[1]LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–In Old Testament times, a “watchman” would stand guard on the edge of the city, ready to blow his horn when the enemy attacked.
In the same manner ministers of the Gospel should be watchmen, preaching the Good News and warning people that the judgment of the Lord is coming, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said May 17 at the school’s spring graduation.
It was the 189th commencement in the storied 143-year history of the seminary, and more than 170 students from 32 states and six foreign countries graduated. In a separate ceremony more than 30 students graduated from Boyce College — the seminary’s undergraduate school — while about 15 students graduated from Seminary Wives Institute, a program for student spouses.
Preaching from Acts 20:17-32, Mohler told the graduates that in their future ministry they should: 1) declare the truth of the Gospel, 2) finish the “race” of ministry, 3) preach the kingdom of God and 4) guard their flock.
Part of preaching the kingdom of God, Mohler said, is playing the role of a watchman.
[2]“If you are called to the ministry of the Gospel of the grace of God, you are set as a watchman upon the wall,” he said.
Mohler pointed to Acts 20:26, where Paul says he is “innocent of the blood of all men.” Mohler said Paul’s quote should be viewed within the context of Ezekiel 33:1-6, where a watchman was told to guard the city. If the watchman saw an enemy and blew the trumpet, he was innocent of anyone’s death. But if the watchman failed to blow the trumpet, he himself was guilty if anyone died.
In the same way, Mohler said, ministers should blow the “trumpet” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, warning their flock that the judgment of God is inevitable.
“(Paul) blew the trumpet, and that trumpet was the Gospel. He blew it loudly, he blew it clearly,” Mohler said.
The Gospel must be declared, he added, even when critics say that to declare an exclusive message is intolerant.
“The ultimate essence of cruelty is to fail to preach the Gospel,” he said. “… True cruelty is failing to blow the trumpet.”
Paul was able to say he was “innocent of the blood of all men” because he declared the truth of the Gospel, Mohler said. Mohler read from Acts 20:20, where Paul tells the elders in Ephesus that he did “not shrink from declaring” the truth.
“The Apostle Paul did not want to receive the indictment from the Lord Jesus Christ that he had failed to deliver the truth,” Mohler said. “… If your goal in ministry is to avoid controversy, you can probably accomplish that. You just cannot accomplish ministry.”
Mohler added that too many ministers fail to declare the truth of Scripture.
“There are so many shrinking ministers, and there are so many shrinking churches with shrunken Gospels,” he said.
Reminding graduates that the Gospel is non-discriminatory, Mohler said that ministers should follow Paul’s example of humility. However, he added, that humility does not apply to the message itself.
“We are not called to be the proud messengers of a humble message,” he said. “We are called to be the humble messengers of a proud message.”
Ministers should also strive to serve God for a lifetime and to “finish the course,” Mohler said. He pointed to the many athletic metaphors used by Paul, including one in Acts 20:24.
“We’re not running against other runners,” Mohler said. “We’re racing against unfaithfulness. We’re racing against a lack of endurance. We are focusing on the task of finishing the course.
“… At the very beginning we had better be determined to finish the course. We had better be reminded of why we are running this race, and we had better have our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, the author and perfector of our faith.”
Finally, Mohler said, ministers should follow Paul’s example by protecting their flock. In Acts 20:29 Paul warns the elders of Ephesus against “savage wolves” who will rise up in the church and speak “perverse things.”
Paul understood that preachers of the Gospel “must always be willing and always be able to identify and to confront the counterfeit Gospels that are often preached in its place.”
Confronting counterfeit Gospels, Mohler said, includes defending the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of the pre-existent Incarnation and the doctrine of salvation by faith alone.
“We must confront the counterfeit gospels,” he said. “The question is whether the church has the courage to do this any longer.”
Ministers, Mohler said, should ask themselves how they want their message labeled.
“Someone is going to label you at some point. Someone is going to describe you to someone else,” he said.
That label, Mohler said, should include nothing less than the Gospel message.
“Paul would have us know that the one thing that should most quickly come to the mind about us is … the Gospel of the grace of God.”
This commencement address can be heard on the seminary’s web page at: https://www.sbts.edu/news/audio/comaddress.html
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(BP) photos posted in the BP Photo Library at https://www.bpnews.net. Photo titles: MOHLER SPEAKS and CROWD CELEBRATES.
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