# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_April 1860_S101
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

On the Zeal of Preachers. 101

1. ἔργον, a work, not wealth; a burden, not an honor; labor, not play, as
may be seen Phil. 1:2, 1 Thess. 5:13, 1 Tim. 3:1, 2:4, Acts 15:38, 1 Cor.
3:13, Eph. 4:12.

2. And it is no light thing but a heavy work, for it is not πόνος [ponos,
pain] but κόπος [kopos, toil] — a work wearisome to the point of
exhaustion, or one that wears out the strength, John 4:38, 1 Cor. 3:8,
2:10, 15, Gal. 4:11, 1 Thess. 3:6, 5:12, 1 Tim. 5:17.

3. It is called μόχθος [mochthos], labor bound up with hardship, 2 Cor.
11:27, 1 Thess. 2:9, 2:3, 8.

4. Σπουδή [spoude], care and vehement zeal, 2 Cor. 7:12.

5. Not only σπουδή but also μέριμνα [merimna], anxious care, which
divides the mind, Phil. 2:20, 1 Tim. 3:5.

6. It is such a work as claims the whole man; hence we are commanded
to attend to it and to continue in these things, 1 Tim. 4:15-16, as though it
said: let your discharge of office be your thinking, your occupation, your
care and concern. So Rom. 12:7: "Let him that hath an office wait on his
office"; and we are commanded to hold to it earnestly and to carry out
whatever heavy and toilsome service with diligence, Acts 12:25, 14:26,
2 Tim. 4:5, Col. 4:17. Hence we are called shepherds, soldiers, laborers,
husbandmen, etc., all of which denote the greatest diligence, as has been
shown above. —

Nor are examples lacking. Moses was faithful in all the house of God, in
proclaiming the commandments and wonders to the people of God, Heb.
3:2. The prophets rose early to preach God's prophecies to the people.
Christ himself taught not once or twice but often in the synagogues, and
moreover taught according to his custom, Luke 4:16; he taught constantly
as often as occasion offered. The day he devoted to preaching, the night
to prayer, Luke 21:32. Behold the untiring diligence of Paul, 1 Cor.
11:23-29, Acts 5:42. He bore and endured much, he sweated and froze.
How many cities, how many regions did he not light up with the light of
the gospel! namely Jerusalem, Illyricum, Rom. 15:19, Arabia, Damascus,
Antioch, Seleucia, Cyprus, Pamphylia, Pisidia, Lycaonia, Syria, Cilicia,
Phrygia, Galatia, Mysia, Troas, Achaia, Epirus, and others.

So too "yesterday" and "today" often occur in Chrysostom. "Although I
spoke of this yesterday, yet I will not cease to set forth the same thing
today, nor tomorrow and the day after," says Chrysostom. The ancient
fathers grew pale from study; the least portion of their lives they spent on
sleep, little on food, none on rest. For Origen no part of his lifetime was
lost to study. Let us, then, also tame our bodies with watching, fasting,
labor, the bearing of the cross, and the mortification of the flesh through
abstinence from worldly lusts and the enticements to vice, because the
flesh, if we serve it, will in the end rule over us with dreadful tyranny,