Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian LeadershipActs 20

If you have your bibles I’d like to begin by reading our passage this morning, Acts 20….I’ll begin in Acts 20, verse 1

20 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. 7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.

13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them:

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will

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happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 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. 25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28 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. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 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. 33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 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.’ ”

36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 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.

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The passage we’ve just read is part of Paul’s third missionary journey. We’re in that section of Acts where the gospel is hurtling out to the ends of the earth.

If you were with us last week in Acts 19, Paul was in Ephesus and the theme of our time was the “kingdom of God coming in power.” While Paul was in Ephesus, God, through Paul, did some extraordinary miracles and Luke, the author of Acts, tells us that in the three years that Paul was there, all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord. Indeed the kingdom of God had come to Ephesus in power.

And as we pick up in verse 1 of Acts 20 this morning Paul takes his leave of the believers in Ephesus for one final visit to churches he had previously planted and then by the end of the chapter he has actually come back around to Ephesus where he meets with the Ephesian church leaders to say goodbye. We want to spend most of our time this morning on Paul’s challenge to the Ephesian leadership at the end of the chapter, verses 17-38, but we’ll at least trace Paul’s travels up to that point.

It will be helpful to have a map up so that we can follow Paul’s movements

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Well look at verse 1— After the uproar ceased—Luke is talking about the riot begun by Demetrius the silversmith at the end of Acts 19—After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia.

On the map behind me, Paul in heading for Macedonia, probably headed north to Troas and then across the Aegean sea to Neapolis the port for Philippi. It’s also probable that he visited the three churches founded in Macedonia—the church at Philippi, the church at Thessalonica and the church at Berea.

Verse 2, When he had gone through those regions—again probably the region of Macedonia and the three churches that had been planted there—and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece… and on the map that would be Achaia and specifically the city of Corinth.1

Verse 3 tells us that Paul spent three months in Corinth. It was winter time and traveling in the winter was difficult.2 It’s believed that Paul had much to talk about with the Corinthians. Between the founding of the Corinthian church in Acts 18 and this three month visit here in Acts 20, Paul had written four letters to the church and made one visit to the church—what’s known as the ‘painful’ visit. The Corinthian church was his problem child. Of course we have only two of Paul’s letter in our bible. It was also during this stay in Corinth that Paul wrote the book of Romans.3

It was Paul’s intention to go back to Jerusalem via Syria when the weather got better. But when Paul and his travel mates began to prepare for the trip back to Jerusalem, verse 3 tells us that a plot to kill

1 Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1972). A handbook on the Acts of the Apostles (p. 381). New York: United Bible Societies. It is thought by most commentators that Greece refers specifically to Corinth. 2 Stott, page 3173 Stott, page 317

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him was discovered and so Paul sent his travel companions ahead on the ship and he went back through Macedonia.

Some think that Paul may have been planning to return to Jerusalem on a pilgrim ship carrying Jews to the Passover and ‘with a shipload of hostile Jews, it would be easy to find opportunity to murder Paul and throw his body overboard’4 Perhaps that was the case but whatever the case, Paul changed his plans at the last moment and decided to go the long way back to Jerusalem, back through Macedonia.

Verse 4 gives us a list of seven of Paul’s traveling companions.5 Let me put them on the screen:

Now who are these guys and why are they traveling with Paul?

(And it’s noteworthy that Paul…like Billy Graham…never traveled alone and that when he was alone in Athens in Acts 17 and then in his final imprisonment in Rome, he was longing for human companionship.6 Some like to quote Philippians 4:13 as one of their favorite verses…I can do all things through him (through Christ) who strengthens me…it’s a great verse but it can lead to what we could call “Christian self-reliance—Christ and me is enough!” Yet rarely do people add the next verse to the picture. What’s Philippians 4:14? Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. You see that’s the whole picture…. I can do all things through him who strengthens me, yet it was kind of you to share my trouble…. We need God and others. Paul needed God and others.)

Again who are these men and why are they traveling with Paul? Most scholars believe that the men are representatives of the churches that contributed to the collection Paul organized for the Jerusalem church.7 For security, a church would send its contribution and a representative along on the journey.

Aren’t there some churches missing? How about the Corinthian church? Perhaps Paul was their representative. And the Philippian church? Because Luke is often associated with Philippi, some think Luke would have been their representative and in fact Luke shows up again in verse 5-6; notice the ‘us’

4 Ramsay as quoted by Stott, page 3175 Trophimus came from Ephesus, Acts 21:29; 2 Timothy 4:20; Tychicus may have too—see Ephesians 6:21-22, Col 4:7-8; 2 Tim. 4:12, Titus 3:126 Stott makes this point, page 3197 Acts 24:17, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, 2 Corinthians 8-9; cf Rom. 15:25,31

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and ‘we’ (As we’ve said many times before, we believe that Luke wrote the book of Acts. We said that sometimes he writes as an eye witness and other times he doesn’t—the use of ‘we’ and ‘us’ goes and comes. And in verses 5-6, Luke seems to join Paul in Philippi.

5 These went on ahead (The Asians Tychicus and Trophimus or the whole group? We don’t know) and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Let’s locate Troas on the map.

So some (or most of Paul’s traveling party) left Corinth and traveled on ahead to Troas. Paul and at least Luke traveled up through Philippi and stayed there through the days of Unleavened bread… We could probably assume that Paul and Luke spent the Passover in Philippi, the Feast of First Fruits in Philippi, and the Feast of Unleavened bread in Philippi before heading to Troas where they stayed seven days.

The story of Eutychus, and his sleeping in church—poor guy, he fell asleep on the apostle Paul no less, he fell asleep and died from his fall, and he fell asleep and died from his fall when Luke was there to record every detail… -- The story of Eutychus, and his sleeping in church took place on the final day in Troas. Verse 7 tells us it was the first day of the week…this is one of the earliest texts showing the church meeting on a Sunday.8 Of course we don’t know for sure if this was a regular meeting of the church at Troas. The church was gathered together to break bread…I take that to mean they were to have a fellowship meal and possibly the Lord’s Supper and to hear Paul preach and teach one last time. Paul 8 However using a Jewish reckoning of days it would have been a Saturday night: “On Saturday evening (see Barclay, NEB, and JB note) is literally “on the first day of the week.” This meeting would have taken place in the evening; and according to the Jewish calculation the first day of the week would have begun on Saturday evening and continued until Sunday at sunset. Some infer, on the basis of the phrase until sunrise (v. 11), that Luke was not counting the day in the Jewish fashion but in the Greek way, by which the day began at sunrise. If this is the case, then the translation should be “Sunday evening” rather than “Saturday evening”; however, the weight of evidence is in favor of “Saturday evening.” (Handbook on Acts). Peterson, page 557, argues this, “

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went long in his speaking, literally he was ‘discussing at length,’ there were many lamps, literally ‘torches’ in the room, verse 8, which may have made it stuffy (there is some disagreement about that), and Eutychus, a young man9 perhaps even a boy 8 to 14 years old, fell asleep and fell out the window. As John Newton, author of Amazing Grace one time said, “When weariness begins, edification ends”10 The tenses of the verbs in verse 9 “portray poor Eutychus as being gradually overcome despite his struggle to stay awake”11

Kent Hughes writes this about falling asleep in church: “As a pastor I have again and again been reminded that on any given Sunday there are believers who are in danger of falling asleep in church. I have seen people fall asleep and bump their heads on the pews in front of them. I have been sitting on the platform when one my associates dozed off and dropped his hymnal! I have heard people awaken with a snort. In one congregation a certain young man sat on the front row and slept every Sunday. As soon as I was through the introduction, his eyes closed and his head tilted. The most memorable, however, was the Sunday both he and his wife fell asleep with their heads propped against one another. I’ve heard a preacher tell of an elder who fell asleep, and when his wife nudged him during the service, he stood and pronounced the benediction.”12

Look at the end of verse 9… Eutychus was taken up dead…and in the Greek the word dead means… dead. Paul went down and bent over him and taking him in his arms said, “Don’t be alarmed…he’s alive!”

And in this miracle Paul joined the ranks of those who God used to bring people back from the dead--Elijah13,Elisha14, Jesus15, and Peter16 --more evidence I guess of the life-giving power in Paul’s ministry.

Well the meeting went on until daybreak and Paul departed.

R.C. Sproul sounds these warnings to those who would fall asleep in church—one of his warnings is humorous and one more serious—‘There are two things you should know’, he says, ‘First, if you fall off your chair and break your neck and die like Eutychus in church today, the best we can do for you is call the undertaker. Preachers today don’t have the powers that the apostle Paul did then.’ And secondly, and more seriously, we should all think through the implications of falling asleep when the Word of God is proclaimed. Couldn’t the physical sleepiness have some spiritual roots?17

9 Young man is a different word from the one used in verse 12….According to the classification of one ancient Greek writer, the word used in this verse would normally describe a man who was from 23 to 28 years of age, whereas the word used in verse 12 (translated “boy” by many translators) is taken to describe a person of 8 to 14 years of age. It is quite possible that Luke is simply describing a person who is somewhere between 20 and 30 years of age. The second Greek term which would normally suggest a person of younger age than the first term may, of course, imply some greater degree of endearment, but more probably it is simply used in the more general sense of a young person. Handbook on Acts10 Hughes, page 27011 Hughes, page 27012 Hughes, page 27113 1 Kings 17:19-2214 2 Kings 4:34-3515 Luke 7:11-15, Luke 8:49-56, and John 1116 Acts 9:36-4117 Sproul, page 340

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Before we move on. Anybody know what Eutychus’ name means? “Fortunate” or “Lucky”18

Verses 13-16 document the trip from Troas down to Miletus, where he would address the Ephesian leadership. It appears from verse 13, that Paul walked by himself from Troas to Assos. You can see Assos on the map. Perhaps Paul wanted to gather his thoughts and be alone.

14 And when he (Paul ) met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios (you can Chios on the map); the next day we touched at Samos (Samos is on the map); and the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

Why would they travel by ship one day and stop? “The reason, a historian by the name of Ramsey suggested, lies in the wind.” During the Aegean summer it generally blows from the north, beginning at a very early hour in the morning. Then ‘in the late afternoon it dies away and at sunset there is a dead calm’19 Just some details that ensure us that this is good and reliable history.

Verse 17…17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. Miletus was some 30 miles away as the crow flies. It would have taken three or four days for a messenger to go and bring the elders of the church back.

Now before we get into Paul’s farewell speech to the Ephesian leadership let me make two introductory points.

First, this is the only speech, the only address in the book of Acts which is addressed to a Christian audience. All of the other speeches and addresses are evangelistic sermons preached to Jews or Gentiles or legal defenses made before Jewish religious leaders (early in the book of Acts) or Jewish and Roman civil leaders (toward the end of the book of Acts). So this really is an address aimed at Christian leadership and you and I can mine it for truth to challenge Christian leaders. In various ways, throughout the speech it seems Paul commends to his listeners, the elders from Ephesus, his own pattern of leadership. In other words we could say that Paul’s ministry is a model for Christian leaders to follow.20

Secondly, who is Paul’s audience? And there’s a surprise here. It’s the leaders of the Ephesian church who are simultaneously called elders, overseers and pastors. Let me put a slide up on the screen that drives that home:

18 Hemer as quoted by Peterson, page 558; Witherington suggests the more colloquial ‘lucky’19 Ramsay as quoted by Stott, page 32220 Peterson, page 560

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In verse 17, it’s the elders whom Paul calls to meet with him.Look at verse 28… 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for (to shepherd, to pastor) the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

These Ephesian leaders… the words ‘elders’ and ‘overseers’ are plural…. These Ephesians leaders are simultaneously elders, overseers and pastors and each of those terms brings with it nuances of meaning. They are elders, they have experience and they have age. They are overseers, they look out for, they are guardians for the congregation. And they are also shepherds who tend, and protect and feed the flock.

John Stott writes this: “There is no biblical warrant for the one-man-band ( a single pastor playing all the instruments of the orchestra himself) or for a hierarchical or pyramidal structure in the local church ( a single pastor perched at the apex of the pyramid). It is not even clear that each of the elders was in charge of an individual house-church. It is better to think of them as a team, some perhaps with the oversight of house-churches, but others with specialist ministries according to their gifts, and all sharing the pastoral care of Christ’s flock. WE need today to recover this concept of a pastoral team in the church.”21 I’m grateful that we have that at Kilgore Bible Church.

Well let’s look at Paul’s speech, Paul’s farewell address, what one writer calls Paul’s ‘last will and testament to the churches which he had planted both east and west of the Aegean (Sea).’22

And I’d like to look at Paul’s address through the lens of ‘leadership’. What do we learn about leadership from Paul and his challenge to the Ephesian leaders? I found twelve principles and I’d like to run through them one by one.

21 Stott, page 32422 Bruce, page 387

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Here are the first five and I’ve made them into a prayer wish, so to speak, God give us leaders who… I’m convinced that as the leadership of a church goes, so goes the church. So we do want God to give us godly leaders. And we do want the young men here, as God leads, to aspire to be leaders in the church.

God give us leaders who… 1. live exemplary lives (vs. 18-21)

Look at verses 18-21. Paul challenges the Ephesians to remember how he lived in their midst. “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews… and so on…

Paul was confident that he had been a good example to them in every area of his life. God give us leaders who can say ‘Give like I give to the church… Fight sin the way I fight sin…Walk in humility the way I walk in humility…Care for the flock like I care for the flock. Raise children like I raise children. God give us leaders who live exemplary lives.

God give us leaders who…2. serve the Lord with humility (vs. 19)

Paul served with humility, verse 19. That would mean that as he served and worked with others he considered them more significant, more important than himself. Jesus is our supreme example of serving with humility. Although he existed in the form of God, he didn’t count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant.

D.L Moody said…. “….He could tell when a Christian was growing. In proportion to his growth in grace he would elevate his Master, talk less of what he himself was doing, and become smaller

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and smaller in his own esteem, until, like the morning star, he faded away before the rising sun.23

God give us leaders who serve the Lord with humility.

God give us leaders who…3. serve the Lord even at great personal cost (vs. 19)

Look at verse 19 again… Paul served the Lord with tears and trials…If I didn’t know better I’d say he was an Awana leader, don’t you think? Whenever Paul would minister in the synagogue he would suffer for it. Suffering attended Paul’s entire ministry. Do you think Paul was ever ready to throw in the towel? Do you think he was ever discouraged? I’m sure he was. But he kept serving the Lord at great personal cost—beatings, stonings, rejection. ‘It is through many tribulations,’ Paul told new Galatian believers, “that we must enter the kingdom of God. I’m convinced that just as Jesus like a grain of wheat fell into the earth and died, and through his death bore much fruit….that’s John 12:24…you and I bear fruit when we die to self, you and I bear fruit only at great personal cost to us. Isn’t it the pattern of true ministry? Jesus came and died at great personal cost. Paul and the apostles served at great personal cost and they beckon us to follow their example.

Listen to this quote from Richard Baxter’s great book The Reformed Pastor written in 1656:

“Oh then let us hear these arguments of Christ, whenever we ourselves grow dull and careless: Did I die for them, and will you not look after them? Were they worth my blood and are they not worth your labor? Did I come down from heaven to earth, to seek and save that which was lost and will you not go to the next door or street or village to seek them? How small is thy labor and condescension (when compared to) mine?....Have I done and suffered so much for their salvation and was I willing to make you a co-worker with me and will you refuse (the little that I have called you to do?)”24

God give us leaders who serve the Lord even at great personal cost.

God give us leaders who…4. are fearless in sharing the word (vs. 20-21, 26-27_)

Look at verse 20 and 21…20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul just declared 23 Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 571). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

24 Quoted by Stott, page 329-330 and modified the language to make it a bit more understandable

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the word all the time, anywhere and to anybody. In Ephesus, you remember he taught daily at the Hall of Tyrranus for almost two years. He didn’t shrink from25, he didn’t retreat from, he didn’t pull back from declaring anything that was profitable…the word ‘shrink from’ is a sailing word when you bring in or take down a sail…No, Paul came at them full sail.

Look at verse 26-27 …26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Again he didn’t pull back from declaring to them the full will of God, the whole purpose of God.

Paul’s testimony that he is innocent of the blood of all is probably a reference to the ‘faithful watchman’ the prophet Ezekiel describes in Ezekiel chapter 33. In Ezekiel 33, a man is a faithful watchman if he sees an enemy coming and blows the trumpet and warns the people. If he sounds the warning and the people ignore it, their blood is on their own head. But if he doesn’t blow the trumpet and warn the people, he the watchman is guilty of their blood. So Paul is saying, “I’ve been a faithful watchman. I’ve blown the trumpet in your midst to warn you about the kingdom of God. I’m innocent of your blood.”

God give us leaders who are fearless in sharing the Word

God give us leaders who…5. follow the Spirit’s leadership no matter what and do not regard their own lives as a precious possession to be held onto at all costs (vs. 22-24)

Look at verse 22- 23….22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

Paul is on a journey to Jerusalem and his journey is characterized two ways. It’s a journey of necessity. Paul is a captive of the Spirit26, he’s constrained by the Spirit. He knows that he is being guided by God to go and he must obey. But it’s also a journey of uncertainty. The Spirit has not revealed to him what will happen to him.

This compulsion that Paul feels and expresses to go up to Jerusalem sure seems like an echo of the compulsion that Jesus felt and expressed as he turned his face to Jerusalem and to the cross.27

25 1. Used from Pind. Isthm., II, 40, ὑποστέλλω means act. “to draw aside, away, back,” always for a specific purpose, intr. also “to retreat” (many instances, esp. military, in the historians, e.g., Polyb., 6, 40, 14; 10, 32, 3; Plut. Demetr., 47 [I, 912]), sometimes “to hide” Philo Spec. Leg., I, 5, med. “to withdraw,” “to hold back,” “to keep to oneself,” always with the aim of concealing oneself, with gen. “to keep away from,” abstaining from τροφή Aristot. Probl., 1, 46, p. 864b, 36 also from ἀλήθεια Jos. Bell., 1, 387, then “to keep silence,” “to conceal,” τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τοῦ πατρός, Jos. Bell., 1, 452, with σιωπάω Ap., 1, 52. 2. The few LXX ref. round out the picture. ὑποστέλλομαι in Job. 13:18 means “to hide” (God), cf. also the difficult Hab. 2:4, while the sense in Dt. 1:17; Wis. 6:7 seems to be “to shrink from,” and in Hag. 1:10 the par. ἀνέχω establishes the meaning “to hold back.” Philo has the word a few times for “to subject, subordinate” ὑπεστάλθαι ἀριθμῷ of bodily excretions Op. Mund., 123; intr. λόγῳ ὑποστεῖλαι τῷ γεγωνῷ, Leg. All., III, 41.26 NRSV27 Matthew 16:21; Mark 9:31

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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.

Testifying to the gospel, for Paul, was more precious than holding on to his life. What does that say about the gospel? (And by the way the word gospel is used only twice in the book of Acts, here and back in Acts 15:7)

God give us leaders who follow the Spirit’s leadership no matter what and do not regard their own lives as a precious possession to be held onto at all costs.

God give us leaders…6. who keep running the ‘race’ and finish strong (vs. 24)

All that mattered to Paul was finishing the ‘race’ that God had given him….look at the words in the middle of verse 24… if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus. The word that Paul uses for ‘course’ describes a run in a stadium from one end to the other, a run which was about 200 yards.28 God had given him a race to finish and a ministry to accomplish. And he wasn’t going to quit.

When we fast forward to the end of Paul’s life, Paul probably writing from the Mamertine prison writes these triumphant words in 2 Timothy 4:7, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

God give us leaders who keep running the race and finish strong. Brothers and sisters don’t throw in the towel.

God give us leaders who…7. pay careful attention to themselves and also the flock (vs. 28)

28 Schnabel, page 842

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Look at the first part of verse 28… 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers….

The leaders have two tasks. They are to be focused and vigilant about two things. They must keep watch over themselves—their own personal walk with the Lord, the state of their soul, etc. And they must pay careful attention to the flock. Paul, writing to Timothy in I Timothy 4:16 emphasized the same need to prioritize watching over one’s personal spiritual life… Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.

First put the oxygen mask on yourself and then you can help those traveling with you.

Robert Murray McCheyne said, “My people’s greatest need is my personal holiness”29

And A.W. Tozer once wrote, “Do you know who gives me the most trouble? Do you know who I pray for the most in my pastoral work? Just myself.”30

But a leader must also pay close attention, careful attention to the flock. He must be alert to what the flock needs. Paul writing to the Philippians said this about Timothy, “I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.”

God give us leaders who pay careful attention to themselves and also the flock, leaders who have enough margin in their lives that they could care about others in the church.

God give us leaders who8. pastor (care for) the flock (vs. 28)

Look again at verse 28….

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for (to shepherd, to pastor) the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

The flock was purchased with the blood of Jesus. The flock is special to God. We can’t forget that.

29 Fernando, page 54030 AW Tozer as quoted by Fernando, page 547

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And pastors, elders, and overseers nurture and protect the flock. They tend and feed the flock.

Give us leaders who pastor and care for the flock.

God give us leaders who…. 9. are alert to false teachers and their pernicious influence (vs. 29-30)

29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert….

Paul says that fierce wolves will come in among the sheep, not sparing the flock. The wolves are false teachers who seek to destroy the church. They threaten from without. But notice Paul says that there will be threats from within… from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things… is Paul saying that some of the leaders standing before him will speak twisted and distorted things to divide the church or is he looking down the corridor of time?

We have only to read both letters to Timothy and the letter to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2 to know that what Paul predicted came to pass. Perhaps it would not have come to pass if the leadership would have been more vigilant.

Three more….

God give us leaders who…10. instruct with tears (vs. 31)

Look at the end of verse 31….remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

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Whenever I see the word admonish or hear it, I think of it in a negative way as if it’s correction or punishment. But the word admonish really means ‘to instruct’. When leaders admonish they instruct the mind so that their followers might think and act appropriately.31 Perhaps you’ve heard of nouthetic counseling, a form of counseling where the scriptures are used to instruct believers in right thinking and behavior. It comes from this word. And admonishing isn’t only for leaders… it’s really the task of the whole church to one another… Colossians 3:16 …16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

And Paul instructed, admonished with tears, with compassion, with a heart filled with love.

God give us leaders who instruct with tears…

God give us leaders who…11. are confident in the power of the gospel (vs. 32)

32 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.

This is a wonderful verse. Paul is about to close his address and he entrusts the Ephesian leaders to God and to the word of his grace. Now what is the ‘word of his grace’? Isn’t that the gospel? And look what the gospel is able to do? It’s able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. By means of the gospel the church is built up. By means of the gospel, God promises an eternal inheritance to those who trust in Christ and He enables them to obtain that inheritance. And in the gospel, God declares those who are in Christ to be already sanctified.32

God give us leaders who are confident in the power of the gospel.

Finally, God give us leaders who…12. work hard, help the weak, and are generous (vs. 33-35)

33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 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.’ ”

31 Peterson, page 57132 Peterson, page 572

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36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 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.

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Paul’s last will and testament to the churches which he had planted both east and west of the Aegean Sea.

May his tribe increase!

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