To the Congregation of God Dearly Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Our Lord Jesus Christ, Grace and Peace be Multiplied to You from God Our Father!God wills that man be occupied. Prior to the fall He called him to an enjoyable task, and after the fall, to a difficult task. It is His will that everyone be faithful in the calling to which He has called him. Some callings are of a temporal nature, whereas others have a spiritual dimension. Even if a calling is of a temporal nature, this neither detracts from nor contributes to the spirituality of one's service of God in the discharge of this calling; rather, such spirituality is contingent upon the spiritual state of the individual as well as the manner in which he engages himself in his calling. A natural man deals even with spiritual matters in a natural manner which is not pleasing to God. The spiritual man, however, deals even with temporal matters in a spiritual fashion. He views his encounter with them as a dispensation of the Lord, embracing them as the will of God. He performs his temporal obligations in willing obedience as a service to his God, having God's glory as his objective. Among all callings there is none so holy, excellent, necessary, and profitable as the office of shepherd and teacher in the church. Whomever God calls, qualifies, and renders faithful to be a minister of the New Testament is a marvel in this world. He is an instrument in the hand of God to save lost souls, to gather and edify God's church, thereby encouraging the church to promote God's glory upon earth. An unqualified minister is the most despicable and harmful creature to be found in the world. He is a disgrace to the church, a stumbling block whereby many fall into eternal perdition, and cause of the damnation of many souls. A faithful servant of Christ, on the contrary, is an ornament in the house of his God, a light upon a candlestick, a city upon a hill, a leader of the blind, a terror to the ungodly, a joy to the godly, a comforter for the sorrowful, a counselor for those who are perplexed, and a guide for believers on the way to heaven. His life generally is of short duration, during which his preaching reaches but a few and he himself is consumed while illuminating others. The loss of a minister who is endowed with grace is inestimable. God has wonderfully compensated for both the brevity of a minister's life as well as the limited scope of his audience, by having given man the wisdom to become acquainted with the art of printing. It should be noted that this began during the time when the church was about to depart from Babylon. This art was brought to perfection precisely when the Reformation dawned at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Now a single minister, even centuries after his death, is capable of preaching to an entire nation, yes, even to the entire world. With joyful readiness I seize this opportunity to preach long after my death, according to the measure of the gifts the Lord has bestowed upon me... May this book particularly be of service to the congregation which I am currently serving, the congregation which I previously served, as well as the congregation which called me twice but was not able to obtain me due to the condition of the congregation which I was serving at that time. Receive it with much affection and read it diligently and thoughtfully. Form small groups of acquaintances among yourselves for the purpose of reading a chapter or portion each time, and may that which is read present subject matter for edifying discussions... Dedication to the 4 volume set "The Christian's Reasonable Service". |
