True Ministry Springs from Life (Santosh Poonen)

When Christ Jesus returns, He will judge everyone. Unless you are constantly mindful of Christ’s return, you will be caught unawares. If you are part of God’s kingdom, your life will be restless until your King is back from exile. If the Word has been made flesh in you — reproving you, rebuking you, and exhorting you — then you are ready to preach the Word. When Jesus preached He said, “This Scripture has been fulfilled [through me]” (Luke 4:21) and “Behold I have come (in the roll of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy Will, O God” (Hebrews 10:7). The disciples’ preparation for going into all the world to preach the gospel was that they first forsook everything (Matthew 19:27-30), and then were immersed in “the Word made flesh” for three-and-a-half years. It is by doing the will of the Father that we are truly given authority to preach God’s Word (Matthew 21:23-31). Because all authority has been given to Jesus, we can boldly preach the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20). If Christ — the “Word made flesh” — is set apart as Lord in your heart, you will be able to preach the Word even when it’s inconvenient (I Peter 3:15a). In preaching, we must give people hope and we must speak with gentleness and reverence.(I Peter 3:15b).