It is a commonly observed maxim that in preaching the focus of the message and its presentation, must be on Christ as the Son of God and the only Saviour.

That point is made because one of the greatest temptations for a preacher is that he be more aware of himself and the people before him, than of the Jesus Christ whom he is to proclaim.

Paul’s determined focus, defining his ministry to the Corinthians, was that he would exalt only the finished and perfect work of Jesus Christ. There is sufficient in the Biblical revelation of the Saviour’s Person and work to provide ample material for sermons. The danger is that preachers go off at a tangent on some hobby-horse of their own, presumably to address what they think is the need of the hour.

Preaching the Word is always relevant. That is to say that the Bible is well-suited to any situation, in every period of time and circumstance. Much ‘preaching’ may be labouring to address some perceived problem, even to such an extent that the actual Person and work of Christ has little time given to it.

The hearers may think that the preacher is ‘bang-up-to-date’, but if he has not presented Jesus Christ in the sermon, he has not preached the gospel as relevant to people’s lives. Of course, the Word of God is intended to touch human lives and circumstances, but if the focus majors on the details of the human, then the preacher has failed to preach Christ. It is the preacher’s obligation to preach Christ, and the people’s obligation to ‘want to see Jesus’.

As to the privileged responsibility of the preacher to proclaim Jesus, the preacher’s own life must be Christ-centred. If his own heart and mind are preoccupied with whatever, other than with Jesus Christ, Jesus will not be foremost in his sermon. Let all preachers seek what George Whitefield felt was an abiding need in his ministry, and what he expressed in these words:

I must have something of Christ in all my letters.

As to the people privileged with opportunity to hear the Word preached, you should be prepared to hear the truth from God. God speaks to us through His Son, so hearers should come to times of preaching with this crowning desire in their hearts: 

So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, 'Sir, we wish to see Jesus.'John 12:21