Christ, the Preacher's Great Theme

worlddic.com

Acts 10:39-43

And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:…

The best sermon is that which is fullest of Christ. A Welsh minister, when preaching at the chapel of Jonathan George, was saying that Christ was the sum and substance of the gospel, and he broke out into the following story: — "A young man had been preaching in the presence of a venerable divine, and after he had done he foolishly went to the old minister and inquired, 'What do you think of my sermon, sir?' 'A very poor sermon indeed,' he replied. 'A poor sermon! it took me along time to study it.' 'Ay, no doubt of it.' 'Why, then, do you say it is poor: did you not think my explanation of the text to be accurate? ' 'Yes.' 'Were not the metaphors correct and the arguments conclusive?' 'Yes.' 'Why, then, do you say that it was a poor sermon?' 'Because there was no Christ in it.' 'Well, there was no Christ in the text, we are not to be preaching Christ always, we must preach what is in the text.' So the old man said, 'Don't you know, young man, that from every town, village, and hamlet in England, there is a road to London?'" and so from every text in Scripture there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures — that is Christ, and my dear brother, your business is, when you get to a text, to say, "Now, what is the road to Christ?" then preach a sermon running along that road to Him. 'And,' said he, 'I have never yet found a text that had not a plain and direct road to Christ in it; and if ever I should find one that had no such road, I will make a road, I would go over hedge and ditch but I would get at my Master.'"

worlddic.com