God. He must tell the truth as God gives it to him to see it. "For our exhortation is not of error, nor of uncleanness nor in guile" (2:3). He must not tone down the message to suit the audience, "not as pleasing men, but God who proveth our hearts" (2:4). "For neither at any time were we found using words of flattery, as ye know" (2:5), "nor seeking glory of men, neither from you nor from others" (2:6). It is plain from these vigorous denials that Paul had been accused by some of this very thing, of being a timeserver who truckled to the foibles and fancies of the crowd.

Once more Paul scouts the charge of preaching for money, "nor a cloak of covetousness, God is witness" (2:5). "For ye remember, brethren, our labor and travail: working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God" (2:9). If ever there was a manly preacher Paul was that man. To-day we do not let preachers work at a trade nor do we pay them enough to live on. But Paul loved the people and dealt gently with them with all his fidelity to truth. He had the shepherd heart, the father heart, the mother heart. we were gentle in the midst of you, as when a nurse cherisheth her own children: even so, being affectionately desirous of you, we were well pleased to impart unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were become very dear to us" (2:8). Could a pastor speak more tenderly of the flock? "As ye know how we dealt with each one of you, as a father with his own children, exhorting you, and encouraging you, and testifying, to the end that ye

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should walk worthily of God" (2:11). "Ye are our glory and our joy" (2:20). Paul "endeavored the more exceedingly to see your face with great desire” (2:17). There is no resisting a love like that. Paul literally loved people into loving Christ. He had the passion for souls in his preaching that yearned after them in Christ. He imparted "his own soul" when he preached and he won souls in giving his. There is no other way. Even Christ felt power go out of him. And Paul was willing to spend and be spent for their souls (2 Cor. 12:15).

These elements in Paul's preaching at Thessalonica may seem commonplace and even prosaic, but they are vital to all real preaching. One may read an essay without these elements of power, but no souls will be converted. He may preside over a pink tea with no passion for the lost. But the world waits to hear the prophet with a live coal from the altar of God on his lips. The tongue of flame will set other souls on fire. Beecher was right. Wake up the man in the pulpit if you want to wake up the man in the pew. The way to wake up the man in the pulpit is to put one there who is in touch with God. Then the Lord will make bare his arm in the day of his power. God had poured power into Paul and so he could do all things through Christ (Phil. 4:13).

CHAPTER XI

PAUL AS PASTOR IN EPHESUS

It is probable that Paul remained longer in Ephesus than in any of the cities where he founded churches. He was in Corinth about a year (Acts 18:11, 18), but three years in Ephesus (Acts 20:31). It so happens that Luke has preserved Paul's own epitome of his work in Ephesus in the address to the elders at Miletus (Acts 20:17-38). Luke heard this wonderful heart to heart talk to the ministers and he has preserved it with faithfulness. In this address Paul refers repeatedly to his conduct as pastor in Ephesus in a way that runs parallel to the historical narrative in Acts 19:1-20:1. By combining the two accounts we can form an intelligent conception of Paul's work in Ephesus in spite of the absence of any personal experience in the Epistle to the Ephesians. It is almost certain that this is a circular letter that went to Laodicea and Colossæ (Col. 4:16) as well as to Ephesus.

Paul is the foremost evangelist, preacher, theologian, and missionary statesman of Christian history. But he is great, also, as pastor. He had the shepherd heart. He loved the members of the flock and gave himself unreservedly to them. Probably these "elders" of the church at Ephesus (Acts 20:17) who came to Miletus to meet Paul on his way to Rome had

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been picked out by Paul while in Ephesus and elected by the church as "bishops" (20:28). It is interesting to note the plurality of pastors in the new great church at Ephesus as in Philippi (Phil. 1:1). The same men are termed indifferently "elders" or "bishops" and they were "to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood." This verb to "shepherd" is the same root as the substantive "shepherd" like our "pastor." Here we have a threefold conception of the ministry for the same men. They were "elders" like the synagogue officers or the village rulers in the papyri of Egypt (our “aldermen") and the Japanese "Elder Statesmen," men of experience. They were "bishops" or "overseers" who watched over the welfare of all under their care. And they were also "shepherds" whose duty it was to feed the flock and to keep a sharp eye for the weak and the sick. "Take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops." Paul believed that each of these men had been set apart to this task by the Holy Spirit. They had been called of God as Paul was called of God. And yet Paul took the liveliest interest in hunting for ministers of the gospel. Dr. W. E. Hatcher, of Richmond, Virginia, had an interesting address on "the Human Element in the Call to the Ministry." Paul is here speaking face to face with the men whom he left in charge of the great work in Ephesus when he departed hurriedly after the uproar created by

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Demetrius (Acts 20:1). It is a great privilege for a minister of experience and power to speak frankly to a body of fellow ministers. Paul does it with consummate skill. The whole address is designed to equip them for better service in Ephesus. For that purpose he draws freely upon his own work there with these very men.

His life among them was an open book. "Ye yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, after what manner I was with you all the time (Acts 20:18). This is only what every pastor should be able to say. The preacher who leads a double life is shorn of power on exposure and that is sure to come sooner or later. He had served "the Lord with all lowliness of mind" (20:19). The minister's message is measured by his life and by his spirit. This Paul fully recognized and frankly faced. Indeed, the preacher cannot escape it. The sermon that counts in the end is the life that either confirms or contradicts the eloquent words on Sunday. I sincerely believe that ministers on the whole are the noblest men in all the world. There are exceptions, beyond a doubt, and the downfall of a preacher gives every preacher a pang in his heart. The only way for the pastor to make his life preach is the path of sheer straightforwardness and open honesty.

The question of salary confronted Paul in Ephesus as in Corinth (1 Cor. 9; 2 Cor. 11). Ephesus was a mission field where many sophists and other peripatetic teachers taught wisdom for pay. There was no mission board to take care of Paul till the church could support him and understand that he was not a