 
PREACHING CHRIST IN A DAY OF CRISIS
The church is under siege by those who would destroy her with their intended changes. Yet a certain type of preacher is content just to "preach Jesus." They refuse to deal any of the controversial issues, reasoning that if they just preach Christ, everything will be OK. While no one objects to preaching Christ (I Cor. 2:2), we must recognize that there is more to Christianity than Christ alone. One could preach a lifetime about Christ (alone) and the church be swept away and destroyed by error even as he spoke.
Christ is not under attack by the change agents, but certain aspects of his kingdom are. Not only will a good solider take his place on the walls of the city under siege, he will rush to the spot where the assault is mounted and do his part to drive the enemy away. The following aspects of the kingdom of Christ is underattack by those who style themselves "agents of change." It is at these points that a faithful preacher will defend the Cause of his liege Lord. - The Bible is under assault. Many of the change agents question its inerrancy, its verbal inspiration and its authority. They deny it is a pattern for us to follow in our worship, in the organization and mission of the church.
- The Church of Christ is under attack. The promoters of change would turn her into a human denomination. They would move her into the ecumenical movement. They would corrupt her faith, her preaching, her worship and leadership. They attack and ridicule her and seek to make her irrelevant. They would capture and control her congregations for their own purposes.
- The worship of Christ's church is under siege. Change agents would corrupt her sacred singing by introducing instruments of music. They would defile her communion by mixing it with a common meal.
- The government of the Lord's church is under attack. Agents of change want to place women into leadership roles in the church. Some already have women preachers and teachers of men. They would have women lead in public worship of the church. They would take away the authority of elders, and some have already taken away to office of deacon. They would turn her into a democracy governed by the will of the people, rather than the monarchy of Christ (Matt. 28:20; Eph. 1:22).
- Her plan of salvation and entrance into her membership is under siege. Obedience to the commands of Christ is discounted while salvation by faith and grace before and without specific obedience to his instructions is promoted. They are saying the New Testament of Christ should not be viewed as a law to be obeyed, but a love letter from God to his children. They are denying that one must be immersed in water for the forgiveness of his sins in order to be saved!
- Her past is being denied. They deny she is the same church as that found the Book of Acts. The agents of change are busy rewriting our history to paint a different picture of the goals and intentions of our forefathers. They launched our back to the Bible movement with the stated goal of restoring original Christianity. Promoters of change wish to cast their efforts as a "unity movement." They depict them as seeking fellowship with other denominational bodies rather than rejecting denominationalism. They made a determined effort to rid themselves of all the human doctrines and practices that had accrued over the centuries. The promoters of change scorn those of the last century who served the Lord and led his people to the success we now enjoy.
One could preach hundreds of beautiful, biblical lessons about Christ and never touch a single one of these critical issues. While dutifully "preaching Christ," false teachers would make the Bible ineffective, reconstruct the church, corrupt her worship, mislead sinners about salvation and thus destroy the religion of Jesus. That approach, which sounds so noble, is seen to be a mistaken misguided exercise in foolishness. To preach Christ alone is as foreign to Scripture and as misguided as to preach faith or grace alone. May every man who stands before God's people shrink not from declaring anything that is profitable, and boldly preach "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:20; 27).
JHW
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