Good morning. I'm so glad you're here. There's a whole lot of the Wood
family still here, isn't there? Yeah, that's blank seats in case
you didn't catch that. I wish you could have been here
for the Bible class. It was indeed Wonderful, wonderful. I'm trying to remember where
I'm supposed to be. Acts chapter, I've got it written down someplace.
Chapter 20, Acts chapter 20. reading beginning at verse 17
through verse 38, which marks the end of chapter 20 in the
book of Acts. Acts 20, verses 17 through 38. If I repeat that enough, I could
remember it for a little bit anyway. I want to try to preach, Curtis
pretty well covered it in the Bible class but I'm going to
have to take what I've got in front of me because I don't know
what else to do if I didn't have this because I've already spent
a good deal of time trying to find out where I'm supposed to
be and when you think you've found out you don't always know. It's easier to find out after
we preached or talked and to realize that we weren't in the
groove or whatever you call it. But here's the title. And it's the title of the whole
Bible. Christ, the whole, entire counsel of God. When it comes to us and God,
He's all there is. And you and I cannot take from
Him or add to Him. And if we understand our condition
as sinners, people will be thrilled to hear that message. But there
ain't many people in this county or any other county that I know
about that care to hear this message. So you people are either
misled or you're on track. And I prefer the latter. Alright,
let's read and find out what the Bible actually says. Virtually every church in this
county carries a Bible. But they ain't preaching what's
in here. What are they preaching? Whatever
people want to hear, that's who they're preaching to. May we pray. Lord, thank you for letting us
be in this place this day. We know one thing for sure, we're
here by divine providence. Many of us are here because you
have saved us and called us with unheavenly calling. And we're
certainly glad to be here. But Lord, we live at a point
in time when great confusion rages on what the Bible teaches us
to be, to do, to say, and whatever else there is. But we believe that by your Spirit
and by your grace, you have brought us in our old religion from the
very thing that people are hanging on to this day, and you've taught
us Absolutely and without question,
you have sought us in order to change us and to open our eyes
and our hearts to the triune God of heaven and earth, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. We beg this day in this place
that what is said what is taught, what is preached, what is believed,
what is sung in our hymns, that all of these things redound to
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And Lord, if our puny words can
even come close to achieving that, oh, how wonderful, how
wonderful it would be We beg for your presence. We bow our knees within our heart
to Christ Jesus, God and man in one person. Help us, dear Lord, we pray.
Amen. Now then, our subject is a very
vast subject indeed. I have about nine points and
I know good and well I ain't going to make it. So, I'll just
tell you up front. Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
the whole entire counsel of God. So how can this be? We must preach
Jesus Christ and His death. And now we pick up to read at
verse 17, I think it is, isn't it? Yeah, I think that's what
I said. Verse 17 through the end of the
chapter. I shall not hopefully spend very
long in this reading, but if I have to, I will. Acts 20 verse
17, And from Miletus Paul the apostle sent to Ephesus
and called the elders of the Ephesian church. And when they
were come to Paul, he said unto them, You know that from the
first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been
with you at all seasons, If I remember rightly, Paul spent more time
in his preaching journeys in this Ephesian church than in
any other. Verse 19, serving the Lord with
all humility of mind and with many tears and trials or temptations
which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews. The Jews
have tried every trick in the book to catch Paul so they can
kill him. Do you know why they haven't
caught him? Because you can't die until it's
time to die. And God determines the time. They were laying in wait. Let me read verse 19 again. Serving
the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and
temptations, or trials, which befell me by the lying in wait
of the Jews, And now I kept how I kept back nothing that was
profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you
publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and
also to the Greeks or the Gentiles' repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I go bound in
the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there, except one thing, save that the Holy Ghost witnesses
to Paul in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await
me. or abide me, whichever one you
want. I don't hear y'all using the word abide real often, just
frankly. Verse 24, but none of these things
move me, none of them. Neither count I my life dear
unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy. And the ministry which I've received
of the Lord Jesus, and here's what the ministry of Christ is
all about, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. If the gospel
ain't being preached, nothing is being preached. except just
garbage. Verse 25, And now, behold, I
know that you all, among whom I am God preaching, the kingdom
of God, shall see my face no more. This is the last time on
this earth He's saying that we will see each other. Wherefore,
I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood
of all men, For I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God." Now that sounds like a vast,
vast area. But if we shortened it, it would
read like this. I've not shunned to declare unto
you Jesus Christ the Lord who is the whole counsel of God. Everything God has for us, or
anyone else, is in Christ. Verse 28, Take heed therefore unto yourselves,
and to the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers." Other places in the Bible refer to these people as
elders. overseers to feed the church
of God which He has purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my
departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing
the flock, also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse
things to draw away disciples after themselves." Therefore, watch and remember
that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone
night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend
you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build
you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver
or gold or apparel, yea, you yourselves know that these hands,
these hands of the Apostle Paul have ministered unto my necessities."
He was a tent maker and spent a lot of time doing that in order
not to be chargeable to the congregations that were in the process of being
established. I have showed you, verse 35,
all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak
and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said it
is more blessed to give than to receive. And when He had thus
spoken, He kneeled down and prayed with them all. And they all wept
sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most
of all for the words which he spoke, that they should see his
face no more. And they accompanied him under
the ship, followed him to the place that
He was to continue His journey. I want to try to answer two questions
this morning. The first one, what is the whole
counsel of God? And the second one is to preach Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. How are we to do this? What is
preaching Christ and Him crucified? I comment, when we go places,
you don't have to go far to see them, but signs in front of churches
and billboards and yard signs and heavens knows what else,
but have you ever paid any attention to this? that almost every church
in this county has some kind of emphasis for every Sunday
of the year. One Sunday it's Women's Day,
the next Sunday it's Men's Day, and on and on and on and on.
One over here on Ramsey Street spent two Sundays honoring policemen
and law enforcement officers. Now I'm all for law enforcement
officers. I think without them we would
have a really, really tough time. But not in the place of Christ. You're telling me that Ordinary
people living on this earth who have a certain occupation that
they deserve to unseat Christ for a Sunday? And then there's
Mother's Day, and Father's Day, and Easter, and Christmas, and
heavens knows what else. I mean, it is a... I just can't get over it. I cannot
get over it. Yet I used to be right in the
middle of that junk. Thank God I'm no longer there. Alright, here's the first answer
to our questions. Let me read you a statement out
of Revelation chapter 13 and verse 8. You need not turn because
it's very short and I will have read it before you get there.
And all that dwell upon the earth, shall worship Him." Now you've
got to look at this now and listen to this. All that dwell on the earth,
that's everybody. Men, women, boys, girls, no matter
what the occupation. All that dwell upon the earth
shall worship Him. And you take a little step back
and say, well, I ain't so sure about this. Well, you quit reading
too quick. All right, let's continue. All that dwell upon the earth
shall worship the devil, whose names are not written in
the Lamb's Book of Life. And if your name is not in that
book, you're toast. There's no hope for you. None
whatsoever. whose names are not written in
the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world." This statement is telling us that Christ was put
to death before this world was ever made. In that precious covenant of
grace that is so wonderfully stated in our Bibles, that this
covenant that was made between the triune God is a covenant
that is forever and ever and ever. And there can never be
a time on this earth when God does not have this witness concerning
Christ. Let me read you that statement
out of Hebrews. Oh, you people with all these little devices,
you might can keep up with me. I don't know. Hebrews 13, 20
and 21. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant. And that's the covenant that
laid out all the arrangements for the holy three-in-one before
this world was ever made, before Adam was ever created, before
there was ever a sinner. There was a Messiah, there was
a Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and our Savior, and the only
one that can deliver us from our sins. Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood, of the everlasting
covenant. Now you can find that statement
and some others in Hebrews chapter 13. I urge you to look at it
today. So the first answer that we give
to this message of Christ and Him crucified is that this is
the eternal purpose and counsel and will of God. And if that
is really, really true, nothing can change it or reverse it.
We can't speed it up or slow it down. God does as he pleases
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth
and there ain't nobody ever lived on this earth that could stop
what he was doing or stay his hand as it's put in the King
James. The cross was no afterthought. Are you trying to tell us, preacher,
that the cross was purposed before the world was made? If this covenant
is everlasting, then this appointment of Christ's death on Calvary's
tree was also appointed. All of God's elect that He gave
to Christ And I mean He didn't just say that, that group of
people, He gave us to Him by name. By name. Now that's sobering as well as
wonderful. Sober indeed. The Lord Jesus Christ in that
glorious covenant in old eternity, was both the surety and the shepherd
of God's sheep. Our Bibles, even in the New Testament,
clearly distinguish for us the difference between sheep and
goats. And sheep don't become goats
and goats don't become sheep. Now, if you don't believe I'm
telling the truth, or even if you do, try Matthew 25. See what it says. It is awfully
plain in Matthew 25. This eternal purpose, counsel
and will of God. Our Bible speaks of the triune
God. Known unto God, now listen, known
unto God are all His works from the beginning. The beginning. Now, when would
you say the beginning is? Oh, it's when God made the heaven
and earth. No, it ain't. It's as old as God Himself. Which
ain't even a true statement, but that's as far as our minds
can take us. He's always been. He is now. And He ever will be. And nothing
can change that. Nothing whatsoever. No wonder
that covenant is called an everlasting covenant. All right, the second answer
to this question, what is it to preach the whole counsel of
God, has to do with what is called the fall of man. Now, I might would become a betting
man if enough of you would bet against me on this. I might would give you your money
back after I won it. But I might keep it. I'll bet you there's not a church
in this whole county that has any inkling of this
everlasting covenant, this eternal purpose, counsel, and will of
God. And then you tell them that God
knows unto God are all Known unto God are all His works from
the beginning. Oh, but preacher, what about
my decision? What about me being willing to
come to Christ? I don't know who told you you're
willing to come, but that ain't so. Brother Richardson used to make
a statement in telling sinners to come to
Christ. He said, I want you to do it
without moving a muscle. Because when you bring the physical
person and body into the picture, it ain't no picture anymore.
You understand that? This is not something that we
do. It's what God does. It's not
about me. It's about Christ. It's not about
you either. It's all about Christ. Hallelujah. Whatever He is, I am. Wherever
He is, I will be. And I pray God the same for you. Being a preacher is no advantage,
by the way, in regard to these things. Romans, I'll give you a quote. For if by one man's offense death
reigned by one, Much more, they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life by one Jesus Christ." Now, how did this world get into such a fix? When we're born, we're all born
sinners. No exceptions. No exceptions. I'm leaving out the Lord Jesus. And the reason we must do that,
it's not me figuring out, but I don't know when I read it or
found it out, but I'm glad I did. That when the Lord Jesus came
into this world, He was born of a woman without
the aid of a man. Now we've looked at this, I don't
know how many times, but it has to be a part of this whole counsel
of God. That being so, that when Adam sinned in the
garden, it's called the fall of Adam. It's not a period of
time during the year. It's the fall of Adam. And in
that fall, every member of the human race fell in him. You got that? All the human race
from the beginning of time to the end fell in Adam. But Eve ate the fruit before
Adam did. Yes, but Eve was not our federal head. Do you understand why this is
necessary? We must fall in Adam or we cannot
be raised in Christ. You can't find us guilty one
way and then change the rules and find us innocent the other
way. It just won't work. God, unlike
ourselves, and unlike our courts, and our judges, and our lawmakers,
and everybody else that's living on this globe in which we live,
these things are not conceivable to them whatsoever. Just cannot
possibly understand this. If by one man's offense, Death
reigned by one. That's the first Adam. And in
1 Corinthians 15, we run into this word, the second Adam. The first Adam is Adam in the
garden. The second Adam is none other
than our Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's the point. God condemns
us in a substitute. And He delivers us in a substitute. Therefore, His perfection, His
judgment is beyond our ability to conceive. Oh, but preacher,
I still have a free will. Oh, you're lying to yourself.
And I sure don't believe you. Which ain't no, you know, that
ain't neither here nor there, I guess you could say. But some
of you know better. We must preach the fall of man. Just absolutely must. I'm looking at another verse
of Scripture. Alright, the second thing. Third
thing, let's see. The first is the eternal purpose,
counsel, and will of God. The second one is the fall of
man. And the verse that we need for
that is right where Curtis was this morning. I'm turning the
wrong way. Somehow I want the book of Acts to be at the end
of Romans, but it isn't. If you want to turn to this,
it's Romans chapter 5. Hey, we've got a whole hour before
it's time to quit, don't we? Romans chapter 5, verse 17. This has to do with Adam and
us. For if by one man's offense,
death reigned by one, what has put this earth, this
globe, into such a sorry mess? Blame it on Adam. If you and I had been there,
we'd have done the same thing. But you see, we're wicked. We have bad thoughts about God.
We might often question whether or not we really know Christ.
These things are natural to us. But nowhere in this book does
God Give the responsibility for the
damage done to this world that before Adam sinned was absolutely
perfect. And I'll tell you, if you'll
pick up any newspaper at any time, you'll find out it's going
south at warp speed. This nation is destroying itself. And I just bit my tongue. There was a certain thing I was
going to say, but I might tell you if you ask me afterwards.
Alright, verse 17, Romans chapter 5, For if by one man's offense
death reigned by one, Much more, they which receive abundance
of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus
Christ." Now, where was it I said you need to go read to find out
some more about this? 1 Corinthians chapter 15, toward
the middle and end of the chapter. fall of man to the natural eye
says that God must have lost control of this world and of
the people that He put in it. Ah, but that can't be so. God cannot make mistakes. If He says I'm going to do such
a thing, He does it. Oh, there are thousands of illustrations
in our Bibles to these ends. Alright, number three. To preach
the whole counsel of God is to preach the character of God.
He's holy, He's righteous, and He is just. This is who God is. Let's see, I've got you a verse
of scripture I want to read. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Now what on earth is this? This is none other than when our Lord Jesus Christ
went to the cross at His death all who believe and trust in
Him, Old Testament as well as new and past as well as present. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other." Now that's a strange expression. We've gone
over this before, but I thought it might fit pretty well into
this outline. We have four attributes of God
in this short statement. Mercy, truth, righteousness,
and peace. And apparently, and it's only
apparently, it looks as if some of the attributes of God are
not getting along so well with other attributes of God. And
that they are, what's the word for it? To say the least, at odds with
each other. But this statement in Psalm 85
and verse 10 says, mercy and truth have made up. Now you understand
they never were separated. It's only to teach us dummies
how this thing comes to be, that we can be right with God. Mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. I got just one question, where
did this take place and when? On the cross of Calvary, when
our Lord hung on the tree. There was no longer any obstacle or anything in the way of all
of God's elect seeing, rejoicing in, and worshiping the triune
God. Fourthly, The Godhood and glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Everybody knows He went to the
cross, but they don't know who He is. And neither can we without
a revelation from God the Holy Spirit. The Godhood and glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ. I'll read you this statement.
Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the
which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers to feed the church
of God. Now this is Paul preaching to
the elders of Ephesus that met him on his final journey back
to Jerusalem before going to Rome and finally being put to
death. And the Lord Jesus said to his
disciples, these are the words which I spoke unto you while
I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the
Psalms concerning me. This whole Bible is about Christ
from beginning to end. And this found one of the last
times that he talked to the apostles after his resurrection. Then
Christ opened their understanding. Now these men had followed him
for over three years. And yet, they still can't comprehend
what he's saying. Then opened He their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures. And our Lord said
to His apostles, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to
suffer and to rise from the dead the third day." The third day. Number five, the fulfillment
of every promise. You remember singing as a child,
every promise in the book is mine. Every chapter, every verse,
every line. Well, Suppose you were in the first
grade then, and a lot of other people that were singing that
song, you can't find them singing it now. It didn't do anything for them. They're left to their own desserts. Every promise Every prophecy
and every word picture of the Old Testament is pointing to
Christ, pointing to Him. I'll bet you, I know I can get
this across, and if you're honest, you won't tell me a story. When
you first heard the story about Noah and the ark, did you ever think that that ark is Christ? Oh no,
we just sang a little chorus and heard somebody read the passage
and that's it. But when God opens the spiritual
eyes of the soul, it is then and then alone that we see our
blessed Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I don't know what number I'm
on. I'm on six on my page anyway. We are to preach the love of
God for sinners. I cannot possibly, I don't have
enough words and my mind is in worse shape than my words to
tell you what this statement is all about. It is to preach
the love of God for sinners. Yeah, but preacher, everybody's
a sinner. Well, why don't you try asking some people? They'll
have you to know that they haven't committed a sin in the last umpteen
years. And the truth is, they're telling
the worst one right there on the spot. Let me read you a statement from I've got to figure out where,
there it is. From the book of 1 John. As a
matter of fact, I'll wait for you. If you want to turn, if
you don't, that's fine. 1 John chapter 4. 1 John 4. And the verses are verses 9 and
10. And I ain't going to tell you
the other one until I read that one. Alright? 1 John chapter 4. I believe that's
what I said, yes. Verses 9 and 10. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us, because that God sent His only
begotten Son into the world that we might have life through Him. Verse 10, Herein is love. Curtis, you could have used this
verse this morning. I'm glad you left it though. Herein is
love. Not that we loved God. but that He loved us and sent
His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Without Christ, we have no claim
to say that we love God. We love the God of our imagination.
We love the God that showers us with gifts and with plenty
of money and all the rest. but we don't really love Him.
We love the false God, not the new one. And if you haven't figured
that out, you're still lost. I hate to tell you that, but
you are. No, I don't hate to tell it.
It has to be told. Alright, one other verse right
there in that same chapter. Verse 19. We love Him Why? Because He first loved us. And that works all the way across
the board. God moves and then we move. We love Him. because He first
loved us. That's a strange way of preaching
the love of God for sinners. But maybe if you put all of them
together, maybe you get a thimble full, I don't know. Thank you
for listening.