Acts chapter 20. I had Brother John read Acts
20 to set up for the sermon here. The text will be found in Acts
20, verse 27. The name of the message is, All
the counsel of God. All the counsel of God. Now Paul
here before us, as Brother John mentioned, is speaking to the
Ephesian elders. And this is a part and farewell.
This is a part and farewell by the Apostle Paul to the church
at Ephesus. And this church is very dear
to him. Very dear to him as he was there for three years. We
saw that in the text that Brother John read. He was there for three
years ministering to these folks. And now I've been here a year
with y'all, and I know how my heart's knit with you. From what Donnie tells me, it
just gets sweeter and sweeter. And I know that you guys were
knit close to Jim, 18 years. So imagine that. Paul's been
preaching to these saints at Ephesus for three years. His
heart is knit to them. And that's why we see it's a
tearful farewell for them, because they love him dearly. He preached
to them. And they grew in the grace and
knowledge and truth of Christ, and their hearts were knit together.
And it's evident from our text that he preached Christ to them.
That he preached Christ to them, and none but Christ. Look at
our text in Acts 20, verse 27. For I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God. For I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God. Now, take note that Paul didn't
hold nothing back. When he preached, he preached
all the counsel of God. He didn't hold it back. He preached
to them Christ and Him crucified. Again, look at Acts 20, verses
20 and 21. Look at what he says here. And
how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you. He didn't
hold back when he preached. He didn't tickle people's ears
because, oh, that person might leave if they hear that. No. No, He declared unto them
Christ and Him crucified. He declared unto them. He didn't
hold nothing back. He declared to them all that
was profitable unto them, but have showed you and have taught
you publicly. And He did it in the open, didn't
He? Just like we declare the Gospel
every Sunday we meet, every Wednesday, we publicly declare the Gospel. It goes out on the Internet.
We publicly declare the Gospel, don't we? And it says, and from house to
house they used to meet in homes. And testifying both to the Jews
and also to the Greeks, he preached to the Jew and to the Greek. To the Jew and to the Gentile.
What did he preach to them? Repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And he did not hold back. He did not hold back. And the
Gospel preacher is to keep nothing back. We are to preach the full
counsel of God. We are to preach that which God
has revealed in the Gospel concerning the salvation of men, which is
only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are to proclaim
the truth of this, and how there is salvation in none of it. None
of it. We are to preach of this marvelous
salvation for sinners in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are to speak of the joy of salvation. Oh, isn't it joyful? It fills us with joy, we who
have been redeemed. I'm saved, I'm forgiven of all my sins.
We're to proclaim this. We're to proclaim salvation in
Christ Jesus, the forgiveness of all the sins of all who come
to Him in the fact The fact that this salvation, this forgiveness,
is purchased by the precious blood of Christ. It's what he's
done. It cost, my salvation cost the
death of Christ. His blood had to be shed in order
for me to be saved. There's salvation in no other.
I can't save myself. That's evident. That's evident
from what we study in the scriptures. But the Lord Jesus Christ shed
his precious blood for sinners upon Calvary's cross. And God's
people find great comfort in the counsels of God. Because
what do they do? They point and speak. They speak
of Christ. They speak of Christ. But unbelievers
reject the counsel of God. They turn, if you would, to Luke
chapter 7. Unbelievers reject the counsel of God, and if they
are left to themselves, they're perishing their sins. They're
perishing their sins. I thank God that He didn't leave
me where I was, that He drew me to Him, because I never would
have come to Him on my own. But by the mighty work of God,
the Holy Spirit will draw on me to Christ and point me to
Christ and you who believe too. That's what he did, didn't he?
That's what he did for us. Look at this, the Pharisees in
Luke 7, verse 30. But the Pharisees and lawyers
rejected the counsel of God. And that's what we know from
Acts 20, 27. This is what Paul declared unto
believers. Look it. But the Pharisees and lawyers
rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized
of him. They didn't want to be baptized
by John, which was the baptism of repentance. And so in Acts
20, 27, Paul says, I've not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel
of God, and that's the counsel that the Pharisees reject, and
that's the counsel that all who are in their own self-righteousness
and think that they can get to heaven on their own reject. But
salvation's only in Christ, and Paul boldly preached Christ in
him crucified, in whom all the counsels of God find their end,
All the counsels of God find their end in Christ. And these
self-righteous Pharisees, they didn't want Christ. Therefore,
they rejected the counsels of God. And Paul preaches God's
decree to save all that believe in Christ. Oh, he preaches that
all who all flee to Christ shall be saved. In Luke 7.30, where we looked,
we see We see it's wicked and ungodly men. These Pharisees
are wicked and ungodly men. Now, they're religious on the
outward appearance, right? Oh. They look like they got it together. But we know from other scriptures
we've read, they're like whitewashed tombs, aren't they? Oh, they
clean the cup on the outside. They say, oh, look, look, look,
we don't do these things, and we don't do these, and we don't
do that, and we follow the commandments of man. That's what they do,
don't they? But the Bible believer, the believer
in Christ, rejects that, don't we? My only hope's in Christ. I can't make myself righteous
enough to appear before God. He's a holy God. He's an infinitely
holy God. I must be clothed in a perfect,
spotless righteousness, and I can't do that on my own. Can you? Oh,
but Christ did that for sinners, didn't he? He wove that coat
of righteousness when he lived upon this earth as the sinner's
substitute. And then he died in the sinner's
place. And the believer is clothed in
the righteousness of Christ. Perfect, spotless righteousness. My goodness. So we look away
from ourselves. And a gospel preacher does not
shun to preach this. We declare this to be true. You
can't be saved by your own righteousness. You can't be saved by your own
works. Salvation's in Christ and Him alone. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. And these men in Luke 7.30, they're
wicked, ungodly men. They refuse to take God's counsel
or to obey His command. And my prayer is that if you're
like that, that God would make you willing. that God would make
you willing to trust in Christ, that if you're in this state,
that the Holy Spirit would turn you to Christ, turn you to Christ,
turn you away from your own self-righteousness and turn you to Christ and make
you willing. That's all He's done for we who
believe. He made us willing to flee to Christ. He showed us
our desperate need, and we fled to the Savior. And faithful preachers
are not afraid to preach. to preach the whole counsel of
God. We will not hold back. Let's
look at how quickly Paul points the believer to Christ after
making this statement. Look at Acts 20, verses 27 and
28. Look how quickly he points the believer to Christ after
making this statement of preaching the whole counsel of God, and
it's found in Christ and Him alone. Look, for I have not shunned
to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore,
look at verse 28, unto yourselves and to all the flock over which
the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers." So these are elders. These are people who will be
preaching the gospel to the saints at Ephesus to feed the Church
of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood. Who purchased
the Church of God? Emmanuel. We sang it, didn't
we? Which means God with us. The
Lord Jesus Christ is God incarnate in the flesh, and He purchased
the Church of God. He purchased His elect, those
given to Him by the Father in eternity. He purchased them with
His own precious blood. My, what a sacrifice. What a
Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are to feed the church
of God, which He has purchased with His own precious blood.
So Paul points to the Ephesian elders to feed the church of
God, of which they were a part of, too. Because remember, the
church in the Greek is the ekklesia, which means a called-out assembly.
It's not the building, it's the people. It's a called-out assembly,
called an ekklesia in the Greek, a called-out company of people.
And Paul points to the Ephesian elders to the same place He points
all believers. to feed the church of God, whom
He purchased with His own blood. He's pointing them right to Christ,
right to Christ in Him alone. To feed the church of God, which
He had purchased with His own blood. Where did He purchase
we who believe? Beloved, He purchases Calvary's
cross when He shed His precious blood. The God-man mediator,
the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate in the flesh. He is no ordinary
man. He's God incarnate in the flesh,
dying in the room and place of His people. The sinless sacrifice. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
What a Savior! What a Savior! Paul points the
Ephesian elders to Christ. And Christ's very blood is spoken
of here as being that of God himself. God himself becomes
a man to ransom, to purchase, to acquire a people for himself. And God's people say, Glory be
to God. Oh my, what a Savior. But we
preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stone-born block,
and unto the Greeks foolishness, foolishness. But this is the
preacher's cry, Christ and Him crucified, the only hope for
sinners. And we preach what we know. The
Gospel preacher preaches what he knows. He preaches what's
been revealed to him. And we cannot tell you, I cannot
stand up here and tell you something that I have not experienced or
received myself. Christ has saved my soul. He
saved my soul. He saved me from all my sins.
And He saves all who come to Him. All who come to Him. Oh
my. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, in ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. For God who commands the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts. God has
shined in my heart. He saved me. He redeemed me.
He purchased me with His own precious blood to give light
of the knowledge and the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So we who believe have obtained
mercy and inheritance in Christ, having been predestinated to
receive this inheritance in Christ according to God's purpose and
the counsel of His will. And God's preachers do not shun
to preach that. We preach the full counsel of
God. God is God. God is sovereign. God is magnificent. God is not who we think He is.
He's so far above us, so far above us, His ways are not our
ways and His thoughts are not our ways. His thoughts are not
our thoughts. So the gospel preacher preaches
what he knows, what he's been taught. And the preacher, the
preacher is always learning and growing in Christ, just like
everyone else, too. If anyone ever thinks they arrived,
we're in a heap of trouble. We're in a heap of trouble. I
was reading something about Ralph Bernard this week. He was talking
to Henry Mahan. I guess he'd been preaching for
50 years. And he said, well, Henry, one of these days I'm
going to learn how to preach. Now I know where Donnie got it from.
But that's true, though. That's how every preacher feels.
Well, one of these days I'm gonna learn how to preach. My, my,
we're just scratching the surface, beloved. We really are. It's
just incredible. But gospel preaching, gospel
preaching is the preaching of the gospel. It's proclaiming
the good news. The good news of salvation in Christ and Him
alone. Preaching Christ and Him crucified. As it's revealed in
this book. as it's revealed right in you.
We preach what the Word says. We preach what the Word says.
And Christ crucified is not simply the most important message of
Scripture, it is the central message of Scripture. It is the
central message of Scripture. Christ crucified is the primary
message of Scripture. This book, from beginning to
end, from Genesis all the way to Revelation, is all about Christ. It's not the Old Testament like
I used to believe. Oh, the Old Testament's for the
Jews and the New Testament's for God's people. No. From beginning
to end, beloved. This is a book. This is a hymn
book. H-I-M. All about Christ. And the Old
Testament's for me, and the New Testament's for me. And they
all point to Christ. The Old Testament says someone's
coming, and the New Testament says he's here. The Gospel says
he's here. And then the epistles say he's
coming again. He's coming again. My goodness. It's all about Christ. This book
is about Jesus Christ. And Christ in him crucified is
the message of Scripture. When the Apostle Paul said to
the Ephesians, I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel
of God, he was saying exactly the same thing as he did in 1
Corinthians 2 where he says, I'm determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It's the central theme. Christ. Christ and Him crucified. And
the Holy Spirit of God uses the preaching of the Word Turn, if
you would, to John chapter 16. The Holy Spirit of God uses the
preaching, the preaching of the Word, the preaching of Christ
crucified, and reveals Christ to sinners. He reveals to lost
sinners the person and work of Christ through the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He reveals to sinners
what we are, and that we have no hope outside of Christ. Look
at John 16, verses 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart,
I will send him unto you. And when he has come, he will
reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
Of sin, because they believe not on Me. Of righteousness,
because I go to My Father and you see Me no more. Of judgment,
because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things
to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when
He, the Spirit of truth, is come..." So who does the Holy Spirit speak
of? Look at this. "...He will guide
you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself..." Now
there's whole movements out there based upon the Holy Spirit of
God. But the Word of God right here says He won't speak of Himself.
He won't speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall
glorify me. Your point is to Christ. He revealed Christ to us. For
he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. This is marvelous. He reveals
to sinners the worthlessness of our own righteousness, and
reveals to sinners the righteousness that's been established by Christ's
obedience to the Father as the God-man and mediator and representative. He reveals to us that we are
in desperate need of Christ. He will not speak of Himself.
Psalm 71 verses 1 to 2 says this. Turn with me
if you would there. Psalm 71. Look at this. Speaking of this righteousness,
look at this. Psalm 71, verses 1 and 2. Who's our trust in? Our trust
is in the Lord, isn't it? Our trust is in Jehovah. And
we know from Scripture that God became a man. The Lord Jesus
Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ Redeemed
us from our sins Look at this in psalm 71 verses 1 & 2 in Thee
O Lord do I put my trust? He's the one we trust Let me
never be put to confusion look at this deliver me in what thy
righteousness Not in our own Because our own righteousness
is like filthy rags in the eyes of the Lord, right? This is speaking
to Christ, beloved. Because we know, we know that
the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. Our sins were
imputed to him and his righteousness is imputed to us. Deliver me
in thy righteousness and cause me to escape. Incline thy ear
unto me and what? Save me. I can't be saved unless
you save me, Lord. And unless you deliver me in
thy righteousness, in Christ's righteousness, that's gospel
righteousness. That's speaking of Christ's righteousness.
Unless God delivers us in Christ's righteousness, we'll never be
saved. And in the New Testament, turn
if you would over to Romans 1. Keep in mind what we just read
there. Deliver me in thy righteousness and cause me to escape, incline
thy ear unto me. In the New Testament, this righteousness
is proclaimed in the Gospel. And God's preachers do not hold
back. We proclaim this boldly. It's the perfect, spotless righteousness
of Christ. And the Holy Spirit reveals this
to sinners in the preaching of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at Romans 1, verses 16-17. Look at this. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every
one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Now remember, he said, Deliver me in thy righteousness. Look
at this. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed. Where is it
revealed? In the preaching of the gospel.
In the preaching of the gospel. Revealed from faith to faith,
as it is written, the just shall live by faith. There's the righteousness. There's the gospel righteousness.
For therein is the gospel of righteousness. It's in and through
the preaching of the gospel. It's in and through Christ. So
when the psalmist penned, deliver me in thy righteousness, he's
speaking about Christ. He's speaking about Christ, beloved.
And God, the Holy Spirit, reveals to sinners their utter inability
to save themselves and their hopeless state before God, and
He reveals to them the sin-atoning death of Christ, our sin-bearer,
who put away the sins of His people by the sacrifice of Himself. And God, the Holy Spirit, regenerates
sinners, and they're born again, and we flee to Christ. We flee
to Christ. He's our Savior. Oh, that God
the Holy Spirit would reveal to you if you don't know Him.
Oh, that God the Holy Spirit would reveal Christ to a sinner
today. And that He give you eyes to look to Him. To look to Him. Who is the Savior of sinners.
To hear the shepherd's voice. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 10. The Holy Spirit uses the preaching of Christ in Him
crucified. That which Paul talked about. That which all the counsels
of God. The Holy Spirit uses the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified to reveal these precious truths
to His people, to God's elect. Look at Romans chapter 10, verses
11 to 17. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on Him shall not be ashamed, for there is no difference
between Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord is rich over
all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? Now there's hundreds of churches
out there you go to and they tell you what you have to do.
We preach what Christ has done. Because what I do won't amount
to a hill of beans in my salvation. I cannot save myself. I desperately
need a Savior. Do you? Oh, that God would show
you you do if you don't believe on Him. He'd show you that you
desperately need Him. How then shall they call on Him
in whom they not believed? How shall they believe in Him
in whom they not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach except they be sent? Preachers got to
be sent by God. As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report? Who hath believed our report?
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Oh, we must preach the Gospel. God the Holy Spirit uses the
preaching of the Gospel, the preaching of Christ in Him crucified,
to convict sinners of their desperate need of Christ. And it's done
through the instrumentality of the Word of God, the preaching
of the Gospel, as we've seen in Romans 10. And let us remember
that as His lost sheep, when we were lost, we needed to hear
the Gospel, didn't we? We needed to. We needed to be
found. And this is the work of Jesus
Christ, the great shepherd of his sheep. He draws his sheep
to where the gospel's being preached. And the Holy Spirit lovingly
draws his sheep to Christ. My, it's beautiful. It's beautiful. And he came, let us remember
this too. The Lord Jesus Christ, he came.
He came to seek and to save that which was lost. That which was
lost. We who believe, we who are his
sheep, we're taught of God, enlightened by the Holy Spirit of God under
the preaching of the gospel. And what happens? We flock together,
don't we? We flock together. That's why
we want to come and hear the Word of God preached. We're sheep,
we like to flock together. We get in trouble when we're
wandering off on our own. That's why we're not to forsake the
assembling together. We're to come together on appointed
days of public worship and feast. Feast. Remember, I said it's
clover. It's sheep food. We feast on
the Word of God, don't we? We feast on it. My, I'm feasting
right along with you. As I'm studying all week to preach
and I'm just, you're feasting on the Word of God. It's beautiful.
It's sheep food. It's sheep food. We're feasting on Jesus Christ,
the true bread from heaven, and the preaching of his gospel is
the heavenly manna that all of God's flock feast upon. The preaching
of the gospel is the heavenly manna. It just comes and falls. Oh my, don't you feast on it?
It's wonderful, isn't it? Oh, it's wonderful. In the preaching
of the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, what does
it do? It increases our faith, doesn't it? We grow and mature
in our faith. We grow in grace. We don't see
it ourselves, but we do. The Holy Spirit teaches us, and
we grow. How many times have you read
a scripture and went, I've never seen that before? And it's just what you need.
And it's amazing. It's amazing. So the preaching
of the word of God, the preach of the gospel strengthens us,
encourages us to continue in the faith, and it also equips
us to face whatever trials will come our way too. It equips us. Let us remember that some of
the sheep of God, some of the sheep our Lord laid down his
life for are still in spiritual darkness, still lost. And the
gospel preacher preaches with sincere desire that God the Holy
Spirit would make his gospel effectual to them. that he would
open their spiritually blind eyes, and that he would deliver
them from the power of darkness, which is what he's done for us,
and translate them into the eternal kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And our love for Christ, and our love for his lost sheep,
and our love for those he has delivered is the motive that
keeps us, keeps the preacher preaching the gospel. Oh, that
God would draw in his sheep. Oh, that he would save his sheep.
And we preach Christ in Him crucified. And the Gospel preacher must
only preach Christ in Him crucified. I'm not here to tickle your ears.
And I'm thankful that you all want to hear the Gospel. It's
wonderful. And that's a great joy of Gospel
preachers, I can tell you that. That when you stand before people
who desire to hear the Word of God, who desire to grow in Christ,
it's a great blessing for the preacher. It's a great blessing. So let us consider a few facts
of the statement, all the counsel of God, that it's the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified is the counsel of God. Number one,
He's the singular subject of the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures
declare in the Old Testament that someone's come, and in types
and shadows, and the Gospel declares that He has come. And the epistles
declare He's coming again. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
subject of the Holy Scriptures. Colossians 2, 16 and 17 declares
this. Let no man therefore judge you
in meat or in drink or in respect of the holy day or the moon or
the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body
is of Christ. Now when we're walking, there's
my shadow. Here's my substance. Those Old Testament sacrifices
were just a shadow. And in Christ, when He comes,
there's the substance. There's the substance. So when Paul declares that he
has not shunned to declare to the saints at Ephesus all the
counsel of God, he declares that Christ is the singular subject
of all the Scriptures. He also declares that the Lord
Jesus Christ is the sum and substance, the sum and essence of all true
doctrine. All true doctrine points to Christ
in Him alone. Second John verses 9 and 10 says
this, Whosoever transgresseth and abides not in the doctrine
of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any
unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house,
neither bid him Godspeed. So the doctrine, this doctrine
of Christ is concerning his person as the Son of God. God incarnate
in the flesh, Emmanuel, God with us. The union of two natures,
divine and human, in one person. And the doctrine of Christ is
concerning His office as mediator, surety, messenger of the covenant,
as the prophet, priest, and king of His church, of His people.
It speaks of His incarnation, His obedience through His life,
and His sufferings and His death, His resurrection from the dead,
His ascension to heaven, and the fact that He is right now
seated at the right hand of the Father, and that He rules and
reigns in absolute majesty, So Christ is the sum and substance
of the doctrine of Scripture. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians
chapter 11. The next point is, He is the life of all gospel
ordinances. All gospel ordinances find their
center in Him. And we have two ordinances, don't
we? Baptism and the Lord's Supper. And they find their center in
Him. And so Paul did not shun, did
not hold this back. We see that in 1 Corinthians.
Look at chapter 11, verses 24 to 26. Now when we partake of
the Lord's Supper, we are remembering His death. Look at this. He's
the center of the ordinances. Even when we're baptized, He's
the center. We're buried with Him. And then we rise again in
newness of life. He's the center of the ordinances.
Look at 1 Corinthians 11, verses 24 to 26. And when he had given
thanks, he'd break it and said, take, eat. This is my body, which
is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. He's the center of it. We do
it in remembrance of him. After the same manner, he also
took the cup when he had supped, saying, this cup is the New Testament
in my blood. This do ye as oft as you drink
it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread,
and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come."
He's the center, isn't He? He's the one we remember. We
remember His death, what He's done for us. So both the ordinances
find their center in Him. Now, declaring all the counsel
of God is also declaring that Christ is the object of all true
worship. He's the object of all true worship.
He's the way to heaven. And it is in Him. It is in Him, it is Him, who we will worship
in heaven. He's the object of true worship.
Now man likes to worship themselves, but the Bible believer, the believer
in Christ, Christ is the object of our worship. Matthew 14.33
says this, Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped
Him, saying, Of a truth, Thou art the Son of God." They worshipped
Him. We look to Christ alone for our
salvation. He's the object of true worship.
Declaring all the counsel of God is declaring that the Lord
Jesus Christ is the mercy seat in whom God meets with men. Now, the Catholic Church will
tell you that you've got to go to a priest. as a mediator. That's just a lie. Because there's
only one mediator between God and man. The scriptures declare
that's the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for
all. Christ alone is the one mediator between God and man.
Why? Because he made propitiation for the sins of his people. He's
our advocate, isn't he? We don't have any other advocate
but Christ. None. He's our advocate with the Father
in glory. I remember when I was a Catholic, I used to go and
I'd go there and that priest would tell me, well, you say
all these things. And then I'd go and I'd just repeat the same
prayers over and over and over again, but I never felt, I never
felt that I had forgiveness of sins. And then one day, one day
a man came and opened up the scriptures and said, you go to
a priest and you confess your sins to this priest Why do you
do that? And I says, well, I don't know.
Because that's what I'm supposed to do, because I'm a Catholic.
And he says, but do you know the scriptures never say that
you do that? Well, I didn't know. And he opened that scripture.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and man.
The man, Christ Jesus, and my whole world started falling apart. It's amazing. But I thank God
that he had that man come and tell me that, because I'll be
honest with you, I've never read the Scriptures. These folks that
were like myself, that pop off about who they think God is and
who they think salvation's in, but they never read the Bible.
They never read about the One. who came and redeemed his people
from all their sins. And we know that God must illuminate
the scriptures, must teach us to Christ. And he does that,
doesn't he? With his lost sheep, he turns us to Christ. So Christ
is the mercy seat in whom God meets with man. And declaring
all the counsel of God is declaring that the Lord Jesus Christ alone
is the motive of all godliness and obedience and service and
devotion. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians
5, verses 14 and 15. What are we motivated by as believers? What motivates us to serve Christ? Why do we love the Gospel? When at one time, I hated it. Well, I'm born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, right? But what is it now that constrains
me? What is it, what is it? Look at this. 2 Corinthians 5,
14 and 15. You know, folks will tell you,
well, you gotta do this. They got a whole checklist, right?
You can't do this, and you can't do that, and you can't do that,
right? They got a whole checklist, don't they? We call that checklist
Christianity, don't we? A little checklist you gotta
follow. You know, there's certain things
that I do, and there's certain things I don't do. And I'm a
sinner, and when I sin, I repent of my sin. I hate sinning myself
more than anyone else. I get mad at myself when it happens,
right? But I turn to Christ and say,
oh Lord, forgive me. And I know the blood of Christ
cleanses me from all sin. I know my sins are forgiven.
But if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, right? And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We don't believe in checklist Christianity, do we? This whole
checklist. What motivates us? What motivates
us to obey God? What motivates us to want to
live a holy life? What motivates us to service
and devotion to Christ? Look at 2 Corinthians 5, 14 and
15. For the love of Christ constrains
us. Because we thus judge that if
one died for all, then we're all dead. And that he died for
all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him which died for them and rose again. We're motivated
by love. We're motivated to serve by our
love for our great king. And we saw today, right, that
without him we can do nothing, right? In Sunday school we saw
that. So it's him who produces that
in us, that love for the brethren, that love for Christ. Isn't that
amazing? It's all his work. It's all his
work. And why do we love him? We love
him because he first loved us. We love Him because He first
loved us. And what precious truth. And this is declared in the preaching
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We declare this unashamedly.
That I did not love Christ before... I didn't love Him and then He loved
me. No, He loved me even when I was in my sins. What a great God. He loved me
with an everlasting love. And this is what motivates us.
This is what motivates us. Declaring the counsel of God
is declaring that Christ is the reward of heavenly glory. Now folks in religion, they get
all worked up about rewards. I remember when I was in religion,
I taught a whole class. I taught a whole class. Yeah,
you remember that, too. I mean, I taught a whole class
on, you know, I think I did four or five weeks on that. It was
just, and we just broke it all down, all these things that you're
going to get and all these things that you're going to, you know. And, oh, my. Now, folks in religion get all
worked up about rewards and earning crowns and such, but you know
that for the believer, Christ is our reward. And this is what the gospel preacher,
he does not hold this back, he preaches this. Genesis 15-1. After these things, the word
of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying, Fear not,
Abraham, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Oh, my. Christ himself is the
believer's reward. And what a great one. An exceedingly
great reward. And it's not earned by us. It's a gift. He alone is our exceeding
reward in all things that pertain to life, godliness, and eternal
life itself. And the gospel preacher does
not hold back. He declares this forth. Declaring
all the counsel of God is declaring that Jesus Christ is our God,
that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that Jesus Christ is our
salvation. He is the revealer of truth, and He is truth. He is the giver of life, and
He is life. Only through the Lord Jesus Christ
can a sinner be saved. So the elect of God cry out with
Paul, Christ is all. He's all. He's everything. When
the gospel preacher proclaims the divine sovereignty of God,
we are declaring that Jesus Christ is Lord. That He's Lord. Declaring all the counsel of
God is declaring that God's election, God's choosing of His people
is His choice. His choice. He chooses some to
everlasting salvation in Christ. And for Christ's sake, and it's
all according to His will, and according to His purpose. We declare all the counsel of
God when we declare that God has predestinated some to be
conformed to the image of His Son. And we declare that it is
God's work, and not man's work. And we declare that man is born
into this world spiritually dead. Spiritually dead. And apart from
a revelation of God, or through the preaching of the Gospel,
men will never see their desperate need for Christ. And in declaring
the whole counsel of God, we declare that limited atonement
is a biblical truth, that all who Christ redeemed with His
precious blood by the sacrifice of Himself shall be saved. We declare that effectual redemption,
an effectual redemption by Christ for His sheep, for His elect,
And that all for whom Christ died will come to the Saviour. And will be kept by our blessed
Redeemer. Turn if you would to John chapter 10. And this is
a Biblical truth plainly taught in Scripture. Look at this in
John chapter 10. Affectual redemption. Christ
came to save His people from their sins. He came to save His
sheep. John chapter 10 verses 24 to
29, Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him,
How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ,
tell us plainly. Jesus answered, I told you, and
ye believe not the works that I do in my Father's name. They
bear witness of me. The miracles that he's done in
his Father's name bear witness of who he is, God incarnate in
the flesh. Look at this chilling verse.
But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep. As I said
unto you, my sheep hear my voice, and I gnoska them intimately. I know them. In the Greek, that's
gnoska. That's that intimate knowledge
of them. I know them, and they follow
me. And look at this. Now, religion will tell you,
you gotta bow your head and repeat a prayer, right? That's what
they tell you, don't they? And then they declare you saved,
don't they? But what does the Bible say? Who gives eternal
life? It's the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. You're not saved
by bowing your head and repeating someone else's confession. Salvation
is a heart work. God the Holy Spirit regenerates
the believer. And he cries out to Christ and
flees to Christ. And who gives us this eternal
life? Look at this in John 10, 28. And I give unto them eternal
life. Christ gives this life. And they
shall never perish. Oh, that's good news for the
sinner right here. If I'm in Christ, I'll never
perish. So the salvation is not dependent upon my doing, is it?
It's dependent upon what Christ has done. And they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. That's
a great God, isn't it? That's a sovereign God. My Father
which gave them me is greater than all. That's who God is. God of the Scripture is greater
than all, brother, greater than all. And no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand, so we declare an effectual redemption,
that we are saved by the precious blood of Christ, and He who saved
us keeps us, keeps us. We declare the truth about irresistible
grace, or effectual calling. This grace of God is the almighty,
irresistible revelation of Christ to the soul, by the Holy Spirit
of God, which causes the chosen, His elect, to come to Him, His
sheep, and we declare that regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit
of God, that we are born again, that we have a new heart and
a new nature, which desires the things of Christ, and desires
the things of Him alone. We declare that justification
is the righteousness of Christ, made yours by God's free grace,
by the sacrifice of Christ, who has made sin for us by imputation,
and that His perfect, spotless righteousness is imputed to us,
we declare that faith is trusting Christ. We declare that faith
is resting in Christ, reposing in Christ. And reposing means
to sit just like this. You're all reposing. I'm going
to sit and rest. Reposing. sitting, resting, at rest in
Christ. And we declare this, that the
only one the believer trusts his eternal soul to is the Lord
Jesus Christ in him alone. We declare that sanctification
is Christ being formed in us, begun in regeneration, begun
in regeneration and completed in glorification. Oh my, oh my,
when we will see our Redeemer face to face. We declare that
perseverance is Christ holding us and keeping us by grace, keeping
us in life and faith, and in one day, and in one day presenting
us faultless before His throne with exceeding joy. We declare
that heaven is a place A place where the believer will be with
Christ and be like Christ, perfectly and forever praising and glorifying
His precious name. So the gospel, the gospel that
God's preachers declare unto you, the whole counsel of God
is found in the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. The
preaching of Christ and Him crucified. And Paul says, for I have not
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Turn if you
would to Colossians chapter 1, and we're closed with this. Gospel
preaching is telling people about Christ. Gospel preaching is telling
people about Christ, proclaiming what Christ has done, who He
is, where He is. Oh, He's a great God. Anything
else is not preaching, though man may call it so. Anything
else is not preaching. If you're not preaching Christ,
you're not preaching. Oh my. Colossians 1, verse 25, look at this. Where
have I made a minister according to the dispensation of God which
is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God, even the mystery
which hath been hid from ages and from generations, verse 26,
but now is made manifest to his saints? Verse 27, to whom God
would make known. He has to make this known to
us. We don't know it naturally. To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Whom we preach. That's
what preaching is. Preaching Christ. Anything else
is not preaching Christ. If I stand up here, and I won't,
but if I did, if I was to stand up there and just tell you what
you had to do, that's not preaching Christ. Preaching Christ is preaching
what He's done, who He is, and where He is. Oh, He's a mighty
Savior, to whom God would make known what is the riches and
the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ
in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man.
You're going to face Him one day. either clothed in His righteousness,
or clothed in your own self-righteousness, whom we preach, warning every
man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus. How is a man presented perfect
in Christ Jesus? He must be robed in that perfect
righteousness of Christ. My goodness. And it's God who
does that for the believer. Whereunto I also labor, striving
according to His working, which worketh in me mightily." My goodness. It's all the Lord's doing. Salvation's
all of the Lord. Flee to Him. Heavenly Father,
we come before Thee. And we are thankful that you
had Paul penned these mighty words, that he was not afraid
to preach the counsel of God, which is all centered in thee,
Lord Jesus, the preaching of you, Christ crucified. Oh, may
you draw lost sinners to thee today, we pray, either through
the hearing of the word here today or as it goes out on the
internet. We pray that you'd use these messages for your glory
and your honor and your praise. In Jesus' name, amen.