Acts
20:17-36New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Farewell
to Ephesus
17
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. 18
And when they had come to him, he said to them,
“You
yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in [a]Asia, how I was with
you the whole time, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and
with trials which came upon me [b]through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to
you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and [c]from house
to house, 21 solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward
God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And now, behold, bound by the
[d]Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me
there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city,
saying that bonds and afflictions await me. 24
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.
25 “And now, behold, I
know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no
longer see my face. 26 Therefore, I [e]testify to you this day that I am
[f]innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I did not shrink from declaring to
you the whole purpose of God. 28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the
flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you [g]overseers, to shepherd the
church of God which He [h]purchased [i]with His own blood.
29
I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not
sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking
perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 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. 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. 33 I have coveted no one’s
silver or gold or clothes. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered
to my own needs and to the men who were with me. 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.’”
36
When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
“I did not shrink from
declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” From The Gospel Coalition
D. A. Carson explains what he meant:
When Paul attests that this is what he proclaimed to the
believers in Ephesus, the Ephesian elders to whom he makes this bold
asseveration know full well that he had managed this remarkable feat in only
two and a half years.
In other words, whatever else Paul did, he
certainly did not manage to go through every verse of the Old Testament, line
by line, with full-bore explanation. He simply did not have time.
What he must mean is that he taught the burden of
the whole of God’s revelation, the balance of things, leaving nothing out that
was of primary importance, never ducking the hard bits, helping believers to
grasp the whole counsel of God that they themselves would become better
equipped to read their Bibles intelligently, comprehensively.
It embraced
- God’s
purposes in the history of redemption (truths to be believed
and a God to be worshiped),
- an
unpacking of human origin, fall, redemption, and destiny (a worldview that
shapes all human understanding and a Savior without whom
there is no hope),
- the conduct
expected of God’s people (commandments to be obeyed and wisdom to
be pursued, both in our individual existence and in the community of the
people of God), and
- the
pledges of transforming power both in this life and in the life to come (promises to
be trusted and hope to be anticipated).
—D. A. Carson, “Challenges for the
Twenty-first-century Pulpit,” in Preach the Word: Essays on Expository Preaching: In Honor of R. Kent
Hughes, ed. Leland Ryken and Todd Wilson [Crossway, 2007],
pp. 177-178; bullets and italics added.
“I
did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”
The
Whole Counsel of God from the Christian Post
BY
GREG LAURIE,
For
I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.
-
Acts 20:27
When
I speak I try to keep it interesting. I try to keep it real. I try to keep it
understandable. But I am not there to entertain an audience or to make people
feel good. My job, if you will, is to exposit the Word of God. Because it
really doesn't matter what Greg Laurie thinks about anything. My opinion isn't
any better than anyone else's opinion.
For
me as a pastor, I have a responsibility to declare the whole counsel of God and
feed the flock of God. That is the advantage of expository preaching and
teaching. By expository, I mean taking the text and letting it unfold. We don't
impose our views on the text; we let the text impose its views on us. It is not
for us to add things to the text.
Sometimes
pastors use a text as a point of departure for their messages. A verse will be
read, and then whoever is speaking will just tell stories. They might be good
stories. They might be good jokes. They might be very entertaining. And as you
leave, you might say, "That was so good. I loved that. It was really
good." You have no idea what he said, but you know it was fun.
The
apostle Paul told the Ephesian elders, "For I have not shunned to declare
to you the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). I think that is the most
important thing. We need to get our minds oriented toward what the Bible says.
Too
often we build our opinions on our feelings. But it doesn't matter what we
feel. What does the Bible say? Do what the Bible says, because feelings can
mislead you. Don't base decisions in life on mere feelings. Base them on the
Word of God.
We build our Christian Life and Witness not on
the latest fads or fashions, the opinions or perspectives of others however
appealing or relevant they seem, we don’t build on what the non-Christian or
anti-Christian demands of our Society are. We build on God’s Word the
Bible that has been and still is God’s Inspired Word; there is nothing more
relevant to us today than God’s Word
The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3: 15-17 NLT, “15 You have been
taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom
to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. 16 All
Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make
us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and
teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people
to do every good work.
To develop and progress in our Christian walk and witness, to be more
effective disciples of our Lord and Saviour we must read and study God’s
Written Word daily. When I was in Sunday school, I remember singing this
song “Read your Bible, Pray every day, if you want to Grow “If that was
important for me as a child how much more important is for me as a more mature
Christian today?
When someone builds a foundation for
a building, if they decide to use cheap or substandard building materials
wouldn’t that building look strange or be dangerous and likely to collapse, yet
if we don’t as Christians build using the correct building materials wouldn’t
our lives and our Christian Witness look equally strange, look dangerous or
likely to collapse see 1 Corinthians 3:
1 Corinthians 3 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Foundations for Living
3 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to
men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 2 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, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among
you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking [a]like mere men? 4 For when
one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men?
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you
believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos
watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants
nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8 Now he who
plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own [b]reward
according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s
[c]field, God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise
master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man
must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other
than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on
the foundation with gold, silver, [d]precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each
man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be
revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test [e]the quality of each man’s
work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a
reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself
will be saved, yet so as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are a [f]temple of God and that the Spirit
of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the [g]temple of God, God will destroy
him, for the [h]temple of God is holy, and [i]that is what you are.
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is
wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 19 For
the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is
the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord
knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.” 21 So then let no one
boast in men. For all things belong to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or
Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all
things belong to you, 23 and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.
The Bible Panorama
Acts 20
V 1–6: TRAVELS TO TROAS After going to Macedonia and Greece, where his travel plans are
changed because of Jewish opposition, Paul and his party travel to Troas. They
meet other Christians there who have gone ahead of them.
V 7–12: PREACHING TO PEOPLE Paul speaks on the Lord’s day, until midnight, to the people who
are there. He has to depart early the next day. He restores to life a young
man, Eutychus, who falls asleep during Paul’s preaching and drops from the
third storey to his death. After that, Paul continues preaching to the people
until daybreak. His passion is preaching the word to people, notwithstanding
personal tiredness and effort.
V 13–16: JOURNEYING TO JERUSALEM Paul’s extensive travel plans are based on his desire to be at
Jerusalem for Pentecost. He meets up with the rest of his party who went ahead
of him to Assos.
V 17–35: FAREWELL TO FAITHFUL Paul exhorts the Ephesian elders who come to him at Miletus. He
reminds them how his life has been completely focused on the need to testify to
Jews and Greeks about repentance towards God and faith towards Christ.
Everything has been put into that priority task. He knows that opposition
awaits him, and he is willing to die for the gospel. They will see him no more.
He has declared to them ‘the whole counsel of God’. He warns them about error
from outside and being drawn away by false disciples from within. He commends
them to God’s grace and reminds them that the important thing is to give to the
Lord and to others, and not to seek personal gain. He shares the words of the
Lord Jesus that ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’.
V 36–38: GRIEVED TO GO They
pray together, weep, and embrace Paul. They are grieving most of all because he
will go and they will see him no more. They then go with him to the ship.
Dictionary of Bible Themes
7756 preaching, content of
Preaching is centred on the nature and will
of God and his claims on all people. Expressed in prophecy, declaration or
teaching, it includes the proclamation of the way of salvation to unbelievers
and instruction about the faith to believers.
Preaching and the revelation of God’s
character, word and will
Ac 20:26-27 See also Ex 8:1; 1Ki 12:21-24;
Jer 7:1-11; Eze 2:3-3:4
Preaching and the declaration of the gospel
Declaring the kingdom Mk 1:14-15 pp Mt 4:17
See also Mt 4:23 pp Lk 8:1; Ac 19:8; Ac 20:25
Declaring the person of Jesus Christ and his
life Ac 2:22 See also Ac 10:36-38; Ac 28:31; 2Co 1:19
Declaring the facts of the cross and the
resurrection Ac 2:23-24 See also Ac 5:30; Ac 10:39-42; Ac 13:28-31; 1Co
1:22-24; 1Co 15:12-17
Declaring the victory and exaltation of Jesus
Christ Ac 2:33-35 See also Ac 5:31; 1Pe 3:18-22
Declaring that Jesus is both Messiah (Christ)
and Lord Ac 2:36 See also Ac 5:42; Ac 8:5; Ac 9:20-22; Ac 10:36; Ac 18:5
Declaring the call to repent Ac 17:30 See
also Mk 1:15 pp Mt 4:17; Ac 2:38; Ac 3:19; Ac 26:20
Declaring the promise of forgiveness Ac 13:38
See also Lk 24:46-47; Ac 2:38; Ac 5:31; Ac 10:43
Preaching finds expression in the teaching of
believers
The central place of teaching in the lives of
the first Christians Ac 2:42 See also Ac 6:2; Ac 11:25-26; Ac 15:35; Ac
18:24-26; Ac 20:20
Teaching from the Scriptures Ac 18:11 See
also 2Ch 17:7-9; Ne 8:2-8
Teaching on how to live Mt 28:19-20 See also
Eph 4:20-24; 1Th 4:1-2; Tit 2:1-15
Preaching and the edification of believers
2Ti 4:2 See also Ac 13:42-43; Ac 14:21-22; Ac
20:2; 1Co 14:26-31
Preaching and the continuation of apostolic
doctrine
Preaching should be rooted in apostolic
doctrine, which is to be faithfully handed on 2Ti 2:2 See also 1Co 11:2; 2Th
2:15; 2Ti 1:13-14
Preaching that does not conform to apostolic
doctrine is to be rejected 1Ti 1:3-4 See also Gal 1:6-9; 1Ti 4:1-7; Tit 1:9-14
Preaching and the rejection of merely human
wisdom
1Co 2:1-5 See also 1Co 1:18-25
2 Tim 3 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[a] may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Acts 2:42-47New International
Version - UK (NIVUK)
The fellowship of the believers
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’
teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone
was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44
All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold
property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they
continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their
homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and
enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily
those who were being saved.
Ephesians 4:11-16New International
Version - UK (NIVUK)
11 So Christ himself gave the
apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip
his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13
until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and
become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed
back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching
and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect
the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole
body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself
up in love, as each part does its work.
Colossians 3:16-17New American Standard Bible (NASB)
16 Let the word of [a]Christ richly dwell within you, [b]with all wisdom
teaching and admonishing [c]one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing [d]with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do
in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through
Him to God the Father
Yours by His Grace and for the sake of His Church and Kingdom
Blair Humphreys
Southport, Merseyside
