The Arrest of Paul
Acts 21:27 – 22:29
June 2, 2013

Tonight we hit another transitional point in the book of Acts.

We’ve seen several.
• It was certainly a transition when Saul ravaged Jerusalem and started the missionary effort…
• It was certainly a transition when Peter went to the house of Cornelius and opened the door for the Gentile church…
• It was certainly a transition when Paul and Barnabas struck out on that first missionary journey…

Well, the book is about to transition again.
We come to a very pivotal event.

For the past several years we have seen Paul the missionary.
• He has been traveling from town to town, preaching the gospel and planting churches.

• He may spend a short time in jail (as he did in Philippi) but for the most part, he’s been freely moving pushing the kingdom forward.

But Paul’s ministry is about to drastically change.

He is about to go from traveling missionary
To imprisoned preacher.

And this is of course all part of the divine plan of God.
We have already seen in several instances
The Holy Spirit revealing that this was coming.

Beyond that, it is the time where the churches begin to stand on their own two feet, following their own leaders and do their own ministry.

It is as Paul told those Ephesian elders:
Acts 20:32 “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.”

And so Paul will no longer be traveling to those places,
Now he will be relegated to writing letters.

And this is also part of the divine plan.
Some have said in the past that the Holy Spirit had to throw Paul in jail,
For that was the only way to slow him down enough
To allow him to write much of the New Testament.

For in prison Paul would write
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.

Those are tremendously valuable letters that we depend on, even today.

So God is definitely transitioning the direction of the church.

It is important to note that the arrest of Paul
Cannot and did not hinder the church in any way.

2 Timothy 2:8-13 “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”

The church is moving forward,
It is simply moving forward in a different manner than before.

We might also add that this arrest
Was working to fulfill that which Paul desired.

Romans 1:9-13 “For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.”

Well, through this arrest Paul is about to get his opportunity.

I’m not sure if he intended to go to Rome via prison ship,
But he was going to Rome and that was what he prayed for.

So you can see much is changing in the book of Acts,
But that does not mean that God is not at work.

God is working as much now as ever.
He is merely using this arrest of Paul to accomplish His mysterious will.

Now, the event we study tonight is actually the event
That sort of sets things in motion.

We study the arrest of Paul.
And this is not a surprise.
We have seen this coming.

Paul has been faithful in mission even though he knew this was coming.
Paul has been selfless in service, jumping through hoops in Jerusalem.
Here we continue to see his life of faithfulness revealed.

Before we dive into the text,
There is another passage I want to remind you of.

TURN TO: LUKE 21:12-19
This passage is Luke’s version of The Olivet Discourse
That we studied in Matthew’s gospel.

Jesus is talking about a day of great persecution.

And you will notice in this passage one main theme.
PERSECUTION = OPPORTUNITY

Now, I know that is difficult to swallow, but look at what Jesus says.
READ (12-13)

Jesus saw arrest as merely an opportunity
For you to share your testimony.

An opportunity, not to preach the deep doctrines of God,
But rather an opportunity for you to share the change Christ made in your life.

Jesus knew that you would get an opportunity to speak to people in that scenario that you would never get any other way.

READ (14-15)

WOW!
Jesus actually says, “Determine not to fight it”
(you may not be able to anyway)
Just determine to trust Him to give you the words to speak.

And then the reality of the situation
(READ 16-19)
This is truly a reality that you could face,
And in that reality you have a choice to make.
You choose to either endure or to quit.

A situation like that really forces you to determine
Just how committed you are to the cause of Christ and to the kingdom.

Well tonight I want to show you a committed man.
More than that I want to show you a changed man.

Saul of Tarsus was an ambitious man who was only concerned about using the persecution of others as a means to growing his own career.

He took pride in hating Christianity to a greater extent than his contemporaries, and he persecuted Christians in order to make a name for himself.
But tonight you see a completely different man.
• A man committed to the cause of Christ.
• A man selfless in his decisions.
• A man who understands that persecution is a tremendous opportunity.

There are three main things in this text
(obviously we are going to cover a lot of Scripture in each point)

I want to show you how Paul dealt with persecution.
#1 COURAGEOUS IN DANGER
Acts 21:27-39

Just to make sure we are “in” the story.

Paul is now finishing up the purification
That James and the Jerusalem elders had asked him to perform.

Coming from Gentile lands, a necessary purification was required.
That on top of the request to accompany the four men paying a vow.

Paul is now finishing all of that up.
(27) “When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him,”

Paul is minding his own business,
Doing all that he can to avoid a disturbance and he is spotted.
Spotted by “Jews from Asia”

Because it was Pentecost (or “The Feast of Weeks”)
Jerusalem was packed, with Jews from all over the world.

And some of the “Jews from Asia” spotted him.

They were most likely from Ephesus since they recognized Paul
And “Trophimus the Ephesian” as you will see in a moment.

So these men see Paul, and instantly they grab him
As though he is a terrorist and immediately call for help.

(28-29) “crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.”

Again the first thing we notice is all the falsehood in their accusations.

• They accused Paul of being anti-Semitic “preaches to all men everywhere against our people”
• Accused him of hating the Law and even the temple.
• And they accused him of defiling the temple with a Gentile.

But of course that was nothing more than a hunch.
“For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.”

So once again Paul is the victim of false accusation.
• He was not anti-Semitic – he wrote to the Romans that he could wish himself accursed, cut off for the sake of his Jewish brethren.

• He didn’t preach against the Law – he wrote that the Law was holy and perfect and good.

• He didn’t preach against the temple – rather, he himself was in the temple purifying himself.

• And they had no proof whatsoever that he ever defiled the temple by taking a Gentile in.

It was all slander and false accusation.
Paul is yet again getting a bad rap.

But it worked.
(30) “Then all the city was provoked, and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.”

So Paul is officially in custody and according to verse 31
They are seeking to kill him and are beating him.

At least with Stephen they first drove him outside the city before they stoned him.
They don’t even have that much patience with Paul.
They want to beat him to death on the spot.

However, God intervenes to save Paul’s life.
READ VS. 31-36

So God actually uses Roman soldiers to save Paul from this lynching.

Now, put yourself in Paul’s shoes

Wrongly accused, violently captured, beaten with the intent to kill.
And all of a sudden soldiers rescue you
And are about to carry you into the barracks.

AT THIS POINT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT A WITNESSING OPPORTUNITY?
That is what Jesus said to do.
That is what Paul did.

READ VS. 37-39

• It’s obvious that the soldier was working under some misconceptions about Paul.
• He most likely thought him to be a terrorist, as he makes clear, but as Paul spoke Greek (a more educated language) the soldier is impressed.

But what we mostly see is Paul’s request.
(39b) “I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”

That is a courageous man who is doing everything he can
To push the kingdom forward.

He has such love, even for those who are accusing, arresting, and beating him, that he hopes to get opportunity to share the gospel with them.

That is tremendous focus; that is tremendous love.
• Just as Jesus prayed for his murderers…
• Just as Stephen prayed for his murderers…
• Paul now hopes to share the good news with his would be murderers…

That is focus, and that is precisely what Jesus was talking about.

Luke 21:12-14 “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. “It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. “So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves;”

Paul is courageous and we might even say compassionate in danger.
#2 CLEAR IN DEFENSE
Acts 21:40 – 22:21

Jesus was very clear back in Luke’s gospel that being arrested
Would lead to an opportunity for “your testimony”
And that is precisely what Paul gives them.

The absolute best thing about a testimony is that no one can refute it.
• If you preach doctrine, someone can and probably will argue.
• But if you share your testimony there is nothing they can say.

And you will notice that as great a preacher as Paul was,
When the circumstances really got tough,
His testimony was what he went to.

And I want you to see how he shared it.

He first begins with what we commonly call “CONVICTION”
Or his life before Christ.

(All good testimonies contain this part)

READ 1-5

What you will notice is that Paul immediately finds a way
To identify with these men that hate him.

He lets them know that he was a Jew and an educated one.
He lets them know that he studied the Law.

He even said he was “zealous for God just as you all are today.”

That is called identification.
Paul is letting them know that he is not so different from them.
(or at least he wasn’t so different from them)

And he even fully understands the hostility they now have within them.

“I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons”

And Paul even says that all the elders can bear witness to that.

In short Paul is saying, “I was just like you, and a few years ago, I would have been with you.”

He is identifying with them.

And this is a great tactic when sharing your testimony by the way.
Find common ground with the people you share with.

• Maybe you are both religious…
• Maybe you are both afraid of something…
• Maybe you are both angry about something…
• Maybe you have the same temptations…

There is common ground, Paul is finding that here.

Then we see the “CONVERSION” portion of his testimony.
That time when Christ confronted him.

READ 6-16

And what I hope you notice in that section above all else,
Is that Paul is very careful to make sure that everyone understands
That what occurred in his life that day
WAS NOT the result of something he did.
When we share our testimony
We are not offering a new 12 step program for someone to follow.

We are not holding up our intellect or our ingenuity
Or even our religious zeal as a model for them to follow.

Paul only wanted them to know one thing,
And that was that Jesus abruptly interjected into his life.

In effect Paul was saying, “I was just like you, and I would still be just like you if it hadn’t been for Jesus…”

• I didn’t decide to change – He changed me
• I didn’t have a change of heart – He changed my heart
• I didn’t get tired of Judaism – He made me a Christian
• I wasn’t even looking to change – He approached me

This is important in a testimony.
You must keep Christ as the savior.

You didn’t do anything, Christ did it all.
If they walk away thinking you did something,
You have just given them a false hope.

Paul merely explained how Jesus moved in.

Then comes the “CHANGE” part of Paul’s life.

READ 17-21

Now you will notice that Paul is still quick to reveal
That even though he was now a follower of Christ,
He never lost his zeal for Jerusalem, or the Jewish people.

• He went back to Jerusalem…
• He was still praying to God in the temple…

But while he was there, it was God who again changed his course.
• God is the one who told me to leave Jerusalem…
• God is the one who gave me a new mission…
• Paul would even say that God is the one who would send him to Gentiles…

The point is that Paul gives credit for his present life to God.
I am now merely doing what God has asked me to do.
He completely did a 180 in my life.

1. I was a persecutor of the church…
2. Christ confronted me…
3. I became a missionary for the church…
That is a testimony.
And Paul seized his opportunity to share it.

Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”

And Paul knew this.
That is why he continually used his testimony.

Here he shares it with hostile enemies…
Later he will share it on trial…

He wrote about it to the churches.
Remember Philippians 3?

Philippians 3:5-7 “circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”

He wrote about it to his ministry partners.
1 Timothy 1:12-14 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.”

The point being that a testimony is a powerful tool.
It is your story of how God invaded and changed your life.

And Jesus was very clear that even persecution
Is an opportunity for you to share your story.

And I would encourage you to seize opportunities
To share your story with people.

• Identify with people, where they are
• Share how Christ worked in and on you
• Reveal how you are different now because of Him

That is what Paul did.
Even under hostile situations he was clear in his defense.

He was Courageous in Danger, Clear in Defense
#3 CLEVER IN DIFFICULTY
Acts 22:22-29

Well, you can see that these people wanted no part of Paul’s testimony.
Their prejudice was still too great.

And that is fine.
I said they wouldn’t be able to refute it, I didn’t say they would like it.
Only Jesus can change that.

And as the crowds grow more and more unruly,
The Roman soldiers realize that they need to do something fast.

So they carry Paul into the barracks, “that he should be examined by scourging”

What they are about to do is stretch Paul out
And then whip him with that strap like they used to beat Jesus.

The one with the pieces of metal and rock and bone in it,
Meant to rip the flesh off your back.

Many men died just as a result of it.

Paul is about to be severely flogged and tortured.

(25) “But when they stretched him out with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?”

That is Paul’s ace in the hole.
He was born a Roman as you see in verse 28.

And this fact actually got Paul out of a severe flogging.

We call that being clever.
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”

Paul was there being shrewd.

And I really find this important to grasp.

Jesus said the goal to strive for in being arrested was what?
To share your testimony

• The goal is not to see who can get the worst beating…
• The goal is not to see who can suffer the most…

The goal is to get an opportunity to share your testimony,
If you can do that and still avoid the beating, then by all means do that!

Paul was faithful to the mission.
Let me show you specifically how.

Look back in chapter 21 to verse 39.

Acts 21:39 “But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”

Now let me fill you in.

At this point Paul had already been bound by two chains.
• That occurred upon in verse 33.
• And we find later in chapter 22:29 that even putting Paul in chains was illegal.

Here is what I am driving at.
• The Jews seized Paul and began to beat him.
• The soldiers came in and took Paul from their custody, effectively
delivering him from their grasp.

Now suppose if standing on the top of the steps
Paul had then revealed that he was a Roman citizen.

• He would have immediately been released,
• The crowd most likely would have been dispersed,
• Paul would have been free.

BUT HE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE
TO SHARE HIS TESTIMONY WITH THE CROWD.

Faithfulness required sharing first, and working for his freedom second.

That is what Paul did.
He shared, and then he cleverly used his citizenship
To save himself from an unnecessary beating.

That is the kind of focus we are talking about.
It is being focused on the main thing.

It is being focused on the kingdom
Above even your own personal interests.
And Paul did that.

Tonight all I can really do is hold up Paul’s example for you in Scripture.
None of us has ever been called upon to share under such brutal circumstances and so I wouldn’t dare sit here and tell you to do it.

However, Jesus said that this was the way to do it,
And this is the way Paul did it.

That is a tremendous example for us.

1 Peter 3:15 “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”

So Far as it Depends on You
Acts 21:15-26
May 26, 2013

One of the absolutes of our world is that as long as there are humans
There will always be friction.

Solomon said it like this:
Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.”

That would, of course, be the positive side of friction.
It pictures men working on one another and sharpening one another.

The negative side would be like Jesus said:
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

And it really isn’t that difficult to understand why.
After the fall of man and the entrance of sin,
The worst in man began to come forward.

And I suppose you could categorize it in all different types,
But the reality is that mankind began to focus on himself.

• Soon after the fall we have Cain killing Able out of envy.
• A few years later we have a man named Lamech, who was the first
polygamist, wanting two wives and taking them.

He then said:
Genesis 4:23-24 “Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice, You wives of Lamech, Give heed to my speech, For I have killed a man for wounding me; And a boy for striking me; If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

That was a man not only willfully sinning, but also justifying it.

And that was really only the beginning wasn’t it?
Ever since the fall man has sought to gratify his sinful nature
And then justify his sin.

It is the absolute epitome of selfishness.

AND EVERY ONE OF US WAS THERE.
Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

Every one of us once lived in sin, seeking to gratify the flesh,
Seeking to appease our carnal desires.
And with a mindset like that, it’s no wonder that friction and strife arises.
It is very rare that two selfish people can ever become friends.

Proverbs says:
Proverbs 30:15 “The leech has two daughters, “Give,” “Give.”

And this is really the reason for division and friction
And a lack of unity among people.

Now this problem should be taken care of when people get saved.

Christians are those who have died to self and live to Christ
And therefore called to put others before themselves.

However, you and I know that divisions still occur.
There are times when even believers walk in the flesh
And therefore strife arises.

Paul actually scolded the Corinthians, saying:
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?”

Paul told them the reason they fought was because they were babies.

James also revealed where strife comes from:
James 4:1-4 “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

James said our divisions come from carnal and selfish hearts
That are willing to fight and steal and murder to get what they want.

At times, even among believers, division occurs.

This means that the believer must always
Seek and strive to find unity and fellowship.

Those things don’t naturally happen, because the natural man is selfish.

Those things only happen when a man is determined
To die to self and walk by the Spirit.

And this unity is the aim of the Christian.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
Ephesians 4:3 “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

It is the goal of a Christian to be at peace without strife.

And if you want to see an example of how serious God is,
Let me take you to 1 Corinthians 7.

This is a passage on marriage.
1 Corinthians 7:12-16 “But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?”

We all know that Scripture teaches that “God hates divorce”
And yet here Paul says God would rather you
Let your unbelieving spouse leave than live in strife.

Unity and peace matter.

Often times when people come into my office with some complaint against another person, there is one verse we end up on.

And it is the verse I used to title this sermon:
Romans 12:18 “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”

I think it teaches us a great deal about the attitude we must maintain
If we are truly to have peace in our relationships.

Now, do understand, that sometimes peace isn’t possible.
That is why Paul says, “So far as it depends upon you”

In other words, you may not achieve peace,
But make sure that you aren’t the reason why you couldn’t.

You do everything you can.

Anyone in here who has ever had to apply those verses in their life,
Will agree that this is no small request.

To do something like that requires
A selfless, humble, pride crushing attitude.

At times it necessitates repentance, apologies, and almost always
A willingness to surrender personal preference.

THAT IS A TREMENDOUSLY TOUGH PASSAGE TO OBEY.

Well, tonight I want to show you Paul
Putting his money where his mouth was.

He wasn’t a man like the Pharisees who tied up heavy burdens upon people
That he was unwilling to move with so much as a finger.

He was a man that so believed the truth he preached
That he lived it in his daily life.

As you know, Paul is on his way back to Jerusalem.
• He is carrying the offering for the saints that has been collected in the Gentile churches and he is on his way.

• Along the way he has had a constant conviction from the Holy Spirit that bonds an afflictions await him.

• In what we saw in the previous passage, this conviction became a clear warning as prophets specifically revealed that Paul would be bound and imprisoned in Jerusalem.

• This revelation sparked an outcry that Paul turn around and not go to Jerusalem, but Paul was determined.

• He was on mission for the Lord, and if imprisonment was part of that mission, then so be it.

Well, we aren’t going to get to the prison part yet,
But we are going to get to an even that required Paul
To determine how important unity was to him.

And it is a tremendous example of him living that verse he wrote to the Romans. “So far as it depends upon you, be at peace with all men.”

There are four things I want you to see in this text.
#1 PAUL’S RESUME
Acts 21:15-19

You will notice that Luke sort of moves us into a new chapter
Regarding Paul’s journey back to Jerusalem.

“After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem.”

Paul went through a season of people seeking to encourage him
Not to travel to Jerusalem, but that time was now behind them.

Paul was nearly there, and it was time to approach the city.

And according to verse 17 Paul came to Jerusalem
And was greeted by all the brethren.
And then Paul approached the church.
(18) “And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.”

As far as our study of ecclesiology is concerned
This is a very important verse.

At this point in the life of the church,
The apostles have handed over full control to the elders.

The apostles have moved on in evangelistic efforts and the head of the Jerusalem church is James (not an apostle – the half-brother of Jesus, and the elders)

This shows that succession of leadership
We talked about a few weeks back.

The church in Jerusalem is now being led by the elders, not the apostles.

In fact, Paul is about to put himself in submission to these elders,
Which is really fascinating when you think about it.

But here he is greeting this Jerusalem church.
(19) “After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.”

This is the part I call “Paul’s Resume”

Romans 15:18-19 “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”

Paul was not puffed up on all that he had accomplished in the ministry,
But did recognize the hand of God on his ministry.

And so he came and shared with the Jerusalem church
All that God had done through him.

And this is so important.
• It is vital that every local congregation develop a “global” view of God’s activity.
• It is important that we understand that God is in fact omnipresent and that He is working not only in Spur, but also around the world.

And so Paul is sharing what God has done.

The reason I want you to see that here, is because
I want you to recognize that Paul was no “little fish”
In the grand scheme of God.
If he had wanted to, it would have been easy for him
To stroll into Jerusalem and throw his weight around
And basically tell everyone to follow his lead.

He had enough skins on the wall to warrant such respect.

By this point, he could have easily decided
That he didn’t have to answer to anyone.

I just want you to see that.
#2 PAUL’S REPUTATION
Acts 21:20-22

The first thing we notice is that after Paul gives the account of all that God did through his ministry, THE RESPONSE IS GREAT.

“And when they heard it they began glorifying God;”

Paul not only said he wanted to give God glory,
He actually accomplished his goal.

He told his story in such a way so that the people didn’t end up praising him,
But ended up praising God.

So Paul comes to town, having accomplished much, and God is glorified.

But what we find next is where the story takes the turn.
It seems not everyone was impressed with Paul’s success,
Or how God was using him.

“and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.”

So even though Paul had been a tremendous worker for the kingdom,
His reputation had suffered some hits.

Here was a man who was so devoted to Christ
That he was now in Jerusalem at the risk of his own life,
And yet the word being spread about him was that he was some sort of heretic.

His reputation had fallen victim to the gossip circle.

The specific accusation was that Paul attacked traditional Judaism.
They said he was trying to get Jews to completely disregard Moses
And quit following their Jewish traditions.

(You can imagine the stir such a thing would have caused)
But let’s talk about this accusation for a moment.

FIRST OF ALL, IT WASN’T TRUE
That was not at all what Paul was preaching.

No where do we find Paul disregarding Moses
Or telling Jews not to be circumcised.

Acts 16:1-3 “Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.”

Furthermore in his letter to the Corinthians he wrote:
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.”

Or who can forget his letter to the Romans
Where Paul specifically told Gentile believers not to judge Jewish believers
Whom Paul considered to be “weak in faith”
Because they still held so tightly to their Jewish customs?

Romans 14:1-4 “Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

It is clear that Paul had no plan to get Jews to quit being Jewish.

What Paul did oppose was Gentiles being forced to become Jewish.
Paul saw absolutely no merit (and in fact much harm)
In trying to force Gentiles to keep the Law of Moses.

The entire letter of Galatians addresses that issue.

Paul told Gentiles not to get circumcised, but not Jews.
So, first of all, the accusation is false.

But beyond that you need to understand:
SECONDLY, EVEN IF PAUL DID TEACH IT, IT WASN’T WRONG

They accused Paul of telling Jews not to circumcise their children,
And thus forsake Moses.
Even if Paul had taught that, it would not have been wrong.

The Law had a specific purpose,
And that was to lead Israel to the Messiah.

Galatians 3:23-26 “But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

The reality is that the things of the Law were no longer necessary.
• That is why Peter could eat unclean foods, and go eat them with Gentiles.
• That is why Philip could go witness to a Samaritan.
• And that is why all other aspects of the Law were also set aside.

All of those requirements were fulfilled in Christ.
Jesus is now the answer.
And Jews no longer needed the ritual.

Now, Paul didn’t enforce that, but even if he had,
It would not have been wrong.

And yet, Paul’s reputation had taken an extreme hit because of it.

It is obvious that those Judaizers who infected the Galatian church had also done their work in Jerusalem, and the Jewish believers there were confused in doctrine and now taking it out on Paul.

The result being:
(22) “What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.”

So even though Paul has done nothing of which he should be ashamed,
He finds himself in the middle of a dilemma.

And please notice, this dilemma isn’t even among non-believers.
These are believers who are causing this problem for him.

His Resume, His Reputation
#3 PAUL’S REQUIREMENT
Acts 21:23-25

Well they were concerned about what to do with Paul,
Knowing that he had been victimized by the gossip train.

Here is what they decide.
“Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself walk orderly, keeping the Law.”

Paul did nothing wrong,
But now they are asking him to go beyond himself
And prove himself a faithful Jew,
Just to appease the people with messed up doctrine.

This appeasement entails a period of purification and a paying of expenses for four men who are keeping a Nazirite vow.

(Not strange, Paul did this back in chapter 18)

But just to make sure you understand,
Let me remind you of exactly what they fees were for this.

Numbers 6:13-16 “’Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall bring the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting. ‘He shall present his offering to the LORD: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering and one ewe-lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering and one ram without defect for a peace offering, and a basket of unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offering and their drink offering. ‘Then the priest shall present them before the LORD and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering.”

So they are basically asking Paul to pay something like 4 male lambs, 4 ewe lambs, 4 baskets of unleavened cakes, 4 grain offerings, and 4 drink offerings.

And the idea is that if he would go such great expense,
Then certainly all the Jews would realize that
He is a “good Jew” who walks “orderly”.

To put it bluntly they ask Paul to jump through all kinds of hoops
Just to silence their confused congregation.

Now, it is important to note that these elders are not backing down from what they wrote previously to the Gentiles.

(25) “But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.”

These elders aren’t backing up on the truth for the Gentiles, they still solidify that doctrine, they just want Paul to go ahead and affirm Judaism.

I don’t mind telling you, if I was Paul, I might have a problem with this.
• First of all, the Law never saved anyone…
• Secondly, it is all about Christ now, not Judaism….
• Thirdly, if salvation without Law is good enough for Gentiles, it’s is good enough for Jews…
• Fourthly, if Paul did nothing wrong, why should he have to go to such trouble..?
Paul would have been justified in telling these Jerusalem elders that instead of requiring him to jump through hoops, why don’t they do something about the influence of the Judaizers and straighten out the bad doctrine in their churches?

It appears to me that Paul would have been more than justified in telling these elders that the problem wasn’t his, but theirs.

So they are putting a big requirement on him.

His Resume, His Reputation, His Requirement
#4 PAUL’S RESPONSE
Acts 21:26

Here was Paul:
Devoted missionary
Devoted Christian

A man who had every right to ride on his reputation,
Now belittling himself and jumping through hoops
That must have certainly seemed unnecessary,
Just for the sake of not offending any Jewish Christians.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE CALL THAT?
Dying to Self

Romans 12:18 “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”

• Paul never considered his rights…
• Paul never stood on his credentials…
• Paul never expected fairness…

Paul was simply willing to lay down his life and his freedoms
If it meant preserving unity in the body.

And this friends is real Christianity.
Philippians 2:1-3 “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;”

That is exactly what Paul was doing.
There was no genuine or even theological reason why he had to do this.
He did it simply to bring peace.

Might I also remind you that Paul had just delivered one of the most gracious offerings imaginable to the Jewish believers.

Yet Paul was asked to totally and completely die to self.

We call this humility, and it is a necessary attribute for the Christian.

Jesus Himself said it:
Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

That is the call.
If you are unwilling to die to self,
Then you are unable to follow Christ.

John MacArthur preached a sermon once on husbands loving their wives sacrificially, in the sermon he said this about the necessary “death to self” that is required to do that.

I suppose death to self, is the real issue. Somewhere along your pilgrimage as a Christian, you need to learn to die to yourself regularly. It saves you from being defensive, revengeful, retaliatory, [and] hostile, accumulating the list of things against you.
When you are forgotten or neglected or purposely set aside and you sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight, but your heart is happy and you count it a privilege to suffer for Christ; that is dying to self.
When your good is evil spoken of, when [others] misunderstand you, when your desires are not interesting to [others] when your advice is disregarded and your opinions are ridiculed, and when you are abused, when you are mistreated, or misunderstood, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, or even defend yourself; that is dying to self.
When you lovingly, patiently bear any disruption; any irregularity; any annoyance; when you can stand face to face with folly and waste and extravagance and insensitivity and endure it as Jesus endured it; that is dying to self.
When you are content with any food, any clothes, any climate, any society, any interruption, or any solitude; that is dying to self.
When you never care to refer to yourself in a conversation or to record and recite your own good works, or to pursue commendation; when you can truly love to be unrecognized for something good; that is dying to self.
When you see someone else prosper, someone else reach goals that you desire, and you can honestly rejoice with that other person in spirit; feel no envy and not question God while your needs are far greater and [you are] in desperate circumstances; that is dying to self.

-John MacArthur, from sermon “God’s Pattern for Husbands – Part 1” quoted at: 34:00 minutes.

That was the apostle Paul.

We know he died to self in agreeing to come to Jerusalem,
But he had to continue to do it the second he got there.

And all for the sake of unity.

 

• He put his own accomplishments…
• His own rights…
• His own feelings…
• His own expectations…

All on the back burner and submitted himself
To a needless service which cost him greatly,
All for the sake of keeping the peace and preserving the unity.

That is the example we see, and that is the exhortation we follow.

Romans 12:18 “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”

Running the Race
Acts 21:1-14
May 12, 2013

Well we have spent the last 6 weeks studying the pastor’s conference
That Paul had in Miletus with the elders of the Ephesian church.

And that (at least for me) was a rich study
With tremendous insight not only in regard to the calling of a shepherd,
But also the high priority God puts on the health of His flock.

And now, we move on with our narrative in the book of Acts.

• Paul is traveling back to Jerusalem.
• He is collecting that often spoken of “offering for the saints” and now is going to deliver it.

• And from other passages we know that Paul’s goal is to hurry and get to Jerusalem to see if he can get there in time for Pentecost.

(And based on what we studied this morning,
I think you can see why Pentecost was such a big deal.
It is the yearly celebration of “God in us”)

So Paul is headed to Jerusalem.

Now, one very interesting thing we learned during his pastor’s conference
Was that Paul has a very difficult expectation for this trip.

Acts 20:22-24 “And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”

And when we talked about this,
We noted that Paul expected to succeed in ministry through sacrifice.

And through this we found a tremendous example
Of what a shepherd is and does.

But let’s focus in a little more on that statement here tonight.

And just look at a few obvious facts from that statement.

1) He is on his “way to Jerusalem”
That we get, he is taking the offering there.

2) He is “bound by the Spirit” to do so.
So it is the Holy Spirit that literally has Paul bound to this mission.
3) He doesn’t know what will “happen to [him] there”
The specifics are blurry.

4) But he knows that “bonds and afflictions await” him.
So the specifics aren’t clear, and yet he knows that what is coming will be difficult.

5) Paul sees this mission as his calling from Jesus.
“But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”

So we have a man on a mission from Jesus who knows that what he will face will not be pleasant, but he is doing it anyway.

All for the purpose of “finishing his course”

• Paul fully understood that his life had a divine calling.
• Paul fully understood that there was a race laid out before him.
• Paul fully understood that he had been called on a mission.
(and we all are)

But Paul was fully assured of this.
He was running a predetermined race.
This was his race.

And despite the fact that his race carried him through hardship
He decided to run it anyway.

That is a tremendous example for all of us
In regard to living this Christian life.

Many of you have been studying the book of Hebrews
On Sunday mornings.

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Of course in that setting we had Christian Jews who are debating abandoning Christ simply because the calling to follow Christ is becoming costly.

The preacher has already warned them of the dangers of falling away,
And he has already given them example after example
Of people who have endured in this life before them.
We call those examples “The Faith Hall of Fame”

Hebrews 11 is a list of people who faithfully and successfully
Ran the race put before them.

• I’m not sure if David would have selected war with a giant…
• I’m not sure if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have signed up for a fiery furnace…
• I don’t know if Daniel was fond of lions…
• I don’t know if leading Israel out of Egypt was Moses’ dream…
• I don’t know if building a boat was always a goal for Noah…
• I don’t know if being sold to Egypt was part of Joseph’s plans…

Those people didn’t get a say as to which race they would run,
But one thing was certain, they ran it anyway.

And the writer of Hebrews pointed that out.
Then he gave these two tremendous verses.

Since we have so many people who have faithfully run before you, why don’t you now faithfully run too?

“let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

NOW WE ALSO HAVE A RACE SET BEFORE US
Now in some ways we are all running a similar race.
We are all in the same town, under the same government, in the same
economy, experiencing the same drought…

But in some ways we are all running different races.
Different health issues, financial issues, family issues…

And yet, we were never asked to volunteer for any certain race.
Our race was merely “set before us”

When Paul preached to the Athenians he said:
Acts 17:26 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”

There is a divine hand behind the life that we live.

Psalms 139:15-16 “My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

God has a race for everyone to run.

And Paul was no different.
Acts 9:15-16 “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

Paul had a race to run.
Paul had a course to finish.
I don’t know what your race or course requires,
I don’t know the burdens you will face or the hardships you will endure.
• I don’t know if you will be rich or poor
• I don’t know if you will face persecution or martyrdom
• I don’t know if sickness is in your future
• I don’t know.
• I don’t even know what is in my future.

But I do know this: that despite the difficulty of the race you face,
You must run it none the less.
Every man and woman of faith did.

Even consider Jesus (as this writer says)
Luke 12:49-50 “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!”

John 12:27-28 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

Matthew 26:39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”

Matthew 26:52-54 “Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? “How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”

And of course after enduring the cross,
Jesus hanged on the cross and said:

John 19:30 “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

Jesus finished His course.
Jesus finished His race.

AND YOU GET THE IDEA.
We all have a race.

Well tonight, I want to show you Paul as he runs his.
Now we know that Paul is going to finish his race.
In the last chapter of the last book he wrote:

2 Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

What I want you to see tonight is Paul in the midst of it.
At this point, Paul is somewhere along the backstretch,
Maybe even coming into the final turn.

Paul is not finished he is in the middle.
But let me show you what it took for him to run it.

This passage focuses on Paul’s resiliency.

Three things
#1 HE ACCEPTED A REMINDER
Acts 20:1-3

Now I know when we read those first three verses,
It really doesn’t look like it contains anything very theological,
And that is true.

These three verses are nothing more than a traveler’s log.

What is so special about that?
The special part is that Paul was doing it.

Acts 20:22-23 “And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.”

Paul knew what was coming, and he went anyway.

And please notice that this wasn’t just an eerie feeling he was getting.
• The Holy Spirit was testifying to Paul seriously in every city.
• He was continuously reminded of what was coming.

And yet, he went anyway.

NOW THINK ABOUT IT LIKE THIS.

• Let’s suppose you told me that tonight after church you have plans to go to Lubbock.

You have some errands you need to run and so you are going to Lubbock.
(thanks for coming to church first, by the way)

• So you are going to Lubbock and then I come and tell you, “God has just revealed to me that when you go to Lubbock, you will be arrested and put in jail.”

WHAT WOULD YOU DETERMINE YOU SHOULD DO?

• Most, if not all of us, would then say, “Well, I guess God is telling me not to go to Lubbock.”
It would have been really easy for Paul to say, “The Holy Spirit is telling me to stay away from Jerusalem.”

But that is not what Paul deduced.
He was still on a mission from the Lord Jesus Christ,
Only he knew where it was headed.

THAT IS AMAZING!

The goal was to endure, finish the race, and complete the course
And so he accepted this constant reminder.

In order to faithfully run our race, we have to do the same.

Maybe we don’t have SPECIFIC REMINDERS like Paul did,
But we certainly have CORPORATE ones.

2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Philippians 1:29-30 “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”

We have those same reminders of suffering.
It is real.

And if you are going to sign up to run this race,
You are going to have to accept that as well.

What did Jesus teach us?
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

We are all called to understand where this thing is headed.

Now, unlike Paul, we may not know specifically what is coming,
But we have to mindful that we live in a world
That is growing ever increasingly more hostile to the gospel.

We have to open our eyes to what we are facing.

TURN TO: LUKE 14:25-35
And you understand the analogy Jesus is making there about counting the cost.

But really zone in on those last two verses. (34-35)

“Therefore salt is good”
That sort of seems to just fly out of nowhere doesn’t it?

What is Jesus talking about?
Well, we know who the salt of the earth is, it is us.
We are the ones who add flavor, who understand what makes life liveable.

And salt is good, but only if it will perform its intended function.
If you take salt that refuses to be salty, it is useless.

• In those two verses, good salt represents a disciple who counts the cost, embraces the cost and takes taste to the world.

• Tasteless salt is that disciple who either doesn’t count the cost, or who counts it and doesn’t sign up.

See, what Jesus is looking for is people who
Even when they look down the track and see hardship coming,
They determine to run the race anyway.

That is what Paul is doing.
As far as we know he didn’t suffer in any of these initial towns,
But each of those towns took him one step closer to the town where he would.

And yet Paul went anyway.
He accepted the reminder and endured.

He Accepted a Reminder
#2 HE EMBRACED A REALITY
Acts 21:4-6

Now in these few verses the stakes are raised a little bit.

Paul has come to Tyre and stayed there for a week with the disciples.

“and they kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.”

Now first off, let’s try to understand this better.
Because one could read this like a command from God
And Paul is being disobedient if he continues on.

First let’s consider Paul.
• He has also been listening to the Holy Spirit, and has thus far only been compelled to go.
• Paul even said that this mission he received from “the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:24)
• Paul certainly was not beyond sin, but never indicated that he ever felt as though God was telling him he did wrong.

So it is hard to fathom that Paul was sinning here.
On the hand we look at the disciples.
• It is not a stretch to realize that the Holy Spirit has also revealed to them what is coming for Paul.
• But it does not indicate that they were to dissuade Paul from going.
• It is quite possible that the pressure not to go, was their own application to the truths the Spirit revealed.

(Similar to God saying you will be arrested in Lubbock
And so you assume God is telling not to go to Lubbock)

That is what is going on here.

These disciples catch wind even from the Holy Spirit
What is going to happen to Paul and they don’t want him to go.

And yet:
(5-6) “When our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, escorted us until we were out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home again.”

You can see that now it is getting even more real
And yet Paul is still pushing forward.

Now he doesn’t just have a generic reminder,
He has A SPECIFIC WARNING or reality.

Let me try to explain the difference.

We have a team preparing to go to Zimbabwe.
• The Reminder is that Zimbabwe is an unstable country.
• Zimbabwe is a country with unstable roads.
• And it is possible that hardship could befall those who go.

That is a reminder that everyone on that team must face.
Bad things can happen, and yet when God calls someone to go,
They must count that cost and sign up anyway.

But this next occurrence would be to take it a step further.
• This would be like Shakes (last year’s guide) saying – “Don’t go to Zimbabwe”
• This would be someone with reliable information telling us not to go, it is too
dangerous, and we will be harmed.

The first is a general reality, the second is getting much more serious.

And yet Paul embraced the reality of suffering continued on anyway.
That is what we call running the race with endurance.
He pushed on.
He Accepted a Reminder He Embraced a Reality
#3 HE DENIED A REQUEST
Acts 21:7-14

Now we see that Paul has made it to Caesarea
• He is now close to Jerusalem.
• All he has to do is walk from here.

And he comes to the home of “Philip the evangelist”
You remember Philip, one of the initial deacons.
The man who witnessed to the Ethiopian Eunich and all the Samaritans.

Well Philip now has “four virgin daughters who were prophetesses”

Many have sited this verse as grounds for women pastors.
No, Scripture is clear that women cannot serve as pastors.

• But that does not mean that women can’t proclaim the gospel.
Perhaps that is what these girls did.
We don’t know, because nothing they said is recorded.

• Some historians have noted them as great historians themselves and that is
why Luke mentions them.

• Isaiah’s wife is called a prophetess, not because she preached, but because
she had a child with a prophetic name.

It’s really impossible to know the capacity in which these girls served,
But they did in some way.

(10-11) “As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'”

Alright, now this is serious.
(If that was us, the first thing we would do is sell that belt!)

• No more possibilities…
• No more generic warnings…
• Now God is revealing that beyond a shadow of a doubt, you will be arrested.

That would be like getting a letter from Robert Mugabe that he will be waiting at the airport to arrest all Texans who try to enter Zimbabwe.

This is a certainty now.

So what do you do Paul?
I can tell you what his friends did.

(12) “When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem.”

None of his friends wanted him to go.
“Let someone else take the money…”
“Please don’t go Paul…”
“You can accomplish so much more here not in jail…”

Here you are at the commissioning service
And your loved ones are begging you not to go.
That is what Paul is facing.

Not much different than Peter’s advice to Jesus:
Matthew 16:21-22 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”

That is what they are doing to Paul.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

Here is what Paul did:
(13-14) “Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”

Paul said, “Why in the world would you try to persuade me not to obey Jesus?”
You are breaking my heart.
I’m ready to die for Jesus

Obviously they kept arguing with him, for Luke says, “since he would not be persuaded…”

They tried, but Paul was convicted.
Paul had a passion.
He was going to run his race.

That is commitment isn’t it?
That is someone determined to fulfill his calling.

And I look at my life and how easily I am frightened,
Or discouraged, or persuaded.

Not Paul, he had tunnel vision.

And friends, that is the type of thing that Jesus requests of us.

I don’t know what the race before you looks like,
And you don’t know what the race before me looks like.

Some of the things we walk through will be the same,
And some things we walk through will be unique to our own track.

But we must run it none the less.
We must run it like the heroes before us, who also ran their race.

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

And I remind you again that Paul’s faithfulness greatly paid off.

2 Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

That is the calling.
• Accept the Reminder that suffering is possible
• Embrace the Reality when suffering is promised
• Deny the Request when retreat is requested

• Finish the race
• Complete the course
• And take the crown that Jesus has to offer

That is what Paul did

 

Shepherding God’s Flock – part 6
Acts 20:17-38 (32-38)
May 5, 2013

As you know we have spent the last month or so looking over this passage of Scripture in which Paul has addressed the elders of the Ephesian church
And outlined for them exactly what is expected of a shepherd.

I realize that six weeks is probably longer than you may have wanted to spend on this passage, but I find it to be a very important subject.

But here tonight as we bring this text to a close I want to remind you one more time why this is such an important concept.

I know that while studying this it can feel like
The only one who really needs to know this stuff is the preacher.
But that is not true.

And here is the main reason:
SHEPHERDS AFFECT THE FLOCK

We won’t hash back through it again, but all you have to do is go back and read Ezekiel 34 and see the adverse effect that bad shepherds had on Israel.

We read Hosea 4:6
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

We read Jeremiah 10:21
Jeremiah 10:21 “For the shepherds have become stupid And have not sought the LORD; Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered.”

We read in Micah 3:12 as Micah was addressing the leaders of Israel:
Micah 3:12 “Therefore, on account of you Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, And the mountain of the temple will become high places of a forest.”

Shepherds affect the flock.

If you have godly shepherds who set a good example and feed the sheep and protect the sheep and guide the sheep according to the will of God – you get a healthy flock.

If you have ungodly shepherds who neglect the sheep, and starve the sheep, and only feed themselves, and flee when the wolf comes – you get a slaughtered flock.

This was sort of the reality that Jesus presented for us:
Matthew 7:15-20 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

And of course the point being that you can identify a false prophet
By the type of convert he produces.

But don’t fail to understand that if your shepherd is a false prophet
The bad fruit they are speaking of
Is in fact the congregation he shepherds.

There is no such thing as a bad shepherd with a healthy flock.

In short, the truths about being a godly shepherd
Matter just as much to the sheep as they do to the shepherd.

Paul even explicitly stated this:
TURN TO: 1 Timothy 5:17-22

Paul is actually speaking here about how the flock
Should respond to their elders or shepherds.

• When you have those who “rule well” indicated by their hard work “at preaching and teaching”, Paul says to give them “double honor.”

That is what you are looking for.

• And there should also be a measure of protection extended to that shepherd. “Do not receive and accusation against” him without “two or three witnesses.”

He is going to be attacked,
Don’t hesitate to extend to him the benefit of the doubt.

However:
• “Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all” They don’t even get the luxury of that private visit.

They hold a high profile position and so when they continue in sin,
It must be dealt with in a high profile manner.

• Verse 21 even goes so far as to remind you not to be partial in this.
• If a shepherd is living in sin, don’t cut him slack just because he did a good job at your daddy’s funeral.

The health of the church is at stake.

And finally verse 22, “Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.”

This speaks of the ordination process.
When you call out the called – so to speak.

And you ordain or commission a person to the office of elder.
Paul says to be careful about doing that,
And don’t be in a hurry to make a man an elder.

If you do that hastily and he turns out to be a wolf,
Then you share responsibility for his sin.

The flock that he ravishes will look to you and ask,
“Why did you endorse him?”

YOU GET THE POINT.
It is important for everyone to know what a true shepherd is.

So with that in mind we have spent a great deal of time here
Studying this “pastor’s conference” that Paul set up
With the elders of the Ephesian church.

We want to know what is expected of a shepherd.

#1 Paul’s Example of How a Shepherd Lives
A. How I Served (19)
1. With Humility
2. With True Concern
3. With Endurance
B. How I Spoke (20)
1. Powerfully
2. Profitably
3. Publicly
4. Personally
C. How I Shared

#2 Paul’s Expectation of What a Shepherd Receives
A. Submission to the Spirit (22)
B. Suffer Hardship (23)
C. Succeed through Sacrifice (24)

#3 Paul’s Exoneration of His Own Shepherding Record (25-27)

#4 Paul’s Exhortation to How they should Shepherd
A. Requirement (28)
1. Guard yourself
2. Guard the flock
3. Shepherd the church
B. Reality (29-30)
C. Reminder (31)

So Paul has been very thorough with these men
About being true shepherds of God’s flock.

Well tonight we get to the final point in Paul’s message.

#5 PAUL’S ENTRUSTING OF THE FLOCK TO THEIR CARE
Acts 20:32-38

This is the point that the whole sermon has been leading up to.

Paul had shepherded the Ephesian flock for three years,
But God has a different course for him to walk.
• Paul is headed to Jerusalem to face his bonds and afflictions.
• Ultimately he is headed to Rome as a prisoner.
• And his time for departure from Ephesus is here.

But he will not leave until he knows
That the Ephesian church is well-cared for.

And so now, having exhorted them in regard to their role,
He now actually passes the torch to them.

And has he does, there are two pieces of advice that Paul gives them.

Neither of these come in the form of a command,
But are Paul’s advice in regard to shepherding God’s flock.
1) TRUST GOD (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.”

Paul is leaving.
• He will not be readily available to answer questions.
• He will not be around to guide you through difficult waters.

And so he reminds these elders who they need to depend on.
You have to trust God.

“I commend you to God”
That is to say, “I put you in God’s hands”

“commend” there is the same Greek word that Jesus said on the cross.
“Into Your hands I commit My Spirit”

Paul is handing these men over to God.

And this is common:
Acts 14:21-23 “After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”
Now, in one sense Paul is saying, “I’m not going to fill my life with anxiety and worry about the type of job you do. I’m putting you in God’s hands.”

But on the flip side he is simultaneously telling these men
Where to go for help.

When you begin to shepherd God’s flock:
• Where do you go when doctrinal perversions arise that you need to
confront?
• Where do you go when wolves come lurking to destroy the flock?
• Where do you go when there is a fork in the road and you want to
guide the flock?

Up until now they could run to Paul.
Now Paul says they need to run to God.

And so without stating it specifically
Here we have Paul encouraging these men to pray.

You must seek God

Obviously we can’t go on a full tilt sermon just on prayer here,
But the reality is that a church is dead without it.

And the reality is that a shepherd who doesn’t pray
Is setting his flock up for certain destruction.

What did we read from Jeremiah?
Jeremiah 10:21 “For the shepherds have become stupid And have not sought the LORD; Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered.”

John MacArthur wrote:
“There is no substitute for prayer, for prayer acknowledges dependence on God and lines us up with His purposes. Prayer also allows God to glorify Himself by answering. Without it the undershepherds’ attempts to feed, lead, and guide the flock will be in vain. Good intentions, good ideas, or good programs cannot overcome the effects of prayerlessness.”

The church doesn’t operate by human ingenuity, deductive reasoning, or majority vote. The church operates and thrives only according to the will of God and any man that aspires to the office of overseer, must be diligent to seek that will.

Paul was encouraging these men to pray.

And time would fail us if we tried to list all the examples of this
That Scripture provides.

• See Moses spending 40 days on Mt. Sinai seeking the will of God.
• Read through the Psalms and find David’s many sleepless nights seeking God.
• Look at Jesus often seeking to get off by Himself and pray.
• Or just recognize some of the references to prayer by the leaders of the church here in Acts.

Acts 1:14 “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”

Acts 2:42 “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

Acts 12:5 “So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”

• Listen to Paul in his letters to the churches.

Colossians 1:9 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,”

Romans 1:9-10 “For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.”

In the letter to the Ephesians we learned what he prayed:

Ephesians 1:18-19a “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”

And
Ephesians 3:14-19 “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

I hope you get the idea.
The church is not a physical institution,
It is a spiritual one and prayer is required.

Only God is sovereign.
• We don’t know how to pray without Him
• We can’t understand the Scriptures without Him
• We have no power for evangelism without Him
• In fact: Sinners can’t even come unless He draws them

Seeking God is required.
But that is only half of the equation.

(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 obviously the other side of the coin
And represents the highest duty of the shepherd.

PRAYER AND THE WORD.

Remember when the grumbling broke out because some of the widows were being overlooked with the distribution of food?

Acts 6:2-4 “So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

It is a two-sided commitment.
Seeking God through prayer and finding God’s will through the Scripture.

Paul encouraged Timothy:
2 Timothy 3:14-17 “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

We have already talked in detail about the importance of
The shepherd preaching the word.

Paul was adamant about how he proclaimed what was profitable
And preached to them “the whole purpose of God.”

This is not talking about preaching.
THIS VERSE IS TALKING ABOUT SEEKING.

And for the shepherd there is a difference between
Seeking God’s word and preaching God’s word.

Certainly at times the two can definitely overlap as the shepherd preaches what God has revealed, but the two are still distinct things.

The shepherd must seek God in prayer and study God’s word,
That is where he finds direction to shepherd God’s flock.

It is the word of God’s grace “which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”
In Ephesians we learned that God gave spiritual gifts,
Ephesians 4:11-16 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

The word is what builds believers up into what God desires them to be.

Furthermore:
1 Timothy 3:15 “but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”

And these realities only intensify the reality
That the shepherd needs to know God’s word.

In short, Paul is leaving, but if they want to know how to lead the flock,
THEN SEEK GOD THROUGH PRAYER AND HIS WORD.
• It is sufficient to “build you up”
• It is sufficient to cause you to receive “the inheritance”

So Paul first tells these men to trust God.
2) AVOID GREED (33-35)

Again, this isn’t a direct command, but it is very good advice.
Namely because greed is one of the tell-tell attributes
Of a false prophet.

We remember Peter talking about false prophets:
2 Peter 2:14-15 “having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;”

That is why Peter is adamant to elders:
1 Peter 5:2 “shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;”

And when Paul wrote to Timothy he said:
1 Timothy 6:9-12 “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

In the qualifications for an overseer
1 Timothy 3:2-3 “An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money.”

I’ve always liked the King James version that calls it “filthy lucre”

Obviously greed and shepherding don’t mix.

And yet we continue to be baffled by the rolex wearing TV preacher
Who tries to manipulate his doctrine so as to even pretend
That his love of filthy lucre is actually a sign of God’s favor.

Scripture says otherwise.

And here Paul encourages these men to avoid greed.
“I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes.”

Coveting is a dangerous sin.
And it is a root sin for many others.

Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”

Coveting is the heart desire that eventually manifests itself in visible sin.
Coveting things precedes stealing
Coveting sex precedes adultery
Coveting power precedes ruthlessness

The best way for these men to avoid greed is to first avoid coveting.
They need to practice and enjoy contentment.

If you start wanting what you don’t have,
Satan will most definitely open doors of opportunity for you to obtain it.

The simplest way is to control those desires.

Another way to avoid greed is to work hard.

(34) “You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me.”

Now we know that Paul has said several times
That the worker is worthy of his wages.

• We understand you aren’t supposed to muzzle the ox when he threshes
• We get it that he preaches the gospel is to get his living by the gospel.

No one is refuting that.
But at the same time Paul was preaching those truths
He was also leaving an example of hard work.

And in Ephesus his example was to not only meet his own needs,
But also the needs of his traveling companions.

He was not a lazy man.
And he was a tremendous example to the flock.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.”

We know the church takes care of their preachers,
But no shepherd has the right to grow lazy or undisciplined because of it.
Paul was still a hard worker and he reminded these shepherds of that.

If they were elders simply so they could have an easier life
And a steady income they were missing the point.

The ministry is not a place to get rich,
Nor is the ministry a place to escape labor.

Paul encouraged these men not to covet and to work hard.

Another safeguard against greed is to be generous.

(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.'”

Here we learn why Paul labored so hard.
It wasn’t just to meet his own needs,
It was also so that he would be able to help the poor.

Shepherds cannot solely be on the receiving end.
• They must be on the giving end.
• They must be an example of generosity to their flock.

I remember a sermon at a pastor’s conference, where the preacher was talking about how preachers have come to be mooches in our society.

His remedy was this, “Go out and buy someone else a coke this week.”

Well that’s good, but I would say it falls far short.

Perhaps you’ve heard of John Wesley, one day so moved that he had spent all his money on pictures for his walls that he had nothing left to help a women from the cold. He began to limit what he lived on, and gave the rest away regardless of any raises.

When he died, they found only a few coins in his pockets,
He had given everything else away.

I don’t pretend to have learned this to the level of Paul or John Wesley,
But you do understand the point.

“remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

This was a paraphrase that Paul stated.
Luke 6:30-36 “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

• Continually Jesus taught us to store up treasure in heaven, not earth.
• Jesus wanted us to have the truest blessing of generosity, not the passing pleasures of possessions.

Paul wrote to Timothy:
1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.”

If you want to guard yourself from greed, then don’t covet,
Work hard, and give what you make away.

Such a mindset would keep God’s shepherd with the proper focus.

And that is Paul’s idea.
He wanted them to guard themselves
From the most dangerous temptation in ministry,
The temptation to use the ministry as a means to get rich.
And that is Paul’s closing advice.
And with that he hands the Ephesian church over to their care.

• He wants them to serve with humility
• He wants them to speak with conviction
• He wants them to succeed through sacrifice
• He wants them to seek God
• He wants them to share what they have

These are the makings of a true shepherd.

(36-38) “When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.”

So the pastor’s conference was concluded.
And as we draw this passage to a close
We are reminded of some very important truths.

1) Sheep are valuable to God

2) Wolves are real, seeking to destroy God’s flock

3) Shepherds are necessary to lead, feed, and protect God’s flock.

This is the plan God laid out for how His flock would be cared for.
This is the plan for the church’s leadership.

With that being said, I must encourage you that
The church needs men who will commit themselves
To shepherding His flock.

• The church needs men who will give themselves to oversee the church.
• The church needs men who will “rule well” as elders.

And the church needs the men who set their hearts
On becoming overseers to do it well.

It is a vital part of God’s plan to deliver the church to Christ
As a pure virgin without any spot or wrinkle.

1 Peter 5:1-4 “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

Shepherding God’s Flock – part 5
Acts 20:17-38 (28-31)
April 28, 2013

As you know we have been studying through this sermon
That Paul delivered from Miletus to the elders of the Ephesian church.

There was never really any doubt in any of our minds
As to the devotion and commitment Paul had to the church of God.
But this passage sort of spells that commitment out for us.

Thus far Paul has been leading in to the heart of the sermon.

We have seen three points, but they have all been simply
To get these men ready for the meat of the message.

PAUL’S EXAMPLE OF HOW A SHEPHERD LIVES
How He Served
Humility
True Concern
Endurance
How He Spoke
Powerfully
Profitably
Publicly
Personally
How He Shared

PAUL’S EXPECTATION OF WHAT A SHEPHERD RECEIVES
To Submit to the Spirit
To Suffer Hardship
To Succeed through Sacrifice

In short we learned that there are a great number of motives
As to why a man may aspire to the office of overseer,
But there are only a few genuine ones.

A shepherd can only successfully guide God’s flock
If he is first willing to die to self and live for God.

And last week we also saw Paul’s third point.
PAUL’S EXONERATION OF HIS OWN SHEPHERDING RECORD
• Paul knew what he was innocent of the blood of all men.
• He knew he had spoken all he was called to speak.
• And he knew he could move on from Ephesus with a clear conscience.

And this has really been the intro to his message.

At this point, there should be no doubt in the minds of these elders
That they had for three years witnessed
The way that shepherding was supposed to be done.
• Tonight we move to the heart of the sermon.
• Tonight we get the commands.
• Tonight we listen as Paul specifically lays it out for these elders

So tonight we get to point 4
#4 PAUL’S EXHORTATION TO HOW THEY SHOULD SHEPHERD
Acts 20:28-31

He has been more than open about his example,
He has preached a sermon on shepherding through his lifestyle
For the past three years.

And now Paul is ready to spell it out for these men.

As we look at this exhortation, there are three things we see.
1) THE REQUIREMENT (28)
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

This is the basic command portion of the sermon.
And here we find three required duties of the shepherd.

GUARD YOURSELF
“Be on guard for yourselves”

This is in no way a call to be selfish, or to put self first,
Or to make sure you get your own share.

Rather, Paul commands the shepherd to guard himself
For the good of the sheep.

• If a shepherd is deceived, what will be the outcome of the flock?
• If a shepherd stumbles in sin, what will be the outcome of the flock?

The shepherd must guard himself.

This is the first and foremost reason
Why overseers are required to meet certain qualifications.

1 Timothy 3:1-7 “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
You probably noticed, but of all of those qualifications,
Only one is ability based.

The overseer must be “able to teach”,
And that is important, for the flock must be fed.

But the majority of the list all deals with the shepherd’s character.
He must live a certain way.

Paul told Timothy:
1 Timothy 4:16 “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”

It’s not just your doctrine, it is also your lifestyle.
It matters how a shepherd lives.

Paul even spoke of the possibility of disqualification:
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

That last phrase is so important.
“I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

WHAT IS PAUL TALKING ABOUT?
Well, we know that in our lives there is a war going on.

Paul himself spoke of this war.
Romans 7:21-24 “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

To the Galatians Paul wrote:
Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

Literally Paul said I feel like a man with a dead man strapped to my back.
He knew there was a battle.

And he could either let the flesh control him,
Or he could determine to control the flesh.

• To let the flesh control him would be to ultimately disqualify himself.
• To control the flesh would be to be fit for ministry.
And that is the same thing Paul told Timothy and is telling these men.
You have got to guard yourself from sin.

The shepherd is more than a preacher, he is also an example.

AND HERE IS THE DEAL

It doesn’t matter how good of a preacher a shepherd is,
If he is not a good example, he is not useable by God.

In our mission meetings we have talked a great deal lately
About being a useable person on this mission trip.

Peter said it like this:
2 Peter 1:5-8 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

If you want to be useful and fruitful in your ministry,
Then your character matters.

Paul would tell Timothy:
2 Timothy 2:20-23 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.”
Be a useful vessel

1 Timothy 6:11 “But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.”

And this is why the shepherd must guard himself.
• He must guard against temptation, but within and without
• He must guard against presumptuous sin.
• He must guard against worldliness.
• He must guard against laziness.

So Guard yourself
GUARD THE FLOCK
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock”

And all one has to do to understand the analogy and necessity here
Is spend a little time around sheep.

Sheep are mindless creatures, and naturally prone to self-destruction.

• If there is poisoned water, a sheep will drink it.
• If there are poisonous weeds, a sheep will eat it.
• If there is a dangerous hill, a sheep will walk out on it.

They are always naturally bent on heading toward danger.

In a book I read on shepherding, someone asked an actual sheep breeder what he thought his most valuable tool was in keeping his sheep safe.

His answer was, “a fence”.

Sheep are prone to every danger that they are not protected from.

Couple that with the fact that they are almost completely defenseless.
(Their best defense is to ram their head into you)

The point is that they need constant protection.

And, like it or not, sheep is what we are compared to.
• We are prone to wander (just like the song)
• We are tempted by sin
• We are generally gullible and prone to deception

The shepherd’s job is to protect the sheep from these dangers.

When Paul gave Titus that list of qualifications,
He focused heavily on the overseer’s ability to refute deception.

Titus 1:9-11 “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”

People will be deceived and they need to be protected.
• Do we remember Paul writing to the Galatians because someone had “bewitched” them and was about to have them all circumcised?

• Do we remember Paul writing to the Corinthians because some among them were saying “that there is no resurrection”?

• Do we remember Paul writing to the Thessalonians because someone wrote a letter as if from Paul saying that “the day of the Lord has come”?

Those were specific heresies that were destroying those local churches.
The sheep were being led astray, and Paul had to protect them.

He wrote to guard them from deception.

And this is what a shepherd must do.
1 Timothy 4:1-6 “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, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.”

Paul knew that wolves would come in and give deceitful little heresies
That would prey on all sorts of emotions.

Look at those deceptions in that passage.
They are not carnal temptations, they are heresies
That play on the guilt of a person who longs to be righteous.

Things like “don’t get married, stay single to please God”
Things like “don’t eat those foods, God will be more pleased on this diet”

And Paul could see a dangerous legalism setting in
And so he told Timothy to remind people about the truth
And not to let them get carried away by such subtle dangers.

He must know and preach the truth and protect his flock.

Guard Self Guard the Flock
SHEPHERD THE CHURCH
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

Here Paul first reminds of a very important reality,
And that is that the calling to shepherd is a Holy Spirit calling.

“the Holy Spirit has made you overseers”

And let me tell you why that is important.

• First, it indicates the means by which a man becomes an overseer of God’s church. Only God can make him one.
• Called either through inner desire given by the Spirit
• Called by others after spiritual gifts are recognized

• Secondly it highlights the authority that the overseer has in the church.

It is not his own authority, but God’s authority given to Him.
If the Holy Spirit has appointed him to oversee the church,
Then he most certainly has the authority to do it.
The office and presence of overseers is the Lord’s doing.

And He does it with this in view.
“to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

He puts those men there to care for His flock.
To know them, to guide them, to feed them, to protect them, etc.

They are called to lead the sheep in the direction of God’s will.
It is their job to keep the sheep headed in the right direction.

And we even see the importance of this task
As we see the value of the sheep.

“which He purchased with His own blood”

There are few statements in Scripture that indicate
God’s love for the church like this one.

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

God values the church so much
That He paid the price of the blood of His Son for her.

I cannot fathom her worth to Him, but I know it is great.
And so when Paul tells these men to care for His church
They must know that this is something that is near to His heart.

This is not some minor responsibility.
This is not some insignificant duty.

God here is putting His most prized possession under their care.
• He wants it guarded
• He wants it fed
• He wants it guided

AND THAT IS THE REQUIREMENT.
This is what God expects of the shepherd / elder / overseer.

• They are to guard themselves to be the best example.
• They are to guard the flock from heresy and deception.
• They are to shepherd the flock in their best interest.

They are required to do this.

Let me give you the second.
2) THE REALITY (29-30)
“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

And again we see why shepherds are needed.
Why not just turn a flock out to pasture?
Why not just send them out and let them go?

Because there are dangers that wait for the sheep.
Not the least of which is predators.

And just as they are a threat to a literal flock,
They are also a threat to a spiritual flock.

“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock”

Jesus said:
Matthew 7:15-20 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

Peter said:
2 Peter 2:1-3 “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. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

Jude said:
Jude 3-4 “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 handed down to the saints. 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.”

They are false prophets, spiritual terrorists,
Who sneak their way in and deceive the flock.

The reality is that God’s flock is precious to God
And that then makes her the target of the enemy.

Satan hates her because God loves her.
And so wolves are always out to destroy her.

AND HERE IS THE REAL KICKER
“and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.”

Paul says wolves are coming and some of them are some of you.
Was not Judas an imposter wormed into the fold?

And incidentally this was true.
• When Paul wrote to Timothy we find him telling Timothy to stay in
Ephesus because certain men are teaching strange doctrines.

• By the time Revelation is written we find that Ephesus had actually
“left her first love”

Paul knew what he was talking about.

“perverse” is from DIASTREPHO
It means “to distort” or “to twist”

They will twist the truth, they will distort the truth.
They won’t be all out lies, just little distortions of truth.
And with that, they will “draw away the disciples”

The idea is that instead of being devoted to Jesus,
They would fall away and start following the man instead.

DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER

Listen to what Paul wrote to the Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 11:1-4 “I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”

• Paul saw Corinth as the bride engaged to Jesus.
• And Paul saw himself as the one in charge of getting her safely to the
wedding.

The problem was she was gullible and easily seduced.
Other Jesus’s were coming in and calling to her.
Other prophets were trying to hook her up with their Jesus.

And Paul is burdened and frustrated with her willingness to stray.

This is the reality of a shepherd’s life.
The shepherd is called to safely deliver a bride
That is prone to wonder and too gullible to know better.
Couple that with the fact that wolves and deceivers are everywhere
And it makes the shepherd’s work a fulltime job.

The Requirement The Reality
3) THE REMINDER (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.”

And there we are back to Paul as the example.
He commands them to shepherd, tells them why a shepherd is needed,
And then again reminds them of how it is done.

“night and day”
“three years”
“did not cease”
“with tears”

Those are all phrases of intense and constant devotion to the calling.
Paul knew what it took to protect and feed and guide God’s flock.
It was a relentless job.

This is why I would again argue that it is a job bigger than one man.
And that is why Paul is entrusting this job to this group of elders.

Keeping God’s flock following after God, free from deception,
And fed on His word is an enormous job.

And yet it is a very important job,
For the sheep are tremendously important to God.

This is why they must shepherd.
• Left on their own, without a shepherd, the sheep will scatter, get deceived, and ultimately be led away from Christ.

Someone must guide them.
Paul was enlisting these men.

That is Paul’s exhortation to how they should shepherd.

1 Peter 5:1-4 “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”