Preaching Christ — what a novel idea! Or is it? Not at all! To preach Christ is to preach ‘all the counsel of God’. That fact is presented with great clarity by Edgar Andrews in his latest book, Preaching Christ,published by Evangelical Times.
The Word of God is not a book about science, morality, history, politics, philosophy, or law. It is not even a book about prophecy, church dogma, or theology. The Scriptures do, of course, address all these issues and many others; but that is not what they are about.
The message of Holy Scripture is Christ. The Book of God is a
him-book. It is all about him, the Lord Jesus Christ. The message of Holy Scripture, in its entirety, is the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified.
There is not a page of the Book of God that does not speak of Christ, not a page. After preaching for more than fifty years, Edgar Andrews states in his preface, ‘I have never found a passage in the whole Bible that does not point in some way to Christ, the Lord of glory of whom the scriptures testify’.
All God’s counsel
The Son of God tells us plainly that he is the message and theme of Holy Scripture — that he is the living Word of whom the written Word speaks. This is not a matter of conjecture, speculation, or mere hermeneutic principle, but something plainly stated in Scripture (John 5:39; Luke 24:27, 44-47).
The apostle Paul considered the preaching of Christ to be synonymous with preaching all the counsel of God, for Christ
isall the counsel of God. He said to the Ephesians, ‘Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God’ (Acts 20:27).
To the Corinthians he wrote, ‘I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified’ (1 Corinthians 2:2). And Paul was not one of those men who preached one thing to one crowd and something else to another. He was not the servant of men, but the servant of God. His message was always the same.
One message
The Bible, the Word of God, is a Book with one message, and that one message is redemption, righteousness, and eternal life in Christ. I have read many excellent books about preaching, but none that I have found so needful and useful as this.
The book, just 80 pages in length, can be read in one sitting. But if the preacher who reads it is enabled of God the Holy Spirit to put into practice the kind of preaching Edgar Andrews encourages in this volume, what a blessing that man’s ministry will be to those who hear him!
In thirteen brief chapters the author shows from the Scriptures that Christ crucified is the message of Holy Scripture we should preach — and shows from the Scriptures in a very practical way what it is to preach Christ.
Clearly, this little volume will be of immense help to those men whose great privilege and responsibility it is to preach the gospel of Christ to eternity-bound men and women.
But do not imagine that it is a book for preachers only. As a pastor, I have recommended this volume to every member of the congregation I serve and encouraged them to read it. I make that same recommendation and encouragement to all who read this review.
Don Fortner is Pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Danville, Danville, Kentucky, USA
Preaching Christ
by Edgar Andrews is published by Evangelical Times(ISBN: 0-9500129-1-2) at £4.50 from bookshops or £4.00 incl. p&p if ordered direct from ET(use form on p.5).
