Paul Bids Farewell to Ephesus

Paul reminds the Ephesian pastors of the manner in which he had ministered.

How thankful are you for your relationship with God?

Who was the most vital human instrument in your spiritual training?

Nobody had been more instrumental in the Ephesian’s faith, than Paul.

They had seen and known his character during the 3 years that he lived among them.

Perhaps many of them had been persuaded to Christ because of Paul’s character.

Paul displayed a consistent example of what a Christian should be like.

He was humble.

Humility is something we all need whether we are winning or losing.

When everything is going our way; we need humility.

When everything is going against us; humility will help us have the right perspective.

He had been tender (tears).

Nobody can study the life of Paul and not be convinced of his toughness.

The man was routinely abused and yet he never stopped pushing forward for the Lord.

But, that doesn’t mean Paul didn’t know what it meant to cry.

When friends abandoned him; Paul felt it.

Preachers have feelings too.

When someone rejected the message of the gospel, Paul was sad.

The Ephesians had watched Paul in joy and sorrow.

He had been tested.

The Jews had set traps for Paul over the course of the 3 years he was in Ephesus.

They certainly tried to discredit his teaching.

They may have even tried to disqualify his character.

Paul, though, remained faithful through it all.

He had given them everything he had.

He hadn’t held anything back.

If there was a way for him to help the Ephesians grow closer to God, he did it.

He was also very open about his message and purpose.

Paul didn’t try to hide what he was about or what he believed.

He was transparent with his ministry goals.

Paul reveals to them they will not see him again.

He is on a Spirit-led journey to Jerusalem.

He doesn’t know what will ultimately happen to him.

He does know that in every city the Holy Spirit leads people to warn him that he will suffer affliction.

Paul is not worried about that though.

The threat of affliction does not scare him.

He is ready to give his life.

In fact, he finds joy in the thought of fulfilling his mission.

Regardless of what takes place, Paul knows this is his last time to be with them.

They are his friends and partners in the ministry.

They have preached the gospel together on numerous occasions.

Paul gives them final instructions for how to continue serving God in his absence.

Focus on spiritual health and growth.

For yourselves.

Remember, he is talking to pastors in these verses.

They need to realize that, if they are going to minister to the spiritual needs of others, they must first minister to their own spiritual needs.

This principle applies to anyone in a position of leadership.

You can’t give others what you don’t possess yourself.

For the church.

A pastor has a god-given responsibility to oversee the affairs of a local church.

With this responsibility comes a God-ward accountability that ought to weigh heavily on anyone that undertakes this job.

Keep an eye out for danger; it can come from anywhere.

Wolves from without that will enter in to destroy the sheep.

Danger from within.

People that will try and teach perversions of the truth.

They will draw away disciples from the Lord and the church.

For three years Paul had passionately tried to instill these things into them.

But now that he is leaving, he will no longer be able to help them.

We know that Ephesus wrote Paul a letter for help.

Paul doesn’t know at this point, however, whether he will live or die.

In his absence, he has no other recourse but to hand them over to God.

He commends them to God and the grace of His word.

The absence of a human servant is not an inferior option.

God and His word are able to build up the Ephesians.

They are able to give them an inheritance.

Finally, he challenges them to be generous.

When Paul was with them, the church at Ephesus was just getting started.

As with most churches that are just getting going today, funds were short.

They didn’t have the money to pay a pastor at that time.

Paul knew that he would need to find other means of supporting himself.

Paul was willing to work in Ephesus without compensation from the church.

Instead, he worked a separate job to provide for his own needs.

Paul wants them to follow his example.

They are to use their income to be a help to those that are weaker than them.

Then they will realize the truth in what Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

This had been the theme of Paul’s ministry all along.

He had given them the gospel.

He had given them an example to follow.

He had given them to God.

He had given of his own resources.

In this passage, Luke shows us that church ministry and giving are inseparable.

You can’t have real ministry taking place without people that are willing to give.

We have to be willing to sacrifice and share with the people that we go to church or we won’t minister.

Our church has a great number of true ministers.

I believe that is one of the reasons that God has blessed our church is because of the giving and service of our members toward one another.

We could spend the rest of the day detailing the ways that different church members have served and given to one another.

If we are going to continue moving forward, we are going to need to continue to grow in our ability to grow and serve one another.

At all ages this needs to take place.

Kids to seniors.