Finishing His Course With Joy
Acts 20:17-38
October 23, 2022
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I. Background and Review (Acts 20:17-21)
A. Paul is headed back to Jerusalem, before he plans to travel to Rome
1. He has spent years travelling throughout modern day Turkey, and then all over Greece
2. Telling everyone who would listen…
a. That the God they did not know, had stepped out of heaven and become a Man
b. And lived the only perfect life
c. And then allowed sinful men (politicians and religious together) to mock Him and spit on Him and beat Him and whip Him until He was unrecognisable
d. And then they nailed Him to a cross and left him to die!
3. But then Paul said there was MORE to the story…
a. That Man, named Jesus of Nazareth, rose up again from the grave three days later, just as was prophesied throughout the Old Testament
b. And now calls all men everywhere to repent and turn from their sins, and follow Him!
c. If… they want to miss the coming wrath of God Almighty
4. It was GOOD news to hear, and so many responded! Tens of thousands
5. Hundreds and hundreds of churches began to form
6. People all over southern Europe spoke of nothing else except that “Ye Must Be Born Again!”
B. He stops at a port city of Miletus, about 80 miles south of Ephesus
1. Acts 20:17 And from Miletus he [PAUL] sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
2. Calls for the Elders/Pastors of the house-churches in the city of Ephesus to meet with him
C. Pours Out His Heart to those Pastors (Acts 20:18,19)
1. Acts 20:18,19 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, 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:
2. Paul reminded them of his example of life – a living, breathing example (Acts 20:18-21)
a. Not a YouTube - or even just a book
b. But someone who was living proof that following Jesus works out best!
c. Describes for ways he lived among the Ephesians
1) An Open / Well-known life – no skeletons in his closet, no dark secret sins, no facade
2) A Consistent life – not on & off again, sporadic, and unpredictable – just faithful
3) A Servant’s life, serving the Saviour of his soul, and serving people
4) And, a Teacher’s / Preacher’s life – focusing on the absolute truths of the Bible instead of social media
3. Paul expects them to do the same kind of work he has been doing, but without him around
a. Commanding them to stick only with the Bible. Not with every wind of new doctrines that constantly catch people’s fancy
b. And warning of wolves that would gather and try to devour God’s people after he was gone
4. This is a challenge to ministers of the Gospel through time
a. To men who know they are desperately needed to continue the work of preaching and teaching the Bible, and feeding the flock!
b. To have a manner of life that is far different than absolutely everyone else but Jesus
c. A life lived like Paul’s
D. This morning, let’s listen as Paul finishes describing how pastors are supposed to feed people with absolute truths from the Bible only!
1. And not sugar-sweet candy-thoughts from most modern day church ministers
2. But “thus saith the Lord”
II. Message
A. Paul’s Teaching Life (Acts 20:20)
1. Teaching is NOT the most popular, most money making career by a long-shot
2. But it was what God called Paul to do!
3. Acts 20:20 And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
4. Kept Back Nothing Profitable
a. I kept nothing back from you – I gave you everything I had, everything I knew
1) Never hesitated to say what needed to be said from the Scriptures
2) I never held anything back that was important for you to know and believe
3) He was not like the used car salesmen who WON’T tell you about all the issues with a car you are looking to buy!
4) He was not like some doctors who won’t tell you straight up what is wrong with you
b. He never worried about whether people liked what he taught
c. Just gave them everything that would benefit them like a Mom preparing a dinner with a juicy steak, and potatoes AND brussels sprouts! Because they are GOOD for you
d. He didn’t shun to DECLARE (preach) the WHOLE COUNSEL of God
1) Acts 20:27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
2) That’s a lot of wisdom
3) The whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation, Old Testament books and the New Testament! No favouritism!
4) Including preaching about HELL – so that he could be “pure / free from the blood of all men” that he met (20:26)
5. But SHOWED them… Not just talking about things…
a. But showed them what a Christian looked like, acted like, felt like, lived like
b. Paul LIVED the truths he preached and taught
6. And Taught them…
a. Not “lecturing” using boring monotones, but engaging his hearers
b. Explaining things from the Bible
c. Answering questions
d. Expecting people to learn this entire Book from cover to cover
e. Like every School teacher I ever sat under – expected me to not “do my own thing” and come up with my own answers… 2+2=5 today!
f. Nope. Teachers teach truths! No matter how the students feel about it
g. And they made sure their students knew those truths inside and out
7. Where Life Begins!
B. Paul’s Main Thing… (Acts 20:21)
1. Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. This was Paul’s main message to everybody – to the religiously lost, AND to the atheistically lost
a. That no matter who you are… Jew, Greek, male, female, tradesman, rocket-scientist
b. Repentance towards God is the main thing people need to do
c. So that you can have faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ to be saved!
d. Or else they will die in their sins! And the brief life they lived would be all they had!
3. First, you must repent
a. This command is throughout the Book of Acts
1) Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them [ON THE DAY OF PENTACOST], Repent
2) Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted
3) Acts 11:18 Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
4) Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
5) Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
b. Paul told EVERYBODY to repent
1) He told pagan Gentiles to REPENT
2) And he told ultra religious zealot Jews to REPENT towards God
3) Even to the point that he expected the JEWS to prove they had actually repented… because it is so easy to fake it! (Acts 26:19,20) Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
c. What does it mean to repent?
1) An attitude of sorrow about your own sin – grief, ashamed
2) Surrender to the right-ness of God – He is right and you and I are wrong
3) Turn your back on the sin your love… turn from your wicked ways, and seek God!
4) NOT quit sinning, but finally turn away from sin, and humbly face God Almighty
5) Which sounds pretty scary unless you take the next step…
4. And secondly, you must have faith / trust in ONE Person… Jesus Christ
a. BELIEVE that He came and died and was buried and rose again, to pay for ALL your and my sins on the cross!
b. Don’t waste your breath on Mary, or angels, or Mother Theresa
c. The only faith that saves is a desperate cry to the name of Jesus to save your soul
5. Do you know what happens when someone hears the Gospel and BELIEVES IT?
a. They accept their true condition – sinful, wretched, condemned, lost, without hope
b. Cries out for Christ’s help to escape the righteous judgment of God
c. Accepts the GIFT of absolute forgiveness that Jesus Christ paid for by being whipped and beaten on the cross
d. And then gets up and follows Jesus from that moment on!
6. How could there be any greater truth to preach, or greater life to live than THAT?
C. Paul’s Bound Life (Acts 20:22-27)
1. Acts 20:22-27 And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. 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. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
2. From the moment that Paul got saved in Acts 9, he knew he had a NEW purpose in life
a. And if YOU have been saved, born again, so do YOU!
b. He had a calling
c. A ministry of preaching and teaching this Book from cover to cover!
d. To anyone and everyone he met
3. And, He was Bound / Compelled / Obligated / DRIVEN to DO God’s Calling
a. Acts 20:22-24 And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me…
b. Christians are led by the Spirit – constantly being directed by the Spirit of God
c. But few are BOUND and DRIVEN in their spirit to DO the will of God
d. REPEAT
e. Bound means committed, tied, glued to, stuck in, motivated by the will of God itself
f. Paul was not free to do as he pleases anymore.
1) Like an ambassador – Irish Ambassador to the UN, Geraldine Byrne Nason
2) She must represent the opinions, and expectations of his/her government (bound)
g. No matter what it cost him personally
1) Physical bonds, chains, imprisonments, persecutions
2) Afflictions, health problems, abandonment
3) All were in his way
4) But NONE of those things would ever move him off course
4. What Paul Wanted Most of All
a. Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
b. Wanted to FINISH doing what Jesus had asked him to do
c. His entire life now was MINISTRY
d. And to finish with JOY – not bitter, angry, alone, complaining, hurt…
e. He LOVED what he was called to do, and he wanted to stay loving it to the very end
f. Oh that modern men had this same drive! To FINISH what God has called us to do
5. And Paul was Burdened for the lost
a. Acts 20:24 …to testify the gospel [GOOD NEWS] of the grace of God
b. He saw people, no matter how religious, or how pagan, as in need of Jesus Christ in their lives!
c. To know about the GRACE [KINDNESS] of God offered to them
d. That’s why he travelled everywhere
e. Starting with his own people, the Jewish people
f. Romans 10:1,2 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
g. To preach to people who have never heard about a kingdom that would never end
D. A Serious Warning (Acts 20:28-31)
1. Acts 20:28 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.
2. Paul then tells the men that THEY MUST do the same kind of work he has been doing…
3. They CANNOT change the ministry! Must only continue it!
4. Take heed… (Be determined to…)
a. To feed the church of God – PEOPLE. God’s people, gathered right in front of you
1) NOT entertain them, make them happy, or comfortable, but feed them the Bible
2) Whether only a few attending, or many
3) With a thousand different cultures and backgrounds
4) In Christ, all are brethren! And all are souls!
5) Pastors feed the flock!
6) We don’t tell good jokes – we just tell good truths!
b. Remember who the church actually belongs to!
1) They are not YOUR people – they are God’s people
2) God purchased those people, paid for them with HIS OWN BLOOD!
3) Every believer, was personally and absolutely purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ!
4) By the spilling of the life-blood of Jesus Christ, GOD in the flesh!
5) Paid in Full
5. Pastors are Overseers – people in charge of feeding and protecting the flock – WATCH
a. They are GIVEN to a church to lead it, and feed it, and protect it from error
b. And they MUST not change!
1) Yet today, entire denominations are changing with the wind
2) The Scottish General Assembly just voted to allow gay marriages to be performed by their ministers – this is the same denomination that fought under John Knox for the right to obey the Bible more than the king or queen!
3) Now they fight the very words of Scripture so that they can obey their urges!
c. So, REAL pastors, real servants of the Lord Jesus will…
1) FEED the flock – not psychoanalyze them, and entertain them
2) Put up with the carnality and complaining and even back-stabbing, because they LOVE God’s people – if anyone EVER attempts to pastor a class, a church, a flock, be prepared to love them, and keep loving them!
3) Will help people carry their sorrows, sharing them as if they were your own
4) Sacrifice themselves, their money, their health, for others!
5) And will do it all as if they were doing it to Jesus himself!
6. So, Be On the Lookout… (Acts 20:29-31)
a. Acts 20:29-31 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
b. Grievous wolves shall enter into church groups - After Paul leaves
1) Grievous wolves describe modern destroyers of faith! Devouring wolves
2) Creep in unawares – looking like sheep – wearing masks
3) Not to help people, but to take advantage of them and devour them – devils
4) Not sparing the flock – not caring about sheep who need protecting, and feeding, not poisoning, and stealing
5) Will devour the flock – rob them blind, destroy their faith in God and the Bible…
6) Throughout Christianity… Wolves are in the pulpits now
c. Even from amongst Christian men, shall perverted men arise and take power in churches, all so they can get disciples to follow THEM!
1) The ONLY Person anyone should be following is JESUS CHRIST!
2) But modern ministers seek to have followers of THEM – disciples of THEIR opinions, THEIR theories and doctrines!
3) Paul wept because he knew the very people he had spent YEARS teaching would walk away and do their own things, and not care about all the people they hurt by twisting and perverting the Gospel!
4) The same thing has happened even here with men “I” have invested in!
d. Paul warned them for THREE YEARS of heresies and arrogant teachers and false doctrines, and cults trying to sneak in and take over Christianity
e. Galatians 1:6-8 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
E. A Release (Acts 20:32)
1. Acts 20:32 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.
2. I present you / put you into God’s care
a. Kind of like when a Dad walks his daughter down the aisle to get married
b. And let’s her go into the arm of another man, into HIS care and protection
c. Paul let go of those men, and those Christians, and all those churches
d. And knew they would be taken cared of
3. And into the care and sufficiency of God’s word – the Book you and I are holding in our very hands!
a. THIS single Book is sufficient to tell you about God, heaven, hell, your soul, the devil, the past, the future, the antichrist, the coming one-world government, the second coming of Jesus – what a Book this is!
b. It will feed your soul (some of you are STARVING)
c. And will BUILD your faith (Romans 10:17) faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
d. And to give you a reward in heaven unlike anything you can ever imagine
e. Better than any amount of money HERE, gold, silver, bitcoin…
f. 2Timothy 3:16,17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
g. Don’t be a fool and neglect learning and living by this Book!
F. Paul Lived to Give (Acts 20:33-35)
1. Acts 20:33-25 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. 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.
2. He NEVER used religion for his own benefit – unlike MANY ministers today, especially the mega-church ones
3. Paul actually NEVER had any concern for money
4. If he didn’t have any money, he worked a job!
5. And then gave away the extra money from his own labours to people in need!
6. THAT was Paul’s manner of life!
7. And it needs to be OURS today still!
8. STOP LIVING ON SOCIAL WELFARE and get a job if you can, and then GIVE away your money to those in need, gentlemen!
G. Saying Goodbye (Acts 20:36-38)
1. Acts 20:36-38 And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, 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.
2. This was hard for everybody at that meeting
3. Can you imagine what it was like to have the Apostle Paul around? Or Peter, or James or John?
4. And at any moment they would leave and travel on
5. It happens!
6. It will happen one day with us HERE
a. “I” won’t be able to preach anymore, or the Lord will move me on to some other place…
b. Who will take this work seriously enough to keep it going right when “I” have to say goodbye?
III. Conclusion
A. What kind of a life should WE be living? What manner of life?
B. Gentlemen
1. Churches do NOT need Apostle Pauls
2. They need elder, mature, grown-up, hard working, stable, godly men!
3. Men who are trustworthy, and real, and humble
4. Men who are loyal to Jesus Christ, and obedient to His words
5. Men who sense the call to SERVE the Lord Jesus, and serve people
6. If you are saved, gentlemen, you need to be maturing – growing up – living up to the name CHRIST-follower, Christian
7. And become thoroughly involved in some church ministry yourself!
C. Ladies
1. This generation needs godly men
2. Not equal rights, or equality amongst the sexes
3. It needs MEN who will start living selfless, godly, holy, committed, mature lives FOR Jesus
4. Pray for men
5. Pray for THESE men here in this room
6. Pray for YOUR man, for your own dad, your grandfather, your sons
7. And let them lead – let them LEARN to lead
8. And be godly followers of them as they follow Christ!
D. And those of you who are only religious, or even sceptical of the Bible, let me tell you the Gospel one more time…
1. That the God you do not know, has stepped out of heaven and become a Man
2. And He lived the only perfect life – without any sin
3. And then allowed sinful men (politicians and religious together) to mock Him and spit on Him and beat Him and whip Him until He was unrecognisable
4. And then they nailed Him to a cross and left him to die under the wrath of God!
5. But there is MORE to the story…
6. That Man, named Jesus of Nazareth, rose up again from the grave three days later, just as was prophesied throughout the Old Testament
7. And now calls all men everywhere to repent and turn from their sins, and follow Him!
8. If you want to miss the coming wrath of God Almighty
9. You can be saved today!
10. Just call upon that name, and ask! It is free to all who desperately want it and believe it