Acts 20:26

Acts 20:26 says, Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men., Paul said he was pure of the blood of all men.  He had faithfully proclaimed the gospel to all that he encountered, so the destination of their soul was in their hands.  If God gives us an opportunity to witness, and we don't, then we cannot claim to be pure of their blood.  Verse twenty-seven adds, For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.  Paul said that he had not allowed the things going on in his life to keep him from sharing the gospel, and neither should we.  Verse twenty-eight continues, Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.  He then challenges them to take heed of the flock that God had placed them over and to spiritually feed them.  Christ had purchased them with His own blood.  Whether we are a preacher, teacher, or just a follower, we need to be spiritually fed and to spiritually feed others.  It is a lifelong requirement since we are bought by the blood of Christ.  Verse twenty-nine declares, For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.  Paul warned them of wolves coming that would not spare the flock, and some would come from within the church itself.  We don't have to look far to realize that this is true today.  Verse thirty adds, Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.  Men speaking perverse things is nothing new.  Paul warned the first Christians that they would see it in their lifetime.  This will continue to happen until Jesus Christ returns.  Verse thirty-one continues, Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.  Paul said he reminded them of this day and night for three years, with tears.  We need to be broken-hearted when we see the church attacked, especially from within.  Verse thirty-two says, And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. He commended them to God and to His grace, which would build them up and give them an inheritance among all who were sanctified.  There is no better place for us to be than commended to God.  He will seal us to Himself for eternity.  Verse thirty-three adds, I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.  Paul said he took no man's silver or gold or apparel. Still, this does not mean that we are not to support preachers and evangelists today, but if they are doing these things only for what they can get out of it materially, we should be wary of them. Verse thirty-four continues, Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.  He supported himself by his own hands. Again, he wasn't saying a preacher should never be paid, but that a preacher should never preach just for the money.  If a preacher is called by a church is bigger and the salary is greater, that alone is not a reason to move.  Verse thirty-five states, I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.  He also reminded them that Jesus taught that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Verse thirty-six adds, And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all.  After he had spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all.  What a great way to leave, in communion with God and each other.  We should always be in prayer for one another, whether in sadness or joy.  Verse thirty-seven continues, And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him,  They cried, hugged his neck, and kissed him.  We might hug and shake hands, but still they were letting him go. Verse thirty-eight concludes, Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.  Their tears were more because they would never see him again, but they accompanied him to the ship.  We may be sad to see a preacher go to another field, but we must accompany them to the ship, or however they are traveling.  We must never selfishly stand between a person and God's will for their life. 

 

Acts 20:22

Acts 20:22 says, And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:  Paul said that he was bound in the Spirit, or compelled by the Spirit, to go to Jerusalem, not knowing what would happen to him there.  Verse twenty-three adds, Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me   Paul then said that the Holy Spirit Who witnessed in every city told him that he would have bonds and afflictions waiting for him there.  How many of us would be in a hurry to go where God was sending us if we were told continually by the Holy Spirit that bonds and afflictions waited for us there?  Verse twenty-four continues, But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.  Paul said none of these things moved him, and he didn't count his life dear to himself. His life belonged to Jesus, and he would follow His leadership even if it cost him his life.  We need that same commitment today.  Sharing the gospel under the leadership of the Holy Spirit should be more important than even our life.  We need total commitment to Christ. Paul wanted to finish his course with joy.  Even with the bonds and afflictions that awaited him, he wanted to finish his course with joy.  The gospel should always bring us joy, even if we are called on to suffer or even die sharing it.  Paul's ministry was from the Lord Jesus.  Paul was not just going where he wanted to go.  He was going where God sent him.  Our ministry, our purpose in the church, must be from God.  We must never just decide what we will or won't do.  Paul did this to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.  He didn't earn salvation, but it was a gift from God by His grace toward mankind.  The same is true for us.  We are His by His grace and our acceptance of the gift of salvation through our faith in Him.  Verse twenty-five concludes, And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.  Paul says a personal farewell to the elders at Ephesus.  He said that among them all, among whom he had preached the kingdom of God, would see his face no more.  He knew where he was going and what he faced.  We can never let feelings for a particular church or group of Christians keep us from going where God sends us.  

Acts 20:16

Acts 20:16 says, For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.  Verse seventeen adds, And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.  After stopping at Miletus, Paul sent for the elders at Ephesus to come to him.  He didn't want to go to Ephesus since he could not stay with them. If we feel or know that anything is going to tempt us to delay what God has directed us to do, we need to avoid it.  Paul had a great love for the church at Ephesus, but he was being called by the Holy Spirit to Jerusalem.  We may have a great love for a church in a particular area, but if God is calling us elsewhere, we need to move on. Verse eighteen continues, And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, When the elders came, Paul reminded them of how important they had always been to him.  From the first day he came to Asia, he had been with them through all seasons.  He hadn't just passed through and forgotten them.  We have homecoming services at churches today to spend time sharing what the church there has meant to us.  Still, unless it is our home church, we then have to go back to where God currently has us serving.  Paul knew he had to move forward, and so do we.  If we are members of a particular church, it needs to be because God has called us there.  When God's people get serious about serving Him where He places them, then worship will naturally overflow.  Verse nineteen declares, Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:  Paul told them that he served the Lord with all humility of mind, with many tears, and temptations, which befell him by the lying-in wait of the Jews.  We see too many preachers today who serve with pride in themselves instead of humility in Christ.  How long has it been since we have shed tears over the church?  Due to the threats of the Jews, Paul could have been tempted to give up, but he never did. If we feel threatened for exercising our faith, we should do as Paul did and keep on witnessing. The perceived threat of possible punishment is often enough to silence us.  Verse twenty adds, And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house,  Paul told the elders that he had kept nothing from them that was profitable to them.  We need to share with others everything we know about being a Christian.  We don't need to keep any part of the truth of God to ourselves.  Paul shared these things with them publicly and from house to house.  If the gospel is to be effective in bringing people to Christ, then it must be shared publicly.  If Christians are to grow in Christ, the gospel must be taught from house to house.  Verse twenty-one continues, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul testified to both the Jew and the Greek repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.  This can be our only testimony, that we repented of our sins and accepted salvation through Christ.  He is our Lord Jesus Christ.  Though we come to him through a personal relationship, He does not belong to any person or group of people exclusively, not even Christians as we belong to Him, and not Him to us.  Christ is not to be hoarded as mine, but to he shared as ours.   

Acts 20:1

Acts 20:1 says, And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.  The next few verses are about where Paul traveled at this time.  After the uproar ceased, he called the disciples, embraced them, and left for Macedonia.  There may come a time in our Christian life where we have to leave where we are and head to another place that God is calling us to.  Verse two adds, And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece,  As Paul travelled, he brought people a lot of excitement in many places by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We should stir up excitement as we share the gospel today as well.  Verse three adds, And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. Paul was in Greece for three months and was about to sail to Syria, when he learned that the Jews laid in wait for him, so he went back to Macedonia instead.  I believe Paul was still following the leadership of the Holy Spirit though.  Sometimes, the Holy Spirit may prevent us from going to a place where we would be in danger, but not always.  Paul sometimes went to places even though he knew he would be in danger there.  Verse four states, And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.  Paul was not travelling alone but was accompanied by at least six others.  Sometimes, God may send us alone to a particular place, but other times He may send others with us.  Verse five adds, These going before tarried for us at Troas.  Then we are told that the others went ahead and tarried at Troas. Sometimes, others will go before us to lay the groundwork for sharing the gospel with others, and at other times we may go before them.  Verse six continues, And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.  After the days of unleavened bread, Paul sailed to Troas after five days of travel, and was at Traos for seven days.  Verse seven says, And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.  Paul was planning to leave the next day, and to prepare, he was preaching to the disciples.  If we were planning to leave the next day, we might figure we had done all we could do and be packing or sleeping. Paul, knowing his time was limited, was still witnessing, and edifying the Christians there. Verse eight adds, And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.  Though it was dark, there were many lights in the upper room where they were gathered.  As Christians, we will never be left in the dark spiritually. Verse nine continues, And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.  He was still preaching at midnight.  We sometimes call a preacher long winded if he preaches for over thirty minutes.  Our mind tends to drift away to what we are going to eat or anything other than what is being said.  The upper chamber where they were gathered was lit with many lights. They weren't trying to hide their worship service.  We are called to be a light to the world, and we cannot do this by hiding from the world.  There was a certain young man named Eutychus sitting in a window who did what many of us might have done.  He fell asleep.  It says that this was because Paul's preaching was long.  Like the disciples in the Garden, Eutychus couldn't stay awake.  I don't know what this says of Paul's preaching.  Maybe he wasn't entertaining or enthusiastic enough. Eutychus fell from the third loft and was taken up dead. Verse ten states, And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.  Paul went down and fell on him, embracing him, and told the people not to be troubled for his life was in him.  Verse eleven adds, When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.  Then, Paul went back up to where he had been preaching and broke bread and ate and continued in discussion with the disciples until dawn.  We might have broken up the meeting after this accident, but Paul continued to make the most of the time he had left with them. Then, Paul departed.  Verse twelve continues, And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.  They brought the young man alive to the disciples and they were greatly comforted.  We might hang around a little longer to hear everybody praise us for what we did.  Paul had departed because the glory belonged to God Who had raised the boy up.  Verse thirteen says, And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.  They departed by ship for Assos, planning to pick up Paul who went by foot.  Paul certainly didn’t act as someone who was afraid of what might happen to him, and neither should we be afraid to go wherever God sends us.  Verse fourteen adds, And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene.  Verse fifteen continues, And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios; and the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogyllium; and the next day we came to Miletus. They picked up Paul at Assos and sailed to Mytilene, then the next day to Chios, the next to Samos.  They tarried at Trogillium, then the next day went to Miletus.  Paul was on his way to Jerusalem. 

Paul and his fellow disciples sailed from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread.  This does not mean that Paul was bound by Jewish laws and traditions, but was given as a reference to the time he was travelling.  In his epistle to the church at Corinth, Paul wrote that Christ is our passover and the Christian life is our  unleavened bread (1 Cor. 5:7,8).  We need to remember daily that Christ died so that if we believe in Him death will pass over us.  This does not mean that this body will not die, but it does mean that ultimately death will have no dominion over us.  It took five days sailing to reach Troas.  They rejoined those who had gone before them and stayed there for seven days.  When the disciples came together on the first day of the week to break bread, Paul preached to them.  They gathered on the first day of the week, the Christian Sabbath, for the same reason we do.  It was the day of the resurrection of Christ.  They gathered to strengthen one another, as should we today.  They broke bread, or observed the Lord's supper, a reminder of what He had done for all mankind.  Though Christ died for everyone, for those celebrating the Lord's supper, it should be a remembrance of what He did for them personally.  Christ can never be an impersonal Savior.  How often do we observe the Lord's supper with our mind on everything except His sacrifice for us.  I will confess I sometimes find myself thinking more about not spilling the cup than about His spilled blood.  We need to insure that nothing is in the way of our obedience to His will when we observe the Lord's supper.  They were now ready to hear Paul preach.  They weren't there to be entertained, but to hear the word of God proclaimed.  As I have mentioned before, and will mention again, church is not a place of entertainment, but a place of worshiping God.  When we gather in His name we are walking on Holy Ground, because He is with us.  Though we don't worship the building, we must show reverence to God when we gather to worship Him.  All the things of the world need to be set aside.

Before we move ahead with Paul, I am going to discuss a few things that I feel as Christians we must understand.  First, the Bible is not a history book, a science book, or even a poetry book.  It is the written word of God that He uses to help us better understand Him and our relationship to Him.  Scientists would say the Bible is a myth that cannot be proven to be true.  They also say that the South Pole just recorded its highest level of CO2 in four million years, which is highly provable, since they have evidently had a CO2 guage there for that long.  We believe the Bible by faith in God, just as those scientists believe their conclusions by faith in science.  Next, God is the Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer of the world.  Again, we either believe this by faith in God, or we deny God.  We cannot create our own middle ground.  Third, the only way to salvation is to be born again through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.  If that makes us narrow minded in the eyes of the world, so be it.  We cannot change what God ordained simply to be seen as tolerant by the world.  Fourth, I hear people talk about how much God hates a particular sin, usually not their sin, and how anytime something bad happens to those that are guilty of that particular sin that God is punishing them.  In the Bible, when God was punishing people, He let them know.  Seldom do we hear what a great sin it is to not keep the Sabboth day Holy or to not use God's name in vain, yet that those come before before not committing murder or adultery.  I guess I will meddle a little here, but how many of us who do not work on Sunday  (our Sabboth) do things that require others to work on Sunday?  Taking the Lord's name in vain is not using profanity, unless we add God's name to it, but it is professing to call on God when we don't really expect Him to hear or act.  Again, to meddle, my personal belief is one of the greatest examples of using God's name in vain is Oh My God.  Even non Christians use it, even abbreviate it to OMG, but really aren't using it to call on God or to glorify.  So, does God hate sin?  Yes.  Does He hate some sin more than others?  No.  Is He sitting back waiting to punish one group of sinners more than others?  No.  Christ came to redeem all sinners, even those committing "bad sins" and our hearts should be broken anytime a sinner dies unsaved.  Yet, too often Christians seem to feel "they" got what they deserved and God was behind it.  We, as His followers, can never be justified in feeling this way.

In Act 20 Paul continued on his journey to Macedonia.  He waited until the up roar died down and called the disciples together and embraced them before departing.  He had not gone into the theater, but he didn't leave until the threat was over.  We cannot stand for God and run from the world.  While Paul passed through those parts, he gave them much exhortation.  Paul couldn't jump in his air conditioned car and zip from point A to point B.  Travel was slow,but he used the time to call people to Christ.  We can get so caught up in our fast paced world that we have no time to call others to Christ.  Paul then arrived at Greece.  He was there for three months, and though we aren't specifically told so, we can be certain that he was proclaiming the gospel.  The Jews were still trying to stop him.  We are told that when he was about to sail for Syria that they laid wait for him, so he decided to return through Macedonia.  Paul's goal was Jerusalem and ultimately Rome so he avoided a confrontation and chose a different route.  We may sometimes have to do things a little differently than we figured as we follow God's leadership, but we must always be moving toward the goal He has set for us.  Accompanying him into Asia were Sopater of Berea, Aristarcus and Secundus from Thessolonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timotheus, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.  Matthew Henry says that some would say that the gospel would have spread faster if they had split up, but among other things they were learning from Paul.  Sometimes, we need to gather together to learn from and strengthen each other.  Paul spent a lot of days preaching and teaching by himself, but he recognized the need to train others.  When someone surrenders to the call to ministry today, we must do our best to help them be prepared.