While journeying to Jerusalem and awaiting the departure of a merchant ship sailing in that direction, the apostle Paul sent for the elders of the church in Ephesus to come to him in Miletus. Upon their arrival, he proceeded to advise them about their responsibility to their congregation. Among the things Paul had to say was, “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole [“all the” KJV] counsel of God” (Acts 20:27 NKJV).
Either perhaps a commentary on me or a testimony of the lasting impression of illustrations, I only remember to this day a couple of jokes with which some preachers prefaced their lessons at a lectureship a few decades ago. One of the stories may prove useful for our consideration here.
A young, inexperienced preacher was tasked with preaching one morning at a small, rural congregation. At the appointed time for worship to begin, only one old farmer had arrived. So, the young man asked the farmer if he should preach. The farmer responded, “If only one cow showed up to be fed, I’d still feed it.” Encouraged, the novice preacher preached, and he preached and preached and preached. After worship, he asked the farmer for his thoughts, who responded, “I said I’d feed the cow, but I wouldn’t give her the whole wagon load!”
This little tale illustrates “the whole counsel of God” regarding how much of God’s Word to preach on a single occasion versus preaching or teaching “the whole counsel of God” in increments. Obviously, neither can any preacher preach in one sitting all that needs to be preached, nor can his auditors withstand in a single session everything in the Bible they need to hear. The Word of God is always declared incrementally because there is always more that needs to be learned and more to realize from Scriptures with which we are already familiar.
Many circumstances influence the size of the increments of God’s Word presented at any location in whatever time is available. Location and time are two primary variables. Of course, the preacher or teacher is one part of the equation. The apostle Paul preached, at least sometimes, lengthy lessons. “And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead” (Acts 20:9 KJV). In addition, the meat of the Word (Hebrews 5:13–14) about which Paul wrote and spoke could be “hard to understand,” particularly by novice Christians (2 Peter 3:16).
One significant component to ‘declaring the whole counsel of God’ is the appetite of its hearers. Especially Christians ought to be anxious and desirous to hear God’s Word at every opportunity. “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1 NKJV). “I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land” (Psalm 143:6). “…Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink’” (John 7:37). Our Lord also said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6).
Contrariwise, tapping one’s wristwatch as signal to the preacher to end his sermon or class and looking to the back of the auditorium at the clock run counter to ‘hungering and thirsting for righteousness.’ Yet, though we speak of the “worship hour” and schedule Bible classes for an hour, things often are different in countries to which I have gone as a missionary. Christians and non-Christians alike have waited three hours at an outdoor setting, sitting on the ground, in the darkness of a moonless night, and then, Indian preachers and I upon our arrival would speak in turn for two or three more hours. Sermonettes are ill received by those in countries like India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Guyana. If Christians perceive that the lesson was too short, someone else will rise and present an additional message. Their normal worship may span from two to four hours, and in some instance church leaders have to urge members to go home and come back at the next appointed time. Many times, we could learn as much from those to whom we go as missionaries as they might learn from us more perfectly the Word of God.
Reflecting on our text of Acts 20:27, notice some basic definitions of the Greek words behind the English words we find there. “Shunned,” coupled with the word “not,” means that the apostle Paul neither withheld nor concealed any of the Gospel of Christ. “To declare” means to announce in detail. The word “counsel” means to provide advice or to explain the purpose, here of the Gospel. Consequently, the apostle who had “gone preaching the kingdom of God” (Acts 20:25) was “innocent of the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26).
Brethren, we will not be “innocent of the blood of all men” until we exert ourselves “preaching the kingdom of God” and determine to “declare…the whole counsel of God.” Time, then, becomes a trivial detail because we “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Every aspect of Christianity in our lives ought to correspond to the prime directive from God rather than our Christianity being a subordinate distraction in our lives. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Take note of the sequential order of spiritual matters over physical things. Is that the way we conduct our lives? It certainly ought to be!
