Reportedly, in the latter half of the nineteenth century, when the Christian Church and the church of Christ were in the process of becoming separate bodies, a church sent a prospective local preacher a list of questions to ascertain his views on the divisive issues of the day. One query asked his position on the use of instrumental music in worship. Supposedly, he brazenly replied, "Tell me how you stand, and I will preach it that way. I can preach it equally well either way."

I do not know if such an exchange actually occurred, but, in the face of every divisive issue that besets the Lord’s people, there are those preachers who betray their cowardice by either refusing to preach on the subject, waiting to "see which way the wind is blowing," or simply capitulating to the popular view without true conviction.

Paul’s determined course was far different. In his emotion laden farewell to the elders of the church in Ephesus, he summarized his work thus:

Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:26-27).

What It Means

What does it mean to declare the whole counsel of God?

As Paul’s valedictory to the Ephesian bishops summarizes the work of an evangelist by example, his farewell charge to his son in the faith Timothy capsulizes the preacher’s work in a command:

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:1-2)

The work of an evangelist is to "Preach the word"! When articles are long on vignettes and virtually or utterly void of "book, chapter, and verse," writers are not declaring the whole counsel of God. When sermons are full of syrupy stories acceptable to any sectarian gathering, but sinners are not convinced and rebuked of sin and exhorted to repent, the man in the pulpit has failed to declare the whole counsel of God.

The weight of the witnesses to whom the apostle appeals demonstrates the seriousness of his charge. He delivered his command "before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead." How solemn the truth that we who preach must give account to the great Judge whether or not we have declared the whole counsel of God. Will we be "innocent of the blood of all men"?

Evangelists must preach the word "in season and out of season." We must declare the whole counsel of God when men love us and when men hate us, when we are popular and when we are unpopular, when we are hired and when we are fired, when men acclaim us as great and when they defame us as snakes, when they pat us on the back and when they stab us in the back, when churches invite us to hold meetings and when they cancel our meetings. It is fine to teach young men who desire to preach the proper techniques of public speaking. We must give our best in the Master’s service. But when sermons are long on style and short on substance, sinners are merely made comfortable in sin, and brethren are simply entertained.

T.B. Larrimore was widely considered to be the most eloquent gospel preacher in our country around the beginning of the twentieth century. Hundreds were moved to obedience by his persuasive speech. In his latter years, he intentionally curbed his powerful rhetoric, afraid that people were being moved by beautiful speech rather than by the beauty of the story of Christ.

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1- 5)

In past years, when young men went to older preachers for advice on how to preach, they were usually advised, "Fill yourself so full of the Scriptures it just runs over!" In essence, this is what aged Paul advised Timothy (1 Timothy 4:15-16).

What does it mean to "declare ... the whole counsel of God"? It means to "preach the word." We don't need more suave, glib orators. We need dedicated, righteous, courageous men of the book who will declare the whole counsel of God regardless of the cost.

It further means to preach only the word.(1 Peter 4:11). There is no place in the pulpit for human opinion or dogmas of men.It also means to preach all the word.(Acts 20:20,26-27). It takes courage to preach truths that those who write your pay check are loathe to hear, but the man of God must do so. It takes love to point out sins that the sinner does not want to confess.Why Do Some Not?

If declaring the counsel of God is so important, why don’t all gospel preachers do so? There are many weak brethren who don’t want to hear all the truth, especially the truth that exposes their sins, and they hinder the declaration of the word (2 Timothy 4:3-4). But evangelists must endure hardships and preach it anyway (2 Timothy 4:5). Why do many not do this? Because they are the opposite of Paul. Paul unselfishly sacrificed himself for the Lord (Acts 20:22-24). Many selfishly sacrifice truth for popularity, pomp, pride and prosperity.

Conclusion

The book of Second Timothy contains the last recorded words of one of the greatest soldiers of the cross who ever lived, the apostle Paul. A martyr’s death was eminent even as he wrote (2 Timothy 4:6). But he was ready, because he had not "shunned to declare ... the whole counsel of God." It must be the solemn determination, by the grace of God, of every preacher of the cross, when he comes to the end of the way, to be able to repeat with the fervor of a clear conscience the immortal words of the beloved apostle:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing (2 Timothy 4:7-8).