The text this morning comes from Acts. As we're making our way through the book of Acts. We're in the last part of chapter 20.
I'll begin in verse 17 and read to the end of the chapter. So Acts chapter 20, beginning in verse 17 through the end of the chapter. Before we read, let's go to the Lord again in prayer, asking for his blessing upon His Word, keeping in mind that we are here in vain. We're wasting our time unless the Holy Spirit opens up, our ears, our hearts, our eyes to behold the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's pray to that end, Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are not silent, that you have not abandoned your people, but that you are here now by the power of your Spirit.
Lord, I pray that as we turn to your word, your spirit would indeed open up our deaf ears and open up our blind eyes and give us hearts softened ready to receive your word, that the word would be sown today, that Christ would be magnified and Lord, that the seed would grow in our hearts and that we might bear much fruit. Lord, we pray that you would be glorified, that we would make much of you this day.
Lord, we thank you for giving us your word. Help us now to receive it, and it's in Jesus's name we pray, Amen.
People of God, hear God's word for us this morning from Acts chapter 20, beginning in verse 17.
[17] Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. [18] And when they came to him, he
said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, [19] serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews;[20] how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, [21] testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. [22] And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, [23] except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. [24] But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only zI may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of ethe grace of God. [25] And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. [26] Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all,[27] for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. [28] Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. [29] I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; [30] and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.
said to them: [31] Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.
said to them: [32] And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. [33] I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. [34] You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. [35] In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”[36] And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. [37] And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, [38] being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.
said to them: He who has ears, let him hear the Word of God, please be seated.
said to them: Saying goodbye to loved ones is always difficult. Whether you are dropping a loved one off at the airport or some of our military members know when they are deployed to say goodbye to a mom or dad that they will not see for many months, and even gathering around, as some of you have done, a bed where you know your loved one you will not see again. In our passage today, Paul is going to have to leave his spiritual children behind.
said to them: The Holy Spirit is compelling him forward to Jerusalem. And Paul doesn't know exactly what will happen to him. He knows some in part, but not in whole, but we know, as we're able to look back upon history, what happens to Paul as he goes into Jerusalem. He will be arrested, he will be beaten, he will ultimately be dragged then from there to Rome, where he will be beheaded and he will die. He will die for his faith in his Lord Jesus. So Paul now he calls for his spiritual children to gather around him one last time before he departs for Jerusalem, and he wants to leave them one final message. Have you ever thought about that? If you have your loved ones gathered around you one last time, you can deliver one last message? What would you say? What would you want to press upon your children? Have it ring in their ears. One final message. I think this is good homework. This, I know this is the introduction, but write down, you know, around the lunch table, what would you say as parents or even children?
said to them: What do you want to pass on? And so here we have Paul, and he's going to give one final message.
said to them: And Paul's, he models Jesus's final message to his disciples in the upper room, actually, before Jesus departs to Jerusalem and then to his death.
said to them: But we're going to see three things. We're going to see. Paul leaves them an example that is a life that is poured out for Christ is never wasted. He gives them an example. Second, he gives them an exhortation that is a people who are bought by Precious Blood, must be on guard. The exhortation is, you must be on guard. The third is going to be an encouragement that we can rest in. And he encourages them to say that you have not been left alone. You have not been abandoned. So let's look now as we consider Paul's farewell message, keep in mind that out of the 10 to 15 years, Paul has been doing his missionary journeys, and as he's been traveling in different riots and trials, Ephesus was the city that Paul has spent the most time in of all the cities Ephesus, he has spent about three years total in this city, if you remember Ephesus. Ephesus was a spiritual city, but a spiritually Dark City, false religions and idolatry abounded in Ephesus. But the gospel was being preached. God was changing people's hearts and also, therefore changing the city as it's made up of more and more Christians, and the riots begin to occur because Christianity is affecting the economy of Ephesus and Artemis in this temple, and people are not buying the idolaters trinkets and are visiting the temple of Artemis anymore. And there's a great riot that occurs. You know, the Christians there in Ephesus, they they've grown together.
said to them: Paul actually set up a bit of a seminary in the Hall of Tyrannus and taught there for many years.
said to them: They have wept together in in trials. They have wrestled with the whole counsel of God together, and now Paul has asked the elders of Ephesus to meet with him, and it's interesting, he asked them to meet in Miletus. He doesn't go to Ephesus. And I think maybe one of the reasons why, and this is just a guess, I don't know, but I think maybe Paul knows that if he goes. There, it's going to be hard for him to leave, so he doesn't even quite venture into the city, knowing that he loves these people, and it's so hard for him that he doesn't want to go there. He also is on a mission now from the Holy Spirit to go into Jerusalem, so he doesn't really want anything else to slow him down. He's afraid that if he goes to Ephesus, he'll be tempted to stay. So he calls the elders from Ephesus to meet him in a neighboring city in Miletus, and he tells them that they must be shepherds, that they must be the Watchmen, that they must continue the work. In verse 23 we're told the spirit has constrained, bound Paul to go to Jerusalem. And it is interesting to think about when we first meet Paul. That was Saul of Tarsus. What he was doing, he was hunting Christians. Do you remember when we first met this man? He was hunting Christians.
said to them: And what was he doing? He was binding them, dragging them back to Jerusalem that they might be put to death. And now you see what has happened here. The Holy Spirit has worked in Paul's heart and has now constrained or bound Paul. And where is he going? The Holy Spirit is dragging him back to Jerusalem, where he will proclaim the gospel, but also ultimately lead to his death. Now he does. He knows that he will be imprisoned and he will be bound, but he doesn't run. I know. I think, I don't know. I would guess I might run like Jonah, you know, I would run away if I know that I'm going to the Spirit's calling me to go to a place where I'm going to be beaten and imprisoned again. You think about all the things that Paul has has went through, and you think again, I don't want to do this again. But one of the things that Paul is now teaching his elders, even in going and telling him, telling them what he knows is going to happen, is that faithfulness is even more valuable than life itself, and he's setting them that example we must Be faithful, even if that means giving up our lives.
said to them: And if you look down at verse 24 he will say, but I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, If only I may finish my course and the ministry that I've received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God, Paul is reiterating what Jesus says back in Luke chapter nine. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it to confess Christ means more than simply knowing who Jesus is. It means that Christ, in His life becomes a pattern for our own lives. This is difficult for us, because the pattern of Jesus's life was one of humility and self denial, and we don't want to deny ourselves, and we don't want to be uncomfortable. I want to do what I want to do, and I don't want to be ridiculed. Or persecuted for it. But if we are going to follow Christ, we are bound to feel the pains of giving up worldly things and worldly desires for the gospel. Am I willing, as Jesus says, to take up my cross and to follow Him, not just to talk about him, but to follow Him, to live for him.
said to them: Remember, the cross was a symbol of execution. The cross is a one way ticket to death, and it is in some ways also for us, as we carry and pick up our cross daily, it should indeed be death to my idolatrous heart, death to making my life about me, death to making my ultimate pursuit in this life about money or status or pleasure, that the access of my world must not revolve about around me, but must revolve around Christ. I must be about Jesus. All of my life, my entire life must be about Jesus. You know, if you read about C S Lewis and his conversion, one of the things that so kept him from putting his faith in Christ was the idea that there would be no area in his life that would be his own.
said to them: He knew that by giving his life to Christ every single corner.
said to them: Of it must be given wholly to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, thankfully, the Holy Spirit bound and constrained CS Lewis and he gave his life to the Lord Jesus Christ. But this is true for us. Our whole lives must be given for Christ everything. And it causes us to ask the question is, what kind of life am I leading right now? Does my life reflect a life of self denial or of self indulgence? What do I need to put to death of this day so that I might live for Christ?
said to them: Paul tells them he has sought to leave them this example. He says in verse 18, you yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia. Essentially Paul's telling them what he will also tell the church in Corinth be imitators of me as I am of Christ. And Christ sets the example of humility, humbling himself to the point of death, even death on a cross, and even, as we looked last week, God kept Paul from being conceited, putting a thorn in his flesh, reminding him that his grace is sufficient for him. Paul didn't seek to present himself as the hero in any of his messages.
said to them: When Paul finished preaching in Ephesus, no one walked away, chanting, great is Paul of Tarsus. We are told rather the name of the Lord was extolled.
said to them: All of Paul's messages are not about himself, but about Christ.
said to them: Also talks about his tears and trials with them again, an example that Christ has given.
said to them: He wept even as Jesus witnessed the effects of sin and death in the world. Paul says, I've wept with you as well sin. Tears over our own sin in our own hearts, tears over the lost of those who do not come and what was the message that Paul preached and encouraged these elders with?
said to them: And it's found in verse 20, I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable in teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both the Jews and the Greeks of repentance towards God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
said to them: Now you could have a whole sermon, just about that little sermon right there, but he said, I didn't look upon your faces and determine what you wanted to hear and give you what you wanted to hear. I gave you what you needed to hear. I preach to you what the Scriptures say, come what may. And I'm feeding you all of it. I'm not holding a single jot, a single tittle back. You're getting the whole counsel of God, all of it. We aren't skipping difficult texts or topics. We're not going to talk about favorite hobby horses. We are to preach Christ.
said to them: You know, if we just preach what we want, what we're actually doing is just relying on our own wisdom, rather than God's. We preach the whole counsel of God.
said to them: That is the wisdom of God, not our wisdom, His wisdom. You're not going to get interesting stories and antidotes going to give Christ and Lord. May that be the case here, that we give the whole counsel of God here, because it's all about Jesus, isn't it? And hopefully, if you've been here at Bay haven for some time, you know this from beginning to end. It's all about Jesus, all directing us to salvation in Christ. Notice he mentions repentance towards God and faith in our Lord, Jesus, Christ, repentance of God's grace to us that we might have a sense of our own sin, an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, that we might then turn from our sin and turn to Christ and faith in him that we might again, by the grace of God, rest and receive our Lord Jesus Christ, as he's offered to us in the Gospel. Notice now you know, Paul has been ministering here in Ephesus now for three years, maybe a little bit over.
said to them: But what is the message? Still repentance and faith. You know, isn't that just at the beginning, right? Just you believe and then you just, we move on from that repentance and faith stuff. And Paul is saying, No, the message still now to you is repentance and faith. We have not arrived. The Christian life is marked of repentance and faith. This is what you and I are so called to do this day, to repent of our sin, to see its hideousness in the sight of a holy God. But we have an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, and turn to him and put our faith in Him and rest upon him and receive Him because. That's the only way we're saved. You know, no Paul says we must be holy, and God's going to make us a Pure Bride, but make our lives one of repentance and faith daily.
said to them: There's an urgency in Paul's message here too. He he references himself. He references himself as a watchman on a tower to stay alert and awake if the watchman is alerts the city of danger, and this, the city does not respond. The watchman is innocent of their demise, but if he fails to warn the city of danger and danger comes, he's guilty of their blood because he didn't warn them. And Paul says, I am innocent of the blood of all when you stand before God, Paul says, You can't say, No one warned me. No one told me. And I hope the same is true here, Sunday after Sunday, you have someone up here, whether it's me or not, and Sunday after Sunday, warning, pleading, repent, believe, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. No one can say here, when you stand before God, that no one told you, and then he exhorts them, after setting the example, to be on guard. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock into which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the Church of God, for which he obtained with his own blood.
said to them: First, you must be on guard. You must take the baton, you must be watchmen. And he says, First yourselves, as Peter will say in chapter five of his letter, be sober minded. Be watchful. Your adversary. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Be on guard. We haven't arrived. We are the Church Militant still.
said to them: We are not yet the church glorified. We're still fighting.
said to them: We're still battling. And the battle, ultimately, typically, is often within when you think about all the people in the church who gives you the most trouble, who do you find yourself needing to pray for the most? And if your answer isn't yourself, well, there's probably some self righteousness there that you need to repent of. I give myself the most trouble in this church. Me, I find I need to pray for myself the most in this church. Paul weeps not because of false religion out there, if you notice, he knows that after his departure, fierce wolves will come in among the church and not spare the flock.
said to them: Verse 30 and from among you your own cells will arise, men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them, therefore be alert. Men will arise seeking power and control, rather than being servants, servant leaders of Christ's Church. And Satan wants you to believe you don't need to worry about anything in this church.
said to them: Satan would love for you to think that there's nothing at bay Haven. You have to be on guard about we're reformed.
said to them: We're Presbyterian. What could possibly go wrong here? I could go wrong. You could go wrong.
said to them: There is a lot that can go wrong if we are not on guard. Do you remember Peter went wrong? Peter went wrong, and Peter needed to be corrected by Paul.
said to them: Peter, out of his traditions and fear of man, compromised the gospel. If Peter can do it, I can do it, you can do it. We are not immune from false teaching here. We are not immune from letting our political leanings or cultural norms affect the way we interpret Scripture. Please don't listen just to me be Bereans, open up the word. Know it for yourself. There are many people who are going to hell today because they have simply just. Listen to their pastor and didn't look into the Word themselves. In fact, much of the Reformation was about that itself, that priests and ministers were giving people a false gospel and the people just heard it. But part of the Reformation was getting the Bible into your own hands that you might see, that you might understand Satan would be delighted if all you did was just listen to me, and you kept your bibles closed. Satan wants your Bibles to be closed, and you just listened to people, rather than being in the word yourself. Open up the word, know it, be in it, and Paul will commend them to be in the Word.
said to them: And a little bit later, but I'm not there yet. Pay careful attention, not only to yourselves, he says, but also the flock. The Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, elders, shepherds, this is encouraging. I think, for us who are elders, that the Holy Spirit has appointed you, brothers, it's given us. We are sheep. We are called to care for the sheep. And I think also, as we read this text too, that you can also be thinking about not only caring for yourself, but we are a congregation, that we are to be caring for one another as well. I think that is also an application that you can be, that can be applied to all members here at Bay Haven but why? Why not just myself, why the others? This is GOD's flock.
said to them: This isn't ours, and we are taking care of something that God has paid for with his precious blood. Just want to notice something here that it says it's the blood of God. Wait a second. Does God have blood?
said to them: God is a spirit, right? He doesn't have a body like men.
said to them: What's happening here? Paul, good thing. I got my Bible open because I'm on to you, right?
said to them: What's happening? Well, we confess that the only redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being eternal Son of God, became man and was and continues to be God and man and two distinct natures In one person forever, Jesus, two natures one person. Now these two natures of Jesus, that is, the humanity and divinity, are so inseparable in Jesus, and in such perfect unity in Jesus, that attributes of one nature are sometimes attributed to the other nature in Jesus. If you want to look this up, it's called the communicatio, the Adam, that's the Latin term.
said to them: Don't make me say that again, but what it means is the communication of properties.
said to them: That's why, when Jesus shed his blood, it can be said that God shed His blood, that when Jesus suffered, it can be said that God suffered, that when Jesus died for our sins, it can be said that, in a sense, God died for our sins and and this is really Our hope, because what blood has infinite value. What blood has eternal value. It's not mere man, not even a righteous man. It is the God man. Only his blood could do it.
said to them: Only His blood is powerful enough to cover all of our sins.
said to them: What can wash away my sins? It's not a righteous man's blood, Nothing but the blood of Jesus, because Jesus is God man. Now, why this theology Paul's dumping on us here right in this final sermon, why such a heavy, maybe challenging topic? Well, he's telling you and also reminding the elders why it's so important to watch over yourselves and the church, because God gave the costliest thing he could give in order to purchase his church, God gave the most costly thing he could give in order to purchase you, something of infinite, eternal value was spent to purchase you. Do the blood of Jesus, how does that make you feel? Does not does that might make you feel loved, something of infinite, eternal value was given to purchase me.
said to them: He gave that. He gave that for me. Will he not also then provide for our other needs? Of course, he will. He will give us our daily bread. He has given us His Son. How much more will he freely give us all things he would not purchase US out of Egypt and leave us in the desert to starve. And the final encouragement, Paul leaves them.
said to them: He's not leaving them alone.
said to them: Look at Verse 32 and now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace. Paul doesn't end by saying, now I just want you to remember me. He doesn't simply say, preserve my legacy.
said to them: Their security is not in Paul.
said to them: It's not in Paul remaining their security their future, is not found in Paul's ongoing ministry there in Ephesus, their hope is not in an apostolic charisma or the miracles that Paul would perform. Paul is leaving, but Christ is not. He commends them to God. Jesus remains there with His Spirit. Remember the title of Acts, the continuing works of Jesus, by the power of his Spirit, through His apostles, Paul's leaving, Jesus is not it's God and the word of His grace that continues you to preserve you, to protect you, to usher you onward to glory. Paul is walking away, but he's not leaving them empty handed. He is placing in their hands Christ.
said to them: You have received Christ. I've given God all my sin, and I get the most precious jewel of all Christ, you have Christ, and He reminds them of that. And as a people in possession of Christ, what are we to do? Give? It's more blessed to give than to receive. We are made to be givers, not takers. Even Christ Himself gave his life. We are to give. We're not to trust in our wealth. We're not to trust in goods. We're not to trust in our family. We trust in Christ. And Christ is found in his word.
said to them: This is where I can find more Christ and in the grace of His Word, this is where I can be built up. I need to be in the Bible. How do I guard myself from from these wolves Paul's commends to the word of His grace, be in the word rest in His grace. How can I stop from drifting away into worldliness, commending to the Word of God and His Word and His grace. How can I navigate myself safely home so I don't crash upon the rocks of this world? We need to be in the Word. Do you remember Eutychus last week? He dies, he falls out the window and he dies, and Paul brings him back to life. And you would think the church would just stop and say, Yay, that's wonderful. Paul teach us to do that, but remember what they do immediately after he's raised back from the dead, they continue in the word till the sun comes up. They're back in the word because that's what's important, because the word directs us to Jesus. You know, when an under Shepherd leaves a pasture, the sheep do not panic if they still hear the voice of the chief Shepherd.
said to them: John 10 says, My sheep hear my voice. Paul is stepping aside, but the voice of Christ remains as it is preached and proclaimed through his word. That's why we don't have to be shaken when ministers step down or something else happens in the ministry, because it's not about the man, it's about the Word of God and our great, good shepherd. So Paul finishes his sermon, he kneels and he prays, and they weep. They embrace Luke, who is there. He tells us what hurt the most, and all this in verse 38 being sorrowful, most of all because of the words he had spoken that they would not see his face again. And. They accompanied him to the ship.
said to them: That ache that they had was not because Paul was going to prison or persecution that they might face or uncertainty of the future. It was separation, that ache, if you had that, that ache of separation, and it's painful, because we're not created to be separated. We're made for communion, communion with God and for each other. And it is sin that has brought separation into this world. You know, even at the very beginning in Genesis, when Adam and Eve sin, what do they do? They hide and they separate themselves from God, and sin has brought separation and death into this world. And it is an intruder. It is not right, it is not good, it is wrong. And yet, Paul's separation here, and even his death, is not a tragedy, because this farewell, in fact, is not final. Why? Because Christ is risen. Jesus lives. If Jesus was still in the grave. This would be just a tragic, sad end of a passage, but because Jesus is risen, Jesus is reigning, Paul goes to Jerusalem, he goes to Rome, and he even goes to his death. But it's not the end for Paul. It's the beginning of Paul, where he longs to be in glory and a wonderful reunion.
said to them: Where are the Ephesian elders now? Are they still in Ephesus?
said to them: No, they're with Paul. Guess what? They're seeing Paul's face again in glory as they celebrate with the risen Lord in Glory.
said to them: We've had to say goodbyes, haven't we, and it hurts. It's hard. We have wept. We've stood at grave sites. But for you who are in Christ, those farewells are not forever. Jesus says in John chapter 16. And I think this is fitting, because of you know, we're celebrating some baby showers and burrs recently, and thank the Lord, he's building our church one baby at a time, but Jesus says in John chapter 16, when a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take you, take your joy from you. You see Jesus says, now it's a little while.
said to them: It's a little while. Sometimes it feels like a long while for us, but Jesus says, In a little while, just a little while longer, just a little while longer, and there's going to be no more goodbyes. Just a little while longer. There's going to be no more tears joy, and no one's going to steal it away from you. The Lamb of God will soon gather his blood bought little flock all together, and none will be missing. No one is snatching them out of his hand, and we will have together an everlasting reunion before the throne of God, before the Risen Lamb, who will never leave, who will never forsake his people, and that is the message Paul leaves to his people and leaves to his church, the example of Christ, ultimately, the exhortation to be on guard, and the encouragement You are not alone. Christ is still with us now by the power of his Spirit, and just in a little while, we're all going to go home and have a wonderful reunion together in Christ, because He is risen, because he is risen.
said to them: Let's pray Our Father. We thank you for giving us your word.
said to them: Help us to be people rooted in it and not shaken. Let us be as a tree by the water, bearing fruit in all seasons. But Lord, we get so afraid. Prayed. We get so shaken. Lord, we have many tears. Lord, we know that death and separation, breaking of communion, it's not right, it's not good. It's not how it's meant to be. But Lord, we thank You that You didn't leave us, that you came, that Jesus would, the second person of the Trinity, would take on flesh and die for us, that God's blood would be spilt for us that we might have life, not only now, but everlasting life. Would we long for that day we long for the day where we will be at rest, where we no longer have to be the watchman on the tower of our own hearts, where we will be at perfect rest. But Lord, I do pray that you will guard us.
said to them: You'll help us to be on guard, that you will prevent false teaching from arising in this church, that you will prevent wolves coming in among us. Let us be on guard, Lord. Let us look to you and rest in Jesus, Christ, our Savior. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.