“We cannot rest until the nations are made glad in the Gospel. We cannot cease our labors until the work is done,” Mohler said. “Only Christ can complete the joy that we now taste and share, and every generation of Christians is to serve faithfully until Christ completes our joy.”

Those who earn seminary degrees are more than professionals entering one field of employment, but are responsible for heralding the same message of eternal life the Lord Jesus Christ entrusted to His apostles, R. Albert Mohler Jr., told the 207th graduating class of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary May 20.

A herald is someone entrusted to announce a message, and that’s precisely the role entrusted to Southern Seminary graduates, Mohler said.

“What we witness today is not merely the accomplishment of students who have earned respected academic degrees and new credentials,” Mohler told the 271 graduates.

“The commencement ceremony of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary represents the gifting of God-called ministers of the Gospel for the churches, the sending out of missionaries who will carry the Gospel to the nations and the faithfulness of those who have answered the call of God to serve the church and to preach the Word,” Mohler said.

Preaching from 1 John 1:1-4, Mohler described the nature and content of the message entrusted to the students as a message of eternal life, hope and joy. He explained that the incarnation of the Word stands at the center of the Christian faith.

“John the apostle begins by affirming the centrality of Jesus Christ to all that we know, all that we hope and all that we preach,” Mohler said. “He specifically affirms the truth of the incarnation of Christ — the great news that he described in his gospel with the truth that ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.'”

Read More: http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/BPnews.asp?ID=35366
Compiled by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary staff. Mohler’s entire address is available in audio and video at the SBTS Resources page, www.sbts.edu/resources. A complete transcript of the address, “That Our Joy May Be Complete: The Essence of Christian Ministry,” is available at www.albertmohler.com