As we ended last week, Paul and his traveling companions boarded a ship from Troas that would stop in ports along the west coast of Asia Minor including Assos, Mitylene, Chios, Samos, and finally arriving at Miletus, just south of Ephesus. Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time there because he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem in time for Pentecost. And it was at the port in Miletus that Paul would meet for the final time with the elders of the church in Ephesus. It’s a real “tear-jerker,” but oh so special. Let’s pick up the dialogue provided by Luke:
From Miletus, Paul sent word to Ephesus for the elders of the church to join him. 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 and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. 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” (Acts 20:17-21).
Notice how Paul recounts his three years in Ephesus, being confronted, if you recall, by the antagonistic Jews in the synagogue, the seven sons of Sceva, and Demetrius the silversmith. At the same time, Paul was able to teach in the lecture hall of Tyrannus, where the word of God spread mightily. During this entire time, Paul reminded the elders that he served the Lord with all humility in the midst of his many trials. And finally, his message was always about “repentance,” and that is exactly what God had called him to preach to both Jews and Gentiles. Sadly, it is a neglected message in so many churches today. Luke continues with his dialogue:
“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; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace” (Acts 20:22-24).
What a beautiful glimpse into the heart of Paul. He was fully aware that hardships awaited him, but his greatest desire was to finish the race and complete the task that the Lord had given him, that is, to testify to the good news of God’s grace. I hope that we can all see the heart that pleases God, a heart like Paul’s that is all about Jesus and His love for mankind. Luke continues:
“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 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” (Acts 20:25-31).
Paul tells them, with tears, that he will probably not see any of them again. He reminded the church elders to continue feeding the flock, knowing that after his departure, “savage wolves” will arise within their own congregation distorting the truth of God in order to draw away disciples after them. Knowing what the future looked like for the church, he warned them to “be on guard” against such men, just as he had warned them throughout his 3-year ministry among them. Years later, let’s look at what Jesus said about the Church in Ephesus in the Book of Revelation:
To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: “These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary” (Revelation 2:1-3).
As you can see, the Lord was pleased with the Ephesian Church that they did not tolerate those who claimed to be apostles, finding them to be false. They endured hardships and had not grown weary. But there was a problem in the Church:
“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far 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).
Wow! The church was able to confront false teachers with the truth, but in the process, they had left their first love, Jesus, and all those whom He loves. I understand this to mean that while they had “truth” nailed down, they had a problem with personally connecting with the living Lord, as well as with those people whom He came to reach. He called them to repent, and if they didn’t, their “lampstand” would be removed, that is, their leadership and their influence as a church would be removed.
Let’s return to Luke’s record in the book of Acts. Paul continues by saying:
“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. 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.’” (Acts 20:32-35).
As Paul wraps up his time with the elders of the church, he wanted to tell them that in his absence, he was committing their well-being into God’s hands. He served them faithfully, working with his own hands (probably as a tentmaker) to provide for his own needs and not take advantage of anyone. He also mentions something that the Lord Jesus himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Interestingly, there is no record in the gospels of Jesus ever saying this. However, we know that is in total agreement with what Jesus said about giving, and we can say that it was probably widely recognized as a saying of Jesus, a saying that encompassed all of His teaching on giving. This particular saying just never made it into the gospel accounts. After all, John tells us that Jesus performed many other miracles that were not recorded in his gospel (John 20:30).
Luke wraps up this meeting in Miletus by saying:
When Paul had finished speaking, 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 (Acts 20:36-38).
For me, this is one of the most touching moments in the life of the Apostle Paul: all of the elders of the church surrounding Paul kneeling down in the sand and praying while they embraced him, weeping over the fact that they knew that they would not see him again. In the midst of sharing the Good News of the Gospel and confronting the synagogue leaders, Paul had a genuine heart of love and compassion. Friends, may we model our lives after the Apostle Paul, combating false teaching with the truth, but not forgetting our first love, exhibited in our love for Jesus and for those whom He loves.
I’ll miss being with you next week, but we will jump right into the next chapter in the Book of Acts when we return from our vacation. Until then, blessings to all of you.
