I will begin my writing on this subject by asking you this question. Why do we have the ministry and what is their place in the New Testament Church? My desire and prayer as I write this is, that God's children would study God's word and ask Him for true understanding of this most important subject. If my feeble effort helps you in finding this understanding please give God the glory.

One reason I feel impressed to write this goes back many years. As a young preacher I was blessed to travel and attend many Old Baptist meetings in several states. The meeting I have in mind was at the Big Sandy Association in West Tennessee. I met there for the first time Elder Bill Huckaby who was pastor of a church in Oklahoma. His sermon that day has lived in my heart since that day and I thank God for it.

Elder Huckaby began his sermon that day with a statement something like this; With God's help I want to speak to you today about a subject I believe I know something about. That subject is the ministry. He went on to explain that he had been preaching for many years and felt like this gave him the ability to tackle this subject. God certainly blessed him to preach a truly wonderful sermon on the calling, qualifications, and purpose of the ministry in the New Testament Church. So I hope that after 30 plus years of trying to fulfill God's calling I too have the understanding to write about this very important subject.

I, have since that day in West Tennessee, often began a sermon with this statement: "I do not want anyone here to believe what I say is true simply because I am standing in a pulpit and profess that God has called me to preach." Why would I make this statement? Why would I begin a sermon by putting doubt into the thoughts of a congregation? The answer to these questions is simple. Not everyone we hear has been called to preach. Not all of them that have been called are preaching the truth and even some that preach the truth at times are not preaching it for the right reason.

This sets up my other reason for making this attempt to write about this subject. I fear that too many of God's children and churches have lost sight of the reason God calls men into the ministry and places those gifts in His church. It seems that people are placing too much trust and giving too much authority to the preacher and it does not scripturally belong to him.

If I may, let me now remind you of several scriptures to prove this. In Matthew 24 verses 4 and 5 Jesus tells us; "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." Paul warns us in his epistle to Titus; "For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake." (Titus 1 verses 10&11). In 2^nd Timothy 3 verses 6-7 Paul says: "For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." These scriptures plainly teach that not every man we hear is called of God nor preaching the truth.

The following verses will address the abuse of this church office by some preachers. In Matthew 16:23 Jesus rebukes Peter in this manner; "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of man." In Mark 9 when the Apostles were disputing among themselves about which one would be the greatest, Jesus tells them in verse 35, "If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all." Paul rebuked Peter in Galatians 2: 11&12; "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision."John warns the church; "I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not." (Third John, 1:9). Again we are warned to watch them that hold this office closely. Be sure that they are who they say they are.

Why is this so important? Herein lays one of the things I see that bothers me most. Ask yourself this question; How did all of the differing religious beliefs get started? The last time I saw anything about this there were at least 1,000 in the United States. The answer is that they were started by men who professed that God had sent them and convinced some of God's children that He had. Many of God's children seem to place authority in the hands of the preacher that is not his. The authority of God on this earth does not lie in the ministry, it lies with the church. The preacher even after ordination is subject to the discipline of his home church. He has no authority, to baptize, establish a church, set in an ordination nor preside over communion without the permission of that home church. Those are ordinances given to the church. He is, in as plain as it can be said, a messenger sent to the church by God and is charged with carrying out these ordinances when authorized by his church.

This being the case how can we know; what exactly can we look for to be sure that those that preach to us are preaching the truth and fulfilling their calling? To do this let's look at the three things I mentioned earlier. Those things are the calling, qualifications, and purpose of the ministry.

First the calling; no true minister has ever taken this responsibility on themselves. In fact it is always the opposite. Moses, when called by God to lead his people tried to argue that he was the wrong person for the job. I have no doubt that every man called by God feels that way. Jesus personally called the Apostles and the 70 that he sent out and we have all read of Paul's calling on the road to Damascus. Let me also add that nowhere in scripture will you find where God has ever called a woman to this office.

How can we judge the calling? It is really quite simple. The next time you are being preached to, pay attention to your heart. If the preaching is from above, whether it is duty or grace, whether you feel guilty or not, you will notice a feeling of joy and peace, begin to overcome you. The fulfillment of Christ's commandment to Peter will be realized. You will be fed. We can also determine this by the walks of the minister. If everything he does is for the betterment of God's kingdom, you can rest assured his calling is from God.

Secondly are his qualifications, of which, his calling is first. I will not try here to quote all of the qualifications of a minister. I will only ask you to study 1^st Timothy chapter 3 and Titus chapter1. Here you will find all the qualifications of the ministry. I do however want to discuss some things about them. When a man announces to the church that he feels that God has called him to preach, the church must ensure that all of these qualifications are met. If not he should not be allowed to speak until they are. Once he has been given the opportunity to preach the church can then begin to judge his calling. He should not be allowed to preach at other churches until the church is satisfied in his calling and qualifications. A church should never rush the process either. If a man has been called to preach, ordination will not magically make him a better preacher, and hurrying it might do more damage than good.

Last, let us consider the purpose of the ministry. Paul says in his letter to the Corinthian Church; "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect." (1^st Corinthians 1:17). In 2^nd Timothy 4:2 Paul says to this young preacher; "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." Finally let me remind you of the teaching of The Apostle Peter where he says; "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the suffering of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock" (1^st Peter 5:1-2). This is only a small sampling of the purpose of the ministry. Much more could be written about this and all that I have tried to bring to your mind in this article but I feel that it is time to close.

I want to close by saying this; I, by no means intended to diminish the importance of the ministry. In fact my intention is just the opposite. I believe this to be the highest office in this world and its importance to the church cannot be overstated. Their position in the church is to deliver the message that God gives them and lovingly encourage God's children to follow Christ. My desire is that God's children would understand this and never let anyone keep them from doing their duty in seeing that this office is never abused. Again if this helps you in any way, give God the glory, for it belongs to him. Elder Steve Greene