Preach the word (2 Tim 4:2)

A quote from a sermon that was instrumental in forming my understanding of true biblical ministry. By John Macarthur:

"Beloved, we need men who can go into the fray, men who can go into the battle who understand the Word of God clearly. Let me tell you something, Satan's deceptions are not without subtlety. Do you understand that? It's not always obvious on the surface what's really going on. It takes formidable men. It takes men who understand the Word of God clearly, carefully. It takes men who understand the issues of their time and it takes men who have a holy courage who are willing to step into the battle and identify the enemy and assault the enemy graciously but assault the enemy relentlessly with the truth. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10, our job is to smash fortresses, ideological fortresses and to bring everybody captive there into obedience to Christ. We want to set free the captives held in the fortresses that these dangerous epochs have erected. We're called to guard the truth. We're called to preach the truth. We can't do either if we don't understand the truth. And against the subtleties and nuances of Satan's devices, it takes well-trained skilled men and we're committed to that."