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I'd like to continue in Acts
chapter 20. Paul's teaching the elders at
the church of Ephesus. Let me go ahead and read the
section one more time. It's been a few weeks since we
were in it. Verse 17 of Acts 20. And from
Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church.
When they were come to him and said unto him, he said unto them,
You know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what
manner I have been with you in all seasons, serving the Lord
with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations
which befell me by the laying and weight of the Jews, and how
I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you. But I have
showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house,
testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks' repentance
towards God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 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. 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 to you 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. 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. 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. But by the space of three years
I ceased not to warn every one, night and day, with tears. 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. I have coveted no man's silver,
or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know. These
hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that
were with me. I have showed you all things,
how, that so laboring, you 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. When He had thus spoken, He kneeled
down, and prayed with them all. 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. Well, if you remember the context,
after leaving Philippi, Paul traveled on to Troas and spent
a week there preaching the gospel of Christ, teaching the brethren. In fact, if you remember, he
preached long to them, long into the night. The case where the
young man Eutychus fell out of the window and they presumed
him to be dead. After Paul preached at Troas,
he left there and he determined to meet the brethren in Asos. Now, if you remember, the brethren
took the ship and Paul determined to travel on land. After meeting
up with the brethren in Asos, Paul determined, I must go to
Jerusalem quickly. He needed to get there before
the day of Pentecost had come. So he set his sights on Jerusalem,
but he determined to stop off at churches along the way to
build them and instruct them and edify them, strengthening
them in the faith. One of these churches he stopped
at was Ephesus. Now, when he reached the church
of Ephesus, he had a particular purpose in mind. I must need
to teach the elders. This was his goal. This was what
he desired to do. He knew that by teaching the
elders, they would then indeed watch over the souls of the saints.
So, he had to teach them, build them up, strengthen them. So,
verse 17, from Aletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders
of the church. So, his purpose was to build
them up. His method was to point to his
own leadership. He said that, you know from the
first day, verse 18, that I came into Asia after what manner I
have been with you at all seasons. So he points them to his own
example, and he encourages them basically, follow my example. Look to me, look at the way I
led, look at the way I've loved you, I've cared for you. Verse
20, I've kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but
I've showed you and taught you publicly, and from house to house. So he teaches the elders. He
instructs them. He wants to build them up. And
after going through this long discourse with them, you can
imagine they were riveted to his words. They loved Paul. They
had profited much from Paul's teaching. They wanted to be like
Paul. Paul was an elder slash apostle. These elders, pastors,
wanted to be just like Paul was, and so they listened to him.
When he got to the end of his discourse, he gives them a blessing,
a benediction. Verse 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. Tonight, I want us to look at
one single verse, verse 32, this benediction or this blessing
that Paul brings upon the elders. It's a rich verse. It's a verse
that's very encouraging. He's speaking specifically to
the elders. These are the men that God had raised up as the
officers and representatives of the church. And so these are
words spoken specifically to them. But that being said, These
are words that can be spoken to all the body of Christ because
they apply to all. And now, brethren, this could
apply to every one of you as Paul commends 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."
So tonight I want us to look at this verse, this blessing
that Paul gives upon them before finally he kneels and prays with
them, enters into the ship, and departs, and they see him no
more. very grievous time. This passage
is filled with great emotion. And as these men truly loved
Paul. So let's look at the the commendation,
the benediction, the blessing that Paul gives in verse 32.
The first thing we find here is that he commends them to God. And now, brethren, I commend
you to God. Now Paul had taken his duty seriously
with the church, with all the churches. He took his duty with
great sobriety. He understood it was his calling.
He understood it was a high calling. He had watched for their souls.
He knew that he would give account. And so it weighed heavily upon
him. That's the reason in 2 Corinthians
11, after Paul had spoke about all the difficulties he'd been
through, he'd been shipwrecked, he'd been stoned, he'd been beaten
with rods, he'd been scourged, he had suffered greatly. And
when speaking of the great trials and the difficulties that had
been so much a part of his ministry, he adds, Besides those things
that are without, these sufferings, these shipwrecks, these difficulties
that caused physical outward torment, besides those things
that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care
of all of the churches." Paul saw this as a burden. It was
a great burden upon him. Not one that he despised, one
that he adored, but he saw it as a burden. 2 Corinthians 12,
15, he says, and I will very gladly spend and be spent for
you. He took it seriously. Verse 20 in this passage again,
I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have
showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house.
He saw his duty as something that God had placed upon him.
And now he knows he's about to depart. Verse 32 again. I'm sorry. I'm lost. Anyway, he's telling them that
he's not going to see them anymore. He's about to depart. He's seeing
them for the last and final time. And so, in essence, what Paul
is saying in verse 32 is now that I am about to depart, And
I will not see you again. I will not be able to encourage
you. I will not be able to instruct
you. In essence, God is ending my responsibility to you. Now I commend you to God. I am placing you in the hands
of God, which, by the way, is the most excellent place to be. There's no better place than
we can be that in the hands of God, commended to God. David
said in Psalm 28, The Lord is my strength, my shield, my heart
trusted in Him, and I am helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoiceth,
and with my song will I praise Him." Or Psalm 18, verses 2 and
3. And these are wonderful psalms.
These are psalms you should highlight in your Bible, because when you're
going through these difficulties that are so much a part of the
Christian life, They bring so much encouragement to know that
we are in the hands of God. And our God is a mighty shepherd
who holds us firmly in his hand. Psalm 18 reads, The Lord is my
rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I
will trust. my butler, or my shield, and
the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." In other words,
he's our sure defense. He's our mighty king. He says,
I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so shall
I be saved from mine enemies. So Paul is commending these people,
these blessed saints, into the hands of God. A wonderful place
to be. Now, what does it mean to be
in the hands of God? Well, I think we see it in several
ways. One, we're surely commended to
the power of God, power to endure every trial, the difficulties
that come upon the Christian life. Romans 8.35, Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress,
persecution, famine or nakedness or peril or sword our mighty
God. Nothing shall separate us from
the hand of God. So surely in the hand of God,
by His mighty power, we are shielded and enabled to endure every trial. And in His power, we are grounded
to stand firm in every temptation. Temptations come, fiery temptations. I was sharing with a couple of
the men last Sunday night before discipleship training, talking
about temptation. It's really only the saints that
truly experience temptation. First of all, the laws really
don't care one way or the other. It's not like they're struggling
hard with sin. Not only that, Satan has them
blinded to the gospel. He doesn't have to tempt them.
Their own corrupt hearts keep them sinning against God. This
is the condemnation that light has come and men love darkness
rather than light. Because their deeds are evil.
Satan really doesn't have to tempt the lost. He tempts us. And it's terrible temptations.
Horrid temptations. You feel it every day. You're
in a struggle continually. It's a terrible, terrible ordeal
that we face daily. 1 Corinthians 10.13 says, There
hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man.
But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that which ye are able. But with the temptation he will
also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it. God
is all-powerful. And though you are tempted and
tempted sore, He provides a way of escape every time. He's powerful. I think he's powerful to enable
us to valiantly stand against all the attacks of Satan, not
only temptations. Satan attacks us in many ways
besides temptation. He accuses us. He discourages
us. He attacks us in so many ways.
Yet, Paul says in Ephesians 6, Finally, my brethren, Be strong
in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole
armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. So He gives us the power to endure
every trial, to stand firm in every temptation, to fight valiantly
through every attack of Satan. And He gives us the power to
persevere. In fact, it's by His power that
we are preserved into the end. If it were not for His power,
you would not continue. You would not endure. It's only
by His power that we continue to press on. Jude 1 verses 24
and 25. Of course, Jude only has one
chapter. Now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise
God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and forever. Amen. If God withheld His powerful
hand of mercy upon you for just a moment, you would fall away. You would not continue. It's
by His mighty power. For Paul to commend these saints
into the hand of God, is to say, you will persevere, you will
endure every trial, every temptation, every struggle that you will
go through. You will endure, because you are safely in the
hands of God. Not only that, to be commended
to God is also to be commended to His wisdom, His counsel to
direct you in all of your ways, because you don't have any wisdom.
You truly don't. You have no wisdom. You might
have a little bit of worldly wisdom. Surely you know how to
get up from your bed and put on your clothes and start your
day. You surely know that. You may
have some education. You may have some worldly wisdom,
but not the true wisdom that will help you in spiritual ways,
that will help you in ways that ultimately count. The lost man
doesn't understand the Word of God, doesn't know how to apply
the Word of God. So that's the reason that we're
just talking about the state of Massachusetts and them outlawing
spanking. Because from the human perspective,
that makes absolute sense. After all, they've been convinced
that spanking your child will lead them to violent behavior. You're teaching them violence.
You're teaching them to respond in violent ways. It makes absolute
sense. They've been taught now for some
40 odd years of the psychological processes and how to deal with
children's psychologies and how to spank them. It just seems like abuse. After
all, you're inflicting pain. We don't want pain anymore. That's a bad thing. It's torture. You surely would not want to
be torturous to your children. It makes such sense to them.
But what they don't understand is that the wisdom of God is
so much greater than the foolishness of men. And they think it's right. That's the reason it makes so
much sense. You know, a young woman gets pregnant out of wedlock.
What is the best solution? best solution from her perspective
and from the perspective of the world. And the way we know it's
the perspective of the world is 1.3 million babies are murdered
every year in their mother's womb. This tells us that there's
a lot of people that think they have the answer. This is the
right decision to make. Kill the baby. Put it out of
my memory so that I can go on with my life and live the kind
of life that I want to live. It's the foolishness of this
world. God has granted us the wisdom
of his word and he promises to teach us. And so for the Christian,
commended to the hand of God, we're able to think clearly,
think rightly, think the thoughts of God, the God that created
us, the God that has told us in his word what things are right
and what things are wrong. And so to be commended into the
hands of God is to be commended to his wisdom. Proverbs 3, this
is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I think I've given
the testimony many times, but I'll tell you again quickly.
Maybe it's been a long time since I've given it. Back years ago,
1985, and I had just started back to LSU after 11 years away
from formal education. Actually, 13 years away from
formal education. I was taking a botany class that
was truly eating my lunch. You have to take a physical science
in the College of Arts and Science. Biological science had a choice
of biology or botany. Botany seemed like the easier
of the two. I figured it would be maybe the classification of
flowers and maybe some nice plants and looking at plants under a
microscope maybe. But there's chemistry involved
in it. Who would have thought? And he
was eating my lunch. And one night at the church,
we had gathered at the church for some reason for prayer and
we were sitting quietly in the pew by myself with my Bible in
my hand and I opened up the Bible and this isn't encouraging superstition
but it just so happened I opened up to Proverbs 3 and glanced
to the page and this is the passage I looked at and it was a tremendous
encouragement to me as I I was in grief over the class,
and ultimately God saw me through the class quite well, but He
encourages us through His Word. It's a wonderful gift from God.
Proverbs 3, verses 5-7, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
lean not unto thine own understanding, and all thy ways acknowledge
Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own
eyes, fear the Lord, depart from evil. Be not wise in your own
eyes. Trust the Lord. He'll direct
your path. To be committed, to be commended
into the hand of God is to be trusted in His hand of power,
His wisdom, It's a wonderful place to be. And then I suppose
you could also include in this, it would mean to be commended
to the person of God, who is most glorious. There is none
other being in the universe that is so worthy, so majestic, so
powerful, so awe-inspiring, so worthy of our worship. No other
being is worthy to bow before. So to be commended to God is
to be commended into this mighty being who loves us and is worthy
of worship, is to be commended into the Most High God who will
always protect and keep us until the end. Second of all, Paul
says here, verse 32 again, And now, brethren, I commend you
to God and to the word of His grace. Now, Looking at this phrase,
the Word of His Grace, there's been some disagreement as to
exactly what this is referring to. Some believe it's referring
to Christ, who is sometimes referred to as the Word. In fact, John,
in several times, several passages, referred to Christ as the Word. John 1.1, we all know this, In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. Or if you skip down to verse
14 of John 1, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Or 1 John 1, 1, That
which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled, of the Word of life, So some say that this
word here, this word of grace, the word of His grace is speaking
to Christ. I commend you to God and to Christ. John Gill, the respected English
Baptist of the 18th century, held this view. But it's doubtful
that that's what this verse is referring to, that it's referring
to Christ. According to J.C. Ryle, It's
not clear the Lord Jesus has ever called the Word by any New
Testament writer except for John. In fact, all the passages I just
read to you, John 1.1 and John 1.14 and 1 John 1.1, all the
Apostle John. So it would be very strange then
to have the Apostle Paul referring to Christ as the Word when he
never has. So the best way to determine
a passage, one of the first rules of hermeneutics, is to examine
the context. We often go so far astray when
trying to interpret the Word of God when we take a passage
out of context or we don't use the immediately preceding and
the immediately following verses to help to get a clue as to exactly
how to interpret a particular passage. And so you read the
verses immediately before and those after, trying to get a
hint as to what this means and can we find any hints, and we
do find one in verse 24. Paul says, but none of these
things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself. 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." So in verse 32
he refers to the word of his grace, and in verse 24 he speaks
of the gospel of the grace of God. And there are so many times that
the Word of God and the Gospel of God can almost be used synonymously. There are many passages that
you can use as an example of that. For example, Acts 2.41,
Then they that gladly received his Word, that is the Gospel,
the Word, the Gospel, were baptized. And the same day they were added
unto them about three thousand souls. Or Romans 10 verses 16
and 17. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Isaiah said, Lord, who hath
believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. So you see the very close connection
between the gospel and the word of God. You can't separate the
two. And then 1 Thessalonians 2.13, For this cause also we
thank God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of
God, which is the gospel, which ye have heard of us, ye received
it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of
God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. And
so in a general sense, This is referring, or actually in a particular
sense, this is referring to the gospel of God, the gospel of
Christ, the word of grace, the gospel of grace. It is pointing
to Christ. What is the gospel? If someone
were to ask you, what is the gospel? Which many people can't
answer. The gospel is basically the message
of Christ, the work of Christ, His birth. His life, His death,
His resurrection and ascension. The gospel is Christ. But in
a general sense, the best way to see this in verse 32 is simply
to see it as the Word of God. Paul is commending them to God
and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up. So that gives a hint as well.
He's commending them to God and the word of his grace which is
able to build you up." In other words, Paul is recognizing clearly
that the word of God is the very means of God for strengthening,
building up, and edifying the body of Christ. You cannot separate
the word of God from the growth of God's people. Now God has
saved us that we might be holy. That's His purpose, His ultimate
purpose. He has saved us that we might be holy. Now there's
a sense in which we are made holy in terms of justification. That is a positional holiness. That is justification in which
the imputed righteousness of Christ is given unto us. So this is imputed holiness.
We are declared holy. We are God's holy people. But on the other hand, God has
determined to save us that we might actually live a holy life. So we have a positional holiness,
but God has also saved us that we might live a practical holiness. In Ephesians 1, Paul said, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, according as He hath chosen us for the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. Holy and blameless. So, I think
that the two expressions given in this fourth verse of Ephesians
1, holy and blameless, that we should be holy and without blame,
is simply speaking of our outward holiness and our inward holiness. the difference between sanctification
and justification. God has saved us according as
He has chosen us in Him, that is, in Christ, when? Before the
foundation of the world. Why? That we should be holy and
without blame. In other words, that we should
be holy in Christ, sanctification, and blameless at the same time,
that is, justification. So Paul is simply saying here
in verse 32, I'm commending you to God and to the word of his
grace which is able to build you up, to sanctify you. The word for able, by the way,
is from the Greek word dunamite, which is where we get our word
dynamite. It means powerful. It means that
Paul is saying that this word is powerfully able. It is effectually able to build
you up. So God uses his word to teach
us, to train us, to convict us. He uses his word to teach us
more of himself and of his demands for his people. He uses His Word
to convict us of sin and conform us more and more to the image
of Christ. In fact, you can only truly measure
your life by the perfect standard of the Word of God. You want
to see how you line up, how you are living in a holy life before
God? What is your standard? How can
you tell? Use the Word of God. That's the
reason we depend upon the wisdom of God, because the wisdom of
the world says one thing, The wisdom of God says something
else. God uses his word to teach us his wisdom, and we want to
be conformed to his wisdom. So how does he teach us and conform
us? How does he sanctify us? How
does he make us holy? Through his word. King David,
the psalmist, Psalm 119, verse 11, Thy word have I hid in mine
heart, I might not sin against thee. That's such a simple statement,
but so profound. God, I've hid your word in my
heart. I meditate upon it. I study it continually. And why? That I might not sin against
you. In other words, by being conformed to your word, I'm conformed
to your perfect law of righteousness. So over and over and over, the
word of God is seen as that which builds and edifies and strengthens
the body of Christ. John 17, 17, our Lord prayed,
this is the great priestly prayer of Christ, and he says, sanctify
them, sanctify my people, your disciples, sanctify them through
thy truth. Thy word is truth, it's the word
of God. Psalm 119, verse 9 says, wherewithal
shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according
to thy word. Very simple statements. How can
a man cleanse his way? How can a man live right before
God? How can a man live a holy life?
The answer is quite simple. It's according to the word, the
word of God. First Peter 2.2. As newborn babes
desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. Very simple statements. That's
the only way you're going to grow. It's the only way. It's
God's appointed way through his word. Louis Burkhoff says, The
principal means used by the Holy Spirit in sanctification is the
Word of God. Scripture presents all the objective
conditions for holy exercises and acts. It serves to excite
spiritual activity by presenting motives and inducements. It gives
direction to it by prohibitions and exhortations and examples.
Paul says here, I'm commending you to the Word of God, which
is able to build you up Which, in essence, Paul is saying, I'm
leaving you. I've taught you publicly and
from house to house. And now I will see you no more.
So now I am commending you to God and to the word of his grace,
which is able to build you up. Which Paul tells young Timothy,
2 Timothy 3, verses 16 and 17, which you probably have memorized,
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 might be
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. That's the
Word of God for us. It is the means by which God
makes us perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
So, Paul is declaring that this Word will build you and strengthen
you. But he says one other thing as
well. Look at the verse again, verse 32. Brethren, I commend
you to God, to the Word of His grace, which is able to build
you up. And then he adds one more thing.
It's also, he's still talking about the Word of His grace,
which is able to build you up. It's also able to give you an
inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Well, what does
Paul mean by this? How is it that the Word of God
is able to give you an inheritance? among all them which are sanctified."
Now, first of all, he's stating a particular group that has this
inheritance. It's only those that are sanctified.
It's only the elect. It's only the body of Christ.
So he's talking to a distinct group of people. And he's speaking
specifically of the promises of God given to that particular
group. The promises of God that are
able to build you up and to give you an inheritance. Now, the
Word of God declares that we are heirs and joint heirs with
Christ in Romans 8, verses 17 and 18. And if children than
heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that
we suffer with him, we may be also glorified together. For
I reckon the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans
chapter 4 also speaks briefly of the fact that we are heirs
and I've prepared, I won't preach it for a month, but I've prepared
a whole message on simply the concept of heirship or being
those that have an inheritance. It's a wonderful concept, it
gives great encouragement for you to consider all that is yours
by virtue of you being in Christ. And so what Paul is saying here
is that it's through the word of His grace that we receive
the promises of God. It's through the word. In fact,
what is the very essence of faith? Let me tell you what the very
essence of faith is in a very brief statement. The essence
of faith is taking the promises of the Word of God and resting
on them, trusting them. I've brought before you many
times the three aspects of saving faith. Notitia or knowledge,
you have to know something. The second is a census, you have
to assent or agree with it. And the third is fiducia, you
have to trust or rest upon the promises of God. Well, this first
aspect, the knowledge, comes from the Word of God. And in
essence, we're reading and understanding the promises of God, statements
of God concerning Himself. We're reading about what God
says about us, in which He says, There's none righteous, no, not
one. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
There's none that doeth good, no, not one. We understand clearly
in the Word of God we are undone. But the Word of God is full of
promises. wonderful promises. It speaks
of those that trust in Christ and rest upon His sacrifice upon
the cross. It speaks of them having life,
reconciliation, adoption, sonship, all of these blessed promises.
All of this is exposed in the Word of God. And so as we read
the Word of God, we rest upon these promises. Because we understand
by faith that the promises of God are true. So how can you
rest upon the glorious truths of God? How can you embrace the
wonderful promises of God if you don't even know them? How
can you be thrilled and excited about your wonderful inheritance
if you know nothing about it? How can you say you have faith
in Christ when you know nothing about his death upon the cross
or his sacrifice of atonement? You can't. And so Paul is saying
that this word of his grace, which is able to build you up,
is able to give you an inheritance. In other words, it's like we
have this document in front of us, this legal document that
outlines for us completely all that God has promised for us
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And we read them and embrace
them. But unless you know them, then
how can you receive them? How can they give you hope? How
can they thrill your heart? They cannot. So Paul is commending
these precious brethren, these Christians, to God and the word
of His grace that in essence they might continue to press
on to the end. That's Paul's purpose for stopping
at Ephesus. He wants to see them built up
and strengthened. And what better way? You know,
Paul has made it clear that I have taught you publicly and from
house to house. I have led you. I have been an
example to you. You have watched me and I have
taken nothing from you. I have worked with my hands.
You have seen me. I have lived an example before
you. And now I'm commending you to
God and to His Word, which is able to build you up and to give
you an inheritance. I am teaching you that you might
press on as the saints of God and continue to the end. And
the very means by which God will help you to press on is His Word,
which is powerful. Hebrews 4, 12, for the Word of
God is quick, which means living. It's quick. and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of the soul and spirit, of the joints and marrow, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." There
are so many today that actually believe that you can grow in
grace without the Word of God. It will not happen. You cannot
grow as a Christian apart from the Word of God. There is an
inseparable link between the two. That's the reason, if you
want to grow, if you want to increase in holiness, if you
want to continue to develop as a believer, if you want to be
using the words of Paul, if you want to be built up, There is
one way that it will take place. Surely God uses other ways too. Prayer is another means. There are means that God uses
to build us up, but the chief is the Word of God. If we truly
believe it, then will we not avail ourselves of it? The only
way you can avail yourself of the Word of God is to read it.
to study it, to meditate upon it, to memorize it, to hear it
taught, to hear it preached, to use as many ways to do Bible
intake as you possibly can. Because you will not grow in
grace without the Word of God. You will not become holy. You
will not continue to press on in holiness. And I can tell you
this as well. There are those that believe
you can actually increase in your relationship with Christ
apart from the Word of God. And you will not. You cannot. How can you know Christ without
His Word? How can you see Christ as all
the more glorious unless you know Him? But the more you know
of Him, the more you will see Him as so glorious and so wonderful,
full of glory and grace, that your heart will be wooed towards
Him and you will be in awe towards Him as you continue to grow in
your understanding of Him. Apart from the Word of God, none
of this will happen. It cannot happen. Now, that being
said, the Bible is not just simply an academic exercise. It is not
just simply reading to acquire knowledge. we're reading a living
word. Remember, the Word of God is
quick, it's living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged
sword. So we are reading of Christ. This is the Word of God. This
is the revelation of God to us. He is revealing Himself to us. So as we approach the Word of
God, we're not just simply doing an academic exercise, we're feasting
upon Christ in His Word. And so we continue to throw ourselves
at it because we're throwing ourselves at Christ. Paul's main
concern was that they press on until the end. That's his heart. That's what his desire is. That's
the reason he's stopping at these churches along the way, that
they might press on in the end. So Paul's words to them is his
word to us. that we might press on in faith
and assurance until the end when we will receive our final and
great reward, the fullness of our inheritance. There are aspects
of our inheritance right now, but we will ultimately receive
the fullness of our inheritance in glory. It's a wonderful thing
indeed. Peter says in 1 Peter 1, verses
3 through 5, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept,"
understand what he's saying here, the promise is there, the inheritance
incorruptible undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in heaven
for you and then connected to you to you who are kept by the
power of God through faith and the salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time God's keeping us and he's keeping us by the
word of his grace which is able to build us up and give us an
inheritance among all them that are sanctified Paul's words to
these elders is the same word to us. He's committing us to
God, the power of God, the wisdom of God, the person of God, the
word of God, which is able to build us up and give us the inheritance. Continue faithfully feeding upon
the word of God, trusting the living God, and he will continue
to keep you until the end. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
God, we thank you. That we are safely in your hand.
That you're a powerful Father. You will not allow us to fall
away. You will continue to keep us by your might and your power.
The power that keeps us from temptation. The power that keeps
us from falling away. The power that keeps us from
the wiles of the devil. The power, Father, that continues
to hold us not allowing us to fall away. And Father, we thank
you for your Word, the Word of your grace, which is able to
build us up. Father, we believe this. So Father,
help us to be diligent in our intake of the Word of God, to
feast upon it daily, that we would be people of the book.
not simply to have it on our shelves or to hold it in our
hands, but to feed upon every word that proceeds from your
lips. Father, help us to be faithful in studying your word. Father,
might you continue to impress upon our hearts the promises,
and as we embrace the promises of our inheritance, may our hearts
be lifted up May we see Christ all the more glorious, and may
we continue marching forward with great excitement and zeal,
with great joy, as we continue marching to our heavenly home.
Father, thank you for these wonderful promises. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Paul's Commendation
Series Acts
| Sermon ID | 11708219490 |
| Duration | 47:48 |
| Date | |
| Category | Midweek Service |
| Bible Text | Acts 20:32 |
| Language | English |
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