The apostle Paul felt it a great privilege
to be allowed to preach the gospel. He did not look upon his calling as a
drudgery, but he entered upon it with intense delight. Yet while Paul was thus
thankful for his office, his success in it greatly humbled him. The fuller a
vessel becomes, the deeper it sinks in the water. Idlers may indulge a fond
conceit of their abilities, because they are untried; but the earnest worker
soon learns his own weakness. If you seek humility, try hard work; if you would
know your nothingness, attempt some great thing for Jesus. If you would feel
how utterly powerless you are apart from the living God, attempt especially the
great work of proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ, and you will know,
as you never knew before, what a weak unworthy thing you are. Although the
apostle thus knew and confessed his weakness, he was never perplexed as to the
subject of his ministry. From his first sermon to his last, Paul preached
Christ, and nothing but Christ. He lifted up the cross, and extolled the Son of
God who bled thereon. Follow his example in all your personal efforts to spread
the glad tidings of salvation, and let "Christ and him crucified" be your
ever recurring theme. The Christian should be like those lovely spring flowers
which, when the sun is shining, open their golden cups, as if saying,
"Fill us with thy beams!" but when the sun is hidden behind a cloud,
they close their cups and droop their heads. So should the Christian feel the
sweet influence of Jesus; Jesus must be his sun, and he must be the flower
which yields itself to the Sun of Righteousness. Oh! to speak of Christ alone,
this is the subject which is both "seed for the sower, and bread for the
eater." This is the live coal for the lip of the speaker, and the
master-key to the heart of the hearer. (Bible Gateway)
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