In Light of the Gospel

The easiest way to download Sinclair Ferguson’s lecture from the luncheon will be to subscribe to the Podcast via iTunes. It is well worth hearing. If you don’t want to use the PodCast, visit the CLC Audio Page at 2pc.org.

Ferguson spoke about preaching Christ from all of the Scriptures. He explained that one of the errors preachers make today is trying to find their people in the story of the Bible. For example, the question they ask in preaching is this: “Where are you in this story?” He then said, “But none of the four gospels were written about you!” Indeed…the real question is, “Where is Christ?”

He also talked about the process of preaching Christ. He addressed some principles, which I will outline below. But he said that we often forget the most fundamental answer to preaching Christ. The answer is found in our own spiritual condition and how we live out of a Christ-focused life. If in our own spiritual condition, we are always focused on ourselves and our life, we will bring that into the text. If we learn to live out of our union with Christ, we will preach Christ more consistently. This was a significant point.

Then he went to principles. He pointed out that we must first learn to preach Christ from the New Testament before we preach him from the Old Testament. And the problem is that many ministers fail at preaching Christ in the New Testament. We preach about our own problems and spiritual condition, identifying with the person in the story. But we miss the main point: Christ.

Then he said as we go to the Old Testament, there are several avenues to accomplish the preaching of Christ

• Covenant-tying Christ to the covenants that have come before the revelation of the New Covenant. This is a central avenue of preaching Christ because all those covenants find their fulfilment in Christ. He also said the NT doesn’t speak of “covenant” much because Christ is the covenant.
• Union-we must preach in such a way as to explain how Old Testament saints are united to Jesus in the process of their sanctification. We should demonstrate how David is conformed to the pattern of Christ.
• Redemptive Victory-we should realize that the first point of Gen. 3:15 is not a promise of forgiveness but a promise of rescue through conflict. This became a central theme in the Old Testament that traces into the New Testament image of Jesus as a Divine Warrior
• Seed-by this he is referencing the seed of the woman in Gen. 3:15 and the tracing of that seed throughout redemptive history. We must find the “seed” as preachers. At one point in reference to the genealogy in Matthew, Ferguson pointed to the ministers and said, “Matthew is saying to you, ‘Keep your eye on the seed.’”

I would encourage you to listen to the whole lecture.