Webster defines trend as "To have or take a particular direction; to turn in a specified or implied direction; to tend." Consistent with that definition are tendencies in the church today about which many God-fearing Christians have grave concerns. We would like to address one area of these concerns in the remainder of this article, that of preaching.

We are concerned about the Biblical quality of sermons, the length of sermons, the lack of depth of sermons, the lack of conviction produced by sermons, etc. And, although I claim no expertise in these matters, I am aware that sermons today do not have the same effect they once did. My kind reader, please consider this, are we hearing the kind of preaching today that we heard in yesteryear? Are we hearing the preaching that was done by the Lord and his apostles? New Testament preaching was characterized by plainness; it was to the point, and those in error felt the force of it. (Matt. 21:45; Luke 20:19) My beloved, it appears to me that it needs to be preached that way again.

We have some good instructions as to what New Testament preaching is all about from the apostle to the Gentiles recorded in Acts chapter 20. Let us look briefly at what the apostle says, and see if we can profit from this study. No better material could be found anywhere.

The setting of this sermon is in Miletus, which was in Asia Minor about twenty miles south of Ephesus. The Ephesian elders are the apostle’s audience. He instructs them of matters of the utmost importance: things which were ultimately to have an adverse effect on the church. The apostle reminds them of his teaching and manner of life from the time he came into Asia. How that "with all lowliness of mind (humility) and with tears, and with trials which befell me by the plots of the Jews; how I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable..." My beloved, do not be ashamed of your tears; especially if they are motivated by concerns for the lost, and for the deplorable conditions in the church in some places today. You are in good company for Paul and Jesus and others also wept over these conditions. See Matt. 5:4.

We see also from the passage quoted above that the apostle did not hold back or keep back anything that was profitable to them. Brethren, this principle needs to be applied today. We are deeply concerned today about what is not being preached. In verse 27, the apostle reminds them that he shrank not from declaring the whole counsel of God. Connect that with what he said in verse 20, and you see that the only thing profitable for them (or us) is "the whole counsel of God." It is sad but true that the whole counsel of God is not being declared in some places today. Preachers are sometimes turned into hirelings by the demands that preachers not preach on certain subjects due to existing conditions in the church. Beloved, these things ought not so to be. We need to learn that truth is supreme, and it takes precedence over everything: family, friends, money, everything; you name it.