Preaching Christ

Q: What does the Bible say about the role of the Holy Spirit?

The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit guides believers into all truth and glorifies Christ. In John 16:12-15, Jesus explains that the Holy Spirit, referred to as the Spirit of truth, will guide His followers into all truth. This means that the Holy Spirit is not only a teacher but also a glorifier of Christ. The Holy Spirit's primary role is to reveal Christ to believers, showing them the depths of His love and salvation. This is essential for our understanding as it indicates that our growth in grace and knowledge of the Lord is facilitated by the Holy Spirit's work in us. As we learn more about Christ, we become more aware of our own need for Him.

Q: How do we know that preaching Christ is essential?

Preaching Christ is essential because He is the focal point of the Gospel and the source of our salvation. The importance of preaching Christ is emphasized throughout Scripture, particularly in 1 Corinthians 1:23-24, where it states that 'we preach Christ crucified.' This reflects the belief that Christ is the only Savior for sinners and that His work is central to the Christian faith. Preachers are called to be servants who proclaim not themselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord (2 Corinthians 4:5). This understanding directs both preaching and doctrine, reminding us that everything should center on Jesus and His redemptive work, ensuring that believers understand the gravity and glory of the Gospel.

Q: Why is it vital to focus on Christ in sermons?

Focusing on Christ is vital because it teaches us about our dependence on Him for salvation and spiritual growth. Sermons that focus on Christ remind believers of their complete reliance on Him for salvation and life. As stated in Romans 1:16, the Gospel is the 'power of God unto salvation.' This means that all teachings should revolve around Christ's person and work: His life, death, resurrection, and intercession for us. When preachers emphasize Christ, they help congregants understand that their worth and identity come solely from Him. This helps believers grow in grace as they are pulled away from self-reliance and directed towards the sufficiency of Christ, who is their true source of hope and transformation.

Q: What is the significance of preaching the blood of Christ?

The blood of Christ is significant because it is the means of justification and reconciliation for believers. The preaching of Christ's blood holds immense theological significance as it represents the sacrificial atonement for sin. Ephesians 1:7 states, 'In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.' This emphasizes how the blood of Christ is central to the believer's redemption and relationship with God. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22), and thus, preaching this truth ensures that believers understand the cost of their salvation. When the Gospel is presented in this way, it fosters a deeper appreciation for grace and the gravity of sin while glorifying Christ as the perfect sacrifice.

Open your Bibles, if you would, to John 16, where we read verses 12 to 15 of John 16, where our blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, tells us, tells his disciples, about how the Holy Spirit will teach his people about Christ. Now, this is vital, beloved. This is vital.

The older I get in my walk with the Lord, the more I just want to hear about Christ. I was listening to some eschatology things from a Reformed perspective this morning, but they were focusing so much on the Antichrist and so much on this, and I thought, well, you know, I just want to learn about Christ. I want to learn about my King. And I understand you look at things like that in eschatology, but really the book of Revelation is the unveiling of Christ. It's the unveiling of Christ. And he's gonna destroy false religion. He's gonna destroy the system of will worship, which is against him, which exalts man up here and brings him down here.

So what's vital for me as a preacher? To preach Christ. What's vital for you to hear? The preaching of Christ. Just as it's vital for me to hear that too. So the name of the message is preach Christ. Preach Christ. Let's read verses 12 to 15 of John chapter 16.

Our Lord speaks this to his disciples. He says, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. You're not ready to hear those things. You're not ready to hear those things. And that's why the Lord teaches us as we grow in grace, he teaches us and unveils more about himself. The Holy Spirit does that, unveils more about Christ, because we couldn't bear it all at once.

It's amazing. And then he says, it says, hallebate when he, the spirit of truth, and that's the Holy Spirit of God, right, is come. He will guide you into all truth. Who is truth? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ is truth, the Bible's truth, which is his word, right? It's truth. Holy men were moved to pen these words by the Holy Spirit of God. It's wonderful. How about when he, the spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself. Hmm. But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come." Oh, my.

He's showing us that after we die, we're going to be in glory forever, isn't he? He's showing us that we're daily loaded down with benefits, that he's ever with us. He said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. He says, when you go through troubled water, I'll be there with you. Oh my, it's beautiful. And then he says in John 16, 14, he shall glorify me.

The Lord says, the Holy Spirit's gonna come and he's going to teach you about me. He's not gonna speak about himself. He's gonna teach you about me. So what should we preachers be doing? We should be preaching Christ, shouldn't we? We should be teaching our hearers about Christ, knowing that only God, the Holy Spirit, can make it effectual.

Now, there's thousands of things in the scripture that people can get carried away with, but it'll take their eyes off Christ. People do it all the time. These false preachers, they get up and they start talking about, give me your money and I'm gonna bless you, or God's gonna bless you. That's not how it works.

I'm already blessed in Christ. I'm already rich in Christ. My, and whatever lot I am in life, that's by God's ordained purpose and will. My, but he shall glorify me. So Christ is telling us here that the Holy Spirit will glorify Christ. For he will receive of mine, who are the mine? All those who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world by the Father and given to Christ, they're his, right? By a gift, a love gift from the Father. And he shall show it unto you. He's gonna show us Christ. He's going to teach us about Christ.

Isn't that amazing? Oh my. And remember, these disciples aren't guys who went to seminary and everything. They're a bunch of fishermen and tax collectors and all these, but they're being taught by the master, aren't they? And he's telling them, here, the Holy Spirit's going to teach you. Oh, isn't that wonderful?

My. All the accolades of man from seminaries, who cares? Are you preaching Christ? Are you exalting Christ? Oh, my. You know what? You know what I like to put on what Norm Wells put? I put Pastor Wayne Boyd SS. You know what that means? Save sinner. Oh, my. Don't need all these other long things. SS, save sinner.

That's me is that you praise God praises my name my My then he says this He shall glorify me for he will receive of mine and shall show it unto you all things that the father hath are mine So Christ saying they're all mine. I got all power Therefore said I that he shall take of mine and show it unto you.

The Holy Spirit's going to show us Christ. He's going to reveal to us Christ. He's going to reveal to us who Christ is. And he's also going to reveal to us what we are. Oh, my, bankrupt sinners needing the Savior. And then he's going to regenerate us and give us faith to believe on Christ. This is glorious. And it's all planned and purposed by God. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing what? By the Word of God.

So, I read something about Spurgeon this week. He said, a sermon preached that does not begin with Christ, sustain with Christ, and end with Christ, is a sermon that should never be preached. Now, use that as a measuring stick to what you're hearing. Oh my. Start with Christ, sustain with Christ, and end with Christ. If it doesn't do that, it should never be preached. My, my. That's why we must preach Christ. That's why Travis and I, we must preach Christ. We must, we must preach Christ. We must.

My. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Now, people try all kinds of things to reach people for Christ. They do new or spectacular things. But notice in our text, in John 16, 14, "'He,' the Holy Spirit, "'shall glorify me, for he will receive of mine "'and show it unto you.'" Do you notice it's nothing spectacular or new? Huh. All these gimmicks people use to try to get people in the church. Preach Christ. Preach Christ. My.

People says, oh, well, you need tongues, you need fleshy emotion, you need healings. No, you don't. You need Christ. You need Christ. We preach Christ and Him crucified. That's what I need. Do you need to hear that? I sure need to hear that. And warn to me if I don't preach Christ. Warn to me if I don't preach the gospel.

My, the Holy Spirit finds Christ's glory in Christ Himself and teaches us about Christ. Why do our hearts burn within us when we're talking about Christ? Because the Holy Spirit's teaching us and glorifying Christ through that. If we want to honor Christ, if we want to glorify Christ, then we must preach Christ in his redeemed blood, shed for sinners, bonafide sinners. And I stand before you a man preaching Christ who's saved by the blood of Christ in him alone. I'm worthless. Outside of Christ, I'm worthless. I'm worthless anyways. People say, well, you can't talk like that, Wayne. Oh, yes, I can. The only worth I find is in Christ and him alone. My, he must increase and I must decrease. My, oh my.

So what am I going to preach? Well, I'm going to preach about his deity. He's God in the flesh. I'm going to preach about his person. He's totally sinless. No thought sin, no deed sin. I'm going to preach about the fact that he became man. God became a man to die. I'm going to preach about his life. He lived the perfect life in our room and place.

Fulfilling every jot and tittle of the law for for his people as the great substitute Then I'm gonna teach about his death How he shed his blood to save us from our sins. Oh My it's the blood beloved. It's the blood of Christ. We're made nigh by the blood of Christ But bought the God by the blood of Christ And he died.

He really died. He was buried. And then he rose again. I'm going to preach about his resurrection. Oh, he rose from the grave. And then I'm going to preach about his ascension. He's up in heaven. And I'm going to preach about how he's interceding for his people. And then I'm going to preach about his return. He's coming back. He's coming back. People mocking. I used to mock before the Lord saved me. It's natural for a natural man to mock. But oh, after he saves you, you know he's coming. Because the Holy Spirit's taught us, hasn't he? Oh, yes he is. Oh my, I'll tell you why.

Many today preach about the church, they do church history, they do all these things. All these preachers of all, they teach about all these different preachers. They may even teach about doctrine. Oh, yeah. They preach about the commandments. Oh, you have to, the commandments. Well, praise God, they're fulfilled in Christ. I'm not saying we shouldn't talk about these things, but they, and sometimes they preach a series of message on those who used to preach Christ. I've seen online guys preaching about Luther's life and about all this stuff. And they're not preaching Christ. Oh, my. Oh, my. Or they, this is one, they preach on the conduct and the conversation of the believer.

The conduct and the, do you know how, do you know how I learned how to walk with Christ? Look into Christ. The scripture tells me look to Christ. I fall into a ditch on my own. Is it so for you? And the Lord picks me up, puts me back on my feet, and has me look to him. Oh my.

And then some preach on the duties and responsibilities of the believer. You know, God's people willingly serve Christ. You don't have to tell them. They want to. They desire to serve Christ. Isn't that not true, beloved? We desire to serve the Lord in this church, don't we? We love it. He's our Redeemer. He's our Savior. He's the one who plucked us out of the pit we were in. He found us. We didn't find Him. And he said to us, fear not.

Oh my, just like he said to Abraham, didn't he? In Christ. Oh my. But there's few messages nowadays on the person and work of Christ. This is what we are to preach. We're to preach on the person and work of Christ, what he did, who he was. My. We need to honor Christ. We need to glorify him. My, oh my. And who is the preacher's commission to preach you? Christ. Christ.

You know, again, you're gonna, you're gonna, people say, well, what about practical application for my life? You're gonna learn how to live life by hearing the gospel. Now, do we sin all the time to our shame? And it guts us, doesn't it? Oh, my. But praise God, my salvation, and if you're a believer, your salvation does not depend upon what we do. It's all dependent upon Christ and His blood and righteousness. And we say glory to His name.

Listen to this in Acts chapter 17, verses 1 to 3. is written about Paul. Now, when they had passed through Amphilos and Apollina, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was, so this is what he normally done, went in unto them and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. That's the Old Testament. And listen to what he's doing. Listen to what he's doing. He's not debating them about this and that. Listen to what he's doing.

Acts 17, 3, opening and alleging that Christ, the Messiah, must have suffered and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus whom I preach to you is Christ. That's who we're to preach! Christ! The only Savior of sinners, the great substitute for sinners. My. Then Paul writes this in Romans, so much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel. The gospel's all about Christ, isn't it? Yeah?

To you that are in Rome also, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. No, he's not ashamed, for it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And then over in 1 Corinthians 1, he says, but we preach Christ crucified. unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

My, isn't it beautiful? Isn't it beautiful? And then, of course, over in 2 Corinthians 4, verses 5 and 6, says this, for we preach not ourselves, We preach not ourselves. When I get in this pulpit, I'm not preaching about me. You know that. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. See, preachers are servants for the church. My. For God, who commanded the light to shine on the darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Praise his mighty name. Then in 1 Corinthians 2, Paul pens these words, for I am determined. Oh, he's determined to do something, isn't he? For I'm determined. What's he determined to do? For I am determined.

Not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Look at that. I'm not going to get caught up in all this theology stuff. I'm not going to get caught up in denominational rules and regulations. I'm going to preach Christ. I'm determined not to know anything but Christ and Him crucified.

And that's a man who's focused, isn't he? Man, this would be good advice for old preachers and young preachers and preachers in between, eh? Preach Christ. The only Savior of sins. Hold them up to a lost and dying world and say, flee to Christ. Flee to Christ and be saved. Or else perish in your sins. For without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. and their salvation only through the blood of Christ for sinners. Praise the name of Jesus, amen and amen.

Preaching Christ

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the role of the Holy Spirit?

How do we know that preaching Christ is essential?

Why is it vital to focus on Christ in sermons?

What is the significance of preaching the blood of Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Wayne Boyd

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Preaching Christ

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the role of the Holy Spirit?

How do we know that preaching Christ is essential?

Why is it vital to focus on Christ in sermons?

What is the significance of preaching the blood of Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Wayne Boyd

Comments

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