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In 2 Cor 4:5, Paul wrote, “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.” Of course, Paul preached Christ because he was called to preach. The Lord enabled him, putting him into the ministry, 1 Tim 1:12. But he was not alone. There were many others preaching Christ, and they were not all men.
In Acts 8:3-4, Luke wrote, “As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” “They” who were preaching the word were “men and women.” Many were preaching Christ.
Do you preach Christ? If you have been saved and are filled with the Spirit of God, you should be preaching Christ. If you are going to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the lost, you’re going to need four things.
To preach Christ takes compliance. Your compliance is two-fold. You must comply with Christ’s desire that you tell others about him and you must comply with the Holy Spirit’s leading by yielding to him.
Every born again believer is a new creature in Christ, 2 Cor 5:17. And every believer has been given the ministry of reconciliation, 2 Cor 5:18. God has committed to us the word of reconciliation, 2 Cor 5:19. Paul wrote in 2 Cor 5:20, that “we are ambassadors for Christ.” Therefore, Christ’s desire is for us to tell others about him by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Every born again believer is a child of God, Jn 1:12. As the sons of God, we are to be “led by the Spirit of God,” Rom 8:14. Therefore, when it comes to telling others about Jesus Christ, you must be sensitive to and responsive to the Spirit’s leading. When he sets up a divine appointment, he wants us to respond by being his spokesman to the person to whom he has led us to speak.
Just start walking with God all the time and he will use you, no matter your status or your circumstances.
To preach Christ takes compassion. Your compassion is two-fold. You must have compassion for the souls of men and you must have compassion for Christ who died to save them.
We must care for the souls of men. When Jesus ministered on earth, he was moved with compassion. He loved the rich young ruler. Paul was heavily burdened for his kinsmen. You ought to make friendships with lost people just so you will have the opportunity at some point to be used by God to influence them for Christ.
We must have compassion for the Lord Jesus Christ who sacrificed himself to save the souls of all men. He’s the one who died, he’s the one who is leading us, he’s the one who really cares. When you preach Christ faithfully and regularly, you’re going to see the hand of God going before you in everything you do. You are not the one running the show; God is. And he is way ahead of you in the work he’s doing in other men’s lives.
To preach Christ takes courage. Your courage is two-fold. You must have courage to tell others, unashamedly, about Jesus and you must have the courage to fight the spiritual battles that you will face when preaching Jesus Christ.
We mustn’t be scared to tell other people what God wants us to say to them. Paul wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth,” Rom 1:16. When God called Jeremiah to preach he said, “Be not afraid of their faces,” Jer 1:8.
We mustn’t be afraid of our adversary the devil. Paul told the Thessalonians that he couldn’t come to them, though he tried, because “Satan hindered us,” 1 Thes 2:18. When Paul wrote to Timothy about preaching “that all the Gentiles might hear,” he said, “I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion,” 2 Tim 4:17. We are definitely opposed by the devil when we preach Christ, but we mustn’t let that discourage us. “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world,” 1 Jn 4:4.
To preach Christ takes comprehension. Your comprehension is two-fold. You learn what to say when you have the opportunity to preach Christ and you learn something about human nature and the responses of men.
Pastors generally put teaching their people ‘what to say’ first on the list when they teach others about soul winning. And we should certainly learn the Bible well enough to know what to say. Look at Prov 22:17-21. However, as Wayne Sehmish said, “You don’t need to know everything to say something. Tell them what you know.”
We should also pay attention to people. We get better and better at preaching Christ when we study the nature of the people to whom we minister. Jesus “knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man,” Jn 2:25.
Conclusion: ask the Lord to help you with your compliance, compassion, courage, and comprehension. You’ll do well when you preach Christ.