Chapter 42. Use 1: The Sending of the Ministers of the Gospel Is to Be Accounted a Glorious Blessing
in one sermon, but we never read that Christ converted that many in a single sermon.
The reason for this is to show that we should not expect God to preach to us directly. Instead, we are to receive God and Christ's message through the ministry of men. That is the point. So now, the matter is made clear: God has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation.
I will now proceed to apply this point.
Chapter 42 Use 1: The Sending of the Ministers of the Gospel Is to Be Accounted a Glorious Blessing Firstly, if this is the great work of the ministers sent among you, to dispense the ministry of reconciliation, then certainly the sending of any ministers of the Gospel among you should be considered a glorious and wonderful blessing from God. Why? What is their mission? They come to negotiate with your souls about reconciliation with God, and God has appointed this as the great means of bringing souls to himself. Therefore, it is one of the greatest blessings in the world to have the ministry of the Gospel in any congregation.
"Blessed are your eyes," says Christ, "that you see such things, and your ears that you hear such things," for God has placed you in times where you can witness the mighty things of the ministry of the
Gospel. It is a good indication that God has many souls to be reconciled when he sends the ministers of the Gospel to a place.
Thus, when Paul was leaving a place, God appeared to him in the night and encouraged him, saying, "I have many souls in this city."
When God, in a special way, sends the preaching of the Gospel to a place, the people there should bless God from their souls and take it as a sign that surely God has many souls in that place whom he intends to reconcile. The ministry of the Gospel is the ministry of reconciliation, and it is the fruit of the prayer of Jesus Christ.
To support this, compare the Scriptures together, and it becomes clear. In Isaiah 49:8, quoted in 2 Corinthians 6:2, we see this. When
Paul was preaching to them, he makes this the fulfillment of that prophecy in Isaiah 49. Now, it is clear that this prophecy is about Christ praying to God the Father for those who belong to his elect, that in due time they might have the doctrine of reconciliation revealed to them.
Now, says God, "I have heard you in an acceptable time," and Paul adds, "Now is the acceptable time." Therefore, any time you come to hear a sermon and hear the doctrine of reconciliation explained to you, you should think this: "This morning, or this day, I am witnessing the fruit of the prayer of Jesus Christ for this congregation, and for myself in particular. Christ was praying to his Father for this long before I was born, and now I am experiencing the fruit of that prayer."
The very sound of the Gospel in my ears this morning is none other than the fruit of Jesus Christ's prayer to God the Father, long before I even existed or before the world was.