encouragement

This should give us all some encouragement weather you are "called" into ministry or not. This applies in some fashion to all believers. This was only part of the speech, but the best part, I thought!

They go out in power. Not the power of profession or the power of wealth. They may not look to the world like an intimidating militia, but they are the army of God -- "soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed." They are the powerless made powerful in Christ; the weak through whom the Lord will show his strength. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church they shall serve, and the forces of evil will flee their proclamation of the Gospel and the Word of God.

They are arrayed in glory. Not an earthly glory accompanied by office and status and entourage, but the glory of the crucified, risen, ascended, and reigning Christ -- a glory hidden now from the world but one day revealed to every bended knee and each confessing tongue. They are vessels of clay who bear the glory of the incorruptible Christ, who show his wounds and bear his scars and will both live and die to the glory of God alone. Death holds no sting and Satan holds no scepter to them.

They will go out to preach and to teach and to tell a lost world about Jesus and his love. They will break bread and share the cup and proclaim the Lord's death for sinners until He comes. They will baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They will preach the Word, in season and out of season. They will teach, preach, correct, rebuke, lead, serve, follow, guide, and encourage. They will tend to the flock of God and serve churches. They will preach and pray as the saints are laid to rest. They will push back against the darkness as the children of light. They will plant and water and sometimes reap, and their labor will never be in vain.

How is all this secured? We send them out, knowing that all these promises are secured in Christ and in Christ alone. We know so because Christ has taught us to pray, "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

__________________________

This is a commencement address and charge to graduates of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, delivered May 15, 2009 by R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President.