A Bio of a Devoted Servant of God - Acts 20:17-27
Date: October 29, 2023
Message: “A Bio of a Devoted Servant of God”
Text: Acts 20:17-27
(I will share a few words personal words before I begin the message)
On this joyous occasion of ordaining/appointing several men to the offices of church leadership, I want to focus our attention on a passage of Scripture that models for elders and deacons (and really every church member) the kind of heart that God both requires and enables (by His Spirit) in His faithful servants.
So, this message has the dual design of being a charge to the brothers who are being ordained this morning AND also a charge for all the rest of us who are Christians and members of Living Word Bible Church.
Our text for this morning is Acts, chapter 20, verses 17-27. So please turn to Acts chapter 20.
In this text, Luke records Paul’s farewell speech to the Elders of the Ephesian church, which I have chosen to title “A Bio of a Devoted Servant of God.”
To quickly set the context of our passage…
Paul was in the midst of his third missionary journey, and on his way to Jerusalem.
Months earlier Paul had departed from Ephesus after 3 years of very fruitful ministry and the planting of a strong church in that pagan city.
We see in chapter 19 that his time in Ephesus ended with a huge uprising/riot against him that was sovereignly quelled by the pagan mayor who calmed down the crowd just in time to allow Paul to evacuate to Macedonia where he encouraged struggling churches there, and down south in Greece.
Eventually he made his way by land up and over to Troas.
After that Paul reunited with some of his other ministry companions in Assos and boarded a ship for their ultimate destination in Jerusalem.
The ship upon which Paul and his companions were sailing made a stopover in the coastal city of Miletus in Asia Minor which was about 30 miles south of Ephesus.
Verses 16 & 17 tell us that for the sake of time in his rush to reach Jerusalem before Pentecost, Paul decided not to visit Ephesus, but rather he sent a message to the church elders there to come and see him in Miletus in order to say his final goodbye to them, before he set sail in route to Jerusalem.
It was an emotionally supercharged farewell between Paul and these beloved church elders…
Look ahead to verse 36 that describes what happened at the end of Paul’s speech…
Acts 20:36–38
36When he (Paul) had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
37And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him,
38grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.
We see that an intense bond had been formed between Paul and these men…Paul was their spiritual father.
Day after day, he had nurtured them and taught them and fought together with them for the truth of the gospel, they had experienced and endured persecution together…they were a “band of brothers” soiled by the dust and blood of the battlefields of ministry…these godly men, dear friends, and fellow soldiers of the cross had grown to spiritual maturity under Paul’s faithful discipleship night and day for three solid years, and he had (months earlier) released to them the oversight of the Ephesian congregation.
Acts 20 calls these men “elders” and “overseers” and “shepherds”…various titles that describe the spiritual maturity and sacred responsibility of men called by God to teach and protect and lead and “pastor” His precious blood-bought church.
And our text records Paul’s final, passionate “farewell” to them as he was about to set sail…
Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders serves as a short autobiography of his life and reveals several key commitments of a devoted servant of God.
This passage drips with the Spirit-filled heart of Paul…
Let’s read the first part of his farewell (vs.17-27) and then zero in on four commitments of this devoted servant of God that have application for each one of us today…
Acts 20:17–27
17From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.
18And when they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,
19serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews;
20how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house,
21solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
22“And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,
23except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.
24“But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.
25“And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.
26“Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
27“For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.
This text reveals four commitments of a devoted servant of God.
Four commitments that were true of the apostle Paul, and should be true of every church leader and church member who has surrendered their life to Jesus Christ.
Commitment #1…
1. A Passionate Commitment to God and People (v.18-19)
Acts 20:18–19
18And when they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,
19serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews;
As I like to say, Paul was a true shepherd who smelled like sheep. He was constantly mixing it up with the people in the church…in v.18 he said “from the first day…I was with you the whole time.”
Paul loved people…he wanted to be with them often…not only “hanging out” with them…he had a passion for evangelism and discipleship.
I’m sure there were plenty of occasions of eating and laughing and perhaps watching chariot races on ESPN, but most importantly Paul invested his life and his time in building them up spiritually…that is the clear tenor of our text, and it was true in other cities and churches where Paul ministered.
To the Thessalonians Paul wrote…
1 Thessalonians 2:8 “Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to
you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had
become very dear to us.”
It is important to note that…
Paul’s commitment to the believers in Ephesus was driven by the conviction that in serving people he was serving God…
He said “I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord”
How was it that Paul so faithfully and graciously weathered so many challenges and heartaches and adversity in his ministry to both Christians and unsaved people?
The answer is that serving and pleasing God was in his mental crosshairs…God was primary, people were secondary…
The word “serving” (in v.19) is the verb form of the familiar Greek word DOULOS – which means “bondservant or slave”…Paul had it drilled into his soul that He was bought and saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and he was now Jesus’ love-slave…Jesus was Paul’s benevolent Master…Paul was SO convinced of Jesus’ profound love for Him (most notably demonstrated on the cross) that there was nothing Paul would not do in freely serving His Savior…including serving and shepherding and speaking the truth to oft times very difficult people.
Here is a simple truth that has application to each one of us…
Paul’s love for His Savior fed His love for people (even adversarial, carnal people) whom Jesus died to save.
To the Corinthians Paul wrote…
“For the love of Christ controls us…” – Christ’s love for him and his love for Christ compelled all of Paul’s ministry to people of every stripe.
If your love for people is waning, it is not the people’s fault. You need to re-examine Christ’s love for you and your love for Christ.
And Paul said (in v.19) that his ministry to the Lord and the people in Ephesus was marked (v.19) by humility, tears, and trials!
Along with love for God, humility is the perquisite for all God-pleasing life and ministry.
God hates pride. God disdains arrogant leaders, but He upholds humble men, and pours out grace on them and their ministry.
We can’t do anything truly spiritual/beneficial apart from God’s enabling grace, and James 4:6 says that God only gives His empowering grace to humble people.
James 4:6 “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
A guy once told me that I was a humble man who has much to be humble about 😊…and he was right (I have a ton of things that should keep me humble)…
However, Paul was a brilliant, gifted, successful apostle, but he was a genuinely humble man…
He described himself in his NT letters as “the least of the apostles” (2 Cor. 3:5), “the very least of all saints” (Eph. 3:8), and “the chief of all sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15).
Paul was “poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3)…he was convinced of his utter depravity, and utter dependence upon God for anything good in his life and ministry…
Paul wrote in…
2 Corinthians 3:5 “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from
ourselves, but our adequacy is from God”
Paul knew that what Jesus said in John 15 was true “Apart from Christ we can do nothing.”
Paul served God and people with “humility”…
And also with “tears” says v.19…
Paul’s ministry was marked by “tears”…
“Tears” speak of deep emotion and struggle and suffering that came with his service to saved and unsaved people…
Paul was not a stoic, unemotional robot…He felt deeply for people and their spiritual and physical well-being…he experienced exhilarating highs and devastating lows over the course of his ministry.
Paul mentioned his “tears” again down in v.31
“night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears”
(v.31)
In 2 Corinthians 2:4 he wrote…
2 Corinthians 2:4 “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many
Tears…”
Philippians 3:18 “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping,
that they are enemies of the cross of Chris”
Paul’s ministry was marked by humility, tears, and trials.
v.19 again…“trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews”
Paul experienced painful opposition from his countrymen throughout his ministry.
Paul’s autobiography reveals a 2nd commitment of a devoted servant of God…
2. A Bold Commitment to Proclaim God’s Word (v.20-21)
Acts 20:20–21
20how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house,
21solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul says here “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable…”
--advantageous, better off
He said it again down in v.27…
Acts 20:27 “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.”
Paul did not pick and choose what he taught. He didn’t skip over hard truths in his teaching/preaching.
“shrink” means to “hesitate, to “hold back, to “withhold”…
What Paul is saying is that “he spoke the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”…
Paul never, ever compromised God’s word in order to please people or avoid opposition.
He showed no favoritism or partiality.
He did not cave into the fear of man or intimidation even from very intelligent, scholarly men.
No doubt Paul spoke with love and grace, he was not a tactless bull in a China closet, but he always spoke God’s truth!
Paul held back no biblical doctrine, counsel, encouragement, correction, or exhortation that people needed to hear.
Paul always practiced what he charged Timothy to do in…
2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort,
with great patience and instruction.”
2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not
need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
Paul always “cut it straight” when it came to sharing the word of God with believers or unbelievers!
In vs. 20 & 21 we see two venues and two audiences for his teaching…
He taught “publicly” (in synagogues and elsewhere) and “from house to house”
IOW—he taught in large groups and small groups and one on one. It was not “either or”, but “both and”…
And I believe this underscores a timeless principle for believers today…we benefit from large settings like a church service, and we benefit from small settings, like SS classes, or home Bible studies, personal accountability.
Of course, Paul was not only a discipler of Christians he was an evangelist of unbelievers.
v.20 speaks of Paul’s faithful ministry of the Word to Christians, and v.21 speaks of his bold, uncompromising evangelism of lost people…
Look at v.21…
Acts 20:21 “solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in
our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“solemnly testifying” means to speak about grave or important matters, not flippant, but serious/sober…when it came to sharing the gospel Paul was as serious as a heart attack!
We are reminded in v.21 that a biblically sound gospel presentation must contain two key components…
A call to repentance of sin (a heart to turn away from sin, a desire to leave sin) and…
A call to faith in Jesus Christ…
Repentance and faith in Jesus and His work on the cross are both essential for someone to be saved.
And Paul did not compromise this fact. He did not preach a message of “easy-believism”…just ask Jesus into your heart…just believe in Jesus and you will be saved…such a message will not truly save anyone…that is not what Jesus nor the apostles taught…
--at the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry
Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.”
In Luke 5:32 Jesus said…“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus’ commission to us in Luke 24:47 is…
Luke 24:47 “that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all
the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
John the Baptist called people to “bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance” (Lk. 3:8)
Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change in behavior…it is an intentional decision to turn away from our sins and turn to Jesus as our Savior and Lord of our lives.
Repentance is sincere sorrow over our sin before God, understanding how sin grieves God and deserves His judgment.
Repentance is just as central to the gospel as faith in Jesus is.
Repentance is life-giving, hopeful word/truth.
There is no true life or joy or freedom for us apart from turning from our sin and turning to our Savior in total surrender and submission to His word.
It is grievous how many gospel presentations in our day are void of any mention of repentance from sin or submission to the Lordship of Christ...
Consequently, scores of people are given false assurance that they are saved and on their way to heaven even though they are still clinging to their sin with no genuine desire to turn away from it with God’s help.
A perpetually unrepentant person is not a truly born again, saved person!
There is not such thing as having Jesus as our Savior, if we have not embraced Him as our Lord!
Notice (in v.21) that Paul’s gospel (like Jesus and John the Baptist) included a call to repentance AND “faith in our LORD Jesus Christ…
This was the message that Paul “did not shrink back” from giving and “solemnly testified” to before unbelieving Jews and Gentiles. –serious, sober thing
We see in our text a 3rd commitment of a devoted servant of God…
3. A Selfless Commitment to Suffer any Consequences for Serving God (v.22-24)
Look at v.22…
Acts 20:22–24
22“And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,
23except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.
24“But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.
Paul said he was “bound by the Spirit”…IOW the Holy Spirit had “chained” the heart of Paul, compelling him to go back to Jerusalem not knowing the specific suffering he would experience, but quite certain is was going to be hard…and it indeed was as we see in chapter 21.
On this point again, Paul serves as a model for us of a faithful/devoted servant of God…
A commitment to Christ that superseded self-interest was the pattern of Paul’s life from the day of his conversion on the Damascus Road when Christ told Ananias (back in ch. 9) “I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of My name.”
Paul experienced comprehensive suffering as a result of his devotion to Jesus and His word.
Emotional suffering—slander, rejection, criticism, loss of friendships
Physical suffering—beatings, stonings, martyrdom…
For Paul, suffering in various ways for the cause of Christ was a given…he accepted it as a normal consequence of living and speaking faithfully for Jesus in this fallen world.
“Painless ministry” is an oxymoron. No one (other than Jesus) suffered more than Paul in the NT
Compare verse 21 with verse 23…Paul “solemnly testified” of the gospel to Jews and Gentiles (in v.21) and (in v.23) the Holy Spirit “solemnly testified” that he would suffer bonds and afflictions for doing so!
Faithful speaking for Jesus will eventually result in suffering for Jesus.
Friends, Paul’s goal in life was not safety, it was faithfulness to his Savior who suffered unfathomable humiliation and torment on Calvary to rescue his soul from hell.
Paul was the antithesis of the Christian who is consumed with safety and avoiding suffering at any cost.
Paul was not mindless, throwing all caution to the wind in regard to persecution.
As we see in Acts there were times when he left cities to avoid further persecution, but there were also times (all the time) when he entered cities and spoke boldly knowing he was going to pay a heavy price.
How could Paul do this in city after city over so many years…well v.24 tells us…
Acts 20:24 “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may
finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify
solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”
Paul’s life was truly not his own…he knew he had been bought with a high price by Jesus and his life was now to be lived for God’s glory, not his own.
Jesus said to all people in Mark 8:34…
If you want to be saved, if you want to be My follower, you must deny yourself and take up your cross…IOW you must surrender your life to Jesus and get ready to die for your allegiance to Him…
Paul obeyed Jesus’ “altar call” and lived it out until the finish line of his life…
Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Paul’s eventual death was profound gain for him because his life on this earth was of no account dear to him…
Suffering was not only promised to Paul, it was promised by Jesus to every faithful servant of His in every generation.
John 15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If
they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will
keep yours also.”
2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
--BTW, this verse may soon have more meaning to us in N.A.
The Bible does not hide the temporal cost of committing our lives to faithfully sharing the gospel, nor does it hide the eternal rewards for doing so…Jesus said in…
Matthew 5:10–12
10“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
12“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Paul successfully fulfilled his ministry to the very end of his life. As death drew near, he wrote triumphantly to Timothy…
2 Timothy 4:7–8
7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;
8in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Paul has no doubt heard from his beloved Master, “well done good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your Master” (Matt. 25:21)
We should also live to hear those words from our Savior someday!
Of course, sadly we can easily avoid suffering and various expressions of persecution…all we need to do is live opposite of Paul’s example…just “shrink back” in fear and intimidation from unbelieves, just shut up and not “solemnly testify” regarding the robust gospel…just refrain from witnessing for Christ, never call anyone to repentance and faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior and most people will leave us alone.
I will quickly bring this to a close…a 4th characteristic of a devoted servant of God is…
4. A Commitment that Produced a Clean Conscience Before God (v.25-27)
Acts 20:25–27
25“And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.
26“Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
27“For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.
Simply put, because Paul faithfully proclaimed God’s word whether he was teaching Christians or witnessing to unbelievers, “their blood was off his hands.”
He had a clean conscience that comes with living and speaking faithfully for Jesus.
We can’t read v.26 and not think of God’s words to Ezekiel in the OT…
Ezekiel 33:7–9
7“Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me.
8“When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand.
9“But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.
That is a sobering reminder of the sacred responsibility/accountability we have as Christians in handling God’s word—either in teaching/preaching/counseling/discipling believers, or in witnessing to unbelievers.
We must not shrink from clearly and courageously declaring the Word of God.
Conclusion:
Do you possess these four commitments as a servant of the Lord?
1. A PASSIONATE Commitment to God and People
2. A BOLD Commitment to Proclaim God’s Word
3. A SELFLESS Commitment to Suffer Any Consequences for Serving God
4. A Commitment that Produced a CLEAN CONSCIENCE before God
Charge to the congregation to follow, encourage, and pray for their church leaders:
1 Thessalonians 5:12–13
12But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction,
13and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.
Hebrews 13:17–18
17Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
18Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.