Category: Devotion of the Day

WHAT TO PREACH

We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
II Corinthians 4:5

Here is proper orientation for a preacher. He is not to preach himself, his experience, his ideas, his pet themes. The pulpit is no sounding board for a man. He is to preach “Christ Jesus as Lord,” the threefold Name so often set forth in Scripture – Messiah, Mediator, Master. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

It is a ministry of “Not I but Christ.” Where does the preacher come in? “Ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” Not just servants, period. We are not to be glorified flunkeys waiting on fussy church members. Only that service which is for His sake counts. A lot of things we do and a lot of things people demand are not for Jesus’ sake.

But He is the subject of preaching and we are servants. Woe to the man who would make himself the subject and Christ a servant to advance his own ministry!

What to preach? Here is the answer to the old, old question.

STRENGTH FOR THE DAY

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13

As thy days, so shall thy strength be.
Deuteronomy 33:25

Red-letter days and lofty experiences tend to fade. Resolutions, though penned in blood, soon lose their original drive. Spiritual stimulants, like shots in the arm, may serve a purpose, but living by shots in the arm, whether physically or spiritually, is abnormal. The trolley car does not run all day on one big push of power at the start. Its slender arm reaches up and keeps constant contact with the current.

Christ is our strength and He is with us all the days and is ever available. He will not give us tomorrow’s strength today, nor will yesterday’s grace suffice. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,” but also sufficient unto the day is the strength thereof with which to meet the evil.

Believe Him for today’s strength today!