“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them…. Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him…” (Acts 8:5,35).
Preach Jesus!
Two sermons stand out in my mind as possibly the worst I have ever heard.
(And to those who ask about the worst sermons I personally have ever preached, there have been so many, it’s hard to choose!)
One sermon was interesting and easy to follow. The other was a self-centered rant I found completely offensive.
The first was delivered by an interim pastor who, according to the introduction, taught at a local Christian college. The second was delivered by a young pastor who told us that he had started that church only 8 years previously. It now ran in the thousands. We were at one of their multiple locations watching him on a large screen. By any measurement the world uses to judge success, the man was all that and more.
Both sermons were helpful in some ways. Neither was biblical. Both were delivered by gifted communicators; neither mentioned Jesus. Neither message had even a passing acquaintance with the gospel.
The first was a message about friendship. The preacher probably quoted from Proverbs once or twice, but his message would have worked at a local civic club luncheon.
The second message was all about the preacher. The young mega-churchman told stories about himself and his family and drew lessons and life-principles from them. Neither man mentioned Jesus once in his message.
Don’t miss that.
Neither. Mentioned. Jesus.
One little scene I will never forget, as much as I wish I could. In the middle of his message, the second pastor interrupted himself after another of his verbal selfies and said, “Oh God! I’m making myself look so bad!”
It was all about him.
Every pastor has an off-day occasionally. If anyone should know that, I do.
But not in this way. We don’t have the occasional Sunday in which we forget everything we learned about the importance of preaching the Word and telling people about Jesus and for a half-hour entertain the congregation with stories about ourselves.
There is a feeling in some pastors–and I suspect it’s more typical of youthful preachers who achieve impressive success quickly–that if God called me to preach and if the people love what I do and respond favorably, then whatever I do is acceptable.
I beg to differ.
You were either called to preach Christ or you were not. Each minister must decide.
All of this raises the question: What makes a sermon Christian?
I am well aware that if the youthful preacher’s temptation is to think the message is all about him, the veteran pastor is prone to think he is qualified to sit in judgment on the preaching of others. I’m the veteran pastor but definitely not the judge of the sermons of others.
I do, however, know a few things. And this is one of them. I know what makes a sermon Christian…..
It’s Jesus. And only Jesus.
If my preaching does not point the hearers to the Lord Jesus Christ either directly or indirectly, then I have failed miserably.
In one way or the other, to some degree, the Lord Jesus–historical, virgin-born, sinless, crucified, resurrected, ascended, seated at the right hand of the Father and interceding now, and soon returning Savior–must figure into the sermon to make it a Christian sermon.
A few thoughts on the subject….
1) A Christian sermon will be consistent with the Word of God, but more than that.
When I raised the question to a group of friends, more than one replied that a Christian sermon is simply biblical. That sounds right, but it’s inadequate. “Biblical” is not enough. A sermon on Creation may present a good exegesis of Genesis 1-2, but it could be acceptable in a synagogue. Where is Jesus in the story? (Answer: See Colossians 1:15ff.)
A sermon can be biblical, but not necessarily “Christian.” My friend Suzanne noted that she will listen to a Jewish sermon and think, “I believe that. But what about Jesus?”
2) A Christian sermon will point people to Jesus Christ, the only Savior.
The two sermons referenced above failed this test. The first pointed people to “friendship,” a rather nebulous target, and the second, to the preacher himself. Notice in our text, Philip preached Christ to the Samaritans and preached Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch.
3) A Christian sermon is the gospel, and the gospel is the Christian message.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “I believe that those sermons which are fullest of Christ are the most likely to be blessed to the conversion of the hearers. Let your sermons be full of Christ, from beginning to end crammed full of the gospel…. Every time you preach be sure to have much of Jesus Christ in the sermon.”
Pastors must be wary of the temptation to produce witty, anecdotal, moralistic, and even biblical presentations which evade the subject of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Even when our sermon comes from the Old Testament–and some of the greatest preaching ever will originate there!–in his study and on his face before the Lord, let the pastor ask of himself, ask of the text, and ask of the Holy Spirit:
–Did Jesus have something to say on this subject?
–Does this text point to Jesus in some way?
–Is there a “type” of Christ in this story?
–Where does the cross of Jesus fit in this scenario?
–Is there some event in the life and ministry of Jesus which speaks to this issue, this story, or this text?
This will require the pastor to be intimately familiar with the four Gospels, above all other portions of the New Testament. The entire New Testament is inspired of God, as is the Old Testament, but it does not all have the same usages and applications.
No preacher will always get this right. None of us is flawless in any ministry we undertake in His name and for His sake. And yet, “to know Him and to make Him known” (based on Philippians 3) must always remain the goal of our every sermon.
Preach Jesus, friend. People can get all that other stuff in every liberal church in the land.
Only Bible-believers will preach Jesus.