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Reading Acts 20:29-38 where the Apostle Paul finishes up his address to the pastors of Ephesus, warning them about wolves that will come from without and within the church. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
The Apostle Paul spoke to the pastors of Ephesus and he gave them this warning. There are fierce wolves that will come in among you to devour the flock and wolves will arise from even yourselves if you're not careful when we understand the text.
This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible study in the word of Christ. That we may humble ourselves before the Lord and at the proper time, he may exalt us. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .wutt .com.
Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky.
In our study of the book of Acts, we're finishing up this farewell message that Paul gave to the pastors of Ephesus, joining him in Miletus. Let me pick up where we left off yesterday and I'll go to the end of the chapter.
This is Acts 20 verses 29 to 38. Hear the word of the Lord. I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves, men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.
Therefore be watchful, remembering that night and day for a period of three years, I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. 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 have been sanctified.
I coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to those who are with me. In everything, I showed you that by laboring 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. And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they began to weep aloud and falling on Paul's neck, they were kissing him, being in agony, especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again.
And they were accompanying him to the ship. Now, the main exhortation that Paul is giving in this farewell message to these pastors that have joined him in Miletus, the main point is that they are to shepherd the flock of God, shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.
That is their calling. That is what they as pastors are to do. The word pastor means shepherd. They are to shepherd the flock of God. And how do they do that? Their commitment to the word of Christ, they are to preach it.
Paul sets himself as an example, how committed he was to the word of God. Back up in verse 21, I solemnly testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
He uses that word testify again in verse 24, I testified solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. And then he says to these pastors that they must do this as well. They must continue to preach. I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified.
That is verse 32. So the word that they have heard Paul preach is the word that they are to preach. That is shepherding the church in that word that they may know it and they may be sanctified by it. And he even reminds them at the very end of the message, what did Jesus say?
Remember the words of the Lord Jesus. And so this is the aim of his message to these men, shepherd the flock of God. And you do that by your commitment to his word, to preach it. As we get into the verse I started with, picking up where we left off, verse 29.
I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you. This is right after he had told them to be on guard. That was the last verse that we read yesterday. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, because I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you.
Paul had said to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, verse 16, keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing, you will save both yourself and your hearers. Keep a watch on yourself and on the teaching.
Be disciplined that you would not be led astray by any false teaching, by any plausible word, but that you would be well-versed in the gospel that had been preached to you, that you've been called to preach to others, that you persist in this, that you let others see your progress.
That was the verse right before it, 1 Timothy 4, 15. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress. Progress in the calling that you have received as a preacher, your knowledge of the word, your application of that word.
Grow in all of this, make progress in this, let others see it. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching so that no strange ideas come in and alter the teaching, change the teaching, which has the power to save.
If you change the teaching to something else, then it is not the message that saves. So be careful and keep a close watch on yourself lest you fall into any sin and temptation, which would bring a reproach against the office that you're supposed to fill and therefore the message that you are preaching also.
Paul gives that same sort of exhortation to these pastors here. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock. Satan is gonna attempt to get at pastors. You must be vigilant. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, 27, I discipline my body and keep it under control lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.
Even if a pastor is disqualified, that doesn't make the message that he preached wrong. He could have been very faithful in the gospel in the way that he preached, but then disqualify himself from the office or even worse disqualify himself as far as the faith is concerned.
Maybe he was just a complete liar the entire time and he was living a completely different life, lifestyle that did not look like a regenerate man whatsoever. And one of the men that I think of regarding that was Ravi Zacharias.
This was a guy who had preached for so long, had contested with atheists in so many different ways, defending the faith and proclaiming the truth of the existence of God and that his word was true. And yet after he died, we found out this was a man who had mistresses in all different kinds of countries, not just across the United States, but in different parts of the world.
He was a sex fiend. And was this man really genuine in his faith ever at any point? That's a scary thing to think about. All of the different sermons that he preached and the position that he took and the reputation that he had as a man who loved God and proclaimed the gospel.
And yet in his private life, indulged completely in the passions of the flesh, was living such a licentious lifestyle that he showed himself to be completely enslaved to his sin. Jesus gave the warning about shepherds that come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Zacharias was a ravenous wolf. He was using women to satisfy the appetites of his flesh, would even use his office and his position as a pastor to woo them. It said in Matthew 7, 15, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
You will recognize them by their fruits. In the case of somebody like Zacharias, we may not have seen it until after he died. There were some that had recognized it before then, but even after he is gone, we can look and see his reputation and the way that he lived, that he was not really a true shepherd.
He was a wolf. And Paul is warning these pastors, I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. It was John Calvin that said a pastor needs to have two voices.
He has a voice that calls the sheep, cares for the sheep, and he has a voice that fends off the wolves. Among your own selves, Paul says, men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.
Now that surely should have made some of those pastors quake. What we know after this sermon that Paul preached is they were very troubled in heart because Paul had said that they would not see his face again.
So they were brokenhearted. Their great friend, their companion, the man that they had learned from and labored with for three years, they would never see his face again this side of heaven. So they were brokenhearted over that.
But surely there was something within them that should have quaked in their spirits when they heard there are wolves that are gonna rise up from among you. So first he says, after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you.
But then he says, from your own selves, men will arise speaking perverse things. And so that being a call to watch yourself, that you would not be led astray. You would not fall into any false doctrine or be ensnared by the passions of your flesh.
As Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1, starting in verse three, this was also a man that he had sent to Ephesus. So this was a letter that came to Ephesus, teaching Timothy, but then also the rest of the church at Ephesus.
I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.
You must be fixed on the truth of God's word and not waver from it or be taken away by crazy ideas. Don't let anyone even teach any different doctrine. Because again, if you change the doctrine, then you've changed that which saves.
And can it save if you change it so much? Therefore be watchful, Paul says, verse 31. Remembering that night and day for a period of three years, I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. Admonish means to correct with goodwill.
So correcting each one, bringing them to a solid understanding of the truth. There was a false teacher that I saw online just recently who was making fun of Christians who have absolute certainty in their doctrine.
He was making fun of them. We're reading the book of Acts. This was written by Luke. What did Luke say at the beginning of his gospel? He said he was writing these things down that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
These things have been given to us so that we would be certain in the word. If we aren't certain, if we have uncertainties, if we have doubts about the word, then it is gonna be much easier for the enemy to draw us away from the truth.
One of the requirements of a pastor is that he must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it. That is Titus 1 .9.
And that's also that call to admonish, just as Paul is saying that he did here. I admonished each one. I corrected those who contradicted. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified.
How do you get to glory? It's through the word of God that shows us the way, pointing to Christ who is the door to enter into eternal life. Hold fast to this word. It is the word which saves you. It's the word which will save the flock.
Don't waver from it. Don't let anybody lead you astray by plausible teaching, which is actually a twisting of the word and is not true. I commend you to God and to the word of his grace. We know of the grace of God through the word that has been spoken.
This word that we call the Bible. This is how we know of the grace of God that has been demonstrated through his son, who died on the cross for us and rose again from the dead so that none may perish.
All who believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. Now, Paul goes on to say this about himself and sets before them an example again to follow, just as he did in the first part of the sermon.
So he comes back to it again at the close. I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to those who are with me. In everything, I showed you that by laboring in this manner, you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus.
One of the warnings that Paul gives to Timothy, coming back to 1 Timothy again, is that there are teachers who will go away from the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ in the teaching that accords with godliness.
And they imagine that godliness is a means of gain. So they will use their position and even the prestige or recognition that they get from being godly men, and they will use that to their advantage to gain profit for themselves, P-R-O-F-I-T.
They will profit. They will make money off of it. They go away from the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness. They are puffed up with conceit and understand nothing.
They have an unhealthy craving for controversy. And they imagine that godliness is a means of gain. They are pursuing godliness so that it might benefit them financially. It's in the same context that Paul says the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.
And I've talked about this before. That verse, 1 Timothy 6 .10, is not just some standalone proverb saying to you that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils. It's specifically saying that these men will love financial gain so that it leads to all kinds of false teaching.
And that's what you must be aware of as well, saying to these elders, you know that I minister to my own needs. I did not covet anyone's silver or gold or clothes. So we must be careful that our desire for worldly things would not cause us to twist the message into something that therefore cannot save.
I was having a conversation recently with another friend of mine, not a pastor, but a teacher. But we were talking about how pastors on social media will use social media platform to profit themselves.
And that's something that I've got to be aware of as well. I have to be careful of that, that I am not willing to just throw out hot takes or say what is most interesting to people, grabbing their attention, even willing to twist the word so that I am getting more attention for myself and I profit off of my social media accounts.
I've got to be careful about that so that people will see that I'm not doing this for my financial benefit. I am doing it for the benefit of people who would watch or would hear. This is for you. This podcast is always going to be free.
This is not something that is meant to make money for me. It is another opportunity that I have to share the gospel with people and grow people in our Lord Jesus Christ so that you may enter into glory through the word of his grace.
This word, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified. Once again, that being verse 32. And so as Paul says to these pastors, to these ministers, in everything I showed you that by laboring in this manner, you must help the weak.
Paul had worked to make his own living so that he was not a burden on anyone else so that it could not even be said of Paul that he preached the gospel for financial profit or even to just make a living for himself.
It wasn't even just that he was doing it to make a living wage. He took nothing, offered the gospel for free, ministered to his own needs so that he could set an example before these pastors to help the weak and remember the word of God and the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
It is better for you that you would give of yourselves for the sake of the flock than you should receive anything back from them so that they would be willing to sacrifice of themselves for the benefit of God's people.
And again, after Paul had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. The first pastor's conference that we have recorded in scripture ends with everybody kneeling down to pray and they wept aloud and fell on Paul's neck.
They were kissing him, great affection they had for him, heartbreak that they would not see him again. They were in agony, especially over the word which he had spoken that they would not see his face again and they were accompanying him to the ship.
What great love that he had for these men. What great love that they had for him. And likewise, brethren, we all have a responsibility to the word of God and to keep it and to be careful not to let any other false teaching come in that would cause us to believe things about God's word that he did not say.
So we all have an obligation to keep that. But here during the month of October, which is also pastor's appreciation month, interesting that I would be reading this particular address to pastors, I think it's good that we place the emphasis on that, that there are men who have been called to shepherd the flock of God and they do that through the word of God.
And there is great requirement upon them to keep that word and to preach it. James 3 .1 saying, "'Beloved, not many of you should aspire to become teachers because you know that teachers will be judged with greater strictness.
Oh, but there is a great reward for those who have taught and done so faithfully.". Again, the word of his grace is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified.
So let us love this word, continue to listen to it and aspire to do it every day in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
You've been listening to When We Understand The Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.
On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study When We Understand The Text.