What are you passionate about? What drives your happiness or unhappiness?

The Whole Counsel of God

(Acts 20:25-27, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, April 21, 2013)

[25] And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.

Some of the important facts of Paul's life story were included in the Scriptures for our benefit. We need to consider how this enemy of the faith became one of its greatest proponents. Something supernatural happened to this man and it changed his life. Now, after years of sacrificial Christian service in Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia (modern Turkey and Greece), Paul was on his way to Jerusalem, well aware that he would face imprisonment and trouble there.

The proof that Paul was not a fraud was displayed in his sufferings. This was also true of Jesus. We know that He believed His message because He went to the cross willingly in order to fulfill His ministry to us. A fake would have run away before the nails had pierced His hands and feet.

Paul would suffer in that tradition. But the Christian life is not all suffering. Paul made wonderful relationships with people who were his fellow laborers for the gospel. Here in Acts 20 we feel the emotion of the moment as he is giving this final exhortation to men with whom he had spent three years, sharing his heart and his life. He knew that he would go to Jerusalem, and then on to Rome somehow. He did not expect that he would ever visit Ephesus again.

[26] Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, [27] for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

Paul wanted to say something to them at this final moment that we might consider very unusual. He intended to be very clear to them that he was innocent of their blood. What does this mean? We turn to a passage in Ezekiel in order to get a very good explanation of the duty of the Lord's ambassador.

[33:1] The word of the LORD came to me: [2] “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, [3] and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, [4] then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. [5] He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. [6] But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.
[7] “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. [8] If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. [9] But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. (Ezekiel 33:1-9)

Paul had been a faithful watchman for Jews and Gentiles in Ephesus. He was innocent of the blood of all.

The way for an ambassador of Christ to be innocent of the blood of all is to tell the truth to those who will hear. There will be temptations to shrink from the truth. We cannot guarantee that everyone who hears the Word of the Lord will be willing to listen to God. That is beyond us. But we not only need to speak faithfully. We need to insist that those who would be around the table of the Lord will truly obey the Lord's Word.

There are some who will not be willing to hear at all. Others will hear and then disagree. Still others hear, approve, and then continue to disobey. We must insist that the church hear, approve, and follow the Word of the Lord.

How can this be, since we cannot force people to obey? We call them to obey. If they have a hardened and final rejection of the Lord's Word, we prohibit their participation in the Lord's Supper. Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 5 are helpful here:

[5:1] It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. [2] And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. (1 Corinthians 5:1-2)

We cannot force obedience on unwilling hearts, but we can insist that those who will be at the Lord's Table are not allowed to have it both ways. Let's not forget that the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The church needs to patiently instruct and then call each other to obedience. Where this message is rejected, the one who will not repent toward God on some matter must see that he is in danger.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but one man thinking that he knows the mind of the Lord does not make it so. Paul declared to the Ephesians the whole “counsel” of God. We often use this word to mean “advice.” When the person giving counsel is God, and when the counsel comes with warnings of serious consequences for disobedience, we know that we are dealing with more than advice. God's counsel is God's purpose. We need to live according to His purpose. This is the way to understand the cross, the coming judgment, and our own lives.

Why was Paul telling all this to the Ephesian elders? The apostle would not see them again, but he expected to leave an apostolic church in Ephesus. He expected these elders to commit their way to the Lord, to trust in Him, and to teach the church in Ephesus what Paul had taught them.

Paul was innocent of their blood. Would they be innocent of the blood of those who would come into contact with the future ministry in Ephesus? Will we be innocent of the blood of those who become involved with this church in our place and time? Only if we too will be willing to teach the whole counsel of God.

How can we do this? I know of no better way than to preach and teach all of the Holy Scriptures in light of the gospel that Paul preached in His ministry to places like Corinth and Ephesus. We are not responsible to pass on all of our own intuitions. We want to teach the Scriptures in a way that people can understand God's eternal purpose in Christ and commit their way to Him.

The Law of Moses said to Israel, “Do this and live.” That was a burden that neither we nor our fathers could bear. The whole counsel of God reveals another way for us: “Live and do.” The order makes a big difference. We live in Christ and then we do what He has for us. This is grace.

Two applications:

1. For all: You are free and alive in Christ. Now freely commit your way to the Lord. Trust in Him and He will act. Order your life around the Word and understand the whole counsel of God. Let the Word direct your days according to the passions of God.
2. For those who are unhappy from self-preoccupation: We are to be unhappy about evil. Be unhappy, but do not sin. Do not give in to the unhappiness of a self-focused life. Fight this kind of unhappiness with the whole counsel of God. Remember Jesus, who is at the very center of God's purpose. Then find someone to serve in Jesus' Name and do it. This is the way for an unhappy person to follow the Lord. It is the way to be happy in Jesus.

Old Testament Passage: Psalm 37:1-9 – Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

Gospel Passage: John 6:66-69 – You have the words of eternal life

Sermon Point: The Apostolic Church confesses and lives out the whole counsel of God