Acts 20 - Friends Are Friends Forever if the Lord's The Lord of Them!
From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God,[a] which he bought with his own blood.[b] 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”36 When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
If you have ever wanted to get the complete picture of the apostle Paul, read these last words he shared with the elders of the church in Ephesus. There is no other church where Paul had spent more time than the church of Ephesus. He spent three years there, and when you read these words you see the depth of love he had for them. We also see the commitment he had to finish the race the Lord had given him to run.
Remember Paul persecuted the first Christians and also was present at the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Paul shared the great personal sacrifices he made, and how he was constantly being hunted down by the Jews, who were so jealous of him. Paul's preaching was always designed to strengthen their faith in Jesus. His main message was that people should repent and turn to Jesus. Yes, it is not a complicated message. The gospel is simple but sometimes we complicate it unnecessarily.
Nowhere do we get more teaching and theology of the Holy Spirit than in Paul's writings. And it is all experiential knnwledge. Paul not only relied on the Holy Spirit to empower him, but the Holy Spirit compelled him to turn from going through Asia, and go to Macedonia to start the churches in Thessalonica, Philippi, and Corinth. Now the Holy Spirit was compelling him to go to Jerusalem, though he did not know what was going to happen there. Given the treatment of the Jews that chased him all over the place, it didn't look promising.
The clearest statement of the heart, commitment, and courage of the apostle Paul comes when he says to them,
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
There is no greater statement which comes from the man who is the greatest missionary of all time. All we can do is emulate him and strive to be more like him.
Finally, Paul admonishes the elders to be shepherds over the flock in Ephesus. Ephesus was the center of the Church at that time. They were influential based on where they were located, as a central trade route. This is probably why Paul spent three years there. Paul was always very strategic so it shows how important this church was.
Elders were the spiritual leaders in the early church and still are today.
"In the New Testament, the term elder (presbyteros) generally refers to a spiritual leader appointed to oversee a local church. It describes a mature believer entrusted with shepherding, teaching, protecting, and managing the congregation." - Trinity Walla Walla
This was a church Paul had personally shepherded the past three years, so he wanted to leave it in good hands. Any pastor who leaves the church wants the church to be in good hands. The pastor's relationship with a congregation is very special for both sides of the relationship.
We see how much Paul meant to these leaders when the text says,
When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
There was a song in the 80's by Michael W. Smith called "Friends". The words went like this,
"And friends are friends forever
If the Lord′s the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it′s hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime′s not too long
To live as friends."
It gives me a lump in my throat just to read these words, as the 80's were the time I came back to the Lord. I have had so many friends who are forever friends over the past 40 years. This is one of the greatest joys of being a Christian. The friends you develop are different than the friendships in the world. The last forever!
Jesus, thank you for being our friend and introducing us to so many other friends of yours. Though we go in different directions we will always have each other in our hearts. One day there will be a great reunion in heaven and we will spend eternity with you forever! Amen.
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