Elder Kevin Wood preaches on Acts 17:16-34. No recording is available, but the full text of his sermon is provided below.
Introduction
This week, we continue our journey through the book of Acts. Last week we were in the first part of chapter 19, which tells of Paul’s arrival in Ephesus, where he met some disciples of Christ who had received an incomplete instruction in the faith: they had not received, nor even heard of, the Holy Spirit. Paul therefore taught them more fully and laid hands on them such that they received the Spirit. He then taught for three months at the synagogue before Jewish opposition forced him out. But he stayed in Ephesus for another two years, during which time his message spread throughout the entire region, to both Jews and Gentiles.
Ephesus was a great city, strategically located and a hub of commerce and transportation. It was thus an ideal place for Paul to base his ministry. The rest of chapter 19 tells of certain other events which took place during Paul’s long stay there: extraordinary miracles of healing which God did through him; people who practiced magic arts repenting of this and burning their books in the sight of all; and a riot instigated by one of the silversmiths who made shrines of Artemis, or Diana, the goddess whose great temple in Ephesus was one of the so-called Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The sun, it was said, saw nothing in his course more magnificent than the Temple of Artemis. That the silversmiths and other craftsmen whose livelihood derived from the worship of Artemis saw Paul as a threat is an indication of the great impact the apostle was making in their city.
It is calculated that Paul spent a total of three years in Ephesus and the surrounding area. Three years was a very long time for Paul to stay anywhere, however, even a great city like Ephesus, and so prompted by the Holy Spirit, he left the ministry in the hands of others and moved on to Macedonia and Greece. But he had also resolved to return to Jerusalem, and then to go on to Rome. It happened that his route from Greece to Jerusalem took him by Miletus, some 30 miles[i] from Ephesus, and this provides the setting for today’s text, which begins with these words in verse 17: “Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.”
A Farewell Address
What comes next is a sort of farewell address on the part of Paul. Although he did not know exactly what the future held for him, he felt sure that he would not return to Ephesus. Thus his address included these words, in verse 25: “And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.” Likewise, the passage ends with these words in verses 37-38: “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.]”
We can learn a lot from farewell addresses, for they are spoken by people who are at a critical moment in their lives and their words are often very reflective in nature. They are last words, and they are intended to be lasting words. When we were studying the Gospel of John, you might recall that Jesus’ farewell address to his disciples takes up five whole chapters, about one quarter of the entire book. And we spent a good amount of time there, soaking up their wisdom.
A farewell address contains what a person wants us to remember about them and their legacy; what they think we should know and do in their absence. It comes straight from the heart and is thus often very powerful; it is also often prophetic. The most famous farewell address in American history is that of George Washington as he prepared to leave the Presidency. It expresses his hopes and his fears regarding the future of our young country; it is powerful, and it is prophetic. If you’ve never read it, I’d suggest you do so; it is still relevant today.
But we’re not here today to learn from George, our greatest President in the eyes of many. We are here to learn from Paul, God’s greatest evangelist and missionary in the eyes of many.
Preaching to the Choir (the Converted)
As we have gone through the Book of Acts, we have already come across several of Paul’s sermons, and we still have a few more ahead of us. But the message he delivers in this passage is different from all of the rest in that it is his only major address in Acts that is directed to believers as opposed to unbelievers. For that reason, the words may sound to us more like those of his epistles.
Paul is speaking here to the elders of the church at Ephesus, a church he himself founded. To borrow an idiom of our day, we might therefore say that he is preaching to the choir, or as they used to say, preaching to the converted. While Paul’s other sermons in Acts are useful to us primarily in learning how we, too, can engage unbelievers with the gospel, this address is useful to us in learning how we ought to go about our own Christian walk. It looks inward rather than outward.
Note that while Paul was speaking specifically to the elders of the church at Ephesus, what he has to say is not just for church leaders. Most of it is equally relevant to all believers.
This address is also the last recorded speech made by Paul as a free man; by the time of his next recorded speech, and for the rest of his life, he will be a prisoner. And as we shall see, he already has a sense of this, and this adds meaning and urgency to his parting words. It is surely one of the reasons why he knows that he will not see them again. In the future, he will no longer have the freedom to direct his own steps; he will be at the mercy of others.
What, then, does Paul want the Ephesian elders to know as he leaves them for the last time? How does he want them to remember him? What will his legacy be?
As Paul lays bare his heart in this speech, I see at least five lessons, or remembrances, that he wanted them to keep in mind.
Lesson #1: Declare the whole truth of God
The first thing that Paul wanted them to remember about him was that he declared the whole truth of God. He declared the whole truth of God.
We read in verses 18-21:
“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 then in verses 26-27:
“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.”
Even in the face of great opposition, of persecution, Paul declared the whole truth of God. Whether preaching publicly or teaching in people’s homes, he declared the whole truth of God. Whether addressing Jews or Gentiles, he declared the whole truth of God.
For us today, in our humanistic, truth-denying culture, this is a stark reminder. We are faced with a great temptation when we interact with our unbelieving world. For while there are parts of the Christian message which are perfectly acceptable to the world, there are other parts which are completely unacceptable. The world doesn’t mind hearing that God is love or about the so-called golden rule, to love your neighbor as yourself, and as a result we have no compunction or difficulty sharing these. But the gospel will always be offensive in some way; it will always appear to be foolishness in some way.
Remember Paul’s address to the Greek philosophers in Athens which we studied a few weeks ago? They listened to him until he began talking about the resurrection, and then some of them began to ridicule him. Or the various sermons by Paul, Peter, and others addressed to Jewish audiences, in which everything is fine until they chastise them for their hardness of heart, or say that God wants the Gentiles to be saved, too.
Likewise, for us today it is no problem to talk about God as love or the golden rule, but what happens when we speak about Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation, or about limiting sexual intimacy to the marriage relationship, and, we might add, only a marriage between one man and one woman? Then all of sudden our message becomes offensive; then we are ridiculed or ostracized.
Paul did not shrink from declaring the whole truth of God, and neither should we.
If you are ever required to testify in court in our country, you must promise “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”. How much more so when it comes to sharing the truth of God. May we share “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”.
Note that Paul goes so far as to say that because he did not shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God, he was “innocent of the blood of all” (verse 26). Would Paul really have been guilty of the blood – that is, the death, and more specifically the spiritual death – of another person simply because he didn’t share the whole truth of God with them?
Consider the words of another great prophet, Ezekiel, from the Old Testament. We read in Ezekiel 33:7-9:
“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.”
In Paul’s mind, if he didn’t share the whole truth of God with someone when he had the opportunity to do so, he would be guilty of their spiritual damnation. Do we have that same mindset? I fear that we do not.
As Charles H. Spurgeon said: “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”
Lesson #2: Be constrained by the Holy Spirit
Paul wanted the Ephesian believers to remember that he declared the whole truth of God. He also wanted them to remember that he lived his life constrained by the Holy Spirit. He lived his life constrained by the Holy Spirit.
We read in verse 22: “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there …”.
The footnote in our ESV text indicates that “constrained by” the Spirit could also be translated “bound in” the Spirit. Other English translations use phrases such as: “compelled by the Spirit”; “in obedience to the Spirit”; “drawn irresistibly by the Spirit”; and “as a captive to the Spirit”.
This may be the most important of Paul’s lessons in this passage, for it underlies all the others.
As you should know by now, our sermon series from the Book of Acts is entitled: “The Spirit-led Church”. And one thing we have emphasized time and again is that a Spirit-led church is made up of Spirit-led believers.
But lest we think that “Spirit-led” means only that the Spirit leads and we can choose whether or not to follow, Paul’s words here paint a different picture. He is actually compelled by the Spirit; if he wants to be truly obedient to God, he has no choice: he must follow the Spirit’s leading.
This exposes perhaps one of the greatest shortcomings of believers in our world today: living our lives, not constrained by the Holy Spirit, but choosing to sometimes follow his leading and other times to ignore it completely. We treat the Holy Spirit not as the divine director of our lives, but more as a consultant to whom we turn when we need a little advice.
You will remember from the sermon last week that the first disciples Paul met in Ephesus were ones who did not even know that there was a Holy Spirit. Before we judge them too harshly for their ignorance, which was of no fault of their own, let us ask ourselves: Are we living our own lives as if there was no Holy Spirit?
It is so easy, so tempting, to try to live our lives without the Holy Spirit’s guidance and power. But when we try it, we find – if we are honest – that it is not quite the same. Have you ever tried to conquer a so-called besetting sin – one which entangles you over and over again – under your own power? If you have, then you probably know that in the end, the sin will conquer you. Have you ever tried to understand a difficult passage of Scripture using only your own knowledge? We find our understanding obscured when we try that.
The Apostle Paul lived his life constrained by the Holy Spirit. Because of that, he was able to fully trust in God’s providence. Paul had a sense of what was in store for him, but he didn’t know the details. But that was all right, because he knew that his future was in God’s hands. God had been faithful to him in the past and he could trust that God would continue to be faithful to him in the future, come what may. Paul could confidently allow his life to be constrained by the Spirit.
Lesson #3: Be willing to endure hardship for Christ
Paul wanted the Ephesian believers to remember that he lived his life constrained by the Holy Spirit and that he declared the whole truth of God. He also wanted them to remember that he was willing to endure hardship for Christ. He was willing to endure hardship for Christ.
Let us re-read verse 22 and then continue on with verses 23-24:
“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.”
If you know anything of Paul’s life as a missionary, you know that it was replete with hardship. He recounts some of this in 2 Corinthians 11:23-29:
“Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one — I am talking like a madman — with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
Paul certainly suffered hardships during his time in Ephesus, too. We know the story of the riot provoked by the manufacturers of idols of Artemis; there are probably countless other instances of opposition and persecution that we don’t know about. There is, for example, a curious but undecipherable statement which Paul made in his first epistle to the Corinthians, which he most likely wrote during his stay in Ephesus. 1 Corinthians 15:32 says: “What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus?”
As Paul addressed the Ephesian elders, he let them know that the Holy Spirit had made it known to him that he would soon face, once again, imprisonment and afflictions. As we finish our journey through Acts over the next few weeks, we will see that he was absolutely correct. Yet he didn’t turn back, compelled as he was by the Spirit to continue on.
He has just one goal: to finish the work to which he was called, sharing the good news of the gospel with as many people as he can, until God calls him home. As he said in verse 24: “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.”
He would write something similar a few years later while a prisoner at Rome, that much closer to his earthly death. In 2 Timothy 4:7-8 we read:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”
Those of you of my age or older may recall reading in your American history schoolbooks about David Brainerd, a famous missionary to the Indians during the Colonial period. I suspect that he no longer appears in the politically correct history books of today. David Brainerd died at the young age of 29 of tuberculosis, after which the famous theologian Jonathan Edwards wrote his biography (An Account of the Life of the Late Reverend Mr. David Brainerd), which inspired many others to missionary work, including William Carey and Jim Elliot.
It happens that David Brainerd is (was?) my first cousin eight times removed; my mother’s maiden name, in fact, was Brainerd. And there is a quote from David Brainerd which is especially appropriate when talking about facing hardships for Christ; remember that he died at a young age: “All my desire was the conversion of the heathen. ... I cared not where or how I lived, or what hardships I went through, so that I could but gain souls to Christ. I declare, now I am dying, I would not have spent my life otherwise for the whole world.”
With their eyes fixed on Jesus, and constrained by the Spirit, both David Brainerd and the Apostle Paul could face whatever hardships God saw fit to bring into their lives.
Lesson #4: Care for the flock/our fellow believers
Up to this point, Paul has shared with the Ephesian elders three things that he hoped they would remember about his ministry among them, namely that he had declared the whole truth of God, that he had lived his life constrained by the Holy Spirit, and that he had been willing to endure hardship for Christ. He hasn’t specifically directed them to do these things themselves, but the presumption is that he was challenging them to follow his example and do likewise.
At this point Paul shifts slightly and does address the elders directly with imperative statements, exhorting them in what they should do. Perhaps the reason is that he is addressing issues directly related to their role as leaders in the church. We read in verses 28-31:
“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.”
Utilizing the common terminology of a shepherd and his flock, Paul exhorts the elders to care for their congregation, their flock. The people under their care are precious people, for they have been bought with the blood of Christ. It will not be easy, for false teachers will arise, even from amongst themselves, and lure people away. These will be like ravenous wolves, even wolves in sheep’s clothing, to borrow a metaphor from Jesus (Matthew 7:15). Paul exhorts them to stay alert, and reminds them that he, too, had to deal with such issues. “For three years,” Paul says, “I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.”
As C.S. Lewis said: “There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”
Paul wants the Ephesian believers to remember how he cared for the flock, and exhorts them to do likewise.
Lesson #5: Remember that “it is more blessed to give than to receive”
We have one final reminder from Paul. We read in verses 32-35:
“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 may have heard of the phrase “tentmaker missionary”. That is a missionary who provides some or all of his or her financial support through his own work. The phrase comes from the occupational profession of Paul, as well as that of his sometimes co-laborers Priscilla and Aquila, all of whom were actual tentmakers. While Paul did at times receive gifts and support from believers, he provided for much of his own support through his own work, through his own hands.
And he didn’t do so grudgingly, for as he reminds the Ephesian believers, the Lord Jesus himself taught that “it is more blessed to give than to receive”. Now if I were to ask you to find that quote by Jesus in the gospels, you would have a hard time doing to, for it doesn’t actually appear there. But it was apparently known among his disciples as something which he had said, and it certainly fits with his teaching.
Paul declares here, and elsewhere, that his motivation for ministry was not money. May our motivation for ministry never be money, nor possessions, nor fame, nor any other worldly thing. Paul wasn’t about getting rich off people; he was about making people rich – spiritually rich – through Christ.
An Example to Follow
We’ve noted here five aspects of Paul’s legacy:
He declared the whole truth of God
He lived a life constrained by the Holy Spirit
He was willing to endure hardship for Christ
He cared for the flock
He believed that “it is more blessed to give than to receive”
We might sum it up as a legacy of service. Paul served others, with humility but also with boldness. And in this address to the elders of the Ephesian church, he exhorts them – sometimes explicitly, other times implicitly – to follow his example.
We, too, would do well to follow Paul’s example. We can do this with some assurance because we know that Paul was grounded in the Word and constrained by the Spirit.
We know, of course, that we should never blindly follow any human leader. Even when it comes to leaders in the church, we should only follow them to the extent that they are following Christ. There are countless tragic examples, even in our own day, of the danger of blindly following leaders. When it comes to following leaders, may we be like the Bereans, who compared what they were being taught with the Scriptures.
There is only one leader whom we should follow 100% of the time, and that is, of course, God.
Tear and Prayers
There is one more part to our passage today. After Paul delivers his address to the Ephesian elders, it says in verses 36-38:
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 passage ends with tears and prayers. In fact, you may have noticed that there were also tears earlier, in both verses 19 and 31. Tears are a part of ministry. And they are a part of goodbyes. There is no shame in tears, and there is no shame in prayers. If your Christian walk doesn’t include tears and prayers, then maybe it’s not as deep and mature as it should be.
Speaking of goodbyes, and of tears and prayers, I am reminded that it has now been 18 months – a full year and a half – since Pastor Dave and Angie said their farewell to this congregation. They had ministered here not three years, but 33. When they left us, there were tears and prayers.
But we can be thankful that they left us an example to follow, a legacy of service, just like Paul. And when they left, I am pleased that our response was not to wallow in self-pity, but to face the future with hope and expectation. Some even stepped up to take on ministries and responsibilities. This is the church as it was intended to be. Let us remember that even as we look forward to welcoming a new pastor and his family. The pastor is not the leader of the church; if anything, the body of elders and the other officers, along with the pastor, are the leaders, but really, it is Jesus Christ who is the head, the leader, of the church.
Jesus left us a legacy of service. Paul followed his example and also left us a legacy of service. Pastor Dave and Angie left us a legacy of service. The question is: what legacy will we leave to those who will follow us?
Final thoughts
Perhaps you are wondering about that church in Ephesus. Did they heed Paul’s words?
Some five or more years later, Paul wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus. We know if, of course, as the book of Ephesians. In it, he encouraged the believers to exhibit unity, to cling to grace rather than works, to bear spiritual fruit, to beware of false teachers, to serve one another in love, and to be ready for spiritual battle in times of persecution. In short, they seemed to be doing all right.
Then perhaps another generation later, the church of Ephesus is mentioned again, this time in the book of Revelation. It is one of the seven churches of Asia addressed in chapters 2-3; in fact, it is the first one mentioned. We read in chapter 2, verses 1-7, how the church was commended for standing up to evil and to false teachers, so they did get that right. They were likewise commended for their works, toil, and patient endurance. At the same time, they were admonished for they had “abandoned the love you had at first”. A mixture of commendation and admonition; some things they were doing well, and others, not so well.
As we look at our own lives, both as individuals and as a body of believers, may we look to continue to do those things we are doing well, and seek to improve in areas of need. May the same God and the same Spirit which guided and compelled Paul be also at work in our own lives.
Conclusion
The Apostle Paul left a legacy of service, just as the Lord Jesus had left a legacy of service. Pastor Dave and Angie likewise left us a legacy of service. May we strive, too, to leave a legacy of service to those who will follow us.
[i] estimates vary widely and range from 10 to 50 miles
