{"id":399,"date":"2008-11-13T12:02:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-13T16:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=399"},"modified":"2013-06-26T13:18:58","modified_gmt":"2013-06-26T17:18:58","slug":"the-pulpit-cowper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=399","title":{"rendered":"The Pulpit, Cowper"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/christisdeeperstill.blogspot.com\/\">Ray Ortlund<\/a> posted today this excerpt from William Cowper&#8217;s lengthy poem, &#8220;The Task.&#8221;\u009d It is a wonderful, power description of the role of preaching. It is thrilling, convicting and humbling.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The pulpit, therefore, (and I name it filled<br \/>\nwith solemn awe, that bids me well beware<br \/>\nwith what intent I touch that holy thing;)<br \/>\nthe pulpit (when the satirist has at last,<br \/>\nstrutting and vaporing in an empty school,<br \/>\nspent all his force, and made no proselyte;)<br \/>\nI say the pulpit (in the sober use<br \/>\nof its legitimate, peculiar powers)<br \/>\nmust stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand,<br \/>\nthe most important and effectual guard,<br \/>\nsupport, and ornament of virtue&#8217;s cause.<br \/>\nThere stands the messenger of truth. There stands<br \/>\nthe legate of the skies; his theme divine,<br \/>\nhis office sacred, his credentials clear.<br \/>\nBy him, the violated law speaks out<br \/>\nits thunders, and by him, in strains as sweet<br \/>\nas angels use, the gospel whispers peace.<br \/>\nHe &#8216;stablishes the strong, restores the weak,<br \/>\nreclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart,<br \/>\nand, armed himself in panoply complete<br \/>\nof heavenly temper, furnishes with arms<br \/>\nbright as his own, and trains, by every rule<br \/>\nof holy discipline, to glorious war,<br \/>\nthe sacramental host of God&#8217;s elect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8211; William Cowper, 1731-1800.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ray Ortlund posted today this excerpt from William Cowper&#8217;s lengthy poem, &#8220;The Task.&#8221;\u009d It is a wonderful, power description of the role of preaching. It is thrilling, convicting and humbling. The pulpit, therefore, (and I name it filled with solemn awe, that bids me well beware with what intent I touch that holy thing;) the &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=399\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;The Pulpit, Cowper&rsquo; &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[16,51],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=399"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3229,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399\/revisions\/3229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}