Paul in Miletus

Acts 20:13-38
Paul is travelling from Greece to Jerusalem. He stopped at Troas, now he has stopped at Miletus where he meets the Ephesian elders for the last time, they will never meet him again. What he says is important, there are no trivialities, it is of the utmost importance. It is addressed to the elders but it is important for all Christians and non-Christians.
It is prophetic – revealing the future via the Holy Spirit. This is not common in the New Testament. No one likes to be a prophet, they lived miserable lives because what they said was usually hard to hear. What Paul says is very sad. In verse 22 he says he was compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, prison and hardship awaited him – see verse 25. He knows none of them will ever see him again. They had come to rely on him, his preaching and healing, sorting them out and teaching them, it was a great blow to them. In verses 29 and 30 he said the future held trouble for the church. On the one hand savage wolves would come among them – there would be physical persecution which would spare none and come from Jews and Romans alike. There would also be trouble from within the church. Men would arise who would distort the truth, false apostles and leader of sects and cults. They would draw away disciples after themselves. Paul served the Lord with great humility, these men put themselves first. They did this by distorting the truth, the Bible. This still happens today. Man call people after themselves. The elders were expected to discern this, men who preached themselves. They had to avoid such people.
Paul’s example. How he had lived among them, they knew this and this is what they had to follow. He served them with great humility and with tears. Generally, we should not believe men who speak of their own humility – unless they are inspired like Paul.
a) He served the Lord – his first motivation was not himself or the people but God. He never held himself up. He was intelligent, educated and brilliant, but he spoke to everyone from the lowest to the highest.
b) He spoke with tears. For 3 years he spoke with tears, this meant sincerity. He really desired the best for them. He felt for people in their sin who were heading for eternal death. This challenges in the 21st century. How many of us are moved to tears because of spiritual things – our own sin and the fate of the lost – hell. Is anyone moved to tears by spiritual things today? No.
c) He persevered in serving God and men.
d) His work was thorough. He went from house to house. He preached anything that was helpful. He preached publicly every day, then in people’s homes. He told everyone who would listen. This was centred on a central truth, people must turn in repentance to God through the Lord Jesus. This recognises that we are in rebellion to God and we must turn to God and walk in his ways and obey his will.
e) He did not care whether he lived or died. He was set on serving God. We must be single minded in our service of God.
f) He was innocent of the blood of all men – see Ezekiel. The image is of a watch man who sees the enemies coming, if he does nothing and people are killed he is guilty of their blood. If he gives a warning and they do nothing and they die he is not guilty. Paul told everyone everything he could, if they rejected it then their blood was on their own heads. If we come to church Sunday by Sunday and do not act on what we hear then we will have no excuse on Judgement day.
g) Paul was not a lover of money – verses 33 to 35. False apostles love money and tend to become very rich. We should question such people. Spurgeon earned vast sums of money from his writing but he gave most it away to the work of God. He left his wife £2,000. Paul gave away his money.
Paul instructed the elders.
a) Keep watch over themselves – their lives and doctrines. Also over one another.
b) Keep watch over the flock of God. To shepherd and care for them, preach and teach with all care, the Holy Spirit who calls them. Some are false elders, however, most are called by the Holy Spirit. It is not for their church but God’s, bought with the blood of Christ. In God’s eyes every believer is vastly precious.
Paul was leaving – verse 32
He committed them to God. We get over reliant on men, it is why cult leaders get a following. When churches get an outstanding leader, like Spurgeon, they are very blessed, but when the church loses them it often experiences great problems. Paul knew this, he committed them to God. They had their Bible and this was better than Paul. They did not need miracles or signs or wonders as they had God and His word. It was all they needed.
Applying all of this.How does our life and our ways compare to this? Do we trust God, do we persevere, have we given up our love of money, do we strive to serve others? Do we truly want to serve God with feeling and passion? How do we measure up to this?