I am most grateful to the committee for giving me the honor of speaking to you on this occasion and on this wonderful subject. I am indeed happy to meet all you preaching brethren from far and near and I am greatly enjoying this splendid fellowship. I am only sorry I could not be here from the very start.

      As the program will show, my subject is: "Preaching Christ in a Changing World." I want to read three passages of Scripture. Acts 8:34, 35; "And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other? And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this scripture, preached unto him Jesus." Acts 5:42: "And every day, in the temple, and at home, they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus as the Christ." 1 Cor. 2:1-5: "And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

      The term preach means to pronounce a public [51] discourse on a sacred subject, especially from a text of scripture. To preach Christ means to proclaim Publicly the Christ; who He is, what He did, what He is now doing, what He promises to do in the future. This preaching of Christ is to be done during the time extended to man for his salvation, at the same time taking into consideration the changes being brought about through man's right choice, for as long as man has the right of choice just that long will there be great changes in the material world. The apostle Paul realized something of the honor and the responsibility of being a preacher of Christ, for he said in Eph. 3:7, 8, "Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." And again in Col. 1:23-29, "If so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven: whereof I, Paul, was made a minister. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church, whereof I was made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which was given me to youward to fill up the word of God, even the mystery which hath been hid for ages and generations; but now it hath been manifested unto his saints, to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of his glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you [52] the hope of glory: whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ; whereunto I labor also, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily."

      Clearly Paul realized that it was to be done through the POWER that God supplies, and that which he was preaching was the "UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST." And he felt so unworthy of the honor, saying, "unto me who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given." And because Paul felt this way he could not exalt himself, and thus said to the Corinthian brethren: "that your faith should not stand in the WISDOM OF MEN, but IN THE POWER OF GOD." (I Cor. 2:5.)

      Paul realized the difference in a faith that centers in the wisdom of men, and that which stands in the power of God.

      I would to God that more men of today who are posing as preachers of Christ, would so preach Christ, and feel the responsibility as Paul did, and more would do this if they had come to know him as Paul knew him, and if they fully appreciated the position as "preachers of Christ" as Paul appreciated that position. But alas, too many, far too many are more concerned about what some representative brethren (?) think about their preaching or what kind of recommendation it will get for them with some strong congregation, or whether it will he correct in doctrine, according certain schools and publications, etc.

      Let us think for a moment about this Christ [53] who is to be publicly proclaimed, the knowledge of whom, wrought such a change in Saul of Tarsus and whose power was so manifest in Paul's preaching as to enable him to move the masses as few, if any, have ever moved them.

      To preach the Christ of the New Testament is to set him forth as the "Son of God," not only the only Savior of man, but equal with God, the one who was with God in the creation, "who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him; and unto him; and he is before all things, and in him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fullness dwell; and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens." (Col. 1:16-20).

      He was the very "WORD OF GOD," the complete expression of God to man. "Heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds; the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power." (See Heb. 1:2, 3).

      He gave up the glory which he had with the Father before the world was, and came and took the humblest place among men, that he may become unto [54] us, "The way, the truth, and the life," that he may be the "Light of the world," "the resurrection and the life," "the good shepherd," the one through whom we approach the Father, "No one cometh unto the Father but by me," the one who said, "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, we have not life in yourselves."

      He said, "I am come down, from heaven." He claimed to precede Abraham, saying, "Before Abraham was, I am." He also said, "All power in heaven and on earth is given unto me." To know him is to know God. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."

      John said of him, "Behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." This Christ took the place of the sinner and made it possible for him to go free. Gal. 1:3-5: "Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen." Again in Rom. 3:21-26: "But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing of the sins done afore time, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his [55] righteousness at this present season; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus." Gal. 4:4-7, "But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying, Abba, Father. So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son: and if a son, then an heir through God." And in Gal. 5:1, Paul says, "For freedom did Christ set us free."

      When these great truths grip the life of the preacher, they will give to his message the spirit and power needed to accomplish God's will in any age regardless of the changes the world may undergo.

      The trouble is not that the story of Christ is less appealing or less powerful today than it was in the days gone by, but men have allowed the changes to affect them so much that Christ no longer can manifest himself in them. Christ must have willing subjects through whom he can manifest himself. It is not enough to behold some of the honor and glory that goes along with preaching Christ, but to seek to be like Him in self-denial, humility, and in surrender to the Father's will. I fear that many of us have thought too little about what qualities were manifest in the apostle Paul, which fitted him for a preacher of Christ.

      The world is constantly changing, arid will continue to change so long as man has the right of choice. But it is no different today than it was in the days of Christ so far as its hostility to the [56] principles of Christ is concerned. It took God's power working in Paul then to accomplish the work God wanted done, and God's power working in man (any man) today can, and will accomplish his will again. God is now looking for the man, a "Paul" who will give Him full place in his life. His power will again be manifested in the salvation of lost souls, and the establishment of strong churches to continue the good work, regardless of what changes may come through the agencies of men.

      How sorely such men are needed. The fields are no more difficult now than they were then. We try to make ourselves believe that it is more difficult to reach men with the message of Christ now than it used to be. It might be said truthfully it is more difficult to get preachers to surrender their lives to God, to be used in the preaching of Christ.

      The surrendered preacher will give first consideration to God, His word, the Spirit of Christ, and the salvation of lost souls, knowing that God can take care of His church, and that He does not need men to set the brethren right, in fact brethren who have been taught right need no one to set them right. Too many preachers have set themselves the task of keeping the church universal on the right paths.

      Brethren, let us examine ourselves and see if we have the qualities possessed by those great preachers of whom we read in the New Testament. If we do not, let us believe such qualities can be had by prayer and full surrender to God. And if we will learn what the New Testament tells us of Christ: who He is, what He is, what He has done for us, what He can, and will do for lost men through us, and if we [57] believe men are lost and that Christ can and will save, then let us give ourselves, yea GIVE OURSELVES to preaching Christ. Only Christ can save. Christ preached by Spirit-filled men will work now as it has worked in the past. Let us determine that men's faith shall not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Amen. [58]

[LM 51-58]