Acts 20 25-38 “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. “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.’ ”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.
In the above focus Paul is journeying back to Jerusalem. On the way he meets with the elders of Ephesus. His harvest in Ephesus was great, and now he was meeting with the elders. He felt he needed to warn them that wolves will enter the church to destroy the work of God in Ephesus. Within and without the church, wolves would come to contaminate the purity of Jesus Christ being the only way to God. The wolves would come to cripple the church's effectiveness in Ephesus. As with the Old Testament, deceivers are always in the midst of God’s people. The rebellion to God’s ways is always present in some people. The devil uses this animosity to God as a way to destroy others. God's prophets often wailed against these wicked people who would alter God’s words for their selfish reasons, mainly for money, status or a following. We hear Ezekiel say, The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! — Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, “The Lord declares,” and expect him to fulfill their words. Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, “The Lord declares,” though I have not spoken? (Ezekiel 13:1-3; 6-7) Through all the millenniums people have prophesied falsely for selfish reasons. Paul now informs the elders of the church of Ephesus that these wolves of falsehood will invade their church too. Peter also expresses this reality of false prophets in the church by saying that in the last days, There will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. (2 Peter 2:1-3) Paul, the spiritual father of the Ephesian church, now admonishes the elders that they must remain faithful to the true gospel; they must not vary it to please the itchy ears of the most worldly within their congregation. 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. They should faithfully minister the word and demonstrate the power of the word in their personal lives. Paul, because of the darkness of the Greek world, felt he could not contaminate the purity of the gospel in any way. Therefore, he would not let the church give him money for his service to them. He worked with his hands not only for his own needs but also for the needs of others. He did this because Ephesus was a wicked and dark place, controlled by demonic, idol worship. He did not want any criticism from the world, claiming he preached the gospel for remuneration. He wanted the purity of the light of Christ to shine through this darkness. Today, and since the beginning of the church, ministers are to receive support for serving the people. This is the will of God, clearly expressed in the Word of God. Spreading the Good News deserves remuneration.
Ministers today have a grave responsibility to lead a church with the wholesomeness of the word of God. Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:2-3) Many in the church of the living God live with itchy ears; they want only words from their pastors of encouragement, not correction or a rebuke. Correction or rebuke rub them the wrong way, and a cat when you pet his fur the wrong way will jump off your lap. But a true servant of the Lord sometimes has to say things that are not accepted as bouquets. Ezekiel says, false prophets will often say things that are not true, misinforming the people. They lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace. (Ezekiel 13:10) When a minister observes discord and confusion in one or some of his congregates, he has the responsibility to address the issue in an honest and upright manner. Sadly, Paul had to do that in the Corinthian church. It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed. (1 Corinthians 5:2-3) Paul was strong in his denunciation of this impurity within the church. He told the church to remove this person who is openly living in sin from the fellowship and to deliver him to Satan. Hopefully causing him to repent of his lifestyle and return to Christ. He did repent, saving his soul. An elder must take care of the flock, keeping it healthy spiritually. To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5:1-4) The elders are to elevate Jesus in every interaction with others, for Jesus is the personification of love that binds members of the congregation together. Jesus is the Redeemer, the Gate, Eternal life; no other way is open to the Kingdom of God. As Peter exclaims, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. (1 Peter 1:3-4) This Good News must be expressed in the way an elder leads his church. His daily song should be the angels' song at Jesus’ birth. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14) This song unifies the flock.
Sometimes people in the church are inert, lethargic. unwilling to live actively for God in the marketplace of life. They attend church and facilitate what is needed to keep a church going, but do not express the Good News in their daily lives. They are like the fence sitters that Jesus tells about in Luke 7. We know Paul was actively involved in doing the will of God. His trip to Jerusalem was under the auspices of God’s will. When Paul talks to the elders of the Ephesians, he states, “I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Because of that statement, the elders wept as they embraced him and kissed him. Their response reveals the intensity of love that should be in the church of the living God. But in Luke we see people unwilling to get involved with the purpose of life or with following God in their personal lives: they are fence sitters. We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry. (Luke 7:32) They would not get involved with John the Baptist's teaching of repentance and not with Jesus' teaching of the Good News. They were inert, sitting on the fence, yet criticized others who were involved with seeking God. Jesus was upset with them and He illustrates his concern about these people when He accepts an invitation to dine with a Pharisee. During this dining experience a woman of ill-repute comes into their presence and kneels at Jesus’ feet with tears running down her face. She kneels at his feet, washing Jesus’ feet with her tears, and wiping his feet dry with the glory of her head, her hair. Then she puts expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet, while she was constantly kissing his feet. She was not on the fence; she was involved in the marketplace of life. The Pharisee, a spiritual fence sitter, thought only of criticism about this scene. He was filled with anger and judgment about this unclean woman touching Jesus, interrupting their meal. Jesus knew his thoughts and how unclean they were. He then tells a tale about two men who were in debt to a rich man. “Two people owed money to a certain money lender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more? ”Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. (Luke 7:41-43) Jesus knows why Simon was not serving him, the Son of Man, with respect or love. He is a fence sitter, willing to criticize people who are actually playing the game of life with dedication and exuberance. He tells Simon that this dear woman you despise did all the things you would not do for me. You did not give me water to wash my feet; she washed my feet with her heartfelt tears. You did not give me a towel; she wiped my feet with her hair. You did not anoint my head with oil of which is a customary practice in Israel. Yet she humbly anoints my feet with expensive perfume and is incessantly kissing my feet. What is wrong with you Simon? Friends around this breakfast table, what was wrong with Simon is that he felt he had no reason to repent or to be sorry for his many sins. He had no reason to seek God’s forgiveness or to love his Son, Jesus. But the woman knew she had many sins to be forgiven. She also recognized Jesus as divine. Because of her faith in Jesus’ works, Jesus tells her, your sins are forgiven; my Father accepts your repentance of tears and a broken heart. Jesus who always does the will of the Father tells this sinful woman, your Father in heaven forgives you. Dear friends do you really know what a price has been paid for your many sins. Do you recognize how much God has paid for your redemption? Do you know what it means when Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished!” If you really understand, you will get off the fence, dispense of your lethargy, and get involved in the marketplace of life, proclaiming the Good News to people around you, expressing in your daily life the will of God. God bless you as you do his will.
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