Keeping Back Nothing That is Helpful -- Acts 20:1-21:14 (March 3, 2024)

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FBC Travelers Rest sermon from March 3, 2024 by Pastor Rhett Burns.

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You can turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. We're going to be, we're going to take just a little bit longer of a passage than we normally do by going through chapter 21 verse 14 and in fact kind of the rest of the way through Acts we're going to take some larger chunks of scripture just so we don't break up the various narrative sections too much.
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But even in taking this larger section, Acts 20 verse 1 through 21, 14, we're really going to focus in on chapter 20 verses 17 through 38 and that's where we're going to spend most of our time,
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Paul's farewell speech to the Ephesian elders. But before we get there
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I want to just point out a few things, I want us to see a few things kind of from a 30 ,000 foot level.
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And one thing I want us to see is that in many ways this passage is a recapitulation of the life of Jesus.
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It's a recapitulation of the passion of Jesus. So I want to point out a few of the clues that we see along the way that point us in this direction.
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First, I want to remind you of one thing we saw last week in chapter 19 verse 21 is that Paul had purposed in his spirit to go to Jerusalem.
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Paul had purposed in his spirit to go to Jerusalem and as we read this passage, if you get in several places, particularly in the first part of chapter 21, we're going to see that suffering awaits
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Paul in Jerusalem. We see it especially in 2111 that Paul will be bound and he will be delivered over to the
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Gentiles in Jerusalem. His friends warn him and plead him not to go.
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Same was true for Jesus. Crucifixion awaited Jesus in Jerusalem.
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He began to teach his disciples this, we just read about it in Mark chapter 8. They didn't want to hear it. Peter even rebuked him for it.
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Yet Jesus' face was set towards Jerusalem. Jesus' face was set towards the cross.
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Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, not my will but thine be done. Now Paul, he tells his friends that he is willing not only to be bound but to be killed in Jerusalem for the name of the
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Lord Jesus Christ, we see that in verse 13. Then in verse 14, so when they would not be persuaded, they ceased saying, the will of the
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Lord be done. Not our will but thine be done. This passage also recalls
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Jesus' life. For example, Jesus traveled with his disciples and Paul traveled with his, we see it in verse 4.
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And Sophater of Berea accompanied him to Asia and also Aristarchus and Secundus of the
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Thessalonians and Gaius of Derbe and Timothy and Tychius and Trophimus of Asia.
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Jesus had his disciples and Paul had his, it reminds us of Jesus' life. Verse 6 mentions the days of unleavened bread, which is also mentioned in Luke chapter 22 verses 1 and 2 in connection with the plots against Jesus' life.
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And here we see the plots are against Paul's life, verse 3. And when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.
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And so rather than sailing to Syria, he takes an overland route. Then in verses 7 and 12, we have the story of Paul preaching late into the night.
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And Eutychus is asleep in the window, they're in an upper room, and then
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Eutychus as Paul goes on path midnight, he falls asleep and he falls out of the window to his death.
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Now, the obvious application here is that bad things happen when you fall asleep during the sermon. Not as obvious, but also in the text are clues and pointers to the passion narrative of Jesus.
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Verse 7, they were gathered on the first day of the week. That reminds us of Jesus' resurrection in Luke 24, verse 1.
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They were in an upper room, which calls to mind the Last Supper in Luke 22, verse 12. Verse 7, they were breaking bread, which calls to mind the meal of the
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Last Supper, again Luke 22, this time verse 19. And here, Paul raises
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Eutychus back to life, which calls to mind other upper room resuscitations, resurrections by Elijah, and Elisha, and Jesus, and Peter, and now
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Paul. Paul then makes his way to Miletus, where he calls the
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Ephesian elders to him to say goodbye to them. And there are a few clues in this speech, we're going to look at it in just a minute, but there are a few clues here that point us that this is a recapitulation of the life of Jesus.
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There's mention that he spent three years at Ephesus teaching his disciples and he taught them both publicly and privately.
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Well how long was Jesus' earthly ministry, where he went about with his disciples teaching them publicly and privately?
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About three years. And at the end of his ministry, after he died and rose again, what happened?
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He went away, he ascended, such that his disciples in this life would not see the life of Jesus, the face of Jesus, again.
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Which is what Paul tells the elders of Ephesus here, that they will not see his face again.
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It's why they're so sad, they're in verses 37 and 38, so sad at his goodbye. Paul recalls the teaching of Jesus that Christ exemplified in his life, it's more blessed to give than to receive.
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And then Paul sailed away. And in all these things, there are clues that point us that relate what's going on here in Acts 20 with the life of Jesus, it's a recapitulation.
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So what I believe here is that with the Ephesian elders, they correspond to the apostles in this recapitulation.
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That is, when Jesus went away and ascended into heaven, he passed on the ministry to the apostles. And as Paul is going away to Jerusalem and then to Rome, he's passing on the ministry to the church, by way of the church elders or pastors of the church.
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And so Paul is following in the footsteps of Jesus, and the Ephesian elders are following in the footsteps of Paul, who's following in the footsteps of Jesus, and we as the church, we continue that work of following in the footsteps of those who have come before us.
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Namely, following in the footsteps of Jesus. We've inherited the same mission of God, to conquer in the name of Christ, to take the world for Jesus, to disciple the nations, and teach them to obey everything that Jesus commanded.
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And headquarters for that work is the local church. And so Paul gives his farewell speech to these
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Ephesian pastors, and in it we see instruction and application for the local church, for local churches in the mission and the kingdom of God.
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And that's what I want us to focus in on as we work our way through verses 17 through 38.
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And let's begin by reading verses 17 through 21. From Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.
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And when they had come to him, he said to them, you know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner
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I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the
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Jews. How I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance towards God and faith toward our
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Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. This is God's word to us. One of the themes that we see in this speech is sacrificial service in the kingdom of God.
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And in these verses, we see that Paul had sacrificed his self -interest. He sacrificed his self -interest and his life was a testimony to the
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Ephesian believers, a testimony to the way of Christ, to the Ephesian believers.
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He had lived among them and in what way? Well, like Christ, he had served the
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Lord with all humility, verse 19 tells us. This ought to call to mind Philippians 2, where Paul instructs the church to have the mind of Christ, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
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The Christian life is one of humility because we are following Christ, who is the perfect example of humility.
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The Christian life is one of putting the interests of others above one's own. And that is how
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Paul lived among the Ephesians. He experienced trials, many trials, because of the plots of the Jews. These trials led to tears, yet even in the face of opposition, he served the
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Ephesians. And look at how he did it. Look at how he did it. So he kept nothing back that was helpful, but publicly proclaimed it to them and also privately proclaimed it to them.
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Publicly and from house to house, he kept nothing back from the Word of God for them. He kept nothing back that was helpful for them.
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He didn't keep any parts of the Bible hidden behind his back. He didn't keep any of the passages and pages of the
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Bible tucked safely in a drawer where they couldn't disturb anyone. Now he preached the whole counsel of God.
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Why? Because it was helpful. Verse 20. It's helpful. It's the Word of God. I want you to think about medicines that aren't pleasant to them.
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Or physical therapy. I mean, the physical therapy is not pleasant. But you do them, not because they're fun, but because they're helpful.
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At our house, we do a fair number of home remedies for kind of basic illnesses and such. Shannon has this one for cold and flu season.
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It's made out of horseradish root. It has onion in it and ginger and I have no idea what else.
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And it's awful. It's like taking a shot of a whole Chinese buffet at one time. And it's not pleasant.
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But it is helpful. It is helpful. We do those things because they're helpful.
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Well, from the pulpit to the living room, Paul gave the Ephesians the medicine of God's Word.
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And I'm sure sometimes it was received like a balm. Or a pain reliever. The sweet and tender truth that God forgives your sins and he washes them all away.
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And he welcomes you into the family of God. I'm also sure that at other times the
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Word came like chemo treatment. It did the work of killing sin. But it sure did hurt.
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And have a lot of side effects. I want you to know that as your pastor, my aim is to not hold back anything from God's Word.
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I'm committed to preaching and teaching all the Bible for all of life. To apply it, everything, every page, every part of life.
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I don't want to hold anything back from you. But to do that, that means I get to preach a lot of yeses. Yes, God loves you.
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Yes, God forgives you. Yes, God is in heaven.
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And he awaits you. And heaven awaits you. And yes, God can heal you. And yes, God is with you. And he will never leave you nor forsake you.
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Yes. Also means I must preach a lot of no's. Like John the
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Baptist to Herod, no you may not have that woman as your wife. No you may not bear false witness. No you may not speak that way to your husband.
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No you may not treat your wife that way. No you're not qualified for that. No, God's word forbids this. No. Now, I would ask you why would some pastors specifically or Christians more broadly, why would some be tempted to keep back some of the things that are helpful?
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One reason is they don't want to offend anyone. People don't like being told no, even by God.
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People don't like telling people no. Many of us are afraid of giving offense.
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Related to that would be a second reason. People prefer the absence of conflict to the absence of sin. They'd rather have peace in the moment, even if temporary, than righteousness.
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And then sometimes, particularly for pastors, their paycheck is dependent upon not offending anyone. They are financially disincentivized from telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
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When we moved back from Turkey almost seven years ago, I was working a construction job and I also, at the same time, started a very small business while doing that construction as well.
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When I went on staff at a church about a year later after that, I kept the business as a side business.
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I keep doing it today as well on my day off and in some evenings. And why?
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There's a number of reasons, but chief among them, the one thing that motivates me there is I never want to be in a position where I feel like I have to choose between livelihood and telling you the truth.
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I think you deserve to have somebody who's going to tell you the truth from God's Word. I don't want to be tempted to ever hold anything back that is helpful.
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Paul didn't. Jesus didn't. I don't want to either. Verse 21 then summarizes
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Paul's preaching where he says, he proclaimed it, Jews and the
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Greeks, repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. That repentance that he's talking about, that's going to be for specific sins, maybe even sins that are mentioned in the sermon.
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It's kind of the negative side of things, the things we have to say no to. But don't lose sight of the second part.
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Faith toward Jesus. Have faith in Jesus. Believe that he forgives you.
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Believe that he loves you. Believe that Christ is Lord. Believe that his commands are good for you.
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Believe that Jesus is more valuable than silver or gold or money. Believe that Christ will satisfy your ways, satisfy your soul in ways that nothing else in the world can.
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Believe and trust Christ. It's Paul's message, it's Jesus' message, and that's our message.
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Have faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's keep reading verses 22 through 24 and see now
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I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that change and tribulations await me.
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But none of these things move me nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which
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I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
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Here we see Paul's sacrifice of his safety. He knows that persecutions and tribulations and trials await him, chains, yet he still goes.
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Verse 24 says he will not be moved. How can he be so resolute in the face of suffering?
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Well the answer is found in verse 24. He does not count his life as dear to himself. He does not count his life as dear to himself.
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To Paul, there is more value in bearing witness to Christ than there is value in protecting his person. There's more value in bearing witness to Christ than there is value in avoiding prison and chains and trials and tribulations.
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See I'm reminded of one of my favorite Proverbs here, Proverbs 13, 8 says the ransom of a man's life is his wealth, but a poor man here is no threat.
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Meaning the poor man cannot be threatened by, you know, that you're going to take his money because he doesn't have any money to take. Well Paul couldn't be intimidated out of going to Jerusalem, he'd already given up his life.
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He'd been crucified with Christ, it was no longer him who lived but Christ who lived through him, in him.
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So brothers and sisters I would encourage you, do not count your lives too dear to yourselves.
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Do not count your life too dear to yourself. A life is meant to be spent, it's meant to be poured out, not saved up no matter the cost.
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Now prudence is good, but a radical devotion to safety and comfort has done irreparable harm to the
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American church. We don't want to give a radical devotion to safety such that we don't actually live and spend our life for the glory of God.
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And so finish your race with joy knowing that you have been crucified with Jesus and hear no threat. Let's keep going, verses 25 through 27.
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And indeed now I know that you all among whom I have gone preaching, the kingdom of God will see my face no more.
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Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.
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There is a connection with the book of Ezekiel and the watchman in the book of Ezekiel here.
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See in a few places chapter 3 and I think 33 says that if the watchman does not give a warning then the blood is on his hands.
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He is responsible for the lives that he is watching for.
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But if he gives a warning then he is innocent of their blood. Paul has preached the kingdom of God.
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He's given the warning, he's sounded the alarm, he's told them of their sin and told them the remedy for their sin.
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He has proclaimed the kingship of Jesus and he's invited them all to come along quietly and bow down and confess
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Christ as Lord and King. He's not shunned to declare to them the whole counsel of God.
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He left nothing out. Therefore he is innocent of their blood. If any can see you in their sin and rebellion, they bear the responsibility, the blood's on their own hands.
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If any are deceived by false shepherds, it's their fault, it's not Paul's fault. He has warned them, he has taught them, he hasn't held anything back.
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Then I want you to notice the first word of verse 28, therefore. That means about what he's getting ready to say in the verses that follow flow logically from the verses immediately prior.
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That is because he is innocent of the blood of all men, because he did not shun to declare to them the whole counsel of God.
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Therefore these Ephesian pastors are to take heed, they are to guard themselves and the church of Ephesus.
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Let's keep reading down to the verse 31. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the
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Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood.
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For I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
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Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.
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Therefore watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone, night and day, with tears.
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Verse 28 says the pastors are to take heed, this means to guard, to watch, to defend. Verse 28 calls the elders overseers, which is a synonym for pastors and elders and carries the connotation of watching.
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In other words, like the watchman mentioned in Ezekiel, like Paul, these Ephesian pastors were to keep watch over the flock of God entrusted to their care, they are to guard the sheep.
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And how? How are they to do that? Well we see a couple of things here. One is preaching the whole counsel of God's word.
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Not holding anything back that is helpful, not giving in to fears about giving offense, but giving the people God's word straight up.
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Preach the whole counsel of God. The second way that we see here is warning. The watchmen were to warn, and so were the overseers, so were the elders, so were the pastors.
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They were to warn. Paul says that wolves will come in to the church from without and from within.
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They come in sheep's clothing, they appear to be one of the sheep, but they prove to be wolves, they prove to be false by their false and perverse teaching, and they're drawing away of disciples to themselves and away from Christ.
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They are dangerous, we see in verse 29, because they eventually hurt the sheep.
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Verse 29 says they're not sparing the flock. Therefore the faithful pastor must warn, he must wave the red flag, send up the signal flare, flash the lights, sound the alarm, night and day with tears in our eyes because of the love in our hearts, and warn.
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A pastor guards the flock of God in part by warning. Now warnings are by definition negative. People don't like negative, nobody does, right?
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But warnings are by definition negative. You read a warning label on a product, it'll tell you about the disastrous consequences that could happen because they want to avoid all legal liability, and it'll say, you know, may lead to death if you use it in an incorrect way or something.
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There's a warning there. James 1 gives us a warning about sin, desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown leads to death.
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Sometimes faithful pastors can be misunderstood as focusing on the negative, especially in a culture like ours where there's so much disobedience and sin, therefore there's so much negative things to warn about, but it's not because we want to be killjoys or we want to be quarrelsome or malcontents, no, we warn because we love.
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Like Paul, we warn with tears in our eyes because the negative consequences to sin and disobedience can be massive, and we want to see the flock spared, so the pastor's work of warning is not pleasant.
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No one really wants to hear it, especially when the warning is against the thing that you want to do or you want to overlook or you want to participate in, but what kind of shepherd would
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I be if I didn't warn? Who else is going to tell you? Who's going to warn
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God's people about anxiety and worry and how it weighs someone down and God tells us to not be anxious, but by everything, by prayer and petition to make our requests known to God.
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Who's going to warn us against the fear that cripples or against the love of money and greed or envy, which is rottenness in the bones and will eat you from the inside?
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Who will warn against lust that will turn you into an animal and pride that will set you up for a great, great fall?
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Who's going to warn about the dangers of refusing to forgive someone, that danger being that God does not forgive you, and these are just the perennial temptations that all humans face everywhere.
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It's kind of part of being human, but what about the temptations, the things that are out there that are specific to our context?
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Things that we may not even be aware that carry massive consequences.
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Things like the dangers of abortifacient birth control, where the advertising is that it prevents fertilization, but the reality is that these pills, many of them do not prevent fertilization, but prevent the fertilized egg, which is a human made in God's image, from having a livable environment in the womb, thus killing the very small baby.
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Young married couples need to hear this morning. Who's going to tell them? Or about IVF treatments that freeze real human beings for decades, or about the pitfalls of chosen childlessness in a marriage under normal circumstances, or about immodest clothing and how
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God's standards for modesty aren't negated by being near water during the summertime, or the spiritual danger of choosing travel ball over Lord's Day worship, or the danger to your soul if you neglect prayer and regular
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Bible reading, or how certain education choices can put your children in peril, or the soul crushing dangers of pornography, or how not disciplining your child is hating your child, or that effeminacy in men is shameful and brashness in women is ungodly, or that laziness will kill you, or that worldliness puts your soul in peril.
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Who's going to warn? We need warnings. You can go on TikTok and find video after video of 35 to 40 -year -old women, absolutely distraught that they bought the lie that delaying marriage and children and moving to the city and pursuing a career like a man would make them happy, and they're full of regret, and they film it, and it's sad.
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Would things have turned out differently had they had a pastor to warn them? Or young men,
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I don't think they make the videos, but how many have wasted their prime decade of their life that they could have used for learning productive skills that could have been used to provide for a wife and kids, but because they devoted their lives to sports instead, and they satisfied their natural drives with pornography, and placated themselves that way?
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Oh, that we would hear warnings from God's Word, specifically applied to every area of life.
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Church, hear the warning. There are those who would lead you astray. They would tell you that it's not such a big deal, that you just do you, it's okay.
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The consequences are felt for years, and so I'd encourage you to hear the warning, but also hear the tears.
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I can warn you away from sin because spiritually I walk with a limp.
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I've walked in disobedience. I've walked in rebellion to God and His Word. I've made the decisions that I'll regret for the rest of my life.
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I can feel that weight of sin, and yet, by God's grace and God's grace alone,
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I also know the sweetness and the comfort of God's mercy, and so because of love for you,
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I want you to avoid the deadly consequences of sin and to know the sweetness and the comfort of God's mercy, and to know the sweetness and comfort of walking in God's ways according to God's Word and avoiding those pitfalls, and so we wave the red flag, we send up the signal flares, and we say, not that way, but this way, says
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God. If I don't warn you, I don't love you. If I don't warn you, I'm not innocent of your blood, and as your pastor,
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I'm committed to taking heed to myself and to the flock of God at First Baptist Church Travelers Rest, the flock that, verse 28 says,
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Jesus purchased with His own blood. For time's sake, we're going to move quickly through the rest of the chapter, verses 32 through 35, so now, brethren,
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I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
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I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel, yet, yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who are with me.
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I have shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak and remember the words of the
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Lord Jesus that He said, it's more blessed to give than to receive. For time's sake,
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I'll simply just note Paul's sacrifice of his finances. He worked with his hands so that he would not be a burden to the church.
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Elsewhere, Paul makes the case that it's good and fitting to pay laborers for the gospel.
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I happily agree with those other parts of Paul's letters, but we see it here, he forgoes that right in love, remembering that it's better to support the weak and it's more blessed to give than to receive.
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He sacrifices his finances. Then we read in verses 36 through 38 to end, and when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
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Then they all wept freely and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more.
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And they accompanied him to the ship. This is one of my favorite scenes in the whole
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Bible. It's not the most dramatic scene. It's not one of the great examples of courage and strength in the face of danger that makes so many
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Bible stories great. It doesn't even recount part of Christ's redemptive work that secures our salvation, but I love it.
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I love it because of the affection that's so obvious between Paul and the
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Ephesian believers, the Ephesian elders. Between Paul and those he served, they wept that this was their last goodbye.
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Verse 38 says, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more.
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I pray that we would have that kind of affection and love towards one another here at First Baptist. For those of you who have been here for many years,
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I know that you do. I hear it in your voice when you ask about how others in the church are doing.
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I see it in your interaction. I praise God for it. And I pray that our love for one another would grow and abound.
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And in that love, that we would believe all of the Bible for all of life, that we would not count our lives as dear, but we would run our race with joy no matter what, having been crucified with Jesus, and that we would serve him with all humility.
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Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven,
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I thank you for this church. I thank you for the honor and the privilege of serving as pastor here.
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Lord, I pray that we would be a church that preaches and teaches and receives all of the
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Bible applied to all of life, with its positive instruction of yes, do this, and its negative warnings, no, avoid that.
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And I know when we get into those areas where we specifically apply the Bible in precise ways, it can get uncomfortable.
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Lord, I pray that you would give us grace to receive your word. I pray that we would have grace to proclaim your word in that way, so that we walk righteously, so that we avoid sin and its consequences, so that we bring you glory.
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And it's good for us. Lord, I also know that anytime we preach about warnings, we preach and name specific sins and apply things specifically, there's a tendency, if we look back on our lives, there's a tendency to live in regret.
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Lord, my prayer is that no one here would walk in regret. And the reason we can have confidence for that is because you are the
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God who restores all the years that the locusts have eaten. And you restore the years that we have wasted and the opportunities that we've squandered by our sins.
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You restore all of that, and I thank you for it, and I thank you for the truth that you never take us from where we should have been.
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You take us from where we are. Oh, the mercy of Christ.
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Oh, the mercy of God that takes us from where we are. I pray that everybody in here within the sound of my voice would respond to you where they are and walk from this day forward faithfully for your glory.