The text for our sermon this Lord's Day is taken from Acts chapter 20 and we'll be reading verses 13 through 27. Acts 20, 13 through 27. And we went before to ship and sailed into Assos, there intending to take in Paul, for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in and came to Medellin. And we sailed thence and came the next day over against Chios. And the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogilium. And the next day we came to Miletus. For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia, for he hasted, if it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. 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 lying in wait 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. And none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy in the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. What is a faithful minister of Jesus Christ called by the Lord to be? A motivational speaker? An entertainer? A CEO of a corporation? A fundraiser? A dreamer of great plans? A builder of cathedrals? Now, no doubt a faithful minister will wear different hats at times within the church. But it is not the world's model that should frame our understanding of what a minister is, but rather the Word of God alone. Just as the Lord has instituted the ministry, so He alone is the one who can tell us what constitutes a faithful minister, and this he has done for us in his word. The Apostle Paul explains that ministers of Jesus Christ are stewards. Stewards are servants to whom the master of the household gives and entrusts the food, the clothing, the shelter, all the goods that the household needs and expects him to wisely disperse those to the household. And Paul says that ministers, faithful ministers, are stewards who have been given spiritual food and have been given gracious provision for the household of God from which they are in their ministry to give to hungry and thirsty souls. But Paul states that there is one qualification for every steward who is under the authority of his master. That qualification is faithfulness. Faithfulness to the charge given to him by his master to care for the household. Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 1-2 Let a man so account of us, that is, us as ministers, as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. The qualification here is not eloquence. The qualification is not style. The qualification is not popularity. The qualification is faithfulness. The question that comes from our text this Lord's Day is this. What was Paul's view of a faithful minister? What was his profile of a faithful minister? What was the picture, the portrait, that he would paint of a faithful minister? Well, in our text today, he gives to us four aspects, four particular characteristics of a faithful minister. First of all, a faithful minister is a servant of Jesus Christ, a servant, in Acts 20, verses 13-19. Second, a faithful minister is a preacher of the whole counsel of God, in Acts 20, verses 20-21. Thirdly, a faithful minister is a runner that completes his race. Fourthly, a faithful minister is a watchman to the church. A servant, a preacher, a runner and a watchman. Let's consider the first main point. A faithful minister is a servant of Jesus Christ. Verses 13 through 19. And we went before to ship and sailed into Assos there intending to take in Paul For so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mytilene. And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios. The next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trigillium. And the next day we came to Miletus. For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia, for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. 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 lying in wait of the Jews. After that very eventful Lord's Day worship service in Troas, where the Lord's Supper was celebrated, where Paul preached unto them, where Eutychus fell asleep and out of the window and was raised from the dead. walked it says to Assos while it says we set sail for Assos. Now Luke is once again including himself he's joined the Pauline missionary party here that is going forth and he we read In this particular portion of God's Word, he intended to pass by Ephesus. Ephesus was more inland, and Miletus was a seaport 20 to 30 miles from Ephesus. He did not want to spend any more time in not because he didn't want to, but he had other plans. His plan and his goal was to be in Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of Pentecost. He wanted to be there not in order to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, he wanted to be there in order to have the opportunity to evangelize great numbers of Jews that would be present there. Consider how for that week of Pentecost, he would have the opportunity perhaps to evangelize, to speak to more Jews gathered there than for many, many months of meeting with Jews throughout his journeys. And where would they be going after he evangelized them? They would be going back to their home countries. They would be taking the gospel back. to the countries from which they had come. So this was Paul's plan. And for that reason he does not go to Ephesus, a city which he had spent three years ministering in previously, but rather he comes to the seaport of Miletus and from there he calls to the elders of the Church of Ephesus, and we'll have more to say about the Church of Ephesus, Lord willing, in our next sermon. But he calls for the elders to come to him and to meet with him. This is to be Paul's farewell speech to them. He says he will not see their face again, or they will not see his face again. This is to be his farewell speech to them as he parts These elders that come from Ephesus were likely converts of Paul through the Lord Jesus Christ. These were likely men that he had discipled during that three-year period. These are men that he likely as well ordained to the ministry, to the eldership. These were his children, if we could use that term. These were his children in the faith. He was their father in the faith. And here he was bidding them for the last time, farewell, bye. I'll see your face and you'll see my face no more. And Paul's testimony to them here, is basically a testimony that he leaves with them of his own example and how he practiced the ministry in their midst. Paul was, in effect, saying, you know what type of ministry I had among you from the first day that I arrived. You know very well. You watched me. You observed me. You listened to me. Paul is basically saying, follow me as I have followed the Lord Jesus Christ. Follow me. There are very few that are born leaders. Most of us have to learn how to be leaders from watching, from listening, from emulating those leaders God puts into our lives. whether fathers, whether older brothers, whether grandfathers, whether pastors, elders, whether Christian bosses, we look to others to teach us, to give to us and provide for us an example of leadership. We have qualities of leadership given to us in the Word of God, but Paul says to these elders, you know, you know from my own example what manner I have been with you in all seasons. You know what kind of a minister I have been among you. And so dear ones, and particularly men, young men in the congregation, you are being watched. You are being watched. Those who are under your oversight are being taught. They are being taught. The only question is, what are they learning? And what are they seeing? What are they observing in us as leaders? Paul first tells these Ephesian elders that a faithful minister is a servant of Jesus Christ when he says, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews. There is nothing more important than this in the character and commitment of a faithful minister. Nothing more important. He is not first and foremost a minister and servant of the church, though he is that. He has the high and the holy calling to be the servant, the bondservant of Jesus Christ And the seriousness of that calling accompanies the minister wherever he goes, whether it's even shopping, whether in his studies, whether in leading family worship, whether it's in fellowship with the members of the congregation, whether it's in family visits, Whether it's in leading his own family or whether it's standing behind the pulpit to preach as the voice of Jesus Christ, he is first and foremost in his calling a servant, a bondservant of Jesus Christ. His faithfulness to the church of Jesus Christ depends entirely upon his faithfulness to Jesus Christ above everything else. A minister or elder does not serve Christ by seeking to please the likes and the dislikes of every member within the church. Paul said in Galatians 1.10, Do I seek to please men? For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ. There's no neutrality. We are either the servant of Christ or the servant of men, Paul says. A faithful minister or elder, and for that matter, for a Christian in general, must decide who he will seek to please first and foremost in his life, Christ or man. You make the application because there's application as well, not only to the minister and what I'm saying, though this is a portrait of a faithful minister today. You make the application because there's much application that will come your way as a Christian. Though the minister loves the flock that's entrusted to him, He is not seeking to win a popularity contest or seeking to win the approval of men. It is not before members of the church he realizes that he will stand on that final day of judgment, but before Jesus Christ who will inquire of him, what have you done as a servant of Jesus Christ? If a minister does not understand whose servant he is above all else, he will be pulled in a hundred different directions and end up pleasing no one, neither the people nor the Lord Jesus. As a servant of Jesus Christ, Paul calls these elders who are his children in the faith, to recall how he served among them with all humility of mind, he says, with all humility of mind. Because the minister, the faithful minister is called to be the servant of the Lord, There is no room in his ministry for a big head that is puffed up with pride at his own gifts and at his own abilities. Paul calls these elders to follow him in being lowly minded. That's what humility literally means. The word humility translated in English as humility is in Greek, lowly minded. calls these elders to follow him and being lowly minded rather than exalting their scholarship, exalting their degrees, their studies, their sermons, the size of their congregation, their building projects. Dear ones, pride infects us all, every one of us. None of us are beyond pride. But dear ones, when ministers and elders, or for that matter, members of the church, don't even see or don't even care to put that pride to death in their life, a very big fall is simply waiting for them around the corner. Proverbs 16, 18, pride goes before destruction and in haughty spirit before a fall. The whole point, dear ones, of being a servant is that the servant doesn't take the glory to himself, but directs it to his master. Jesus gave a parable in Luke 17 about a servant and a master. and how the servant goes out to plow and to do the work that the master told him to do, and when he comes back in to the house, the master doesn't say, well, be seated and eat, but rather the master says, serve me as the master. Bring me that which, the food that has been prepared for me as the master. And you see, dear ones, at the end of that parable, the servant says in Luke 17 10, when Jesus says concerning this servant, when you have done all those things which are commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do when we have done all when we've done all that we were commanded to do as servants. Is it to gloat? Is it to boast? Is it to brag at what we've done? No, we've only done that which we were commanded to do. There's no room for glorying and boasting. That's why we must be lowly minded. Humility is seeing God's greatness in my littleness. His power and my weakness, His mercy and my lack of mercy, His glory and my shame, His righteousness and my wickedness, His sufficiency and my insufficiency. Here are some questions that I would leave with you for self-examination. First of all, do I willingly deprive myself of rights, so-called rights, in order to serve others, or do I stubbornly cling to my rights like a security blanket? I've got to have my rights. I can't let go of my rights. Secondly, am I defensive when corrected and easily offended by the words and actions of others? Do I have a tender heart and hard and callous skin so that, again, regardless of what I must face, I'm able to do so? without whining and feeling sorry for myself at what someone has done to me, but at the same time having a very tender heart before God and before others. Thirdly, am I quick to respond with repentance and sorrow in sin that I've committed against others? A proud person clings to their sins. A humble person forsakes his or her sins. Fourth, do I live in competition to receive the approval and the applause of men, or do I rejoice that God has graced and given others gifts and abilities even greater than my own, that He actually uses others beside me? That I don't have to be jealous, I don't have to be in competition and in rivalry with fellow brethren. This is particularly true of ministers. How we must watch our hearts as we look at what we judge to be the fruit of other men's ministries. Fifthly, do I see myself as expendable if God so wills it? Or is there no one who can do the job that I can do? You see, God hates pride, he says. In Proverbs 16, verses 16 through seven, the very first abomination that is listed there is a proud look, a proud look. humble heart. Bragging and boasting, even if it is the truth, robs God of His glory. Many people think it's not bragging or boasting if it's the truth. Yes, it is. Who receives the glory is what determines whether it is boasting. Who's receiving the glory when you boast about your gifts and your abilities to others. The Bible says, Let others praise you, and not yourself. Proverbs 27.2 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth, a stranger, and not thine own lips. You see, the minister's boast is not in himself and his abilities. The minister's boast is in the cross of Jesus Christ. In Galatians chapter 6 verse 14, But God forbid that I should glory or boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Moving on, in that same verse Paul was a servant of Jesus Christ not only with all humility but also with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews with many tears and temptations or trials. Paul's tears were the result here, it says, of the many trials he faced from those who hated him, who maligned him, who attacked him, who plotted against him, even successfully stirring up mobs against him. A faithful minister, dear ones, will face opposition and adversity from those who despise the testimony that he bears for the truth, but he will be driven himself to tears before the Lord on behalf of his persecutors, rather than being filled with vengeance, sinful anger, bitterness, or hatred. It will be tears, not a fist that is manifested in the life of a faithful minister. Tears, not a profane tongue. Tears, not red-faced over anger. Tears. Tears of brokenness, not tears of bitterness. The Holy Spirit broke the heart of Paul over the attacks that he received from others, and even from the attacks that he received of others within the church. He wept for his enemies before the Lord that they be brought to repentance. We must not make enemies, dear ones, due to our own sinful pride, our own unguarded words. But even the sinless Lord Jesus was hated and he was despised and ultimately slain by those who became sworn enemies to the truth which he preached. In fact, Jesus said this, Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you. For so did their fathers to the false prophets. When all men speak well of you. Only in heaven will all our tears be wiped away once and for all by the Lord Jesus. In Revelation chapter 21 verse 4. shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. That's our hope. When all tears will be wiped away, they won't be all wiped away in this life. Many tears will yet be shed, But that is what we look forward to, is to that kingdom, to that eternal city where all tears will be wiped away. There will be no more crying and weeping and sorrow. The second main point. A faithful minister is not only a servant of Jesus Christ, a faithful minister is a preacher of the whole counsel of God. And that's chapter 20, verses 20 through 21. 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. In verse 27. for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Paul declared all the counsel of God to these elders as he taught them and to the church of Ephesus. Paul is saying here that he withheld nothing from them that God had revealed to him. Paul didn't tickle the ears of his hearers, telling them what they wanted to hear, but rather he preached to them what they needed to hear by way of faith in Jesus Christ and by way of repentance in turning from sin and growing in hatred of sin. It is certainly, dear ones, a temptation that Satan whispers in the ear of the minister when he says, It's not necessary to address the depravity of man or his corruption. It's not necessary to talk about the torments of hell. It's not necessary to speak of the continual war that we face in the Christian life from the world, the flesh, and the devil. It's not necessary to talk about the need for correction in our lives. It's not necessary to speak of the goodness of God seen even in the massacre that occurred last week in Las Vegas and God restraining the evil that might have been even done to a far greater degree and God using that to draw men, women, and children unto himself. It's not necessary to preach concerning the judgment of God that is upon this nation due to its hatred of the Lord Jesus and his holy commandments. You see, the devil is always whispering, it's not necessary, it's not necessary. But the Lord, through the Apostle Paul, says it's necessary to preach the whole counsel of God, all the counsel of God, to not leave any of that out in the preaching of God's Word. A faithful minister is called by Jesus Christ according to the words of Lord Jesus himself, to teach all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Not some things, not most of the things, but all things that I have commanded you. Whatever is needed and whatever is profitable for the salvation of sinners and for the sanctification of believers must be preached. Nothing withheld that is for the profit of the sheep. that have been entrusted unto the shepherd of a congregation. Is there any of God's word, any of it, that is unprofitable? Is any of it unprofitable? What about the genealogies? Are they unprofitable? Do we just skip over the genealogies because they're not profitable in our reading? The Bible, God's own word in 2 Timothy 3, 16-17 says all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, that is mature, complete. throughly furnished unto all good works. All good works. So it's all profitable. Even the judgments of God upon his enemies and upon his own people for our admonition, our profitable, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, 11, where he's talking about how Israel went whoring at Mount Sinai, literally committing fornication, erected this image, fell into idolatry and harlotry. And Paul relates that. And what does he say concerning that? He says, Now all these things happened unto them for and samples, literally for types to us. And they are written for our admonition, that is for our instruction, for our exhortation, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Just because the doctrine or application of that doctrine is one you have heard a hundred times before. There's no reason to act as if you don't need to hear it a hundred and first time. With the same degree of hearing, receiving, believing, loving, and treasuring it because it's God's holy word. And Jesus Christ speaks to you through his minister. The primary tasks stated in the Word of God, the primary tasks of the faithful minister are two, can be narrowed down to two. First, to preach and teach the Word privately and publicly. And secondly, to devote himself to prayer for the prosperity of the gospel and the lives of people. In Acts 6.4, the apostles say, But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word, rather than to feeding people, clothing people. They raised up deacons, basically, to be occupied with that necessary task, yes, for the church, to care for the poor within it. But the apostles say that's not our calling, and if we become so spread so thin, so diversified, that we will not be able to give the time that we need to, to prayer and to the preaching of God's Holy Word. It is God's work to draw sinners in faith to Himself and to bring forth fruit in the life of His saints. We as ministers and you as members are so susceptible to looking to the results and judging the faithfulness and the fruitfulness of a ministry by what we can see. But dear ones, this is in effect to judge the Lord, Jesus Christ, whose work it is to bring forth fruit in his season. Judge rather whether the seed of God's Word is being faithfully planted and proclaimed. But let's leave the results to the Lord God Himself. Let's begin with ourselves. Is the Word of God taking root in my life? Is the Word of God that is preached affecting, changing, transforming me? because I can't expect others to be changed and transformed by it. Some, I think, come to hear a sermon thinking that almost every sermon is something that somebody else needed to hear, rather than I need to hear this sermon that is preached to me today. Jesus Christ is speaking to all of us today. He's not speaking to some of us today, but to all of us. And it is the richness of His grace and of His mercy that is indeed that which is proclaimed in the Gospel of Christ to sinners and to saints alike. The third main point, so the faithful minister is a servant, a faithful minister, is a preacher. Thirdly, a faithful minister is a runner that completes the race in Acts chapter 20 verses 22 through 24. And now behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there. save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying, That bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course. with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Whether Paul was preaching, teaching, fleeing from persecutors, enduring the hatred and the violence of adversaries, ministering in love to the flock of Jesus Christ or exercising church discipline. He understood all that God had appointed for him to faithfully do and to faithfully endure as if he were in a race that he was running. He says here, that he says, so that I might finish my course. I might finish the course, the race that God has set before me. The one goal that kept Paul going was finishing, finishing, finishing the race. Not falling beside, not quitting, not surrendering, not stopping, finishing the race. not stopping or quitting because of hardships, not dropping out because of weariness, not being distracted by worldly pleasures, and not being overcome by fleshly desires, but winning the race, finishing the race. Paul informed his beloved elders with whom he had spent so much time and who loved him as a father, in the faith, that the Spirit of God has been bearing witness through gifted saints. As he travels from church to church, there's been this testimony that keeps coming about bonds and afflictions that await him in Jerusalem. He keeps hearing this message coming through those that had the gift of prophecy. that speaks of what God had ordained for Paul once he arrived in Jerusalem. Actually, the bonds and the afflictions of which he speaks here in Jerusalem begin in chapter 21, which we'll be coming to in the very near future, chapter 21, and run to the very end of the book of Acts, so chapters 21 through 28. speak of the bonds and the afflictions that he would suffer that awaited him. And so, Paul's saying here, it's not times of fun that await me in the race that God has set before me. It's not times of fun. It's not times of worldly pleasure fulfilling fleshly desires that await me. It's bonds and afflictions that await me. It's not times of rest or basking in the sun, but it's bonds and afflictions. But does that deter? a faithful minister like the Apostle Paul? Absolutely not. Why? Paul is not first and foremost concerned about what will happen to him by way of trials, afflictions, suffering, or even death. Paul is first and foremost devoted, with all that is in him, to finishing the race. that the Lord has set before him, finishing the race, whatever that may be for Paul, whatever that may be for me, whatever that may be for you, because every Christian has a race to run as well. Whatever is in that course that the Lord has set before you, are you committed, are you devoted to finishing the race? Paul is not ready to allow distractions or fears or any obstacles to keep him from finishing the race that God has set before him. And not only to finish the race and this course of duty and faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ, but to finish the course, he says, not with resentment, not with bitterness, but to finish the race with joy, with joy. Dear ones, I submit to you that you can only finish the course Jesus has set before you with joy, when Jesus is your life and your reason for living, when you daily see him having already run the race for you to assure you that you will finish it. And you see Him by faith at the finish line, waiting with open arms to receive you as you finish that race that He has appointed for you. That is what will get you through, looking to the finish line, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. when Jesus is your joy. And when your joy and your contentment is not based upon your wealth, is not based upon your health, is not based upon your popularity and approval with men, is not based upon your worldly successes, the job that you have, the money that you make, the car that you drive, is not based upon your pleasures. then there is nothing that can rob you. When your joy is not found in those things, then there's nothing that can rob you. of your joy, for your joy then does not come from anything in this world. It doesn't come from your husband, it doesn't come from your wife, it doesn't come from your parents, it doesn't come from your children, it doesn't come from your siblings, it doesn't come from anyone or anything in this world. Your joy comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. then you can run the race with joy. And only then will you be able to run the race with joy. As you see the Lord Jesus again waiting at the finish line, waiting to wipe away all tears, to take away all temptation and sin, to remove all pain and suffering and sorrow, and to grant you everlasting life and joy, in uninterrupted bliss of fellowship and communion with him and with all the saints that are found in the scripture and those in history and all the elect of God. Dear ones, I don't know what is the course in the race that the Lord has set before you and has called you to finish. Your race may not be the same as mine, Almost certainly it's not. And mine's almost certainly not the same as another pastor's. There may be common features in all of the race that the Lord has set before us. But the one thing that he assures us is that his grace is sufficient. His power is greater than any of our weaknesses. And his grace swallows up our sin. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4, verses 6-8 as he comes to the end of his life. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. He's speaking of his death. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all of them also that love his appearing. Is that what you're running for? Is that why you know in your heart not due to your faithfulness, not due to your strength and ability, but due to the fact that Jesus is at the finish line and has run the race for you already, completed it for you. Is that where your confidence is, that you will finish? All that I must endure now by way of suffering from others and weaknesses in my own flesh in the race set before me, dear ones, on that day that I finish the race, it will be worth it all. I will not be looking back, nor will you be looking back and saying, but only if I didn't have to go through all of this. You'll just simply be, all of that will be swallowed up in the joy of having finished the race. and the Lord waiting for you at the finish line. It will not be about you when you cross the finish line. It will be all about the Lord Jesus Christ, who wipes away every tear. Let us therefore, dear ones, not be distracted. When we stumble in the race, let us get back up. Let us renew our covenant. Let us repent of our sin. Let us cling to Jesus Christ every day and commune with him, with whom we are going to spend all eternity with. We read in one other passage of scripture, Hebrews 12, one through two, about a race. And again, it says it all too well. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, that is, the witnesses are all those who have preceded us, in chapter 11, who live by faith, the Abrahams, the Noahs, the Abels, the Moses, the Joshua, All of these who live by faith are the cloud of witnesses, saying, we finish the race. By God's grace, so will you finish the race. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. The last main point. A faithful minister is a watchman to the church. in Acts 20 verses 25 to 27. And now behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more. Wherefore, I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Dear ones, this is such a tender farewell speech to these dear elders. Paul informs them that he knows this will be the last time that they will see his face, this side of the glory of heaven. In verse 25. How this must have, as they viewed Paul, no doubt, as their father in the faith, how this must have ripped emotionally within them, their hearts, torn their hearts, to hear their beloved father in the faith utter these parting words to them. When we see, when we, God willing, get to the end of chapter 20, their reaction, their reaction to his leaving and parting from them. Paul is a faithful watchman over the city of God, that is the church of Jesus Christ, had not only preached and taught them, but had also warned them of the enemies that would seek to destroy them. Those enemies being the world, the flesh, and the devil. Dear ones, preaching is not only nourishing by way of instructing God's people in faithfulness to believe and walk in the truth, to walk in the gospel, to walk in the commandments, to walk in the doctrine, the worship, the government of the church that's revealed in the word. But also, but also, dear ones, preaching. Preaching is also warning. Warning the church about its enemies, those enemies from within the flesh, as well as those enemies in the world. Warning of the dire consequences to laziness. The dire consequences in our life to procrastination and continuing to put off and put off and put off what we know to be the will of God for us. Warning about the dire consequences to unbelief in our life. The hardness of heart and stubbornness. Warning of the consequences of The subtlety of temptation and how it comes like Satan and the serpent in the Garden of Eden sounding so good, pleasing to the flesh, the eye, to our own heart. the subtlety of temptation, warning about that, warning about the forbidden fruit of compromise and where compromise will lead, a little here, a little there, until not only is the head of the serpent in the tent, but the whole body is in the tent. Paul records, or literally, he testifies, he says. He testifies as a witness to them, bearing testimony, witness to them, as if he's in a court of law. He testifies, that's how serious it is that he is now speaking. He testifies to them that he has stood, as it were, on the wall, on the wall of Zion, the church of Jesus Christ. He's been a watchman standing on the wall and has blown his trumpet to warn them of these enemies as a watchman as did Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 33 verses 7 through 9 where God commissioned Ezekiel to be a watchman and Ezekiel says God says to Ezekiel, So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore thou shalt hear the word of my mouth and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die. If thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. This is the heavy weight and calling upon a minister of Jesus Christ to warn. To warn, to be faithful, to preach, to teach, that he might deliver himself, that he might not be responsible for the blood, the guilt, the destruction of souls, but that he might deliver his own soul in his faithful proclamation of the gospel of grace. to those who are hungering, to those who are thirsting, as well as to those who want nothing to do with it, as God then sets upon them his judgment, who turn from him. Paul testifies that he is pure from the blood, from the guilt, and from the consequences of their decisions. Ministers who do not declare the whole counsel of God and neglect to preach the hard truths and the warnings from God's Word because they do not want to offend their wealthy supporter who pays so much of his salary. Or they do not want to offend that very influential elder or they do not want to offend all those who fill the pew each week and will not come back if he speaks clearly and truthfully about God's word. Paul implies that there is blood on their hands. There's blood on their hands for which he and any other minister will answer to the Lord. And dear ones, likewise there is blood on your hands for which you are guilty if you do not receive the truth of Jesus Christ proclaimed through this minister of Jesus Christ. There is blood on your own hands for your own souls. Young people, children, this is not anything to be taken lightly. Married couples, singles, this is life and death. By God's grace, it is my desire always to proclaim the whole counsel of God that I be not guilty of your blood. And it is by God's grace, I pray, your earnest desire to receive and apply it that you not suffer the consequences of rejecting Jesus Christ and his grace that is offered to you. Thus know, dear ones, when this minister steps on your toes, and what he teaches and what he preaches. It is because he wants to be a faithful servant of Jesus Christ in running the race that the Lord has set before him and who only wants to see you receive all that is profitable for you that we may all stand together in joy before the Lord on that final day. Amen. Stand with me in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, glory be to thy name. Be thou exalted, O Lord, over all thy creation, Be thou exalted over our proud hearts and humble us, break our hearts, give to us contrite hearts our Lord before thee. For in those broken and contrite hearts thou dost delight. We pray our Lord that thou would take the words that have been spoken, this portrait of a faithful minister given by the Apostle Paul, Lord, and apply to my heart but applied to the hearts of even the members of the church. That the minister, the faithful minister is a servant of Jesus Christ. He preaches the whole counsel of God. He is a runner to complete the race that the Lord Jesus has set before him. And he is a watchman upon the walls of Zion, upon the walls of the city of God, the church of Jesus Christ, to warn God's people. Lord, may this fill us, our God, with thy grace, with thy mercy, with thy love, for thy word, and for the ordinances which thou hast appointed. We ask, hear our prayers, in Jesus' name, amen.