Qualities of an  Excellent Minister  —part 1 (4:6-11)

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In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe and teach these things. (4:6-11)

Pastors are often evaluated on the basis of the wrong criteria. Their effectiveness is frequently gauged by the size of their church, their building program, their popularity, their educational background, the number of books they have written, or their radio or TV exposure.

While such things may have some significance, none of them are biblically valid criteria for assessing a man of God. The Puritan genius John Owen wrote, “A minister may fill his pews, his communion roll, the mouths of the public, but what that minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more” (cited in I. D. E. Thomas, A Puritan Golden Treasury [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1977], 192). The true criteria by which a man of God must be evaluated are found in the New Testament. In 4:6-16, Paul summarizes them. They form the standard by which every ministry is to be measured.

AN EXCELLENT MINISTER IS, ABOVE ALL, A SERVANT

you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus,(4:6b)

It is helpful to use as an anchor for the passage the phrase in verse 6, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus. That phrase holds the rest of the teaching in 4:6-16, as well as being one of the underlying themes of the entire epistle. Kalos (good) could also be translated “noble,” “admirable,” or “excellent.” It is used in 3:1 to describe the ministry, and here to identify the man in that ministry. It takes a noble man to do the noble work. Diakonos (servant) is not here used in the technical sense of the office of deacon, but in its more general usage (cf. 1 Cor. 4:1-2; 2 Cor. 3:6; 6:4) of anyone who serves in any ministry on Christ’s behalf.

Diakonos may be contrasted with another word frequently used to describe those who serve Christ, doulos. The latter word, often translated “slave,” has the idea of submission and subjection. Diakonos has the idea of “serviceability,” or “usefulness.” Those who serve Christ are called to excellence in their usefulness to His cause.

Having discussed the inevitability of false teachers in 4:1-5, Paul now instructs Timothy in how to be, and to evaluate those suited to be, an effective minister of the Lord in the face of demonic opposition. In so doing, Paul focuses mostly on the positive traits that should characterize an excellent ministry. The way to defeat false doctrine is not only by denouncing and refuting it, but also by positively teaching and living the truth. The primary focus of the ministry is to be positive, to build up the people of God, because sanctification is more than avoiding error, it is being built up with truth.

So Paul calls Timothy to be an excellent servant of Jesus Christ, and to set a standard of virtue in faith, devotion, and conduct that others can follow. By so doing, people will be delivered from heresy and will be focused on the positive truth that makes them spiritually strong. In 4:6-16, Paul directs Timothy to consider his responsibilities by exhibiting eleven qualities that are to characterize the ministry of an excellent servant of Jesus Christ.

AN EXCELLENT MINISTER WARNS HIS PEOPLE OF ERROR

In pointing out these things to the brethren,(4:6a)

While the ministry is not to be dominated by a negative attitude, that does not mean there is no place for warning. It is an essential element of the ministry. Hupotithemi (pointing out) is a mild verb, meaning “to remind,” or “to suggest.” It could literally be translated, “to lay before.” The verb does not have the idea of commanding people or forcing obedience. Rather, it refers to gentle, humble persuasion. The present tense of the participle indicates Timothy was to be continually warning his people.

That was a recurring theme in Paul’s ministry. In Acts 20:29-32, he warned the Ephesian elders:

Paul warned them of the errors that were to come. He did not, however, give an exhaustive exposition of those errors. Instead, he focused on the positive aspect of building up their faith through God’s Word. Having that strong foundation, they would be able to handle any kind of error when it came.

These things are those Paul warned of in 4:1-5. Timothy is to warn of the danger of all features of unbiblical, demonic doctrine purveyed by false teachers. The people he is to warn are the brethren, God’s people. Believers are not to be “children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Eph. 4:14). He is to remind them that the way to deal with satanic false teaching is to be strong in the Word (1 John 2:14).

The failure to think biblically and theologically has cost the church dearly. It has allowed the infiltration of all sorts of error. That, in turn, has led to the church’s becoming confused and weak. Conviction-less preaching, consisting of watered down teaching, platitudes, and weak theology has replaced doctrinally strong expositional preaching. The resulting legacy has been one of charismatic confusion, psychological encroachment, mysticism, even psychic and occult influence. Much of that chaos can be attributed directly to the failure of pastors to think critically and preach with conviction. So many pastors have failed to draw the line clearly between truth and error and build their people up in the rich and sound doctrine of God’s Word. Such weak preachers are often said to compensate by having what some call a “pastor’s heart.” A pastor’s heart, however, is not measured by how good a man is at petting sheep, but by how well he protects them from wolves and feeds them so they grow to be mature and strong.

God holds those in positions of spiritual leadership accountable to warn their people. Ezekiel 3:17-21 relates God’s warning to Ezekiel:

In 2 Timothy 4:1-5, Paul gave the following exhortation to Timothy:

A man of God must develop and preach strong convictions. He must continually warn his people of error as the need arises. He is the protector of his flock.

AN EXCELLENT MINISTER IS AN EXPERT STUDENT OF SCRIPTURE

constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. (4:6c)

This quality is basic to excellence in ministry, but is sadly lacking in the church today. Much contemporary preaching is weak and produces weak churches because it reflects a lack of biblical knowledge, and a minimal commitment to the study of Scripture. For many pastors, study is an unwelcome intrusion into their schedule. It interrupts the routine of administrative tasks and meetings with which they occupy themselves. They study only enough to make a sermon, not to feed their own hearts and think deeply and carefully on divine truth. The result is impotent sermons that fall on hard hearts and have little impact.

That has not always been the case, however. Throughout church history, most of the greatest theologians have been pastors. For example, in addition to their work of reforming the church, the Reformers had regular pastoral responsibilities. The leaders of the seventeenth-century English Puritan movement, men like John Owen, Richard Baxter, Thomas Goodwin, and Thomas Brooks, were pastors. As pastors, they were above all students of Scripture, not merely communicators, administrators, or counselors. Their understanding and interpretation of Scripture was marked by precision. They labored hard at teaching and preaching (cf. 5:17).

William Tyndale, the sixteenth-century English reformer and Bible translator, was an example of a man with a burning desire to study and understand God’s Word. In prison shortly before he was martyred, he wrote a letter to the governor-in-chief asking for

It is to that expert study of Scripture that Paul called Timothy. The translation constantly nourished reflects the present tense of the participle. The continual experience of being nourished on the truths of God’s word is essential. An excellent minister must read the Word, study it, meditate on it, and master its contents. Only then can he be “approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).

The phrase the words of the faith reflects the body of Christian truth contained in Scripture. If the Word is “inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17), a minister must know it. No premium can be placed on biblical ignorance. The issue is not how good a communicator a man is, or how well he knows the culture and the contemporary issues, or even how well he knows the particular vicissitudes of his flock. The issue is how well he knows the Word of God, since God’s revelation perfectly assesses all issues in every time and every life and addresses them with the divine will. It is through knowledge of the Word that the pastor fulfills his calling to lead his people through spiritual growth to Christlikeness (cf. 1 Peter 2:2).

Sound doctrine is that teaching which is firmly rooted in and yielded from the proper interpretation of Scripture, not human systems of theological or philosophical speculations. Exegetical theology must be the foundation of biblical and systematic theology. An excellent minister must be knowledgeable of biblical truth, both its depth and breadth.

Paul is quick to add that he knew it was that sound doctrine that Timothy had been following. The sincere faith of Timothy’s grandmother, Lois, and mother, Eunice, had been passed on to him, causing Paul to write, “from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15). Timothy had also been taught sound doctrine from Paul (cf. 2 Tim. 1:13; 2:1-2). Paul exhorted him to continue to follow the truths of God’s Word he had been following all his life. Such an exhortation is needed because any man of God can be tempted to lose his heart for the Word and the work. This is implied in Paul’s very personal concern for Timothy’s loyalty in 6:20 and in his second letter to him (cf. 2 Tim. 1:6-8, 13, 14; 2:15-23; 3:16-4:4).

An excellent minister must be an excellent student of Scripture. He cannot give out what he does not take in.

AN EXCELLENT MINISTER AVOIDS THE INFLUENCE OF UNHOLY TEACHING

But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. (4:7a)

The flip side of being strong in the Word is avoiding false teaching. An excellent minister who is committed to the study of Scripture is correspondingly uninterested in and unwilling to have his strength dissipated by ungodly teaching. Paraiteomai (have nothing to do with) is a strong word, meaning “reject,” or “put away” (cf. 2 Tim. 2:23; Titus 3:10). Worldly translates bebōlos, a word that describes what is radically separate from what is holy. It could be translated “unhallowed,” and refers to anything that contradicts the Word of God. Fables translates muthos, from which our English word “myth” derives. Such fables are the opposite of biblical truth (cf. 2 Tim. 4:4). Paul sarcastically describes them as fit only for old women. Women were not usually allowed the educational opportunity men had, so this phrase comes from such a situation. That epithet was commonly used in philosophical circles as a term of disdain for a viewpoint lacking credibility and thus appealing only to uneducated, unsophisticated, and perhaps senile matrons. No intelligent man would hear it at all. The Ephesians would have understood Paul’s use of the phrase.

The mind is a precious thing, and God expects those in leadership to have a pure mind, one saturated with His Word. There is no place for foolish, silly myths that are in reality the doctrines of demons. The excellent minister maintains his conviction and his clarity of mind by exposing himself to the Word of God (cf. Phil. 4:8; 2 Tim. 2:16), not to demonic lies that assault the Bible. Under the guise of advanced theological education and academic erudition, many a man’s love of the truth has been destroyed, and a once clear mind has been hopelessly muddled.

AN EXCELLENT MINISTER DISCIPLINES HIMSELF FOR GODLINESS

On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. (4:7b-9)

There is no effective spiritual ministry apart from personal godliness, since ministry is the overflow of a godly life. J. Oswald Sanders wrote, “Spiritual ends can be achieved only by spiritual men who employ spiritual methods” (Spiritual Leadership, 40).

Spurgeon described in the following words the minister who, lacking godliness in his own life, would seek to lead others to it:

Discipline is from gumnazō, from which our English words “gymnasium” and “gymnastics” derive. It means “to train,” or “to exercise.” The word speaks of the rigorous, strenuous, self-sacrificing training an athlete undergoes.

Every Greek city had its gymnasium, and Ephesus was no exception. Youths customarily spent much of their time from ages sixteen to eighteen in physical training. That was vital, since life in those days involved much physical activity. There was a great emphasis on physical training and the glory of winning athletic events.

By using gumnazō, Paul plays off that cultural phenomenon and applies it to the spiritual realm. As Greek culture emphasized dedicated training of the body, Paul urged Timothy to discipline himself for the purpose of godliness. The present tense of the verb indicates that was to be Timothy’s constant pursuit. Timothy was to train his inner man for godliness.

Eusebeia (godliness) expresses the reality of reverence, piety, and true spiritual virtue. It was a word much used by the philosophers of Paul’s day. The Platonists defined it as “right conduct in regard to the gods.” The Stoic definition was “knowledge of how God should be worshipped.” Lucian said it described one who was “a lover of the gods,” while Xenophon said it characterized someone who was “wise concerning the gods” (cf. Richard C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976], 172-73). Thus even to the pagans eusebeia meant a concern for deity and a reverence for things holy.

That concept carried over into the Christian faith. Godliness is a right attitude and response toward the true Creator God; a preoccupation from the heart with holy and sacred realities. It is respect for what is due to God, and is thus the highest of all virtues. In 1 Timothy 6:3 it is said to be at the heart of truth. Second Peter 1:3 says that it comes from Christ, while 1 Timothy 6:11 balances that by teaching that believers must pursue it. According to Acts 3:12 it brings power, while 2 Timothy 3:12 indicates it brings trouble. First Timothy 6:5-6 says that it brings eternal (though not necessarily temporal) blessings. Godliness is the heart and soul of Christian character, and the aim of Christian living (cf. 1 Tim. 2:2; 2 Peter 3:11).

Spiritual self-discipline is the key to godly living. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul wrote,

In 2 Corinthians 7:1 he exhorted us to “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” In 2 Timothy 2:3-5 Paul commanded Timothy to

Here Paul likens spiritual discipline to that required of a soldier and an athlete. Such discipline is necessary for victory in war, or in the games. The lack of spiritual discipline is the primary reason so many spiritual leaders fall into sin. They fail to spend time cultivating the means of grace, in the Word, in prayer, and in self-sacrificial service. An excellent minister is to pursue godliness, not success (cf. 1 Tim. 1:5; 2:8; 3:2, 10; 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:1, 21-22). He will one day hear from the Lord, “Well done, good and faithful slave” (Matt. 25:21).

In Paul’s day, as in our own, there was a great emphasis on bodily discipline. While helpful, such discipline is only of little profit. Paul is showing that it is limited both in extent and duration. Bodily discipline affects only the physical body during this earthly life. On the other hand, godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Unlike bodily discipline, godliness is profitable for the soul as well as the body. Its positive effects are also not limited to this life, because it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Cultivating godliness will bring benefits in the present life (cf. Prov. 3:7-8), but it will primarily bring blessedness for all eternity.

So axiomatic is the truth of verse 8 that Paul calls it a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. As noted in chapter 3 of this volume, a trustworthy statement is a self-evident, obvious statement. It is something so patently clear that everyone acknowledges it. This affirmation refers back to verse 8, not ahead to the comment in verse 10. Verse 8 is much more of a proverbial, axiomatic statement than verse 10. A proverbial statement would not begin with a reference to laboring and striving, as does verse 10. Finally, the Greek phrase eis touto gar that begins verse 10 shows that verse 10 is not the trustworthy statement, but supports it. Verse 10, then, follows up the truth of verse 8.

It is axiomatic that believers are to be disciplining themselves for godliness because of its eternal value. Godliness, not fame, popularity, or reputation, is the pursuit of the excellent minister, who must be an example of spiritual virtue to his flock. He must apply all the means of grace as he endeavors to be able to say, as did Paul, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ “(1 Cor. 11:1).

AN EXCELLENT MINISTER IS COMMITTED TO HARD WORK

For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. (4:10)

The ministry of excellence is not only a heavenly pursuit demanding divine power, but also an earthly task, demanding hard work. As already noted, for this connects verse 10 with verse 8. The goal of laboring and striving is godliness, with its eternal implications. Kopiaō (labor) means “to work to the point of weariness and exhaustion.” Agōnizomai (strive) is the source of our English word “agony.” It means “to engage in a struggle.” In 2 Corinthians 5:9-11, Paul gives two reasons such hard work is necessary: believers will appear before the judgment seat of Christ (v. 10), and unbelievers will face God’s eternal judgment (v. 11; cf. Col. 1:28-29).

The knowledge of this demand for diligent labor spurs the excellent minister on to serious efforts. No wonder Henry Martyn, the missionary to India, exclaimed, “Now let me burn out for God.” Because of his diligent, hard work as a missionary to the American Indians, David Brainerd was dead before he reached thirty. Ministers of God are engaged in an eternal work, with the destiny of men’s souls at stake. The urgency of that work drives them on, through weariness, loneliness, and struggle. J. Oswald Sanders wrote, “If he is unwilling to pay the price of fatigue for his leadership, it will always be mediocre…True leadership always exacts a heavy toll on the whole man, and the more effective the leadership is, the higher the price to be paid” (Spiritual Leadership, 175, 169). Paul affirmed to the Galatians that through the cross of Christ “the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). To the Corinthians he wrote,

Both those passages speak of Paul’s commitment to hard work and privation, a commitment evidenced by his suffering recorded in 2 Corinthians 11.

An excellent minister lives with hope and is not motivated by instant gratification or immediate fulfillment. He has fixed his hope on the living God. The perfect tense of the verb indicates something done in the past with continuing results in the present. He constantly labors in the light of eternity. As he was saved in hope (Rom. 8:24), so he lives and ministers in that hope. His concerns do not relate to the temporal world or earthly fulfillment, but to the realm of eternity and the invisible kingdom.

As noted in chapter 12 of this volume, the phrase the living God is used frequently in the Old Testament in contrast with dead idols (cf. 1 Sam. 17:26; 2 Kings 19:4, 16; Pss. 42:2; 84:2). Excellent ministers do not serve dead idols for earthly rewards, but the eternally living and true God for results and rewards that will only be known in heaven.

In what sense God is the Savior of all men, especially of believers has been much disputed. Some, wanting to eliminate the Scriptural teaching of an eternal hell, argue that Paul here teaches universalism, that all men will be saved. That view violates the basic hermeneutical principle known as analogia Scriptura. According to that principle, the Bible never contradicts itself. It will never teach something in one passage that violates what it teaches elsewhere.

The Bible clearly teaches that those who reject God will be sentenced to hell (Revelation 20:11-15). Matthew 25:41 and 46 state that the duration of that punishment will be eternal. Second Thessalonians 1:8-9 says that those who do not know God and refuse to obey the gospel will suffer eternal punishment away from God’s presence. Jesus repeatedly spoke of the danger of hell (Matt. 8:12; 13:41-42, 49-50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28). He solemnly warned those who rejected Him that they would die in their sins (John 8:24). Universalism is undeniably contrary to Scripture, since the same words in the original that describe hell as eternal also describe God and heaven as eternal.

A second view might be dubbed the potential/actual view. According to this view, Christ is potentially the savior of all men, but actually only of those who believe. It is true that Christ’s death was powerful enough to have redeemed the whole human race and to satisfy the justice of God and remove the barrier between God and all men. Therefore, all can be called to salvation and justly damned if they refuse that call. By means of Christ’s death, God made provision for the sins of the world (cf. the discussion of 1 Tim. 2:6 in chapter 6 of this volume).

That such is not the teaching of this verse, however, is revealed by the use of the adverb malista (especially), which must mean that all men will enjoy to some extent the same kind of salvation as believers enjoy. The adverb is not adversative or contrastive, it cannot be saying that all men are saved in one sense, but believers in another. The difference is one of degree, not kind.

It seems best to understand this verse to be teaching that God is really the Savior of all men, who actually does save them—but only in the temporal sense, while believers He saves in the eternal sense. In both cases, He is their Savior and there is a saving that He does on their behalf. In this life, all men experience to some degree the protecting, delivering, sustaining power of God. Believers will experience that to the fullest degree for time and for all eternity.

The word Savior is not always in Scripture limited to salvation from sin. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, sotōr (Savior) is sometimes used in the lesser sense of “deliverer” (cf. Judg. 3:9; 6:14; 2 Sam. 3:18; 2 Kings 13:5; Neh. 9:27; Obad. 21). Words in the same word group occasionally have that sense in the New Testament as well (cf. Luke 1:71; Acts 7:25; 27:34; Phil. 1:19; Heb. 11:7). A related word, sōzō (“to save”) is used in the Gospels to refer to physical healing (Matt. 9:21-22; Mark 5:23; Luke 8:36, 50; John 11:12; cf. Acts 4:9). God is the Savior of all men in that He withholds the death and judgment all sinners should receive because of sin (cf. Ezek. 18:4, 32; Rom. 6:23). The reality that God delivers men from instant damnation and does “good and [gives them] rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying [their] hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17) shows He is the Savior of all. He graciously gives “to all life and breath and all things” (Acts 17:25), and “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45). He gives common grace to all men. Unbelievers experience God’s goodness and mercy in that they are not instantly killed for their sin. Nor does He give them constant pain and permanent deprivation. They experience His temporal blessings in this life.

That principle is illustrated in Isaiah 63:8-10:

Verse 8 says God became Israel’s Savior. He brought the nation out of Egypt, and cared for them. He provided food, water, and deliverance from their enemies. That He was not the Savior in a spiritual sense of every Israelite is clear from verse 10, which says He became their enemy and fought against them. That passage is analogous to Paul’s thought in 4:10. God is the Savior of all men in the temporal sense, and especially of believers in the spiritual sense that they are delivered from sin’s penalty forever!

So the excellent minister has no trouble working hard proclaiming the saving glory and work of God in Christ, knowing he serves the living God, who is by nature the Savior both in time and for eternity. That eternal aspect of God’s saving was what motivated Paul to endure what he suffered in the course of his gospel ministry.

It is said that a minister named Thomas Cochrane was asked during an interview for the mission field, “To what portion of the field do you feel yourself especially called?” He replied, “I only know I should wish it to be the hardest you could offer me.”

Richard Baxter, the godly seventeenth-century English Puritan, wrote,

The excellent minister’s labor must not be done in the power of the flesh, but of the Spirit. Paul strikes that balance in Colossians 1:28-29: “And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” Hard work in the ministry must be energized by God’s power at work in the minister.

AN EXCELLENT MINISTER TEACHES WITH AUTHORITY

Prescribe and teach these things. (4:11)

Paul’s command to Timothy contrasts sharply with much contemporary preaching. Preaching in our day is often intriguing, but seldom commanding; often entertaining, but seldom convicting; often popular, but seldom powerful; often interesting, but less often transforming. Paul does not ask Timothy to share or make suggestions to his congregation. Rather, he is to prescribe the truth to them. Parangellō (prescribe), means “to command,” or “to order” as in a mandate—a call to obedience by one in authority. Teach has the idea of passing on truth. These things are Paul’s teaching in 4:6-10, and more. Everything God commanded Timothy to be he was to command others to be. The excellent minister’s preaching is to be authoritative, done in a command mode. Such preaching imitates God Himself, of whom Paul wrote in Acts 17:30, “God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent.” Jesus commanded His hearers to repent and believe, as John the Baptist had done. The Father commanded all to hear His Son and obey. Every call to believe the gospel with repentance is a command. Every call to saints to obey the Word is a command that is to come with authority. To Titus Paul wrote, “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you” (Titus 2:15).

A faithful servant of our Lord is bold. He confronts sin, unbelief, and disobedience without vacillating. Paul instructed Timothy repeatedly to do just that. In 1 Timothy 1:3, Timothy was to “instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines.” Paul commanded him to “prescribe these things as well, so that they may be above reproach” (1 Tim. 5:7). In 1 Timothy 6:17 he was to give instructions to the rich. The excellent minister’s boldness is tempered with gentleness, and never causes him to be abusive or ungracious. Nevertheless, every sermon should have an unmistakable tone of authority. He is, in Richard Baxter’s words, to “screw the truth into men’s minds” (cited in Thomas, A Puritan Golden Treasury, 222).

That authority is built upon a fourfold foundation. First, a strong commitment to the authority of God’s Word. A man who is unsure if the Bible is God’s Word will lack authority in his preaching. Second, proper interpretation of Scripture. The man who is not sure what the Bible means will also lack authority in his preaching. Third, a concern that the truth of God’s Word be upheld and enforced by church discipline (cf. Matt. 18:15ff.; 1 Cor. 5:1-13; 2 Thess. 3:14-15). Fourth, the knowledge that the preacher does not need to say what might please men and not offend them, but he must say what pleases God or be guilty of prostituting the ministry.

An excellent minister teaches with authority. His preaching is marked by commands based on the authority of Scripture, not mere sentimental pleadings. He is not afraid to boldly proclaim the Word of God and let it do its perfect work.