Page:Spiritual Reflections for Every Day in the Year - Vol 2.pdf/191



N order to have a right understanding of these words, it will be necessary to know what is meant by a minister. Although the term minister evidently applies to those persons who are engaged in celebrating and conducting Divine worship, nevertheless it is by no means confined to them, for every person who becomes spiritually great, and everlastingly happy, in heaven, must be a "minister." The term minister is used in Scripture to denote that which gives or communicates to others. Thus it is that superior things are constantly ministering to inferior ones, and in this sense of the expression the Lord alone—who is the Most High—is the only true minister, for he is continually dispensing to all the works of his hands, spiritual and temporal blessings, for the purpose of enriching and making them happy. The term minister also implies the act of giving or communicating to others, without any idea of receiving as much again. The Lord is continually giving or ministering to us, and to all mankind, from a principle of divine love; thus the desire of the Lord is to bless and to make others happy; and in this sense, the Lord as the Son of Man, "came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom (or redemption) for many." The true Christian, in following the example of his Lord, is to cultivate this free, liberal,

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