Good evening. Invite your attention to 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Spoke with a lady a little earlier,
and she remembers the first time I came. And I was wearing white pants and playing the instrument. And
that would have been 1984. It's been 35 years ago. I'm blessed to be back. I remember
some of you from 35 years ago. We were young once, weren't we? Well, I was so blessed to see
you here. blessed by the kindness of your pastor, his faithfulness
to the Lord, and your faithfulness as well here for these. You folks
have been through quite some trials, have you not? And with
the waters and the floods, and I believe the Lord had the right
man in the pastorate of this church when that happened, and
I may have been tempted to say, let's just put it down. I thank
the Lord for what he has done here, and thank the Lord for
you, and it's a blessing to be with you tonight. 2 Corinthians
chapter 4, verse 5. My subject is why we preach Christ
Jesus the Lord. Paul the apostle says, we do
not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves
your servants for Jesus' sake. I have endeavored to do that
with my ministry. I've not been completely faithful
to it, I will admit. But I have endeavored in my ministry
to preach Christ Jesus the Lord every time that the opportunity
is given in the pulpit. Every minister of Jesus Christ
does so. Every time we stand to preach
is an opportunity to preach Christ Jesus the Lord. I have had people say, well,
sometimes I preach from a text and I don't find Christ in it. Well, I've not found that text
yet. He's in the context. Every verse
leads to Christ. We should look for Christ in
every text. If you look closely enough, you're
going to find him. You look even in the genealogies
and the book of Numbers, and you'll find that these are leading
up to Jesus Christ, telling the forefathers and those who would
precede him and the line from which he would come and the people
that he came to save. Why do you preach Christ Jesus
the Lord? I have been asked that before.
Why do you feel it necessary to preach Christ Jesus the Lord
every time you get into the pulpit? Well, you did read my text, did
you not? You did read it. This is the
testimony. It's your testimony, is it not?
We preach Christ Jesus the Lord. Well, why? Well, okay. I'll take that as a good question.
I'll take that as a sincere question. And if you will, I'll try to
give you a sincere answer as to what it is to preach Christ
Jesus the Lord. First of all, I would have you
to know that Jesus Christ is the gospel. He is the good news. He is the glad tidings. Every time we stand up to preach
Christ, we are preaching the gospel. Every time we preach
the gospel, we preach Christ Jesus the Lord. We are not of
those who preach themselves. Who are they? And why do they
preach themselves? There's a man who preaches man's
free will. If he does, he denies the necessity
of Christ to make men free. There's a man who preaches salvation
by man's works. If he does, he denies the sufficiency
of the work of Christ in saving sinners. There's a man who preaches
commandments and laws and puts burdens on people. Why? He denies
the liberty that is found in Christ Jesus the Lord. There's
a man who preaches legal righteousness. Do this and you shall live. Do
this and you shall be justified. Why does he do so? He denies
the imputed righteousness of Christ. Why do men preach themselves? They do not know Christ. You
show me a man who knows Christ Jesus the Lord, he'll have to
preach Christ Jesus the Lord. You show me a man who preaches
something else, I'll show you a man who does not know Christ
Jesus the Lord. Why do they do so? fulfilled
the prophecy that Peter says that in the last days many will
come preaching as false prophets. Paul tells us of men who have
itching ears, you know they've heard the Gospel but there's
an itching in their ears that the Gospel does not satisfy so
they go around looking for some preacher who can stretch it for
them. And he does it by preaching himself. There are Many preachers who preach in
the way of Balaam do it for monetary reward. A lot of mercenaries
out there that claim to be preaching Christ and, you know, they're
out to make a name for themselves, out to make a living for themselves
in what they preach, but not so with the preaching of God's
preachers. I have heard a lot of men who
might make mention of Christ in a message and do not preach
Him. Do not preach Him. I do not want
to be found among that sort. Do not want to. I want to preach
Christ Jesus the Lord every time I'm in the pulpit. Why, you may
ask. Reason number one, we preach
Christ because we love Christ more than ourselves. You can
tell what a man loves most by what he preaches. It's just as
simple as it can be. A man preaches, he's not forced
to, he preaches what he loves most. Show me a man preaching
his church, his righteousness, his works, his name, his books,
his whatever it is, I'll show you a man who's in love with
himself. You show me a man who's preaching Christ, I'll show you
a man who is in love with Jesus Christ. We love him more than
we love ourselves. Paul speaks of some who are lovers
of themselves, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God and
having a form of godliness but denying its power and from such
turn away. Can you imagine, what if you
walked up to me and said, what can you tell me about your wife?
And I said, she's okay. You know, and that's about all
I had to say. Or, you know, how are your grandchildren? Yeah,
they're okay. No, go ahead and ask me, how
are your grandchildren? I've got a few stories to tell
you. I love my grandchildren. Ask me about my wife. How much
time do you have? But you see, I love her. In our
pulpits, what do we preach? What we love most. You show me
a man who does not preach Christ, I'll show you a man who doesn't
love him. We preach what we love most. Second, we preach Christ
because we're delighted in preaching Christ. It brings great pleasure
to us. And again, you can tell what
brings delight to a man by what he preaches. We preach Christ
because we take delight in it. The songwriter says this, and
it's true of all Christians, but especially is it true of
the ministers of Christ. I love to tell the story of unseen
things above. of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus
and His love. I love to tell the story because
I know it is true. It satisfies my longings as nothing
else can do. I love to tell the story, more
wonderful it seems, than all the golden fancies of all our
golden dreams. I love to tell the story, it
did so much for me, and that is just the reason I tell it
now to thee. We stand in the We love to preach
Christ. This story is worth telling. What is more worthy of preaching
than Christ and what He is and has done for sinners? Think about
this, folks. We preach Christ. We preach redemption
from bondage through Christ, deliverance from our captor through
Christ. justification from our condemnation
and guilt by Christ, sanctification from our uncleanness by Christ,
healing of our infirmities by Christ, cleansing from the leprosy
of sin by Christ. We preach glorification because
we're going to be like Him instead of like ourselves. He's He's
the, we delight in this. We delight in preaching Jesus
Christ as our Savior. We delight in preaching Him as
God manifested in the flesh and the only one who ever was, the
only person ever having the dual natures of deity and humanity.
We delight in preaching Him who went about doing good and healing
the sick and delivering the oppressed. We delight in preaching His miracles,
His teaching, His doctrine, His preaching. We delight in preaching
whom and what He is. I do not delight in talking about
anyone else like that. I find no one else worthy of
being preached when I get into a pulpit. I have read the works
of some great men. I've read some systematic theologies,
I've read some good messages, I've heard some, but my delight
is preaching Christ, folks. We preach Christ because we delight
in Him. Third, we preach Christ because
Christ must increase, but I must decrease. Folks, The man who
said those words was acclaimed by Jesus Christ as one of whom
no one born of woman was greater. None born of woman greater than
this man, John the Baptist. John the Baptist, what do you
think about Jesus Christ? He's preferred before me. I'm
not worthy to loose the sandals on his feet. He must increase,
but I must decrease. I mean, this great preacher,
Jesus speaks of John the Baptist as a great preacher, unsurpassed. And this man who is unsurpassed
says, no, no, he must increase and I must decrease. I've met
preachers. You've seen them on the television.
You've heard them on the radio. They want to increase their writings
and they have not much to say about Christ's. They exalt their
churches more than they exalt his. They exalt their personalities
more than they exalt his. They exalt everything about themselves
as though to say, I must increase. And if it be at the expense of
Christ, so be it. Not gospel preachers. He must
increase. I must decrease. In just a short time, I'm now
70 years old. I'm not going to live much longer.
And I will appreciate every year that I get, but I'm not going
to live forever. I know that. I'm not quite as
invincible as I was when I was 21. But you know? I'm going to die and go the way
of all flesh and folks will forget that Moose Park was ever around.
I know that. Doesn't bother me. Doesn't bother
me. I am here to serve my generation. And in serving my generation,
the message is, Christ must increase and I'm going to decrease. And
one of these days, I'm gone and nobody knows I was here, but
he will live forever. He will live forever and continue
to increase. That's why we preach Christ.
He must increase, but I must decrease. Fourth, we preach Christ
that in all things, he may have the preeminence. That is our
desire, that in all things, He has the preeminence. God the
Father gave him the preeminence in the work of creation. Christ
created it all. God gave to Jesus Christ the
preeminence in the work of providence. It is Christ who causes the sun
to rise every morning and the clouds to come and bring the
rains. And it is Christ who controls the seasons one by one. It is
Christ who controls all these things. God the Father says in
all things, Christ has the preeminence. Christ has the preeminence in
salvation. It's all about Jesus Christ.
And Christ has preeminence in this book. In this book. Now what do preachers do? We
preach this book. This is what we preach. I spent some years in a seminary.
Mandatory chapel. Five days a week. And we had
to be there. Had some of the most famous preachers
from across America and some from foreign countries came and
preached in chapel. And I recall on a number of occasions,
and yes, I could be perhaps a little picky, but I would take out my
pen and paper and keep a tally of every time Christ was mentioned. I have heard preachers, famous
preachers, expound whole chapters and never preach Christ in the
gospel. I've heard it many times. I have heard many famous preachers
preach messages and just give a passing reference to Jesus
Christ. Rarely did I ever hear a preacher,
during the days I was in seminary, and it was a seminary in free
will, but rarely did I ever hear a preacher even giving a serious
attempt to preach Christ. They could preach passages of
scripture and completely miss him, and I'm sitting there wondering,
how did you miss him? He jumps off of the page at you. Well, some preachers look at
Christ or they look at the Scriptures and they see just about everything
there is in the Scriptures. Jesus said, these are those who
testify of me. He expounded in all the Scriptures
the things concerning himself. Well, surely you would think
that the man who preaches the Scriptures would preach Christ.
Then in all things he must have the preeminence. Fifth, we preach
Christ because we are commissioned to preach Christ. Bear in mind,
I'm giving you some reasons, seven of them all together. This
is number five. They are not necessarily in the
order of their importance, all right? This is a random order.
You can rearrange it any way you want to. But look at this
fifth reason. We preach Christ because we are
commissioned to preach Christ. Jesus said, go into all the world
and preach the gospel. What is the gospel? I just told
you, it's Christ. Christ is the good news. Christ
is the glad tidings. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. Preaching Christ in the gospel
is not an option. It is our duty. We go into all
the world to preach Christ. Everywhere, preach Christ. I've known missionaries who would come to the U.S. looking for monetary support,
and when they go and they get invitations to preach in various
places, and it is as though before they go to preach to a church,
it's, which way is the wind blowing? What do they believe here? You
know, so before you go to the church, you find, what do they
believe? That's what I'll preach. That's what I'll preach. I've
seen this happen, you know, particularly with men from other countries
who come to the U.S. looking for funds, and if they
find this church preaches this and believes that, that's what
they preach, you know? And if another church preaches
something else, they can preach that also. And they have to be
careful that, you know, that they don't let it be known in
every place what they really believe, if they believe anything,
but there are many, many who can adapt their message to adapt,
you know, to fit their congregation. Not a gospel preacher. Not a
gospel preacher. It may get us in trouble, the
gospel that we preach. Ralph Barnard was run out of
more than one town. And you know, a number of Christ
preachers have been run out of various places, but they're not
going to change the message. We were commissioned to preach
Christ. It's what we do. We preach Christ. We exalt Christ. That's what our commission is.
If I fail to preach Christ, I have failed my commission. And therefore,
we preach Christ Jesus the Lord. Number six, we preach Christ
because we are compelled to preach Christ. There is a compelling
in this. Paul says, necessity is laid
upon me. Woe is unto me if I do not preach
the gospel. I have to preach it. I have to
preach it. There was a preacher by the name
of Jeremiah. whom the Lord called to preach,
and Jeremiah went out to preach, and things did not go too well
for Jeremiah, and the people turned against him, and so Jeremiah
came back to the Lord, and he said, I quit. I quit. And what'd you say? I quit! And the Lord is though to say,
no you don't, you don't quit. And then Jeremiah says that his
word was in me as a fire shut up in my bones and I was weary
with forbearing and could not stay. Many times, I will admit, many
times I have, I have wondered how easy would
it be to quit. And, you know, the times of discouragement
and times when instead of being on top of the mountain, the mountain
was on top of me. And at times at that This calling
and this necessity, it's laid upon me. Woe if I do not preach
Christ. His word was in me as a fire
shut up in my bones and I was weary with forbearance. I'm compelled
to preach Christ. Compelled to preach Christ. Ezekiel
is visited by the Lord and the Lord said, Ezekiel, you're a
watchman on the wall. People in the city, they're dependent
upon you. And if you see the enemy coming
and you say nothing and the enemy comes and destroys them, their
blood is on your hands. Now, if you see the enemy coming
and you tell the people and they do nothing and they die, their
blood is on their own hands. Your hands are clean. I realize
that tonight that If I do not preach the gospel, the blood
of all my hearers is up on my hands. A little more than 35 years ago,
I was ministering on an island, and the issue of abortion became
big news. You know, people, politicians
were fighting abortion. And in my youth, I thought, all
right, I need to weigh in on this subject. And so, one Lord's
Day morning, I preached a message on abortion. There was no gospel
in it. I preached a message on abortion.
Every statement I made was true. I could back up every word I
said by scripture. In attendance that day, there
was a lady who had never attended our worship service before. And
she was agreeing with every word I said, every statement I made.
I could see the nodding of the head. I could tell from the expressions
on her face that she was agreeing with every word I said as I preached
this message about abortion. And after the message, she never
came back. Never came back. I had one opportunity to preach
the gospel to that woman, and I preached something else. It's
been more than 35, it's going close to 40 years now, and that
thought has plagued me repeatedly and oftentimes. I hope and pray
that God, you know, let her at least hear the gospel somewhere,
by some preacher, by some means, but I know she did not hear it
from me. Did not hear it from me. And dying in unbelief, if
she does, blood's on my hands. I had an opportunity and I didn't. And I vowed it would never happen
again. Never again. I wanted to be free of the blood
of all men and the only way I can do it is to preach Christ. I'm
compelled to do so. This necessity of the souls of
men. When Peter and John are arrested
and told to quit preaching, they said, whether it is right in
the sight of God to listen to you more than to God you judge. But we cannot but speak the things
which we have seen and heard. And that's my testimony. Folks,
I've got to tell you what I've seen and heard. I have seen Christ. I have heard Christ. I preach
Christ. That's your testimony, right?
All of us gospel preachers, that is our testimony. I've never
seen Mohammed, never heard of him, or never heard from him,
so I'm not gonna preach him, okay? And Joseph Smith never
appeared to me, and never heard a word he ever said, so I'm not
gonna preach him. Christ has appeared to me. For
it is the God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness
who is shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I have seen
Christ. I have heard Christ. I will preach
Christ. I must preach to you the things
that I have seen and heard. I'm compelled. War was unto me.
Let me say this also. If woe is unto me, if I do not
preach Christ, if it is necessary for me to preach Christ, and
if I do so, it is necessary for you to believe Christ, and woe
is unto you if you do not. It works both ways, folks. Necessity
is upon me to preach Christ, and necessity is upon you to
believe Christ. Which brings me to my final point.
We preach Christ so that sinners will call upon Him and be saved. And this truth is set forth in
Romans 10. For whoever calls on the name
of Jehovah shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach, unless
they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of those who preach the gospel
of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. God will not
save you apart from a preacher. He's necessary, folks. He's necessary. God does not save sinners. by
them going out into the forest and hearing the wind whistling
through the branches. God does not save men while they're
fishing in the stream and enjoying nature. It doesn't happen that
way, folks. Well, I think I can be close
to God in those places. You might be close to God and
you might be as far away from God as you can be. The only way
that God saves sinners is through a preacher. Through a preacher. God never saved a single solitary
sinner through a preacher preaching himself. God never saved a sinner
through a false preacher. God never saved a sinner through
a preacher preaching himself, his own doctrine, his own church,
his whatever it is of himself. The only way God will save a
sinner is by a God-called preacher preaching a God-given message,
and that God-given message is Jesus Christ. And that is why
I preach Christ. That is why we preach Christ. Paul says, we. He's not speaking
merely for himself. We preach Christ Jesus the Lord. Let others preach what they will.
I'm telling you, folks, This is an awesome responsibility
and a blessed duty, and it is a privilege and an
honor to preach the gospel, and that's why we do it. Now believe
the gospel that you've heard. Oh God, our Father, to the glory
of your name, to the honor of your Son, Jesus Christ, bless
this message, we pray. Bless the gospel we've endeavored
to preach, bless our hearts to believe in your son, in whose
name we pray, amen.