* It may be observed here that those whom the inspired historian calls "the elders of the church" ( i.e., in Ephesus) the apostle designates overseers, or bishops ( ). They are not at ease and at liberty in their souls. Every time he was brought before a judge, a magistrate, or a king, Paul took the opportunity to witness. In his concern for them, though his acquaintance with them was but of a late standing, yet so near did they lie to his heart that he wept with those that wept, and mingled his tears with theirs upon every occasion, which was very endearing. The admiration of Power is natural to man, and particularly to fallen man. Hist. The others proceed on their way to Antioch in Pisidia, and there they are found on the sabbath-day in the synagogue. This she did many days, for at first the apostle avoided action to give no importance by any assaults of an open kind on the evil spirit. At the same time God has so ordered it, that no boast is more vain than that of possessing all the outward apparatus of the church of God. He began to be overcome by a deep sleep. This is the reason why he insists here on God's call to repent. It is not simply bringing souls in, and then leaving them to other people; the apostles would stablish them in the faith as they were taught. . All Christians who have light from God on these matters acknowledge ministry to be a divine and permanent institution. But I am also certain that the miracle of restoring life was never for the person but for the people around who were grieving because they were gone. "As to these," Paul says, "do as I did;" and how was that? It was intelligent obedience, where it might not be supposed that one could find a sufficiently clear direction. (see Acts 19:10, 17). But scripture never calls Timothy a presbyter or bishop, but an evangelist, though he was also employed of the Lord in a highly responsible place at Ephesus, and seems to have exercised a quasi-apostolic charge over the presbyters as well as the saints in general there. From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. The same person, of course, may be a minister while he has his place as a member in the body of Christ. . Heaven is an inheritance which gives an indefeasible right to all the heirs; it is an inheritance like that of the Israelites in Canaan, which was by promise and yet by lot, but was sure to all the seed. This is important, because it serves as a key to the true application of the second Psalm, which is often, and I believe mistakenly, applied to the resurrection. And if we give freely, even as we have received freely, God will take care of our needs. How was it that without the plan of man, and contrary no doubt to the desires of the wisest, the failure of Paul and Barnabas to settle the matter, conciliatory and gracious as they were, only turned to the glory of the Lord? There must not be any allowance of jealousy where God speaks so plainly. But so it is; those that are willing to take the labouring oar will find those about them willing they should have it. Well that's me; I esteem every day the Lord's day. It is plain that, whatever might be the strength of divine grace, there was a certain concession to his old religious habits, even in the greatest of apostles, and the most blessed instrument of New Testament inspiration. Although they knew nothing whatever of Paul and Barnabas (except, of course, that they were Jews, or looked like them), they called on them forthwith to address all. There is need of pastors, not only to gather the church of God by bringing in of those that are without, but to feed it by building up those that are within. Here there is no ground whatever for such a sense, but on the contrary that the apostles chose elders for the rest. Christian faith appropriates to itself what was said to Him. But there came a time in Nero's life where he had almost a total personality change. But a new feature comes out here which the Spirit of God lets us see henceforth in all the journeys and labours of the apostle Paul; that is, the hatred which the unbelieving Jews felt at the preaching of the truth to the Gentiles. God has continued everything, not that is needful only, but far over and above it for the blessing, if not for the pristine power and order, of the church of God. It may be that he wanted the time alone in order to nerve his spirit for the days ahead. He commends them to the word of his grace, by which some understand Christ: he is the word (John 1:1), the word of life, because life is treasured up for us in him (1 John 1:1), and in the same sense he is here called the word of God's grace, because from his fulness we receive grace for grace. _CRITICAL REMARKS_ Acts 20:17. On the the other hand, ministry never can meddle with what properly belongs to the church. They are two distinct spheres. "And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. Thus the apostle finds himself at issue with both the Gentiles and the Jews. And this testimony began with Jesus Christ. The fact is, that what is shown first in the gospel, then in the Acts, is "to the Jew first and also to the Gentile." To draw men after themselves. (Acts 20:5,6), upon which occasion Luke again . II. This is intimated in two words, I have shown you, and have taught you. It was the sad sign of his guilty race, the Jews, who, by their opposition to the gospel of the grace of God, and more particularly among the Gentiles, are now doomed to the same blindness after a spiritual sort. He had struggled with many difficulties among them. Besides the common notice given to all Christians and ministers to expect and prepare for sufferings, Paul had particular intimations of an extraordinary trouble, greater and longer than any he had yet met with, that was now before him. Of all Paul's speeches in Ac. It had better become them to have worked for him (to maintain him as their tutor) than he for them. Acts 18:1-28. We know that it happened with the ministry of Peter when he went and brought back to life through prayer Dorcas. Half the people didn't know what was going on. He was a plain preacher, one that spoke his message so as to be understood. Acts 20:17-27 Commentary Acts 20:17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church:Apo de tes Miletou pempsas (AAPMSN) eis Epheson metekalesato (3SAMI) tous presbuterous tes ekklesias. For I do not count my life dear unto myself. Those who would in any office serve the Lord acceptably, and profitably to others, must do it with humility. See Witherington, p. 610, for a chart comparing terms and concepts Paul used in this address with similar ones he used in his epistles. for dropping , "and," and so throwing together . As a minister, I have to not just proclaim, I must live by it. [2.] Thus having brought in the Messiah, we are shown how He had been announced by the Baptist. Eccles. So Paul departed from among them." * So the Spirit of God calls them both; and it is an important point to observe; it is not restricted to the twelve. He also reminded them that, like him, they were to sacrifice their rights and comforts for the sake of others, and never use their position of leadership for personal profit (32-38).From Miletus Paul and his party sailed to Patara, where they changed ships and sailed across the Mediterranean to Phoenicia (21:1-3). The impression is that of a family meeting together rather than of a modern church service. And also stories that he went to Spain with the Gospel.Secular history gives us something quite interesting. And how I've kept back nothing that was profitable unto you ( Acts 20:20 ). The gospel is the counsel of God; it is admirably contrived by his wisdom, it is unalterably determined by his will, and it is kindly designed by his grace for our glory, 1 Corinthians 2:7. After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia. Interactive Bible study with John Piper. And in real trials, tribulations, because the Jews were always lying in wait to ambush me.". Now, (1.) But the unbelieving Jews". For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God ( Acts 20:26-27 ). Thus Paul announces the Messiah himself. Paul then enquired, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? You get in that trap and it seems there's no way out. Haeres. Not that one would in the least doubt that Barnabas continued to be blessed of God. Our wisdom is to use what God has given us, not to pretend to the same authority as Barnabas and Paul had. But these poor unfortunate pastors who are striving to attain find themselves trapped. They held themselves to have sprung from the earth in some singularly foolish manner, at the same time maintaining that each was independent of the other. But now it pleased God at this particular epoch to call forth Barnabas, who was a kind of transition link between the twelve, with Jerusalem for their centre and the circumcision for their sphere, and the free and unfettered service of Paul among the Gentiles. No matter how deeply you have sunk into sin, God loves you. Act 20:7-12. New Living Translation. There was a constant warfare ahead to keep the faith intact and the Church pure. This was properly ministry in the word. It is likely that it may disturb those who are in the habit of thinking, or at least saying, that all persons must be in one of the two states that it is impossible to be in a middle position between them. . As the enemy makes good the occasion of evil, so God turns the wickedness of the adversary to the blessing of His own. Note, Ministers, in preaching the word of grace, must aim at their own edification as well as at the edification of others. A free Bible Version and Commentary on the Book of Acts in EasyEnglish. Such is not at all the meaning of the text. Next he brings boldly forward the awful position in which the Jews had put themselves. Alas! 3. c. 2. p. 2. c. 12. p. 212. cent. Message. I believe that all on His part is thoroughly as it should be, and really best for us as we are. The many lamps made the air oppressive. But that poverty of spirit always comes to the man who has had a true encounter with a living eternal God. Did not Paul afterwards write "to me to live is Christ"? They go accordingly elsewhere, and there preach the gospel. But here the apostle (instead of pointing out that God had made the rejected Jesus to be Lord and Christ, which was Peter's doctrine, and, of course, perfectly true) uses it according to his own blessed line of truth, and urges on their souls, that "through this man is preached unto, you the forgiveness of sins; and by him" (not the Jew alone, but) "all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses." And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; there stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us." And when Silas and Timotheus were come" he takes this as the occasion for testifying to the Jews fully being "pressed" (not exactly in the spirit, as it is said in the common text, but) "in regard of the word," he testifies that Jesus was the Christ. When he had gone through those parts and when he had spoken many a word of encouragement to them, he went into Greece. 1. As he had preached to them the gospel pure, so he had preached it to them entire; he had gone over a body of divinity among them, that, having the truths of the gospel opened to them methodically from first to last in order, they might the better understand them, by seeing them in their several connections with, and dependences upon, one another. He had not shunned to do it; had not wilfully nor designedly avoided the declaring of any part of the counsel of God. Sin must by repentance be abandoned and forsaken, and then Christ must by faith be relied on for the pardon of sin. Thus we have two distinct steps: verse 33 affirms that God had fulfilled the promise in raising up the Messiah in the earth for His people; verse 34 adds that, besides this, He raised Him up from the dead. The praetors were soon forced to acknowledge the wrong they had done in beating Romans uncondemned, contrary to the law of which they were the administrators. And now I hand you over to God and to the word of His grace which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance amongst all those who have been sanctified. (3.) Did Christ lay down his life to purchase it, and shall his ministers be wanting in any care and pains to feed it? It is therefore of very great importance to have scriptural views of its source, functions, and limits. "So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost:" nothing can be more distinct than the place that the Spirit of God has assigned Him, nothing more emphatic than the manner in which the inspired writer draws attention to the fact in these commencing verses. It was the evident hand of God to the more magnificent vindication of His grace. As far as Asia there accompanied him Sopatros, the son of Pyrrhus, who belonged to Beroea; and, of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius from Derbe and Timothy; and the men from Asia, Tychichus and Trophimus. . For their glorification: It is able to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. "I fought a good fight, I finished the course. We now enter on the missionary journeys, as they are called, of the apostle Paul. This was the very time when the Messiah, lost to Israel, becomes, in a new and intimate way, the centre for God to associate fully in grace with Him. On the second day we crossed over to Samos and on the next day we came to Miletus.. for Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so as not to have to spend time in Asia. Take heed to the flock, for wolves are abroad, that seek to devour (Acts 20:29; Acts 20:29): I know this, that after my departure grievous wolves shall enter in among you. Undeniably there is a double misstatement here: (1) the bishops and presbyters must be regarded as at least contrary to fact; (2) they were expressly of the church in Ephesus, not from other neighbouring cities. What a painful contrast with that which is found in Christendom! Not for a moment do I deny that all who are in any definite measure taught of God as to His will in the service of Christ must disavow clericalism in every shape and degree as a principle essentially and irreconcilably opposed to the action of the Holy Ghost in the church. 17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. There was a solemn religious assembly of the Christians that were there, according to their constant custom, and the custom of all the churches. Presented here is a verse by verse exposition of the New Testament. And so, they had weekly these love feasts and that beautiful fellowship.Now there is a real value, I think, in eating together. But I'm not worried by this. You must either have apostles, or at the very least apostolic men such as Timothy and Titus; for it is quite evident that merely to call people elders does not make them such. "Now, if we take that philosophy, God takes care of us. Macedonia, of course, was the northern area of Greece. Again, "He hath determined the times before-appointed" (everything is under His guidance and government); "and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him, and find him (" God," it should be here, according to the best authorities: "The Lord" is not in keeping with the teaching in this place. xiv. "But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. But the eye of love can discern; it is ever on the alert to obey from the heart. "Agrippa, do you believe the scriptures? sunk down with sleep, and he fell down from the third loft ( Acts 20:9 ). It was just after the battle of Gentile independence of circumcision had been fought and won. "Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened." Since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that God can be made by our hands. As He has proved, I believe that He has chosen to use Calvary Chapel more or less as a example of what God can and will do if we just follow His principles. And what a joy to the loving heart of the apostle to record it! Accordingly the work goes on among the Gentiles, though the Lord was not without witness among the Jews. While Paul was present at Ephesus, he presided in all the affairs of that church, which made the elders loth to part with him; but now this eagle stirs up the nest, flutters over her young; now that they begin to be fledged they must learn to fly themselves, and to act without him, for the Holy Ghost had made them overseers. This I believe to be a true definition of it. Paul made it the business of his life to testify this, and desired not to live a day longer than he might be instrumental to spread the knowledge and savour and power of this gospel. "They chose them elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, commending them to the Lord, on whom they believed.". They took not this honour to themselves, nor was it conferred upon them by any prince or potentate, but the Holy Ghost in them qualified them for, and enriched them to, this great undertaking, the Holy Ghost fell upon them,Acts 19:6; Acts 19:6. Thus we see there was the ministration of suited truth, as far as it went, of what God is, and what is worthy of Him, opening the way for the glad tidings of His grace. But it is so difficult to find pastors today who will really feed the flock of God. [2.] 1. He then set out for Macedonia. Then said I, woe is me" ( Isaiah 6:1 , Isaiah 6:5 ). And so God has made provision to free a person from that power of sin, by sending Jesus Christ, His son, who took our sins and died in our place. He tells them that he was now taking his last leave of them (Acts 20:25; Acts 20:25): I know that you all, among whom I have been conversant preaching the kingdom of God, though you may have letters from me, shall never see my face again. Since Miletus was only about fifty kilometres from Ephesus, Paul took the opportunity to call the elders of the Ephesian church to come and meet him. So, again, a real miracle as God restored life to Eutychus.It's interesting Paul fell on him embracing him. And he said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, back off, Paul. He would let them know what, in the midst of their boasted knowledge, they themselves confessed they knew not. So he went back upstairs and broke bread and ate; and he talked with them a long time until dawn came and so he departed. And don't take any forethought what you're going to say in the hour that you're there the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say. It is only crotchety people who have made a mistake. Grace knows how and when to bend, no less than to be as unflinching as a rock; but this is precisely what even believers in general are least able to understand. This was there fulfilled in Phygellus and Hermogenes, who turned away from Paul and the doctrine he had preached (2 Timothy 1:15), and in Hymeneus and Philetus, who concerning the truth erred, and overthrew the faith of some (2 Timothy 2:18), which explains the expression here. So these fellows went ahead across to Asia and waited there at Troas for Paul. Is it not humbling that the most simple truth about the simplest fact should be entirely beyond the ken of the proudest intellects unaided by the Bible? Isaiah said, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up, sitting on the throne. Eutychus, no doubt, had done a hard day's work before ever he came and his body was tired. The other night when I was in Indianapolis, scores of people afterwards said to me, "Would you please start a work here in Indianapolis? There are indications from some of the secular historians or early church historians that Paul did get to see those in Ephesus once again. (3.) Fourthly, He thinks nothing too much to do, nor too hard to suffer, so that he may but finish well, finish with joy. "And the times of this ignorance" (what a way to treat the boasting men of Athens!) 1 have little doubt that the brethren in general judged, and this spiritually, that Paul was in the right and Barnabas therefore wrong. At the same time, while there is liberty to break bread, wherever there arises a sufficient ground for it in the judgment of the spiritual on any day of the week, it is obligatory, if we may use such a term on such a theme, on all saints walking with the Lord to break bread on the Lord's day, remembering always that the obligation flows from the grace of Christ, and is perfectly consistent with the most thorough sense of liberty before the Lord. I know I'm going to be thrown in jail. There is nothing so easy as to form a judgment, but whether there be adequate grounds and a sound conclusion are other questions. It was no question of a great man, or great deeds, but of God's accomplishing His purpose. Thus God takes particular pains to show that the apostle Paul had the same sign and voucher of his apostleship as attached to Peter and John before. Yet he does know in general that thee is a storm before him; for the prophets in every city he passed through told him, by the Holy Ghost, that bonds and afflictions awaited him. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon them; and they spake with tongues.". (1.) They surely must have thought that Paul was losing his wits himself to circumcise Timothy! The Sabbath day was what? Barnabas, on the contrary, would have Mark with them, and at length so strongly urged this as to make it the necessary condition of his own association with the apostle. More than takes care of the needs. Ch 15:35-18:22 Second journey to Asia minor and Greece. So when he was therefore come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, he continued to talk until the break of day ( Acts 20:11 ). He said there was only one publisher who told us just go ahead, use it freely. On the other hand the idea that means that the apostles conceded to the disciples the power of selecting by vote, whilst they reserved to themselves the right of approval and institution, is still harsher and' in short unexampled in all Greek writings profane or sacred, ancient or medieval. He sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the Church. See the notes on Acts 15:2. They thought, because, while Paul was with them, the rage of the Jews was most against him, that, when he had gone out of the country, they would be quiet: "No," says he, "after my departure you will find the persecuting spirit still working, therefore take heed to the flock, confirm them in the faith, comfort and encourage them, that they may not either leave Christ for fear of suffering or lose their peace and comfort in their sufferings." Clearly therefore Mark's service lay here, I suppose, in searching out proper lodgings, and getting people to hear the apostles preach, and that kind of care which a young man would be expected to bestow on those whom he was privileged to accompany and attend in the work of the Lord. 18 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, 19 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: 20 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, 21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (5.) Let them consider the great pains that Paul had taken in planting this church (Acts 20:31; Acts 20:31): "Remember that for the space of three years" (for so long he had been preaching in Ephesus, and the parts adjacent) "I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears; and be not you negligent in building upon that foundation which I was so diligent to lay." He's talking out of his heart. He was a plain preacher, one that spoke his message so as to be understood. Paul was not ambitious to live like them. He did not keep back reproofs, when they were necessary and would be profitable, for fear of offending; nor did he keep back the preaching of the cross, though he knew it was to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness, as the Roman missionaries in China lately did. So far as the apostle Paul had both a gift and a charge, and he had both (and the apostleship differs from the gift of a prophet as well as the rest in this, that it is not a gift only but a charge), all had been settled between the Lord and His servant. It was thus according to the grace and wisdom given to these beloved servants of the Lord. And, on the other hand, though he was called to be the apostle of the Gentiles, and the Jews had an implacable enmity against him upon that score, had done him many an ill turn, and here at Ephesus were continually plotting against him, yet he did not therefore abandon them as reprobates, but continued to deal with them for their good. And there is something that just creates a closeness, a bond, eating together.And so the early church here gathered in Troas, on the first day of the week Paul preached until midnight. They've come in from all over the world: Africa, Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong, Europe, distributors of Maranatha music. 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. And every day to me is, I live unto the Lord no matter if it be a Saturday, a Sunday, Friday or whatever. Now this is what Paul felt. * Philippi was not the "chief" city of Macedonia, but Thessalonica; and as Wieseler has shown, even if the subdivisions had been known then of Macedonia Prima, Sec. And there would be many chartered type ships coming from Greece, from Athens, from . But after no notice was taken for some days, he being grieved at her boldness turns and says to the spirit, "I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." We must not make an ecclesiastical institution out of this. 29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. In point of fact it is thoroughly wrong, not only not defensible by the word of God, but flagrantly opposed to it. The consequence was that perforce the question was reserved for Jerusalem, where Paul and Barnabas go up for what Paul knew involved the truth of the gospel. And now, look you, I know that all of you, amongst whom I went about preaching the Kingdom, will see my face no more. And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece. The word cannot at the same time include both, though it may in certain cases, according to the context, mean either. He commends them to the word of God's grace, not only as the foundation of their hope and the fountain of their joy, but as the rule of their walking: "I commend you to God, as your Master, whom you are to serve, and I have found him a good Master, and to the word of his grace, as cutting you out your work, and by which you are to govern yourselves; observe the precepts of this word, and then live upon the promises of it.". Acts 20:2 says that when he had gone through those parts he came to Greece. And so Paul said, "You know that my attitude the whole while I've been with you is one of a servant of the Lord, serving Him in all humility of mind. [2.] We have here an account of what passed at Troas the last of the seven days that Paul staid there. Past Ephesus to Miletus. He more than supplies for our needs. Then we find another important fact. Which "uproar" (Acts 20:1) ceased? Because if you strive to attain, then you have to strive to maintain what you have attained. PHILIP. (i) Magdeburg. We have no such account of the godly Jewish remnant. 7. c. 2. p. 3. c. 7. p. 111, 115. cent. This was part of the travel that Paul had planned earlier (19:21-22). Where truth is, falsehood ever attacks. Acts 20:17-27 records the beginning of Paul's farewell speech to the Ephesian elders. Acts 20:17. But then in itself it takes in a much wider range than simply resurrection. It is well to note this, because we may find persons now in a state somewhat analogous. There are always those foolish little sheep that will go traipsing after any bell. I'm certain that Paul thought, "Wow, if I could just win Nero to Jesus Christ. They deny that abuse of ministry which would shut out of its own circle the operation of all gifts but one, which is jealous of every other save by its own will or leave, which has no sufficient confidence in the Lord's call or in the power of the Holy Ghost given for profit, which consequently makes a duty of both narrowness and self-importance through a total misunderstanding of scripture and the power and grace of God. It's more blessed to give than to receive." These few words summarize what must have been about a whole year of journey and adventure. Miletus was about thirty miles from Ephesus. But we never have to emphasize that side. And he said, "Watch over them. [2.] Here the ruler was not only unwilling to entertain the question, but supercilious, and indifferent to the general disorder.
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acts 20:17 commentary
