ACTS CHAPTER 20:29-41,
“Ephesian Elders Charged To Protect Flock”
By
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
for the second week at the address of the Ephesian elders by the apostle Paul
1.1.1.
We saw that this was the
only address or sermon that Paul, or anyone for that matter, made to a specific
church in the book of Acts
1.1.2.
We saw that as we observed
the apostle Paul speaking to them about his ministry that there were two
‘powerful and profound dynamics’ which were working in his life
1.1.2.1.He had a radical discipleship
1.1.2.1.1.We saw that from the moment that Saul committed his way to Christ, he
was 100% committed to following the plan that God had for his life, there was
to be no compromise and no shrinking back, no matter what it cost him, and he
knew that it would cost him everything.
1.1.2.1.2.He spoke of himself saying that he did not count his life as dear unto
himself, but rather he was seeking only to be faithful to the calling which the
Lord had given him
1.1.2.1.3.We saw that Paul was an example to us of what a true disciple of Jesus’
really was, for he had taken up his cross and was following Jesus and seeking
to be faithful to God in everything in his life
1.1.2.2.He had a radical love for the lost
1.1.2.2.1.Paul was heading to
1.1.2.2.2.We saw how that from the moment that he had come to salvation that the
Holy Spirit had shown him that he would suffer greatly for following Christ
1.1.2.2.3.Paul wrote to the Philippians that he not only wanted to know Christ in
the power of His resurrection, but also in the fellowship of His sufferings
1.1.2.2.4.Paul wrote to the Romans that he would be willing to be cast into hell
if his brethren, the Jews, would come to salvation
1.2.
Today, we are going to look
at the rest of Paul’s address to the Ephesian elders, and we are going to see
that he charges these elders to be faithful above all else to protect the flock
1.2.1.
He was commending them to
God to whom now they would be accountable for the ministry
1.2.2.
He tells them that people
would arise up right from within their own group and try to lead the flock
astray, people who actually are wolves and not sheep
1.2.3.
He tells them what
characteristics to look for in the false prophets and teachers
1.2.4.
He tells them how that,
contrary to that of the false teachers, they are to model their lives
1.2.5.
In verse 28, Paul had just
charged them to watch out over the flock saying, “28Take heed therefore unto
yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers, to feed the
1.2.5.1.We as Christians are called to be caring for others all throughout our
lives, for God calls us to lay our lives down for others. Whether its raising our children, helping a
neighbor or friend, spending time with grandchildren and teaching them about
Christ, taking care of our parents when they get old, we are always to be
taking care of and nurturing others in Christ
1.2.5.2.Paul cared supremely for the churches, and he sought in his address to
the Ephesian elders to encourage them to now develop a pastor’s heart for the
sheep committed to their care
2.
VS 20:29 - “29
“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not
sparing the flock;” - Paul tells the
Ephesian elders that he knew that after his leaving that savage wolves would
come into the flock
2.1.
Paul says
that he ‘knows’ with certainty of the fact that people will come into the
church, and that they will not be sheep but rather ‘savage wolves’ whose hunger
is satisfied by preying upon those weak and unsuspecting sheep.
2.1.1.
Those of us
who have been in the church for awhile have learned that in every church there
are going to be people who will come into the church and try to lead her
astray. The New Testament is full of
exhortations and warnings about false teachers and prophets who will seek to
lead the church astray, for example:
2.1.1.1.Jesus
2.1.1.1.1.Matt. 7:15-16,
“15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 “You will know them by their fruits.
Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?”
2.1.1.1.2.Matt. 24:11,
“11 “And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many.”
2.1.1.2.Peter
2.1.1.2.1.2 Peter
2:1-2, “2:1 But
false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false
teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even
denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the
truth will be maligned;”
2.1.1.2.2.The entire epistle of 2
Peter.
2.1.1.3.Timothy
2.1.1.3.1.1 Timothy
4:1-2, “4:1 But
the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the
faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by
means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a
branding iron.”
2.1.1.4.John
2.1.1.4.1.1 John 4:1, “4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they
are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
2.1.1.5.Jude
2.1.1.5.1.Jude 3-4, “3
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common
salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend
earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For
certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked
out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into
licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
2.1.1.5.2.The entire book of Jude.
2.2.
Paul describes the ones who will come in among the church and try to lead
people astray as being ‘savage wolves’, and this is a good metaphor to depict them.
2.2.1.
In
2.3.
I have heard many people in the church in the last several years
condemning those of us who are warning the church to beware of false teachers,
and they accuse us saying things like:
2.3.1.
We are judging people
2.3.1.1.If the New Testament is full
of exhortations to beware and to be on guard against false teachers then we as
Christians and especially as Christian leaders must also warn people to beware
of false teachers.
2.3.2.
We aren’t being loving
2.3.2.1.It is not loving to not warn
someone of impending danger and doom.
2.3.2.2.What kind of a parent would
not warn his young child not to step off of the curb into bustling
traffic? What kind of a pastor would not
then likewise warn his sheep to beware of those who are teaching that which is
not from God?
2.3.3.
You shouldn’t look at anything critically to see if it is truly a work of
God because to do that is to quench the Holy Spirit.
2.3.3.1.The only measuring stick
that God has given us is His Word, and God gave us His Word so that we are to
judge everything against it. If God’s
Word approves it, we must approve it. If
God’s Word condemns it, we must condemn it.
If we run into anything that is not specifically mentioned in the Word
of God it is at best suspect and should be avoided until such time as we see if
in some way God’s Word does address it.
2.4.
Satan is a
dirty fighter, and He tries to come into every church and disrupt God’s work in
any way that he can. He is also tireless
in his attempts to bring down any genuine work of God, and he sits around
scheming of strategies by which he could use to cause God’s people to fall into
some sort of sin or dividing schism.
2.4.1.
The goal of
the evil one is to drag as many unsuspecting souls as he can into hell, and the
means that he uses within the church is to cause compromise with the world and
sin, compromise truth, as well as to cause division. Paul says here that these ‘savage wolves’
will not spare ‘the flock’ of God, which is the ‘church’.
2.4.1.1.As Satan himself, these ones will have no pity or
compassion upon those whom they seduce with their heretical teachings and
licentious lifestyles.
2.5.
We in the
church need to be discerning and always on the lookout for those who would come
from without as well as those who would come from within and lead people in the
church astray. Those who come from
within and do this will be more destructive than those who come from without.
2.6.
The trouble
with false teachers, prophets, and
apostles who come into the church or from within the church, is that
they do not look like false prophets.
They do not come in red flannel suit and with a pitchfork. Rather, they come appearing as though they
are “angels of light”. Paul wrote about
this in 2 Cor. 11:13-15, “13 For such men are false apostles,
deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no
wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it
is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of
righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds”.
2.6.1.
Since we in the church can be caught completely
off-guard by those who proclaim themselves to be prophets and servants of God
and are not, we must measure what these teachers say by God’s word, testing the
spirits to see whether or not they are of God (1 John 4:1), as well as look at
the fruits of their lives to see if they really are displaying all the fruit of
the Holy Spirit, and whether or not their lifestyles serve to qualify them for
the position of elders and pastors in the church. The book of 1 John is full of test cases to
use for discerning the “Marks of A True Christian”, and we ought to measure
these peoples’ lives to those test cases before we accept what they are
teaching.
2.6.1.1.Regardless of what many Christian groups are teaching
and practicing today, it is God’s will that we scrutinize all who claim to be
doing the Lord’s will, and He will never fault us for cautiousness. He commands that we do just that in
fact.
3.
VS 20:30 - “30
and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to
draw away the disciples after them.” -
Paul tells the Ephesian elders that men would arise from within their
present group and try to lead people astray
3.1.
As I
mentioned earlier in this chapter, the enemy will try as hard as he can to
bring people into the church and allow them in time to ‘arise’ and lead God’s
sheep astray with their heretical teachings and licentious lifestyle, as they
are ‘speaking perverse things’, i.e. that which is un-Biblical.
3.2.
We must
always beware that even within the tightest of circles within any church, there
may be people who are perhaps unwittingly, merely plants by the enemy, who will
eventually draw away people into their evil teachings as well as practices.
3.2.1.
Many of the
modern day cults were started by people who at one time were mainstream
church-goers, who then began to lead people astray into their heresies.
3.3.
Here in this verse Paul gives us more insight into the motives of the ‘false teachers’ as
he says that they will seek ‘to draw away the disciples after them’
3.3.1.
This is
similar to what Peter writes about in 1 Peter 2:3, as we see from the
KJV translation, for Peter writes that the false prophets who will come into
the church saying that, ‘they will make merchandise of you’.
3.3.1.1.This word in the Greek for making merchandise was a
business term and it means to make a business transaction, for the false
prophets and teachers are leading others astray with the same cutthroat
attitudes of those in the ‘dog eat dog’ business world.
3.3.2. The false prophets have two primary motivations for
what they are doing:
3.3.2.1.Profit
3.3.2.1.1.There is big money to be made by those who teach false
doctrines in the church, as we have seen with all of the prosperity teachers
and those in the ‘faith movement’ (which isn’t real Biblical faith at all), for
all false prophets and teachers have a profit motive.
3.3.2.1.2.In 2 Peter 2:14, Peter writes that the false
teachers have, ‘A heart trained in greed’
3.3.2.1.3.In 2 Peter 2:15, Peter writes that the false
teachers, ‘Follow the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the ‘wages
of unrighteousness’ (gain for doing wrong)’
3.3.2.1.3.1.In the 22nd chapter of the book of Numbers, Balak the
king of the Moabites tried to hire this man Balaam, who is a peculiar type of prophet,
to curse the children of Israel, however whenever he sought the Lord, God told
him that He would bless Israel.
3.3.2.1.3.1.1.Balaam had been told by the Lord not to curse
3.3.2.1.3.1.2.Balaam is mentioned many times in the scriptures as an
example of someone who allowed himself to become corrupted by greed.
3.3.2.2.Power and the Ego fulfillment it brings
3.3.2.2.1.Part of the thrill of the false teachers and prophets
is in getting others to follow them, and this thrill is similar perhaps to that
which people get when they gamble large sums of money, or what a man has when
he attempts a coup to overthrow a government and position himself in control.
3.3.2.2.2.I have known pastors whom I believe were actually
building their own kingdom, not God’s, for all they were concerned about was
seeing their own church or ministry grow, and they didn’t care about God’s
kingdom increasing.
3.3.3.
Whenever we
see someone who is living a lifestyle of extravagance or who is building up his
own kingdom and not God’s, a person who is using the ministry to personally
prosper and build up himself, seeking to be served instead of to serve, then
these are the fruits that are being produced by someone who is in ministry for
the wrong motives. These are the motives
of the false prophets and false teachers.
3.3.3.1.The pastors that I have personally known of who fell
into adulterous relationships while in the ministry first showed these signs
before they fell.
3.3.3.2.Billy Graham has told pastors to follow three rules,
‘don’t touch the women’, ‘don’t touch the money’, and ‘don’t touch the glory’. The motive of using the ministry to
aggrandize yourself in any way is to take God’s glory, and when a person heads
down this path it isn’t long before he does the other stuff also.
4.
VS 20:31 - “31
“Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of
three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.” - Paul tells the Ephesian elders to follow his
example and be on the alert watching cautiously over the flock
4.1.
Paul tells
these Ephesian elders in this letter that they are to ‘be on the alert’ against
all the variously motivated people who might come in among them and lead people
astray.
4.2.
He told them
that they were to remember and cherish the tireless labor of love which he
performed among them, as well. He would
have them learn the depths of the love of Christ for their souls, from the love
that he had for them. ‘Night and day for
a period of three years’ Paul performed his ministry of building up the church
there.
4.3.
Paul’s
ministry had a very personal touch
4.3.1.
He was
constantly admonishing ‘each one’, and
he did so ‘with tears’.
4.3.2.
He admonished
those who fell into any sin with tears as he hurt for them and the pain that
they were going through, and he likewise
was pained when people sinned against God and did not honor Him with that which
is due to Him.
4.3.3.
Paul had the
heart of the Good Shepherd Himself for the sheep, and therefore he admonished
the brothers and sisters in the church ‘with tears’.
4.4.
Those who are
shepherds over God’s flock ought to learn from the example of the apostle Paul,
and they too ought to work hard and with consistency in the ministry to the
church. Many full-time pay ministers
work much less even than 40 hours a week for the church, yet we see the example
of Paul that he worked hard and diligently day and night for those three
years. As an example, I know of one
pastor who does no counseling, no discipleship, has no set office hours and is
rarely in his office and accessible to his people, organizes no outreaches, and
all he does is teach the Sunday morning study, and yet he takes a huge salary.
5.
VS 20:32 - “32And
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 them which are
sanctified.” - Paul commends the
Ephesian elders to God and to His word
5.1.
In this verse
Paul is committing this group of elders to the Lord and to His word, for
studying and preaching.
5.1.1.
Up until now
Paul had been the one in charge, and he was the one of whom they could all say,
‘the buck stops here’, however now these men were being charged that they must
now be accountable to God for the flock.
5.1.1.1.In Hebrews
13:7, the
author (probably Paul) of the book wrote that the leaders over the fellowships
were those who keep watch over your souls and who would have to give account
for doing this to God, “17 Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they
keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this
with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
5.1.1.2.As Pastor Ken Ortiz points
lout, Paul didn’t get these elders to form an accountability group with each
other, rather he told them that they were accountable to God.
5.1.2.
Being commended to God for the ministry is to be given the highest of
privileges, however with great privilege also comes great responsibility. In the case of being a leader over God’s
people you are given responsibility of the highest magnitude for it is responsibility
for the souls of those who are under your ministry.
5.2.
Paul mentions
in this verse the two-fold work that the Word of God has in peoples’ lives, as
it ‘is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them
which are sanctified’.
5.2.1.
First,
Christians are built up and established in their faith through the study and
teaching of the Word of God.
5.2.2.
Secondly,
non-Christians are brought to salvation through God’s Word. ‘Those who are sanctified’ are those who have
come to salvation through Jesus Christ.
5.3.
Paul tells
these Ephesian elders that they are being commended to the ‘word of his grace’,
but what does this really mean.
5.3.1.
It reveals
the grace of God, and it is also given to us out of His great and wonderful
grace.
5.3.2.
The word of
grace is the gospel message which changes lives, for when the grace of God
comes into a person’s life it begins to work within him and motivate him in
ways he has never experienced before.
5.3.2.1.The ‘grace of God’ enriches
us in all knowledge
5.3.2.1.1.We see this in Paul
salutation to the Corinthians in 1 Corin. 1:4-5, “4 I thank my God always concerning you, for the
grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in everything you were
enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge.”
5.3.2.2.The ‘grace of God’ is
manifold and God gives us gifts which are gifts of His grace
5.3.2.2.1.In 1 Peter 4:10 Peter wrote about this, “10 As
each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good
stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
5.3.2.2.1.1.The Greek word for spiritual
‘gift’ used in the New Testament is a word derived from the word for ‘grace’
5.3.2.3.The ‘grace of God’ causes us to labor for Christ
5.3.2.3.1.In 1 Corin. 15:10, Paul wrote to the
Corinthians about how that his incredible labor for Christ which he performed
was actually just the grace of God working within him, “10 But by the
grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I
labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”
5.3.2.4.The ‘grace of God’ instructs us to live godly lives
5.3.2.4.1.We see this in Paul’s letter to Titus in Titus
2:11-14, “11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to
all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live
sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed
hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus;
14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and
purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
5.3.2.4.1.1.The false prophets and false teachers show that the do
not understand the grace of God, for if they understood the grace of God they
could not continue to have heart motives for profit and self-aggrandizement
through the ministry.
5.4.
Those who
minister in the church must realize that what people in the church need in
order to grow in their relationship to Christ is the solid consistent teaching
of the Word of God.
5.5.
Likewise,
those whom we witness to must be told (preferable quoted) the Word of God, as
it is the acceptable weapon which has the power to bring them to salvation
through Christ.
6.
VS 20:33-34 - “33
“I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. 34 “You yourselves know
that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me.”
- Paul reminds the Ephesian elders that
he has always provided for his own support, and thus no one could accuse him of
having a motive of wanting to make money off of the ministry
6.1.
Paul wants
the church to be mindful that his motives have always been above reproach, and
that he has not been in the ministry in order to receive anything from
anyone. He himself has sought to give to
others and minister to them. Paul not
only provided for his own needs, but by his tent-making, he also provided for
the needs of ‘the men who were with’ him.
6.2.
In saying
these things, Paul is also saying that he did not live for any of the material
things of this world, neither the ‘silver’, ‘gold’, or fine ‘clothes’ that some
people wear.
6.2.1.
Ministers of
the gospel should live moderate lifestyles and not desire the finer things of
life, but rather live for the things that really matter, the things that will
last for eternity.
7.
VS 20:35-36 - “35
“In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help
the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is
more blessed to give than to receive.’”” -
Paul reminds the Ephesian elders how that his life should be an example
to them, for Paul was a man who sought to give to and help others always
7.1.
Paul had
provided an example to the people there in
7.2.
Paul was a
hard worker as a minister, as he says that he has given his life as an example
for the church to follow. Paul says that
his hard work was really directed to all of those who were ‘weak’.
7.2.1.
Paul does not
define what it is that he means by this word ‘weak’, but it could mean those
who were needy, or those who could not help themselves, or those who were weak
and immature in their faith.
7.2.1.1.The word that is translated ‘weak’ here is also
translated in different places in the KJV to mean, “be weak” , “be sick”, “sick”, “weak”, “impotent man”, “be diseased”, “be made weak”
7.2.2.
Paul’s
ministry was to bind up the broken hearted and bringing healing to those who
were injured from their life of sin.
7.3.
This quote of
the Lord Jesus is not found anywhere in the gospels, however since Paul’s
writing is inspired, we know that it was spoken by Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’. This was probably a phrase that Jesus
repeated many times, and more than that it was probably a way of life for the
Lord. In contra-distinction to the heart
motives of the false teachers and false prophets who live off of the ministry
for what it brings to them, we Christians are to follow Christ’s example and
His teaching that it is better to give than to receive.
7.3.1.
Maybe you’ve
heard the saying, “There are two kinds of people in the word, givers and
takers.” We in the church need to be
like Jesus and love to give to others, thrive in giving out to others. It is a blessing to receive from others as
well, however we need to be those who are givers.
7.3.2.
We Christians
are not called to be served, but rather we are called to be those who serve and
minister to others.
8.
VS 20:36 - “36
And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.”
- Paul prayed with the Ephesian elders
after addressing them
8.1.
In reverence
to God, Paul knelt down and prayed with the Ephesian elders, and all else who
were present, after he had said his parting good-byes and charged them with
their responsibilities of ministry.
9.
VS 20:37-38 - “37
And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, 38
grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they should see his
face no more. And they were accompanying him to the ship.” - The Ephesian elders say their emotional
goodbyes to their leader whom they knew they would see no more
9.1.
These verses
show the depth of the tender love that the Ephesian elders had for Paul as well
as his love for them. They were
genuinely grieved over his leaving them, especially as he had told them that
they would not see his face again until they united together with Jesus after
this life.