Cowper on Paul on Preaching (8)
Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. Romans 3.31
There stands the messenger of truth; there stands
The legate of the skies!—His theme divine,
His office sacred, his credentials clear.
By him the violated law speaks out
Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet
As angels use, the Gospel whispers peace. (William Cowper, The Task)
The “messenger of truth” declares the Word of God within a vertical and a horizontal context. He stands before God, in His Spirit, by His Word, and for His King. He is very much, therefore, the “legate of the skies.” His message is not his own, but God’s, and he is accountable in all his preaching, first and foremost, to Him Who called, commissioned, and equipped him for the work. The word the preacher declares must in every respect faithfully represent the interests and instruction of Him Who has appointed him for this task.
The horizontal context is that of the people, the Lord’s flock. They must be fed the Word, that they may grow thereby. They must be led by the Word, so that they walk the path that Jesus walked. And the preaching of the Word should lead the people of God to rejoice in the Word, for they shall have gained a fuller glimpse of the Lord of glory in it.
Moreover, each passage of Scripture shares certain things in common, namely, two: Every passage of Scripture grows out of the Law of God, as illustration, explanation, or fulfillment of that Law. The Law of God is the acorn to the oak of Scripture. On the foundation of God’s Law, every passage of Scripture proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom as fulfilled by Jesus Christ.
Thus, regardless of the text before him on any given day, “the messenger of truth” must take care to lodge the content of his message squarely within the framework of grace indicated by the Law of God; and he must direct his preaching to bear salvation fruit for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is how the prophets preached, and the apostles, and the Lord Jesus. Law and Gospel will be essential components in the content of every message, for unless this is the case our preaching runs the risk of being both wrongly rooted and without fruit.
Resources for being and making disciples
Should Sunday school have a role in disciple-making? If so, what is it? Listen into my conversation with Dr. Mike McQueen on this topic byes clicking the link at the top of today’s Pastor to Pastor.
Other columns of interest: This week: In our ReVision column we are looking at the role of reason in faith. Is faith reasonable? Is God reasonable? What is reason and how does it work? Join us. Our Read Moore podcast pursues readings from our book, The Joy and Rejoicing of My Heart. Our Crosfigell teaching letter is studying the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. And in our daily Scriptorium column we are working through Matthew 17. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
The Ailbe Bookstore: Disciples of the Lord understand the importance of discipline—of shaping our lives as followers and witness for Jesus. But what kind of discipline? To what ends? Our free book, The Disciplined Life, can help you think about these questions. It’s available by clicking here.
Resources for Shepherds: How do the life and work of your church compare with what we see in the New Testament and the Early Church? Watch this brief video, then download the ReThinking Church Appraisal Tool.
From the Celtic Revival
Spiritual Poetry of the Celtic Revival
Tirelessly he feeds the faithful with the heavenly feasts,
lest those who are seen with Christ should fail upon the way:
he gives them the words of the Gospel like loaves,
multiplied in his hands like manna…
He rejects all the world’s glory for the sake of the divine law,
considering it all mere scraps at its table;
nor is he disturbed by the hurtling lightning of the world,
but rejoices in hardships since he suffers for Christ’s sake.
– Sechnall, Audite Omnes Amantes
For Patrick, feasting on “the divine law” of the Lord was better than all the scraps the world might hold out to him. He was a man of God’s Word, as a casual glance at his Confession will reveal. In a document not much longer than a book chapter, Patrick quotes, cites, or alludes to more than 120 passages of Scripture. He lived by what he ate.
And so will we. We are going to feed our souls on something. If we do not feed our mind, heart, and conscience with the holy spiritual food of the Gospel, the divine Law, and all God’s Word, we will feed it on the junk food of pop and secular culture and our getting-and-spending economy. Then all we’ll have to share with others will be the trivial and insipid fare of an age starving for the truth of God.
But if we feed daily on the Word of God, not only will the Spirit work to transform us into the likeness of Jesus (2 Cor. 3.12-18), but we will overflow with the Spirit and Word of God to minister His grace to others (Jn. 7.37-39; 2 Cor. 4.15).
Subscribe to Crosfigell and join us for this entire series on spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. Scroll to the bottom of the home page, www.ailbe.org.
Resources from the Celtic Revival (ca. 430-800 AD)
Patrick was the blasting cap for the Celtic Revival. He wasn’t the first evangelist, but through his ministry, the Gospel broke out to pagans throughout Ireland and beyond. Our 30-day devotional, Patrick: A Devotional History, can help you understand his ministry in its contemporary context and his own words. It’s free by clicking here.
T. M. Moore
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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
