Preach the Word: Spirit-Led Proclamation in Perilous Times
Acts 16:6-10
"And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them."
No programs, no pressures of doing church "business", no committees, and no church buildings; the early church thrived and grew under the influence of The Holy Spirit. It’s fascinating how Paul and his companions were redirected multiple times, not through human planning or strategy sessions, but through divine intervention. And yet they effectively spread the gospel guided directly by the Holy Spirit’s leading, without the layers of organization and infrastructure that often define modern ministry. This fluidity shows a deep reliance on God’s real-time guidance, allowing the gospel to spread organically and explosively across many regions. It reminds me of Dr. Seuss and the Grinch's story.
"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."
- Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Food for Thought:
Is what we do when we "do" church a little like making it about a "store"? If so, what are we selling? Who's our customers? And more importantly, what is the source for our product line?
This young church thrived, they flourished without the equivalents of today’s "church business": no elaborate programs, no committees debating budgets, no grand buildings to maintain. It came "without" those things because it was rooted in something deeper: the transformative power of the Holy Spirit and the simple proclamation of the gospel. This challenges us today to strip away the unnecessary and refocus on the core.
What are we "selling"?
Often, it’s packaged experiences: polished services, feel-good programs, merchandise, or even a sense of belonging tied to attendance metrics, meritocracy, and of course donations. Our "customers" might become the congregation itself, people seeking conveniences, spiritual entertainment, or social interaction and status, rather than the lost and hurting world of people outside our doors that the gospel is meant to reach.
Let's look again at a subset of this early church:
Acts 16:11-15
"So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us."
This continuation from Acts 16:11-15 beautifully illustrates the raw, unadorned essence of early church expansion. The Holy Spirit makes a connection between Paul and Lydia (a salesperson). And interestingly, they traveled to Philippi, a trade route hub, and almost immediately began to grow the church with the help of one of that city's merchants. And yet, Lydia’s story stands out as a prime example of how the gospel penetrates everyday life without "selling" anything. As a successful merchant from Thyatira dealing in purple goods (a luxury dye associated with wealth and status, often exported across the Roman Empire), she’s no outsider to commerce or influence. She's already a "worshiper of God". The key phrase? "The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul." No polished presentation, no program to sign up for, no donation ask, just the word spoken plainly, and divine intervention sparking her faith.
Her immediate response? Baptism for herself and her entire household. Talk about an altar call. This isn’t transactional; it’s transformative. Lydia and her home church becomes the first recorded converts in Europe, and her home likely serves as the nucleus for the Philippian church (echoed later in Philippians 4:15-18, where Paul praises their generous support).
This passage in Acts 16 flips the script entirely. In the early church model, the gospel isn’t a product; it’s a gift freely offered in the public square (or down by the riverside), aimed at anyone the Spirit draws.
I think church down by a riverside would be awesome, especially if it involved fishing. But there I go making it about something it's not about.
What Are We Called to Do?
"Preach the word"
Let's look here:
2 Timothy 4:2
"Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."
This brief verse defines biblical ministry. This is our church "business". And notice Paul adds the time and the tone, "in season and out of season", which effectively means all the time. There is no time when we are not to be doing these things. The commission is never set aside for something else. We take the truth and teach sound doctrine with it, confronting error in great patience.
People like Lydia and her riverside church were starving for God's word and the Holy Spirit sent them a preacher. This is the highest calling, both for the preacher, and the church to whom he is called. And in second Timothy we can glean five compelling reasons why this commission must be obeyed.
1. Preach the Word Because of the Dangers of the Ages.
2 Timothy 3:1
"But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty."
That's now, these are those last days. It's the Greek word Kairos, meaning a movement of God according to God's special timing. And these are dangerous, perilous, savage times. And this danger increases in frequency and severity. It’s cumulative in the danger as the decades march on. And so it's going to be very difficult to practice sound discernment. And Paul lays out unequivocally just what's at stake here:
2 Timothy 3:2-5
"People will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power."
Sound familiar?
Try pointing these things out today directed at any spiritual ministry. It'll be no surprise to hear that you're being politically incorrect. Imagine confronting someone in error using Paul's approach, or Jesus for that matter (calling some vipers). And Paul goes on to lay out how these dangerous people do their errors.
2 Timothy 3:6-7
[they] "creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth."
People becoming lovers of self, money, and pleasure rather than God; boastful, abusive, ungrateful, unholy, slanderous, brutal, treacherous, and more. It’s a cumulative spiral: as truth is suppressed (Romans 1:18-32), evil compounds [fortresses], leading to deception where "evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived". And it's happening inside the church. Second Timothy suggests it's happening in the bible study classes and among the church gossips. If you've spent any time in church, you know these people.
There's a second reason to "preach the word".
2. Because of the Devotion of the Saints
2 Timothy 3:10-14
"You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra - which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it."
Paul is relentlessly focused and so should we all be in this ministry. Do the word. Share it, not reinvent it. Paul showed us how, so we should just do it. Preach the word endlessly. In season and out, right down to your last breath. Because that's what devoted saints do. Not differently, but how the God ordained Apostles did it. Because of their devotion, get in line.
Thirdly...
3. Preach the Word Because of the Transformative Power of the Scripture
2 Timothy 3:16-17
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."
The sacred writings are our tutor, teaching doctrines, and power unto salvation. It trains us in the paths of righteousness. The word makes the man of God complete and prepares him for ministry. So, we preach the word in order to make ourselves ready to preach the word. What else would a preacher of God's word use but God's word. But what do the false teachers do? They come into the pulpits with traditions of men, superstitions, proclamations of councils, and secular ideologies. They avoid God's word in order to pervert it with their own passions.
Fourth...
4. The Demand of the Sovereign God
2 Timothy 4:1-2a
"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word..."
This verse is powerful and should be terrifying for EVERY minister. It's solemn and serious. We are under the scrutiny of GOD! He's the judge! He is there watching and listening to your words and it's not those in the congression you'll have to answer to, but God Almighty Himself, capital "G" God! He is your sermon judge.
And lastly...
5. Preach the Word Because of the Deception of the Sensual
The enemy of God's Word is everything outside that Word. And what makes them successful is...
2 Timothy 4:3-4
"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths."
Driven by the ear tickling sensual empty chatter, they pridefully chase after their own opinions. This sensual deception; emotional, self-serving, makes false teachers successful, but the word pierces through it, targeting the mind for true conversion. In our age of customized "truths" and feel-good gospels, preaching the unadulterated word guards against this wanderlust, keeping us anchored in truth.
This is Paul’s final letter, written from a Roman dungeon as he faced execution around AD 67. This isn’t abstract theology; it’s a mentor’s urgent plea to his spiritual son Timothy, amid a church besieged by false teachers and cultural decay. Think about that, just 34 years after Jesus' ascends into glory, the church is already degrading into horrible idolatrous teaching. And that's a clarion call to every one of us today. Like Paul at the riverside, feeding Lydia’s hunger with the word, we’re called to proclaim it ceaselessly, patiently, and powerfully, trusting the Spirit to open hearts amid all the dangers and deceptions. It’s not about selling experiences but heralding truth that equips and saves. Put the Word out there and let God ensure that it doesn't return to Him void of fruit.
That’s the heart of it, straight from Isaiah 55:11: God’s Word, once proclaimed, won’t return void; it will accomplish His divine purpose and bear fruit in ways we might not even foresee. 2 Timothy 4:2’s charge to "preach the word" relentlessly, undergirds this lesson. We herald the Scriptures amid dangers, devotion, in its dynamic power, according to sovereign demand, and amid sensual deceptions, not because our eloquence or strategies guarantee results, but because God ensures the seed takes root and multiplies.
This principle has revolutionized how I view ministry. When I go into that prison, I advocate for Jesus Christ and his gospel. And I leave it at that. It's not "church" in the classic sense. There's no sacramentalism, no religious rites, no holy orders or doctrines beyond bringing the truth of the good news. It's raw unadulterated truth. And that's why I love it. Prison ministry embodies the very essence of what we’ve been unpacking from Acts and 2 Timothy. In Kairos prison ministry we are turning imprisonment into a platform for the gospel’s advance, unadorned and undeterred, just the raw power of Christ’s good news piercing hearts in the darkest places. It’s a beautiful reminder that true ministry thrives on that simplicity, reaching the "lost and hurting" where they are, much like the riverside encounter with Lydia.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, empower us to boldly preach Your unchanging Word in every season, trusting the Holy Spirit to open hearts and bear eternal fruit. Guard us from deception and fill us with devotion to Your truth, that we may reach the lost.
In Jesus’ Holy name, Amen.