Acts 20:17-38

There we go. All right. Well, good afternoon. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day you and I, we get together. We get into the Lord's Word. I'm going to have a little bit of tea. Maybe you can have coffee this afternoon. And we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2022, we'll go from Acts to Philemon.
Maybe you got the text message this morning and you're one of the people who saw the video for a moment and thought, what is this Yahoo doing? You know, it's helpful if you plug in a microphone. So I talked to the air for about 15 minutes. Well, why don't we have some tea?
We'll pray and we'll get into the Lord's word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this time, a second time to be in your word for me, but Lord, it's still a new word and an encouragement. So obviously I need it twice today. Father, we pray that you would let us know who you are and the great love that you have shown us in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.
Here we go, Acts chapter 20, beginning at verse 17. And we'll go through the end of the chapter. Remember, Paul is on his way to Ephesus, and he has bypassed, or sorry, he's on his way to Jerusalem. He's bypassed Ephesus on purpose, and now he's in Miletus, and he's calling the elders to himself, and he's gonna have this dialogue with them. So here we go, Acts chapter 20, beginning at verse 17. From Miletus is sent to Ephesus to call for the elders of the church.
And when they had come to him, he said to them, you know, from the first day that I came to Asia in the manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews, how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly.
And from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so I may finish my race with joy. and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.
Therefore, take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, watch. And remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone, night and day, with tears.
So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who were with me. I have shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all and they all wept freely and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him. sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more, and they accompanied him to the ship.
Well, we need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? Well, this is a huge speech. This is one of the longest speeches we have from Paul in the book of Acts, and it's by far the most Pauline.
It's what we're most used to hearing his voice when we read his epistles, how he likes to communicate with people. And so as we come to this passage, We realize Paul really does love the church there. He calls the elders down and he has a message for them. And he starts with talking about how he has served the Lord with humility, with tears. He preached the gospel to Jews and to Gentiles. He taught them publicly from house to house. He proclaimed it to all of them. And what was the message he proclaimed?
Well, verse 21 says, Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. This was Paul's message. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Turn toward God. Turn toward the Lord Jesus Christ. It is faith in Jesus Christ. So we turn away from our deeds of darkness and we turn towards the Lord. We turn towards Christ. This is a message he proclaimed. He didn't hide it from them, but he went house to house. He publicly proclaimed it to them.
And now he's got to go to Jerusalem, he says, and he knows the Holy Spirit's been telling him all along the way he's going to have trials and tribulations. There's going to be chains and persecution for him. But he knows he's got to go because he wants to run his race with joy. He's going to be obedient to the Spirit. And so he's going.
He doesn't count his life worth saving, but he wants to fulfill the ministry which he received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. He wants to be a witness. It's the good news that God is gracious to sinners. Sinners like you and sinners like me. And so indeed, he says he's gone and he's preached the kingdom and he goes to this imagery and found in the book of Ezekiel. He compares himself to that watchman who is standing on the tower and crying out that destruction is coming.
And he says, I've proclaimed it. I've done it. There's no blood on my hands. I've delivered the good news. I've told people to flee from the wrath to come. I've told them there's a lifeboat to find shelter and refuge in. And his name is Jesus Christ. Go to the rock of salvation. And so that's what he's saying. He has confidence that he's fulfilled that task. So he tells them now as the elders in verse 28, he looks at them as the elders, as the shepherds, as the overseers.
And he says, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. You know, that's why we do this. This is why we literally go chapter by chapter, verse by verse, book by book, as we want to explore what the whole word of God says, instead of just going topically here and there and picking out the parts that we like best. No, Paul proclaimed the whole counsel of God.
So now he tells the elders, he looks them in the eyes, and he tells them that they need to take heed of themselves and of all the flock, which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. See, Christian, you have not been redeemed. You have not been bought back with silver, gold or any perishable things, but God has redeemed you at the price of his own son. See, for while we were yet sinners, God demonstrated his own love for us and that he gave his only begotten son to die for us. You're that valuable to the Lord. If you're his children, he cares for you that much. And so it is, they have been made overseers of the people. The elders have been made overseers of them.
Notice here, there are three different images and three different words that I'm actually going to preach on it this Sunday. And I talked about last Sunday, they are called presbyteroi. They're presbyters, they're elders. But they're also called overseers, episkopoi, or bishops. And they're also called shepherds. Every elder of the church is a shepherd, is a bishop, is an overseer. Different words for the same office, for the same functions. And so he tells them to do that work well and the people depend on it because there are ravenous wolves that were coming.
Christian, I am begging you, do not just follow any single weird religious article you might find online or YouTube video you might see. Go to the scriptures and find out if these things are true. Because people want to draw the disciples to go follow themselves.
Please do not be duped. Go to the Lord's Word. Ask is, is this truly what he said? Not what some church says, not what some, you know, what some guru says, not what some pastor thinks. Go to the word. Go to the living word of God and find out if these things are so. We have been richly blessed with resources upon resources upon resources. Don't be duped. Go to the word. People are always trying to build up their own following, always trying to pull away from Christ. And he's warning them of this.
He says he's done it for three years with tears in his eyes. And so he says he entrusts them to God. He commends them to the Lord, to the word of his grace. And he says, it's this the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among those who are sanctified. He gives them the word. This is why he told Timothy, bring the scrolls, bring my books. He wants them to know the Lord's word. This is why he commands Timothy that he must rightly divide the word of God. This is why he tells the elders that they need to pay careful attention to their doctrine and to their life.
Because as they receive the good news, the grace of Jesus Christ, they also then are able to maintain that. to be built up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. See, you Christian are holy. You have been separated from a common use to royal use. You are God's child. He has poured out his spirit into your heart, a spirit that cries out, Abba, Father, to cling to Christ. Go to his word, hear from him, soak him in, follow the good shepherd.
And Paul ends this with saying, you all know the type of ministry I had that was marked by this gospel, marked by this Christ-centered emphasis, marked by this grace for Jew and Greek. I didn't even make you guys pay me for it. I went out and I worked in the streets. I worked with my own hands as an example to show you that we should care for the poor.
And then he gives us words that aren't even in the gospels themselves, but that Jesus, he says that Jesus said. And this shouldn't surprise us. I remember John and his gospel says that these aren't all the things that Jesus said or did. If all of them were written down, surely the whole world wouldn't be able to contain all of Jesus's writings and doings. But what's the teaching that Paul is saying that the Lord taught us? It is more blessed to give than to receive.
And it's on that note that he says goodbye. He loves them. And they love him. He's been their shepherd, he's been their overseer, he's been their teacher, he's been their pastor. Their elder. And they weep freely. You can see the scene on the coast as they're wrapping their arms around him and as the ship pulls up its ropes, unmoors from the dock, as the wind fills the sails and they begin to go down the way, they wave goodbye to their pastor.
Thank you. Are you clinging to Jesus Christ? It's your only hope. Focus on him. Don't be pulled away by the wolves. Go to his word. Cling to Christ. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the love that you have shown us in Jesus Christ, and we pray that we would follow after you all the days of our lives in Jesus's name. Amen. You want to say hi? Lord bless you. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.