Our text today is going to be primarily an exposition
of verse 27, which reads as follows. For I did
not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose
of God. If you think about the world and the
culture and society in which we live, secularism
and an atheistic worldview, which teaches that
men and women and young people are primates,
essentially, that they are not born in the image
of God, and that ultimately, There's no purpose.
There's no aim. It's just chaotic matter and
mass. That worldview offers no direction. That
worldview offers no significance. That worldview
offers no purpose. For a person's life. But then
you take the Christian message. The Christian
truth. You take the gospel of Jesus Christ. And
the Christian message proposes and declares authoritatively.
That there is a purpose for the world. That there
is a purpose for all things. There always has
been. And there always will be. That the world
was created on purpose. God created all things
with an end in mind. A goal. Working towards
something. To bring something about. And it's
only ever been one purpose. The Christian worldview
declares that God has always had a sovereign
purpose for all things, for his people, for this
world, for our lives, and it's all bound up in
the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Christian worldview alone. gives eternal
purpose to men and women. And the only way that
a person will ever discover and know that eternal
purpose is by knowing Jesus Christ by faith and
repentance. And the Scriptures reveal this clearly.
The Scripture declares clearly. That God's purpose
is found in Christ and that he is working towards
a goal. In this text, Paul describes the nature
of the message that he has been proclaiming.
He says that the reason he can depart from the
Ephesians and from the Ephesian elders and from
the Ephesian church With a clean conscience.
Is because he has declared. He has made known.
He has proclaimed. The whole purpose of God.
So what we have to do today is consider. The
whole purpose of God. And what this message that
the apostle preached was. We'll do this by considering
the message itself that Paul preached, the offense
of the message that he preached, and then lastly,
we have to consider why. This must be the church's
message, now and forevermore. We have to consider
why the church must... Continue preaching this
message. And must perpetually proclaim these
truths. So first the message the apostle proclaimed.
The whole purpose of God. Now first notice. That
when Paul says this. It is a comprehensive message.
It's big. It's broad. It's got a wide scope.
He says, the whole purpose of God. It was a comprehensive
message concerning God's redemptive purposes
and plans in Christ for all things that would
inevitably bring praise and glory to Him. It's
a resolute plan or decree. or will, or purpose.
It's a settled plan or purpose. An unshakable,
unchanging, invincible purpose that is of divine
origin. That's what he's speaking about. We see
this same word used in several other instances
in the book of Acts. We'll go ahead and look
at those. We'll turn to Acts chapter 2. Verse
38. Where the purpose of God is referenced. We
read this. In Acts 2 .23. I apologize. We'll
start reading in verse 22. Men of Israel. Listen
to these words. Jesus the Nazarene. A man attested
to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs
which God performed through him in your midst.
Just as you yourselves know, this man delivered
over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge
of God. You nailed him to a cross. by the hands
of godless men and put him to death. The predetermined
plan, the predetermined purpose, the settled
purpose of God. So why did Christ suffer and
die on the cross at the hands of evil, wicked,
unbelieving men? Was it because of the will of
men? Was it because of the evil intent and the
malicious minds and hearts of unbelieving men?
No, sir. Jesus Christ went to the cross because
of the purpose of God. The will of God. The unchanging
purpose of the living God. Put Christ on the
cross. Christ went to the cross. To progress
and bring about. The further purposes. The further
ends. Of his father. Of the sovereign God. We
can look at Acts chapter 4. Verse 28. Here we
find the disciples. Praying. And here's what
we read. Starting in verse 27. For truly in this
city there were gathered together against your
holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod
and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and
the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand
and your purpose predestined to occur. Again,
the purpose of God brought about these events
and these realities. It's an unshakable plan
that God has established and ordained and set
out to bring about from before the world began,
from before the foundation of the world, before
the existence of men. God settled this purpose
and determined to... bring it about, and to accomplish
it. We can look in Acts chapter 5, verse 38.
Here we find a prophetic word from the wise Gamaliel,
the Jewish leader. Listen to what he says. So
in the present case, I say to you, stay away
from these men and let them alone. this plan
or action is of men, it will be overthrown. But
if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow
them, or else you may even be found fighting
against God. Meaning, Gamaliel recognizes the
difference between a human plan and a divine
plan, a divine purpose, and he knows that the
divine purposes cannot be thwarted. The divine
purposes cannot be undone. And you don't want
to be on the wrong side of the divine will of
God. Because he says they can't be stopped. It
will persevere, it will continue, and it will
succeed no matter what. There's other references
throughout the book of Acts. This is God's divine
will. that he is determined to bring about. And
this is what Paul proclaimed and preached. Now,
there's an important element to the divine purpose
of God. It centers on the person and the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Redemption, which he
has accomplished. Let's go ahead and turn to
the book of Ephesians. In Ephesians 1, we see
this really clearly. And we see throughout the
book of Ephesians that Paul kind of peels back
the layers of God's plan and God's purpose for
the entire world, for the whole cosmos, for everything
in existence. We read, starting in verse 9, He
made known to us the mystery of His will. according
to his kind intention, which he purposed in him,
with a view to an administration suitable to
the fullness of the times, that is, the summing
up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens
and things on the earth. In him also we have
obtained an inheritance, having been predestined
according to his what? Purpose, who works all
things after the counsel of his will. Brothers
and sisters, the person in the work of Christ
is that which serves. He is the one, him and
his work is that which secures and brings about
the purpose of the world and all that is in it.
And the Christian message declares, That believers
are predestined according to God's eternal and
sovereign, unchangeable purposes. So there's
a place for God's people in these purposes, in
these plans, but it's all bound up and wrapped
up and intertwined with the person and the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We could read in Ephesians
3, 1 -11, where Paul talks about, how it's been
given to him to proclaim the manifold wisdom
of God. That the Gentiles are now being brought
in as fellow heirs with the Jews to take part
in the gospel blessings. That Jew and Gentile
are being built up into a temple. The house of
the living God where he dwells. And that all
of this serves the purpose of displaying the
manifold wisdom of God to rulers and authorities
that are looking on at the theater of redemption.
There's this grand picture, this grand scheme,
but it's all brought about and it's all accomplished
in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. So when we think about the whole purpose
of God, or the whole counsel of God, Paul proclaimed
the message that was far and wide, brothers and
sisters, the beginning to the end, the start
and the purpose of all things, but it was all
in light and connected to the person and the
work of Christ. We cannot understand the whole
counsel of God if we do not understand the gospel
of Jesus Christ. So there's a broadness, there's
a breadth to Paul's message, but there's also
a narrowness to Paul's message, the gospel of
the Lord Jesus. So what exactly... Does this
entail? Does this include? Well, it includes
everything that God has ever made known in the
Word of God. So, the whole purpose of God is
revealed in Scripture. It was revealed in apostolic
doctrine, and that was inscripturated. And we
have it in the rule of faith, in the word of
God, in the holy scriptures. So the scriptures
contain the entire purpose and plan of the living
God. So if Paul proclaimed the whole purpose
of God, what does that mean he did, brothers
and sisters? He taught every doctrine from start
to end. He taught the creation of the world,
but he also taught the consummation of all things.
He taught, brothers and sisters, election and
predestination, but he taught faith and repentance.
He taught the reality of the individual sinner
repenting and believing and being adopted into
the church, into the family of the living God,
but he taught the corporate nature of the church
as well. He taught everything, start to end,
and everything in between. It's revealed in the
Scriptures, and if we are to proclaim the whole
counsel of God, as Paul proclaimed the whole
counsel of God, that requires that we preach
the entire Bible, not just parts and pieces.
Not just the fun, enjoyable, preferential aspects
of Scripture, but every single part. We have
to preach the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The epistles and the narratives. We have to preach
the history and the chronicles, but we have to
preach the poetry as well. We have to preach
all. Of the word of God. Because it's all been
revealed. And it all shows us. Christ. And God's
purpose. In Christ. This demands. That the focus.
Of the church's teaching. And preaching. Be well.
Rounded. Brothers and sisters. that it's not
lopsided or imbalanced, but that it's well -rounded
and it has pillars in the entire counsel of God.
And it must never be disconnected or unrelated
to the person of the Lord Jesus and His work.
This helps us understand a few things with regards
to what it means to preach in a Christ -centered
or Christocentric way. I think there's misunderstanding
about that sometimes. I think that some believe
to preach in a Christ -centered way means that
you get up to the pulpit, you stand in the pulpit,
and you preach, Jesus lived, He was born, He
lived. He died. He rose. He ascended. He's returning.
There's the gospel. The simple gospel of Christ
and His work and preaching Christ explicitly
in every instance and in every way all the time.
But the church must proclaim not just the simple
gospel. The church must proclaim all the counsel
of God. All its doctrines. All its truths. But
those truths must be proclaimed as they are connected
and as they are related to the person and the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This helps us
understand the priority of the proclaimed word.
And not just hearing or looking for that which
we want or that which we long for at the moment.
We need all of it, brothers and sisters. God
has given it to us. Therefore, we need all of
it. You need all of God's revelation. I need.
All of God's revelation. To be a healthy, well
-rounded, vibrant believer in Jesus Christ. And
churches need all the counsel of God if they
are to be well -rounded, vibrant churches that
honor and bring glory to Christ and His name.
Now, we think about this message. And we think,
That is the most glorious reality. The fact that
Christ died on a cross for sinners when they
don't deserve it. This message of grace, this
message of mercy, this message that God can transform
the worst of sinners, that God will give eternal
life to the worst of men, to the worst of women,
not based on their own merit, not based on any
goodness in themselves, but based wholly and
completely on the person and the work of the
Lord Jesus. What a glorious, what a grand, what
a beautiful message that is. But we find, brothers
and sisters, that that message contains a great
deal of offense for sinners. Why is that? This
is the second thing. We have to consider this
morning the offense of this whole council, Christ
-centered message that Paul proclaimed. Now,
think about the Jews. Why were the Jews so vehemently
trying to stop Paul? Why did they want to literally
end his life, end his ministry? To stop him from
doing what he was doing. Because he was proclaiming
that the Messiah was crucified. That he was proclaiming
that the Messiah rose from the dead and ascended
to the Father's right hand. Because he was preaching
the kingdom of God. And he was not preaching
and teaching. That the Messiah would immediately
set up a national kingdom and overthrow Rome
at that moment. But that it was a spiritual kingdom.
And that works righteousness had no place whatsoever
in entering into this glorious kingdom. They
hated this message. They hated the fact. That
they were being told that they were unacceptable
in the sight of a holy God. That their law keeping
was no good whatsoever. They despised it. And
fury was bubbling up within their soul. And they
sought to kill him time and time again. Why did
the Gentiles and the pagans so regularly oppose
the Apostle Paul? suppressed the truth in unrighteousness.
They loved their sin. And they didn't want to
give up their sin. And they knew that this Apostle
Paul was proclaiming that if you were to be a
part of the way, you had to forsake all of these
things. That if you wanted to be... A part of
the way, if you wanted to be in Christ, if you
wanted to have salvation, you had to give up
your sexual immorality. You had to give up your
adultery. You had to give up your covetousness
and your hatred and your murder and your violence
and your old life cycle, your old life. The old
man had to die if you were to be in Christ. Repentance
was an essential part. Of Paul's gospel. So why.
Is this glorious gospel. Contains so much. Offense.
Because it is all. Of free grace. Because the
message. That Paul proclaimed. The message that
he preached. Brothers and sisters. It was about
grace. Alone. Not grace. And works. Men are fine.
If you talk about grace. But. The difficulty
comes. The anger. Rises. The difficulty. Comes
into play when you say. Grace alone. And no works
righteousness. Nothing else. It's entirely of
God. It's entirely the righteousness of Christ.
Nothing to be added to. You can't bring anything
to the table. It's purely and solely by faith
in Christ. That's where the trouble comes. It
was offensive because Paul proclaimed a holy
God that hates sin. A holy God that judges sin,
that will pour out His wrath on sinners and their
transgressions. Sinners don't like hearing about
a holy and a righteous God when they are living
unholy and unrighteous lives, and they know they
are living unholy and unrighteous lives, yet
they still cling to their sin anyways. They volitionally
and they willingly reject the living God and
cling to their sin. That's why they oppose the
message. Because they love pleasure. They love
the deeds of the flesh. They love clinging to
their carnal hope and their carnal pride, whatever
it may be. They love these things more than they...
want or long for the gospel. Therefore, it offends
them and it makes them angry and it makes them
oppose these realities. Men are offended. The
Jews and the Gentiles, the pagans, were offended
because Paul preached the exclusivity of Christ.
It offended their pluralistic sensibilities.
You can't tell me that I'm worshipping demons.
Nobody else in the world says there's only one
God and that He took on flesh. Everybody else
believes that there's a plethora of gods. I believe
in so on and so on and so on and so on. You can't
tell me that there's only one way, that there's
only one truth. That there's only one message.
You're saying you're right and I'm wrong and
everybody else is wrong. How arrogant and how
prideful can you be? It makes unbelievers angry.
It offends them in their hearts and their minds
because of the corruption that has dominion within
them, brothers and sisters. Paul preached the
gospel of repentance. He preached a gospel that
required men forsake their sin and turn to Christ.
No repentance? Then you don't have real faith.
This is why he preaches. This is why we read
in verse 21 that he says, solemnly testifying
to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward
God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Men don't
like being told to give up their immorality.
It's theirs. Whose business is it of yours to
tell me to stop doing this? Paul preached the
message of the gospel and the full counsel of
God at face value. With all its offense, And
with all the offense that came with it. In many
ways, I believe that Paul cleared the way for
the offense of the gospel. We read about how
Paul became all things to all men. Many read
that and they think, well, he's just trying to
contextualize everything so that he can reach
more people. And there's a degree of truth to
that. Paul is seeking to ensure that the offense
that men and women experience when the gospel
is preached is purely from and finds its source
in the gospel and the truth and not in him. He's
clearing the way so that the gospel can have
the full effect upon their souls. So that it
can fully offend the unbeliever. So that it can
prepare the way for hope in the gospel. So that
it can prepare the way for faith and repentance.
Paul preached the gospel in its entirety. At
face value. The untarnished gospel. The unrevised.
The unedited. The unchanged. He wasn't a revisionist
preacher, brothers and sisters. He loved the
original. He loved the original gospel. The original
truth. That truth which was handed down to him
and taught to him by the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
And that's the truth he preserved and that's
the truth that he preached. The responsibility.
Of the church and its ministers brothers and
sisters. Is to know and embrace and teach. The
full counsel of God. In Christ. As it relates
to the Lord Jesus. We think about this. And that
means that every doctrine. Regardless of whether
or not. It sits well with men. Must be proclaimed.
Why is there a degree of hesitation within my
soul when I say the word election out loud? Why
is there a degree of hesitation within my mind
when I say the word predestination verbally out
loud at the pulpit except for the fact that the
word of God clearly and plainly proclaims it?
Because the offense of the gospel brings pressure
to bear upon those who proclaim it, brothers
and sisters. And it requires boldness and courage
in those that would proclaim it. And they must
proclaim it in its full face value with all its
teeth. You see, there's a way that you can have
a well -rounded ministry, brothers and sisters.
A well -rounded teaching and preaching ministry.
But you yank all the teeth out of the gospel
so that it no longer has its offense, but you're
still teaching the whole counsel of God. It's
like you're declying a cat. That cat used to
be able to run freely outside and climb trees
and grab mice and jump up and grab birds. It
would run wild. It had teeth. It could grab hold.
It was a hunter. And cats can be fierce, brothers
and sisters. Their claws are sharp. But what
happens when you declaw a cat? Well, now you
can play with it. It's not going to cut you.
It's not going to hurt you. It's not going to
inflict pain on you anymore, especially if you
take its teeth out. That cat is meant to be played
with, and that is it. Men do that to the gospel
all the time. Men declaw, and they remove the
teeth. On the true gospel, do you know why? Because
they don't want it to hurt. Because they don't
want the gospel to cut. They don't want the gospel
to slice. They don't want the gospel to be painful.
They don't want the offense of the truth because
they feel the pressure. And Paul tells us here
in this text that if you are to proclaim the
truth, you must do so with the gospel in its
mouth full of teeth. And that's the way that
it ought to be proclaimed. The church is responsible
and its ministers are responsible for embracing
the whole counsel of God. We're quick to say
ministers are responsible for embracing, knowing,
and proclaiming the whole counsel. We are. Especially
in Reformed circles, we're quick to proclaim
that. But let us not forget that the church is
responsible for embracing and receiving the whole
counsel of God as well. God hasn't just given
this truth. to ministers, brothers and sisters.
He has given the whole purpose of God to be declared
by ministers to whom? The people of God. The
church must embrace the hardest, the most difficult,
the most offensive doctrines which are true and
biblical. Every single one. Of them. Now that's
not always easy. Is it brothers and sisters?
Because this message. Does in fact contain. And
bring offense. So this requires. That when you
come to the truth. And it's clear and it's plain.
That you set your sensibilities. And your sentiments
aside. And you say Lord. I may not fully understand.
I may not fully grasp this truth. I may not fully
understand this doctrine. I may not fully understand
everything that you do and how you do it. And
nobody ever will. But you come to that truth
and you say, Lord, I believe that this is what
it's teaching, so I submit to it. I give my soul
to it, Lord. I embrace it. even though I don't
fully understand it. It's what the Word teaches.
Christians must do that. Because the truth offends
Christians. Because we have remaining corruption
within us. The believer must continually set
aside their carnal pride, their carnal intellect,
their carnal minds, and submit over and over
and over and over, time and time again, to the
truth of God's Word. That's what we do. Wake
in and wake out. That's how we suppress the flesh,
brothers and sisters. That's how we mortify sin.
By suppressing this, not giving it an opportunity,
And embracing this, supplanting this with this.
The Christian does it over and over and over.
Now the last thing we have to consider is why.
This must be the message of the church. We already
have a few good ideas. And it's already been
intimated briefly as to why. This must be the
message of the church, and it must remain the
message of the church. But let me give you two
specific reasons. The first is because only this
message saves sinners from sin, death, and hell.
There is no other message that saves... Unregenerate
men from the wrath of God, brothers and sisters.
There is no other truth in this world besides
the Christian gospel and the word of God that
saves sinners from the depths of hell. Only the
gospel of Jesus Christ. and the full -orbed gospel
with Christ at the very center delivers men from
transgressions and the power of sin and from
hell and judgment and wrath and gives them eternal
life. If we neglect this message, men's souls
are in peril. If the church deviates from the
truth of Scripture, which Paul proclaimed, brothers
and sisters, men and women and children will
die and suffer under wrath of God for all eternity.
If we do not remain faithful to this message,
our children, our loved ones, our family members,
our friends, they will die in their sins and
suffer the wrath of God. The church must remain
faithful to the proclamation of the whole counsel
of God with Christ at the very center of that.
We must. These are the means. That God brings
about further steps in his purpose in this world.
God advances his divine purpose in this world.
His kingdom. How? Through the proclamation of
his word. Through the proclamation of the whole
counsel of God. That's the first reason. This
is why Paul proclaimed it. He clearly preached
conversion. We see that in verse 21, solemnly
testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance
toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
But also we see in verse 24 that part of Paul's
whole council preaching involves the gospel of
the grace of God. We must continue to faithfully
proclaim the gospel and repentance and faith,
that men and women might be saved, brothers and
sisters. Now, the second reason that this must
be the church's message is that because this
message, that is because this message sanctifies
and builds up the church. It grows the church
in maturity. Brothers and sisters. Listen to
what Paul says in verse 32. And now I commend
you to God. And to the word of his grace. Which
is able to build you up. And to give you the
inheritance among all those. Who are sanctified.
What about. This where he says this in verse
20. How I did not shrink from declaring to you.
Anything that was profitable. Good for you spiritually.
Edifying, upbuilding that which is beneficial
for the believer. The gospel and the whole counsel
of God must be proclaimed. Because that is the
means that God has committed himself to. To work
through. To strengthen and build up. and mature
the Christian church in this world. And the individual
believer in the church, brothers and sisters.
Why must we proclaim this truth? Because this
is the truth we need, brothers and sisters. This
is the truth that our souls require. God has
not said that He's going to work through the
newspaper to edify your soul. God has not said
that he's going to work through Twitter and Facebook
to bring about sanctification in your life. God
has committed himself to the ministry of his
holy word, brothers and sisters, to build up
and strengthen and edify and grow the church
and bring it into maturity. Now, does that mean
that those resources are not useful and they
can't be edifying? Yes, they can. But we're showing
the emphasis and the importance of the ministry
of the word and the life of the church. It must
be prioritized, brothers and sisters. Do you
know why there's so many lopsided and imbalanced
Christians and churches? Do you know why there
are so many Christians walking around with a
hobble, spiritually? Why they're walking around
as a gimp, with no power, no blessing, no life,
no maturity, no doctrinal understanding, no growth,
no vitality in their soul, living in dull, cold,
indifference in their life and their soul? Do
you know why? Because men in churches have deviated
from the truth of God. Men in churches have deprioritized
the Scriptures and elevated and prioritized any
number of other things in its place. All the
more reason that the church of the living God
must keep and preach and maintain the whole counsel
of God with Christ at the center.