Acts 20:20-24
~19 min read
TRANSCRIPT
In our previous message, we have learned certain characteristics of the faithful servant. The perceptibility of his ministry, which means his ministry is noticeable or observable. The attitude of humility; he is someone who serves the Lord with all humility of mind and also the willingness to suffer. Tonight, we will continue the second part of the characteristics of the faithful servant, and our text is taken from Acts 20:20-24, the passage that Deacon James has just read for us a moment ago.
I. The Zeal to Teach
The first thing we want to learn from the Apostle Paul is the zeal to teach. Let us consider verse 20: "And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house". Ephesians 4:11-12 says that God has given to some to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. For what purpose? For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ. The only way the saints, the believers, would be growing in spiritual maturity and do the work of the ministry so that the church, the body of Christ, would be edified is through the consistent teaching of God's Word. There's no other way. Once the people stop learning, once there's no more teaching, then there's no more growing. We must learn, so there must always be this consistent teaching of God's Word.
Paul understood that; he knew his calling. He was called to establish the church at Ephesus; he was their pastor. So, he had certain obligations and responsibilities to the believers. That was the reason why he kept back nothing that was profitable to the Ephesians. To keep back means to hold back. He held back nothing. According to 2 Timothy 3:16, all scripture is the whole counsel of God's Word is profitable. So here Paul must be referring to the whole counsel of God's Word. If I may put it this way, he did not pick and choose what he likes to teach. He faithfully taught and preached the whole counsel of God's Word.
There are some pastors and preachers who will shy away from certain topics that may appear to be controversial or difficult to preach. Some theologians call it the Bermuda Triangle. Instead of sailing into it, they will avoid those passages at all costs. They will sail away from it or sail around it. Many years ago, I was invited by a friend to preach in his church, and he asked me to preach about tithes and offerings. I was fine with the topic, but it was what he said that surprised me. He said, "This is a topic that most pastors would not want to preach in their own churches because it may appear to be soliciting for money. So, it is better for visiting preachers to touch on all these sensitive topics." But it should never be that way because it is important for the believers to understand about tithes and offerings. It is profitable for them to know so that they will not fall into sin and steal from God, as Malachi 3:8 says, "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?”, and then God said, “In tithes and offerings." Don't you think it is important for the people to know? It is profitable for all the believers to know that. Pastors, preachers, including Sunday school teachers and even parents, should never shy away from anything that is profitable for the people to know.
And as we have mentioned, the whole counsel of God's Word, the entire Holy Scriptures is profitable. Paul was not only zealous to teach the whole counsel of God's Word, but he would preach very boldly regardless of anyone. Most of us are very familiar with Galatians 1:10, whereby Paul said this, "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." In other words, one should never be a man-pleaser, but rather be a God-pleaser. But Paul did not just mouth those words; he truly applied those words into his life. Let me give you an example. In the next chapter, Galatian 2:11, Paul quoted an incident where Peter arrived at Antioch. Previously, Peter used to eat with the Gentiles until certain men from James came to Antioch. These were prominent Jewish believers from the Jerusalem Church where James was the leader. But these prominent Jewish believers were still not able to accept the Gentiles as fellow believers. So what did Peter do immediately? He avoided the Gentiles; he withdrew himself from them. Why? Probably, he was afraid to offend these prominent Jewish believers. His action caused the other Jews in Antioch to follow suit, so much so that even Barnabas was affected by this hypocrisy. What did the Apostle Paul do? Well, Paul confronted Peter straight in the face in the presence of everyone, and he even preached to him the reason why he should not do that. Surely Paul knew that he would run the risk of offending Peter, who was supposed to be the leader of the 12 apostles. But he still did it. Why? Because he did not want to hold back anything that is profitable for the people, including Peter.
In other words, my friend, not holding back from teaching the whole counsel of God's Word. Sometimes you have to do it in a most difficult situation. It can be confrontational; it can be uncomfortable. It may cause you to lose your friends; there may be serious consequences. The question is, will we still do it? For the Apostle Paul, he would not hold back anything that is profitable for the people. We pray that our teachers, preachers, including ministers, parents, would not hold back anything that is profitable for the people to know the whole counsel of God's Word.
There were two ways in which Paul had taught the Ephesians the whole counsel of God's Word: two ways, publicly and privately. Firstly, he said, "I have taught you publicly." Now, that is a reference to the times whereby he would enter into the synagogues to preach the Word or, like we have discussed in our previous messages, in the upper chamber, in the upper room, where there was a formal worship service. Publicly, there was the preaching of God's Word. But at other times, he would teach them privately, from house to house. What lessons can we learn from here? The pastor or preacher is not only called to preach on the pulpit on Sundays but wherever the Lord will give him the opportunity to preach. Like, for example, in the Monash gardens, homes, or in the homecare groups or in fellowship groups, etc. Whether in public or in private, we must avail ourselves to preach. Whether there's only one person or two persons, we must always preach wherever the Lord leads, wherever the Lord opens doors for us. We must avail ourselves to preach and teach, never hold back.
Do you realise that one of the most effective ways to minister is when you are speaking to the people in a small group, like one on one? If I can give you an illustration, Deacon James is teaching the Basic Bible Knowledge classes. Most of the time, the BBK classes would consist of only two or three persons. Surely, he can share with you that in a small group setting, there's this interaction, there's this wonderful opportunity for questions to be asked and then questions that can be answered. There will be discussion, explanation, and then clarification. So, all the doubts and confusion could be dealt with, unlike a formal worship service. This is something that preaching on the pulpit cannot afford. But the point is that, whether publicly or privately, we must always teach and preach the whole counsel of God's Word. Never shy away. If God has called you to be a teacher to teach children, whether one on one or one to a small group, that is a wonderful opportunity for you to deal with questions and then explain, clarify, clear all the confusion. But if God has called you to be a preacher, then perhaps one day, you will be preaching to the people, and then after the message, people ask you questions, you still have to answer them. So, publicly, privately, the church would always want to be engaged in teaching, preaching the whole counsel of God's Word.
II. The Love for Evangelism
Our second point is “The Love for Evangelism”. Verse 21: "Testifying both to the Jews, [as well as] to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul was a man who wore many hats. We all know that he was a missionary, a church planter, a pastor, a theologian, and here he saw himself as an evangelist. But whatever hat he was wearing, do you notice that the common denominator is a love for lost souls? Take a look at all the ministries in our church, whether it is a ministry to the children, to the youth, to the adults, to the elderly. We all have one common denominator; that is a love for the souls of men. In fact, his love for lost souls was so great that he cried out in 1 Corinthians 9:16: "[Curse] unto me”, Paul said, “if I preach not the gospel!" He even made this shocking statement in Romans 9:3 that if possible, he was willing to give up his own salvation so that the unbelieving Jews be saved.
In the Old Testament, Moses made a similar statement to God, if you remember Exodus 32:32. Moses cried out to God, "if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written." Although that was not a biblical way to pray, but notice, God patiently said unto Moses, "Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book." God did not rebuke Moses because he knew what was in his heart. He knew he loved his people; he wanted his people to experience the forgiveness of their sins. That was why God simply corrected him and said only those who had sinned against God, their names would be blotted out of the Book of Life. You cannot pay the sins of anyone. Only one man in this world can pay the sins for the rest of the world, and that is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself, not Moses, not Paul. But all of us would be able to understand the love of Moses and Paul, don't we? As parents, we love our children so much that sometimes when our children are sick, if possible, we wish we could take their place. As children, we love our parents so much that sometimes when our parents are diagnosed with terminal illnesses, lying on their death beds, if possible, we wish we could take their place. Right? How much more we desire for our unbelieving loved ones, parents, children, grandparents, to believe in Jesus Christ and escape eternal damnation.
The servant of God ought to have a love for the souls of men. Paul's love for lost souls was not only limited to his own countrymen but also to the Greeks, everyone. He was testifying and evangelising to everyone. And what was his message? "Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." My friends, take note of these two very important things. A biblically sound gospel message must contain these two components: repentance and faith. The biblical meaning of repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of behaviour. It is the act of a sinner turning away from his sins onto God, to be precise, onto the Lord Jesus Christ. We must never confuse remorse with repentance. Some people are remorseful for whatever reasons, but they are not repentant toward God. You see, a repentant person is someone who is sorry that he has sinned, while a remorseful person is sorry that he got caught. He's sorry for the consequences.
One classic example in the Bible is none other than Judas Iscariot. Was Judas Iscariot remorseful? There's no question about that; he was. But he was sorrowful only for the consequence. How do we know? Because instead of turning to God, he turned to the tree and hanged himself. That is not biblical repentance. On the other hand, Peter had also sinned against the Lord. He denied the Lord three times, and he was very sorry over the sin of denial. After the Lord Jesus was risen from the dead, he appeared especially to Peter three times. Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me?" three times. Peter responded, "Lord, I love you," and three times the Lord said to him, "Feed my sheep." From there, Peter went on to serve the Lord faithfully, feeding the sheep even unto death. Unlike Judas Iscariot, Peter had experienced true repentance. Remember, it is a turning away from one's sins onto the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why biblical repentance must include faith, a complete trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. These two components, repentance and faith, must come together in salvation. You cannot have one without the other. You cannot believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and yet continue to live in habitual sins, or you cannot just simply stop in your sins without believing in Jesus Christ for salvation. Repentance and faith must come together in salvation. This is what makes a gospel message sound and biblical, and this was the gospel message that Paul was so committed to preach. He loved lost souls; he was committed to preach this sound biblical gospel message.
So, those of us who love the souls of men, especially we desire our unbelieving loved ones to come to believe in Jesus Christ, must be committed to preach not just repentance or remorse being remorseful of one's behaviour, but true repentance, as in it must include faith in Jesus Christ. So, I pray that all of us will remember these two very essential, vital components in the gospel message: repentance and faith.
III. The Conviction to Finish the Course
Our final point is “The Conviction to Finish the Course”. Let us move on to verse 22: "And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there". The word "bound" is often used to refer to the physical binding with ropes or chains, but with the words "in the spirit" added, Paul was describing being bound by a strong conviction, a strong compulsion to fulfil his ministry. Sometimes we use this word "bound" to speak of the marriage bond, which cannot be broken. You cannot physically bind your husband or your wife to you, right? You may do that physically, illegally so to speak, but it is not what it means. It speaks of a spiritual bonding. There is this strong conviction to keep the marriage bond together. That is the idea. Deep in Paul's heart, he wanted to go to Jerusalem. There was this strong conviction, there was this strong compulsion, even though he did not know what would happen to him once he arrived there. That is why verse 23 says, "Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me." Although Paul did not know exactly in great detail what was ahead of him, however, the Holy Spirit did testify to him in every city he visited that there would be imprisonments, there would be afflictions awaiting for him at Jerusalem.
My friends, can you imagine Paul being told beforehand that he will face all these dangers ahead of him at Jerusalem? There will be imprisonments, there will be afflictions, and not only once. The Holy Spirit was reminding him in every city he visited that there will be great dangers. Yet, he still chose to go to Jerusalem. Take a moment and consider this. Let's say you are called to be a full-time preacher or teacher or a fellowship leader, and you were told beforehand that as you serve the Lord in the ministry, you will be rejected by the people. They will gossip about you, rebel and fight against you. You have to stand alone, all by yourself, no one to support you. One day, they would even accuse you of something you did not do; you will be brought to court. If you had been told beforehand all these things would happen to you, would you still be doing what you have been called to do? Or as a parent, you know that your child will be most difficult, your child will cause you great pain, a pain that words can never express. If you know beforehand all the problems ahead of you, would you still be doing what you are called to do? It takes a strong conviction. It takes someone who is bound in the spirit, like the Apostle Paul.
Let us see how the Apostle Paul responded when he was told exactly what would happen to him at Jerusalem. Please turn with me to the next chapter, Acts 21:10-14. Let me read for you Acts 21:10-14. Verse 10: "And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle,” — because this girdle belongs to Paul — “and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.” So, Agabus prophesied that the Jews would arrest Paul at Jerusalem and then hand him over to the Gentiles, which would be the Romans. Later on, Paul would be imprisoned in Rome. So, all these were prophesied not only to Paul but also to Luke and the other brethren. And all of them tried to persuade him not to go to Jerusalem because by going to Jerusalem, he will be arrested.
What did Paul do? Look at the last verse. “Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." In other words, they were persuading him with tears. "Don't go, Paul, don't go." They were crying. And he said, "Why are you crying? What do you mean? I'm not only willing to be arrested, but even to die for the name of my Lord." That was how strong his conviction was. He knew his calling; he knew what was ahead of him, but he was still willing even to die. And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased. Luke, the writer of Acts, said, "We stopped." And then we say, "The will of the Lord be done." Can you say that? Most certainly, all the rest of the brethren would be encouraged by his strong conviction. It is just like someone lying on his death bed, and then the people surrounding him are weeping and crying and say, "You know, you are dying, you are dying." And that person says very strongly, with full conviction, "Why are you crying? I'm willing to die right now and go to be with my Lord. And one day, in the sweet by and by, we shall meet again on the beautiful shore of Heaven." That kind of strong conviction you can see in Paul. His conviction was so strong that he said in verse 24, "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." In other words, none of these things, whether being arrested or being delivered unto the Romans, was able to trouble him. In fact, he did not even consider his own life dear to himself. It does not mean that Paul was callous of his own life. What he meant was that the only thing that really mattered to him was that he fulfil the ministry that the Lord has called him. He wanted to finish the course with joy, and he knew that the Lord had called him to testify of the gospel, the gospel is also called the gospel of the grace of God. It did not matter to him what might happen, including death, because his heart's desire was to fulfil what the Lord Jesus has called him to do.
My friends, in conclusion, God may not reveal to us what is ahead of us in the future like the way He did to Paul. Paul was told that he would be imprisoned when he arrived at Rome or he will be arrested and then hand over to the Romans. God may not reveal to us such details, but one thing we do know is that God has a purpose for our lives and for us to continue living on this Earth. He has a purpose; there is a sovereign purpose for our existence on this Earth, and as long as we are still breathing, we want to serve and glorify God.
Whether He has called us to be preachers, pastors, teachers, or to serve in the different ministries of the church or even as parents taking care of our children, there is a particular course for us to take. All of us have a certain course, a certain path, and that particular course may take us through terrains that may be very difficult, may be full of challenges, troubles, struggles. We pray that God will grant us this strong conviction to finish our course, whatever be our portion, however difficult it may be, that we will finish it and not just to finish it like Paul says, finish it with joy because we know that this is what we have received from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
My friends, do you believe that if you are a parent, it is by God's sovereign plan and purpose the number of children you have, it is by God's sovereign purpose the place you live in and how old you'll be taken home. It is all by God's definite time and purpose. All of us, we live according to God's sovereign plan and purpose. And if we know that this is what we have received from our Lord, let us finish our course, finish it with joy, finish the work that God has called us to do, and do it faithfully until He calls us home or until our Lord Jesus comes for us in the rapture, all to the glory of His precious name.
Three things we have learned about the characteristics of the faithful servant: the zeal to teach. Don't hold back; teach and preach the whole counsel of God's Word. Teach our children, teach our people, teach the children in the Sunday School the whole counsel. However difficult, ask the Lord for wisdom and we study the Word of God diligently and hold nothing back because it is profitable. And the second thing is there must be this love for the souls of men, whichever ministry you are serving. We all have one common denominator; we love the souls of men; otherwise, we will never do well in the ministry nor persevere in the work of the Lord. And finally, the conviction to finish the course, this strong conviction, this strong compulsion that as long as we are living, we want to press on, persevere until the Lord takes us home. May the Lord teach us and work in our lives that we will have all these characteristics like the Apostle Paul. Let us pray.
Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for Thy precious Word. We thank Thee for every opportunity that Thou has given to us to consider Thy truth. Indeed, there are so many valuable spiritual lessons for us to draw from. Help us, oh Lord; our finite minds oftentimes would forget; we may remember some and then forget others. Oh Lord, through the wonder working of Thy Spirit, cause us to remember whatever Thou has taught us. Cause us not just to remember but to apply into our lives. Indeed, what is more important than Thy precious Word? If we believe that all scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for us, then we must not hold back any bit of it like the Apostle Paul who will not hold back anything that is profitable for the Ephesians. Oh Lord, teach us this important truth that we will not hold back the whole counsel of Thy Word. And we pray that we who are saved would understand the value of salvation. It is a gift that cannot be explained in words; it is a joy unspeakable. How much more we desire for our unbelieving loved ones and friends and others who are out there lingering in spiritual darkness to come to know Thee. Oh Lord, we pray that this love for lost souls will cause us to evangelise not just to people whom we know but even to people whom we do not know but Thou will bring into our lives. And we pray that all of us as we serve Thee, we know that we have a work to be done, that Thou has given us a particular course to take. The terrains may be difficult, but Thou will work in our lives in such a way that we will walk through it with our Lord himself strengthening our faith. May we have this strong conviction to finish our course and to finish it with joy. We want to serve Thee with gladness in our hearts. Oh Lord, we cannot do this based on our own strength but only through the wonder working of Thy Spirit. We give Thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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