If you have your Bibles, the reading of the Word will be taken from the 20th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, starting at verse 17. Acts 20, verse 17, let us now hear God's infallible and inerrant Word, starting at verse 17. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, ye know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the line and weight of the Jews, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward 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 can I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Now, behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more. Wherefore, I take you to record this day that I am pure, from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost has 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. And of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore, watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone, 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 that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, 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. And they all wept sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship." And may God, the Holy Spirit, see fit to bless to our hearts these words here in Acts chapter 20. You may be seated. congregation in the ministry before us today. As you can see, I've chosen Paul's farewell charge here in Acts chapter 20 to launch this installation service of Pastor Tom Mayville. This is a most fitting text for an occasion like this, for the simple reason that this particular farewell addressed in the Sermon of Pause is addressed to a Christian congregation. In fact, it is the only recorded sermon in the Book of Acts that's addressed to a Christian church. And particularly, it's addressed to you, the elders, who represent the church. By charging the elders of the church, Paul also charges you, the members of this church. All of the other sermons of Paul in the book of Acts target pagan audiences. We have the crucifiers in chapter 2 and chapter 4, for example. We have Stephen's sermon before a mob, an angry mob, in Acts chapter 7. We have Paul's evangelistic sermon to the Athenian intellectuals in Acts chapter 17. We have Paul's sermon to the pagan monarchs in Acts chapter 26, and so on and so forth. But this is the only one to a church. So Paul exhorts the Ephesian congregation to godliness and watchfulness. There's a heavy, in fact, emphasis here upon the inner penetration of the doctrine and life with the practical not only streaming from the doctrinal, but the doctrinal also virtually as practical as the so-called practical. In fact, Professor John Frame of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia I don't know where he teaches now. I think it's in Florida, one of the seminaries there. But in one of his books, he defines theology as the application of the word of God by persons to all areas of life. In other words, theology is not just a petrified, calcified set of propositions that are written in stone. But theology in itself, in terms of its very definition, is application. And that's certainly what we have here. And of course, this definition dovetails with 2 Timothy 3, where we're told that all scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction of righteousness, that the man of God might be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work. This is why it's safe to say that every sermon is actually an application. A sermon is not just a speech, an address that contains application, but the whole sermon is an application. And there's one word here in these verses that I read to you that sticks out like a Himalayan peak. You may have noticed as I read through it, but it's the word therefore. The word therefore appears three times in this farewell message. For example, in chapter, I should say, 26, verse 26, wherefore I take you to record this day. And you find it in verse 31, therefore watch and remember. The old hermeneutical rule or principle of interpretation of the Bible, you remember, is that whenever you see a therefore in scripture, you have to remember that there's a reason it is therefore. So therefore doesn't mean that Paul now begins the application. It means that Paul deepens the application and extends the application. So we need to get that. I think that's a very healthy emphasis. The theology is something that's much more than just simply the study of God, but it is also the application to our lives. Now, we find the Apostle Paul stationed on the island of Miletus and requests the elders in Ephesus across the lake in Asia Minor to visit him. Matthew Henry thinks that the reason he wants a visit from the elders is Paul was afraid that he would be kidnapped, because so affectionate was the love of the people for Paul that Paul was afraid that he would be deterred from doing other things in the kingdom of God. But more likely, Paul was simply in a hurry to get to Jerusalem, so that while he waited to walk up the gangplank, he summons the elders. Now, here in this section of scripture, Paul says many, many things to these elders and to us. And we're not going to have time to deal with every one of them here today in this message. So please be patient with me if there's something that I seem to overlook. But the climax of the verse is verse 20. Take heed to yourselves and to the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the flock of God which he has purchased with his own blood." Now, what does it mean to feed the flock? Well, the Greek word here for feed literally carries with it the idea of to shepherd, which signifies to feed or to rule over. Just as an earthly shepherd both rules over and feeds his flock, so the spiritual shepherd rules and feeds God's flock. And there's actually four features of shepherding that are underscored. You have the shepherd, you have the flock, you have the feeding, and you also have the watching, the watching over the flock. Sometimes it's hard to know what's more important. Is it the rule over, or is it the feeding, or is it both together at the same time in every circumstance? And yet the most striking fact is that before you shepherd others, you as an elder have to oversee yourself, your own life. It's so easy for us to neglect ourselves. And when this happens, it leads to a disaster in terms of the minister or the elder himself. In fact, it leads to hypocrisy as well, because you're telling God's people to do one thing that you yourself don't do. That's why Jesus quoted the aphorism that was quite popular in biblical days was, physician, heal thyself. You're not likely to be a skillful keeper of the vineyard of others if you don't cultivate your own vineyard. So Tom, the welfare of this church, of this congregation, doesn't just depend upon your shepherding it, but it also depends upon your shepherding yourself. Paul commands, take heed to yourselves and then to the flock. So the healthier your spiritual life is, the better you'll care for God's people. It's been said, a famished cow is unable to care for her calves. And this applies not only to us elders, but to everybody in the congregation. For example, how can you care for your wife and your family, your children, unless you're committed to the care of yourself? How many overseers shipwreck the faith because they don't care for themselves? And so you members of this congregation need to pray for your leaders in this regard, lest we lose our way by being tempted to crucify our own private devotions and worship in the interest of the congregation. The way for the congregation to be strong is for the leaders also to be strong. So make the beautification of your own soul your number one priority. because you can't prosper others if your own soul is famished. The seven famished cows couldn't care for the seven fat cows, but the seven fat cows can care for the seven famished cows. I'm reminded of a very telling illustration in Philip Schaaf's History of the Christian Church, Volume 5, I believe it's found in, in which he talks about one of the popes of the Roman Catholic Church who in the last decade of the 13th century, did something that was remarkable. And that is, he stepped down. He abdicated. Now, why did he do this? Well, here's what he said in a very simple explanation. He prayed, oh God, while I rule over other men's souls, I am losing the salvation of my own. How easy it is for a pastor to relate to that. So taking heed to yourself means to feed yourself daily with the Word of God and to make that a priority, a famished leadership, and never grow a healthy church. Well, you certainly see this in the life of the Apostle Paul. His whole life was a sermon. In verse 18, he says, you know that from the very first day that I came to you, what manner I always lived among you. From the very first day, Paul's life was unblameable, sterling silver. When they looked at him, they were dazzled by this trophy of God's sovereign and sanctifying grace. It was almost like everything he touched turned into holiness. He was famous for holiness, sort of like Daniel was. When Darius the king, remember, he tried to find fault with Daniel, but he was not able to come up with anything. There was no fault in his life. Rather, the only fault that he could find was his fault with Daniel's God. Paul lived a life of all humility, he tells us in verse 19, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. Now, that's a huge statement. The thing to remember about humility is that it's primarily before God and not primarily before men. When someone is truly humble, it means that he's putty and clay in the hands of God. That is, he's easily entreated, willing to do God's will. We tend to think of humility as being bashful or on the shy side as humility. Well, you remember King Saul was bashful. And later on, we saw what his true stuff was, did we not? And also, we tend to think that a man who is truly humble will never say that he is humble. Paul says here that he served with them with great humility. Tellingly, one of the arguments against the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch The first five books of the Bible is that Moses describes himself in Numbers chapter 12 as the meekest man in all the earth. People today look at that and they laugh at what Moses said. But Paul says that he worked among the Ephesians for three years with great humility. Now, when you claim humility, you're saying that God has humbled you. Moses was certainly humbled by God. His seminary education lasted 40 years in the desert with Jethro. And then for graduate work, he did a master's degree of another 40 years with the Jews in the wilderness. Dwight L. Moody said that when Moses was in Egypt, he thought he was a somebody. So what God did is he relocated him, transferred out into the desert for another 40 years, that he might learn that he was a nobody. And then the final 40 years of his life, of course, later on, he spent with the people of God to illustrate what God can do with a nobody. So it's not necessarily prideful to call yourself humble. In fact, Jesus said that I am meek and lowly in heart. Over the years, I've used Reverend Donald Barnhouse's example of humility in racehorses. I don't know, Pastor Schlegel, since you quote me once in a while. I've never used this one. But jockeys have a rule in horse racing. The rule is this. The horse that is the meekest wins the race. Now, what do they mean by that? Here's what they mean. The meek horse responds best to bit and bridle so that the jockey can steer the horse any way that he pleases. So humility, you see, is responding easily to God's rule, to God's bit and bridle in our lives. Someone once said that a Christian should be so humble that he would volunteer to be the ass that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. Paul, the even humbly member, mended tents. He coveted no man's silver and gold or apparel or coat of many colors. The great J. Gresham Mason, arguably one of the greatest men of the 20th century, great theologian and champion of the Christian faith. In World War I, he served as a doughboy in France. And what were the duties of J. Gresham Mason when he served as a soldier in France? Here's what he did. God called him to pass out chocolate to the American soldiers. Now, notice also here in our text that God wants you to remember the specs of shepherding. The first thing that we notice in terms of the specifications is the Holy Spirit who makes you a shepherd. You are ordained to the eldership, to the pastorate. Congregation votes. There's a laying on of hands by the presbytery when you are ordained. You attended seminary, Mid-America Reformed. And you yourself decided to allow your name to be put up to a call to this church. All those things are very true. And yet, it's not the seminary, it is not yourself, and it's not the 51% vote or whatever it was that determines whether or not you are to be a shepherd. Rather, it is the Holy Spirit who makes you the shepherd over the sheep. Verse 24 explicitly states that the ministry is not something that we achieve through hard study by getting a degree at seminary and so on and so forth, as important as all that is. You see, the ministry is something that is received. It's a gift from God. Paul says, so I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify of the gospel of the grace of God. Now, the Greek here for overseer is the word episkopos, where we derive our English word for episcopalian. An episkopos is in the business of feeding and caring for God's people. And you feed God's people with the word of God. Paul uses the word elder and the word Episcopalian synonymously in his writings, so that an elder is an Episcopalian and an Episcopalian is an elder. And the reason for the two words is because one of the words accents rule and the other word accents defeating. So an Episcopalian is a man of the Bible. Your blood should be Bibline, as John Bunyan said. When you get your blood test back from Kaiser, it should read B, type B, Bibline. John Bunyan, a Spurgeon, once said, his whole soul was filled with the word of God. He could not speak without quoting a text. Your assignment is to lead God's people into green pastures and beside still waters. You do this by preaching and teaching the whole counsel of God. You have the great doctrine of sola scriptura, which means scripture alone. But you also have the great doctrine of toto scriptura, which means total scripture. Sola scriptura, in fact, really isn't good enough. It must be all the Bible. It has to be the Bible, as I like to say, from Genesis to the Book of Maps that you preach. And John Calvin is a good example of this. Calvin was the first expository preacher. He trekked through the Bible from line by line, verse by verse. That's what God has called upon you to do, to feed the sheep. But notice also here in this 20th verse, the Holy Spirit makes you a shepherd over a purchased church. What is the church? The Church is the Church of God, and the Church is purchased by Christ's blood. Paul says, feed the Church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood. Now, there are several things that demand underscoring here in this particular phrase. First of all, of course, when Christ died on the cross, he actually purchased you. He didn't just try to purchase you. You have that statement in the book of Acts, for example, the Son of Man came to seek and to save them that are lost. That doesn't mean the Son of Man came to try to seek and to save those that are lost and maybe failed, but he came to seek and to save those who are lost. And so here we're told that the church is purchased by the blood. This is the doctrine of limited atonement or particular redemption. Now, the reason that Paul speaks about the blood of God here is because he's talking about the whole person of Christ. When I say person, I mean the whole person. Jesus is fully human and fully divine. He is the God-man. He has two natures. divine nature and a human nature. However, this doesn't mean that Jesus is schizophrenic, like two different people. Yet even though he's one person, it's not wrong to apply the property of one nature to the other nature. In theology, this is called the communicatio idiomatum, meaning the transfer of one property of Christ's nature to another nature. For example, let me ask you, does God have blood? Well, this verse teaches that. When Christ died on the cross, is it right to say that God died on the cross? Or is it right to say that Mary, the Virgin Mary, is the mother of God? Years ago, one of our ministers asked a candidate for the ministry, did God die on the cross? The minister's name will remain anonymous this morning. I'll only say that he's retired, and his first name is Howard. That's all, no more than that. Well, his answer was that, the answer of the candidate was that God didn't die on the cross. Then the minister answered his own question, as we're likely to, as often we like to do. He quoted 1 Corinthians 2, verse 8, where Paul said, of Jesus, he says, which none of the princes of this age knew, for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. You see, Christ's divine nature is bloodless, and yet Christ also had a human nature which bled. And it's because he's one person that we say that God died on the cross. You're purchased by the blood of God. because Jesus is both God and man. And it's because Jesus is one person with two natures that you are purchased by his precious blood. The key reason that Paul describes a purchased church here is because the church is the most precious and valuable organization on the face of the earth. You know, we have We all have different criteria as to how we're going to vote for a particular candidate to a political office. Your criteria may be, well, what's his view on abortion? Or what's his view on income tax? And so on and so forth. But one of the criteria that I like to use whenever I vote for a candidate is, How will this man's election affect the Christian church? Will it be for the betterment of the church, or will it be for the detriment of the church? Whenever a president, whenever the Congress, whenever the Supreme Court enacts something, I always ask, how is this going to affect the Christian church? Because the church is the most precious organization. So Tom? The church that you're to care for is more valuable than the crown jewels of England. The church is valuable only because she has been purchased. Therefore, she should be valuable to you. The church is bought and owned lock, stock, and barrel by God himself. So I would say to you in your ministry here, God wants you to make much of the blood. As an old Southern preacher once said, make much of the blood, I say. much of the blood of Christ. And you'll notice also the church is not only valuable to God, but we as members are valuable to one another. At the very end of the visit to Miletus, Paul kneels down on the beach and the elders fall on his neck with tears, sorrowing that they would see his face no more. This is a beautiful picture here. But what does it prove? Yes, they would see Paul's face no more. And in that sense, it was almost like a funeral. But it also proves that the church was precious to Paul, and that Paul was precious to the church. A week ago, I was privileged to take a couple of days off and walk the streets of Carmel, California. I came to a store where there was lots of slogans printed on signs. And I came across this one, which I said, right away, I've got to use this in Lodi. And here it is. The most precious jewels that you'll ever wear around your neck. Let me say that again. The most precious jewels that you'll ever wear around your neck are the arms of your children. And that's exactly the picture we have here. The Ephesians were God's children. They collapse on the neck of the apostle Paul, and with warmth and with affection, hug this great man of God. And that's the way that it ought to be with us, not only in our families, but also in the church family as well, the relationship between the pastor and the congregation. Well, Paul has a few more things to say to us here. Notice that you're to watch for attacks against the sheep as well. These attacks will come from without, and they will come from within. Paul writes in one of the verses here, for I know that after my departing, grievous wolves or savage wolves will come among you, not sparing the flock. These wolves would pander their false doctrines to the Ephesians. They're savage wolves, even though they may not look like they're very savage in outward appearance. They may not have bloodthirsty fangs dripping from their mouths, licking their chops. In fact, they may appear to be as gentle as lambs. A good example of this, in my judgment, is Joel Osteen. Who can smile with more gleaming ivory smile than Joel Osteen, who I believe was in Sacramento just last night? He doesn't look like a savage wolf. Rather, if anything, he is suave, debonair, city slicker of sorts, southern gentleman. Well, a wolf can be a charmer. He charms not with his growls, but with his sugary morsels. His gospel, as I like to say, is seized candy larded with strychnine. His goal is to make you his lamb chops. And what does a false prophet look like? As I say, he may have the face of an angel or look like a lamb. But Jesus said, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, for inwardly they are ravening wolves. I pulled out an article out of the Sacramento Bee about Joel Osteen. And this question was asked to him. Here it is. You don't say much about hellfire and brimstone in your television broadcast. Why not? Answer, I think there is enough things in life pushing people down. You deal with health issues, financial issues. There's negativity in the world. I tell them, you can move forward. God wants to lift you. Well, when I read that, I said, how can somebody preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ without talking about damnation? How can you talk about the cross without talking about damnation, that Jesus experienced hell on the cross and before his entire life? Well, there's no gospel you see in the gospel of Joel Osteen. If you're looking for it there, you're going to be sadly disappointed. But then Paul also says that there would be trouble from within as well. He warns the Ephesian elders within themselves. In other words, there would be fifth columnists within the congregation as well. Remember, one of the things that we need to remember about Satan and his activities. We don't see too many examples of demon possession to do, but one of the major activities of Satan in this world is the work of planning tares. in the congregation. So Paul warns these Ephesians about people like this who want to draw disciples after themselves. And he tells them that he had watched over them for three years in Ephesus. The word here, watch, is the origin of the proper name Gregory, a Gregorian. A Gregorian elder watches. He watches like a hawk over the lives of God's people. For example, what kind of books are circulating within the congregation? What kind of exotic books or newfangled books are circulating? What kind of new teachings are circulating? And are members of the congregation beginning to fall away from their church attendance? These are questions that every elder worth his salt should be looking at if he's a Gregorian elder. So God wants you as an elder to be Gregorian in your disposition. Paul was a Gregorian. He recognized that there were perils from the outside and from the inside. At our synod meeting in Rapid City a few years ago, there was a representative from the Dutch Reformed Church who spoke and gave us greetings. And after giving his greetings, He reported that their synod in Holland had just recently taken a stand against homosexuality. So far, so good. But then he told us that it's possible, they concluded also that it's possible to be a celibate Christian homosexual in good standing in the church. He wanted us to believe that there are celibate Christian homosexuals with homosexual desires who were told not to put these desires into practice. And therefore, they were labeled Christian, homosexuals. Well, we were shocked to our boots that a fraternal church could be so easily beguiled, and also, in a sense, try to beguile us. Well, Paul watched over the church night and day with tears. Ministers of the gospel must identify with God's people. If we love God's people, we show empathy towards them. It's been said that the shepherd should smell like his sheep because he's with his sheep all the time, not just over his sheep, but among the sheep. And we cry when we see things of this nature. We grieve. Being an elder, a minister of a church, is a very hard calling to cope with because of so much sadness. I don't remember. I think it was either Cotton Mather or John Cotton to some of the founding pastors of the church in this country back in the 17th century, who said it was characteristic that most pastors do not have much joy. Well, whatever you think about that statement, it does show that sadness is often a part of our calling. There are many tears. Three times, in fact, in this section, you may have noticed, there was a reference to tears, crying, So it's very important that we as pastors relate to our people, that we are one with our people. Well, the final thing that Paul talks about here is he gives us a benediction at the very end in verse 32. So 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 those who are sanctified. Paul's about ready to leave, get on the ship, go to Jerusalem, and never see their faces again. And so all they can do is commit the Ephesian elders and the congregation to God. And ultimately, that's all we can do. Even with our own children, that's ultimately all that we can do. Our own children may go off into the far country and live among harlots in the far country. Sometimes the only thing we can do is just commit them unto God. When Jude ends his letter, he says that God is the only God and Savior who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence with great joy. But notice also, he commits them to the word of his grace in this conclusion. The word of his grace, this is the key. It is the word of God that builds the church, that edifies the church, that builds up the congregation. And this is the central way to evaluate a minister's ministry. Does his ministry build up the church? That's the great question. I've already mentioned one of my minister friends, Reverend Howard Hart, that he told me once. that most people in the church are exposed to the minister only on Sunday morning, often no more than one hour a week. So he said, if the minister isn't at his best during that one hour period, he had better reevaluate his ministry, if not his call, for that matter. So this is the cardinal issue. Does his preaching edify? Paul emphasizes preaching here, you see. And what is preaching? It's the proclamation of the kingdom of God by a man who is on fire and with the purpose to bring change. You see this in verse 21, testifying to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance, that's the change, change of heart, change of mind. Repentance is an attitudinal transformation. What you once loved, now you have come to hate. In other words, what you once thought of as righteousness, you now view as unrighteousness, even as snakes. When I was in seminary, Dr. Van Til used to use the snake illustration many times, the thought of, taking your hand and lowering it into a basket, knowing that there's a couple of king cobras in there. It's like Dr. Vantage, she'll always go, ugh, the very thought of it, ugh. Well, every time you preach the gospel of the grace of God, your goal is to affect change in the thinking and in the behavior of God's people. That's what a minister is called to do. Thesis number one of Martin Luther in the 95 Theses was this, when our Lord and Master Jesus said, repent, he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. And then, of course, the second part of this is faith. in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a turning away from sin to the Savior, Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed his blood on the cross for our sins. So I would say to you today, make much of the blood in your ministry, make much of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So this charge today is directed to both the shepherds as well as the sheep. It's a charge that zeroes in on preaching and teaching, that is, feeding God's people with the meat and the potatoes of his word. So I conclude with an old illustration. It comes from the writings of R.B. Kuyper, who was one of the great teachers of homiletics and preaching in Reformed circles. who once preached on the verse, preach the word, be instant in season and out of season. Kuyper studied that verse for a long time before he engaged his preaching and before he developed his outline. And finally, after quite some time, he came up with this outline of that verse. Preach the word, be instant in season and out of season. Point number one, preach the word. Point number two, preach the word. Point number three, preach the word. That's how you shepherd the sheep, the congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Preach the word. Preach it first to yourself, and then preach it to the congregation. And both you and the congregation will be healthy as a result of it. Amen.