THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD

October 9

Bible Reading: Acts 20:17-38

Acts 20:27, “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”

Have you ever shrunk back from saying something about Jesus for fear or what others might say or do?  Having preached many times, I must confess that I sometimes gave thought to how others might respond to some hard truth I was preparing to share.  But, as Paul admonished Timothy, the obligation of the preacher is not to men, but to the One who “is to judge the living and the dead” (2 Timothy 4:1-2).

Much of Paul’s troubles resulted from the direct opposition and plotting of the Jews.  While there were elements of his teaching that they could accept, they hated his gospel of grace.  That God would save the Gentiles and simply, by grace, through faith, apart from any human works, was not a message they could tolerate.  It was that specific message that caused him so much trouble, and a simple solution would be to alter his message to meet their demands.  But that’s something he would not do. He refused to be dissuaded from speaking the whole counsel of God’s word, no matter the cost.

In the sixteenth century, there was a protestant reformer in England by the name of Hugh Latimer. Known to be a great preacher in his day, he had many opportunities to speak. Once he was to preach before King Henry VIII of England. As he thought about his great responsibility to bring a message before the king, he realized that the message that God laid on his heart was not the message that the king would want to hear.  As he began his sermon he said, “Latimer! Latimer! Do you remember that you are speaking before the high and mighty King Henry VIII; who has power to command you to be sent to prison, and who can have your head cut off, if it pleases him? Will you not take care to say nothing that will offend royal ears?”  He then paused and continued, “Latimer! Latimer! Do you not remember that you are speaking before the King of kings and Lord of lords? Before Him, at whose throne Henry VIII will stand; before Him, to whom one day you will have to give account yourself? Latimer! Latimer! Be faithful to your Master and declare all of God’s Word.”  Latimer faced the choice: would he preach what man wanted to hear or would he preach what Christ would have him preach? Latimer did take his stand for truth and preached boldly. Eventually, he was martyred by Henry’s daughter, Queen Mary.

“The preacher who preaches what his audience wants to hear, and not the whole counsel of God, hurts both his audience and himself!”

STANDING ON THE PROMISES
Standing on the promises of Christ, my King,
Through eternal ages let his praises ring;
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain:
Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God, my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail.
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God. [Refrain]

Standing on the promises of Christ, the Lord,
Bound to him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God. [Refrain]

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
List’ning ev’ry moment to the Spirit’s call,
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God. [Refrain]