Dear Editor,
Is there, in modern Western Christianity, a Biblical emphasis that has been overlooked? As the church in the West has gone through periods emphasising various good things – from Bible exposition, evangelistic courses and church-planting to social care outreach, lively worship and charismatic gifts, apologetics – might we have lost sight of something important?
It strikes me how rarely we hear powerful ‘prophetic’ preaching that takes seriously the holiness of God and His hatred of all sin, and that urges thoroughgoing repentance.
In my youth, the Keswick Convention by its very atmosphere exuded the pure air of holiness with its serious call to total consecration and victory over sin. The challenging preaching, the solemn presiding and the very hymns all centred on the Christian’s sacred duty to overcome indwelling sin and enjoy victory over Satan’s foul temptations and the pull of the flesh. Is not that kind of ministry rare these days?
Could it be that the sad number of cases of pastoral failure and sexual sin we hear about may be due to a lack of emphasis on Christ’s call for self-denial, continual repentance and total dedication to a life of absolute obedience to God? Are Christians sufficiently challenged to regular confession of all known sin and failure? Should we not raise the standard of holiness high, for the glory of Christ in His church? Have we forgotten that the aim of human existence is to love our awesome, holy God with all our hearts, to please Him and glorify Him in holy living?
Consider how much of the teaching of Jesus and the writings of the apostles is aimed at practical holiness. Do congregations hear those passages applied with such conviction that they cannot but repent? Are we subtly content with sound preaching that goes easy on specific application in dealing with our sins? Might that cover up the preacher’s own need for a heart burning for purity? Do we need reminding that elders are to be ‘above reproach’ (Titus 1.6)? Do we need to be more rigorous in reinstating and lovingly applying church discipline?
Did not our Saviour give the powerful – and absolute – exhortation: ‘Sin no more’? Did He save us from the penalty of sin and leave us to deal inadequately with its power? Didn’t the Apostle Paul tell us to consider ourselves to be dead to sin? Where are the preachers specialising in sanctification? Surely putting this theme back on the agenda will be a blessing to the church, and Christians by their pure, godly living will be a reproach to the godless world.
Let us return to the apostolic emphasis, as when Peter challenges us to ‘be holy in all your conduct’, and reminds us that God commands: ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’ (1 Peter 1:15-16).
Let us look more closely at 1 Thessalonians 4, since it seems we still need the challenging reminder that ‘God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness’ (v.7); and that is how we ‘ought to walk and to please God’ (v.1). As we bear witness for Christ in this evil and adulterous generation, we need to hear afresh: ‘This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality’ (porneia, v.3).
Let us not be afraid to face up to the challenge of God’s call to holiness in deed, word and thought, and let’s be eager for those sermons which end in a holy silence as listeners humble themselves in repentance and renew their consecration to fulfil all the will of God.
Yours sincerely,
Clive Every-Clayton
Kingussie
Dear Editor,
It has been good to see in en a number of people pointing out that we have lost something in terms of unction in preaching, a sense of the Lord’s real presence in it; and that we’ve developed an over-scepticism with regard to God’s specific guidance, for example in calling someone to a particular ministry.
May I offer an explanation?
Such regrettable developments are in fact only to be expected as the logical extension of cessationism.
It would seem that cessationism developed as a Reformed reaction against bogus Roman Catholic claims of miracles. Today, it continues as a reaction against the more unhinged examples of the Charismatics.
Whilst such reactions are certainly understandable, are we really at liberty to ‘quench the Spirit’, ‘despise prophecy’, and flatly disobey Paul’s command to ‘eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy’? We mustn’t let bogus or exaggerated versions of the real thing put us off the real thing altogether, and become almost functional atheists insofar as we will never allow for God’s vital activity amongst us here and now.
Perhaps, after a few generations of pouring scorn on Charismatics and evading the plain reading of multiple Scriptures, we are simply reaping what we’ve sown.
The problems recently pointed out are cessationism full-grown.
The pendulum has swung too far, and we need to come back to the centre: Scripture.
Yours sincerely,
Dave Brennan
By email
