Cowper on Paul on Preaching (11)
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 2 Timothy 4.2
He ’stablishes the strong, restores the weak,
Reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart,
And arm’d himself in panoply complete
Of heavenly temper, furnishes with arms
Bright as his own, and trains, by every rule
Of holy discipline, to glorious war
The sacramental host of God’s elect:
Are all such teachers?—would to Heaven all were!
William Cowper, The Task (1785)
It’s not difficult to see that the process of sanctification must be a focus of the work of preaching, and if it is to be a focus of preaching, it should also factor into the content of our preaching.
How should preachers approach this aspect of their task?
Paul writes concerning the work of sanctification that the Lord intends to present His people “holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight” (Col. 1.22). We improve in sanctification to the extent that these objectives are increasingly realized. But no one can increase in these without knowing what they entail and what must be avoided or rejected in order to follow this course. Along with each believer’s daily reading and study of Scripture, preaching must help to clarify the distinctive character of the sanctified life.
The objective of holiness involves a quality of character—mind, heart, conscience, and life—which resembles the very character of God, Who is thrice holy. Blameless suggests the absence of anything for which one might be impugned. The blameless person is consistent in confessing and repenting of sin and in recognizing and dealing with temptation. One is above reproach in whom all the best qualities of the life of faith have been cultivated to the highest degree of excellence. Holy is simply to be ruled, controlled, shaped, and empowered by the Holy Spirit for the work of Christ and His Kingdom.
The “holy discipline” of preaching aims to cultivate holiness—Christlikeness—thereby to fit the followers of Christ for “glorious war.”. Our preaching must faithfully set forth teaching, examples, and explanations of holiness. It must help hearers to discover any sins in their lives and lead them—through urgings with tears, if necessary—to confess and repent. And it must hold out the virtues of faith, the fruit of the Spirit, and the practice of love as traits to be desired and pursued with all diligence.
Resources for being and making disciples
Pastor to Pastor Podcast: Today we begin a series of conversations with Pastor Jesse Slusher of Quincy, WA. Jesse has served his church in a variety of capacities for more than forty years. Our conversations will review the highlights of his ministry and lessons he has for other shepherds.
Other columns of interest: This week: In our ReVision column we are looking at the role of reason in the work of evangelizing the lost. Our Read Moore podcast pursues readings from the 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 20. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
The Ailbe Bookstore: How can we equip the people of God to become more confident and consistent in their witness for the Lord? Two free books can help. You can download The Confident Witness and Let God Be True from The Ailbe Bookstore. Download both and share them freely with others.
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. Are we being faithful to the patterns and practices God has revealed in His Word? Our book, Fan into Flame is designed to provide shepherds an opportunity to review, assess, and improve all the facets of their ministry. Download a free copy from The Ailbe Bookstore by clicking here.
From the Celtic Revival
Spiritual Poetry of the Celtic Revival
It is when full of divine love that one is holy.
He walks in divine love.
Every evil fears him;
every good loves him.
He has honour on earth;
he has glory in heaven.
Love God:
everyone will love you.
Fear God:
Everyone will fear you.
– Colmán mac Beógnai, “The Alphabet of Devotion” (ca. 600 AD)
Colmán explains that holiness flows from divine love, that is, from the love of God in our hearts. The more we experience God’s love, the more we want to be the kind of people for whom that experience is the norm. So we seek to increase in holiness, and thus we take that love into our everyday lives, all our relationships, roles, and responsibilities.
The more we know the love of God, the more we grow in holiness and express the love of God, and the more evil—here personified—wants nothing to do with us. We overcome evil with good, as Paul commands (Rom. 12.21), and thus we gain the respect of people around us, to the praise and glory of God.
But we must actively love God, and not be content merely to soak up the manifold expressions of His love for us. Tell Him we love Him, delight in His Word and Presence, seek His glory in all the things He has made, and praise Him throughout the day. If we do, Colmán says, “everyone will love you.” He means everyone within the community of God’s people. God loves us, we bask in that love and return love to Him, and thus we are transformed to love our neighbors with the love of God.
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)
Learn more about Colum Cille and his powerful ministry by downloading a free copy of our 30-day devotional history, Colum Cille. Click here to get your copy.
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.
