Before God works THROUGH a man, He works IN a man, because the work that we do is the outgrowth of the life that we live. Little wonder that Alexander Whyte told a group of theological students, "A congregation is awaiting you, to be made by you, after you are made by God." Whatever "call" a man may pretend to have, if he has not been called to holiness, he certainly has not been called to the ministry. The pastor's priority is to live obediently before the Lord. Dr. Clarence Macartney wrote it well: "The better the man, the better the preacher. When he kneels by the bed of the dying or when he mounts the pulpit stairs, then every self-denial he has made, every Christian forbearance he has shown, every resistance to sin and temptation, will come back to him to strengthen his arm and give conviction to his voice. Likewise every evasion of duty, every indulgence of self, every compromise with evil, every unworthy thought, word, or deed, will be there at the head of the pulpit stairs to meet the minister on Sunday morning, to take the light from his eye, the power from his blow, the ring from his voice, and the joy from his heart." Keith Knauss provides the insight and means of becoming the kind of man that the Lord wants us all to be--HOLY. May the gracious Holy Spirit be pleased to take this presentation of thought gathered from holy men of God and capture their heartbeat for us. May He see fit to stir the fires within our hearts and renew our determination to magnify our office, to give ourselves up to God's work, to labor in season and out, to do good, and give no offense that both the ministry and ourselves be lifted up above all faultfinding of fair-minded men.
