You would turn in your Bibles to Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Looking this morning at verses 19 through 20. Find that on page 1939. 1939. I'll just be straight up with you this morning. been nervous about preaching from this passage for a few weeks now, and I've probably never come so close to puking before a sermon from pregame jitters as I have before this one. Much of that has to do with some of the hard things that must be said about the bride of Christ and things which even our own local congregation is not above. As we do so this morning, though, and we look at these final words of this section of the whole armor of God, which, as we've seen, runs from chapter six, verse 10 through verse 20, we've learned thus in this section about the realities of spiritual warfare, that in this life, we do have a preeminent enemy that attacks with an innumerable hosts of a spiritual army bent on wickedness. And so we've learned that in this life, we have a great need to be strong in the Lord and to put on the whole armor of God. We've seen our need to gird ourselves with the belt of true belief. to dawn and to put on the breastplate of the righteousness, the ethical and legal righteousness that God grants in Jesus Christ. The shoes of gospel peace with God, with self, with saints, and with sinners. We've looked at our need to pick up the shield of justifying faith and the helmet of salvation from sins and the sword of the Spirit. which is the word of God. And we learned last time about the critical importance in this spiritual warfare of every Christian soldier's need to pray in the spirit for all things, at all times, for all the saints, and with all watchfulness and perseverance. And so we come this morning to Paul's call, Paul's last call, that is nevertheless just as critical in the spiritual warfare of the church. We come to Paul's call to pray for pastoral boldness. And in our text, we'll see that Paul requests the Ephesians to pray for him. to pray that a word would be given to him to speak from God himself, that he may boldly, as he ought, make known and proclaim that word which God has now revealed to the world, that word for which Paul is an ambassador in chains. And from that, we'll see our main point or the principal teaching of this morning. which is that as ambassadors, pastors need prayer in order to boldly proclaim the word of God. As ambassadors, pastors need prayer to boldly proclaim the word of God. And so with that in mind, let us hear now the word of God It'll be the final reading of this section we've been looking at over the last couple of months. And we'll read it all one last time in its entirety from Ephesians 6, verse 10 through verse 20. This is the word of the living God. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God. that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. May God be pleased to bless the reading Now, especially the preaching. Of his word this morning. Paul starts out. And for me. He just as we saw two weeks ago and just read in our passage, he's just called the saints to pray for all of one another. pray for all things and with all watchfulness and perseverance. And now with one last exhortation in this little letter, he requests the Ephesian saints with all watchfulness and perseverance to pray for him. But just what does Paul desire that they would pray for for him? His prayer is simple. It's that utterance may be given to him, that a word to be spoken would be given to Paul, that his God would give him his word to proclaim to the people that would hear it. And now based on the historical context of the letter to the Ephesians, which seems to make quite clear that Paul was most likely in prison, literal prison, as he was writing this letter, it's highly likely that Paul most probably had in mind the promises of Jesus Christ in Matthew 10, 18 through 19, when he asked them to pray for utterance for him. For it's there that our Lord says, you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry. Do not worry about how or what you should speak, for it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak. So Paul being in prison knows that he's about to come before judges and before governors and before kings. So he's praying that they would pray. that the Lord Jesus Christ would hold fast to his promises to give his ministers, to give his people in those times, in those specific judicial contexts, utterance that they may glorify him in it. But certainly it seems to be true as well that the underlying, the abiding principle to glean from this historical context seems to be that all those who carry on the apostolic ministry are in need of utterance being given to them. As we'll see, pastors are, in a unique sense, ambassadors for Christ. As we'll see, it demands that a word be given to them from their king to speak. They need an utterance. And so the prayer, so far as it applies to pastors in all ages, is a prayer. God would give them the word that they are to speak. He would give them his spirit and so enable them to speak it. And certainly God has done so. He's given us a book. With his word that is the utterance which pastors who are ambassadors of Christ are to speak and he's given them in a unique sense his spirit that they may have the strength to proclaim it. And we know from God's word that he's given his spirit and that his spirit works in a unique manner in the preaching of his word. The preaching of the word of God is a unique event. It's not a TED talk. It's not a conference speech. But the Holy Spirit working through his word is working in a unique manner. in the preaching of the word as he gives the pastor utterance, both in his word and in his strength. And it's this belief in the work of the spirit through the written word that Charles Spurgeon, as many of you likely have heard, as he ascended to his pulpit upon each step, would say to himself quietly, I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Spirit each step as he climbed his pulpit. You see, it was because Spurgeon believed that God was faithful to his word and that he would grant utterance by the power of his spirit, that he would give him utterance in his word and also in the pulpit. And so the historical context seems clear. Paul was praying that God would give him utterance in that unique judicial context when he would come before governors and would need a word to speak. But the principle abides. for all apostolic ministers that they need an utterance. They need this written word and they need the spirit of God to give them utterance that they may proclaim it to the people of God and to the lost and dying world. So that's Paul's first petition. God would give him utterance. Paul's second petition, closely related and built upon the first, is that he not only needs utterance, he not only is requesting utterance given to him, but he needs the strength and the courage to open his mouth boldly to utter the utterance. You see, he needs boldness. And the word boldly here has the sense of freedom. lack of fear in speaking, frankness, plainness, openness, and that publicly before all, in all things. It has the sense of holding and keeping nothing back, making open declaration. So Paul is essentially praying that in his preaching and so far as the principle abides, that in preaching. He would be given a spirit that lacks the fear of man. The spirit that holds nothing back when he's proclaiming the word of God. He's praying for boldness, for freedom, openness and plainness in the proclamation We're in the making known, as Paul says, the mystery of the gospel. You see, he's praying for boldness in order to keep nothing back. As he makes known the mysteries of the gospel and the kingdom of God. First Corinthians 2.7, Paul says, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. The hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory. It's getting at what Paul means here by the mystery of the gospel. It's the wisdom of God, hidden wisdom of God. And thus, Charles Hodge notes that the mystery of the gospel here refers to that system of truth once hidden. but now revealed to the whole world in the scriptures. To put it simply, it's the whole counsel of God pertaining to life and godliness, as that counsel has now come to the world of the Gentiles. And Paul needs boldness to proclaim it. And it is for this gospel and the proclamation of it, of the person and work of Christ and the whole counsel of God that Paul says he's an ambassador in chains. And we know that an ambassador was and an ambassador is someone who represents a sovereign. someone through whom a sovereign speaks. An ambassador is one who speaks on behalf of a sovereign. They don't bring their own word, they bring the word of the king. And we see all of these aspects of an ambassador in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 20, where Paul declares, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. But we know that this does not just apply to the apostles from Paul's day. For in Luke chapter 10, verse 16, a passage we've looked at and referenced together before, when Christ sends out his 70 messengers to go and to gather the nations, right? The table of nations in Genesis 10, consists of 70 nations representative of the whole world. And so the 70 are sent out to gather the nations back to Jesus Christ. And these 70 represent the post-apostolic messengers who will be sent into every nation, tribe, and tongue. And of those messengers, we're told that they also are ambassadors, at least it's at minimum, implied when Christ says, he who hears you, hears me. He who rejects you, rejects me. And he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me. And so, beloved, an ambassador, whether an apostle or rather an apostolic minister, so an ordinary, average Joe, minister of the Word, they are ambassadors of Jesus Christ. They are ones sent to you to represent Jesus Christ. They are ones through whom, as we've seen recently in sermons on preaching in Titus, through whom Jesus Christ, actually speaks to you. Ones who speak on the behalf of Jesus Christ. They are ambassadors. And so because they're not bringing you their own word, but the word of your king, the word of the king, they need utterance from the king. They need boldness from the king. bring his message to you. Paul ends with a third and final and similar petition. And in the proclamation of the king's word, he may speak boldly as he ought to speak. Again, that he may speak with freedom, that he may speak to you with frankness, with plainness, with openness, with total lack of fear of man. That he may hold nothing back. that is profitable for you. Paul says that this is how he and the ministers of God ought to speak, which is to say that they must, by necessity, speak boldly. They're bound by their king to so speak his word, to deliver his message and to deliver it boldly without fear of man, holding nothing back that is profitable for the hearers. So it is, beloved, in our text we've seen that Paul requests the Ephesians to pray for him, to pray that a word would be given to him to speak, and that by God, his king, that he may boldly, as he ought, make known and proclaim that word which God, his king, has now revealed to the world in his word. His word for which Paul is an ambassador in chains. And so it's from our passage and from these things that we see our main point, our principal teaching for this morning, which is again that as ambassadors, as ambassadors, pastors need prayer in order to boldly proclaim the word of God. As ambassadors, pastors need prayer to boldly proclaim the word of God. And we've seen this main point, this principle teaching, already supported in our earlier reading, which I said we would come back to, Acts chapter 4, verses 29 through 31, where again, in response to persecution for preaching the word of God and doing so boldly, the apostles faced great hostility. And you remember, they prayed. Or we read and they prayed. Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. You see, the apostles knew. They knew because of the hostility that they faced. They knew because they were weak, finite men. They knew because they still had remaining, indwelling sin. that in the face of all of those things, they needed boldness and courage and strength to speak the king's message. And so they prayed for it. And we're told that God heard their prayers, which is another encouragement to you to pray because God hears them. And he does fill his men with the spirit of God in response to his people's prayers But also, in Colossians 4, 3 to 4, Paul again requests such prayer for himself. There he says, meanwhile, praying also for us that God would open to us a door for the Word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. praying that God would give him not only opportunities to preach the King's message, but that he would enable him to preach it as he ought to preach it. That is Paul's prayer. And so it is, beloved, that the main point from our passage, there are other places we could look at, but from these two alone and their clarity, It's well supported from the scriptures, beloved, that as ambassadors, pastors need prayer in order to boldly proclaim the word of God. But now we have to ask the why question. Why? Why do pastors need prayer for boldness? To put it another way, why do ambassador pastors, why do they need boldness to proclaim the Word of God? We'll look at four reasons this morning. The first reason that pastors, as ambassadors, need prayer to boldly proclaim the Word of God is the most simple. Instead, the apostles, the apostles themselves needed boldness to proclaim the word of God. So they did, the 12 apostles, and especially the apostle Paul, who I think none would deny is one of the most bold Christians to ever walk the face of the earth. If he needs boldness, the Word of God, how much more, again, your average Joe pastor, does he need boldness to proclaim the Word of God? The very fact that the Apostle Paul pleads for prayer, for boldness in preaching, highlights the true difficulty of boldly preaching the Word of God. It is, objectively speaking, No easy task in any sense. And so the first reason that as ambassadors, pastors need prayer in order to boldly proclaim the word of God is that even the apostles needed boldness to boldly proclaim the word of God. The second reason that pastors as ambassadors need boldness to proclaim the Word of God is because the world hates bold preaching of the Word of God. The world does not want to hear the bold message of God's Word boldly proclaimed. John 15, 19. Christ says, if you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. And in Revelation chapter 11, verse 10, after the world finally suppresses true Christianity in the preaching of it, Before the revival of the church, we're told that there will be a little season where the world celebrates. Three and a half days of celebration, we're told, for the world. Quote, those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them. That is the two witnesses symbolic of the true church in her prophetic ministry. The earth will rejoice over them, make merry and send gifts to one another because these two prophets, the true church, these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. The bold preaching of true Christianity is a torment to the world. Frankly, they hate it. And they are hell-bent on its destruction. And we're taught in the world of God that for a season, they will succeed eventually in stamping it out. They hate the true preaching. of the Word of God. And so, beloved, the second reason that as ambassadors, pastors need prayer in order to boldly proclaim the Word of God is because the world hates it, and they don't want to hear it. And yet, God's ministers are called to proclaim it not only in the four walls of the church, but in the highways in the byways in a hostile world. So they need boldness to do so. And this is the weighty reason, beloved, and the one with great fear I share with you now. But the third reason, and the most sad reason, The pastors as ambassadors need prayer in order to boldly proclaim the word of God is because sadly, even some in the church don't want bold preaching. Speaking to Timothy about preaching in the church, Paul charges, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, And they will turn their ears from the truth and be turned aside to fables. Beloved, the sad truth that God's Word puts before us is that there will be times and seasons in the church at large, and there will be times and seasons in local churches throughout redemptive history, as that still goes on. that there will be some in the church who will not endure, indeed have a vitriolic hatred for being taught sound doctrine, for being convicted of their sins, for being rebuked for their sins, for being exhorted to duty from the word of God. They will desire preachers to tell them what they want to hear. and not what they need to hear. And thus they will turn their ears away from the bold preaching of God's word. And as we've seen recently, that preaching consists traditionally as the explication or of the explication and application of God's word. Sadly, people in the church will plug their ears to the convicting, true, bold explication and application of the Word of God. They will have an intolerance for faithful pastoral ministry. And speaking of this sad reality that confronts faithful ministers, not only in the world, but in the church itself, Pastor Todd Pruitt wrote recently in a Reformation 21 article. He says this, quote, I have never, I have never spoken to a pastor who has not been mistreated slandered, undermined, or run off by church members and associate pastor, elders, deacons, or all of the above. And in a similar vein, Pruitt later notes the unyielding criticism that many pastors face from influential church members. So you see, beloved, it's not only the case from God's word that this will happen. But it's the experience. Of the church that it actually does happen, that it actually does happen, you see, sadly, that faithful ministers can be and we can be certain in the church at large, will continue to be mistreated, slandered, undermined, and unyieldingly criticized by members for a variety of reasons, not least of which is convicting, bold preaching of the word of God. You see, beloved, frankly speaking, some in the church just flat don't want to hear it They just flat do not want the kind of bold and particular preaching that is exemplified and commanded by the Word of God. We've talked about this before by way of illustration. There are many in the church who only want general preaching. You remember the analogy that we used in the sermon from Ephesians 5 on the duty to expose darkness. And we talked there about the room of the soul. And how general preaching is like flicking on the overhead light in a dark room. It certainly exposes much darkness. But is it not the case that when you do so, it's still dark under the couch? It's a little shadowy under the table. Under the kid's toy, there's a dark spot. There's no light under the rug. And so general preaching does not succeed in exposing darkness, in calling the people of God to be light as God is light and holy as God is holy. It fails. And therefore, it's not biblical. preaching must not only turn on the overhead light of general exhortation, but it must take the particular flashlight and shine it into the room of the souls of the people to expose those places in their souls that are akin to the dark spots under your couch, under your rug. Under the kid's toys, you see. General preaching does not get the job done. But frankly, that's why people want it. Because they don't want the light shown under the couch of their soul. Where their pet sins can hide and can flee safely from mere general exhortation. Frankly, they want a pastor whose quiver is full of practice arrows that are dull and cannot pierce. They can only bruise the heart. That's good, but that's all general preaching does. They don't want to be shot with a sharp arrow that, and who does? It hurts. It hurts. They want a pastor who preaches with a spiritual Nerf gun. Rather than a real gun. But there are some in the church that don't want preaching like Christ's preaching. The preaching of the Sermon on the Mount. I'd encourage you to study the Sermon on the Mount and ask yourself, does the Lord Jesus Christ only preach generally. All of that sermon, all that it consists of. Are cycles. That move from the general to the particular to the how to. It moves and you know this, if you're familiar enough with it, picture the sermon in your head. General condemnation of general sins, don't murder, Don't commit adultery. Love your enemies. Pray. Give charitably. But then he doesn't stop there. He doesn't merely flick on the overhead light, but he presses forth to particular applications and condemnations of sins which would fall under those general categories. He goes on to say, don't even be unrighteously angry, for that's a kind of murder. He goes on to say, don't even look with lust, because that also is a form of adultery. He goes on to say, don't love, don't give, don't pray like the hypocrites pray. This is how they pray. You don't pray. You don't give. You don't love like that. But then he doesn't even stop there. He continues to press forth in love for the people of God, to show them how to move from their failures to confirmation to his holy commandments. He calls them to watch your words. He calls them to reconcile, to practice radical amputation, to give like this, to pray like this. He tells them how to obey his commandments. So the preaching of our Lord was evidently not merely general preaching. It was particular preaching. And if God's word is true, that the Lord Jesus Christ left us an example that we should follow in his footsteps, then how is it not the case Preaching of God's ministers should imitate that of their lords. I remember Barry York telling me one time, telling the class, that if a pastor got up and could somehow do so without people knowing what he was doing, if a pastor got up in many Reformed churches in today's church world and preached the Sermon on the Mount, he'd be run off as a legalist. That's not me saying that. That's the president of our seminary and one of the best preachers I've ever heard. But it's not only our Lord's preaching. We've seen recently that John the Baptist was not a merely general preacher. Luke chapter 3, another sermon for your study, because you shouldn't take my word for it or any man's word for it. whether spoken or in a homiletics textbook. Study the word for yourselves. Luke chapter three, you remember John the Baptist preaches and teaches doctrine. And then he gives general exhortation. That's necessary. That is good. You must, a pastor must exhort generally from the word of God. And John does. He says, you remember. bear fruit worthy of repentance. That's a general exhortation. But he doesn't stop there. He presses into the consciences and applies that general exhortation to the different categories of his listener. You remember this from the recent sermon. Knowing his duty, Simply, he holds nothing back that is profitable for his heroes. But again, you see, beloved, sadly, we're taught from the Word of God and the experience of the church that there are some, not all, and not in every place nor in every time. But there are some in the church who do not want That kind of particular preaching. And that's because particular preaching is convicting. They want general preaching so that their sins are not exposed. Frankly, they don't want to be told about the darkness under the couch of their soul. They don't want to be confronted with particular sins, particularly. And yet, what does God say? What is his command? To his ministers, Isaiah 58 1. Cry aloud. Spare not. Lift up your voice like a trumpet. Tell my people their transgression. In the house of Jacob, Their sins. People don't want to hear that. They don't want to be told about their sins. And I get it. I don't like it either. Some will say, beloved, in the church. That they want to come to church to be encouraged. By the preaching. And certainly encouragement is an aspect of true preaching. But really what they mean by that is they don't want to be boldly challenged and convicted by the preacher. They just want to be encouraged. But of such, Al Martin in his Pastoral Theology wrote this, I quote, I have never given stock to people who say, well, I do not want a ministry that shows me my sin. I want a ministry that encourages me." And he asked, encourages you with what? What is more encouraging, Martin says, what is more encouraging than understanding the depth of sin's inner working in my heart and acknowledging my sins before the Lord? By these acknowledgements, says Martin, alone can I have the comforting assurance of knowing that these sins are continually covered under the blood of Christ. I say, Lord, where can I go but to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness? Christ becomes more precious as my sin becomes more odious. The more I see my need of his cleansing blood, the more precious becomes the one who shed that blood. Particular preaching makes Jesus Christ beloved, more precious to our souls. Others will say that the pastor should primarily comfort from the pulpit. He should not tell us about our sins, but he should only comfort. Again, he should comfort. Comfort my people, says the Lord, that their warfare has ended. But again, what they mean often is that there should be either exclusive comfort, or even a primacy to comfort. But Petrus van Maastricht is surely correct in light of the examples and teachings of the scriptures concerning preaching when he states that consolation or comfort should be less frequent than the rest of the practical uses because the spiritually afflicted are less common in any church. And to those who are afflicted, consoling arguments can be more properly applied in private. He is not saying that consolation and comfort has no place in the preaching of the church. It absolutely does. But what he is saying is based on the teaching and examples of scripture. It doesn't have primacy in the public preaching of God's word, and that it is often more effectually applied in private. That is the point, and I believe it to be consistent with the teaching of God's word. And so you see, beloved, there is to be challenge. There is to be conviction. by way of bold and particular application. But you see, the pastors who strive out of love for God and their flock will too often, as we've seen from God's word and experience spoken to by men more experienced than I, We see that such men can and regrettably all too often will become the targets of unyielding criticism by influential members. They will have their ministries undermined, unhappy members will gossip about their preaching and their ministries behind their backs. They will speak slanderous and erroneous things about such ministers, even in spite of counsel to the contrary. They will, too often in bitterness, recruit and gather others to cause trouble, and they will defile the hearts and minds of many, as Hebrews 12, 15 teaches. And such too often become as the divisive man that Paul speaks of in Titus 3, 9 through 10, who must in the end be rejected after the first and second admonition. Beloved, I say this with a heavy heart. It is heartbreaking that such things happen in the Bride of Jesus Christ. And that often it can be because His ministers are only striving to obey their King and to preach how He clearly calls them to in His Word. And so, beloved, it is because of such members in the church that pastors, as ambassadors, need prayer in order to boldly proclaim the Word of God. The fourth and final reason that pastors need prayer in order to boldly proclaim the Word of God is because such pastors are weak men in themselves. They are tempted constantly to fear the flock. Beloved, even the prophet Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 20 verse 9, fell for a time to such fear of the flock, to such fear of men. Then I said, Jeremiah, then I said, I will not make mention of him. nor speak anymore in his name. It's the kind of fear that an average Joe pastor can succumb to in the Church of God. He's so discouraged. He's so afraid of how his members will respond. He's so afraid of the influence and the criticism that will come his way, that in his office on a Wednesday, after preaching on a Monday, he with the prophet Jeremiah says, I will not make mention of him nor speak in his name anymore. But by the strengthening and emboldening grace of his God, Jeremiah was strengthened, And so are the preachers of God's word today. He stirs them up and with Jeremiah, they then proclaim, but his word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I was weary of holding it back and I could not. And so he continued, he continued to preach boldly to hold nothing back. To preach offensive truths in love and to show God's people their sins, even though some hated him for it. And once again, we see that experience aligns with the word of God. Speaking again of the reality of the temptations of pastors to fear the flock. And the complexities of pastoral ministry that bring this temptation upon pastors. Again, Todd Pruitt in that same article says this. Imagine the complexity of being called to lead a congregation of volunteers who pay your salary. men and women who oftentimes have competing expectations of you who are themselves still sinners. Imagine being in a position of leadership where it is absolutely essential to be liked by those you are called to lead teach, correct, and at times rebuke. Imagine maintaining emotional and spiritual health when every day, and this is the case, when every day you are aware that you are letting someone down, failing to live up to some of the myriad and at times conflicting expectations. Add to that the all too common experience that pastors have of being actively undermined by an associate pastor, slandered by someone who voted against his call, or unyielding criticism from an influential member. Pruitt says, if young men called by God knew how they were likely to be treated in at least one church, I'm quite sure there would be few willing to serve. And so it is, beloved, that as ambassadors, pastors need. It's not just a good idea. They need. prayer in order to boldly proclaim the word of God. And again, this because even the apostles needed such prayer. This because the world hates, or I'm sorry, even the apostles, yes, needed such prayer, and this because the world hates such bold preaching of a bold message. And this because sadly, even some in the church don't want such bold preaching of a bold message. And lastly, because pastors face a strong temptation to fear men and to fear the flock. So to begin to bring things to a close here, I want to say first, beloved, that before God, I have striven to be faithful to my King, and to love you through the bold proclamation of God's word. Does it mean that I have done it perfectly in my time here? No. Does it mean that I will ever do it perfectly? No. But, beloved, as long as you'll have me, I do commit to you now in your presence and God's. To not cease. To boldly proclaim to you. The word of your king. To tell you. What in sincere conscience? I think you need to hear. Regardless of what you want to hear. And to do it in love. But beloved, I'll say this. If you ever believe that my preaching. Is not merely hard. But harsh. If you ever believe. That my preaching. Teaching. Or counsel. Is not pastoral. But ungracious. And immature. or that my counsel is not sympathetic, is not empathetic, is not understanding, does not come to you in discernible love, then please come to me. Do not gossip about me. Do not slander me behind my back. But just come. Come to me. And we can talk about it. And you can speak to the session and many men and even their wives in this very congregation, and they'll tell you how accepting of criticism I am. They'll tell you how I go about it when I receive criticism that you may not know and that you wouldn't know. But when I receive criticism from members in this church, I go to the session, and I bring the criticism, and even the men in the elder apprenticeship, and I lay it out before them. I say, I wanna know, is this true? Do you agree with it? And then I actually call them to go home with that criticism and ask their wives, because I don't want an echo chamber. of men's opinions. I wanna hear from the women. And that's how we've done things since I've been here. Just ask them. Go and ask any member of the session, go and ask any of their wives, and go and ask any man in the elder apprenticeship, and go ask their wives if that's not how I handle criticism. And if a change isn't made based on some criticism, It's because we don't agree with it. It doesn't mean it wasn't received. It doesn't mean it wasn't reflected upon and chewed upon. It means we don't agree. To disagree is not to not receive and to take seriously. And so, beloved, just come. But I'll say this as well. We've only been together a year. But if you ever get to the point to where you don't want me as your pastor anymore, because I'm not a pastoral man, and my preaching is not edifying for you, I'll tell you simply how to go about it. You don't gotta call a meeting or anything fancy. Just go to your session and ask for a survey to be sent out. And if a majority of this congregation does not want me to be here anymore, my family and I will pack our things and head back east. It doesn't have to be that difficult. Because I'd rather leave you than hurt you or divide you. And it's because I love you so, beloved, that I would do that. So I'm not a perfect man or a perfect pastor, but I do feel confident telling you, you'd be hard pressed to find another man that loves you like I do. Period. But if you will have me, and so long as you will, and in accord with this word, I call you to pray for me. Because it's not easy. Sometimes I feel like I want to puke. Sometimes all I want to do in the morning is sit there with my whiteout and cross out many things that I have written to say to you. And so I need your prayer. And so I beg that you pray that so long as I'm here, I'll boldly proclaim this word to you. And with that, to all of you here this morning, with the utterance and boldness that I have, proclaim the mystery of the gospel to you. That God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whosoever would believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. God sent his son into this world to die for sinners who only deserve hell. He says to everyone that you've sinned, that there are none righteous, no, not one, that all deserve condemnation. And such is the love of God that he sent his son to live a perfect life, to die a perfect death and to rise again. The wages of sin is death, the scriptures say, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ. And that's the bold message of the gospel. And beloved, it's freely offered. It's freely offered to every one of you this morning. Jesus Christ crucified and raised for sinners. So come, come and have your sins washed. Come and be as clean as snow this morning through Jesus Christ. Come, turn from your sin and trust in him that you may have life. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, how we thank you, O God, for your amazing love. What manner of love have you given to us? Have you bestowed upon us that we may be called children of God through Jesus Christ, that you offer freely to sinners, Jesus Christ, your Son, the God-man, the one mediator crucified and raised, a true free offer to all to come and to be cleansed, to be reconciled. You're amazing. And oh God, we pray that in our midst, so long as it's pleasing in your sight, not only now, but beyond my own ministry, that you would so bless this congregation with a man that will, as he ought, boldly proclaim the utterance that you have given to your ministers in your word. Bless the preaching in our midst, O God, we pray, in Christ's name.