Sermon Tone Analysis

Reinvigorating the Elders

Reinvigorating the Elders

, Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.

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, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

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 received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.

Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

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.

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

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.

I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.

You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me.

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.’”

Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.

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, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

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 received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.

Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

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.

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

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.

I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.

You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me.

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.’”

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

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 received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.

Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

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.

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

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.

I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.

You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me.

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.’”

And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, 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.

The Greek word translated “bishop” is episkopos (the source of our English word episcopal).

The bishop is the superintendent, the overseer, or the officer in general charge of the congregation.

In the Bible bishops are also called “pastors” ().

The qualifications of the bishop/pastor/elder are found in

: “Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.

Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.

(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?

He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.

He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.”

Paul also instructs Timothy on the things that exemplify the teaching of a good minister.

Holding a leadership position in a Christian organization does not make one a spiritual leader.

Spiritual leadership is not an occupation: it is a calling.

Only when we understand leadership in light of God’s calling on our lives will we be equipped to lead effectively.

According to the Bible, God is not necessarily looking for leaders, at least not in the sense we generally think of leaders.

He is looking for servants.

, “Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

The Lord saw it, and it displeased him.

He saw that there was no justice.

He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede, them his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.”

God is looking for men who are offended by sin as He is and lead people to His will and His way.

God is looking for kingdom men with a kingdom vision.

But first, He must reinvigorate the elders.

Let us pray…

Now Miletus was an ancient, prosperous, coastal town, about 30 miles (48 km.) from Ephesus.

Paul ‘called, summoned, and sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.

Such forcefully language used here highlights the gravity of the occasion.

Paul calls the elders to so that he might reinvigorate them, refocuses them, and recommit them to their calling.

Calling someone an elder who has not truly been called by God is futile.

Paul understood that you could only form a good leader from the substance of a good follower.

You can only form a good Christian leader from a good follower of Christ.

So Paul was intentional in the choosing of those God had place on his heart.

, And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Paul set an example for them for his own past.

Paul reminds them of his righteous past (20:18–21)

Paul recalls the extent and manner of his ministry at Ephesus for his righteous past.

When the elders arrived at Miletus, Paul first reminded of them of how he lived the whole time he was with them, ‘from the first day that I set foot in Asia.’

Paul states three times in this speech as he appeals to their knowledge and remembrance of the past, using different verbs in Greek to make his point as clear as possible.

Look at his opening words here in verse 18b, which include an emphatic pronoun (hymeis, ‘you yourselves’), Paul says you yourselves know how I lived… suggesting that the elders especially knew what he was talking about and could cite examples.

Being an elder requires a closeness of relationship it requires shared experience of God’s power and leadership.

Pastors and elders must work hard to duplicate this closeness as they are on the battlefield for the Lord.

This phrase the ‘whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia’ is later specified as being three years.

Paul was with them for three years, his longest ministry in one place.

Paul now highlights the manner of his ministry, how he served rather than the content of his teaching: 19, “Serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews.”

Although this speech specifically focuses on Paul’s Ephesian ministry, it recalls also certain features of his ministry in other locations, it also serves as a summary-conclusion to .

So, for example, speaking severe testing by the plots of the Jews, look at , Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles.

When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, and there they continued to preach the gospel.

, But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.

And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.”

In was in such contexts, that Paul doubtless served the Lord as he describes here with great humility and with tears.

This pattern of humble service reflected something of the very ministry of Jesus himself.

, A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.