Why do we preach Christ and to what end?

We preach Christ, says Paul, "warning ever man, and teaching every man, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." 

We should preach that we may make men perfect Christians; perfect, not according to the standard of the world but according to the law of Christ; perfect in heart and in life, in solitude and in society, in the great and in the common concerns of life. Here is the purpose of Christian preaching. 

 It demands that our piety be fervent, our benevolence unbounded, and our thirst for righteousness strong and insatiable. The Gospel enjoins inflexible integrity, fearless sincerity, fortitude which despises pain and tramples pleasure under foot in the pursuit of duty, and an independence of spirit which no scorn can deter and no example seduce from asserting truth and adhering to the cause which conscience approves. With this spirit of martyrs, the Gospel calls us to unite the mildest and meekest virtues; a sympathy which melts over other's woes; a disinterestedness which finds pleasure in toils and labors for other's good; a humility which loves to bless unseen, and forgets itself in the performance of the noblest deeds; a love which counts no service hard, and a penitence which esteems no judgment severe; a gratitude which offers praise even in adversity; a holy trust unbroken by protracted suffering, and a hope triumphant over death. In one word, it enjoins that loving and confiding in Jesus Christ, we make His spotless character, His heavenly life, the model of our own. Such is the greatness of character which the Gospel demands, and such is the end to which our preaching should ever be directed."  W.E.Channing.