Untitled Sermon (3)

The Apostle Paul had embarked on his long-anticipated return to Jerusalem. Several decades had passed since his leaving, and he wanted to be home with the mother church for Pentecost. He was a passenger on a merchant ship slowly making its way down the Aegean toward the Mediterranean, stopping at various centers of trade. As the Lord would have it, the freighter stopped in Miletus, which was very close to Ephesus, a layover that lasted for several days. Though he had not planned on this delay, Paul made use of it and sent word requesting the Ephesian elders to come meet with him for a final chat. Paul knew he would never see them again.

This brief interlude in Paul’s stormy life provides us with one of the great farewells of Scripture—equal to, if not surpassing, those of Jacob and his sons, Moses and Joshua, and even Jonathan and David. We can draw upon our own experiences to grasp the pathos of this good-bye—pulling up roots to move to a new city, driving around the block a second time to wave one last farewell, traveling along a trail of tears to a new destination. Good-byes are not only a common part of our experience—they occupy prominent places in history.

Consider General Douglas MacArthur’s departure from the Philippines. In his own words:

On the dock I could see the men staring at me. I had lost 25 pounds living on the same diet as the soldiers, and I must have looked gaunt and ghastly standing there in my old war-stained clothes—no bemedaled commander of inspiring presence. What a change had taken place in that once-beautiful spot! My eyes roamed the warped and twisted face of scorched rock. Gone was the vivid green foliage, with its trees, shrubs, and flowers. Gone were the buildings, the sheds, every growing thing. The hail of relentless bombardment had devastated, buried, and blasted. Ugly dark scars marked smouldering paths where the fire had raged from one end of the island to the other. Great gaps and forbidding crevices still belched their tongues of flame. The desperate scene showed only a black mass of destruction. Through the shattered ruins, my eyes sought “Topside,” where the deep roar of the heavy guns still growled defiance, with their red blasts tearing the growing darkness asunder.…

Darkness had now fallen, and the waters were beginning to ripple from the faint night breeze. The enemy firing had ceased and a muttering silence had fallen. It was as though the dead were passing by the stench of destruction. The smell of filth thickened the night air. I raised my cap in farewell salute, and I could feel my face go white, feel a sudden, convulsive twitch in the muscles of my face. I heard someone ask, “What’s his chance, Sarge, of getting through?” and the gruff reply, “Dunno. He’s lucky. Maybe one in five.”

I stepped aboard PT-41. “You may cast off, Buck!” I said. “When you are ready.”

If we read Acts 20:17–38 with a sterile detachment, we deprive ourselves of the life and resulting benefit of the passage. The image called to mind by Paul’s meeting with the Ephesian elders is that of a group of soldiers still soiled by the dust and blood of war, drawing together with their revered general for some final wisdom.

The Apostle’s Commitment to Ministry

Verses 18–27 describe four aspects of Paul’s approach to ministry.

1. First, Paul’s approach was based on an unshakable commitment to God and his people.

When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews.” (vv. 18–19)

Commitmentmeans different things to different people. Consider the young man who waxed eloquent as he poured out his heart’s devotion in a letter to the girl of his dreams, saying, “My dear, I would climb the highest mountain, swim the widest stream, cross the burning desert, die at the stake for you. P.S. I will see you on Saturday if it doesn’t rain.” Paul was not like that! Totally committed to his fellow believers, he was determined to seek their best “the whole time.”

Moreover, he so identified with his people that it hurt.

“So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (v. 31)

This was typical of Paul wherever he served. To the Thessalonians he wrote:

We were gentle among you, like a mother tenderly caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our own lives as well because you had become so dear to us. (1 Thessalonians 2:7–8)

Paul was an all-weather promise keeper! His commitment to them was driven by the conviction that in serving people he was serving God: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you.… I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews.”

2. The second aspect of Paul’s approach to ministry was a commitment to sharing God’s Word.

“You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” (vv. 20–21)

Sharing God’s Word presupposes knowing God’s Word. Henrietta Mears has testified that one of the major influences in her life was Dr. William Evans, the father of Louis Evans, Sr., honored pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian in Hollywood, California. She stated that “Dr. William Evans had the complete Bible memorized in the King James Version and the New Testament also in the American Standard Version. The young people would delight in giving him passages from either version to quote from memory.” Similarly, F. W. Robertson memorized the entire New Testament in English and most of the Greek New Testament. Campbell Morgan’s ministry began to prosper after he sequestered himself for two years with his Bible. Is it any wonder these men had such indepth impact on the lives of others?

Paul too was immersed in the Word of God. More than that, he was dauntless in its proclamation. “I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God” (v. 27). Because he could not be intimidated, he “did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable” (v. 20, nasb). He majored on the themes of “repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 21, nasb). Paul did not preach an easy-believism but rather the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation, which results in a changed life. Paul’s ministry was based on the intrepid proclamation of the whole counsel of God, regardless of the consequences.

3. The third aspect of Paul’s approach was a commitment that transcended his concern for self.

“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.” (vv. 22–25)

Whether or not it was the Lord’s will for Paul to go to Jerusalem, he felt he had to go, even though he knew there was going to be trouble that might even cost him his life. A commitment to Christ that superseded self-interest had been the pattern of his life ever since his Damascus conversion when Christ told Ananias, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (9:16).

This same commitment was beautifully evident in the life of James Calvert, a young pioneer missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands. En route the ship captain, a humane man, tried to dissuade him, finally crying in desperation, “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages.” Calvert calmly replied, “We died before we came.” Karl Marx’s remark that “a Communist is a dead man on reprieve” is simply a base parody of this primal Christian principle.

We should be determined to finish the course whatever the cost. A man or woman who never does anything except what can be done easily will never do anything worth doing at all. Think of what such an attitude means to the church! Think of what it means to the missionary enterprise! Undoubtedly cheeks began to flame and eyes to gleam as Paul’s comrades-in-arms listened to his gospel passion.

4. The fourth plank in Paul’s approach was a commitment that produced a sense of well-being and a clear conscience.

“Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” (vv. 26–27)

This is amazing! Paul had been accused of being a craven coward, a freeloader, a blatant opportunist and everything in between. And yet he could say, “I am free from the misery of a guilty conscience. Nobody’s blood is on my hands!” How many of us can say that?

The Apostle’s Advice to Fellow Soldiers

Paul’s initial advice was to be vigilant in ministry.

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (vv. 28–31)

Ephesus was at that time a healthy church, but Paul gave a much-needed warning. In fact, some thirty-five years later the risen Lord Jesus told them:

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. (Revelation 2:4–5)

Paul recommended a three-pronged vigilance. First, we must be on guard for perils within our own hearts: “Keep watch over yourselves.” In Lewis’s words, “The true Christian’s nostril is to be continually attentive to the inner cesspool.” We must never suppose that we have risen above some particular sin or have attained immunity to various temptations but must always be on our guard.

Second, we must be on guard for perils from without: “savage wolves will come in among you.” Heretics, cults, secularists, and other spiritual enemies attack healthy churches, not weakened and obsolete ones.

Third, we must be on guard for perils from within the flock—“Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth.” Satan loves to subvert from within. Vigilance is ever the price of liberty.

We must not develop a fortress mentality, assuming all to be well, for enemies are to be found both outside and inside the flock of God. History proves this to be true.

Paul also advised the Ephesian elders to live their lives by the grace of God.

“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (v. 32)

We are to focus on the heart of God’s Word, “the word of his grace.” Paul was commending the simple gospel—the doctrine of God’s love and undeserved kindness. We must focus on grace!

’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

Paul’s final advice was to approach the ministry with a giving attitude:

“I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” (vv. 33–35)

Notice that Paul’s last recorded words to the Ephesian elders were a quotation from the Lord Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Beautiful!

This summarizes everything Paul said to his fellow warriors. In a nutshell, their ministry was to be one of giving. Paul gave himself to God and his people. He gave himself to the ministry of the Word. He gave himself with such intensity that he forgot himself. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship. (vv. 36–38)

Paul sailed off to keep giving his life to Christ, thus providing us with an example of how we should approach life and ministry.

Prayer

O God, help us each to fully understand how to know and serve you, how to be faithful no matter what the cost, how to remain on our guard against the enemies of truth and of our souls. May our commitment not be one merely of words, but of heart resolve and unswerving love for you and your Son and your Spirit. May we emulate the apostle even as he emulated the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.[1]

[1] R. Kent Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1996), 275–281.