THE PRIORITIES OF PAUL
There are many great lessons we can learn about living the Christian life from Paul and today we will learn a great lesson from his speech to the Ephesian elders. Our main text this morning is Acts 20:17-36.
Acts 20:17 From
This was an emotional moment for Paul. Not only is he saying
goodbye to these elders and looking ahead to the hardship that awaits him in
In verses 17- 21 we can see Paul’s commitment to serving the Lord.
Acts 20:17 From
Paul had made up his mind
to serve God with every ounce of his being. He was on his third missionary
journey and he was making his way back to
These men knew Paul well
because he spent over two years in
Acts 19:8 And he
went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and
persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were hardened and
did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed
from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the
These elders knew by the way that Paul had committed his life to Christ that he was sincere and faithful servant of God. He was willing to put God before himself, and as Christians, we must learn to do the same because if we make life all about us then we cannot serve God as we should.
Paul was also a humble man, and his life was hard. We learn that he shed many tears about how his fellow Jews were plotting against him and trying to kill him, but he did not allow this to keep him from pressing forward for God’s cause. Even though God’s Word contains some hard sayings that would cause some to have to make radical changes in their lives, Paul did not hold back any of God’s truth because he understood that God’s ways must be proclaimed, and His Word must be allowed to convict the sinner so they might repent and turn to God and save their soul from the punishment of hell.
We must have this same priority in our lives. We must put God first and we must proclaim all of God’s Word, and not just in word only, but also by the way we live our lives. People need to be able to know that we are Christians because if we look like the world, then how are we ever going to be able to be a shining light to the lost.
We can also see that Paul was dedicated to teaching the truth to everyone without prejudice and we must be the same. We do not have the right to decided who should or should not hear the Gospel because every human on the face of this earth is a precious soul to God. So, don’t ever hold back God’s Word because of your prejudice.
In verses 22-27 we learn about Paul’s desire to serve God.
22 "And see, now I go bound in
the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me
there, 23 "except that
the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations
await me. 24 "But none
of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may
finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus,
to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
25 "And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I
have gone preaching the
Paul had a great desire to finish what God has asked Him to
do and he counted at a joy to be able to serve God till his last breath. He did
not know exactly what was going to happen to him when he got to
Even though he had this foreknowledge that hard times were coming, he did not allow it to keep him from doing God’s bidding because he understands that he is just a man and that getting God’s message out is more important than his life. Many times throughout the NT, Paul describes the Christian life as a race that must be finished. As Christians, we must understand that we are all running that race and we must all cross the finish line. The only way that we can do that is if we are moving forward in our Christianity.
If you are standing still or sitting down, you will never finish your race. So, we must run as Paul ran even if we know that danger or hard times are before us. Paul rightly said;
1 Corinthians 3:5 Who
then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you
believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is
anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who
waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own
labor. 9 For we are God's
fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.
Again in verse 26-27, we
learn that Paul has made his goal to always preach the whole counsel of God in
every place and by doing this it made him confident that he was innocent of the
blood of all men. Paul understood that he was not doing anyone any favors by
holding back part of God’s truth from them because if they continued in their
sinful ways without correction Paul would have to give an account of this at
the judgment day.
This same thing is true
when it comes to those who teach God’s Word and to those who Shepherd the
flock. That is why James said,
James 3:1 My
brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a
stricter judgment.
Notice what the writer of
Hebrews says about the Elders in,
Hebrews 13:17 Obey
those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls,
as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for
that would be unprofitable for you.
While those who teach and
shepherd the flock will receive a stricter judgment by how they teach and
shepherd, this same idea extends to all Christians because we all have a
responsibility to share God’s Word with those around us and to take a stand for
God’s truth. In doing so, we can have a clear conscience knowing that we have
been a voice for God’s ways.
How many times have we
wished we had said something at certain time, but we chickened out and remained
silent? Then later on, we feel guilty because we knew we should have said
something. We must work on building up our courage in this area, so that the whole
council of God will be made known. Even if we offend someone one or make them
upset, at least we can have a clear conscience knowing that they have heard
what God’s Word says.
In verses 28 -32 we can
see how Paul delegated his work instead of trying to do everything himself.
28 "Therefore take heed to
yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers, to shepherd the
Paul understood that he could not possibly be in every place
at ever time, nor would he always be around to personally encourage or teach
others. He wasn’t naïve because he knew how easy it is for people to stray from
the truth. So, he warns these elders to oversee the flock in
If God was willing to purchase the church at such a high cost, it is certainly worth fighting for, and we should never allow it to become corrupted by those who want to destroy it with their own traditions and ways. So, these elders must continue to grow in their knowledge of the Scriptures and make sure that the flock is being fed with the whole council of God, and they must be willing to take a stand against those who try to sway the church away from God’s pattern.
This is same responsibility the elders have today. They must be involved in what is being taught to the flock in the worship service and in the Bible class. They must make sure that the things being taught are in agreement with God’s Word and not man’s innovation. This is a responsibility that should be taken seriously.
We can see how concerned Paul was that the Ephesian church stay committed to God’s ways and that the elders would do their best because he had warned them for 3 years night and day with tears. This is the same concern that we should have for all our sister congregations.
Just as Paul was willing to delegate the responsibility to these elders, we must also learn to delegate God’s work among our members. No one person should be doing the bulk of the work. The elders must learn to delegate certain works to the deacons and even to the saints. The preacher should never take on so many roles that he cannot dedicate himself to learning more about God and presenting lessons to the church that will edify and challenge them to grow.
We must all be willing to share the load and teach others how to do what we do because we will not always be around to do the work. We certainly need to be training our men to step up and get more involved in the work of the church. We need more men who are willing to lead and to become future elders in the Lord’s church. Far to many congregations are without elders, but we need to understand that God wants His congregations to have elders, deacons and saints because the church functions at it best when the church is organized this way.
Finally, Paul tells these elders how they can make sure they can keep the church pure and that is by sticking to God’s Word as their only guide, which is the same thing we must do.
In these last few verses 33- 36 Paul expresses his sincerity in serving God.
33 "I have coveted no one's
silver or gold or apparel. 34
"Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my
necessities, and for those who were with me.
35 "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like
this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus,
that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' " 36 And when he had said
these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
During the first century there were men who would go around using the name of God to fill their pockets with money. In fact, Paul warned Timothy and Titus how some would use God’s Word for gain and would teach things they should not teach for gain in 1 Tim. 6:5; Tit. 1:11. I think we can all agree that we have many so called preachers out there today that are doing this very thing. They falsely proclaim that God has told them to tell the people to give their money to them and if they do they will receive 10 fold or maybe even a hundred fold back.
Many times Paul provided for himself as a tentmaker because he wanted them to understand that God’s Word came first, and he was willing to do whatever he could to help spread the Good News. But there were other times that he was supported by the church, and he even stated in 1 Corinthians 9 that he had the right to be supported, but he waived the right on occasion to not be a burden to certain congregations.
Paul’s main point is that his goal was not to make money, but to preach the Gospel. In the same way he supported those churches that were struggling physically and spiritually by paying his way and those with him, he wants the church at Ephesus and every church to be willing help support those that are weak physically and spiritually.
Just like Paul, our money or material things should not be our priority. As Jesus said,
Matthew 6:19"
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy
and where thieves break in and steal; 20
"but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 "For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.
It is important for us to
realize that we cannot take our money or our possessions with us when we die
and if we make money our priority instead of God, then money becomes our idol
and our God. So, each us should make God our first priority and not our pursuit
for riches. We should certainly be willing to do what we can to support those
who are physically or spiritually weak because as Jesus said it is more blessed
to give than to receive.
Finally, as Paul finished
his speech to these elders he got down on his knees and prayed with them
because Paul understood the importance and the power of prayer and as
Christians we should never neglect the privilege we have been given in prayer,
and we should pray that we can follow Paul’s example by having our priorities
straight so that we finish our race by being faithful to God till the day the
die.