James Madison Mathes (1808-1892), like so many religious people in the nineteenth century, was determined to dismiss the religious teachings he had previously been taught to simply learn the Scriptures and follow what they taught. This led him to be immersed for the remission of sins. Later, he joined the ministry and dedicated his life to preaching and teaching the gospel.

Many who begin the work of preaching the gospel speak of being “called” to the ministry or “called” to preach. This is true today as it was in Mathes’ day. However, Mathes had a different understanding of what this meant than many of his religious contemporaries. Notice his criticism of many who claimed to have been “called” by God to preach:

“I have known some enthusiasts who had but little to entitle them to public notice, except their fiery zeal, ignorance, and supportive impudence, who at the same time looked upon themselves as a kind of second edition of the Apostles! Such fanatical spirits frequently tell their hearers, when they get up to preach, that they are going to speak just as God gives it to them—that God has called them by name, qualified, and sent them forth as his ambassadors to a rebellious world—that God had revealed his mind and will to them by direct revelation. 

“But it frequently happens, that such men cannot join two simple sentences together, or deliver one clear intelligible idea in a discourse of an hour long, and that too under the immediate control of the Holy Spirit, if we take their word for it! Now I cannot believe that God even called any man to preach who had not the ability to do it, neither do I believe that God ever sent any man who could not tell his message.” (A Record of Christian Union and Truth, p. 157)

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