Ver. 27. Christ in you the Hope of Glory.
I. What it implies of present experience.—1. Generally—Christ among you. 2. Personally—Christ in you.
II. What is presages.—“The hope of glory.”
1. Personal glory—in the perfection of being where the servant is like his Lord.
2. Relative glory—sharing the throne with Jesus, and sharing in His triumph and glory.—Preacher’s Magazine.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 28, 29.
The Secret of Effective Preaching.
Much has been written concerning the inefficiency of the modern pulpit; and it has been argued that the press is now the great and successful rival of the preacher and must ere long render his office nugatory. This prediction might possibly be fulfilled if the preaching of the Gospel was simply a human institution and depended only on man for its permanency. But when we remember that preaching is a Divine ordinance, and is adapted to reach and stir the heart as no other agency can, the preacher’s function can never cease while human nature remains what it is, or while God honours His own institution with His blessing. Only as the pulpit is faithful to its grand theme and lofty mission will it be effective. The deepest want of the age is Christ; and that preaching will be irresistibly potent that most adequately represents Him. These verses reveal to us the secret of effective preaching.
I. In order to effectiveness in preaching Christ must be the changeless theme.—“Whom we preach” (ver. 28).
1. Preach Christ as to the special characteristic and unrivalled excellencies of His person.—The greatest men who ever lived, however brilliant and capacious their genius or stupendous their labours, never made so profound and widespread an impression upon humanity as Christ has done and is now doing. Their influence operated for only a limited period; His pervades all time—past, present, and future; theirs was confined to a narrow locality, His is diffused through the universe. The person of Christ is unique in this—that it combines two natures, the Divine and the human. It was necessary He should be both God and man in order to fully accomplish the work He voluntarily undertook. As God, He met and satisfied all the requirements of Deity; and as man—putting Himself in our place—He realised and reached the extremities of our need, and thus fairly laying hold of us, gathering up and grasping the roots of our corrupt nature, He raised from sin to holiness, from earth to heaven. He is Emmanuel—God with us.