TREASURY OF SERMONS
Preaching Christ
By Rev (Dr) Jeffrey Khoo
Text: Phil 1:12-18
Introduction
I remember when I was in primary school, every
year at the beginning of the school term, the English teacher would
tell us to write an essay, and the topic would invariably and
predictably be "My Ambition." I wonder whether it is still the case
today. Well, it is a good question to ask: What is my ambition? What
is your ambition as a Christian? What should our mission be as
believers in Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour? Charles Haddon
Spurgeon had a good answer. He said, "My mission in life is to
preach Christ, and Christ, and Christ, and nothing else but Christ!"
I think this should be the mission statement of not just ministers
of the gospel but of everyone who names the name of Christ. Every
Christian should be a preacher of Christ.
Are we preaching Christ? I remember the day when
I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour. I was so thrilled
that all my sins were forgiven. I was so excited to know that I am a
child of God and that I am on my way to heaven. I could not contain
myself. I had to tell others of what I have received. I announced to
my family of my salvation. I told my friends about Jesus Christ. Are
we excited about Christ? If we are, we would naturally and
automatically tell others about Christ. I have to confess that this
first love I had for Christ when I first found Him or rather when He
first found me has diminished somewhat. We need to rekindle that
love and excitement for Christ. We need to translate this excitement
into action by showing Christ in our lives. And one way of showing
Christ in our lives is to preach Christ.
How to preach Christ? We can learn much about
preaching Christ from the Apostle Paul. We had a wonderful time of
learning in the camp when Dr Morris McDonald gave us a thorough
lecture on Paul’s ministry among the Ephesians. Now there is also
much to learn from Paul’s ministry among the Philippians. So please
keep your Bible opened to Phil 1. In vv12-18, Paul teaches us by
example how we can and ought to preach Christ.
1. We Ought to Preach Christ
Wherever We Are (vv12-13)
The Apostle at this time was in prison. The
Epistle of Philippians was one of his prison epistles. The others
were Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon. He wrote all of them while
He was in prison in Rome waiting to be tried by Caesar.
Now, Paul was in jail not because he had
committed a crime, but because he preached the gospel of Jesus
Christ boldly wherever he went. Paul preached the gospel when he was
a free man, but now that he is incarcerated or bound, is he still
preaching the gospel? Did Paul feel dejected and angry with God for
being imprisoned? Paul could have complained against God: "I have
preached the gospel so fervently, and is this how You treat your
worker?" But he did not. He considered his imprisonment as an
opportunity to preach Christ. His prison house became his mission
field.
In v12, Paul tells us that although he is
chained up, the gospel is not. "The things which happened unto me
(ie, his imprisonment) have fallen out rather unto the furtherance
of the gospel." In v13, Paul reports that his chains have resulted
in Christ being manifested in all the palace, and in all other
places. The gospel is now spread everywhere inside and outside the
"palace." What is this "palace?" This word does not mean that Paul’s
jail was a palace. The word in the original is "praetorium." The
praetorium refers to the imperial guards of Caesar’s palace. These
were personally hand-picked soldiers, and the cream of the Roman
army. There were 10,000 of them at any given time. Roman citizens
who appealed to Caesar to try their cases were guarded by these
imperial soldiers. These elite soldiers were taking turns to guard
Paul. And Paul takes advantage of this situation to preach the
gospel to them. So in light of this, it is not Paul who was taken
captive, but the soldiers. Paul had a captive audience. The guards
were bound by duty to watch over Paul, and they had to listen to him
preach whether they like it or not. Wonderfully, many got converted.
The gospel was manifest in all the praetorium Paul said, and in
other places as well.
Being imprisoned did not stop Paul from
preaching Christ. We need to preach Christ wherever we are. Whether
the situation be conducive or adverse, we must not shy away from
preaching Christ. Life Church has a saying, "Do something good for
Jesus every day/wherever you go/and even out of the way." One thing
good we can do is to preach Christ every day/wherever we go/and even
out of the way. Is Christ manifested through you in your home? Is
Christ manifested through you in your place of work? Is Christ
manifested through you in school? Let us follow Paul’s example by
preaching Christ wherever we are. We may not have to say anything.
We can simply give out a tract, and you can never tell how God can
save a soul through this tract.
That is a very wonderful story about how
Spurgeon converted his church cleaner. One day Spurgeon went to his
church to practise preaching his sermon for the coming Sunday. His
church sweeper who had repeatedly and stubbornly resisted the gospel
was also there that day cleaning the church. Spurgeon did not know
he was there. Neither did the sweeper know that Spurgeon had entered
the church. He was busily sweeping the upper deck of the church when
Spurgeon ascended his pulpit and began to test his voice. In those
days there were no microphones. So Spurgeon bellowed at the top of
his voice: "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the
world!" You can just imagine what happened to the sweeper. He was
stunned by the voice and the message, and immediately came under
conviction, fell on his knees and cried for God’s mercy. He was
gloriously saved. Preach Christ wherever you are even in most
unexpected circumstances or places, and you never know how God would
use you to save someone from sin.
2. We Ought to Preach Christ
Without Fear (v14)
Paul’s boldness to preach Christ even while in
prison was infectious. It caused the Christians in Rome to be bold
in preaching Christ too. "And many of the brethren in the Lord,
waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word
without fear." Paul’s example had caused the Roman Christians to
become more daring in preaching the gospel. Those who thought that
putting Paul in prison would cause the Christians to be afraid, and
to hide or go underground. The opposite is true. The more the church
is persecuted, the more it grows. The more the church is threatened,
the braver the Christians become. This was not just a passing or
temporary courage. The present tenses in this verse tell us that
they had become courageous in preaching Christ after Paul’s
imprisonment, and are still so when Paul wrote this epistle.
There is freedom of religion in our country.
There is freedom in Singapore to practise the Christian faith. The
Bible commands us to preach the gospel to every creature. With the
freedom that we have, are we fulfilling the great commission of
preaching Christ? Should the Lord send persecution to wake us up? If
persecution does come, let us not fear men but God. We must be
willing to die for the sake of the gospel. Jesus encouraged the
persecuted Smyrna Church in Rev 2:10, "Fear none of those things
which thou shalt suffer: behold the devil shall cast some of you
into prison, that ye may be tried: and ye shall have tribulation …
be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
3. We Ought to Preach Christ
with Pure Motives (vv15-18)
This passage is one of the most misinterpreted
and misapplied texts in Scripture. This is one text twisted by
neo-evangelicals and ecumenists to support cooperative evangelism.
These people say that there is nothing wrong in cooperating with
modernists, charismatics, and Roman Catholics in preaching the
gospel. They quote v18 in support. In v18, Paul said, "What then?
Notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ
is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice."
Dear friends, read this passage very carefully.
Is Paul saying that it is OK to join hands with modernists,
charismatics, and Catholics in preaching Christ? The modernists
preach a Christ that is stripped of His deity. The charismatics
preach a Santa Claus type of Christ that is only interested in your
health and wealth. The Catholics preach a Christ that must depend on
Mary for the salvation of His people. It is another Christ or
another gospel that these people are preaching. And what did Paul
say about those who preach another gospel? Gal 1:8, "But though we,
or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." Paul makes it
very clear: He is very unhappy and very angry; he does not rejoice
when a false Christ is preached.
So what does the word "pretence" mean in v18.
The context gives the answer. The "pretence" here refers to the
"envy and strife" of v15. Paul elaborates in v16. These are those
who preach Christ out of contention (jealousy), not sincerely (with
pure motives). They preach Christ because they want attention, the
limelight, the praise of men. Paul says, "That’s fine." So long as
they preach the truth—a pure gospel and a pure Christ—Paul is not
perturbed. We are not to judge the preacher’s heart. We are to judge
only the content of his preaching or his message whether it is
according to Truth or not. God judges the heart, and He will deal
with us accordingly at the judgment seat of Christ. If we preach
Christ sincerely, out of love, with pure motives to glorify the
Lord, we will be rewarded. We may have spent a lot of time, energy
and money in promoting the gospel, but if our hearts are not right
when we preach Christ, we will suffer loss.
Conclusion
Every Christian is called to preach Christ. How
to preach Christ? Let us preach Christ wherever we. Let us preach
Christ without fear. And let us preach Christ with pure motives. May
the Lord help us. Let us pray.
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