Next level preachers find their way to Christ.
Next level preachers find their way to Christ.
Note: If you’re looking to grow as a communicator, I’d like to personally help. Click here for more info.
The nineteenth century preacher, Charles Spurgeon, was adamant how every sermon should wind its way to Christ. In talking to a group of young ministers, Spurgeon said: “Don’t you know, young man, that from every town and every village and every hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London? So from every text of Scripture there is a road to Christ. And my dear brother, your business is, when you get to a text, to say, now, what is the road to Christ? I have never found a text that had not got a road to Christ in it, and if ever I do find one, I will go over hedge and ditch but I would get at my Master, for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savor of Christ in it” (Lectures to My Students, page 49).
Jesus would agree with Spurgeon. In John 5, our Savior said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39). What a statement, especially when we consider the “Scriptures” Jesus refers to is what we today know as the Old Testament. Yep, everywhere we look in the bible, there’s Jesus. Let me give you a few examples:
I Samuel 16. The story of David and Goliath is not about how God wants to kill the giants in your life. We actually see Christ. Have you ever wondered why both sides agreed to whoever won between David and Goliath, their whole nation would win? This wasn’t just a gentleman’s agreement, or a nice thing to do, but something called, “representative warfare”. David represents the covenant people of God, so his victory becomes theirs. What is Jesus called? The “Son of David”. On the cross he goes to war with Satan and his forces, and whoever places their faith in Jesus receives his victory since Christ is our representative.
Psalm 55. In this psalm, we see David agonizing over the hurt he received when he was betrayed by his close friend Ahithophel. Towards the end of the psalm, David exhorts us to, “Cast our burden upon the Lord”. Jesus, too, was betrayed (interesting, both Judas and Ahithophel would commit suicide), and on the cross, Jesus cast himself on God.
Proverbs. While it may appear Proverbs doesn’t point to Jesus, look closer. In the book, wisdom is personified as a person. To the Corinthians, Paul refers to Christ as, “the wisdom of God”. What’s more, the whole book of Proverbs can be summed up in the word, “listen”. Wise people listen, fools do not. What is the ultimate act of foolishness? To spend your life not listening to God, and rejecting the gospel, while you live your life on your own terms. And what is the wisest thing we can ever do? Submit ourselves to God and receive by grace through faith, the gospel of Christ.
Okay, so how do we as preachers grow in our skills at getting to Christ in every sermon?
Ask yourself THE question. If you got a call that a non-Christ follower had a few days to live, and they were coming to your church for the last time this Sunday, I’m going to guess you would figure out a way to connect whatever you were preaching to Christ. I think we struggle to get to Christ because we lose awareness of lost people.
Personally engage non-believers. I have two men I have been sharing Christ with, and one has taken me up on my invitation to come to church, and the other says they are coming. This has been huge in pushing me to get to Christ in every sermon.
Remember the big four. Every text points to four things- 1. God; 2. God’s people (Israel in the OT, the church in the NT); 3. Me; 4. Christ. We don’t go straight from the text to Christ, because that is lazy and will lead to us allegorizing the text. In my explanation phase of the point, I want to answer the questions, “What does this show me about God? What does this show me about God’s’ people?” Then I will make the point and move into illustration. The “me” part is application, and I will usually hold off on Christ until my conclusion.
What I’m Reading:
God’s Generals, Roberts Liardon.
