The Need for Christian Preaching

​Colossians 1:28 ~ “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”
 
One of the great dangers in the modern era of Christian preaching is to present the call to a changed life without a surrendered one. Self-help messages that give spiritual advice for the betterment of your personal life sound reasonable to the listening ear, but they lack any true transformative power for they forsake the proclamation of the One who does the work of transforming the heart. But the great apostle to the Gentiles did not miss the true message. And, my friends, if you are reading this and are a pastor or preacher to the people of God, or if you hold any opportunities to make proclamation to any who would listen, then I would urge you to heed this writing today. For there is only One who can save, One who can transform a sinner into a saint—and He is the LORD Jesus Christ.
 
And that is where the Apostle Paul begins in our text today. “Him we proclaim.” The central theme to any Christian truth is Christ Jesus the LORD. And this is where we start: the Person we Preach must be the proclamation of the preacher. Any effort to help people find a better life or rebuild a shattered one that does not point the sinner to the Savior nor point the wayward to the King will ultimately lead people astray. Paul expressly declared this in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Beloved, if you are willingly to heed spiritual messages that do not bring you to the LORD, I would urge you to depart from such teachings. That which does not elevate and magnify Christ, no matter how winsome, is a masquerade. Remember, the servants of the enemy are disguised as ministers of righteousness (see 2 Corinthians 11:15).
 
How, then, should such proclaimers conduct their work? Paul expresses it as this: “warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom.” This is the Presentation in Preaching. Through words of warning and instruction, the Apostle Paul would have the church taught to follow the LORD Jesus. The warnings are given to divert the wandering soul away from the wrong path. The teachings are given to guide them on the right. And it is done with all wisdom—the wisdom of Christ. The world doesn’t understand the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18 declares, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” At every point of your life and mine we must turn to Christ, trust in Christ and repent of all things that do not adhere to Christ. If at any point we believe that our own wisdom can deliver us, let us turn back to the Word of God and hearken to the warnings and teachings that He has given. 1 Corinthians 1:30 states, “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
 
And we come now to the great demand upon the minster of the gospel: “that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” This, my friends, is the Purpose for Preaching. You may be reading this and saying to yourself that you do not hold any official duty or office that requires you to preach. Be that as it may, it does not release you from your pursuit of your own maturity in Christ. Do you seek out those who will sharpen you with the Word of God, and not pander to the desires of the world? Paul warned Timothy that a day will come when such people arise, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3). And if you are reading this and have the duty of preaching and teaching God’s eternal truth, then I would implore you to stand firm upon the solid foundation of Christ and His Word. Do not veer to the right or left, but stick to the narrow way. For the great purpose of preaching is to bring people to full maturity in Christ. As John the Baptist would declare, “He must increase, and I must decrease” (John 3:30). If the pursuit is to find your own inner strength, to discover your great destiny or superior purpose in this world, who then is doing the “increasing?” Let the preaching of Christ bring us to humble ourselves before the One who is exalted above all. For true Christian maturity will always and only be found when we are fully and completely His.
 
There is the need for the clear and valiant preaching of Christ. I write this today in the hopes that it stirs you up to listen to those who both warn and teach with His wisdom. And, if you are to be one such preacher, then you must adhere to this directive from the apostle in order to fulfill the purpose of bringing others to maturity in Jesus.
 
In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

---