God Loves… Himself

I Corinthians 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

He should also open his mouth vigorously and confidently, to preach the truth that has been entrusted to him. He should not be silent or mumble but should testify without being frightened or bashful. He should speak out candidly without regarding or sparing anyone, let it strike whomever and whatever it will. It is a great hindrance to a preacher if he looks around and worries about what people like or do not like to hear, or what might make him unpopular or bring harm or danger upon him. (Martin Luther)

“Preach Christ, let your end be to glorify him, to render him amiable and precious in the eyes of his people; to lead them to him as a sanctuary to protect, a propitiation to reconcile, a treasure to enrich, a physician to heal, an advocate to present, as righteousness to justify, as sanctification to renew, as redemption to save, as an inexhausted fountain of pardon, grace, comfort, victory, and glory.” (Edward Reynolds)

When Christ is not the center of sermons, sinners do not feed upon Him and the faith which Christ gives to His beloved is not strengthened. Children of God are under attack by the evil one and they need to hear of the free-grace of God in Christ. When these weak ones feel the weight of their sin, they should hear the glories and riches of Christ who is their righteousness even though they have none of their own. These poor sinners need to hear of God’s free-grace is sending Christ to take away His wrath from them that they may be reconciled. These poor sinners that fill the pews are weak and helpless in themselves if they see themselves as they really are. These poor sinners feel their bondage to sin in some way and they need to know that a Redeemer has purchased them and is sovereign over them even now. These poor sinners who are harassed by the evil one and accused need to hear that they have an advocate with the Father. These poor sinners need to know that they cannot exhaust the foundation of God’s pardon and grace. These poor sinners need to know that Christ comforts the worst of sinners and in Him there is victory and in Him they may glory.

The children of God grow in their sense of their sinfulness and as such they need to hear of Christ and the Gospel of His free-grace on a constant basis. As God gives these children more and more light, more and more of their own dark hearts can be seen. These children of God begin to wonder if they are in reality children of the devil because of their horrible sin, so they need to hear of the fountain of pardon and grace that cannot be emptied or exhausted. Can a child of God actually have sin that is greater than His infinite grace and love? Can a child of God actually empty the infinite supplies of pardon that are found in Christ? Is the fountain of grace that was purchased by the blood of Christ actually be emptied? Of course that is not the case, but sinners who are feeling the fiery darts and the accusations of the evil one need to hear that declared.

Christ is also the Comforter of His children, so this needs to be expounded and feelingly declared from the pulpit. It is a preached Christ and a felt Christ that comforts, not just the intellectual part declared. Sinners must hear more than the doctrine, they must hear preaching that brings sinners to the living Christ and receive comfort from Him. It is not enough for surgeons to tell patients that they need surgery, they must actually do the surgery and then provide the care (through nurses and medication) needed for the patient to get better. Christ comes to His children and comforts them by free-grace and not because they have merited this. Sinners who are being attacked need to hear of Christ and be comforted by Him.

Poor, weak, and distraught sinners who are under attack need to hear of the victorious Christ. Indeed sinners may think that they are losing battle after battle, but the war has already been won by Christ. This is not just positive thinking, but it is reality. Jesus the Christ has crushed the head of the serpent and the war has been won. It is now a matter of looking to Christ and fighting to the end by His strength. We must know that sinners are saved and sanctified by Christ and His free-grace, and Christ never does anything that is not for the glory of His Father. It is not that sinners glorify God by their works as such, but they glorify God as Christ works in them and as Christ upholds them. Sinners are instruments of His glory and not those who add to His glory. Christ must be preached to the children of the devil that they may become children of God. Christ must be preached to the children of God that they may not be deceived into thinking that they are children of the devil. Christ and His free-grace must be preached and that weekly at the very least.

I Corinthians 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

He should also open his mouth vigorously and confidently, to preach the truth that has been entrusted to him. He should not be silent or mumble but should testify without being frightened or bashful. He should speak out candidly without regarding or sparing anyone, let it strike whomever and whatever it will. It is a great hindrance to a preacher if he looks around and worries about what people like or do not like to hear, or what might make him unpopular or bring harm or danger upon him. (Martin Luther)

“Preach Christ, let your end be to glorify him, to render him amiable and precious in the eyes of his people; to lead them to him as a sanctuary to protect, a propitiation to reconcile, a treasure to enrich, a physician to heal, an advocate to present, as righteousness to justify, as sanctification to renew, as redemption to save, as an inexhausted fountain of pardon, grace, comfort, victory, and glory.” (Edward Reynolds)

Clearly, from Paul, Luther, and Reynolds the Gospel is for believers and is not just some canned message that a person gives another to see if they will make a decision in order to be saved. Preaching Christ (Person and works) is the standard of what preaching is and apart from preaching Christ true preaching descends rapidly from there. What can one preach (truly) if not preaching Christ? Can there be holiness apart from the life of Christ in the believer? Can there be love apart from the life of Christ in the believer? What is the true Church apart from Christ? What is the Gospel apart from the glory of God shining forth in and through Christ and His works? The goal of preaching is of course the glory of God in Christ, which teaches us that apart from Christ the elements of preaching fall far short depending on how much or how little Christ there is in the preaching.

All things have been created through Christ and He is the reason that they have been created. How can there be biblical preaching, then, apart from the foundation of where things came from and the reason that they have a being and the goal of that being? When one thinks of how the fall of man into sin can only be seen by how man was created and the purpose man was created, we see the purpose of preaching creation and the fall. That is the dark background on which the glorious light of Christ in redeeming sinners is set forth. The Lord Jesus Christ alone redeems sinners and pays the price for them. Man should constantly look to his Redeemer who purchased him with His blood and draw upon the constant and consistent grace man needs for true obedience. Since men need to constantly look to their Redeemer and the free-grace that is in Him, they should hear preaching on Christ and His redemption on a regular and consistent basis.

It is an absolute truth that all men sin and that at all times. While this sounds quite negative, there is nothing a man does in this life that is perfect and without sin. Men are sinners by nature and as such all that they do is tainted by them to some degree. Scripture tells us that even our works of righteousness are as filthy rags. In other words, those with spiritual sight know that they fall short in all that they do and as such they must constantly look to the inexhaustible fountain of pardon that comes to the children of God by free-grace. There is no Gospel of free-grace apart from Christ. There is no Gospel but that of free-grace. Sinners, however, fall into all forms of legalism and conditionalism on a regular basis. It is so easy to fall into trusting something about self or about what we do. Preachers must preach Christ and His free-grace to the people or they will fall into their forms of legalism and conditionalism and remain there to some degree. The Gospel demands that faithful ministers preach free-grace to sinners often and to do that they must preach Christ often.

There is no end to the free and gracious pardon of God in Christ Jesus for His children. There is no benefit to hammer the children of God with the law over and over without setting this grace before them. True believers come to Christ by free-grace as well. True believers have no fountain of forgiveness apart from free-grace. There is no preaching which comforts and builds up the children of God other than preaching Christ and His free-grace. It is true enough that sin must be preached on and the refuges of men must have light shown on them and they must be driven into the open, but that is not to be done in order to beat the sheep. Men must be driven out of their refuges and hidden places that the glory of Hs free-grace may shine upon and in them. Apart from preaching the fullness of Christ, the children of God will wander in desolate places and not be fed. The sheep must be fed and it is Christ Himself who is the food of His people.

I Corinthians 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

He should also open his mouth vigorously and confidently, to preach the truth that has been entrusted to him. He should not be silent or mumble but should testify without being frightened or bashful. He should speak out candidly without regarding or sparing anyone, let it strike whomever and whatever it will. It is a great hindrance to a preacher if he looks around and worries about what people like or do not like to hear, or what might make him unpopular or bring harm or danger upon him. (Martin Luther)

“Preach Christ, let your end be to glorify him, to render him amiable and precious in the eyes of his people; to lead them to him as a sanctuary to protect, a propitiation to reconcile, a treasure to enrich, a physician to heal, an advocate to present, as righteousness to justify, as sanctification to renew, as redemption to save, as an inexhausted fountain of pardon, grace, comfort, victory, and glory.” (Edward Reynolds)

The preacher should be vigorous and confident in preaching the Gospel of free-grace. Why should one be silent or mumble around concerning such a glorious manifestation of the Gospel of Christ? The preacher must preach Christ for the glory of God, the good of the people of God, and for the conversion of all that God will draw to Himself. It is Christ who must be proclaimed if people are going to hear of a King who protects them and cares for them. It is Christ who must be proclaimed if people are to hear of a perfect propitiatory sacrifice that cleanses them from all of their sins. It is Christ who must be proclaimed if people are to have a true treasure.

The world is not often thought of in terms of it being a treasure, but that is the treasure people seek for day in and day out. People seek many kinds of treasure in the world, regardless of what they call it, but apart from seeing Christ as the true treasure people will seek treasure in the world. It is Christ who is the greatest treasure that can be found. It is in Christ where all spiritual riches and treasures are found. It is in Christ where all the treasures of wisdom, knowledge, and grace are found. It is in Christ alone where all spiritual riches can be found. It is in Christ and Christ alone where the treasures of heaven are put on display for those with eyes to see. Christ is precious to all those that believe, and Christ is far more precious than gold to those who believe. It is Christ who is the desire of those who love Him. It seems that there is no excuse for not preaching Christ, which is far more than mentioning Him in the sermon.

Wounded sinners need a physician to diagnose them, to prescribe what is needed, and then someone to apply the medication. Jesus Christ Himself is the Great Physician of the soul and He alone can heal the soul that is truly wounded. Only Christ can see into the depths of the heart and know what is truly going on there. Only Christ can possibly know the perfect way to heal a wounded heart. Only Christ can know the degree and extent of the disease and so know how to deal with sinners of various cases. Christ alone is sufficient for any spiritual work since apart from Him we can do nothing (spiritual).

When poor sinners are distraught and tried by their wicked hearts within them, they need a sufficient Advocate pleading a sufficient sacrifice. There is no one else acceptable to the Father to present a perfect sacrifice in the place of sinners and plead the merits of His own blood, righteousness, and grace. Only Christ can stand in for sinners as a substitute and have that acceptable to the Father. Only Christ can plead for sinners based on His own Person, works, and perfect righteousness. Sinners need to look to Christ alone for grace alone. There is nothing meritorious or good in sinners themselves, but there is One who is sufficient in all He is, all He has, and all He is doing.

Sinners should seek the Lord for His grace to give them humbled and broken hearts. They should seek the Lord for His work in giving them a broken heart. No one else is sufficient for this work, though men should seek it from the Lord Himself. Men don’t need winsome preachers and encouraging (in the modern sense) words, they need to hear Christ preached and they need to cry out to the Lord to give them ears to hear. Not only all of that, but they need Christ Himself to cast out evil the one and His bondage from their hearts. They need to be delivered from the kingdom of darkness and be transferred into the kingdom of His Beloved Son. There are not enough sermons to preach the complete Christ and the full Christ, but He should be preached faithfully.

I Corinthians 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

He should also open his mouth vigorously and confidently, to preach the truth that has been entrusted to him. He should not be silent or mumble but should testify without being frightened or bashful. He should speak out candidly without regarding or sparing anyone, let it strike whomever and whatever it will. It is a great hindrance to a preacher if he looks around and worries about what people like or do not like to hear, or what might make him unpopular or bring harm or danger upon him. (Martin Luther)

“Preach Christ, let your end be to glorify him, to render him amiable and precious in the eyes of his people; to lead them to him as a sanctuary to protect, a propitiation to reconcile, a treasure to enrich, a physician to heal, an advocate to present, as righteousness to justify, as sanctification to renew, as redemption to save, as an inexhausted fountain of pardon, grace, comfort, victory, and glory.” (Edward Reynolds)

Paul wanted to know nothing among the Corinthians by Christ and Him crucified. Luther said preach the truth regardless of what might make the preacher unpopular. Edward Reynolds is so clear that the people of Christ need to the Gospel as well. What we see all of this boiled down to is that preachers are to focus on preaching the glories of Christ and the Gospel. It should also be pointed out that it is impossible to preach Christ and the Gospel without preaching, teaching, and exalting the glories and wonders of God in His free-grace.

It seems that in the United States today you have people focusing on discipleship or evangelism. Quite honestly, when either one of those is done as a focus Christ and the Gospel of Christ are not preached. The focus must be Christ and His Gospel of free-grace or people will not hear the truth of Christ or the Gospel. The Gospel of Christ is for the good of the people of God. The Gospel of Christ is the good news of Jesus the Christ. It appears that so many in the modern day think of the Gospel of grace alone as a canned message that they give to people in a very short spiel and then expect them to make a decision. This is why so many people have gone on to preaching meat as they term it and have left the so-called simple gospel behind. This is a huge mistake regarding both as to what the Gospel is and then for what the saints need.

The true people of God are a people with inward and outward trials and suffer the fiery darts of the evil one. They need to know the truths of Christ and His Gospel of grace alone that they may flee to Him in order to find protection and rest for their souls. Where else are believers to find rest for the assaults of the world, the devil, and their own sinful hearts? Is there anyone else who can protect believers from the world, the devil, and their own sinful hearts? We are to pray not to be led into temptation and protection from the evil one, but assuredly we can only find rest for our souls in Christ who is our King, our Shepherd, and our Advocate.

When the believing soul has his eyes opened to his own heart, where is that believing soul to go? When the poor and tried believer sees how worthy s/he is of eternal torment and the conscience brings torment to the soul, where is that poor believer to go? When the devil accuses the sensitive believer and tells them that there is no forgiveness for them, where are they to go? We find in the glorious Gospel of the free-grace of Christ that there has been a perfect sacrifice offered for each and every sin of the true believer who is a true child of the living God. The propitiatory work of Christ is for believers as well and in one sense especially so. It is true that the unbeliever must have Christ and be covered by His blood, but the believer needs this over and over day by day and hour by hour. The child of God finds comfort in the blood of Christ which has taken the wrath of God away, which means that there is now reconciliation with God. The believer needs to be cleansed on a constant basis in order to be in the presence of God and in order to pray. The Gospel of the free-grace of Christ must be preached on a constant basis for the good of those who already have Christ.

I Corinthians 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

He should also open his mouth vigorously and confidently, to preach the truth that has been entrusted to him. He should not be silent or mumble but should testify without being frightened or bashful. He should speak out candidly without regarding or sparing anyone, let it strike whomever and whatever it will. It is a great hindrance to a preacher if he looks around and worries about what people like or do not like to hear, or what might make him unpopular or bring harm or danger upon him. (Martin Luther)

“Preach Christ, let your end be to glorify him, to render him amiable and precious in the eyes of his people; to lead them to him as a sanctuary to protect, a propitiation to reconcile, a treasure to enrich, a physician to heal, an advocate to present, as righteousness to justify, as sanctification to renew, as redemption to save, as an inexhausted fountain of pardon, grace, comfort, victory, and glory.” (Edward Reynolds)

Preaching the Gospel is really preaching Christ since the Gospel is all about what Christ has accomplished to the glory of God. While some may not understand that the statement by Reynolds above is preaching the Gospel since he speaks of preaching Christ, one cannot preach the true Person and works of Christ without preaching the Gospel of Christ to some degree. Look at how Christ-centered the statement by Reynolds is. Christ is to be the substance of preaching, the goal of preaching, the desire of preaching, and His work is to be set out for His glory.

In this it seems that Reynolds is hitting at something about preaching that our day has missed. We are not just to preach the Scriptures, and that in an academic way, we are to preach Christ in order to preach the Scriptures. We are not just to preach these canned messages to get people up an aisle or to get a paycheck, but God sets men apart in order to preach Christ and His Gospel. There is no preaching of Christ unless Christ and His glory is the greatest end and purpose of the sermons. Jesus prayed (John 17) for the Father to glorify Him that He may glorify the Father. Preachers should preach Christ and seek the glory of Christ before God and the people. We are used to glorify God when we glorify Him through preaching Christ and His Gospel.

Reynolds says that preachers should preach Christ in such a way as to render Him amiable and precious in the eyes of His people. This is a vital point! It is a vital point in preaching to preach to God’s people in a way that exalts Christ and shows how He is greatly to be desired and how beautiful and glorious He is. This means that we are not just to preach the facts about Christ, but we are to labor and strive to set forth Christ in His beauty and glory. The labors of the preacher are not just to understand a text, but they are to seek the Lord for grace that the preacher may declare things about Christ that the people of God may be fed with strong food and sweet food.

One important thing, even an utterly essential thing to notice at this point, is that preachers must seek the Lord that He would show Himself beautiful and glorious to them. If this has not happened to the preacher, then he will not be able to preach this to the people. As one has said (Alexander MaClaren), it takes a crucified man to preach a crucified Savior. It also takes a man who has tasted of the Lord and sees that He is good to preach a Christ to others and describe what He tastes like and what it is to see that He is good. The Gospel is not just about the facts, but it is about the beauty and glory of God through Christ in those facts. There is a spiritual knowledge that preachers must be taught and the only One who can teach that knowledge is Christ and His Spirit.

We live in a day where orthodoxy is not valued by many, but among some it is valued to a high degree but valued in the academic way only. Anything more than the facts and what the intellect can grasp is thought to be mystical. However, the glory of God in Christ is far more than just words, it is the beauty and wonder of God shining in and through Christ so that the people of God will have their affections drawn to Christ. Part of being a human being is to have affections and as such we should preach with that awareness. The affections of the people will be exercised on something, so this should teach us to preach with the affections and desires of the people in mind. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and so on, not just giving the facts of the matter. Biblical and spiritual preaching that benefits the whole soul of the people of God will strive to set out Christ in a way where He is seen and tasted so that He is better than the whole world to the intellect, the will, and the affections.