A man becomes a minister by three operations of God; the first is, his impressing on the partie's mind a sense of his special designation of him for the ministry, usually termed an inward call; the second is, endowing him with ministerial qualifications; some of which are natural, as good sense, proper utterance, meek temper, &c.; some are moral, specified both negatively and positively in the epistles of Timothy and Titus; some are evangelical, as aptness to teach, spirit of prayer, gospel learning, &c.; the last is, his influencing the church to introduce him to the ministry, styled an outward call, which implies election, ordination, and instalment. These three operations of God are essential to the being of a regular and authoritative minister.
===========

[Morgan Edwards, Customs of Primitive Churches, 1768, p. 15; via R. L. Vaughn: http://baptistsearch.blogspot.com/ - The grammar and spelling are unchanged. Formatted by Jim Duvall.]

---

More Baptist Subjects
Baptist History Homepage