Acts 20:27

For - This verse contains a reason for what had been said in the previous verse. It shows why Paul regarded himself as innocent if they should be lost. I have not shunned - I have not kept back; I have not been deterred by fear, by the desire of popularity, by the fact that the doctrines of the gospel are unpalatable to people, from declaring them fully.

WHEN Paul was parting from his Ephesian friends, who had come to bid him farewell at Miletus, he did not request of them a commendation of his ability; he did not request of them a recommendation for his fervid eloquence, his profound learning, his comprehensive thought, or his penetrating judgment. He knew right well that he might have credit for all these, and yet be found a castaway at last. He required a witness which would be valid in the court of heaven, and of value in a dying hour.

I know that ye all . . . shall see my face no more--not an inspired prediction of what was certainly to be, but what the apostle, in his peculiar circumstances, fully expected. Whether, therefore, he ever did see them again, is a question to be decided purely on its own evidence.

For I have not shunned to declare . . . all the counsel of God--God's way of salvation, and His kingdom of souls saved by His Son Jesus Christ.

WHEN Paul was parting from his Ephesian friends, who had come to bid him farewell at Miletus, he did not request of them a commendation of his ability; he did not request of them a recommendation for his fervid eloquence, his profound learning, his comprehensive thought, or his penetrating judgment. He knew right well that he might have credit for all these, and yet be found a castaway at last. He required a witness which would be valid in the court of heaven, and of value in a dying hour. His one most solemn adjuration is: “I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” In the apostle this utterance was no egotism; it was a fact that he had, without courting the smiles or fearing the frowns of any, preached the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as it had been taught to him by the Holy Spirit, and as he had received it in his own heart. O that all ministers of Christ could honestly challenge the like witness! Now, this morning I propose, by the help of God’s Spirit, to do two things. The first will be to say a little upon the apostle’s solemn declaration at parting; and then, afterwards, in a few solemn words, to take my own personal farewell. 1. In the first place, THE APOSTLE’S WORD AT PARTING: “I call you to record I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” The first thing that strikes us is the declaration of the apostle concerning the doctrines he had preached. He had preached ALL the counsel of God. By which I think we are to understand that he had given to his people the entire gospel. He had not dwelt upon some one doctrine of it, to the exclusion of the rest; but it had been his honest endeavour to bring out every truth according to the analogy of faith.

I have not shunned to declare - Ου υπεϚιλαμην, I have not suppressed or concealed any thing, through fear or favor, that might be beneficial to your souls. This is properly the meaning of the original word. See the note on Act 20:20. All the counsel of God - All that God has determined and revealed concerning the salvation of man - the whole doctrine of Christ crucified, with repentance towards God, and faith in Jesus as the Messiah and great atoning Priest. In Isa 9:6, Jesus Christ is called the wonderful counsellor, פלא יועץ Pele Poets, which the Septuagint translate μεγαλης βουλης αγγελος· The messenger of the great counsel. To this the apostle may have referred, as we well know that this version was constantly under his eye. Declaring therefore to them the whole counsel of God, πασην την βουλην του Θεου, the whole of that counsel or design of God, was, in effect, declaring the whole that concerned the Lord Jesus, who was the messenger of this counsel.