If the desire of the Father, the work of the Spirit, and the purpose of Scripture is to herald Jesus, then so it must be for the faithful preacher.
If the Son’s great and eternal goal is to win for Himself a bride, then His heralds must woo for Him. They are like Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24, commissioned to find a bride for His master’s son. Only when we take our eyes off ourselves and herald Him will we truly glorify God. But when we do that, we may be sure that our preaching will always be evangelistic and, at the same time, always edifying to the saints.
When Paul wrote of his imploring as an ambassador for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20), he clearly saw a role greater than that of a schoolteacher whose only job was to revise theological grammar. He did not merely give people information about Christ; he gave them Christ. Before the eyes of His people, Jesus Christ was placarded so that they might come to Him, set their affections on Him, and trust Him. Through Paul’s preaching, people encountered the risen Christ Himself.
