THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD

On Wednesday evenings at Texas Avenue Baptist Church I try to answer questions from the members. These questions are given to me in advance. I will use this blog to post the questions and answers on a regular basis. If you have questions about the Bible, spiritual issues, or your walk with God, please feel free to send me your question and I will attempt to answer your question from the Bible.

Q. Why are there not many sermons preached about everyday worldly issues that kids and young people have to deal with on a daily basis? It seems like sermons are preached to people with the presumption that they already know a lot about the Bible. If any of my old friends or any of these young kids were to attend some of the sermons that I have heard, they would be lost. I don’t believe any of them know who Job or Paul or Abraham is, much less Jesus.

A. At the heart of this question is the issue of preaching the whole counsel of God. Why do we preach the whole counsel of God and not just address the daily issues people face.

First of all, we preach the whole counsel of God because we are commanded to do so. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus instructed His followers to teach all that He had commanded. In 2 Timothy, preachers are commanded to "preach the Word."

However, many preachers preach only to felt needs, thinking they are helping people by dealing only with issues they face daily. Felt needs are what people think they need, as opposed to real needs, which are needs God meets. There are several problems with preaching to felt needs:

1. Many times people don’t know what they really need. Jeremiah 17:9 reads, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Our hearts are deceptive and wicked. Our hearts lie to us about our needs. Our hearts tell us we need happiness, but God says we need forgiveness. Our hearts tell us we are good people, but God says we are sinners. Therefore, we must look to God for our real needs. For example, a couple comes for help in their marriage saying they are unhappy. They feel like they need principles that will help their marriage. However, after asking some questions about their relationship with God it was discovered that they really needed to become followers of Jesus Christ by being born again. They felt like they need help with their marriage, but what they really needed was a personal relationship with Jesus Christ
2. Most people’s felt needs are not really needs at all. Their felt needs are really desires, wants, and lusts, but not needs. Real needs lead us to realize we lack self-sufficiency and we need God’s intervention to meet the need. On the contrary, most people’s felt needs are really a desire for personal happiness, not godliness.
3. Preaching to felt needs often interferes with the ability to address the real needs. If felt needs are addressed and affirmed, the core issues of personal sin and guilt are never addressed.
4. If we only preach to felt needs we develop very shallow Christians. God wants His followers to be perfect (meaning complete or mature) so that they can thoroughly equipped for every good work. This means that the child of God understands doctrine and theology, not just how to manage his finances in a godly manner.
   

Therefore, the better option is to simply teach the Bible line upon line and precept upon precept so that God can deal with the real needs of people. It is for this reason that we are commanded to teach all that God has commanded, not just the parts we like (Matthew 28:20).

The second reason we preach the whole counsel of God is because God's Word is alive and powerful (Hebrews 4:12-13). The Bible is different from every other book because it is a living, powerful document. This does not mean that the Bible constantly changes because God's Word never changes. This truth simply means that God's Word does God's work by God's Spirit. When God's Word is preached the Spirit of God makes the Word of God speak to the individual so that God's Word is applied to the individual's need. The Bible says that it penetrates the heart and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the individual.

Thus, the preacher’s responsibility is to deliver the Word of God so the Spirit of God can do the Work of God. As I preach, I believe the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God exactly how the individual needs to hear It. Notice Isaiah 55:10-11
(10) For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: (11) So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Every time God sends His Word out It accomplishes His purpose because It is alive and powerful. Therefore, I have the confidence to know that when God’s Word is proclaimed, It will accomplish whatever purpose God has in mind, whether in personal Bible study, in Sunday School, or from the pulpit. Even if a person is not familiar with the people or stories in the Bible, because God’s Word is alive and powerful, God can still speak to them through the preaching and teaching of His Word.

The third reason we preach the whole counsel of God is that the primary purpose of meeting together is to edify and instruct believers. The primary reason Jesus started His church was so that each congregation could glorify Him by carrying out the Great Commission. However, the primary reason that congregations meet together regularly is to glorify Jesus Christ by edifying and instructing of believers, according to Ephesians 4:8, 11-15. In Titus 2:1-10, Paul exhorted Titus to teach things that become sound doctrine.

Therefore, the preacher needs to preach so that believers can grow. In Hebrews 5:12-6:3, the author rebukes the Hebrew Christians for their lack of spiritual growth. He cites the reason for their lack of spiritual growth as being the continual preaching of salvation sermons to saved people. His point in verses 4-8 is that it is impossible for believers to be saved over and over, therefore they need to move on to deeper doctrines so the believers can grow.

The purpose of the teaching doctrine and instructing believers is to equip them do the work of the ministry. In other words, churches should be equipping the saints to take the Gospel into the work place and neighborhoods. That is where we can address the individual issues people face. Being equipped means we can take our Bibles and show them how God can meet their real need for forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. We can show them how Jesus has been resurrected to give them eternal life and power to live for Him today. Thus, in equipping the saints at church, we are meeting the needs of the saint and the sinner.