Christ Centered
Adventist preaching is known for being ‘content heavy,’ but what content should our messages contain?
In preparing this article I had cause to review numerous sermons. Startlingly, I found many to be virtually Christless in their content! Some of them barely even mentioned the name of Jesus! If fortunate, Jesus might be tacked onto the end of a long sermon as almost an afterthought.
“The very first and most important thing is to melt and subdue the soul by presenting our Lord Jesus Christ as the sin pardoning Saviour. Never should a sermon be preached, or Bible instruction in any line be given, without pointing the hearers to ‘the Lamb of God,’ which taketh away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29)” – 6T 53-54
“Jesus is the living center of everything. Put Christ into every sermon. Let the preciousness, mercy, and glory of Jesus Christ be dwelt upon; for Christ formed within is the hope of glory.” – 1SM 158
“A great and solemn truth has been entrusted to us, for which we are responsible. Too often this truth is presented in cold theory. Sermon after sermon upon doctrinal points is delivered to people who come and go, some of whom will never have another favorable opportunity of being convicted and converted to Christ. Golden opportunities are lost by delivering elaborate discourses, which display self, but do not magnify Christ.” – GW 39
“Many of our ministers have merely sermonized, presenting subjects in an argumentative way, and scarcely mentioning the saving power of the Redeemer. Their testimony was destitute of the saving blood of Christ. Their offering resembled the offering of Cain… so it is with Christless sermons. By them men are not pricked to the heart; they are not led to inquire, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ Of all professing Christians, Seventh-day Adventists should be foremost in uplifting Christ before the world.” – GW 156
The third angel’s message calls for the presentation of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and this truth must be brought before the world; but the great Center of attraction, Jesus Christ, must not be left out of the third angel’s message. By many who have been engaged in the work for this time, Christ has been made secondary, and theories and arguments have had the first place. RH March 20, 1894, par. 1
In other words, no matter what aspect of ‘present truth’ we are proclaiming, we should never neglect to place the one who is the Truth Himself at the very heart of that message.
Practical Godliness
Next in our list of neglected guidelines is the oft repeated phrase ‘practical godliness.’ Adventist preaching is often filled with the esoteric parsing of prognostications and tedious attempts to connect these minutiae with prophetic scenarios. What is more important, knowing the exact representative nature of the number 666 and its application to end time events (yes, a sermon I just listened to), or a Biblical survey of how to experience victorious Christian living? What is more important, a political sermon filled with social justice harangues against perceived worldly oppressors – identifying systemic racism in the societal sphere – or, lessons on how to conquer our greatest enemy?
“Our work is not to make a raid on the government but to prepare a people to stand in the great day of the Lord. The fewer attacks we make on authorities and powers, the more work we will do for God…” – EV p. 173
Who is our greatest enemy you say? Well, of course, self!
No, the Jesuits are not the cause of your problems; or the Jews, or the Zionists, or the Christian Nationalists, or the racists, or the Marxists, or the globalist elite, or church administrators …. Guess what, if you don’t have a strong hold on Jesus, with a well-developed walk with Him - a knowledge of final events, or political talking points, won’t do you a bit of good in the time of trouble. What is our greatest need? To watch that next exclusive video sermon filled with electrifying conspiracy theory click bait and evil surmising’s about worldly and religious powers?
No, ‘a revival of true godliness.’
“There must be less sermonizing and more tact to educate the people in practical religion. They must be impressed with the fact that Christ is salvation to all who believe.” 6T p.88
“Ministers should not preach sermon after sermon on doctrinal subjects alone. Practical godliness should find a place in every discourse.” – Ev p. 178
A revival of true godliness begins with one. Why not start with the preacher himself? A not so novel idea of ‘preacher preparation’ preceding sermon preparation is applicable here.
“It is not great learned men that the ministry needs, it is not eloquent sermonizers. God calls for men who will give themselves to Him to be imbued with His Spirit.” – Ch 558
“The most difficult sermon to preach and the hardest to practice is self-denial.” – Cs 30
“When Christ is in you, you will have something more than a theory of truth. You will not only be repeating the lessons Christ gave when upon earth, but you will be educating others by your life of self-denial and devotion to the cause of God. Your life will be a living sermon, possessing greater power than any discourse given in the desk.” – 4T 379
Sola Scriptura
The list of neglected guidelines would not be complete without a final reminder that we as Adventists, above all, are called to be the, ‘People of the Book.’ We are the ones whose every doctrine should be grounded in the Protestant principle of ‘Sola Scriptura.’
“The words of the Bible, and the Bible alone, should be echoed from the pulpits of our land.” RH February 6, 1900, Art. A, par. 10
“As Protestants, the Bible, and the Bible alone, is the foundation of our faith; …” ST August 5, 1886, par. 14
If you haven’t heard it yet, I highly recommend listening to H.M.S. Richards Jr.’s interview of his father H.M.S. Richards Sr. In this interview Richards Sr. relates the story of his father’s (H.M.J) personal dialogue with Ellen White. H.M.J asked her how he should use her writings in preaching (‘HMS Richards Remembers Meeting Ellen G White Interview’ at the 10:30 mark) Following is what Sr. recounts:
“How should we use your writings in preaching?” H.M.J. asked. She responded, “When you decide to preach on a certain subject. Go to the Bible and study the Bible. Go all through the Bible until you have everything you can find out about the subject as far as the Bible touches on it. Be sure you know what the Bible really teaches about the subject. Study it thoroughly. And then, when you have done that – then you can go to some of these writings that cover the same area, subject or time, and whatever it is, you may look it up there. You might find a ray of light, something that will illuminate the subject for you, gives you a little more idea how to make it clear to the people.” “Then she said, ‘Go back to the people and preach that wonderful truth to the people out of the Bible.’” “Now that’s in harmony with those other statements she’s made. That’s what she told father, as you know – He and I have tried to do that.” – H.M.S. Richards Sr.
The unfortunate reality is that many Adventist preachers construct PowerPoint sermons today consisting of a mass of SOP quotes strung together to convey a topical sermon message. In the old days they would have carried a stack of red books with them into the pulpit. The question must be asked, are we the ‘People of the Book,’ or the ‘People of the Red Books?’ Do we believe there is life transforming power in the Bible or not? If we do, why don’t we actually preach from it? I’m not saying that it is never appropriate to reference statements from the ‘pen of inspiration;’ but the fact of the matter is that many of our preachers are inordinately dependent on the ‘Lesser Light,’ rather than the ‘Greater Light’ - the Word of God! If we really are Bible preachers, then our preaching needs to be, more often than not, expository and textual! This is where the power of preaching is found; in digging deep within the rich mine of Biblical truth for precious gems - then lifting those gems aloft in the light of the Holy Spirit for all to behold! Are not our detractors justified in accusing us of elevating the SOP over the Bible if they visit our churches and hear Ellen White’s words quoted more than the Bible’s?! Should not our churches be centers of evangelism as well, where souls may hear the gospel of salvation preached from the exclusively authoritative Word of God, so that they may be saved?
The SOP was given to not only lead us back to the Bible, but to help us keep our Biblical bearings, so that we not lose our Biblical moorings. The following story should help to illustrate this point.
While employed in the far west (otherwise known as the ‘left coast’), I was invited to visit a fairly prominent church, pastored by an aging advocate for the acceptance of homosexuals into the faith. After this man’s retirement, a young man with his own progressive axe to grind took over. The most memorable such grinding involved a 5-week series of sermons that boldly challenged plain statements of the Scripture and the SOP. By his own admission, the primary inspiration for his foray into critical revisionism were the writings of a number of non-Adventist authors. The writings of these authors were the primary source material for his sermons, not the Bible – and certainly not the SOP. He quoted them copiously. The essence of his argument was that our moral intuition can supersede the inspired record. As a result, he had the audacity to say God’s command for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac was ‘evil’ – and that Abraham lacked faith because he did not follow his moral intuition and disobey God’s command when he first heard it! This, despite the fact that Ellen White says that, ‘Satan was near to whisper doubts and unbelief’ regarding obedience to that command! Going further, in regards to God’s command to slaughter the Canaanites and to, ‘let nothing that breathes remain alive,’ he says that this command was morally repugnant, and in essence constituted genocide, or at least, ethnic cleansing – being comparable to other worldly massacres. This, despite the fact that Ellen White makes it clear that some would doubt the righteousness of this command (as this ‘morally intuitive’ preacher would) – but it was, in fact a necessary act of obedience to a righteous command of God:
“To many these commands seem to be contrary to the spirit of love and mercy enjoined in other portions of the Bible, but they were in truth the dictates of infinite wisdom and goodness. God was about to establish Israel in Canaan, to develop among them a nation and government that should be a manifestation of his kingdom upon the earth. They were not only to be inheritors of the true religion, but to disseminate its principles throughout the world. The Canaanites had abandoned themselves to the foulest and most debasing heathenism, and it was necessary that the land should be cleared of what would so surely prevent the fulfillment of God’s gracious purposes. The inhabitants of Canaan had been granted ample opportunity for repentance.” – PP 492
This is a perfect example of how rejecting the SOP will result in doubting the Bible. If he had just listened to, and heeded her counsel, he would never have gone down this demonic rabbit hole. He would have placed his confidence in Scripture just as it reads. Is it any coincidence that during the course of one of these sermons, for convenience’s sake, he actually (symbolically?) placed his Bible on the floor – something I have never previously observed a preacher do!
May God grant us the courage to preach the truth as found in Scripture and supported by the Spirit of Prophecy. And in keeping with her counsel – may we preach less sermons, shorter sermons, sermons that are Christ-centered (uplifting Him as the only hope of our salvation), sermons modeled after Christ’s example, sermons filled with practical spiritual applications; and finally, sermons derived from the Bible and preached from the Bible.
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