Preaching Jesus Christ
Preaching Jesus Christ
And daily in the
temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
(Acts 5:42 )
That which separates the truth from a mere religion is
that the truth concerns a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. This may seem
a trite and worn out phrase, but it is true that salvation is a Person,
not a doctrine. The longer I preach, the more I see the importance this
distinction.
There are doubtless many who would find fault with such
a generalization saying that one cannot preach without preaching doctrine.
In this they would be correct, for doctrine is simply teaching. I would
be impossible to preach the Person without preaching doctrine. However,
it is quite easy to preach doctrine and never preach the Person.
Allow me to illustrate: Truth is, in some ways like a
jigsaw puzzle. A jigsaw puzzle is made of many parts, each one important.
The puzzle could not be complete if any individual part were missing. Yet,
we all realize that the value of such a puzzle does not lie in the individual
pieces, but in the image that is made when all these pieces are joined
together in their proper relationship. Even though an unassembled jigsaw
puzzle contains the very same materials and pieces as an assembled one,
we recognize that there is a great difference between the two: the assembled
puzzle gives us an image, a picture to enjoy. An unassembled puzzle is
just a box of cardboard pieces.
The truth of God is similar: It is made of many parts,
each one important. Yet the value of these parts lies not in themselves,
but in the image they create when "assembled" through preaching.
All the doctrines of the Scriptures are pieces of a Divine "puzzle"
which, when assembled, provide us with an image of the Lord Jesus. One
may emphasise the various individual "pieces" of this puzzle,
and become quite expert in them, and never see the image which they were
designed to create. As the Lord said to the Pharisees:
Search the scriptures;
for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify
of me. (John 5:39)
The Pharisees were expert in the "pieces" but
utterly ignorant of the image they made. When the Scriptures speak of "preaching
Christ," they mean:
1. That all preaching is to be done with the purpose
of revealing Christ in order that men may see Him, believe on Him, and
worship Him. The goal of all the apostles and their successors has been
to make Christ known in truth.
2. To that end, preaching Christ means to view all Scripture
as a revelation of Him and interpreting it according to that rule, not
being satisfied with the mere "pieces" of truth, but determined
to learn and declare how each piece fits into the "puzzle."
Preaching this way will help in these areas:
1. Preaching Christ will deliver us from becoming a mere
religious movement. Someone once said that all organizations go through
three stages: "the Man (who founded it), the Movement (an organization
that carries on under the momentum the man generated), and the Monument
(a dead organization which may bear the name of the founder but has little
or no connection to him or his vision.) The only thing that preserves the
church from such a fate is that "the Man," (in this case, the
Man, Christ Jesus) is continually revealing Himself from generation to
generation. This revelation is accomplished through the preaching of Christ.
When Christ is preached, the Spirit of God takes those
things of Christ, shows them to His elect and a new generation is joined
to Christ. When Christ is preached, we are never dependant on the momentum
of one generation to carry the work of the gospel into the next generation.
When Christ is preached, every generation is a brand new work, full of
the vitality and energy of the Man who founds it, the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Preaching Christ will deliver us and our hearers from
dry and lifeless sermons. No doubt the goats will not be satisfied with
what they here, but we are not concerned with them. The sheep find the
preaching of Christ to be "green pastures" and "still waters."
Christ is their bread, and the preaching of Christ is the bread coming
down from heaven to nourish their souls. Incidentally, this relieves the
preacher of any necessity to design messages that are clever or exciting.
The message of Christ is as clever and exciting as any sheep could wish
for; and as we said before, we are not concerned with what the goats think
of it.
3. Preaching Christ reveals the sheep and purify
the church. I have noticed among many churches that the two major concerns
are the morality of the sheep and the purity of the church. This is revealed
in the attention they give to the work of church discipline. But I say,
(even more, the Scriptures teach) that the preaching of Christ will accomplish
this work very nicely. The preaching of Christ provides the content and
motivation of godliness.
This I say therefore, and
testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk,
in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated
from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of
the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves
over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But
ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have
been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning
the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the
deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye
put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness. (Ephesians 4:17-24)
There it is! Ungodliness is contrary to the truth of
Christ. Where Christ is preached, growth in grace is the result!
Moreover, preaching Christ will purify the church, that
is, it will remove from its professing members those who do not truly love
the Lord Jesus.
For the preaching of the
cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it
is the power of God.1 (1Cor 1:18)
Those who do not know Christ will, in time, weary of
hearing Him preached and leave. People will not long endure the preaching
of what is foolishness to them. The surest way to maintain a herd of goats
in a congregation is to preach Christless doctrine to them. "Knowledge
puffeth up," and Christless doctrine, no matter how true it may be,
puffs men up with a sense of knowledge. Even the goats can tolerate true
doctrine if their knowing it gives them an occasion for pride. But, knowing
the truth through the revelation of Christ leaves no room for pride, only
a sense of gratitude that the truth has been revealed. In this way, the
preaching of Christ purifies the church. More correctly, by the preaching
Christ, Christ purifies His church.
4. Preaching of Christ has the promise of Divine
accomplishment.
So shall my word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it. (Isa 55:11)
The word that "goeth out from" God's mouth,
is Jesus Christ, called by John, "The Word." (John 1:1) The Isaiah
passage refers primarily to the coming of Christ in the flesh, teaching
us that whatever purpose God intended in the sending of Christ was accomplished;
and when Christ returned to God, He did so, not as a failure, but as a
champion who had fully accomplished all the work given him to do. But the
Isaiah passage can also be expanded to include the preaching of Christ
which is, indeed, a sending of Jesus Christ. Every time Christ is preached,
God has a purpose in it, and that purpose shall be accomplished.
5. Preaching Christ protects the preacher from
pride and the hearers from idolatry. Those who hear the preaching of Christ
will love and respect the man that preached to them; but they will worship
Christ! Those who preach Christ will rejoice in the results that are obtained
by it, but will glorify Christ for those results. How I weary of hearing
of preachers a though the works wrought through them were wrought by them!
As though it were Calvin and Luther who brought about the reformation,
as if Spurgeon filled the tabernacle! If there be any sadness in glory,
it must be found among those faithful men of the past whose names are now
revered as though they accomplished anything. If these men were to return
to earth, they would be appalled at the churches and colleges raised in
their names! I say that any work done by a man will die with the man. Let
us preach the work of Him who never dies and pray that He shall work through
us!
6. Preaching Christ is the only message that will do
sinners any good.
For after that in the wisdom
of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe.
(I Cor. 1:21)
The word translated "preaching" puts the emphasis
on the content of what is preached. The "foolishness" that is
preached is Christ or "the cross". Christ is what sinners need.
If they will not have Him, there is nothing else good to give them, so
there is no value in giving them something else. Brethren, pour on the
coal! Preach the sovereign, unchangeable Christ to sinners. Flood them
with the "truth as it is in Jesus" until they shout "Crucify
Him" or "My Lord and my God."
7. Preaching Christ glorifies Christ. Dare a preacher
aim for less? I may hope for the salvation of sinners through my preaching,
but, whatever may come of sinners, may Christ be honored and glorified
by what comes from these lips. Does not every God-called preacher feel
the same? Does not every believer feel the same with regard to his testimony
of the truth. God grant it be so.
So, preach and teach Christ. Deny every fleshly temptation
to preach anything else. Follow this pattern until it seems foolishness
to your flesh, then you will have entered into that which is the power
and wisdom of God.
JOE TERRELL IS PASTOR OF
GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH
Rock Valley, IA