I've entitled the message, All
the Council of God. All the Council of God. Now when
Paul is bringing this message to the Ephesian elders with regard
to their responsibilities to feed the church of God, two different
times in this same message, He gives this admonition, this warning. He said in verse 20 of this chapter,
I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you. And that
word profitable is the same word that's generally translated expedient
or necessary. I kept back nothing that was
necessary for you to hear and to benefit from. And then he
said in verse 27, I have not shunned, and that's the same
word translated get back. I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God. Now I'd like to make three introductory
statements that are very important. Number one. The cross is all
the counsel of God. You know what that means? That means everything I say,
every doctrine brought forth can only be measured by the cross. It's wrong if it cannot be measured
by the cross. The cross is the whole counsel
of God. Now, the second thing I would
like to try to say is I must preach the whole counsel of God,
or I'm not preaching the gospel. And the third thing I'd like
to say is this. You and I are responsible to
believe the whole counsel of God. The burden is just as much
on you as it is on me. You and I are both responsible
to believe the whole counsel of God. Now, Paul knows that
he is seeing them for the last time. Look in verse 25. And now
behold, I know that you all, among whom I've gone preaching
the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Paul knew that
this was the last time that he would be preaching to them. And
what I ask myself is, could I say what Paul said? Could I say? what Paul said. Have I preached the whole counsel
of God? Have I shunned to declare that
which is expedient? I'm sure I can think of a lot
of things with regard to preaching, pastoring a church, the I'm sure
I can think a lot of things that I wish I had done more of or
less of. I wish that I had been more zealous,
more earnest about this thing of preaching the gospel. I'm sure I have not been the
example that I should be. I'm just sure of that. I've not
set the example that I should have as a pastor. If I knew this
was the last message I was preaching, I feel quite sure that that would
be heavy on my mind. The love that I have is not what
it should have been. My sympathy, my empathy, my concern
is not what it should have been. It'd not be hard for me to see
many deficiencies in myself as a pastor. Too much pride, not
enough humility, not enough patience. I'm so much harder on you than
I am on myself. and I have expectations of others
that I ease up on myself with regard to. I know that's so.
You know that's so, and you would probably say the same things
with regard to yourself. But I hope that I can say, if
I was knowing that I'm gonna die tonight and never see you
again, I hope that I can say that I've kept back nothing that
was profitable to you. I hope that I can say that I've
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. And if I cannot say that, I prove
myself false. And you have not been given that
which is expedient which is necessary for you to hear and for you to
believe, and I would be complicit in your blood and bring damnation
on myself. Now that's how serious this thing
is. Is there any wonder Paul said,
who is sufficient for these things? If I prove to be false, I do
so to the eternal destruction of my soul, and if you believed
what I said, you and I will both be in a place where we do not
want to be for eternity. I hope I can say I've kept back
nothing that was expedient for you. I've not shunned, I've not
shirked, preaching all the counsel of God. Now, this word is the
word not shunned, kept back. This is the same word used with
regard to Peter in Galatians chapter 2. You remember that
when he was sitting at the Gentiles' table, fellowshipping with them,
enjoying the gospel, and all of a sudden, a certain from James
came in. And Peter, without a word, got
up and separated himself. Same word. He separated himself
from those Gentile believers and went over and sat with the
Jewish believers. And by that action, he said,
you're more pleasing to God in the Jewish table than you are
with the Gentile table. And Paul publicly rebuked him
at that time, saying the truth of the gospel would not remain
with that action, when he withdrew himself is the word. He withdrew
himself, and he separated himself. In Hebrews chapter 10, we read,
now the just shall live by faith. Hebrews chapter 11, I mean, the
end of it. Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man,
draw back. Same word. If any man, draw back. And you know, this is a nautical
term. It, it, it alludes to taking the sail and letting it down. So you don't go quite so fast
through the water. God says, my soul shall have
no pleasure in him. And this is how serious this
thing is of preaching and believing all the counsel of God. Now, if someone does not preach
all the counsel of God, it's because he is seeking to please
men. That's the only reason. To keep
men happy. To keep a following. to keep
people coming. There is no good motive for not
preaching all the counsel of God. It's concealing something.
It's speaking in ambiguous terms. So everybody would be happy with
what you say. And I think this is an example
of this. I've used this several times
when preachers say, Christ died for those who believe. Well,
that's true, isn't it? He did die for those who believe,
but you know, you can accept that from any level. You can accept that, well, that
he died for everybody, or the folks who believe that he died
only for the elect, they can accept that, but everybody's
happy with that statement. And in reality, you do not preach
the truth. That's an act of shunning to
declare the whole counsel of God. You see, when you do that,
You don't tell who he died for, you don't tell what he accomplished
by his death. There's just all kinds of problems with that,
and it's just failing to preach the truth. You know, when Drew
read that scripture about when I see the blood, I'll pass over
you, I thought about 1 Corinthians 15, verse three, when he said
it's how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
according to Exodus 12, not just Christ died for our sins, But
how that Christ died for our sins, who is the our? According
to the scriptures, according to the Old Testament scriptures,
God said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. That's the gospel. Nothing less
is. Now I repeat, the cross is the
whole counsel of God. You believe that? The cross is
the whole counsel of God. The whole Bible is interpreted
in light of Revelation 13, 8, Christ being the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. If I say anything that's contrary
to that, I've kept back that which is expedient. Anything
divorced from that is wrong. Now, there is one gospel the
whole counsel of God, and it's made of many truths that make
the one truth. And to leave out any of those
truths, you no longer have the truth. And that's what the whole
counsel of God is. It's the cross, and there are
many truths in the scripture that make up all the counsel
of God. the doctrine of the cross, the
preaching of the cross. And if I leave out any of those,
I no longer have the truth. And when Peter preached on the
day of Pentecost, here's where he began. Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel, there's that word counsel, all the counsel
of God, that's where Peter began. Him being delivered by the determinant
counsel and foreknowledge of God. This is the same counsel
of which Paul spoke in Ephesians 1.11, where we're predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Now, here's an illustration. I bet you don't know anybody
who would say, I don't believe salvation by grace. Everybody
you run into says, sure, I believe grace. But did you know if you
don't preach and believe election, you don't believe grace at all?
It's impossible. Let me repeat that. It is impossible
to believe in salvation by grace and not believe in election. Now, to preach the whole counsel
of God, you cannot emphasize one truth to the exclusion of
another. If my emphasis on God's sovereignty
leads me to exclude human responsibility, I've really preached neither.
I've not preached God's sovereignty, nor have I preached human responsibility. I've made a caricature of God's
sovereignty that's not God's sovereignty at all. Now, I want
to repeat to leave out some aspect of God's truth or to emphasize
some truth to the exclusion of another is to keep back. that which is profitable. And
it's to shun, to declare all the counsel of God. Now notice
the way Paul said in verse 20 of our text, I kept back nothing
that was profitable. That was expedient. That was
necessary for you to hear. He said, I've showed you and
I've taught you. publicly, and from house to house,
I kept back nothing that was not necessary for you to hear. And he says in verse 27 to this
same group of people, I've not shunned, I've not withdrew myself
to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Now, before I try to
make an attempt at preaching all the counsel of God in just
a few moments, and you know, you really can. To preach all
the counsel of God doesn't mean you try to preach the whole Bible
in one night. I mean, that's, I've heard people try it. I remember
one time in a conference there, a guy got up and said he's gonna
preach out of all 66 books of the Bible, and he did. He did,
he brought out every one of them. I thought, you know, this is
torture, you know. That's not what preaching the
whole counsel of God is. You can do it briefly, but I
want to remind you, Balaam is the arch false prophet in the
New Testament. He's mentioned three times. And
if you read his history in Numbers chapters 22 through 24, it would
benefit you to do that this week. If you get an opportunity, read
Numbers chapter 22 through 24. That's the history of Balaam. You won't find one thing he said
that you disagree with. As a matter of fact, you won't
find one thing he said that you won't say, that's good. That's
good, that's right on. It's not what he said, it's what
he didn't say. that made him the arch false
prophet. And this is what Paul is warning
of. I've not left out that which I should have preached. Now, I remember Joe McSherry
saying to me one time, and I'll never forget this statement.
He said, I wanna be right. Me too. I want to be right. I don't want to be wrong. I want
to be right. But even more importantly, I want to know what is right.
There's a difference. Everybody wants to be right.
I want to be right so you can be wrong. I mean, that's everybody's
attitude, you know. I know something you don't know.
I got power over you. I'm not talking about that kind
of attitude. I don't want to just be right. I want to know what is right. I want to know the truth. That's
what I want. I want to know the truth. I want
to know the truth concerning the character of God Almighty,
who he really is. I want to know the truth about
myself. I really do. Not from you, but
from him. I want to know the truth concerning
myself. And I want to know the truth
concerning salvation. I want to know the truth. Now
go to Paul's charge to Timothy. I charge thee before God and
the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead
at his appearing, preach the word. Now that's preaching all
the counsel of God. Preach the word. Does the word claim divine inspiration? All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. Preach it. Does the Word declare
that God is one God in three distinct persons? Well, John
tells us that these three are one. Then preach it. Does the Word declare God's absolute
sovereignty? And I mean absolute. It's not
like he's sovereign in one area and sovereign in another, and
not sovereign in another. He's sovereign in creation. He
willed this creation into existence. He's sovereign in providence.
That means that everything that happens, he's in control of it.
He's the cause of. He's the cause of causes. Ain't
nothing that he's not the cause of. Somebody says, are you saying
that God is the cause of evil? I form the light, I create darkness,
I make peace, I create evil, I, the Lord, do all these things. That's what he said. Now somebody
said, well, that means, that's just talking about bad circumstances. He's in control
of the bad things that happen. Well, yeah, he is, and he's in
control of everything else. You know, when Adam ate of that fruit,
You know why he ain't of it? He was God's purpose for his
glory. He controls everything in providence.
I don't care what you're talking about. He's in control of it.
And if there's anything he's not in control of, he's not sovereign. Now, does the Bible declare him
to be sovereign? He doeth according to his will. Preach it. Does the Bible declare that God
predestinated, preach it. I love predestination. I love
the God of predestination. I love the fact that the elect
were predestined to be saved before the world began by the
purpose of God. Preach it. Does the Bible declare
God as a God of purpose? I've already quoted several scriptures.
Preach it. Does the Word declare man as
dead in sins? Then preach it and tell what
that means. That means you can't do anything
to save yourself. That means you're utterly dead in His hands
and the only way you can be saved is for Him to give you life. Preach what God says in His Word. Does the Word deny free will? It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy, then
preach it. Preach the Word. Does the Word
declare that God, before time began, elected a people to salvation? Then preach it. Does the Word
teach that Christ died for a particular people? He said, I lay down my
life for the sheep. Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it, then preach it. Does the word declare his death
to be a saving death? Not an offer of salvation, not
making salvation available, but actually saving. By one offering,
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Preach the word. Does the Word
preach that men are held responsible for their sin? Well, Peter, when
he said to him, being delivered by the determined counsel and
foreknowledge of God, you with hands forced by sovereign action,
committed, no, he said, you with wicked hands have crucified and
slain. You will not come to me. that you might have life. You
preach God's Word as He presents it. When we preach justification
by faith, you know, everybody says, I believe in justification
by faith. Tell what that means. Tell what it means. What's it
mean to be justified? It means you stand before God
without guilt. It means you have perfect righteousness.
It means you're sinless before God. It means when the holy,
thrice holy God looks at you, there's no sin. And let somebody know that doesn't
come because of an act of your faith. That comes because of
what Christ did. Faith believes that. Tell what
it means. Tell what it meant, what the
Lord meant when he said that man went down to his house and
justified, rather than the other. Does the word teach the new birth?
The necessity of being born again? Preach it. Nicodemus, you must
be born again. Does the Word teach the preservation
and perseverance of God's people? Well, the Lord said, I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Preach it. Does the Word preach the necessity
of faith and repentance? Well, in this very passage of
Scripture, doesn't he say repentance toward God and faith toward the
Lord Jesus Christ? And let me remind you this, we're
gonna be dealing with this maybe next week, but repentance and
faith are two sides of the same act. You can't have one without
the other. You can't repent and not believe.
You can't believe and not repent. When you believe, you repent. When you repent, you believe.
Just like breathing, you exhale and you inhale. One act, breathing,
but you inhale that goodness of the gospel, you exhale the
rottenness of your works. It's one act. Yes, the Word of
God teaches repentance and faith. Does the Word speak of that holiness
without which no man shall see the Lord? Sure does. Preach it. Does the Word teach
two separate natures? You know, I was listening to
a preacher preach this week, and he said, I'm hearing preachers
talking about two separate natures. He said, that's not in the Bible.
Oh? It's taught very clearly in the
Bible. The flesh lusts against the spirit.
The spirit lusts against the flesh. And his comment was, well,
somebody says, well, if that's the case, how do we still sin?
And they said, well, it's because our bodies are entrapped in a
sinful body. You know, our natures, our new
natures entrapped it. Well, it's the same thing if
that's what he believes. But the point is, Preach what
God's word says. And let me give you some, this
thing of two natures is so important for this reason. If you don't
believe in two separate natures, you believe the old nature is
improved by grace. That's a denial of total depravity. If you don't believe in two natures,
you deny that a believer has a holy nature that does not sin. Oh, it's so important. Whatever
God's word teaches, Preach it. Does the Word teach progressive
sanctification? Now that's the main teaching
of just about every form of Christianity. You become more holy by your
acts of obedience and less sinful. you become more holy and less
sinful. If you give yourself to, if you
don't feed the, I've heard that, which nature is the most powerful?
The one you feed. You ever heard that? The one you feed. If you
feed the old nature, it'll get stronger than the new nature.
If you feed the new nature, it'll overcome the old nature. Now,
I don't feed either one of them. I just am what I am. I'm not
feeding anything. I'm asking the Lord to save me.
I'm asking the Lord to have mercy on me. I'm asking the Lord to
keep me by his grace. I'm asking the Lord to enable
me to look to Christ only, but I'm not making some kind of,
well, what am I gonna do? Am I gonna feed the old one or new one?
That's foolishness. And that's all it is. It's stupid.
Call it for what it is. The Bible doesn't teach anything
like that. It's nowhere taught. In order to keep back nothing
and to not shun to declare all the counsel of God, we're not
to emphasize any one truth to the exclusion of another. Now I've heard preachers say
many times, we need balance in our preaching. We need balance. What they mean by that is we
need to stay in the middle of the road and don't preach anything
too strongly. Let's stay balanced, let's have
a proper balance. Now listen, we're preaching any
of God's truth, full steam ahead, whatever it is. Full steam ahead. You don't try to balance and
juggle and try to keep things even keeled. So no, you preach
God's sovereignty as hard as you can preach it. You preach
man's responsibility as hard as you can preach it. Can you over-emphasize Christ
as all. Is that possible? You can't over-emphasize God's
sovereignty, but if my emphasis of God's sovereignty causes me
to deny man's responsibility and not even think of man's responsibility,
I've really failed to preach God's sovereignty. That's what
he's talking about when he's talking about preaching the whole
counsel of God. If I preach divine forgiveness,
without preaching, we must forgive ourselves. Not forgive ourselves,
but we're doing a forgiving. It always tickles me when somebody
says, you need to learn how to forgive yourself. I never have
any problem with that. I'm pretty quick to do it. But
what that's talking about is us forgiving. The Lord says that
you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly father
forgive you your trespasses. Lord said that. Somebody says,
well, that sounds like, I don't care what it sounds like. The
Lord said it. And it's so clear from the scriptures. Um, if I
preach election in a way that makes us undifferent or even
less zealous to witness and to bring the gospel to people, I've
not preached election right. Haven't I? I've really not preached
the, all the council of God. If I preach salvation not of
works in a way that makes men fail to strive to enter in the
straight gate. You know, the Lord said, you
strive to enter. I love it when that fellow said,
Lord of the few to be saved. He said, you strive to enter
into the straight gate. Now, if I preach salvation not
by works in a way that makes you think, well, then nothing.
We'll just see what happens. I've not preached the whole counsel
of God. If I preach all we do is sin,
and that's true, isn't it? All we do is sin. If I preach
all we do is sin in such a way as to make you think it doesn't
even make any sense when the Lord said these things write
unto you that you sin not. No, all we do is sin and these
things write unto you that you sin not. And if I don't preach
both those, I haven't preached either. If my belief in sovereignty,
the sovereignty of God, makes me think it's useless to pray,
I've not preached the sovereignty of God. If I preach faith as
a gift and fail to command everybody I'm preaching to to believe the
gospel, I've not preached either, have I? Yes, faith is the gift
of God. Yes, you are commanded to believe
the gospel. And to not do that is to not preach
the whole counsel of God. You're right to believe. You're
not supposed to try to figure out whether or not you're elect.
You're commanded to believe the gospel. The gospel's simple, and it's
not. Isn't that so? Gospel is very
simple. Very simple. Christ is all. And
it's not. Pray for me that I will keep
back nothing, but preach the whole counsel of God. And pray
for yourself that you will believe all the counsel of God. And the only way this can be
true for both of us, if God is the one that is our teacher.
I love that passage of Scripture in John 6, verse 45, where the
Lord said, and they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh to me. Oh, I wanna preach all the counsel
of God, and I'm scared to death not to, But even more, I want
to believe all the counsel of God. You know, if I believe all
the counsel of God, I'll preach all the counsel of God. I will,
no doubt about it, if I believe. May the Lord give us the grace
to keep back nothing that's profitable and to not shun to declare all
the counsel of God. Let's pray. Lord, we're so frightened at the thought of
not preaching all your counsel, not believing all your counsel.
And Lord, we could so easily deceive ourselves and lie to
ourselves that we have. And we pray that you would deliver
us from that and that you would cause us to see that the cross
of thy blessed son is all your counsel. And that everything
that is said has something to do with the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Lord delivers from being Balaam's. Lord, give us the grace to testify
the gospel of thy grace. I bless this message for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray, amen.