Final Farewell

We're continuing our study in the Book of Acts here at Cross Connection, and we're looking at Acts chapter 20. These are Paul's final words to the Ephesian elders that he had raised up in the city of Ephesus. The words in this passage, from Acts 20:17 through the end, are powerful and have great application in our lives as Christians and followers of Jesus. So, open your Bible to Acts 20; I think you'll be blessed. God bless.

Luke writes that from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. When they had come to him, he said to them, "You know from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. I kept back nothing that was helpful but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."

"See, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more."

"Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the Church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves."

"Therefore, watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those that are sanctified."

No one's silver or gold or clothing. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who are with me. I have shown you in every way that by laboring like this, you must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

When He had said these things, He knelt down and prayed with them all. Then they all wept freely and fell upon Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. They accompanied him to the ship.

Lord, we recognize that Your Word is living and powerful. God, that Your Word is useful for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, that we, Your people, would be thoroughly equipped, ready for every good work.

So, God, we pray as we open Your Word today that You would work in us, that You would transform us by the renewing of our minds. Lord, that You would sanctify and cleanse us by the washing of the water of Your Word, that when we leave from here, we would be different. In some way, we would magnify You to a greater extent as we go to wherever we will go this week—tomorrow to work, to school, wherever we are. Lord, transform us today, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, "Amen."

You can be seated. If you had just one more opportunity, one more chance to have a conversation with your loved ones, with your family, with your friends, what would you say? What would be a part of those words? If you knew that tomorrow would be the last opportunity that you would speak with them, how would you prepare to talk with them?

Would you take time to prepare? Would you be deliberate in what you would say, or would you just wait until the moment and kind of speak off the cuff, extemporaneously? Would you just say whatever came to mind, or would you actually set aside some time today to put some thought into it about what exactly you wanted to speak to them?

What if those people that you're going to speak to are not only your loved ones, but they're the ones who are going to carry on the work that you started after you're gone?

This section, Acts 20:17-38, reflects the situation that Paul was in during his life and ministry. He is fully aware, as he comes to this meeting with a group of people from the city of Ephesus, that this is going to be his last opportunity to speak with them. It is not only his last time to share his heart with them, but very likely the last time he will ever see most of those people. While some may visit him at a later time in the book of Acts, for the most part, this is it.

Prior to this point, Paul spent three years with this group of individuals from Ephesus, instructing them, discipling them, and raising up leaders from the gathering of the church in that city. During this period, on Paul's third missionary journey, some of these individuals were going out and planting churches in other places on the peninsula of Asia Minor. The churches mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3 are the churches of Asia Minor that were planted during Paul's third missionary journey.

This section of Scripture provides significant insight into how Paul ministered and led groups of people. As I have been examining this passage over the last couple of weeks, I have realized that verses 17 through 38 of Acts chapter 20 could be studied in depth. We could spend three or four weeks going through this passage, and I have actually heard some Bible teachers do just that. I have listened to studies in the past where they break this apart thoroughly.

However, I had to remind myself that this is a conversation Paul had at one time; it is not a long teaching. In fact, we read through the whole thing just a moment ago, and it only takes about two and a half minutes to read. There are less than 500 words in Acts 20:17-38. As I prepared to teach through this passage, I kept reminding myself that this is not something that went on and on. The temptation could be to study it for several weeks and dig deep into it, but I had to keep in mind that Paul spoke this briefly as he was preparing to depart. It is as if Paul has a very short layover in the city of Miletus, and he has some people to address.

Visiting him while he is there, Paul doesn't have a lot of time, and he is on his way back to Jerusalem. As we saw in our study last week, Paul has made it a point to get to Jerusalem by the Feast of Pentecost.

Look at Acts 20:6 and Acts 20:16. For Paul had decided to sail past the city of Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia. He has already spent three years in the city of Ephesus, the chief city of Asia Minor. Now, he is leaving. He has left Ephesus, gone back to the church of Macedonia, and visited the churches of Greece, particularly the city of Corinth. He has been receiving an offering for the saints in Jerusalem, and now he is heading back to Jerusalem.

His whole plan is to be in the city of Jerusalem on the feast day of Pentecost. Over the next several weeks, as we go through the book of Acts, we will see more about why Paul was so insistent on being in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. There are reasons compelling him, pushing him to get to the city at that time.

Since he doesn't have a lot of time, he knows he has many connections and relationships built over the three years he spent in Ephesus. Therefore, he strategically makes it a point not to stop in the city. If you look at a map at the end of your Bible, you can see the journeys of Paul. He passes the city of Ephesus and goes to a city about 30 miles to the south, the city of Myus.

He sends one of his companions—he has eight different traveling companions with him at this point, including Luke, Timothy, Trophimus, and Titius, whose names are mentioned in Acts 20:3. He sends one of his guys to go up to Ephesus, a day's journey if you're walking quickly, to say, "I need the elders here in the city to come down to Myus because Paul needs to speak with you."

He is summoning these church leaders in whom he has invested over the last three years. This gives us insight into the ministry of the early church and the ministry of the Apostle Paul. We see that there were ordained elders, leaders, and overseers in the city of Ephesus, which was always Paul's goal when he would plant a church.

Whether it was in the city of Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Philippi, Thessalonica, or Corinth, wherever he was planting a church, his goal was to see people from that city, native people of that region, raised up to be leaders of the church. He wanted each church that was planted to have native leadership, ensuring that it would be self-governing and self-supporting. He didn't want the church to rely upon him.

Even though he had spent a long time in the city of Ephesus, his goal was clear: this was not going to be his home. He was a missionary, an ambassador, on a mission to take the gospel to other people. He wanted to go where no one had gone before with the gospel of Christ. This is exactly what he expresses in Romans chapter 15, where he states his desire to go where no one has spoken the words of Christ. From the very day he set foot in the city of Ephesus, he knew he would not be there forever.

He probably hadn't planned on being there for three years; that was likely longer than he had anticipated. However, his point was to raise up elders. When you study through the book of Acts and the letters of the New Testament, you see that there were at least two offices of leadership within the early church that the early Christians ordained or set in place. There were deacons, which comes from the Greek word "diakonos," meaning servants, ministers, or even slaves in its most extreme definition. There were people in the body of Christ who were diakonos—deacons, servants—men and women serving within the body of Christ.

Out of that group of servants, there was another group called overseers or elders. They were the ones who oversaw the flock of God and the ministry of God in whatever context and city. Paul had established a group of elders in the city of Ephesus, and now he wanted these men to come to him because he needed to share with them some final words and exhortations.

We read in Acts 20:8 that when the Ephesian elders had come to him, he said to them, "I have some final words to speak to you." It is interesting to note that just prior to this, in our last study in Acts, we saw that Paul was in the city of Troas for seven days. On the last day he was there, he spent 24 hours teaching, roughly all night long. Now, he calls the Ephesian elders to come to him; he doesn't even go to them.

You need to come to me, and he only speaks about 485 words to them. I spent six days in Traz and 24 hours teaching them with my final words, and now I'm going to spend 485 words with you. I'm going to spend two and a half minutes sharing with you just before I get on this boat. I'm getting ready to go; I have somewhere to be. I've got to leave, but these words are important.

Here, he has this small little message, and maybe he said more than this, but Luke only recorded the high points, the bullet points of this message, which are very important. Hopefully, we'll get through all of it today. If we don't, we'll finish up with it next week. Paul says, "Here are the things I need you to know as you're going to oversee this group of people in the city of Ephesus." Paul knew that the church at Ephesus was going to have a strategic position in seeing other churches planted. He says, "I have some things that I want you to recognize, you leaders of the church, you overseers who are going to carry on the work that God began through me there in that city."

There are three points that we're going to see in this message that Paul speaks here. They are listed as Roman numeral I, II, and III on your outline in your bulletin.

Number one, Paul is going to show them or speak to them about the elders. He is going to say, "Your knowledge of my past character." He reminds them in this conversation, in this message, of how he had lived among them. Notice there in Acts 20:8, it says, as he is speaking to them, "You know from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I always lived among you." He says, "I'm going to remind you about my past conduct."

After he talks to them about his past conduct, he is going to speak to them about their awareness of his present circumstance. "You know how I lived when I was among you. You know what I'm facing right now. You know what's happening in my life at this moment." Then he is going to finish with point number three: an application for their future leadership. "How does this apply to you now in the city of Ephesus?"

Paul's past character, when he was with them for three years, was something they observed, they saw, and they knew. Then he is going to talk about his present circumstances—what he was facing at that moment in his life and how he was handling it. He says, "All of these things that you've seen in my past, that you're observing right now in my present, have application for your future."

Future, how you're going to live, how you're going to lead, how you're going to serve Christ.

Point number one: their knowledge of Paul's past character. Look at verse 20 again with me. When they had come together to him, he said to the Ephesian elders, "You know from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility."

Letter A on your outline says Paul's humility in service. The first thing that jumps out to us in verse 18 is that Paul says, "I always lived among you." He lived among them even though he was called the Apostle Paul. By the time he had come to the city of Ephesus, he had planted churches in almost a dozen different locations. He was looked up to as a great leader within the early church, and God had done miracles through his ministry. There were so many great things that could be said about the Apostle Paul, yet he says, "When I came to you, I lived among you. I never lived above you. I never lorded my authority and position over you."

This is exactly what Jesus taught his disciples. He said in the Gospels that the leaders of this world lord their authority over those beneath them, but not so with you. If you're going to be great in My Kingdom, you need to be the chief servant. Paul reminds the elders and overseers of the church in Ephesus that they know his humility and service. They saw that when he came, he always lived among them and served the Lord with all humility.

Why is this important? Well, because this group of men that Paul is speaking to now has a title. They had probably been brought before the believers in the city of Ephesus, and Paul had likely laid hands on them, saying, "These are your leaders, these are your overseers, these are your elders." Just getting a title, as some of you know, can be a very heady thing. Paul was called by God to be an apostle. Now, I don't think any of us in this room today have the title of Apostle attached to our names, but if we did, you can be guaranteed that you'd be tempted to have a fat head. If God ever used you to cast a demon out of someone or raise someone from the dead, which Paul just did in the last section we looked at, it could easily lead to pride.

You would be exceedingly tempted to have a fat head. Paul comes in here and says, "Listen, you know when I came to you that I was humble in the way that I served Christ. I was a servant of you; I was a servant of Him, and I lived among you."

The first thing we see here is Paul's humility and service, which is important for anyone who is going to be in leadership. He reminds these leaders, who have a title, that he serves the Lord in humility. Paul considered himself, when he looked at himself in the mirror of God's Word, to have a right recognition of who he was. In First Corinthians 15:9, he says, "I am the least of the Apostles." He goes a step further when he writes to the church at Ephesus. Later on in Ephesians 3:8, he says, "I am less than the least of all the Christians." He uses the word "saint," but that word simply means a Christian. He states, "I am less than the least of all the Christians. I'm the least of the Apostles, the less than the least of all the Christians."

Later in his life, in First Timothy 1, he says, "I am the chief of all sinners." Paul had a correct view of who he was; his value came from the fact that he had Christ in him, this treasure in an earthen vessel. He knew that all he was, was by the grace of God. In First Corinthians 15:10, Paul says, "By the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. I am only special because God has placed His grace upon me."

Paul continues in Acts 20:19, saying, "I serve the Lord with all humility." The next thing he mentions is "with many tears." In verse 19, he speaks of "many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews."

Now, let's look at Paul's handling of suffering. He says to the leaders there at Ephesus, "You know my humility in service; you saw the way that I served in humility. You know that I handled suffering in a right way." What do we know about this? Turn in your Bibles to Second Corinthians chapter 1.

It is important to recognize, as you are turning there, that Second Corinthians was written at the end of Paul's time in Ephesus, right as he was finishing that three years of being there.

In Ephesus, he writes this letter, 2 Corinthians, and notice what he says about his time in Asia. Ephesus was the chief city of Asia Minor. In 2 Corinthians 1:8, he states, "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia." He emphasizes that he does not want the people in Corinth to be unaware of the trouble they faced in Asia, where they were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so much so that they even despaired of life.

Now, recognize this; to me, it is powerful. I don't know about you, but I look up to the Apostle Paul. I know that he was just a man, a sinner saved by grace. I recognize that, aside from the fact that Christ did awesome things through him, he is nothing, and Paul would agree with that. However, there is a way in which we almost deify the Apostle Paul and fail to recognize that he was subject to the very same discouragements and hardships that you and I are.

At this point in Paul's life, when he was in the city of Ephesus, he was so persecuted and troubled by those who were trying to destroy him and the work he was doing, primarily from the Jewish synagogue there in Ephesus. He states that he and his team came to a point where they even despaired of life. This powerhouse of the faith seemed to be on the verge of having suicidal thoughts because of how troubled he was and how difficult the work was. They despaired of life, acknowledging that they had the sentence of death upon themselves, so that they should not trust in themselves but in God who raises the dead.

Paul handled that trouble and suffering in the right way. Why? Because he recognized that God was using it in his life to bring him to a place where he would completely trust in God and not in himself. Paul understood that suffering could be used by God in our lives.

I know there are some people today who use the Bible to claim that Christians never suffer. However, Paul's life is a poor testimony to support that argument. There are Christians who assert that if you are a real Christian, you never suffer. If that is true, then the Apostle Paul was not a real Christian, because he suffered. He recognized that his suffering was being used in his life to bring him to a place where he would trust more in God.

Jesus handled suffering in the right way. What was the result of this suffering, this burden that caused them to even despair of life? Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. In verse 10, Paul writes, "who delivered us from so great a death and who does deliver us." He says God delivered him in the past and will deliver him in the future.

Paul knew how to handle suffering, but he wasn't false in the way he presented it. He didn't walk through suffering saying, "Yeah, everything's fine. I'm okay." Sometimes we think we have to put on this appearance and say, "I'm just fine," even though we might be dealing with significant loss, like the death of a spouse, losing a house, or losing a job. In America, we often feel the need to pretend that everything is okay. Paul, however, was honest; he despaired of life, but he handled it in the right way.

He says to the Ephesian elders, "You watched; you were there when these things that were being written to the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 1 were happening to me in the city of Ephesus." Paul continues in verse 20, saying, "You saw how I kept nothing back that was helpful." The New Living Translation states, "I did not shrink back from telling you what you needed to hear."

In this context, we see Paul's helpfulness and sacrifice. He emphasizes that he did not keep anything back from them, specifically regarding how he taught the Word. He never shrank back from telling them what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. He understood what was helpful for the people in Ephesus, even if it might hurt his reputation or diminish his following. He was willing to say the hard things, even if it meant sacrifice on his part.

To the Corinthians, he stated in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, "I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved." He expressed his willingness to be offered as a sacrifice for their faith. Paul concluded by saying, "Whatever is helpful, I'll speak it to you." To the church leaders at Ephesus, he urged them to keep this in mind.

In mind, I was willing to speak hard things to you, even if it meant my reputation or my following would be diminished. They were going to be the ones to carry on the work, and they needed to maintain that as well.

Number four, letter D on your outline: Paul's honest stance, or you might say his unhypocritical stance. At the end of verse 20, it says, "How I kept nothing back that was helpful, but proclaimed to you and taught you publicly and from house to house." I preached to you publicly and from house to house.

What do we see here? We see that the Apostle Paul was honest in his declaration of the truth. He did not have one message for the church behind closed doors and another message that he spoke out in public when he was speaking to pagans and people who didn't believe. He didn't have a watered-down message for unbelievers and a really strong message for those that were committed to the faith. His message was the same; he had an honest stance, an unhypocritical stance in his declaration of the truth.

The temptation is to be one way in front of one group and another way in front of another group. Here in our technological age, it becomes very hard for people to do this. We've seen this in political campaigns, haven't we? It's much harder in our day for politicians to say one thing to one group of people, maybe in the South, and then say another thing to another group of people up there in the Northeast, and then to say another thing to another group of people out in the Southwest. You can't have a different message. Presidential campaigns know this; candidates recognize this to their shame. You have to be consistent, and Paul recognized that the easiest way to deal with this is to be the same.

To be the same in private as I am in public, from house to house and publicly, I said the same thing. I didn't keep anything back from you—his unhypocritical stance.

Continuing on to verse 21, "Testifying to Jews and also to Greeks."

Letter E on your outline: Paul's healthy simplicity. Not only did Paul proclaim the same message publicly that he did privately, but he also was not a respecter of persons. He speaks to the elders, the leaders of the church at Ephesus, and reminds them of how he lived. He says you cannot be a respecter of persons, although most of you he was speaking to were Gentiles from the city.

Of Ephesus, he says you need to maintain a stance in your lives that you have a healthy simplicity and that you're not a respecter of persons. Paul was not xenophobic; he was not ethnocentric, meaning that he only identified with one small group of people that he could relate to, and he only ever talked with them. There is a temptation for us to do that. There is racism, there is ethnocentrism, and there is xenophobia that exists in every single heart. Yet, in Christ, there is no Jew or Gentile, no barbarian or Scythian. Who told us these things? The Apostle Paul, as inspired by the Spirit of God.

He says to the elders, the leaders at the church of Ephesus, that in your preaching, in your teaching, in your oversight, and in your evangelism, you cannot be double-sided. You have to be able to speak to anyone, recognizing that all men, all women, all people need the gospel. Whatever color their skin is, whatever language they speak, all people need the gospel. Paul says, "I testified to Jews and also to Greeks."

Continuing on at the end of verse 21, what was it that he testified? Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Letter F on your outline is Paul's hold on the Scriptures. He reminds the Ephesian elders that he preached repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Look down at verses 26 and 27: "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men." Why? "For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God." I kept nothing back. I testified to Jews and also to Greeks. I spoke the same message: repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

Finally, down in verses 33 and 35, Paul says this: "I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothing. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and not for my necessities only, but also for those who have been with me." I have shown you in every way that by laboring like this, you must...

Support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Point number seven: Paul's honorable style. As he gathers with the elders at Ephesus, he brings in these men who are going to continue the work that he started. He says, "Listen, if you're going to continue this work, you need to remember how I have been with you. You need to remember my humility in service. You need to remember that if you're going to do this work, you're going to suffer, and you need to handle that suffering in the right way. You need to be helpful towards people, sacrificing if need be. You need to be unhypocritical and honest in your position and your stance. You need to have a healthy simplicity. You need to have a grasp on the Scriptures, and you need to maintain the same honorable style. You're not in this work to get something."

Much later, when Paul would write to two of his disciples, at least one of them was with Paul when he wrote or spoke these words on the shores of Miletus—Timothy. Paul would later write to Timothy and Titus, saying to them, "Listen, you're going to plant a church; you're going to ordain elders." Titus, on the island of Crete, and Paul, as you are there in that city that I left you in, in Ephesus, later says to Timothy, "You need to establish elders."

In Titus Chapter 1 and in 1 Timothy Chapter 3, Paul gives the qualifications of elders. One of the things he says to both of them is that they cannot be greedy for money, or else they will be seduced by the temptation of the enemy. Sadly, there have been people who have come into the work of Christ who are greedy for money. Paul says, "You know my pattern of life as I was with you. You know my past character; I had an honorable style. I was not greedy for money."

As he gathers the Ephesian elders to himself, in the final words that he speaks to them, he says, "Guys, remember my past character. Remember how I was as I lived among you. Take this to mind; follow my pattern as you lead, as you oversee, as you are an elder there in Ephesus or whatever God calls you to do. Remember my past character."

Secondly, their awareness of Paul's...

Present circumstances bring to mind Paul's current situation. We will run through these rather quickly.

Under point two, we have their awareness of Paul's present circumstances. In verse 22, he says, "See now, I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem."

Letter A on your outline is Paul's faithfulness to the Spirit. He states, "I go bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem." The word "bound" means that he is under obligation to the Spirit of God. Paul recognized that he was a servant of Christ. One of the ways he identified himself was as a bondservant of Christ; that is, he was a slave by choice. He says, "I am bound; I am chained to the Spirit of God. I am under obligation to do what He calls me to do, and He has called me to go to Jerusalem." Therefore, he is going bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem. He was faithful to do what the Spirit of God was directing him to do.

Number two is Paul's faithfulness in uncertainty. In verse 22, he continues, "I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there." He is going in this direction without knowing where it will lead. He is not sure exactly what will happen, but based on his previous experiences, he knows that there might be some difficult things awaiting him. Nevertheless, he goes bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem, even though he does not know what will happen. He maintained faithfulness despite the uncertainty of what lay ahead.

Letter C is Paul's faithfulness in the face of suffering. In verse 23, he states, "I go bound to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city that I go to that chains and tribulations await me." When he stopped in Traz, when he stopped in Midling, and in each one of these cities, including Philippi and Corinth, they warned him not to go to Jerusalem. Why? Because the Spirit of God was speaking, and there was a prophetic word that chains and tribulations awaited him. Paul affirms his faithfulness to the Spirit of God, stating that He told him to go to Jerusalem. He remains faithful even though he is uncertain about what will happen there, and he is faithful in the face of everything he knows is coming.

Going to suffer at Jerusalem, and notice what he says in verse 24—perhaps the most powerful words of the entire passage, if not the most powerful words of the Book of Acts: "But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself." Everywhere I go, Spirit-filled Christians are saying, "Don't go to Jerusalem; chains and tribulation and persecution await you there." They were speaking truth; it is true that that is what awaited him at Jerusalem. He says, "I'm going bound; I'm uncertain," because none of these things move me.

Paul's faithfulness in the face of suffering is evident. Then, letter D: Paul's faithfulness to finish well. "None of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself." Why? "So that I may finish my race with joy." About ten years after Paul spoke these words, around March of the year A.D. 58, he would be in a prison in the city of Rome, awaiting his execution. They were going to behead him, and he knew that he was perhaps even just days from his persecution. He wrote his last words, his final words to Timothy, who was with him on the shores of Myus when he said these things. In Second Timothy, he states, "I have run the good race; I have fought the good fight, and there is now laid up for me the crown of righteousness." This reflects his faithfulness to finish well.

Letter E: Paul's faithfulness to the ministry. At the end of verse 24, he says, "But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus." He wants to finish the ministry he received from the Lord Jesus. On the road to Damascus, when he came into the city of Damascus, he was told, "You will be an apostle to the Gentiles; you will be my ambassador to carry the gospel to people who have not heard yet." He expresses his desire to be faithful to finish the ministry that he received from Jesus.

What exactly was that ministry that he received from Jesus? Well, letter F: Paul's faithfulness to proclaim the gospel. "None of these things move me, nor..."

Do I count my life dear to myself, that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus? I want to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Just about a month before Paul spoke these words on the shores of Miletus in March of A.D. 58, he sent a letter to the city of Rome that began this way: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

He says, "I will be faithful to the Spirit of God, even if it is in uncertainty, even if it means certain suffering, because I want to finish well. I want to finish the ministry. I want to finish preaching the gospel."

The final point, and then we are done, is the application to the future leadership of those at Ephesus. Paul says, "You have seen my past character. You have seen my humble simplicity. You have seen my honesty. You've seen my humility and my handling of suffering. You have seen all of these things in my past. You see my present: I am going into uncertainty to certain suffering there in Jerusalem, but I want to be faithful to the ministry. I want to be faithful to the Spirit. I want to be faithful to preach the gospel."

He says this is how you at Ephesus need to apply this in your lives as Christians and as leaders.

Two points:

Letter A: Guard your heart.

Look at verse 28: "Therefore take heed to yourselves." What does it say? "Take heed to yourselves." Look down a little bit further in that same verse: "To shepherd the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood." What does Paul say? He says, "Give attention to guard; take heed to yourselves, you elders, you leaders." Why take heed to yourselves? Because you are shepherding God's church, not your church. His church, which He purchased with His blood, is precious and valuable in His sight. They belong to Him and not to you, so you guard your own heart.

You have a task to manage and oversee somebody else's valuables: His church. So, guard your heart.

Why? Look at verse 30. Why should they guard their hearts? This is incredible to me. Paul says to the elders, the leaders at Ephesus, in verse 30, "From among you, elders, from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking strange, perverse things." Why? To draw away disciples after themselves. Paul says, "I know that I have placed you, by God's grace, in a position as a leader, as an overseer. That is a dangerous position because in your heart is still wickedness; because you're still fallen. There is going to be the temptation for you to draw away people from God's flock, which He purchased by His blood, to follow you and not Him."

You need to guard your heart. You need to remember my past character. You need to remember my present circumstances. You need to remember what you've seen in me because you need to guard your heart. The temptation is going to rise up in you to speak strange words that are not the gospel and draw people after yourself. Paul saw it when he planted churches in Galatia. He saw it when he planted churches in Macedonia. He saw it when he planted churches in Greece and Corinth. He knew that it would happen in Ephesus, and it would. So, he says, "You need to guard your hearts."

Final point: guard the flock. Guard your hearts; guard the flock. Again, look at verse 28. "Therefore take heed not just to yourselves, but to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." You're just another sheep, but the Holy Spirit has raised you up to be an overseeing sheep. So, he says, "Guard the flock." Shepherd, that is, feed and tend the flock of God, which He purchased.

Why? Verse 29 tells us. "I know this: that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock." Give attention to yourselves because there's going to be the temptation in yourselves to draw people after yourselves. But give attention to the flock because there are going to be people who come in from the outside who try to deceive them and lead them away. It happened in Galatia, it happened in Macedonia, it happened in Corinth and Greece, and it happened in Ephesus.

Paul says, "Listen, you're the overseers. Give attention to your hearts. Guard your heart, guard the flock, and you will do well."

At the very end of your outline, consider a simple question: How is your past and your present affecting other people's future? This question is significant when you think about Paul's past, his present circumstances, and the futures of others. Whether you realize it or not, you may not have the title of Elder or Deacon, but if you are a Christian, you are a leader in the body of Christ. There are people younger than you in the faith who are watching you.

How is your past character and your present circumstances affecting other people's future? This is exactly what Paul was saying to the Ephesian elders, and I believe it is exactly what he would say to you and to me today.

Let's stand and pray. Father, I pray that you would plant these things in our hearts and help us to be mindful of them. Challenge us, Lord, with Your Word, which is, as we said earlier, living and powerful. Maybe there is an area in what we've looked at today that challenges us, corrects us, reproves, and rebukes us.

Lord, maybe we need to be more humble in our service, or perhaps we are not handling suffering in the right way. Help us to be those who are willing to sacrifice for others to help them. Lord, help us to be un-hypocritical in our stance. Help us to have a healthy simplicity and a grasp on the Scriptures.

Lord, help us to be honorable in the way that we live with integrity, as Paul did. May we be faithful in the Spirit, even in the face of suffering and uncertainty. Help us to finish well, to be faithful to the ministry that You have called us to, and to faithfully preach the gospel.

Help us today to guard our hearts and to guard that which You have committed to us. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.