The Call of God

     The most solemnly important duties that anyone can undertake are involved in the office and work of a minister of the gospel. This point is clear when we recognize the titles by which the Bible designates a minister. He is a “watchman,” a “witness,” a “teacher,” a “pastor,” an “evangelist,” a “minister of Christ,” an “ambassador for Christ,” and many other appellations equally significant. Who can doubt the weighty responsibility conferred by the preaching of the gospel?

     Into this office no one may enter unbidden. “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron” (Hebrews 5:4).

(J. T. Pugh, For Preachers Only, 2nd Ed. Hazelwood, MO: Word Aflame Press, 2010, 9; From Chapter 1, The Preacher’s Call)