Preaching the Whole Counsel of God

“I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house.  For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts. 20:20,27).

While preaching in the panhandle of Florida, I received a phone call from a man in Georgia whom I had met during a recent Gospel Meeting. He was looking at the preacher position that was opening at a nearby congregation and wanted to know if he could use me as a reference. I barely knew the man, so I asked him to tell me a little bit about himself. He informed me that he was not like some of these other preachers. He did not preach about personal issues and opinions like smoking, drinking, modesty, marriage, divorce and remarriage, etc. At this point I assured him that I would definitely give the brethren my recommendation. After the call ended, I immediately called up one of the brethren at the afore mentioned church and highly recommended that they do not consider using this preacher. He was not a preacher like Paul who told he elders of Ephesus “I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house.  For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts. 20:20,27).

The context of our text is when Paul was delivering his emotionally charged farewell message to the Ephesian elders at Miletus (Acts 20:17-35). Paul had labored with them for three years. He started in the Synagogue and due to opposition moved to “reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:9,10). Due to Paul’s preaching, there was much growth in God’s Kingdom. “And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds…So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed” (Acts 19:18,20).

Before moving on to explore the implications of Paul’s preaching, it would be wise to define some of the terms in the text. First, “counsel” refers to a deliberateness and thoughtfulness of the correct path to pursue in a given topic or issue. The term “whole” referring to the Word of God means all scripture, or all that God has revealed on a given matter. All scripture is from the breath of God and profitable for man being complete in doing every good work (2 Tim. 3:16,17). The Apostles were given the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth (John 16:13) and at the Great Commission He instructed them to teach other disciples “to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).  Paul preached the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. This does not imply that Paul preached everything God had ever revealed. Or, that he went through every verse of the Old Testament word by word. Paul did not fail to give them the complete message they needed from God in his preaching.

The final term to consider is “profitable”. Paul speaks of all scripture being profitable. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16,17). By preaching God’s teachings or doctrine, Paul proclaimed what is right. His preaching showed what was wrong by way of reproof. In correction, He shows brethren how to get right. And by instructing men in righteousness, he explains how one can stay right. Profitable preaching tells men what is wrong, how to get right, and how to stay right. It is this type of balanced preaching that proclaims the whole and profitable Will of God.

Balanced Preaching Involves…

The congregation should be fed a balanced spiritual diet and not be given the same few lessons over and over again. Just how does a preacher and teacher of God’s Word accomplish this? What is involved?

▸ Private/Public Preaching

Paul had two avenues open for preaching. First, publicly “he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God…and this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:8,10). He also was able to preach and teach privately. He said, “I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house” (Acts 20:20).

▸ Oral/Written

Paul spoke the words of Truth, but he also taught many by use of his epistles sent to churches and to individuals.

▸ Old Testament/New Testament

While preaching in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, a man came to me and claimed that it was wrong to preach out of the Old Testament. He claimed that he did not even carry a Bible to church with an Old Testament. Noticing he was holding a little Gideon Bible, I asked to see it. Showing him his Bible included both Psalms and proverbs did nothing to change his mind. I referred him to the elders if he thought I should never preach using the Old Testament. Others have argued that “we are New Testament Christians so why do we need the Old Testament?”

Paul did not have the New Testament to preach from. When Paul wrote 2 Timothy 3.16, the “scriptures” he referenced were those of the Old Testament. We cannot limit ourselves to the New Testament. How can we expect to declare the “whole counsel of God” when we neglect the first 75%. The New Testament is written upon the foundation of the Old. Someone has wisely observed, “The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed while the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.” How can one effectively comprehend the book of Hebrews without a clear understanding of the Law of Moses. “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4).

▸ Positive/Negative

Norman Vincent Peale made popular The Power of Positive Thinking. Many today want to hear preaching that is positive. But, what is positive and what is negative preaching? Remember Johnny Mercer’s lyric: “You gotta accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don’t mess around with Mister In Between.” However, “you gotta accentuate the whole counsel of God, eliminate human opinions, latch on to the doctrine of Christ, and don’t mess around with Mister Compromise.” Positive often boils down to what one likes, and negative preaching is simply that which one does not like.

Paul told Timothy to “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Tim. 4:2-4). You cannot effectively peach the positive without also preaching the negative. “For the wages of sin is death” this is the negative. Yet the verse continues, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

▸ Heaven/Hell

Brethren can be very “helpful” on how to preach. One old man told me I did not need to preach on hell. He explained, “I already know how to get to hell. You need to preach on how I can get to heaven.” The fact is Jesus preached about both Heaven and Hell. He understood a balanced approach to both. To get to Heaven one needs to know how to avoid Hell.

▸ Encouragement/Rebuke

A famous denominational preacher does not believe preachers should convict people of their guilt before God. He believes this leads to anxiety and fear. This is not Paul’s instruction to Timothy. Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2).

▸ Works of the Flesh/Fruit of the Spirit

When Paul preached, he did not just speak on the fruit of the Spirit like love, joy, peace, etc. (Gal. 5:22,23). He wrote and preached about the works of the flesh: “adultery…outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions…drunkenness, and the like” (Gal. 5:19-21). Dealing with sin is dealing with reality of everyday life which involves the evils of social drinking; dancing; gambling; lascivious dress; materialism; etc.

▸ General/Specific

Some today are willing to preach about sin so long as they do not get too personal by mentioning anything too specific. There is a trend toward maintaining distance and neutrality in preaching on specific sinful behavior. Peter was specific on Pentecost by “wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23). John the Baptist told Herod with regard to being married to his brother’s wife: “it is not lawful for thee to have her” (Matt. 14:4).

▸ Doctrines of God/Traditions of Men

Those who preach on false doctrines like Calvinism or mention the names of false teachers are often condemned. Yet Paul often warned of false teaching and named the false teachers. “Some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme” (1 Tim.1:19-20). Jesus preached often against the false doctrines of the rabbis and Pharisees (Matthews 5:21f).

– Daniel R. Vess