherd of souls. The sentiment 
 which breathes through this noble sentence is 
 that of a man who thoroughly understood the 
 nature of his office, who comprehended well 
 its duties, who felt deeply the burden of its 
 responsibilities, and to whose experience had 
 fallen a large measure of its difficulties and its 
 trials. The ministry of the gospel was to him 
 no mere profession, chosen with reference to 
 his private tastes, and pursued as a pathway of 
 respectable routine. But it was the life-conse- 
 cration of a great and earnest nature, wrought 
 up to the highest pitch of a divine enthusiasm, 
 and utterly oblivious of all self-interest and 
 
4 THE DIGNITY AND THE DUTY 
 
 self-pleasing. St. Paul exercised the ministerial 
 function as one who realized that it involved 
 the issues of his own salvation no less than the 
 salvation of his fellow-men — as one before 
 whose conscience there was always stretched, as 
 though written in letters of fire, the awful sen- 
 tence, " Woe is me if I preach not the gospel.' 7 
 He felt that he belonged to the heavenly Mas- 
 ter, who had called him from the ways of error 
 to serve as a standard-bearer in the kingdom 
 of His truth. For him there was no choice of 
 services remaining — no side-door of escape 
 through which it was possible for him to pass 
 into the inviting fields of worldly occupation. 
 One path alone there was in which he dared 
 to tread — a rough and painful road, it is true, 
 but leading surely on to triumph and reward 
 at last. 
 
 Beloved, it is a thought full of cheer and 
 comfort to the heart even of the humblest of 
 the Lord's ministers, that by the golden chain 
 of his commission he holds a part of the same 
 office and ministry which once was filled by 
 this great champion of the Cross. And as 
 such an one finds at times the burden laid upon 
 him swelling to dimensions that seem almost 
 overwhelming — as fainting through discour- 
 
OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST. 5 
 
 agements and stung with sorrows, he is in dan- 
 ger, like the ancient prophet, of giving way 
 before the storm of trial and flying from God's 
 work — I know of nothing that can more effect- 
 ually rally and revive his drooping spirits than 
 to contemplate the calm and self-collected, the 
 hopeful and buoyant, and, I might almost say, 
 defiant attitude of thought exhibited by the 
 apostle in the text. " Bonds and afflictions" 
 awaited him in the prosecution of his work ; 
 " tears and temptations," as they had already 
 mingled largely in his experience, so still, he 
 foresaw that they must fall to his future lot ; 
 the treachery of some and the desertion of 
 others whom he had reckoned among his 
 friends; unscrupulous conspiracies to hinder 
 and to thwart his efforts in Christ's service ; 
 malicious assaults, more or less concealed, upon 
 his character and motives ; a countless brood 
 of dark designs, spawned in the hot-bed of 
 prejudice and un charitableness, and crawling 
 like loathsome vermin in his way ; backbitings, 
 whisperings, evil surmises of men of corrupt 
 minds, intrusions of busy-bodies in other men's 
 matters — all these things, brethren, were to be 
 found among the trials which tended to chafe ' 
 and fret the spirit of this noble man of God. 
 
b THE DIGNITY AND THE DUTY 
 
 And yet with what marvellous self-composure 
 he succeeded in rising above them all into the 
 serene level of faith and love, and holy hope 
 and joy. Reviewing the past and looking forth 
 upon the future — that future and that past, 
 alike tearful, and painful, and difficult, he still 
 could look up to the everlasting hills whence 
 came his help, and utter such calm and exult- 
 ing words as these: " None of these things 
 move me, neither count I my life dear unto my- 
 self so that I might finish my course with joy, 
 and the ministry, which I have received of the 
 Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of 
 GodP My brethren, I feel to-day that it can 
 hardly fail to be of benefit, both to you and to 
 myself, to draw out some of the lessons which 
 lie stored in these memorable words. Let us 
 see what was the secret of the strength which 
 carried the Lord's servant so loftily above the 
 troubled waters. 
 
 I remark, in the first place, that the Apostle 
 was undoubtedly sustained by a profound con- 
 sciousness of the dignity of the commission 
 under which he discharged his ministry. It 
 was, as you will observe that he has here de- 
 scribed it, " the ministry ivhich he had received 
 of the Lord Jesus.' 1 '' It was no office which he 
 
OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST. 7 
 
 had taken upon himself without warrant of due 
 authority ; no position into which he had thrust 
 himself uncalled, and in which, because un- 
 called, he must needs find disappointment. 
 Nor was it an elevation to which he had been 
 lifted up by the suffrages of his fellow-men, 
 and for which he stood indebted to any human 
 favor. He had neither appointed himself to 
 such an undertaking, nor could he of himself 
 relinquish it. Man had not conferred the 
 office on him, nor to man was he accountable 
 for its discharge. But there was ever present 
 to his mind the solemn thought that he held 
 an ambassadorship from the Eternal King — he 
 was the appointed delegate of Christ Jesus, 
 armed with credentials from His hand, and 
 empowered to speak and act directly in His 
 name. So it was that he felt himself entitled 
 to stand up boldly, and to carry himself inde- 
 pendently, in all that related to the duties of 
 the ministerial position. The doctrine which 
 he taught was the doctrine of the Lord Jesus, 
 and, whether men would hear or would for- 
 bear, nothing should hinder his proclaiming it. 
 Obnoxious doctrine it indeed proved to the 
 majority of those who heard it. It came down 
 like the upper millstone on the cherished pre- 
 
8 THE DIGNITY AND THE DUTY 
 
 judices and the choicest opinions of mankind, 
 and ground them into powder. Men gnashed 
 their teeth with rage, and foamed out their 
 hatred against this daring assailant of their 
 mental idols. They would have muzzled him 
 if they could, or have compelled him to utter 
 sentiments in harmony with their own. But 
 St. Paul was not the man to submit to any 
 such dictation — not the man to square his ut- 
 terances with any popular caprice — not the 
 man to trim his sails to catch the prevailing 
 breeze, nor to steer his course so as to float 
 with the current. no ; that lofty spirit of 
 his, braced up by the consciousness that he 
 was u the messenger of the Lord Jesus," never 
 could have stooped to the baseness of catering 
 for the public humor. Such a man would 
 sooner have died a thousand deaths, than per- 
 mit himself to be swerved so much as the 
 breadth of the finest hair from the strict line 
 of his duty and his responsibility as Christ's 
 commissioned servant. 
 
 Brethren, the source of ministerial authority 
 remains te-day the same that it was for the 
 Apostle. -•With him the poorest of those who 
 stand in sacred places may plant himself upon 
 the broad ground of the call which, like Aaron, 
 
OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST. V 
 
 he has received from God through those earthly 
 channels which He has Himself appointed. 
 You neither make nor can you unmake a min- 
 ister of Christ. His business, therefore, is one 
 that takes a range quite beyond the reach of 
 any will of yours. He speaks and acts in holy 
 things altogether independent on any power 
 that you can bestow or can diminish. I am 
 not here to flatter you, and, therefore, I do not 
 hesitate to put very plainly before you a truth 
 which too often would appear to be forgotten. 
 We sometimes seem to get possessed with the 
 idea that the duty of a spiritual guide is to 
 follow rather than to lead his flock ; to reflect 
 their prejudices rather than to correct them ; 
 and that in any event, whatever may be his 
 own convictions, his business is to aim first of 
 all at pleasing them. St. Paul, my brethren, 
 did not so gauge the responsibility of the min- 
 istry. " Do I now persuade men, or God ?" 
 was his bold challenge to certain malcontents 
 in the Church at Galatia — " or do I seek to 
 please men ? for if I yet pleased men, I should 
 not be the servant of Christ." So, again, to 
 the Corinthians, "Let a man so account of us, 
 as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of 
 the mysteries of God." " But with me it is a 
 
10 THE DIGNITY AND THE DUTY 
 
 very small thing that I should be judged of 
 you or of men's judgment. * * He that 
 judgeth me is the Lord." 
 
 And such, dear brethren, must be the sen- 
 timent and such the spirit of every man who 
 feels himself to have been duly authorized to 
 speak and to act in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
 We are indeed content to subscribe ourselves 
 " your servants for Jesus' sake." We utterly 
 disclaim every thing like that unholy ambition 
 which would "lord it over God's heritage," 
 and which, under the corrupt system of the 
 papacy, has grafted upon the true dignity of a 
 spiritual priesthood the vain assumption of a 
 temporal power. We do not lay claim to the 
 exercise of any constraint upon your con- 
 sciences, nor would we encourage the faintest 
 shadow of an unmanly subservience to our 
 office. Our motto is that, in Christ's kingdom, 
 " he that is chief, must be as he that doth 
 serve." Like our blessed Master we would gird 
 ourselves for the lowliest ministrations to the 
 humblest members of His household, even to 
 the washing of the disciples' feet and to the 
 giving of the cup of cold water to the least 
 of the little ones. But, brethren, you must 
 allow us to do all this at the bidding of our 
 
OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST. 11 
 
 Master, and not in response to any exac- 
 tion of yours, Whatever we do for you we 
 must be permitted to do it as the agents of 
 Christ and not as the tools of your pleasure. 
 You are entitled to receive the benefits which 
 for you have been entrusted to our hands ; 
 but you must not assume to control the dis- 
 pensing of those benefits. Not to you have 
 we to render our account of this stewardship — 
 our tribunal is far higher, and to the great 
 Shepherd and Bishop of souls must we make 
 answer in the end. This is the only view of the 
 nature of our responsibility that can make the 
 office of the ministry at all tolerable to ourselves, 
 or that can secure for it a decent measure of 
 respect in the eyes of mankind. We feel it to 
 be indeed an honor to come before you, in the 
 proud consciousness that we are duly autho- 
 rized to treat with you in the Saviour's name. 
 Glorious is the position of the man of God, as 
 we contemplate him going forth to the battle 
 against the enemies of righteousness, weak in- 
 deed in himself and armed with but slender 
 weapons — the sling and the pebble — yet clad 
 with the invisible chain-armor of confidence 
 in his call to undertake the contest. 0, as I 
 see the Apostle beset with difficulties and 
 
12 THE DIGNITY AND THE DUTY 
 
 trials; overwhelmed with the burden of many- 
 sorrows; his generous nature stung to the 
 quick by the experience of man's unkindness, 
 — and amid all this hear him exulting in the 
 very midst of tribulation, and bidding defiance 
 to every assault upon his peace, I feel that 
 nothing could have thus sustained him but the 
 deep and unswerving assurance that his cause 
 was not the cause of man but of God. " None 
 of these things move me, so that I might finish 
 my course with joy, and the ministry, which I 
 have received of the Lord Jesus." 
 
 A further cause of the Apostle's calm self- 
 possession is to be found in his absorbing de- 
 votion to the one great end for which he had 
 been put in trust with the ministry of Christ. 
 This was, as you find it stated in the text, " to 
 testify the gospel of the grace of God" or, as he 
 has elsewhere expressed it, to "preach Jesus 
 Christ and Him crucified." He felt that the 
 work to which he had been set apart was a 
 work that rose far above the fleeting interests 
 which constitute the staple of man's common 
 life on earth. The scene which war continu- 
 ally present before his mind's eye, was the aw- 
 ful spectacle of a world lying in wickedness, 
 and exposed to the vengeance of a holy God. 
 
OF A MINISTER OP CHRIST. 13 
 
 Men were, to his view, simply so many can- 
 didates for eternity — immortal beings perish- 
 ing in their sins, and only to be saved as they 
 should embrace the gracious gospel which he 
 was charged to preach. Human life he under- 
 stood to be a period of probation, in which 
 must be wrought out the soul's destiny for 
 unending ages. All those men and women 
 that surrounded him — his fellow-creatures— - 
 carried within themselves the possibility of 
 happiness or woe for ever. They might shine 
 hereafter as the stars in the firmament of God, 
 or they might sink miserably into untold depths 
 of darkness and sorrow. And then he thought 
 of the means which had been provided for 
 their rescue. He thought of the wonderful 
 mystery of redemption, and of the witness 
 which it bore to the greatness of the~ peril to 
 which the sinner was exposed. He thought of 
 the Saviour's sacrifice — the everlasting Lamb 
 of God that taketh away the sins of the world. 
 He thought of the value of the soul, for which 
 the whole vast universe could not afford the 
 price. He thought of the infinite pains God 
 had been at to bring back the poor lost sheep, 
 and of the joy in heaven, in the presence of the 
 angels, at the rescue of but a single sinner. 
 
14 THE DIGNITY AND TEE DUTY 
 
 Fired by such contemplations, he went forth 
 to tell the good news of God, and to preach 
 the doctrines of repentance and faith in the 
 Son of God as the only method by which men 
 could be saved. Everything else was lost 
 sight of in this single purpose of winning souls 
 to the Redeemer. This was the labor of his 
 life, this the burden of his teachings, and this 
 the all-engrossing topic of his thoughts and of 
 his desires. For this he was ready to sink all 
 issues thatpertained merely to the present life — 
 questions of nationality ; questions of secular 
 philosophy ; questions of mere philanthropy ; 
 questions of human prejudice— he soared above 
 them all, holding on high the simple Cross of 
 Christ as the one only object worthy to engage 
 attention. 
 
 My brethren, is St. Paul to be regarded as 
 an example, in this respect, to ministers of 
 Christ in general, or is he not? Have the 
 great facts and issues of Christianity so changed, 
 that some different mode of discharging the 
 duties of an embassador of the Lord Jesus may 
 profitably be resorted to ? Are men any the 
 less in danger of losing their souls now than 
 they were formerly ? And is the necessity for 
 proclaiming an unadulterated gospel any the 
 
OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST. 15 
 
 less urgent than it has been heretofore? May 
 the grand old themes, profound as the mysteries 
 of eternity, and awful as the possibilities of hu» 
 man destiny, be safely superseded in favor of 
 the flimsy questions of the hour ? Has it in- 
 deed come to this, that it shall be brought as a 
 railing accusation against a Christian priest 
 that his ministrations take on no hue from the 
 popular excitements prevailing around him ? 
 That he shall be libelled with infamous charges, 
 simply for the reason that he has confined him- 
 self strictly to the proper pathway of his call- 
 ing ? that he shall be made the victim of scan- 
 dal and of conspiracy, for refusing to pander 
 to men's earthly passions ? Have we reached 
 such a pass, that men will not be satisfied un- 
 less they can bring the atmosphere of the news- 
 paper and the caucus with them into the house 
 of God ? — that they cannot for one short hour 
 worship their Maker, without polluting the 
 offering with meat offered to an earthly idol ? 
 Cannot Christians consent to leave the world 
 behind them, on coming into the presence of 
 that Majesty which fills all heaven with glory ? 
 to forget for this little space the tumult and the 
 strife that rage so furiously outside, and try to 
 rise into that purer level where God is all in 
 
16 THE DIGNITY AND THE DUTY 
 
 all? The times must, indeed, be sadly out of 
 joint if such a state of feeling has come to pre* 
 vail extensively among the followers of Him 
 " whose kingdom is not of this world." 
 
 The theory which I myself have been accus* 
 tomed to cherish has been, that in the Church 
 of God no merely earthly issue could rightfully 
 have place. I had supposed that there at least 
 all men might meet as Christians, and con- 
 scious of their common tie in the fellowship of 
 Jesus, forget the differences which elsewhere 
 keep them asunder. The echo of such words 
 as these — " there is no difference between the 
 Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all 
 is rich unto all that call upon Him" — had left 
 upon my mind the impression that the com- 
 mon prejudices and affinities that classify so- 
 ciety entered not into the arrangements of the 
 Lord's family ; but that there the one great tie 
 of Christian sympathy took the place of those 
 minor sympathies which, with their cobweb 
 lines, bind men together in various earthly ag- 
 gregations. In short, it had appeared to me 
 that, differ as they might elsewhere on any 
 conceivable topic whatsoever, men might still 
 meet and mingle before the altar of their 
 common Lord, conscious only that they were 
 
OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST. 17 
 
 inspired with the same faith, animated by 
 the same hope, and bound for the same eter- 
 nity. 
 
 But, brethren, I am almost ready to ask my- 
 self whether this idea of mine has not been 
 after all a mere delusion ? And whether St. 
 Paul was not mistaken, when He described the 
 gospel as a system in which note was taken of 
 " neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor un- 
 circumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor 
 free, but Christ is all, and in all ?" Great God 
 of peace and charity ! And is there, then, no 
 sacred refuge to which Thy servants, vexed 
 with the strife of tongues and weary with the 
 scenes of earthly hatred, may retire and enjoy 
 the blessedness of undisturbed communion 
 with Thee, the common Father of our spirits ? 
 Brethren, I most solemnly assure you, that 
 were it possible for me to view Christianity in 
 an aspect so narrow, so unlovely, I should feel 
 compelled to renounce my faith in it altogether. 
 I should hold it as a cheat and an imposture. 
 I should hasten to rank myself among its ene- 
 mies, and devote my life to fighting against it, 
 as being one of the greatest hindrances in the 
 way of human happiness and human dignity. 
 And I give it you, furthermore, as my most 
 
18 THE DIGNITY AND THE DUTY 
 
 earnest conviction, that the spirit of intoler- 
 ance to which I have alluded, if it comes gen- 
 erally to prevail among Christians, will do 
 more to develop infidelity than all the writings 
 of all the infidels that have lived since the be- 
 ginning of the Christian era. These are fear- 
 ful times, and our hearts may well tremble for 
 the ark of God. When, in the very bosom of 
 Christ's household, there appears to be spring- 
 ing up a desire that the pure Bride of Christ 
 may be prostituted to the pleasure of an earthly 
 partizanship ; when some arbitrary standard of 
 duty to Caesar is attempted to be planted on 
 the very altar consecrated to the service of 
 God ; when the temper of the ancient Phari- 
 seeism is revived in another form, and men 
 calling themselves Christians use the old words 
 with a new meaning, " stand back, for I am 
 holier than thou," I confess that I cannot re- 
 press the conviction that the Church has fallen 
 upon evil days. 
 
 Brethren, as one of the watchmen set upon 
 the walls of Zion, I declare to you that sooner 
 than do any thing to foster a spirit of this 
 kind — sooner than yield in any manner to the 
 pressure of a sentiment so utterly at war with 
 a gospel which bears upon its banner the motto, 
 
OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST. 19 
 
 "peace on earth, good will towards men" — 
 sooner than allow the position in which I stand 
 as the head of this congregation to be bent 
 one hair's breadth for the purpose of humor- 
 ing any political fancy, or of reflecting any 
 prevalent agitation in- the world outside, I 
 would bore my tongue through with a hot 
 iron, and lay my right hand upon the block 
 to be severed from my body. Yes, let it be 
 understood once for all that this parish, so long 
 as it continues in my charge, is in. the special 
 interest of no party, or clique, or set of men, 
 whether in Church or State ; that it bears no 
 distinctive complexion with regard to political 
 affairs on one side or the other ; that no man 
 or woman, old or young, will be permitted to 
 prescribe what sort of people shall be admitted 
 to its privileges, or what excluded from them ; 
 and that whatever may be the sympathies of 
 individuals with reference to the topics of the 
 day, it will make no difference as to their posi- 
 tion here as worshippers of the same God and 
 heirs of the same promises. I am no friend to 
 a tyrannous proscription for mere opinion's 
 sake, nor can I consent to be the instrument 
 through which it shall be brought to bear on 
 the members of Christ's family. Such is the 
 
20 THE DIGNITY AND THE DUTY 
 
 platform on which, this parish has been con- 
 ducted heretofore, and on which, God helping 
 me, it shall be conducted in the future. I be- 
 lieve it to be the only true ground for us to 
 take, in a world where men cannot always 
 think and feel alike ; and I also believe that 
 in the end it will prove to be the winning 
 method. You may stigmatize it as you think 
 best ; you may brand me, for holding it, with 
 such epithets as your good taste and your 
 Christian charity may suggest — it will make 
 no difference. The record of my ministry has 
 to go before a far more awful tribunal, to be 
 submitted to a far more searching scrutiny, 
 than that of any human censorship. 
 
 Yes, dear brethren, the conscientious, earn- 
 est minister of Christ can but think often and 
 solemnly of the time when that record shall 
 have closed. He looks forward to the hour 
 when, worn out with faithful labors for the 
 souls committed to his care — labors, it may 
 be, which too often have met only ingratitude 
 and unkindness — the weary servant of the Lord 
 receives his summons to depart. And then he 
 calls up that other hour, hung round with a 
 still more terrible solemnity, when he shall 
 meet, exposed in the full light of eternity, the 
 
OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST, 21 
 
 history of all his toils, and prayers, and suffer- 
 ings in the service of his Lord. There rises to 
 his view that solemn scene, in which both pas- 
 tor and people must have part, when he shall 
 have to answer for his fidelity towards them, 
 and they in turn shall have to answer for their 
 fidelity towards him. 0, in anticipation of 
 such an hour, and such a scene, and such tre- 
 mendous issues as then shall be disclosed, how 
 trifling must seem to him all the little trials, 
 and perplexities, and discouragements which 
 gather round his present efforts I With that 
 great and high-minded Apostle, whose ministry 
 we have reviewed this morning, he will tread 
 them all under his feet, and, strong in the faith 
 which is in Christ Jesus, will fling out his sub- 
 lime challege to tribulation, " None of these 
 things move me, neither count I my life dear 
 unto myself, so that I might finish my course 
 with joy, and the ministry, which I have re- 
 ceived of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel 
 of the grace of God." Such, dear brethren, is 
 the motto which he has graven on his shield, 
 and under which, content to endure hardness 
 as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, he will strug- 
 gle on, till the great victory shall be won at 
 last, 
 
" O Almighty God, who, by thy Son Jesus Christ, 
 
 DIDST GIVE TO THY APOSTLE SAINT PeTER MANY EXCELLENT 
 
 gifts, and commandedst him earnestly to feed thy 
 flock ; make, we beseech thee, all blshops and pas- 
 tors diligently to preach thy holy word, and the 
 people obediently to follow the same, that they may 
 receive the crown of everlasting glory, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." 
 
L'BRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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