WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:27.039 So glad to have you join us in worship of our great God and Savior this morning. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:33.119 Please take your Bible or your device one more time and open it to Acts chapter 20. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:36.240 If you are our guest this morning, I want to welcome you. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:41.039 We have been working our way for almost a year now through the book of Acts. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:46.640 And we find ourselves almost to the end of Acts chapter 20. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:53.439 I am being incredibly gracious to you. 00:00:53.840 --> 00:01:03.039 Because the passage that Webb read for us beginning in Acts 20, verse 28, through the end of the chapter, I could pretty much preach one sermon on every verse. 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:04.959 I won't put you through that. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:06.959 No amens? 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:08.400 Hallelujah. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:09.840 Maybe we should do that, Webb. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:10.480 Plan that. 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:12.239 One sermon on every verse. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:13.359 Yes, Nick? 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:14.560 All right, all right. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:15.519 All right. 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:17.040 Start on 28. 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:40.400 Well, 28 is my favorite part of this, but before we get to that, church tradition states that some apostles appointed a man by the name of Polycarp to be pastor of the church in ancient Smyrna, a city that is now part of Ismir, Turkey. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:56.879 Probably over 90 years old, perhaps close to a hundred, Polycarp was arrested by Roman authorities and brought before a tribunal to be charged for being a Christian. 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:04.640 If you don't know the story of Polycarp, I encourage you to find it and read it in its entirety. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:18.400 But because he was an old man, the Roman proconsul sought out some way to be gracious and merciful to this old man standing before him. 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:24.400 Gave him multiple opportunities to renounce his faith, to turn away from Christ. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:34.400 Finally, the proconsul encouraged Polycarp to swear allegiance to Caesar rather than to Christ. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:49.599 And in a statement that is now famous in church history, Polycarp responded, Eighty and six years I have served him, and he has never done me wrong. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:54.319 How then can I blaspheme my king and savior? 00:02:56.159 --> 00:03:03.360 I think Polycarp could have sung with us all that God ordains is right. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:10.080 They were going to tie him to the post before they burned him alive. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:13.439 But Polycarp said no. 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:18.879 He stood of his own free will in the flames until he was consumed. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:36.719 Polycarp was burned alive as a display, as he displayed the kind of faithfulness to God that his predecessor, the Apostle Paul, displayed in his own life. 00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:52.159 We see that expressed here in Acts chapter 20, especially in the middle portion that we studied last week, where in verse 19 he served the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials that came upon him from the plots of the Jews. 00:03:52.240 --> 00:04:07.039 He didn't shrink from declaring anything, no matter where he went, no matter what community he was chased out of, no matter how long he was in prison, no matter how many lashes he received, Paul was faithful to Christ. 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:15.280 Approximately 50 years later, Polycarp displayed the same kind of faithfulness. 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:38.959 In the final segment of Acts chapter 20, here beginning in verse 28, the Apostle Paul passes on this challenge of faithfulness, particularly to the elders of the church in Ephesus, and then by extension to the church in Ephesus, and then by extension beyond that to the entire church, the rest of church history. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:52.959 So as the gospel of God's grace inspired Paul's life, and as it inspired Polycarp's life, God's grace must also guide faithful leaders and churches. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:05:02.240 And I think we see three characteristics of faithful churches and faithful church leaders in this last segment of Acts chapter 20. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:06.160 The first of those is really found in verse 28. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:09.600 Many of these can all be encapsulated in verse 28 alone. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:22.480 But we're going to walk through this and highlight three characteristics of faithful churches and church leaders from these final words of the Apostle Paul. 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:33.759 So we see that when a church is faithful to the word of God's grace, it exists in humble submission to God. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:40.160 That's the first characteristic of a faithful church that we find here. 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:54.639 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. 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:56.800 Do you see the Trinitarian nature there? 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:02.160 Holy Spirit, God the Father, and God the Son shedding his own blood. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:07.120 The church exists in humble submission to God. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:12.240 And that submission has certain qualities, certain characteristics that go along with it. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:17.120 The first one that we see here is that it requires a specific attitude. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:19.199 No, that's not the right one. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:20.720 That's not where I wanted to start. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:22.720 Knowledge is where I wanted to start. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:23.839 Oh well. 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:27.040 You get two for the price of one now. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:35.680 The church exists in humble submission to God, but that submission requires a specific knowledge. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:41.839 What is the knowledge that humble submission to God requires? 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:46.639 Well, very simply, it's that the church is his. 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:54.800 Now that's not hardly the most astounding thing you'll hear today. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:55.839 Maybe it will be. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:06:59.199 Let's put it differently. 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:04.879 Faith Evangelical Free Church is not our church. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:07.120 It's his. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:17.920 Humble submission to the word of God's grace requires the knowledge that the church is his. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:27.120 Possession of the church and any local church, whether it's universal or local, rests in the one who obtained it. 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:30.480 We see this all throughout the New Testament, don't we? 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:36.720 In John chapter 21, verse 15 or 16, Jesus said, We are his sheep. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:41.680 Earlier in the Gospel of John, he said, all of his sheep hear his voice. 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:48.720 Throughout the New Testament, the church at Corinth and other churches, they are called the church of God. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:53.519 The church belongs to him. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:08:07.839 That's why in 1 Timothy 3, verse 5, young Timothy, probably as he's pastoring the church in ancient Ephesus, was told that elders are to care for the church of God. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:17.759 Humble submission to God requires the specific knowledge that it belongs to him. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:22.560 So that means, in one sense, we can relax. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:25.439 It's not ours. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:30.000 It's not ours. 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:34.159 Christ will take care of his own church. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:39.120 He promised that he would build his church. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.519 That means we can relax in one sense. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:57.360 But in another sense, it means that we need to be more diligent because he has called his people together in local assemblies across the world to pursue him and his kingdom work together. 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:12.639 That requires many different people coming together in the unity of heart, mind, and soul that can only come by first grasping that this assembly is his, not ours. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:19.279 So that knowledge is then followed up by a specific kind of attitude. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:29.679 It's an attitude that the scriptures rule, not my preferences. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:38.480 Because it's not my church, but we are his church. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:42.000 It's his word that rules. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:45.759 Now we all have particular tastes, right? 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:49.279 And they sometimes change as we age. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:51.919 Pepsi or Coke? 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:53.519 Should we take a vote? 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:56.480 Lowell's gonna say no, Mountain Dew. 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.120 Casual or formal? 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:07.679 Old school or avant-garde? 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:11.039 King James Version. 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:13.919 Legacy Standard Bible. 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:16.960 Short and quick sermons. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:23.759 I don't know how to read that. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:32.000 Feel good or worshipful? 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:35.679 Entertaining or instructive? 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:37.679 Organ? 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:39.440 Orchestra? 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:40.480 Band. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:45.840 Some would say, ah, I'm good with all those. 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:47.360 I can be flexible. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:56.320 Now preferences are not evil unless they are desires for something sinful and unholy. 00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:03.279 It's okay to like one thing over another, to prefer those. 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:07.200 But preferences are individual, aren't they? 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:14.159 It varies from person to person, from individual to individual, from context to context. 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:31.600 But the difficulty is that when we take one, two, three, four hundred individual preferences and we bring them all into a single assembly, that preference begins to rub up against other preferences, and pretty soon it's no, this is my church. 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:32.639 I've been here longer. 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:36.159 Get out of my seat, that's where I always sit, kind of thing. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:37.120 Right? 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:49.759 Now, on a positive side, those preferences can become collective preferences if enough people sharing the same preferences come together. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:12:02.240 But the church universal is made up of people from all nations, all groups, all languages that are naturally going to have different backgrounds and different preferences. 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:11.279 Now, local churches can be assemblies of people who gather around a preference. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:17.759 Some churches have an evangelistic or an outreach preference. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:21.200 Some have a worship style preference. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:26.399 Some gather around holding to a creed. 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:30.960 And a creed is something like a doctrinal statement. 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:35.759 Creeds can sometimes shift between preferences and convictions. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:40.639 Sometimes they can serve more like a doctrinal statement than a mere preference. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:50.240 But we also have local churches that gather around doctrinal convictions and choose to leave the preferences in the background as much as possible. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:55.039 And some churches form out of preference to a particular leader. 00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:12.159 Here we find the Apostle Paul subtly instructing the Ephesian elders that what they think, what they feel, what they desire, what they prefer must be subject to the word of God's grace. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:14.960 That must be the attitude. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:26.000 Forming a church around my preferences is not an acceptable attitude because the church belongs to whom? 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:30.080 God, not me. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:36.639 And that means it's his preferences that rule, not mine. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.279 Preferences are one of those really sticky things, aren't they? 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.399 Let me just kind of take a rabbit trail here for a minute. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:51.039 I want you to see how easy it is for us to take a step towards preferences. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:57.519 Maybe I've not stirred the pot very much yet, so let's start that process. 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:17.600 The Evangelical Free Church, the which we are a part, has historically been an association of churches that unites on the essentials of the faith and allows a measure of love and graciousness regarding non-essential aspects of the faith. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:39.120 So each church, then, each church that associates with the evangelical free church is bound by the agreed upon essentials of the faith and is free to determine for itself what non-essentials are vital for them. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:49.279 Now, do you see how that takes a small step towards elevating their preferences? 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:51.759 Maybe you don't. 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:57.600 Imagine some concentric circles, a bullseye, right? 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:01.519 Center of the bullseye, then you've got a circle around it and a circle around it. 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:08.799 In the middle, the bullseye, we have the essentials of the faith. 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:16.000 So for argument's sake, let's put the Evangelical Free Church of America statement of faith right at the center of the bullseye. 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:26.720 These are, as best we can discern, the non-negotiables of the faith. 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:33.440 Things like the person of Christ, the doctrine of Scripture, those kinds of things. 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:41.759 Scripture is clear about them, and to be a member church of this association, a church must agree with those essentials. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:47.279 Now, outside of that center are significant non-essentials. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:53.440 Let's say we put another controversial one there: baptism. 00:15:55.360 --> 00:16:00.799 Baptism is not a part of the Evangelical Free Church of America doctrinal statement. 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:06.799 But most would assert that it is a substantial part of faith in Christ. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:09.120 It's a biblical teaching. 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:16.720 Jesus said in the Great Commission, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them. 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:18.639 So it's a significant part. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:24.159 But some churches view it as more essential than others. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:32.159 Some require it as membership in a local church, some require it even to be able to serve in vacation Bible school. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:39.279 But our association, the EFCA, collectively says that's in this outer circle. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:42.559 It's not one of the essentials, it's one of the non-essentials. 00:16:44.559 --> 00:17:01.360 Now, a non-essential is a doctrine or a truth that's expressed or implied by Scripture that doesn't rise to the level of importance or significance in that association doctrinal statement. 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:08.559 So the EFCA says that the place of baptism is not an essential, it's in this next ring perhaps. 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:32.960 So the place of baptism in any local church, whatever place it serves, whatever function it has in the local church, whatever mode of baptism is preferred, is a church-by-church determination, which means they say it's your preference. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:43.279 It's not one of the core things, but a church in our association, as long as they agree to the core thing, they can have a preference out here within reason. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:49.279 And then each concentric circle out from that, the more leeway, more latitude there is. 00:17:50.799 --> 00:18:06.720 But the place of those non-essentials is in part defined by our application of biblical truth to the Christian life and how the church functions. 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:16.480 Nearly every evangelical church would say that baptism is an integral part of the Christian life and it's a central part of church functioning. 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:27.839 But not every church would apply the scriptures in the same way and say, oh no, yeah, you have to be baptized to be a member, or you have to be baptized to serve, or you have to be baptized in this way. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:39.920 Because it rests heavily, the decision of how you how you prefer baptism rests on application of biblical truth. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.839 And application is very varied. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:53.279 So the more that you work into that, the more preference enters in. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:19:01.599 Many elements of theology and especially church function are tied to the application of biblical truths. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:16.880 But when we elevate application and preference higher than scripture establishes, we begin to present the attitude of this is my church and this is how we do it. 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:23.599 Try to tie this back in. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:32.480 A helpful guide might be to imagine Jesus asking us any number of questions. 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:37.839 The brightness of the light. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:47.039 Imagine him asking, oh remind me again. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:48.960 When did I say anything about that? 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:53.599 Can you remind me where I wrote that? 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:56.400 I I'm just not remembering. 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:08.000 If we can't do that, if it's difficult to do that, we get closer to the place of application, and the more we get to application, the more preference can enter in. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:17.279 So this submission requires a specific awe. 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:34.160 Our attitude must be that we are Christ's church and we submit to Christ through the scriptures because we are awed that he obtained us with his own blood. 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:38.160 Nick, I'm going to get close to one sermon on verse 28. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:42.319 Doesn't that just blow your mind? 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:51.759 He obtained us individually, brings us together, assembles us together, and so corporately we are together obtained by his blood. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:53.519 We are his. 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:55.519 We belong to him. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:59.599 This is a key text for the reality of the incarnation. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:02.720 Some people are troubled by this statement. 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:10.640 They just get their philosophical minds all in a quandary, wondering, how could God have blood? 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:15.920 Well, we answer that in evangelical circles very simply, right? 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:20.880 John chapter 1, Philippians chapter 1, God became flesh. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:23.599 God took on flesh and dwelt among us. 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:47.920 Therefore, as Hebrews chapter 9, verse 12 says, because Jesus, the God, eternal God, became man in time and place, he could then enter once for all into the holy places, not by means of blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:59.839 So the writer to the Hebrews emphasized that it was Jesus' blood, it was his own blood, but that it accomplished what only a divine being could accomplish, an eternal blood. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.319 Eternal redemption. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:09.119 This is an orientation for every church. 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:13.119 Paul is leaving these elders for the last time. 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:15.119 They won't see him again. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:23.039 And as he leaves them, he orients their direction to the price of their redemption. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:29.680 As Peter said, we were not obtained with perishable things like silver or gold. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:36.640 But of the priceless blood of a pure lamb without sin. 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:49.119 A proper awe sets our attitudes in the right place and reinforces the proper knowledge needed to function as part of Christ's church. 00:22:49.279 --> 00:23:01.440 And if a faithful church exists in humble submission to God, we must ask if we, Faith Evangelical Free Church, are faithful. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:08.880 Is Faith Evangelical Free Church in humble submission to God? 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:13.039 How do we begin to answer that question? 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:22.160 It begins, I think, not with not with the whole, but with you. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:25.359 Individually. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:27.759 Not with the whole, but with the parts. 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:39.599 Are we a collection of people who individually believe that we are the Lord's sheep? 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:47.200 That he has called us by name and we have heard his voice and have followed him. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:54.319 Do we believe individually that we are his and I'm not my own? 00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:57.680 That our lives are not our own but belong to him. 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:02.960 That we exist and we assemble together for him. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:14.960 A faithful church expresses humility and submitting to God. 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:20.799 A faithful church also expresses, secondly, caring leadership. 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:24.240 Caring leadership. 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:30.559 Again, the Apostle Paul is speaking here to the elders from the church at Ephesus. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:37.920 And he gives them instruction. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:40.960 Pay careful attention. 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:44.480 Be alert. 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:53.599 He gives us some details about this caring leadership. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:56.240 First is that it entails oversight. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:02.799 In verse 17, the Apostle Paul called the elders elders. 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:07.119 Now he calls them in verse 28 overseers. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:16.319 The New Testament uses three primary terms for this group of church leaders: elders, overseers, and another is shepherd. 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:25.119 So shepherd refers to the work, the function that the elders play in the local church. 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:33.680 Elder is, if it has any particular meaning, it's it kind of speaks to maturity in both age and spirituality. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:35.839 The third term is overseer. 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:42.079 And overseer was first Latinized into a familiar word to you, bishop. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:47.200 But that term doesn't help us understand what oversight means. 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:50.400 I'm going to give you a new word to plug into your brain. 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:54.559 Oversight means guardian. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:57.680 Overseer means guardian. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:07.599 It's a term of responsibility and authority that we find reflected in the concept, modern concept, of the word guardian. 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:15.599 Because a guardian possesses the responsibility and the authority to oversee another. 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:19.359 They guard what's been given to them. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:28.880 We might say they supervise in the sense of a supervisor who administers someone or something. 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:37.359 This is why Titus chapter 1, verse 7, calls overseers stewards of God's house. 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:44.880 They take what's been entrusted to them and they steward it, they direct it, they use it, they guide it, they oversee it. 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:49.200 So these elders oversee the church in Ephesus. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:56.720 Every faithful local church has this group of men who function as overseers of God's flock. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:00.079 Maybe there's a small number, maybe there's a larger number. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:08.720 They guard the doctrine of the church, they administer its functioning, and they ensure that it continues in the apostolic teaching. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:16.319 So a church is like sheep without shepherds if they have no elders. 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:23.839 A faithful assembly of believers has a group of men who express caring oversight. 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:27.680 But that care is not just oversight, it's also protection. 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:32.319 Notice that the Apostle Paul warns about wolves. 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:38.960 And not just the warm, cuddly kind of wolf, but fierce wolves. 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:44.960 The kind that are going to rip and tear into pieces. 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:50.880 These wolves are enemies of God's sheep who are intent on devouring the sheep. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:59.839 They don't have any genuine care for the great shepherd, nor do they have genuine love for the great shepherd's sheep. 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:10.319 So the Apostle Paul, as the church planter here, has served for at least three years as the protector of the sheep. 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:14.799 But the next stage of his life is going to prevent him from doing that. 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:24.799 Therefore, the responsibility of protecting the flock from the wolves now falls to elders who oversee and shepherd the flock wherever it gathers. 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:30.160 So, what do these wolves do? 00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:32.799 And what do they look like? 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:39.119 Well, they look, feel, and smell like normal people. 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:46.480 And worse, they look, smell, and feel like everyday Christians. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:52.160 There may be nothing overtly suspicious about them. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:58.240 Sometimes they come from the outside and work their way into the assembly of the sheep. 00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:03.599 But other times, Paul warns they're going to rise up from among you, from within. 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:08.960 And so the elders are not to be alert for what wolves look like. 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:13.440 Because they're going to look normal. 00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:18.079 They are to be attentive for what wolves do. 00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:31.599 Specifically, they speak twisted things that draw disciples of Jesus away from the good shepherd and the apostolic teaching to other interesting things. 00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:41.039 Therefore, the elders are watchful for twisted teaching and people who draw disciples away from the flock. 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:58.240 That's why Paul tells Timothy that an overseer must hold firm to the trustworthy word is taught, so that he may be able to give sound instruction in good doctrine and healthy doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it. 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:07.039 I love to go backpacking in the Rocky Mountains. 00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:09.920 My body doesn't like it much anymore. 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:22.480 It's the same kind of picture here. 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:26.480 That's why he calls on these elders to be vigilant. 00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:30.880 Care requires vigilance. 00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:35.920 He says, be alert, be watchful. 00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:44.799 A faithful church has caring elders who guard against scripture twisting and the sly work of separating believers. 00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:56.079 Have you ever watched one of those movies or videos that that shows a predator going after an animal in a herd? 00:30:58.160 --> 00:31:03.519 Instinctively, they notice the weak, the slow, the sick. 00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:18.400 And instinctively, like a good sheepdog, they know how to just separate that weak, slow, or sick one from the herd until they can take them down. 00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:27.920 Elders are vigilant watchers of the sheep to protect them from being drawn away. 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:36.480 Unfortunately, in our individualistic Western world, too often the sheep don't want to be protected. 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:43.119 They take warnings and directions from vigilant overseers as domineering. 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:46.079 They refuse to listen. 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:50.559 No, we're all sinful people, right? 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:53.119 Hopefully we don't need to be reminded of that. 00:31:53.359 --> 00:32:06.000 We are all sinful people, and so we we hear things that might be directed towards us, and our pride rises up again in us and reacts against, no, I no, I'm not going to go there. 00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:07.440 I'm not going to hear that. 00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:12.160 At the same time, sometimes the care of elders can be domineering. 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:27.279 However, a faithful elder, a faithful church has elders whose care is not continually given over to sin, but is by and large continually vigilant, continually caring. 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:36.880 And so oversight, protection, and vigilance are part of God's faithful responsibility to the overseers that He's given to the church. 00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:43.680 And notice back in verse 28 how the Holy Spirit appoints these overseers. 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:50.880 We love in our congregational churches to have this sense of authority in the congregation. 00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:54.000 Strip that from your mind. 00:32:54.160 --> 00:32:55.680 Whose church is it? 00:32:56.559 --> 00:32:58.079 God's church. 00:32:59.519 --> 00:33:01.519 He orchestrates what happens. 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:04.079 Look what Paul says to these elders. 00:33:04.480 --> 00:33:09.440 Verse 28 The Holy Spirit has made you overseers. 00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:23.039 So the Holy Spirit has decided there are there are certain overseers that he's given to the church who need to be faithful in their responsibility. 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:26.240 They are part of God's gift to his church. 00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:33.599 But it's also what God gives the church for their safety, for their direction. 00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:36.400 That doesn't mean the elders can't err. 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:38.960 Or err, if you prefer. 00:33:39.599 --> 00:33:40.880 But that's where Abraham came from. 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:41.839 That's different. 00:33:43.599 --> 00:33:48.319 A faithful church cares for the sheep. 00:33:50.720 --> 00:33:53.839 A faithful church also expects growth. 00:33:55.839 --> 00:33:57.279 It expects growth. 00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:06.319 And now I commend you, verse 32, to God and to the word of his grace. 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:12.800 Let me just stop there and point you back to earlier in this chapter. 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:26.480 Where the Apostle Paul directed these elders to remember him in verse 24 that he received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:31.119 And now he adds that that is in the scriptures, it is the word of his grace. 00:34:31.519 --> 00:34:33.920 That's what's surrounding all of this. 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:39.840 He's telling these elders, I'm leaving. 00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:45.760 Here's what a faithful church looks like, and it looks like growth. 00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:52.719 Now, unfortunately, in our world, we view growth primarily in a singular way. 00:34:53.360 --> 00:34:55.840 How many people are in the pews? 00:34:56.079 --> 00:34:57.519 How many seats are filled up? 00:34:57.599 --> 00:34:59.519 That's not what he's talking about here. 00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:02.480 That's not the kind of growth that is here. 00:35:02.639 --> 00:35:07.519 First and foremost, this growth is about maturity. 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:15.920 A faithful church will display growth in maturity. 00:35:16.719 --> 00:35:31.599 So the elders, and by extension, the church in Ephesus, is to put into effect the word of God's grace, which is able to build you up. 00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:40.320 Able to build up is a phrase used throughout the Bible to refer to God's building up of his people. 00:35:41.039 --> 00:35:42.480 This is God's work. 00:35:42.800 --> 00:35:43.920 We participate in it. 00:35:44.079 --> 00:35:47.760 We come alongside and say, Lord, fill me with your spirit. 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:49.840 Use me as part of your work. 00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:57.039 Remember, in the context of the book of Acts, this is the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen and ascended Jesus, working. 00:35:58.239 --> 00:36:00.559 The Gospels were just the beginning of his work. 00:36:00.800 --> 00:36:04.719 Acts is the rest of his work, continuing on till today. 00:36:05.280 --> 00:36:13.679 He uses his people to accomplish that, and he gives them the word of his grace, the scriptures, which is able to build you up. 00:36:14.719 --> 00:36:17.519 Scripture is the means of building up. 00:36:17.760 --> 00:36:23.840 His people are built up then into a new house, a new temple, if you will. 00:36:25.119 --> 00:36:27.119 So Paul's going to leave. 00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:35.119 But God's people will continue to have his word. 00:36:35.440 --> 00:36:41.920 They will continue to have the words of Christ, and that word builds God's people up. 00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:44.559 Yes, fellowship is important. 00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:49.840 Yes, sitting down around a table and having a meal together is important. 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:53.440 Yes, worship is integral to the Christian life. 00:36:53.679 --> 00:36:55.599 Yes, we are to make disciples. 00:36:55.760 --> 00:37:06.239 Yes, yes, yes, all of these things, but immersion in the scriptures, the word of his grace is the primary means God uses to build us up in Christ. 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:16.400 Not only does the word of God's grace build us up to live in this world as his temple, but it demonstrates the security that comes with that grace. 00:37:18.159 --> 00:37:24.400 It is able to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:30.000 Are sanctified is probably better translated, have been sanctified. 00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:36.480 It's a work that God has done in the past that has continuing effects and will keep having continuing effects. 00:37:36.719 --> 00:37:40.559 He's saying, you belong to this group, and God has made you into his house. 00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:55.599 He has built you up, he is building you up, he has guaranteed you the inheritance, he has given you the down payment of that inheritance by his spirit because you are part of this group called the sanctified, the set apart ones. 00:37:57.119 --> 00:38:01.519 So scripture then forms a faithful church. 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:04.719 Scripture leads a faithful church. 00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:08.000 Scripture matures a faithful church. 00:38:08.239 --> 00:38:12.000 And Scripture secures a faithful church. 00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:17.840 And all of that is supplied by God's grace. 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:26.559 This begins in Acts chapter 20 with a handful of Gentile elders. 00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:36.639 These elders will return to Ephesus from Paul and pass on what Paul taught them. 00:38:37.039 --> 00:38:50.000 These elders and these young churches would surely miss the Apostle Paul's presence and his leadership, but he reminds them you have something more sure, as Peter would say to the churches in the same general region. 00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:52.880 You have something more sure. 00:38:53.199 --> 00:38:57.519 The prophetic word, which is able to build you up. 00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:01.679 Friends, faithful churches today are no different. 00:39:03.280 --> 00:39:06.800 We have been given all we need for life and godliness. 00:39:07.360 --> 00:39:15.360 A faithful church and faithful church leaders will display that growth in the word of God's grace. 00:39:15.840 --> 00:39:19.679 But a faithful church continues that growth through imitation. 00:39:21.679 --> 00:39:31.679 It seems a little odd in verse 33 that the Apostle Paul makes what seems to be almost a 180-degree turn, just going in a completely different direction. 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:36.000 I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. 00:39:36.960 --> 00:39:42.719 And then he moves into a reminder of how he worked bivocationally to support himself. 00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:49.760 You can look at any number of commentators and they will wrestle with the question of what's he doing here? 00:39:49.840 --> 00:39:50.639 Why is he doing it? 00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:53.280 And personally, I don't see what the trouble is. 00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:55.760 Because he tells us in verse 35. 00:39:56.480 --> 00:39:59.440 He says, I'm showing you an example. 00:40:06.559 --> 00:40:12.079 He first led these elders to see how they ought to be impacted by the word of God's grace. 00:40:12.239 --> 00:40:20.320 Now he leads them to see how they ought to be impacted by him, by his life, by his example, as God's grace has transformed him. 00:40:20.960 --> 00:40:23.199 So what had they been shown? 00:40:23.679 --> 00:40:26.559 And what can we see from the Apostle Paul? 00:40:27.599 --> 00:40:29.119 I think we can see at least three things. 00:40:29.280 --> 00:40:30.719 Number one, don't covet. 00:40:32.639 --> 00:40:37.599 Following Christ is not a path to riches or glory, but to suffering and death. 00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:41.039 That's what taking up one's cross is all about. 00:40:43.119 --> 00:40:54.000 It may be the Lord's will that some receive wealth for the benefit of others and to support the Lord's work, but following Jesus means we keep our eyes on him, not on others or what others possess. 00:40:54.159 --> 00:40:55.280 Don't covet. 00:40:56.239 --> 00:41:00.320 By Paul's example in bivocational ministry, he says, don't be a leech. 00:41:03.760 --> 00:41:09.840 It's proper, Paul told the Corinthian church, for a servant of the gospel to receive his income from the Lord's work. 00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:12.400 But Paul and those with him chose not to do that. 00:41:12.480 --> 00:41:14.480 And they did that for a reason. 00:41:14.800 --> 00:41:20.639 They didn't want to present any kind of stumbling block to anybody who would come to Christ. 00:41:21.119 --> 00:41:24.159 The lesson then is to prioritize the gospel. 00:41:24.320 --> 00:41:26.000 Don't leech off of others. 00:41:26.159 --> 00:41:30.880 That's why Paul said to the Thessalonian church, if a man won't work, don't let him eat. 00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:32.400 Pretty simple. 00:41:32.639 --> 00:41:36.800 If you're not willing to work, you can't come to the smorgasboard of the potluck. 00:41:38.480 --> 00:41:45.599 Following Jesus is not a life of ease, it's a life of commitment to following Christ. 00:41:47.039 --> 00:41:51.760 Paul said to his churches, imitate me as I imitate Christ. 00:41:51.920 --> 00:41:57.039 And that was a pattern given to the Ephesian elders and all leaders since. 00:41:57.519 --> 00:42:01.119 It's a pattern that marks faithful churches. 00:42:01.840 --> 00:42:03.760 But there's one last thing. 00:42:04.559 --> 00:42:09.360 This kind of faithful growth displays affection. 00:42:11.599 --> 00:42:20.079 This is a key element when you put all of this together where these elders are supposed to lead with oversight, with authority, with responsibility. 00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:24.719 They're supposed to correct, they're supposed to protect, they're supposed to be vigilant. 00:42:25.599 --> 00:42:31.599 They do all of that in a way that demonstrates that they care. 00:42:33.199 --> 00:42:35.119 And that can be hard sometimes. 00:42:37.599 --> 00:42:41.360 Notice what happens here in verses 36, 37, and 38. 00:42:43.360 --> 00:42:44.800 They prayed together. 00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:48.000 They wept together. 00:42:49.199 --> 00:42:51.199 And they grieved together. 00:42:54.159 --> 00:42:58.239 A church that grows through a commitment to the Word of God. 00:42:59.599 --> 00:43:03.519 A church that matures in the faith. 00:43:05.360 --> 00:43:14.639 And a church that lives that out together with a focus on the Word of God's grace will show affection for one another. 00:43:17.840 --> 00:43:26.239 Affection, if it isn't shown, is probably because some sheep are pulling away from the flock and are living a life of their own. 00:43:34.880 --> 00:43:37.039 We're not talking about perfection here. 00:43:38.719 --> 00:43:40.800 We're not going to achieve that. 00:43:43.599 --> 00:43:49.599