The Ministry Of The Word

The letters to 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus, as you probably know, are popularly referred to as

the pastoral epistles. But to be honest with you, that title can be a little bit misleading.

It's only been popularized probably in the last 150 years to even call it that.

And if we're not careful, if that's how we're thinking about these books, we'll think that

they're basically irrelevant to the everyday Christian, that the purpose of them is really

just to inform pastors or church leaders or to give a polity for church structures that bore us to tears

and all of those kinds of things. But really, that's not what these books are. That's not at least only

what they are. They're relevant for the whole church. And though portions of these letters are

indeed personal, they were never intended to be private. And if you think back all the way to when

we introduced this book, we talked about this a little bit. This letter to Titus was never

meant to be a private letter. Titus is inspired scripture. It is inspired by God for the purpose

of instructing his church, of instructing his people. And once Titus received this letter,

he wouldn't have kept it to himself. It was read publicly in the churches in Crete. To the congregations

of the church, it was there. This message that's given to Titus was intended for them. They were held

accountable to it in the same way that Titus was held accountable to it. And then beyond that,

they meticulously copied it and then distributed those copies, which is exactly why you have a copy of it

today in your hand. Because the early church understood that this letter was not just personal

anecdotes written to Paul's colleague. It wasn't that somebody came across it at some point and just

decided, hey, this is pretty cool. We should put this into the collection of things that Paul has

written and somebody eventually decided, oh, well, let's just call it scripture. That's not what this

was. The early church from the earliest days understood that this was inspired scripture. So they

meticulously copied it. They distributed it, understanding that this was God's instruction for his people.

So its usefulness is not just limited to church leaders. That's the first thing I want you to

understand before we even really dig in to this verse that is directed specifically to Titus. The

title for pastoral epistles, it stems from this undercurrent of pastoral instruction that courses

through all of the doctrinal and practical teaching of the letter. So in addition to Paul saying,

this is the truth of the gospel, this is the truth of the gospel, and these are the behaviors that

harmonize with it, Paul directed Titus and then by extension, the elders that Titus would appoint to

the churches on how they could effectively shepherd the churches in their care. That's the intention of the

pastoral instruction. It's not that Paul was saying, I'm just going to give this kind of

a church manual to these guys that they'll follow. Now he's writing to the churches, but underneath this

doctrine and these practical elements, he's telling these church leaders, this is how to incorporate these

truths into the care of the church. And all of this pastoral instruction in Titus ultimately amounts to this.

It amounts to an exalted view of scripture that's expressed in word-based ministry. Okay, I'm going to say

that again. It amounts to an exalted view of scripture that expresses itself in word-based ministry.

And verse 15 in chapter 2 makes that abundantly clear. It's a summary statement that stands on,

it's on its own. That's why we're dealing with it on its own this morning. In fact, the translators of

the Bible in your hand or the device in your hand, whatever it is you're using, probably even made this

visibly distinct. My Bible at least, verse 15 stands on its own. It's its own paragraph.

If your Bible is that way, the translators have done that intentionally so that you might understand

that this verse stands on its own. It's not that it's irrelevant to the paragraph before it or the

paragraph after it. It's actually incredibly relevant to those things. But the passage stands on its own,

and that's how we're going to deal with it this morning. Last week, I told you that verses 11 through 14

serve as the theological foundation for everything that Paul wrote to Titus.

It is the clear gospel message that is the basis of everything Paul was concerned about here.

Everything Paul was concerned about in all the other letters as well. It's the truth of the gospel.

Well, we might consider verse 15 and the instruction that it contains to be the practical outworking

of that gospel message, not only in the ministry of a pastor to the church, but in the church to one

another. In our efforts at discipling one another, in our efforts at evangelism, this verse encompasses in

a summary form how we are to use the gospel in ministry. In other words, here's what Paul does in

verses 11 through 14. He says, here is the gospel message. And in verse 15, he says, here is what you

must do with it. Here's the gospel, Titus. Here's what you must do with it. And there's three very

straightforward commands given in the verse. Two of them are positive. One is negative. Christians are to

speak the word of God. They are to teach it with authority and they are to prevent contempt for the

gospel in those who hear them. Okay. Those are the three things we're going to look at. Speak the word,

teach it with authority and prevent contempt in the hearers. First, let's look at speaking the word. At

the very beginning of the verse, the first phrase, Paul says, declare these things. The word for

declare here, it is laleo, is not the typical word for preaching. That's what's interesting about it

here. We often would think to the famous verse in 2 Timothy, when Paul finally gets to the end of it,

and he just says, preach the word, Timothy. Well, this is not the same word that he uses to Timothy.

It just means to speak. Simply speak the word. Speak these things, Titus. But still, the context of the

verse gives us this sense of asserting truth. Declare, proclaim, announce. And certainly, the primary

task for church elders are prayer and the ministry of the word. But this ministry of the word is not

limited to Sunday morning sermons. Paul's not just concerned that Titus would preach this message

on the Lord's Day worship. He is intent that Titus would speak the truth of God, that he would speak

these things, that he would declare them through the fullness of his ministry in Crete. So that

everything pastors do, even in the administrative oversight of the church, is to have communicating

the truth of God as its central focus. Just a couple of weeks ago, Shane and Andy and I sat down

to work on the new budget for the budget year coming up that will begin in May. And the first thing that

we did before we ever met is we rehearsed biblical principles for stewardship, biblical principles for

what God expects of us. We watched a lecture about it. Why? Because everything we do, even in formatting

a church budget and designating how we're going to steward the resources that God has given us,

has the intention from church leadership for communicating the truth of God. It is setting a

pattern of looking to God for our sole source of truth and behavior. This is the only way to really,

truly shepherd God's people. That's why we say if, you know, at the end of our church covenant,

we always say if at any point you move on from this place, you are covenanting that you will,

as quickly as possible, join with another church who is faithful to the gospel and is faithful to

the things that God says in his word. And part of that, as we're looking for a church, is finding a

pastor who's consumed with the Bible, whose ministry is consumed with the word, not his own passions,

not his own thoughts and opinions, but the word of God. And as a congregation, we need to make sure that

we are encouraging our leaders to prioritize this word-based ministry. We want them to give the majority

of their time to preaching, to counseling, to evangelizing, to discipling people in the truth.

That's what God has called them to do. We need to hold them to that. You need to hold me to that.

Otherwise, I cannot truly shepherd you. But I want to suggest also this morning

that this priority of word-based ministry does not only belong to the leaders of the church.

It belongs to every Christian, every believer. Now, I'm not talking about giftedness here. I'm not

talking about the things that we would say would be the ways that God, by his spirit, gifts us to

serve the church. And by all means, many of those ways are not related to speaking gifts or teaching

gifts. We're not talking about giftedness. We're talking about responsibility. Every believer,

every Christian is responsible for speaking truth to others in obedience to what Christ has commanded

us to do. So as Paul is writing this to Titus, he is intent that pastors faithfully speak God's truth,

at least in part, because all believers are to do so. And pastors are to lead the way in this evangelism

and discipling and counsel. So then my responsibility at Lakeside Bible Church, my teaching in our church

is to both shepherd your soul and to train you on how to shepherd the souls of others. It's not just

about enlightening your mind. It's about training you to do the work of ministry yourself. This belongs to

each of us. And classically, we find this spelled out in Ephesians chapter four. Paul says, and God,

Christ gave shepherds and teachers, shepherd teachers, pastor teachers, to equip the saints for ministry.

And what is that work of ministry? It's the building up of the body of Christ. And how does he intend for

the building up of the body of the Christ to take place? By speaking truth in love, he says. We are to grow

up in every way into him who is the head. And we talk about this verse all the time because it is so

crucial to what we are to be as a church and how we are to behave as a church. We have a responsibility

to one another. Consider Hebrews chapter three and verse 13. The writer says, exhort one another every day.

He's not writing to leaders here. He's writing to the church. He says, exhort one another every day,

as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Declare these things. Speak to one another these truths. We have a responsibility to it.

But what exactly is it that we're commanded to declare? Paul says, declare these things. Well,

that's not very helpful. What does he mean? What are the these things? Well, fundamentally,

it refers to the gospel message of verses 11 through 14 and the behaviors that accord with the gospel

message in verses 1 through 10. Set your eyes on verse 1 again at the beginning of chapter 2.

But as for you, Titus, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Sound doctrine primarily being the gospel

message. What accords with the gospel message is the behaviors that harmonize with it. In other words,

we must be faithful and committed to declaring the doctrines and commandments of the word of God.

You see, most of us, the struggle that we have is not speaking. It's not speaking to others.

We all have a way. Even if you are the most introverted among us, you still have communication.

There are ways that you interact with other people. Even if it's just with the people in your home,

you're interacting, you're communicating, you're speaking. Typically, that's not our problem.

We're speaking. The problem often is what is the source of that speaking? What is it that we're

actually communicating to people typically? When you go to coffee with your friend who's really just

going through a particular struggle in their life, be it a struggle in their marriage or a struggle

with their finances or a struggle with their health, or maybe they're just down and they need

some encouragement, what is it that you give them for that encouragement and that comfort?

If it doesn't have anything to do with the word of God, you're not doing it right. That's the point.

Declare these things. Let these things, let the word of God be on our lips and in our mouths.

So much of Christian discipling seems to be absent of the clear teaching of the Bible.

We want to help others, but we're not always looking to the scriptures for the answers to life,

for the things that actually bring comfort, for the things that actually do lift up our hearts.

Our counsel often can be saturated with emotionalism, maybe self-help ideas,

but what we should continually be asking ourselves in these conversations

is what does God tell us in the Bible? What does the gospel instruct us on in relation to this thing?

Colossians chapter 3. I grew up, I don't know if any of you have ever even heard of this,

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

but I grew up going to Patch the Pirate Club. Anybody go to Patch the Pirate Club?

You went to Patch the Pirate Club. That's amazing. We sail with Patch the Pirate.

We should sing that on a Sunday.

The club verse, I can remember my mom was the, for a few years, was the Patch the Pirate Club

leader or captain, whatever it was called.

And every week we would stand up and she would say, all right, sailors, club verse.

Colossians 3.16 was the verse.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,

singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, giving thanks in our hearts to the Lord.

That's a command to the church that Paul gives.

And what is the command? Let the word of God dwell in you richly insofar as you can go to others

and you can teach them and you can admonish them in wisdom, true wisdom that's founded on the word of God.

And what's one of the ways that we do that most often?

In our Sunday worship.

As we gather together and we sing Christ, the true and better Adam, son of God and son of man,

who when tempted in the garden, never yielded, never sinned.

We teach one another that.

There is this, Keith Getty talks about this so often, there is this dynamic in our church worship services

in just the way even that we set up our seating, where we work against this instruction.

I heard him talk about one time, we set up our services, and I've done it,

but we set up our services where everything is focused on a platform.

He said, but the sense of this verse is that maybe we set up our chairs in a circle

so that as we're singing songs of the Lord, we're not singing them to a person that is leading us,

we're singing them to one another.

We are teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs

that inform our hearts and inform our minds.

And then when we go to coffee after the service and we're sitting,

we're talking with our friend who's going through a particular struggle

or maybe has questions about the gospel, we can say,

do you remember the song that we sang today?

This is what the Bible teaches about it.

This is who Jesus is.

This is what he has done for us.

This is our responsibility, church.

Declare these things.

Speak these things.

We are to be filled with the word of God

and routinely speak this gospel to others.

Whether it's the pastor in the pulpit,

whether it's a parent at the dinner table,

whether it's a friend at the coffee shop,

our words are to be filled with God's truth,

declaring these things to others.

So Paul says, declare these things.

Speak the word of God.

Number two, he says, teach it with authority.

Teach it with authority.

Look at verse 15 again.

Declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority.

So the terms used in the very first phrase,

declare these things, really relate to just speaking truth.

But the terms of the second phrase

have the nuance of instruction, personal instruction.

To exhort means to entreat.

It's to earnestly implore someone to do something.

Julie, please let me get a milkshake today.

It is to entreat.

It's to plead with.

In this case, it means to plead with others,

to believe and obey the gospel,

to obey God,

to care about the Sabbath,

to care about the Lord's day.

To rebuke is to admonish or to correct.

It's just a different form of teaching.

Here it refers to correcting errant teaching

and sinful behavior.

Both of these actions are absolutely essential

for a pastor to faithfully shepherd the church

and for all Christians to evangelize

and disciple one another.

There's no way around it.

It's not enough to merely state what the Bible says.

We must plead with people to believe and obey it.

Because I could come in on it one day

and I could say,

Jesus rose from the dead.

That's important.

It's true.

But it's different from me coming in and saying,

Jesus rose from the dead,

therefore bow to him as Lord,

receive him as Savior,

trust in him.

Do you see?

There is the speaking of the word,

then there's the instructing of the word,

the exhortation,

the rebuke.

Now the third term in this phrase

is really what gets at the heart of the instruction.

Paul said that Titus was to plead and correct

with all authority, he says.

And this is where things get a little tricky for us,

isn't it?

Because none of us want to assume authority over other people.

That is without a doubt frowned upon in our modern culture.

No one likes to be told what to do.

Few people like to be the ones actually telling others what to do.

There are some nut jobs out there,

but there's few people that actually really enjoy doing that.

And yet Paul still tells us right here,

he says,

do this with all authority.

The word is epitage.

It means to issue a command,

which makes it worse.

It's not just that you have authority to say something,

it's that he's saying,

do this in such a way as you're commanding people.

It's to have a commanding, authoritative tone.

Not harsh, but commanding.

But the question we have to ask

is what is the source of this authority?

What's the source of it?

What kind of authority are we actually appealing to

when we speak to others,

when we exhort them and when we rebuke them?

And before we get to the answer to that,

I want to give you three errant ways,

three errant ways of viewing spiritual authority.

The first one is this,

spiritual authority is not inherent in a church leader.

Spiritual authority is not inherent in a church leader.

In other words,

we have no power and authority in and of ourselves

to issue spiritual commands to others.

But there's a lot of people

who would have you think otherwise.

There are the self-proclaimed faith healers

in the Word of Faith movement.

They declare that they possess power

in and of themselves over disease and demons

and that the only way for you to access that power

is if you become one of their disciples

and contribute to their ministries.

They claim the power is in them.

They claim the power is in what they can do.

It's not the only way that this is demonstrated.

Roman Catholic traditions do this.

They believe that there is an endowment

on the priest in the Roman Catholic Church

to actually convey the forgiveness of sins

to those who would come

and follow the prescribed recipe for penance

and whatever that may be.

You go and you sit in the confession,

you tell the priest what you've done,

and then the priest conveys forgiveness

based on what he tells you to do

in that particular moment.

But spiritual authority doesn't belong

to the church leader,

not in and of himself.

But this happens in evangelical circles as well,

doesn't it?

If you're like me,

you've been around a lot of people,

legalistic types of people,

where pastors act as if their authority

is in themselves.

They issue extra biblical commands

to the people,

and they believe themselves

to be above criticism.

They exercise the type of authority

over others that isn't actually given

to them in the Bible.

They demand that before you do anything,

you come and get their permission.

And if anyone brings criticism to them,

they would quote something like,

touch not God's anointed.

They put themselves above the word.

They put themselves above the truth.

But the problem is,

in each of these scenarios,

these individuals are claiming

for themselves a power

that only belongs to Christ.

And they manipulate others

to believe it

in order that they may assume

power over them.

But spiritual authority

is not inherent in the church leader.

Secondly, spiritual authority

is not granted to an institution.

It's not granted to an institution.

Let's think about Roman Catholicism again,

or the Eastern Orthodox traditions,

or various cults.

They all elevate

their institutional authority

as either equal to

or above the scriptures.

And when there is a conflict

between the church

and the scriptures,

those traditions

presume to have authority

over the Bible itself,

dictating as an institution

what people should do

and believe.

Some of you,

I know you have history

with Roman Catholicism,

and the basic understanding

of authority

in the Roman Catholic Church

is like a three-legged stool.

There's the scriptures,

there's the traditions,

and then there's the magisterium.

The church traditions

and the magisterium

are at least put as equal weight

to the scriptures.

And whenever the traditions

and the scriptures contradict,

the ultimate authority

belongs to the magisterium,

the pope,

and the bishops

who surround him

in order to pass judgment.

He acts as God's representative

on earth.

That is completely foreign

to the Bible.

There is no spiritual authority

granted to an institution.

Jesus dealt with these people.

Mark chapter 7,

Mark 7 · chapter mention

he said to them,

well did Isaiah prophesy

of you hypocrites,

this people honors me

with their lips,

but their heart

is far from me.

In vain they worship me,

teaching as doctrines

the commandments of men.

You leave the commandment of God

and hold to the tradition

of men, Jesus said.

So that's not what Paul

is talking about.

He's not saying

that the authority

belongs to you, Titus.

He's not saying

the authority belongs to you

and the elders

as an institution, Titus.

The third way

this is errantly thought of

this, spiritual authority

does not belong

to the individual self.

This is the modern

secular idea

that the only authority

I have is me.

I do what I feel is right.

I determine for myself

what's right

and what's wrong

and any other authority

is by nature

oppressive.

Well that's not

biblical either.

So what then

is the source

of this authority

that Paul writes about

in chapter 2

in verse 15?

There is only one authority

from which we can

exhort and rebuke

and it is the very word of God.

It's the Bible.

Our preaching

and our teaching

and our evangelism

and our discipling

they're not based

on what we think is right

or what a religious institution

declares is right

or certainly what secular ideas

think is right.

It is based on the scriptures

and the scriptures alone.

Think about what Paul said

to the Galatians.

Remember they were beginning

to abandon the true gospel.

In Galatians chapter 1

Galatians 1 · chapter mention

in verse 8 he says

but even if we

speaking of me and my team

or even an angel from heaven

were to speak to you a gospel

contrary to what we've preached

let him be accursed.

In other words

the truth isn't the truth

because I say it is

and the truth isn't the truth

because an angel says it is.

The truth is the truth

because God says it is.

The authority lies in the word.

Think about this

in connection

with the great commission.

Matthew 28

Jesus came to them

and said

all authority.

Now don't forsake

the parallel here.

Paul is telling Titus

rebuke with all authority.

Jesus is saying

all authority

in heaven and on earth

has been given to me

to Jesus

not to Titus.

Go therefore

and make disciples

baptizing them

evangelizing them

teaching them

to observe

all that I have

commanded.

Now

Jesus' authority

is intrinsic

because he is

by his very nature

divine.

He is God.

He is the source of truth.

He is the source

of authority.

He commissioned

the apostles

to go

but their authority

was only

an extension

of their responsibility

to preach

his gospel.

To preach

his message

not their own.

Jesus says

I say

unto you

we say

thus says

the Lord.

There is a difference

there.

We are to make

disciples

by preaching

his gospel

and teaching

his commandments.

the authority

is not our own.

The authority

is Christ

and we are not

to issue

our commands

but his.

And the place

that God

has seen fit

to reveal

his gospel

and his commands

is not

in an institution

and it is not

within you.

It is in the pages

of the Bible.

The ultimate authority

is the word of God

not the one

who preaches it.

says MacArthur

no matter

what his training

or experience

or personal abilities

the preacher

has spiritual

authority

only to the extent

that what he says

conforms to the word

of God.

And that applies

to each of us.

Our authority

is only an extension

of the word of God.

So if we're going

around commanding

and exhorting

and rebuking

it better be

with our Bibles open.

Not commanding

what we think

people should do.

But what God

demands of them

and what he reveals

to us.

When we listen

to the authoritative

teaching of others

we need to make sure

it's rooted

in the scripture.

When you receive

that counsel

from even a trusted

family member

make sure it's rooted

in the scripture.

Someone told me

recently

that their

father told them

you need to put

the Bible down

and put your brain on.

that's bad advice.

That's the opposite

of what we do.

It doesn't matter

how trusted

the person is.

Make sure

what you heed

is the word.

So we see

speak the word

teach it with authority.

Thirdly and finally

he says

prevent

the hearer's contempt.

Prevent

the hearer's contempt.

Verse 15 again

declare these things

exhort

and rebuke

with all authority.

Let no one

disregard you.

Let no one

disregard you.

So in this

final imperative

it's the negative.

The first two

he says

do

do

now he says

do not

do not let

do not permit

something.

He's telling him

to prevent

his hearers

from holding

the gospel message

in contempt.

Titus was to

authoritatively

preach the Bible

in such a way

that no one

could escape

its truth.

Now Brian

Chappell helps us

here.

He says

this reminds us

that our teaching

may be made

ineffective

either

by failing

to speak

with authority

or by failing

to live

in accord

with the scriptures

ourselves.

So let's think

about that

for a moment

before we finish.

In one sense

the statement

reflects what

will happen

if we speak

the truth

but not

in an

authoritative

way.

Again we're

not talking

about harshness.

We're not

talking about

speaking truth

without grace.

We're not

even saying

speak it

without using

or endeavoring

to use

winsome

persuasive

words and

language.

I even think

that that's

important and

even biblical

for us to

understand.

That's not

what we're

saying.

We're not

talking about

going around

barking orders

at people.

We're talking

about saying

thus says

the Lord

engaging with

people on

the truth

of God.

But we

must never

present the

truth of

God in

such a way

that it

seems optional.

As if the

word of God

is just one

of the

options in

the midst

of many

options.

And in

a day of

supposed

tolerance

people will

not appreciate

it when you

talk about

the exclusivity

of the

gospel.

The

inerrancy

and the

authority of

the Bible.

They won't

appreciate that

but that's

what the

Bible actually

tells us

to do.

We command

because it

is the

truth.

We can't

leave it

optional.

It's a

warning against

limiting the

gospel to

those who we

think would be

most tolerant

of hearing it.

Just because a

person rejects

God's word

either blatantly

or out of

loyalty to

another religion

doesn't make

them any less

accountable to

it.

Do you

understand what

I mean by

that?

Just because

this person is

a Muslim

doesn't mean

that they're

not accountable

to the

truth of

God.

God's word

is not

applicable only

to Christians.

It's applicable

to the whole

human race.

It is relevant

to the whole

human race.

It must be

preached to

the whole

human race.

Not as an

option that

they might

consider but

as a command

from the

God who

created them

and who

demands of

them to

show his

glory.

Again, it's

God's truth

not man's.

Therefore, we

need to speak

authoritatively

to all people.

Well, there's

another sense

here, let no

one disregard

you, that

parallels what

Paul said to

Timothy.

In 1 Timothy

1 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4,

remember Paul

says, let no

one despise you

for your youth.

This is 1 Timothy

4.12, let no

one despise you

for your youth

but set the

believers an

example in

speech and

conduct and

love and

faith and

purity.

And he goes

on.

Well, what was

Paul trying to

tell Timothy

to do?

He wasn't

saying, Timothy,

I know you're a

young man so

what you're

going to have

to do is go

get the

older people in

the church.

You're going

to have to

strap them

down to a

chair and

make sure

that they

listen to

what you

say.

That's not

what he's

saying.

He's saying,

Timothy,

don't live with

behaviors that

are typical

of young men

your age because

you're going to

discredit the

gospel message

that you're

preaching.

Instead, set an

example for the

church and he

gives the list of

ways that Timothy

has to set an

example.

That's what he's

saying to Titus

here.

Let no one

disregard you.

He's not saying

keep barking at

them and force

them to sit in

the chair and

listen to whatever

you have to say

to give them a

piece of your

mind.

That's not what

he's saying.

He's saying,

live in such a

way that you

don't discredit

the gospel message,

that people can't

easily evade the

message you're

preaching.

We can speak

God's word

routinely, but if

our manner of

life is not

worthy of

respect, what

good will our

preaching be?

It will be no

good.

Almost no

good.

We can speak

authoritatively,

but who will

hear us if our

words are harsh

and unkind?

generally, people

can see through

our hypocrisies.

They can tell

when our thoughts

of Christ haven't

truly gripped us

and consumed us

in our lives.

And the last

thing people are

interested in

listening to is a

religious lecture

from someone who

barely seems to be

a Christian

themselves.

Let no one

disregard you,

church.

don't make

God's message

optional and

live a life that's

worthy of the

gospel.

That's why Paul

says to the

Philippians, isn't

it?

Live worthy of

the gospel.

Show obedience

and love.

Observe the

Lord's day to

show that you

actually love the

Lord.

You're actually

gripped by his

truth.

You actually care

to obey his

commands.

Live a life that's

consistent with the

message that you're

preaching.

Don't render

your teaching

ineffective.

No one teaches

the Bible by

accident.

It takes

intentionality.

It takes a

heart level

commitment to

regularly engage

in this kind of

discipling.

And it's a

responsibility that

belongs to each

of us.

For you parents,

this is a

responsibility you

have first and

foremost with your

children.

grandchildren.

You're your

grandchildren.

You have a

responsibility to

teach the word.

And that's not

going to happen

accidentally.

It's going to

take you caring in

those moments to

say, I must give

the truth of God to

my kids.

I must train them

in righteousness.

It's also

impossible to speak

the truth of God

if you don't know

the truth of God.

God, we can't

ever expect to

obey these

commands and to

be effective in

our ministries to

other people if we

don't actually know

the Bible.

Study the Bible.

Read the word.

Get all the

resources you can to

help you understand

it the best way that

you can.

Pray and ask for the

Lord to lead you and

enlighten you by his

Holy Spirit so that

you can understand it.

Memorize it.

Ingrain it in your

heart and your mind

not only for your

own benefit but for

the benefit of others

that are in your

life.

Only then will we

care to know it and

share it with others.

Only then will we be

able to sit down with

someone, view their

circumstance with an

open Bible instead of

just an open mind.

And the question is

simple.

Do you engage in

word-based ministry?

Tom and I had coffee

together the other

day in Mooresville and

I love it.

Every now and then

when I do something

like this I often

wonder, I shouldn't

think this way, but

I often wonder what

are the people around

us thinking right now

because of two of us

we're sitting there

with our Bibles open

and we're working

through Romans chapter

six together and we

weren't being quiet

about it and we're

just working through

the Bible.

You know what we're

doing?

We're saying hey

here's what's going

on in our lives.

How can we process

this through the lens

of the scripture?

That's what you can do.

You sit down with

one another and open

the Bible.

Say hey I know you're

going through this

difficult time.

Let's look at some

encouragement from the

scripture.

What is the truth about

what Christ has done

for us?

We lift each other's

hearts up with the

truth.

Not just by saying

they're there.

It's going to be okay.

Right?

Are you engaging in

this kind of word

based ministry?

Engage with others

but make sure your

speech is saturated

with the Bible.

Well,

let's take a look at some