Acts 20 records the final meeting of Paul with the elders of the church at Ephesus. This local body of believers knew Paul well; he had spent over two years teaching in their city, and they had suffered persecution together as Christians (see Acts 19). Paul was about to depart for Jerusalem on the fateful journey that would lead to his first imprisonment at Rome. Just before he left, he summoned the elders for a final word of encouragement and warning, recorded in Acts 20:18-35.

Two statements in his message stand out in my thinking. The first is this:

These are startling words. Certainly Paul was no murderer, or thief, or insurrectionist. No one had accused him of violence or bloodshed. Yet Paul understood something that every teacher of God’s Word must understand. When a teacher of God’s Word withholds the truth, he can be held responsible by God for the failure of his students to know the truth. In the figure of speech to which Paul alludes, their blood can be “on his head.”

All of us who interpret and teach God’s Word (from the home Bible study leader to the Sunday school teacher to the seminary professor) are subject to a subtle enticement: the temptation to teach only those parts of the message that please our audience. This temptation is nothing new. In the final days preceding the fall of Jerusalem, God called Ezekiel to deliver a message of condemnation and rebuke to Jews who were already being held captive in the city of Babylon. False prophets among these Jewish exiles were proclaiming, “Jerusalem will soon be free! The Babylonian empire will fall—and we will go home!” They found a ready audience that delighted to hear these “prophecies.” Ezekiel was perhaps tempted to tone down his message as he sensed the hostility of the crowd to God’s warning that their beloved Jerusalem would surely fall. And so God spoke to him these arresting words in Ezekiel 33:8: “When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.” We might generalize this principle this way: A teacher who holds back the truth of God’s Word can be held responsible when his hearers fail to respond to God’s warnings. This is a solemn admonition to all who teach and preach.

In dark days like ours, when men do not want the sin-exposing light of the Scriptures to illuminate the dark corners of their lives, that temptation still exists—even within the church of Jesus Christ. This is why Paul spent his precious final hours of life on earth penning a letter to Timothy, his beloved son in the faith, which included this final charge:

“Don’t tell them what they want to hear, Timothy,” Paul is saying. “Tell them what they need to hear—and do it courageously.”

By the time this article is printed, my family and I will (Lord willing) have departed for the US, ending the second term of our seven-plus years of ministry at BSOP and in the Chinese churches of Manila. Those of you who know me know that I have tried never to “pull my punches.” I have spoken the Word boldly, and accepted the risk of offending my hearers, because I want to be able to say, as Paul did, “I am innocent of the blood of all men.” Perhaps, at times, this has earned me the ire of men—but I am convinced that the displeasure of men is infinitely preferable to the disapproval of God. I want, as Paul did, to leave behind a legacy of proclaiming the whole counsel of God.

This leads to the second portion of Paul’s message that jumps out at me from the pages of Scripture:

Paul knew that within the church of Jesus Christ, men often arise who seek to exploit the saints for their own power and pleasure, using oily-smooth words and a phony cloak of godliness to make themselves appear as God’s messengers (see 1 Timothy 4:1-3 and 2 Timothy 3:1-9). Such devious and destructive false teachers appeared often in the early days of the church…and they still do today.

As we watch each batch of new graduates leaving BSOP, I think that we professors feel the same concern that Paul expresses here. Will our students be able to sniff out false teachers and phony spiritual leaders? Will they be able to withstand the attacks of the “savage wolves” who will target the local churches where they serve? Will the foundations that we laid in them stand?

The answer can only be “yes” if our teaching centers upon the Word of God in its entirety—the whole counsel of God. To those of you who teach the Word of God—in whatever capacity—I appeal to you, declare the whole counsel of God because this is your duty. To those of you who support and pray for BSOP, I urge you, help us continue to equip our students with the whole Word of God, because God’s Word is always practical and effective in protecting and building up Christ’s church. And to this year’s graduates (and future batches as well), I charge you, in the name of Christ, teach and obey the whole counsel of God, because it alone will enable you to stand in the truth and defend the church of Jesus Christ, as good shepherds must. Let all of us who name the name of Christ proclaim, obey, and trust in the whole counsel of God.