Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

class"need."wife,"sermon?"of the human spirit. Some Christian theologians interpreted this to mean that Hegel was speaking ofthe Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity. ButHegel's doctrine of God was far removed from theScriptural doctrine regarding the nature of the Godhead, and hence his concept of history was definitelyinfluenced by his idea of God.2. The other perspective has been that whichlooks upon human life upon this earth as understandable only in the light of the relation of the Godand Creator to the world and man, and the subsequent revelation which this God makes of HimselfGod"in Jesus Christ His Son. Augustine's "City ofis the classic example of this type of history. Augustine treats history, not only of the facts that havebeen verified of ancient Israel, but of all tribes andnations. All history is read in the light of the sovereign God who created all things. The compass orscope of this view of history includes the whole human race, in contrast with the favored German nation of Hegel, or the "working of Marx. Augustine argues that the course of history moves withmajestic purpose to and from the Cross of Christ.In our discussion we are not only concerned withthe broad framework of History, but with CHURCHhistory.Here again the Christian must be aware of thetendency to arbitrarily limit the meaning of the termChurch. Church History is not merely a carefulanalysis of the background of the churches of themodern day, although it will include that. In thestudy of Church history we must seek to interpretthe data, gathered from reliable witnesses in thepast. From those witnesses we seek to understandthe organic nature, the forms ofgrowth, the resultsof corruption in decline, revival and stagnation,struggle against destructive forces outside thechurch and from within its own fold. It is concernedwith the historical work and mission of the Body ofChrist in this earth.If we turn to the essential meaning of the term,church, we find that our word comes from the biblical Greek, kuriakos, "that which pertains to theLord."It was often associated with the word forhouse, and thus the term "the Lord's house." Gradually the term was transferred to "those who met inthe house." So the church is the congregation orbody of people who belong to the Lord. The Scotchword "kirk" is clearly seen to be related. In the Romance languages we find another line of developmentof the idea, church. From the Greek, ecclesia, meaning "assembly" we have our word "ecclesiastical."So the Church is the body of believers, the assembly who belong to the Lord. Christ is the Head.The History of this church, then, is the History ofChrist's Body in the world.Under differing Divinely appointed administrations patriarchal, Mosaic, prophetic, apostolic, theChurch is one. Though in Old Testament times Godmaintained a witness through a chosen people, andthey were in this sense the Church, the story of theChristian Church as such, begins with Pentecost.II. The Nature of Preaching.Paul writes in his letter to the Colossians, "I ammade a minister, according to the dispensation ofGod which is given to me for you, to fulfill the wordOctober 26, 1955of God ; even the mysterywhich hath been hid fromages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints : to whom God would make knownwhat is the riches of the glory of this mystery amongthe Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope ofglory; whom we preach, warning every man,andteaching every man in all wisdom; that we maypresent every man perfect in Christ Jesus." "Thatwe present every man perfect in Christ Jesus," thisis the sublime purpose of preaching. Or as Dr. A. W.Blackwood defines it, "Preaching is the presentationof divine truth through personality, or the truth ofGod voiced by a chosen personality to meet humanIII. The Relation of Church History to Preaching.The immediate relation between the discipliningof the mind of the preacher to the task of proclaiming the gospel rests in the recognition of the validity of the message of the Scriptures as they applyto the needs of men in the past, and as they may beapplied to the hearer today.The gospel is history, but it is more than a record of history. Preaching is speaking with a view topersuasion, but it is not mere salesmanship.Preaching the gospel to the modern need is mosteffective when that need is seen against the backdrop of God's sovereign power and patience in thefull sweep of human history.But the practical problem poses the question,"How may the preacher use history in aIn this immediate relationship, history makespreaching effective in several ways.1. In historically-centered sermons. Preachingbased upon the book of Acts would necessarily involve some reference to the historyThe same would be true of the prophets.of the period.2. History is essential to the biographical sermon. Speaking with a view to persuasion may oftenbe based upon the life of a person. Many of the effective ministers of our day have used the biographicalsermon to present truths otherwise abstract.3. In the teaching ministry. The New Testamentwriters drew heavily from the Old Testament history to teach new truth, or to apply old truth whichhad been permitted to lie dormant. "The men ofNineveh,""Lot's and "Hagar and Sarah" aremeaningless apart from some appreciation of history.Although there are these practical uses of history in preaching they are not as important ultimately, as a sense of Historic continuity. It is in thissense that I believe there rests the most importantrelationship between Church History and Preaching.The Knights of Columbus sponsor an effectiveseries of advertising. The authors of this series delight in keeping Protestants on the defensive. Theycharge that Protestants have no historic roots, thatall Protestants are members of splinter groups fromthe Mother Church. All too often the Protestantmeeklyconcedes that this is true. But such a concession simply overlooks the fact of the continuity ofthe historic faith.The Covenanter Church has maintained a senseof historic continuity in most of its history. Todaywe live in a time when there is a strong attractionfor us to be aligned with a concept of the church(Continued on page 282)279