Christ-Centered Preaching

 

            Should not the goal of every gospel preacher (or of every man who calls himself a gospel preacher) be to preach like Christ and the apostles?  How many of the preachers on television know or even seem to care how Christ and his apostles preached?   If you have watched most television evangelists, you know how far some of these men have strayed from the biblical ideal of preaching.  Some of them almost never quote any scripture.  A few of them quote scripture and then misapply it.  The number of television preachers who even attempt to analyze biblical passages is very small indeed.  I have sat for hours listening to the preachers on Trinity Broadcasting Network and not hear one scripture discussed in depth.  They almost never examine the meaning of words in their contexts.  Can any of this be called “Christ-centered preaching?”  What excuse do men have for doing any other kind of preaching?

 

            Would you have a problem admitting that Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost was Christ-centered?  Peter emphasized that Jesus of Nazareth was “a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know” (Acts 2:22).  The miracles, wonders and signs were God’s way of telling the Jews on Pentecost that Jesus was God’s chosen messenger from heaven.  The one God had sent into the world to save the world had been “delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.”  The Jews supported by the Romans had crucified Jesus on a Roman cross.  But it was not possible that the Son of God could be kept in the grave.  Peter quoted a prophecy from David that God’s Holy One would not see corruption.  Peter further explained: “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is dead and buried, and his grave is with us unto this day.  Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne: he seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, neither his flesh did see corruption.  This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses.  Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has shed forth this which you now see and hear.  For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he says himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I make your foes your footstool.  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made this same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:23-36).

 

            Peter’s powerful sermon convinced the Jews that they had crucified their own Messiah for whom they had been waiting for centuries.  “Now when (the Jews) heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do” (Acts 2:37)?  If the Calvinist were right, the question the Jews raised was out of order.  If they already believed--and you know they did, or they would not have asked what to do--there was nothing more they had to do.  Calvinists teach that salvation comes at the point of faith.  The Jews believed the preaching of Peter, but they asked what else they had to do.  If Christ-centered preaching were rooted in the doctrine of faith only, Peter should have informed the Jews of that fact.  He should have told them what one Chattanooga, Tennessee, preacher said he told a young man.  “It is too late for you to do anything.  Christ has already done it all.”  One radio preacher argued that there are “no rules for the righteous.”  He says there are no commandments, works, rules or regulations for the salvation of the soul and no kind of works is involved in the salvation of the sinner or in the life of the Christian (East Main Informer (May 22, 2001), Tupelo, MS.

 

            If what these preachers teach were true, the apostle Peter did not understand God’s plan for saving man.  When the Jews asked what they had to do to be saved, Peter commanded them--not suggested to them, but commanded them: “Repent, and be baptized, everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).  Am I telling you that Christ-centered preaching must include baptism for the remission of sins?  That is what an inspired apostle taught.  Do you honestly believe modern preachers--or ancient preachers either, for that matter--can improve on apostolic preaching?  Do you not find it profoundly disturbing when preachers decide they know more about salvation than God’s inspired spokesmen?

 

            Acts 8 records the conversion of the Samaritans and of the Ethiopian eunuch.  After the martyrdom of Stephen, the Christians at Jerusalem “were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”  The good news was that those who “were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.  Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them” (Acts 8:1, 4-5).  The inspired writer does not give us a full report of Philip’s preaching, but we know it was Christ-centered.  What were the results of Peter’s Christ-centered preaching?  Will you please remove any prejudice from your mind and listen to what Luke says about Philip’s preaching?  “And when they believed the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12).

 

            Would Christ-centered preaching necessarily include the kingdom of God, the name of Christ and baptism?  Please let the scriptures speak for themselves.  “From that time Jesus began to preach, and say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 4:17).  Peter told some Jews in the city of Jerusalem: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).  Jesus commissioned his disciples to “go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe shall be condemned” (Mk. 16:15-16).  Do you understand now why Christ-centered preaching in Samaria involved the kingdom of God, the name of Christ and baptism?  Has God’s plan for saving man been altered since the close of the New Testament?  If the plan of salvation has been changed, by what authority has it been changed?

 

            After Philip the evangelist had preached to the Samritans, an angel of the Lord instructed him to go “toward the south unto the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert.  Philip made contact with a man from Ethiopia--a eunuch under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians.  As the Ethiopian official rode along in his chariot, he was reading from the book of Isaiah.  Philip asked the eunuch if he understood what he was reading.  The eunuch responded: “How can I except some man should guide me?”  Philip joined the eunuch in the chariot.  The place in Isaiah from which the eunuch was reading was as follows: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so he opened not his mouth: in his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation?  For his life is taken from the earth.”  The eunuch asked Philip about the meaning of Isaiah 53:7-8.  “Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:26-35).  Do you have any reason to doubt that Philip’s preaching was Christ-centered?  So what happens when preaching is Christ-centered?  The eunuch asked Philip: “Here is water; what hinders me form being baptized?”  And where did the eunuch learn about baptism?  Was that subject included in preaching Jesus?  Where else would the eunuch have learned about baptism?  The eunuch commanded the chariot to stand still: and Philip and the eunuch went down into the water; and Philip baptized the eunuch (Acts 8:36-38).

 

            Paul visited the synagogue at Corinth.  He “reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.”  What was the message Paul preached at Corinth?  He “testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ” (Acts 18:4-5).  The Jewish reception of the gospel was not exactly overwhelming.  In fact, the Jews “opposed themselves and blasphemed.”  Paul was troubled by their reaction and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go to the Gentiles.”  Please remember that Paul’s sermon was devoted to the topic: “Jesus was the Christ.”  Was that Christ-centered preaching?  You know it was.  So what was the response to Paul’s Christ-centered preaching?  “And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized” (Acts 18:6,8).  Could any truth be simpler than what I have read to you from the book of Acts?  There is nothing complicated about the conversions I have reviewed with you.  So will you think on these conversions and render obedience to the gospel as did the people on Pentecost, the Samaritans, the Ethiopian eunuch and the Corinthians?

 

            While we are thinking about the conversion of the Corinthians, it should help us understand more about Christ-centered preaching to read a few passages from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.  Paul knew that preaching a crucified Savior would not find ready acceptance among the Jews or the Greeks.  He wrote: “For the preaching (literally, the word) of the cross is to them who are perishing foolishness; but unto us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:23-24).  Did Jewish and Greek opposition prevent Paul’s preaching Christ crucified?  “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.  But unto them who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:23-24).  In the very next chapter, Paul declared: “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).

 

            Would Christ-centered preaching be the same as preaching Christ crucified?  Would it be the same as preaching the whole counsel of God?  If you want to know what preaching Christ crucified means, study Paul’s writings--all of his writings.  But study also the epistles of Peter, James, John and Jude.  Is there even the slightest possibility that these men were not preaching Christ crucified in every one of their writings?  The four gospels, the book of Acts, the epistles and the book of Revelation are all Christ-centered.  They are all devoted to Christ crucified.  If they are not, we have been deceived about Christ-centered preaching.

 

            For many years I have done a great amount of preaching and teaching on marriage, divorce and remarriage.  I have conducted dozens and dozens of workshops on the family.  If I preach what the Bible says about the family, can I consider the sermons on the home Christ-centered?  Am I preaching Christ crucified when I talk about marriage, human sexuality, parenthood, and related topics?  Please remember Paul’s statement: “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).  Paul preached on the family.  He must have considered preaching on the family preaching Christ crucified or he would not have discussed those topics. One example will have to suffice.

 

            Paul’s letter to the Ephesians provides considerable information about husbands and wives, parents and children.  “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Savior of the body.  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it: that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.  So ought men to love their own wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no man every yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church.  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife.  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.  Nevertheless let everyone of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.  Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.  Honor you father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.  And, you fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 5:22-6:4).  If these Christ-centered truths had been preached more forcefully and faithfully through the years, there would be less trouble in the homes of America.  I urge the preachers in my audience to preach what the Bible teaches on the home. 

 

            Not long ago, I heard a radio preacher say, “All you have to do is call God Father.  That is all.  Just call God Father.”  I wonder if that preacher has any idea about the meaning of Christ-centered preaching.  Where in the word of God did he discover his view of salvation?  I have been preaching the gospel as long as that preacher has lived.  I have yet to find any teaching that even faintly resembles what he was advocating.  In fact, I have found the very opposite.  Had that preacher ever read what Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount?  “Not everyone who says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?  And in thy name cast out demons?  And in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you who work iniquity” (Mt. 7:21-23).  Can you find the so-called “sinner’s prayer” in these words?  Should not preachers pay close attention to the little word “does?”  We must do the will of our Father who is in heaven.  That means more than just calling God Father.  If calling God Father is all one has to do to be saved, then the members of cultic groups and of the Eastern religions will be saved.  Many of them call God Father.

 

            I have given you examples of conversion.  All of those conversions were taken from God’s inspired book of conversions.  But just in case some may not have completely understood what God demands of alien sinners, let us review what the word of God teaches on that topic.  Did you notice that in all the cases of conversion I mentioned there was always the preaching of the word--always?  Peter preached to the Jews on Pentecost.  Philip preached to the Samaritans and to the Ethiopian eunuch.  Paul preached to the Corinthians.  There should be no surprise in that fact.  “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17).  “But without faith it is impossible to please God: for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6).  Jesus told some Jews: “I said therefore unto you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins” (John 8:24).  You can see from these and many other New Testament passages that Christianity is a system of faith.  We must have faith in God, in his Son, in his word and in his church.

 

            But faith alone is a dead faith.  Our faith in God must lead us to obey his commandments.  One of his commandments requires us to change our minds and our lives.  That commandment is called repentance.  Peter commanded the Jews on Solomon’s porch: “Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).  It is unfortunate that the King James translators rendered the Greek “be converted.”  The Greek is in the active voice--not in the passive voice.  Peter commanded: “Repent and turn.”  Repentance is absolutely essential for conversion to Christ.  Preaching that fails to stress repentance is not Christ-centered.

 

            Sinners must confess Christ before men if they want Christ to confess them to God almighty (Mt. 10:32-33).  We must confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus and believe in our hearts that God has raised Jesus from the dead.  “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom 10:9-10).   If men do not believe in Christ and do not confess him before men, they have not obeyed the gospel (Rom. 10:16).

 

            The book of Acts has three accounts of Saul’s conversion--Act 9, 22 and 26.  Ananias, a faithful gospel preacher, commanded Saul: “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins” (Acts 22:16).  How did Saul, who later became the apostle Paul, understand what he had done to become a Christian?  Will you please listen with an open heart?  “Do you no know, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by glory of God the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Rom 6:3-6).  Do you honestly believe preaching can be Christ-centered and not emphasize these Bible truths?

 

Winford Claiborne

The International Gospel Hour

P.O. Box 118

Fayetteville, TN 37334

 

Back to Home Page

Back to Transcripts Titles