0776. The Person of Christ, Our Preaching
The Person of Christ, Our Preaching
"We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord" (2Co_4:5).
The god of this world cares but little when we preach ourselves, but he will busy himself to blind the eyes of the unbelieving against the preaching of the glorious Gospel of Christ. The only headway we can make against satan is by the preaching of Christ. Let us follow out some of the passages, particularly in the Book of Acts, which will help us just here.
1. The Person of Christ was the message of the prophets of old. Act_3:20 : "And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you."
Jesus Christ stands forth supreme in the preaching of the valiant men who told God forth in the days before Christ came to earth.
Those men spoke as they were borne along by the Holy Ghost, and many are the precious truths that they revealed concerning the person, the life, the death, the resurrection, the return and the reign of Christ.
2. The Person of Christ was the message of the Apostles. Act_5:42 : "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."
The Apostles had lived with Christ; they had heard His Word. They believed in Him as the Son of God. They had seen Him die, and they had seen Him frequently after His resurrection. They had stood on the crest of Olivet as He ascended and a cloud received Him out of sight.
After the coming of the Spirit, they went everywhere preaching Christ. With great power they gave witness to His Deity, His death, His resurrection and His return. They preached Christ.
The Apostle Paul came along a little later and immediately He preached Christ, that He was the Son of God. Paul might have preached many other matters. He had been educated at Gamaliel’s feet. He knew Jewish lore. He could easily have discoursed upon a more popular theme, but he preached Christ and only Christ.
3. The Person of Christ was the message for the Jew. Act_17:1-3 : "Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Appollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath Days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, Whom I preach unto you, is Christ."
It was not the message they wanted, for they hated Christ. The Apostle would have found a few soulful remarks on ethics, or a few suggestive hints on economics, or a few striking sentences on the political tyranny of the Caesars, might have brought far greater applause. But the Jew needed Christ and that is what he heard from the ministers of the early Church.
4. The Person of Christ was the message preached to the Samaritans. Act_8:5 : "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them."
Of course, Philip was not near up to the standard of the twentieth century preacher, or else he would have discoursed on "wealth and wages," or on "how to keep John Barleycorn dead after he has died," or some other theme of public interest. But Philip preached Christ. He felt that the Samaritans needed Christ.
5. The Person of Christ was the message preached to the Gentiles. Gal_1:16 : "To reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood."
Paul was called to preach the Gospel far hence to the Gentiles. Immediately he obeyed. He did not argue that the message that the Jew and Samaritan received was not applicable to the Gentile. He did not insist that the message should be recast and molded differently for the cultured ears of the Athenians or the Thessalonians or the Bereans. He just preached Christ.
The message for one was the message for all. There was no other name given under Heaven and among men whereby we must be saved, so the preachers of the early days preached Christ.
6. The Person of Christ is the message we are commanded to preach to-day. He said unto them, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mar_16:15).
The preacher is a servant and an apostle "separated unto the Gospel of God, * * concerning His Son Jesus Christ" (Rom_1:1-3).
The Church is the pillar and the ground of the truth. It is the guardian of the faith. It is commissioned to preach Christ; nothing less than Christ, and nothing more than Christ.
7. God’s anathema is upon those who preach any other gospel. What did the Holy Spirit say through Paul? Gal_1:6-9 : "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from Heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."
These are solemn words. Every false witness is anathematized. No favoritism is permitted! The Apostle is himself included in, "Though WE." Angelic hosts are included in, "Or an angel from Heaven." Every man, every minister of whatsoever cult, is included in, "If any one."
And what is the Gospel which Paul preached? The Spirit makes reply: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." Then the rest of that wonderful 15th chapter of I Corinthians is given particularly to the resurrection of the Christian dead, at the return of Christ.
"If any man preach any other gospel * * let him be accursed," means then, if any man preaches any gospel which ignores or defames the Cross, the resurrection, or the Lord’s return, let him be accursed.
Paul said concerning himself, "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel." The emphasis may be placed on the verb, "preach," or, it may be placed upon the object, "Gospel."
What then of the one who confesseth not that Jesus Christ is God, come in the flesh? What then of the one who confesses not that Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh? In either case, such an one is a deceiver and an antichrist. Such preachers are of the world, and the world heareth them. Such preachers are possessed with the spirit of error. (Study carefully 1Jn_4:1-6 and 2Jn_1:7, R. V.)
What must be the attitude of true disciples toward these false prophets, these antichrists? Let God speak: 2Jn_1:9-11 : "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."
These words are final. The believer has no right to sit under the ministry of one who has departed from the faith; he cannot receive him into his house; he cannot bid him God speed. This is not a matter of one denomination pitted against another; it is a matter of all true believers separating themselves from the apostates who deny the faith, wherever and whenever such apostates are found.
8. Is the Person, of Christ the theme of the pulpit to-day? Thank God, in many places, yes. There are, everywhere, those who proclaim the true evangel. There are, however, in too many pulpits those who proclaim a false gospel, or no gospel at all.
In a paper received recently from London, we found this list of subjects advertised in and around that great metropolis: "Slip, Slips and Slippers," "Wobbling," "Swat the Fly," "The Honeymoon," "My Mother-in-Law," "Lopsided Folks," "The Sentimental Journey," "Three White Mice," "Pulling Out a Plum," "A Big Hug," "Street Car Ventilation," "A Joke on the Conductor," "A Man with His Nose Out of Joint." Such themes are sickening to the heart. Yet the same state of affairs exists, more or less everywhere. From our soul we cry, "Back to the Person of Christ as our preaching!"
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR