The apostle Paul considered it an immense privilege to preach the gospel. He never saw his calling as drudgery but threw himself into it with intense delight. Yet here's the paradox: the more God used him, the smaller he felt. The fuller a vessel becomes, the deeper it sinks in the water.

Idlers can entertain grand delusions about their abilities—they've never been tested! But the earnest worker? That person quickly discovers their weakness. You want to find humility? Try hard work! You want to know your nothingness? Attempt something great for Jesus! You want to feel how utterly powerless you are apart from the living God? Then attempt the great work of proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ to a dying world. You will know, as you never knew before, what a weak, unworthy thing you are.

But even though Paul knew his weakness, even though he confessed it openly, he never wavered about his message. From his first sermon to his last, Paul preached Christ. Only Christ. Always Christ. He lifted high the cross and extolled the Son of God who bled upon it.

Follow his example in every effort you make to spread the glad tidings of salvation. Let "Christ and him crucified" be your ever recurring theme. The Christian should be like those lovely spring flowers that open their golden cups to the sun, as if saying, "Fill us with your beams!" But when clouds hide the sun, they close their cups and droop their heads. So should the Christian feel the sweet influence of Jesus! Jesus must be his sun, and he must be the flower which yields itself to the Sun of Righteousness.

Oh! To speak of Christ alone! This is the subject which is both "seed for the sower, and bread for the eater." This is the live coal for the lip of the speaker, and the master key to the heart of the hearer.