My dear friends, I want you to know that what has happened to me has helped to spread the good news. The Roman guards and all the others know I am here in jail because I serve Christ. Now most of the Lord's followers have become brave and are fearlessly telling the message.
Some are preaching about Christ because they are jealous and envious of us. Others are preaching because they want to help. They love Christ and know I am here to defend the good news about him. But the ones who are jealous of us are not sincere. They just want to cause trouble for me while I am in jail. But that doesn't matter. All that matters is that people are telling about Christ, whether they are sincere or not. This is what makes me glad.
I will keep on being glad, because I know that your prayers and the help that comes from the Spirit of Christ Jesus will keep me safe.
Philippians 1:12-19
The heart of the preacher is important for his sake. When a man preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but he himself is a hypocrite and fraud, the message of Jesus is still powerful and can change the lives of those who respond to it, even though for the preacher himself it has no power! The lesson is simple but profound. Don't discredit the Gospel because the preacher is insincere and don't accept a message simply because the man himself is a good and honest man.
You can handle the Word of God accurately and proclaim the truth when your life is not consistent with that Word. And you can live a life pleasing to God with the one exception of not being careful in proclaiming only the Truth of the Bible.
I sat with my grandson yesterday and watched a video about the history of the earth. The narrator proclaimed with great confidence the age of the universe and how many billion years ago life came into being. I explained to my grandson that this man is saying things that he doesn't know are true, but he proclaims them as if they are.
Don't judge the truth by the presentation. No matter how slick or professional it may be the content may not be true at all! And a halting and not very impressive declaration may be totally true! Judge the message of the Gospel by the Bible itself. That is the only way to know whether or not you are hearing the truth.
"Lord, give me the wisdom to search the Scriptures every day to know whether or not the things I am hearing are true. And Lord, let me follow You and You alone and bow down to no one else here on this earth. Amen!"
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