Preach Holiness With Joy and Gladness
Preaching holiness should be done with joy and gladness, not sorrow and sadness, to inspire and convict people.
Arthur Vess emphasizes the importance of preaching holiness with joy and gladness, contrasting it with the sorrow and sadness often associated with spiritual matters. He highlights the need for righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, encouraging believers to exude joy that surpasses worldly understanding. Vess challenges the notion of labeling spiritual manifestations as mere emotionalism, pointing out that true joy and peace come from the fire of God burning in the soul. He urges for a revival of genuine spiritual experiences that manifest in power and glory, rather than dead and formal religious practices.
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Preach Holiness with joy and gladness, not sorrow and sadness. "For the kingdom ofheaven is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." While the worldshouts over nothing, we should be able to preach so that people can shout over everything. Somany of our preachers and teachers brand every spiritual manifestation as "emotionalism." Whenthe fire of God burns in the soul, the waves of joy are sure to roll. The business world, and alls ales are run by emotional appeals.
Where there is life, there is feeling and movement. During thetimes of greatest persecution in the past centuries, God's saints have had the most joy and peace. Ifyou are filled with the Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Trinity, all the fullness of God, yourdivine victory should certainly manifest itself in mighty power and glory. Most of our modern services are so dead and formal that God no longer comes on thescene. We are learning to repeat prayers, etc. while we stand to pray like the dead, formalchurches.
New York papers commented on stiff-kneed Methodist. While we must condemn sin and worldliness on every hand, we must not preach holinesswith the blue side of life all the time. If outsiders come in, they will wonder if there is anything toit after all. Even our radical holiness preaching should be filled with holy glory and unction, whichrebukes sin and hypocrisy, and blesses and inspires the saints and convicts the sinners. We must not harp on the blue side all the time, for this is not holiness.
I used to say that Iwanted to preach so that they could not shout unless they had it; now I want to preach so they canshout if they do have it -- holiness. If we do not shout in the church, we shout on the ball diamonds.
Sermon Outline
- Preaching Holiness with Joy and Gladness
- The Importance of Emotional Appeals in Preaching
- The Power of the Holy Ghost in Our Lives
- Condemning Sin and Worldliness without Preaching Holiness with Sorrow
- We Must Not Harp on the Blue Side of Life
- Our Preaching Should be Filled with Holy Glory and Unection
Key Quotes
“For the kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” — Arthur Vess
“While the world shouts over nothing, we should be able to preach so that people can shout over everything.” — Arthur Vess
“If we do not shout in the church, we shout on the ball diamonds.” — Arthur Vess
Application Points
- We should strive to preach holiness with joy and gladness, not just sorrow and sadness.
- Being filled with the Holy Ghost should manifest itself in mighty power and glory in our lives and services.
- Our preaching should be filled with holy glory and unction to rebuke sin and hypocrisy and bless and inspire the saints.