‘The Ministry’ – A Review by Kenneth Macleod
A review by Kenneth Macleod of The Ministry by Charles J. Brown.1
The author was a well-known minister of the Disruption Free Church in Edinburgh. Some readers will be familiar with his excellent little book The Divine Glory of Christ.2 Now a further little volume has been reprinted consisting, for the main part, of fairly-informal addresses originally given to students of divinity.
Brown begins with “The Connection Between Godliness and the Christian Ministry”. He emphasises that ministers’ reading should include books on experience (among his examples are Owen on Indwelling Sin3 and Rutherford’s Letters4); that they should be much in secret prayer; that they should prize their Sabbaths “as the miser his gold, for converse with God, eternity, heaven”, and “dwell ever among the green pastures of the Word of God”. Other addresses deal with public prayer and preaching. The main points made in an address on “Elements of Pulpit Power” are:
(1) the importance of the personal character of the minister;
(2) the prayers offered in the pulpit ought to be like those of Robert Bruce of Edinburgh, which, it was said, were like “bolts sent up to heaven”;
(3) the minister must aim “consciously and deliberately at the right ends”, in his preparation as well as in his preaching;
(4) he must understand that the strength through which sinners are to be saved is divine;
(5) there should be much prayer about his preparation for the pulpit;
(6) he ought to have a thorough knowledge of the actual words of Scripture.
The book begins with a useful biographical introduction by Rev Iain H. Murray and concludes with an example of Brown’s own preaching, on Genesis 3:24, entitled “The Expulsion from Eden – its character and lessons”. It is taken from the volume of his sermons: The Word of Life.
By virtue of its size, this volume cannot be expected to have the same depth and force of teaching as, say, that by Charles Bridges.5 However, in brief and easily-read form, this little work provides a solid stimulus to today’s preachers to go on in total dependence upon the God of all grace.
Notes
The Ministry
Addresses to Students of Divinity
price £5.50Description
A review by Kenneth Macleod of The Ministry by Charles J. Brown.1 The author was a well-known minister of the Disruption Free Church in Edinburgh. Some readers will be familiar with his excellent little book The Divine Glory of Christ.2 Now a further little volume has been reprinted consisting, for the main part, of fairly-informal […]
price £3.00Description
A review by Kenneth Macleod of The Ministry by Charles J. Brown.1 The author was a well-known minister of the Disruption Free Church in Edinburgh. Some readers will be familiar with his excellent little book The Divine Glory of Christ.2 Now a further little volume has been reprinted consisting, for the main part, of fairly-informal […]
price £18.50Description
A review by Kenneth Macleod of The Ministry by Charles J. Brown.1 The author was a well-known minister of the Disruption Free Church in Edinburgh. Some readers will be familiar with his excellent little book The Divine Glory of Christ.2 Now a further little volume has been reprinted consisting, for the main part, of fairly-informal […]
The Christian Ministry
With an Inquiry into the Causes of its Inefficiency
price From: £9.00Description
A review by Kenneth Macleod of The Ministry by Charles J. Brown.1 The author was a well-known minister of the Disruption Free Church in Edinburgh. Some readers will be familiar with his excellent little book The Divine Glory of Christ.2 Now a further little volume has been reprinted consisting, for the main part, of fairly-informal […]
Taken from The Free Presbyterian Magazine, November 2006, with permission.
Latest Articles
The Pastor–Scholar 22 May 2025
The following article appeared in the January 2012 issue of the Banner of Truth Magazine (Issue 580). Most men engaged in pastoral ministry will be asked, at some time, ‘What exactly does your work involve?’. Often, sadly, they will struggle to provide a clear and comprehensible answer. The ignorance in the popular mind about the […]
The Writings of John Murray 8 May 2025
John Murray was arguably the premier Reformed theologian of the twentieth century. He was born and brought up in a small crofting community in the Highlands of Scotland and was shaped by the piety and confessional rigour of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in which his father was a much respected elder. However, through […]