2 Timothy: Proclaiming the Message

In this sermon from 2 Timothy 4:1–5, we are reminded that Christians are called to faithfully proclaim the Gospel—whether it is popular or not. Pastor challenges us to remain steadfast, endure suffering, share the truth with courage, and fulfill the ministry God has entrusted to us. We explore what it means to preach and live out God’s Word without watering it down or compromising for the sake of popularity. This is our calling—and we cannot quit.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Grace Chapel podcast, where we value the exponential preaching and teaching of the Word of God for the purpose of life transformation. If you have your Bible, I'm going to encourage you to open them to 2 Timothy chapter 4. We are turning the corner now. We are heading in the home stretch of 2 Timothy. We're in 2 Timothy chapter 4. The year was 2005. The location was a convention center. Chattanooga, Tennessee. When the legendary Reverend Gene Jackson came to the pulpit. Now deceased, but he was district superintendent for 30 plus years in the state of Tennessee. The legendary Reverend Gene Jackson comes to the pulpit and he gives the charge for those about to be ordained to the gospel ministry. And this is what he said in part. This is not the full manuscript, but this is what he said in part. And I quote The fellowship to which you belong believes that the preaching of the gospel is to be a calling, not a profession. You did not merely choose to be a preacher. Almighty God, through his Holy Spirit, has called you. Our church is blessed with an army of volunteers who teach our Sunday school classes, lead our church auxiliaries, and direct many of our activities. But this pulpit is reserved exclusively for those who have received a divine call. This calling is your life's work. Almighty God has called you. You cannot resign and you cannot quit. You have put your hand to the gospel plow and you can never turn back. I warn you now that frustrations will come, but you cannot quit. You will spend hours praying, planning, and preparing to preach. You will come to the pulpit and deliver your soul only to have someone tell you that they've decided to go to another church because they're not being fed. You will feel your heart dying inside you, but you cannot quit. Your life will be on constant display. You and your family will be examined microscopically day after day. There will be a thousand times what everything in you wants to flee into hiding, but you cannot. You must be willing to be an example. This too is part of your calling, and you cannot quit. You face long days and seemingly endless nights. When you will stand by a bedside to pray for a patient who's not as sick as you, you will hide your own pain, losing yourself in the opportunity to minister to another. You will lay your hands on bodies that are diseased, sometimes unwashed and filthy. And every fiber of your being wants to turn away, but you cannot quit. God has sent you to be His ambassador. You will bear the burdens of a thousand heartbreaks, and you cannot share with another living soul. You will learn intimate secrets in the lives of desperate people, but you are under orders never to tell, except to prevent or reveal a crime. And this too is part of your calling. You will dedicate babies, baptize new believers, perform wedding ceremonies, enjoy celebrations, and then before the week has ended, you will conduct a board meeting or a church business meeting where happiness and joy stayed outside. You will discover that God's people can be positively devilish at times. The stress of being bent first one way and then another is enormous. But that too is part of your calling. And you cannot quit. Let me speak to the spouses for a moment. Your mate will be called upon to give up the day off. To minister to grace. As you watch dinner grow cold, while the one whom you prepared it is helping a drunk or a dopatic, your heart will cry inside of you. Why can't we just be normal? This too is part of your calling. And you cannot quit. You face years and years of substandard salaries in which you have to carefully manage just to provide the eager or the meager necessities of life. Your old high school friends have gone on to secular college and are enjoying a standard of living that you may never reach. You know the one you married is just as smart as those who make three times the money. It's a natural thing to say there are easier ways to make a living. A lot better living. Let's quit. But when you married this preacher, you accepted a call from God. And you cannot quit. So stand strong at the side of this maid of yours. Let your hearts be joined as one, help you become a champion for Christ. Make your home a haven. Let the music of your house be the songs of Zion. Sing while you work. Love those old senior citizens in that church. Love the young couples who are always stumbling over something. Smile at those who frown, hug those who hurt, and pray until glory fills your soul. This is part of your calling. And you cannot quit. If for any reason you cannot now continue with the commitment you have previously made, I call for you to step aside at this moment. Rather than publicly profess a vow which you will not practice. And then he gave us the charge from 2 Timothy chapter 4 that I'm about to read. I must tell you, when I was in my twenties, that didn't mean as much. It means a whole lot of that. Because he was absolutely right. And by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people would not endure sound teaching, but have itching ears. They will accumulate for themselves teachers who suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering. Do the work of evangelists, fulfilled your ministry. Paul wrote Timothy and tasked him with proclaiming the message. Obviously, this text is directed toward Timothy, the pastor of the church. And Paul was, the apostle Paul was giving him some direction, but this passage would also apply to every Christian on some level. And that application for every Christian on some level would be as following. Christians are tasked with proclaiming the message. Well, how are Christians tasked with proclaiming the message? Christians are tasked with proclaiming the message in two ways. First, Christians are tasked with proclaiming the message formally. In other words, Christians are tasked with formally proclaiming the message. Listen to the text in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verses 1 through 2. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. And so Paul charged Timothy. That word charge there means to put him under oath. He was to swear allegiance to the preaching of the gospel. In essence, it was a formal calling. It was something he had to formally do. And so Paul charged Timothy and put him under oath to proclaim the message, and he was to do so in three ways. First, he was to formally proclaim the message by preaching the word. He said, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead by his appearance, preach the word. If you break down the text, I charge you to preach the word. The rest were phrases describing and ways he was to do that. I charge you, preach the word. And so, in order for Timothy to fulfill his ministry or to fulfill the obligations of the oath, he was to proclaim the message by preaching the word of God. Now, what's interesting, that word preach here in 2 Timothy chapter 4 is a Greek word that means to uh proclaim, to herald, to declare. And it was actually a word that was used to describe an official position in the kingdom. In biblical times, we know that regions were ruled and reigned by kings. Well, when the king got ready to send a message out to the people, he didn't have social media. He couldn't just post something, he couldn't send out a mass email, he couldn't call in the TV networks and do a broadcast. And so what he would do is he would call in an official position in his kingdom. It was a guy named Crux. And he would come in and the king would dictate the message. And this messenger would have some type of writing utensil, and he would record the message that was being dictated by the king. And at some point, the messenger was allowed to ask points of clarification because not only did the messenger have to relay the message correctly, but he had to try and capture the heart of the king as he delivered that message. Well, y'all know you can say something, but the way in which you say it can largely determine how a person receives it. I'm sure if you're like me, you were told once or twice by your mama, it's not what you said, it's how you said it. Right? And it's much the same way. And so when a preacher is getting ready to preach the word, or when Christians are getting ready to proclaim the message, it is vitally important that we not only communicate accurately what the message is, but we have to capture the heart of the king as we deliver it to the people. And so he was to formally preach the word. And I think what's interesting here too is that this messenger that was called in to receive a message from the king was not given the luxury of coming up with his own message. He didn't get to determine what was said to the people, he had to say what the king told him to say. So I think what's implicit in this understanding is that Timothy was to formally proclaim the message by preaching the word of God. And Timothy was not given the luxury of determining the message he wanted to speak to the people. He had to preach what the king has already said. And in case you're wondering, this is what the king has already said. And this is the message that preachers are to preach. We don't water it down, we don't change it, we don't make it more palatable, we simply present what the king has already spoken. Secondly, Timothy was to formerly proclaim the message with foresight. Now the idea with foresight is with the future in mind. So did you notice that Paul charged at Timothy to preach the word? But he said, you want to do this to the best of your ability and as accurately as you can, because one day the Lord Jesus Christ is going to return and he is going to judge the living and the dead. In other words, Timothy was going to stand before God and he was going to give an account for how he conducted his ministry. And lastly, he was to formally proclaim the message fervently. Timothy must be ready in season and out of season. Now, when I was younger, I always thought that that meant, you know, you got to preach when you feel like it and when you don't feel like it. But that's certainly an aspect of it. You know, but the reality is that phrase, be be ready in season and out of season, it means it meant this. Timothy, you must preach the word when it is fashionable to do so. Like when it's okay, when people are pretty receptive of it, even when the culture is somewhat receptive of it. And you must preach the word out of season. In other words, when it's not fashionable to do so. When people have developed hard hearts, stiff necks, and they don't want to turn, they don't want to change. You, Timothy, must preach the word. And you're ready to do so, in season and out of season. And then he told him how to do it. He said, You are to reprove. That word reprove means to correct to bring about change. You are to rebuke, which means to stop at action immediately. Stop. You are to exhort, which means strong encouragement. And then Paul told Timothy he must reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all patience and teaching, which means to, which means to be patient and persistent in teaching the word of God. That eventually it will break through the human heart and accomplish the purposes in which God intended it. And so patiently preach the word of God. And if a person is remains hard-hearted and stiff-necked, then the preaching of the word of God will accomplish that purpose as well. It will prove that that person is in that condition. And oftentimes that person will fall away or leave or go to another church because they can't sit under the preaching of the word of God. So, how does this apply to us today? Well, as I've already mentioned, Christians are tasked with formally proclaiming the message. We two are under the same orders. We two were told to go and proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We too are commanded to go and to preach the word of God. And we preach by witnessing and by telling people about the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of you would never stand behind a pulpit. That doesn't mean that you're not called to go tell other people about Jesus. And you must do so with foresight in mind because you realize one day the Lord Jesus Christ is going to return. And you too are going to stand before the Lord. And you will give an account for everything that you have done since you became a child of God. Romans chapter 14 and verse number 12 reads, So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Every one of us. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 10, we read, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Listen, every single person will one day stand before Christ on judgment day, and you will give an account for everything. I will give an account for everything that I have done since becoming a child of God. And we are under strict orders. In fact, we're put under oath. This is a formal commitment to go and to tell other people about Jesus Christ. And we don't get to pick and choose what we want to proclaim. We have to teach the whole counsel of God's word. And we do so when it is fashionable, and we do so when it is not fashionable. Every generation has the enemies of the gospel that they must deal with. Every generation has false philosophies and ideologies and so on that rears its head against the knowledge of the Son of God. They challenge divine revelation that is provided for us in the scripture. And we must be bold enough to tell people the truth of the word of God. It just so happens to be that in our generation we have to deal with a radical homosexual agenda. We have to deal with transgenderism. We have to deal with people who think that there's more than, you know, two genders, or that somehow gender is fluid and you get to determine what you are, and so on. When the scripture has clearly revealed he created the male and female, that's it. There's only two genders, and you don't choose what you are, you are what you are by the divine grace of Almighty God. And you have to be willing to say that. And even suffer, quote unquote, persecution for it. So give it enough time, give it enough time, those who are gender confused will come to reality. Because everything that's not built on the word of the living God eventually crumbles, and everything that stands upon the word of God remains. And so we have to be bold in the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of us do that in different contexts. I do that from a pulpit, I do that at my job, I do that one-on-one witnessing. Some people are called to do that on social media. I just caution you. That's not really very effective. People go to social media because they like fights. And they like to be bold behind a keypad. Very rarely would they say something to your face. You know, one of the best things to do is have relationships with people and talk to them one-on-one. So you're not talking past each other. You can actually talk to them. You can remain steadfast in what the word of God teaches without being a jerk. We don't I believe it was Martin Luther, the great reformer. When he talked about contending earnestly for the faith, he said you're not contending earnestly for the faith if you're not contending at the very point where the devil is fighting. It's like, you got a bunch of church people over here that want to talk about this. You know, and the devil is over here wreaking havoc in this area. Well, we we have to contend for the faith right here, because that's where the enemy is attacking. That's what it means by be ready in season and out of season. What is fashionable and not fashionable? To preach the word of God. So today, Grace Chapel, you are formerly being put under oath to tell others about Jesus Christ. And to take a stand for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You do not determine the message. The king has already given the message. We just speak it. Amen. To borrow a phrase from Gene Jackson, this is your calling, and you cannot quit. Christians are tasked with formally proclaiming the message. Secondly, Christians are tasked with faithfully proclaiming the message. Look at the text. It is Second Timothy chapter four, verses three through five. It reads. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. And so here we read where Paul tasked Timothy with faithfully proclaiming the message. Paul revealed to Timothy that there would come a time in which people would reject sound doctrine. That word sound means life-giving, health-producing. People will reject sound doctrine, life-giving doctrine, health-producing doctrine. And they would go after teachers, they will accumulate for themselves teachers who will scratch their itching ears. And the reason that people will reject sound doctrine is because sound doctrine exposes sin. Sound doctrine exposes ignorance of spiritual matters. Sound doctrine exposes misunderstandings and misinterpretations of scripture. Sound doctrine preached regularly from the pulpit makes church on Sunday morning a little uncomfortable. Because we all have areas that we have to reform to scripture. Areas that we're weakened, areas that need to be strengthened, areas that were lacking, misunderstandings, misinterpretations, flat-out sin that we need to repent of, and we need to bring that under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to submit ourselves to the preaching of the Word of God. The older I get, the more I realize that when you preach, particularly expositorily, when you go verse by verse to books of the Bible, you expose a whole lot of stuff and don't even intend to. You're just preaching the Bible and all of a sudden it begins to poke at people, begins to prod people. You need to repent, you need to change here, you need to change the way you think, you need to change the way you act. This is not right, this is not scripture. And people who don't like that will end up going another place. And the reason is because they're looking for a message that is pleasing. It's appeasing to you. It scratches your itching ears. Paul said, not only would they reject sound doctrine, not only would they, you know, accumulate for themselves teachers, but they will turn away from sound doctrine and they'll run toward myths. They'll run to flat out false doctrine. Because that appeases their flesh. And so the implication in the passage I just read is Timothy, don't do that. Don't succumb to the temptation to water down the gospel, to water down the preaching of the word of God. Don't succumb to the temptation to change the message, make it a little bit more appealing to the masses so they'll come to church. And if someone gets offended by the preaching of the word, well then you got to go and run after them and bring them back. No, no, no. It puts in the text is Timothy, don't do that, but faithfully preach the word of God. Because Timothy, you're gonna stand before Christ one day and give an account for the message that I presented to you in the Word, the scripture that you are to preach to the people. The people aren't gonna judge you on judgment day, Jesus is. And so therefore, preach the word of God with that in mind. Faithfully proclaim the word of God. And then he gave them four rapid fire commands. They're commands in the Greek. Boom, boom, boom, boom, rapid fire. He said, be sober-minded, which means to be clear, collected. Endure suffering, which means actively persevere. Like, that's what it means to be a Christian, by the way. We've taught this in other passages. To be a Christian, you endure suffering, you actively persevere. Do the work of an evangelist. In other words, preach the word and call people to come to faith in Christ. And fulfill your ministry. In other words, accomplish what you have been called to do. Discharge your duties. Because you will stand and count for it. Again, how does this apply to us today? Well, I mean, there's nothing new under the sun, right? There was coming a time in Timothy's day when people would reject sound doctrine and accumulate for themselves false teachers who would scratch their itching ears, and we have that today. We have people today who will reject sound doctrine and they will accumulate for themselves teachers. Not only would they reject sound doctrine, but they will actively, energetically, enthusiastically run toward false doctrine. And we today, I'm calling, I'm calling Grace Chapel. I've already put you under formal oath to tell people about Jesus. And now we're under oath to be faithful to that message. All of us. Which means encourage me as a preacher the word of God to remain faithful to the message. We cannot water it down, we cannot make it more appealing. Just so people will come to church. We are to proclaim the word of God and the Holy Spirit to do the work in people's lives. Especially for obedient to go out into witness and to tell others about Jesus. I believe it was A.W. Tozier. And this is not a word-for-word quote, but definitely a paraphrase of what he was getting at in the 1950s and 60s. A.W. Tozier made a comment about the church growth movement that was already emerging in that time. He was ahead of his time and seeing some a few things in the church world. And A.W. Toger made a comment, he said, if you build your church on appeasing or appealing to the carnal man, then your church becomes a carnival in which you must constantly entertain the carnal man, or they just go to the next circus. And he was right on. And that's what you see by and large, by the way, in the church in America. What you see today is you have you have a divergence. You have the megachurches that are growing. And by the way, I don't mean that all mega churches are bad. I don't mean that at all. Nor do I mean that all small or medium churches are good. I don't, because that's not true either. There's good and bad in both sizes of the church. But by and large, what you're seeing is when the mega churches are growing, they're just siphoning off other church members because, you know, they have the bells and the whistles. They have the money, they have the programs. The message is polished. It is clean, it is clear. And less offensive. Not saying the preacher never deals with sin, because I'm sure they do. But not consistently. In that manner. I refuse to water it down and I refuse to apologize for it. Because that's how Jesus preached. Listen to this. Matthew chapter 19, verses 16 through 24. And behold, a man came up to him saying, Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? And he said to him, Why do you ask me about what is good? There's only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments. By the way, Jesus wasn't saying, you know, there's only one that's good and he's not him. Well, he was, it was the opposite. He was saying, You come to me because instinctively you recognize I'm God. There's only one who's good, and that's God. And that's me, Jesus was getting at right here. And then he went on to tell him why. Listen to this. If you would enter eternal life, or enter life, keep the commandments. Verse 18. He said to him, Which ones? And Jesus said, Well, you should not murder, you should not commit adultery, you should not steal, you should not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And the young man said to him, All these I've kept, what do I still lack? Jesus said to him, If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. And when the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, Truly I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Think about what was just communicated. He said, What must I do? And Jesus rattled off, you know, several of the commandments. And the guy was like, Yeah, I've been doing that since I was a child. What do I lack? He goes, Uh-huh, that's the real issue, isn't it? Jesus went to the heart of the issue. And we know he didn't perfectly keep those other commandments anyway. Nobody has. That's the point of the gospel. And so Jesus went to the heart of the issue. He said, Sell all your possessions, sell everything, give to the poor, and follow me. Listen to me. Listen to me. Jesus was not teaching a works-based salvation. That would be a complete gross misunderstanding of what Jesus was communicating. We are saved by grace through faith, not by works. So Jesus was not advocating a works-based salvation. But he mentioned this to prove what was in the man's heart. He said, Sell all your possessions, give to the poor, and follow me. The issue was, are you really gonna follow me no matter what? Are you willing to devote your whole life to follow Christ? That's the issue. And of course the man walked away sorrowful because he couldn't do it. He had many possessions. That's the point. For a person to come to faith in Christ, it is nowhere required for you to sell everything. Sell your house, sell your cars, sell your boat, sell your clothes, give everything to the poor and follow Jesus. That is nowhere mentioned. What is mentioned is to take up your cross daily, deny yourself and follow Jesus Christ. That is what Jesus was getting at. Are you willing to follow Jesus Christ no matter the cost? That's what it means to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when the man walked away sorrowful because he had many possessions, and what's interesting, Jesus didn't go, oh, wait a minute, I'm so I didn't mean to offend you. Come back. Let's talk about this. Let's have a conversation. You hear that today, don't you? Let's sit down and have a conversation. What that means is I'm weak and I'm gonna backpedal, so I'll make you feel better. Jesus didn't do that. He just turned around and looked at his disciples, and he was like, Bro, I told you guys it's easier for a caval to go through a knive of a needle than a rich man to come into the gate. But with God, all things are possible. That's where that text comes from, just so you know. Yeah. Oh, oh, oh, my favorite, John chapter 6. Oh, I love this. Listen to this. John chapter 6, verses 65 through 69. And he said, Jesus said, This is why I told you that no one, no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father. After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, Do you want to go away as well? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. Now, if you read John chapter 6, Jesus is, I mean, he's hammering it, he's laying out what it means to be a follower of Christ. He had a huge crowd of people following him because he just fed everybody. Yeah, yeah. I'm kind of gonna shoot myself in the foot here because I want everybody to come Wednesday night and I want people to come, so I'm offering food. And the truth is, people will come, but there's food. Guarantee you. This is the joke among preachers. Call a prayer meeting, you have crickets. You have a potluck, the building is filled. And we all kind of laugh because we know it's true, right? Well, there's nothing new under the sun. Jesus had performed a few miracles. And by the way, the ladies will tell you this in the kitchen. God still works miracles today. You don't believe me? Serve in the kitchen when we do potlup meals. Sometimes you get to look at there and you're like, man, I do, we do not have enough food. And all the women are worried about it, and all of a sudden it's like it just multiplies. Every time you dig that spoon in there, there's a little bit more. Hallelujah. Because, see, God cares about our potluck dinners. So, if you want to see God move Wednesday night, come for our dinner. Now in John 6, Jesus, you know, had fed the multitudes, and they wanted to take him at that very moment. They wanted to crown him king, you know. Yeah, I mean, yeah, of course. He's paying everybody, he's working miracles. Jesus began to preach the word. And they were dropping like flies. And especially when he got to this truth. No one can come to me unless it's been granted by my father. By the way, he started talking about that at chapter uh verse number 37 of John 6. People got really upset about that. Jesus did apologize. He doubled down on it. And when he did, he said the disciples, many of them left and walked with him no more. To the point that Jesus turned and looked at the 12 and he's like, You guys going too? This is the one time Peter spoke up and was actually right. He was like, uh, where are we gonna go? Like you have the words of eternal life. And by the way, if you read the rest of John 6, Jesus doubled down on it again. See, when the masses began to leave Jesus, he didn't run after them and go, oh, I'm so wait a minute, man.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

Wait, I'm sorry. Maybe you misunderstood. Let's come back. Come back, come back. I got some more bread. Let's have a conversation.

SPEAKER_01 38:25

Nope. No apologies. Preach the word. That's what we're called to do. Let's sit there for a minute. As Gene Jackson said, this is part of your calling. You cannot quit. And to assist us in our task, we too should obey these four rapid-fire commands. We should be sober-minded. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse number 8. Be sober-minded. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Sober-minded. It's yes, that's a call not to get drunk. Yes. But it's more than that. Be sober-minded. Be clear. Think. Be calm. Be collected. Pay attention. Keep your head on the swivel. Pay attention to what's happening around you. Because our enemy is like a roaring line. The enemy walks around like a roaring line, seeking who we can devour. So be clear, be sober-minded. Think stay rational. Stay stay in the word of God. Stay logical in the word of God. Endure suffering. We've already dealt with this in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 3. It says, share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus. That's just part of it. To be a Christ's follower is what it means. I've already taught this in numerous ways. You take up your cross and you follow Christ. Third, we are to do the work of an evangelist. Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20. And Jesus said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you, and behold, I'm with you always to the end of the age. That's what it means to do the work of an evangelist. It's more than just having people raise their hand and say a prayer or sign a card. Yes, they must confess Christ. They must come to faith in Christ, they must be converted, but it doesn't stop there. It's really about discipleship, and that's what evangelism is all about. You are introducing Christianity to people, and then you're walking with them and showing them what it means to be a Christ follower. Acts chapter 1 and verse number 8 reads, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria until the end of the earth. The power of the Holy Spirit is to be a witness. That's the power that the Lord promised his church was to be a witness. We want the power of the Holy Spirit to help us as we're out there doing the work of an evangelist, telling people about Jesus Christ. And then, of course, fulfill the ministry. Philippians 1, verse 6, the Apostle Paul writes, and I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion to the day of Jesus Christ. That's so true. We must complete the work that the Lord has assigned for us to do. We want to fulfill the ministry. As a formal, you know, preacher or pastor of a church, I have one way I discharge that duty. As a Christian, I have another. And you, as a Christian, as the priest of the believer in the congregation, in the church, you have a way that you discharge that duty, but it must be done because one day the Lord is going to return and you're going to stand before him and give an account for what you have done in this ministry or what you did not do in your ministry. And so fulfill the ministry. Do what God has called you to do. And I believe that if we would follow these two simple points, formally proclaim the message, realizing we're put under oath. Today there's no excuses. Secondly, faithfully proclaim the message. If we would do that with the power of the Holy Spirit upon us as we go out and tell others about Christ, I believe the Lord will honor our ministry and I believe people will come to this church. I believe people will be saved. I believe marriages will be restored. I believe that bodies will be healed. I believe God will work miracles. I believe people will find deliverance and freedom from their addictions and their hurts. I believe God still moves in those ways, but he empowers our church to go and spread the message. And so fulfill the ministry. Thank you for listening to the Gollible Grace Japble podcast. Make sure that you like, share, follow us on socials. I'm Dr. Jason Murphy, proclaiming grace, transforming culture.