The Whole Purpose Of God - Acts 20:27

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

Acts 2 · chapter mention

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

Acts 4 · chapter mention

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.

Acts 5:38

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.