I Have Not Hesitated to Preach the Whole Counsel of God

Sermon outline

A believer's value system must rest on the whole counsel of God, not ritual or the world's philosophy, and as he hands the church to the next generation he remains its father, giving all the glory to the Holy Spirit who taught him.

1. The earth did come with a manual

   Biblical values are guidelines that give strength and direction to your life and your fellowship with God's people, and the Word is woven through them like a GPS. Every gadget, however small, comes with a manual bigger than itself, which we seldom read. Someone once said the earth came without one, but it did: the Word of God is the manual for life, teaching us how to live and relate to people. Even what he shares in the business chat is biblical principle, not gleaned from elsewhere.

   Illustration: He holds up a tiny device that came with a large manual, and mentions the thick car manual kept in the cubbyhole and never read.

   “Earth did come with a manual, and that is the word of God.”

2. Intimacy first, then empowered for the day

   There are two parts: first your private time with the door shut, praying, worshipping, reading the Word and opening your heart, even with tears, so the Spirit can fill you; then you go out into the workday empowered for success. Biblical values are God's building blocks for the New Testament church, the embankments that keep the river of your life flowing, so you do not walk in confusion.

3. Values, not empty ritual

   As a curious boy in the religion he grew up in, he asked why milk was poured over a stone instead of given to him to drink, and his aunt shouted rather than answered, because nobody had ever told her why. Children today can ask a question and be shown the answer in the Bible for themselves. Values are not rules and laws but a vision that must be integrated into your personal value system and entrenched in the Word.

   Illustration: The milk poured on the stone, and the sweetmeats that were the best part of the festival for a boy who could get no explanation for any of it.

   “Values are not rules and laws, values are a vision that must be completely integrated.”

4. The whole counsel of God

   Paul did not hesitate to declare the whole counsel of God. Knowing only part of it leaves you in error, because the most valuable part gets neglected, so the ministry has always tried through its writings and teaching to give the whole. All the fullness dwells in Christ, Jesus sent His disciples to preach the kingdom and demonstrate God's power, and He sent the Holy Spirit so we are not alone. The mandate to go into all the world belongs to the whole body, not only to pastors, whether face to face or through the Faith Chronicles and the business chat.

   Illustration: A medical doctor once asked him about something in the Christian faith and, when asked whether he did not know it, said his pastor did not preach about that.

   “When you understand just a part of the council of God, you actually in error simply because you neglect the most valuable part.”

   • Acts 20:27
   • Colossians 1:19-20
   • Matthew 10:7
   • John 16:7
   • Mark 16:15

5. Pass the Word to the next generation

   The value system must be Word based, not man's or the world's philosophy, and must cover a complete biblical theology from beginning to end. Pastor Zubeda made God's Word central in their children's lives, and Wesley and Adrian are now passing it to theirs, as members are passing it to children and grandchildren, so that when they hear that we came from monkeys they can answer that we are made in God's image. The tomb is empty; our Lord is risen.

   “The value system must be word based, not man's philosophy, not the world's philosophy.”

   • Genesis 1:27

6. The handover: still the father of the church

   Though the baton has passed to Wesley, he and Pastor Zubeda will stay in the church, sit among the members, remain on the executive and hold up Pastor Wesley's hands to make him succeed; they have no intention of starting another church. He will always be the father of the ministry he founded. For clarity, he asks to take the communion service on the first Sunday of each month, and members will continue to sow their priestly offerings to him as father of the church. He asks for a short rest and urges them not to stay away when he is not preaching, because they come to serve God, not him.

   “I'll never, ever stop being the father of my ministry.”

7. What it cost, and how he guarded himself

   He grew up in one room and a kitchen with five children and a mother who was a housekeeper, doing odd jobs from twelve or thirteen, then spent twenty years in the police as a detective with no knock-off time, and admits he missed his children's growing up; ministry then took his time from five in the morning until late at night. He kept two men beside him everywhere as guardians, while Pastor Zubeda counselled the women. A man of God once told him to guard against three things: the greed for power, the love of money, and a close relationship with the opposite sex.

   Illustration: Loading newspaper bundles onto trucks before dawn, his hands bled from the twine because nobody had told him about gloves, and he could not have afforded them. As a detective under the old system he slept in the car and ate pies and bunny chows because only a privileged group was booked into hotels.

   “Don't be greedy for money and don't do ministry for money.”

8. No secret but the Holy Spirit

   When they started, Christians, pastors and churches rejected them and no one helped. Ten or fifteen years later the same people came asking for the secret. There was none: the Holy Spirit led and taught him, so the glory belongs to God alone. In twenty years, with nothing, the ministry touched millions around the world.

   Illustration: When the church of about forty people went on television with one light and one camera, he folded the invoice and taped it under his shoe while preaching, reminding himself the bill was under his feet and would be paid. It was.

   “It was God. And God alone. He deserves all the glory, all the honour and all the praise.”

9. The way forward

   Pastor Wesley says the shoes are big to fill and he will carry the legacy forward, building on the existing formula: a Christmas production and worship evening, a proper children's church event with resources for the Sunday school, and a return to weekly youth meetings in person. He explains why midweek meetings stayed on Zoom after COVID, and Dr RJ Sing adds that it was for the safety of families driving home at night, likening church to a cruise ship that needs many hands behind the scenes and asking people with a servant's heart to volunteer.

   Illustration: Running a church is like running a cruise ship: the passengers enjoy the cruise while people they never see navigate, cook and make the beds.

   “You don't come to church to serve me. You come to church 'cause you serve God.”

In this message