["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Chapter number 20 tonight.
We've got the church-wide soul winning, the regional soul winning,
as well as the salvations and baptisms below that.
And then, of course, over on the right-hand side,
the announcement regarding the St. Lucia missions trip.
Of course, a huge success with 33 soul winners out in a very receptive area
for several days in a row,
soul winning for multiple hours every day.
And the Lord blessed and gave a great harvest of souls there,
1,083 salvation, so praise God for that.
Continue to pray for the ongoing missions trip
in the Dominican Republic right now,
that they'll have similar results there.
And then there is also a small town soul winning trip planned
coming up at the end, well, mid next month up in Eloy.
And I'll have a sign-up sheet and more details about that as we get closer.
You can go ahead and mark your calendars
if that's something you'd like to participate in.
It's going to be on a Saturday.
Also on the back, we've got the list of expectant ladies.
Continue to pray for that.
Okay.
This is reading like binary codes, like zero, one, zero, one, zero.
And then Thursday, one, of course, one, zero, one, zero, one, zero.
I'll take it.
All right.
Keep up the great work.
Soul winning.
Let's see one more song.
We're going to appreciate it.
Thank you.
What's the count?
I still don't know what song.
37.
Song number 37.
37?
Yes.
Let's see if I know it.
Yep.
I know that song.
Do you know that song?
All right.
So number 37.
There'll be no talk now.
Hey, Ben, it's time to pass the opening plate.
As the plate goes around, let's turn our rivals to Acts Chapter 20.
That's Acts chapter 20.
As always, we read the entire chapter.
Please follow along silently as Dr. Gabriel brings to us from Acts chapter 20.
Acts chapter 20.
Acts, chapter 20, verse 1 of the Bible, and after the upper world was ceased,
Paul called on him to recite this and embrace it and depart it to go into Macedonia.
And when he had gone over those parts and had given that much exhortation,
he came into Greece, and there abode three months.
And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria,
he purposed to return to Macedonia.
And there accompanied him to Asia, the sophomore, to Berea,
to the Thessalonians, the Persians, the Secundus, the Gaius, the German,
the Samotans, the Asian, the fragments, the Trothans.
These going before him, carried for us atroids.
When we sailed away from Philippi, after the days of 11 breath,
and came once again to Trois, in five days, where we abode seven weeks,
and upon the first day of the week, when the cycles came together,
to break bread, Paul preached unto them, great to depart on the morrow,
and continued his speech till midnight.
And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.
And there sat in the window, a certain young man, in Eunuchus,
being fallen to a deep sleep.
And as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down in sleep,
and fell down from the third law, and was taken up dead.
And Paul went down, and fell, and embraced it, and said,
trouble now yourselves, for his life is in it.
When he, therefore, was come up above, and had broken bread,
and needed, he talked along a lot, even till the break of day,
till he departed.
And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.
And we went before to ship, and sailed to Assos.
They were intending to take in Paul, or so they had appointed,
reminding themselves to go afoot.
And when we met with us at Assos, we took him in,
and became the middleman, and we sailed fast.
And we came the next day, over against Pius, and the next day,
we arrived at Samus, and Terri at Trogele, and the next day,
we came a minute by leaders, for Paul determined to sail by us,
and sail to Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia,
for he aced it, for it was possible for him to be at Jerusalem,
the day of Pentecost.
And from my leaders, who sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church,
and they were come to, and sent to, and known,
on the first day that I came into Asia,
after what manner I had been with it, at all seasons,
serving the Lord with all humility in mind,
and with many tears, and temptations, and rebellion,
by the lying weight of the Jews.
Now I kept nothing, that nothing, that was profitable to you,
but have showed you, that taught you publicly,
palace to palace, testify and go to the Jews,
and also to the Greeks, for repentance towards God,
and faith for our Lord Jesus Christ.
And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit of Jerusalem,
not knowing things that shall be falling there,
saying that the Holy Ghost witnesses in every city,
saying that bonds and afflictions abide me,
but none of these things move me,
and that I count on my life dear unto myself,
so that I might finish my course with joy,
and the ministry which I have received with the Lord Jesus,
to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
And now, behold, I know that you all,
among whom I have gone and preached to the King of God,
and shall see my face no more.
Wherefore, I take you to record this day,
that I am cured from the blood of all men,
for I have not shunned to declare unto you,
all the counsel of God.
Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, to all the flock,
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,
to be the Church of God, which he hath purchased
in his own blood.
For I know this, that after my departure,
shall grievous wolves then turn among you,
not sparing the flock, also on your own selves,
shall many who rise, speaking perverse things,
to draw away the sight that has them.
Therefore, watch, and remember, that by the space
of three years, I cease not to warn every one,
plying daily with tears.
And now, relevant, I commend you to God,
against the word of his grace, which is able to build you up,
and to give you an inheritance among all of them
which are sanctified.
I have coveted no man's sober, bowl, or peril.
Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands
have ministered to my necessities,
and to them that are with me.
I have showed you all things, how that so labored
that you ought to sport the weak, and to remember
the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said,
is more blessed to give than to receive.
And when you had thus scoped it, you kneeled down
on the frame of the ball.
And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck,
kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words
that you spayed.
And they should see his face no more,
and they accompanied him unto the ship."
Brother Tom, would you pray for us?
Lord, thank you so much for allowing us to be here today.
We pray that you just leave with the service,
and be with the department as he's preaching your word.
Help us to have the years to hear.
In the name of Jesus, we pray, amen.
Amen.
So we're there in Acts 20.
Of course, the latter half there,
there's a lot of famous verses.
In the beginning, we're just getting some more
of Paul's movements.
And we're kind of coming into the end of his journey here,
his second journey.
And these last few chapters, really last eight chapters
or so, are going to start dealing with him,
going back to Jerusalem.
And everything that unfolds there.
So this is really some of his last,
if you want to say, free movement.
Eventually, he ends up arrested.
We know the book.
So spoiler alert if you never took it back.
So that's what ends up happening.
But point being, that's what we're
seeing in the beginning here.
A lot of these places where he's going,
and just moving about there.
And the one thing I want to point out about that here
in the first four verses, of course, it says in verse 1,
and after the uproar was ceased, referring back
to the events of chapter 19 with the silversmith,
and the town clerk, and the uproar, and all that.
We won't re-preach all that.
But after that uproar were ceased,
Paul called unto him the disciples,
and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.
And when he had gone over those parts,
and had given them much exhortation,
he came into Greece, and abode there three months.
And when the Jews had laid weight for him
as he was about to sail to Syria,
he purposed to return through Macedonia.
And they're accompanied with him into Asia.
And then it gives you this list of different people,
and where they're from, that went with him into Asia.
The point I want to make here is that he's going into Asia.
Now, if you remember, in Acts 16,
if you want to turn back there real quick,
Paul had before wanted to go into Asia, but was forbidden.
He was not allowed to go in there by the Holy Ghost.
It says in verse 6 of Acts 16,
now when they had gone through Phrygia,
and the regions of Galatia,
and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost
to preach the word in Asia,
for they were coming to Missia,
they said to go into Bithynia,
but the Spirit suffered them not.
We already preached all that,
how the Lord by the Spirit had stopped them
from going into these specific regions,
and one of them is Asia,
which is what we're seeing again tonight,
whereas now he's being allowed to go into Asia.
We know the reason behind that,
when we went through chapter 16 and verse 9,
there was that man that stood of Macedonia,
praying and asking for Paul to come and preach,
which Paul did, and all of that.
If you would, go to Acts 19.
Go to Acts number 19.
We see earlier on in Paul's journeys,
he's forbidden from going into Asia,
whereas now he has that free course.
He's allowed to go into Asia,
the Holy Spirit's giving him that opportunity
to go there and to preach.
Of course, he's been there before as well.
Acts 19, it says in verse 8,
when he went to the synagogue and spake boldly
for the space of three months,
disputing and persuading the things
concerning the kingdom of God,
but when divers were hardened and believed not,
but spake evil of that way before the multitude,
he departed from them and separated the disciples,
disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus,
and this continued by the space of two years,
so that all they which dwelt in Asia
heard the word of the Lord Jesus,
both Jews and Greeks.
So early on in chapter 16,
Paul has a burden,
he has a desire to go into Asia,
but he's being forbidden of the Holy Ghost.
It's not that he doesn't want to go there,
it's just that the Holy Ghost
has work for him to do elsewhere
and is directing his path in that direction,
and that's where he's taking him.
Not to say that he wasn't able to come back later
and accomplish what he wanted to do.
And what I want us to understand from this tonight
is that God's timing is always right.
God's timing is always right.
We don't want to get ahead of the Lord,
we don't want to be dragged behind either,
we want to make sure that we're doing what it is
that we ought to be doing day by day,
and if we do that, God will direct us,
God will lead us,
and even those places where we might want to go,
those things we might want to do even for the Lord,
you know, we might have to put those off, right?
There might be things that we want to do in life
that it's not that it's right or wrong,
it's just not that time,
it's just not the season for it,
just God has other things for us, okay?
Now if you would go over to Revelation chapter number three,
I just want to make this point very briefly.
You know, I've heard people say things like,
God always answers prayer, right?
It's either yes, no, or ask me again later, right?
Obviously he doesn't say those exact words, right?
But sometimes it's a no,
but maybe that no becomes yes later.
It just might be the timing wasn't right,
there were certain things that God had to work out
in Paul's life,
he knew that there was this work that needed to be done
in Macedonia,
he knew that there was a guy,
you know, a group of people there,
all the people that were going to get saved,
and he had to get him there first,
accomplish that work,
and then once that work was built and established,
then he would then later allow him
to go into these other parts of the world,
which obviously is God's will to go into all the world,
that's what God wanted,
but for Paul, you know,
there was a real specific time and place
that he needed him to be,
you know, in order to accomplish what he wanted to accomplish.
You know, God's timing is always right,
the Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter number nine,
I return the son of the son,
that the grace is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong,
nor yet bread to the wise,
nor yet riches to men of understanding,
nor yet favor to men of skill,
but time and chance happeneth to them all.
You know, sometimes in life there's going to things
that just kind of fall out onto us,
it's not necessarily,
you know, that even God is guiding or leading completely in that,
you know, sometimes in life there's just things that happen,
you know, time and chance happens to everybody, right?
The Bible says in Proverbs 16,
the lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord, okay?
And even within life, you know,
we kind of go through life and certain circumstances play out,
you know, we can still see God's hand in it,
okay, God is still working through circumstances.
And I'm just kind of using these verses
to kind of back up what we're seeing in Paul's life, okay?
Paul is, you know, trying to do some things
and he's running into different circumstances,
well God's working through all of it,
God's working in all these circumstances,
it might not seem like it at the time,
he might not have gotten exactly what he wanted,
but you know, God is involved in those circumstances.
This Bible says in Proverbs 3,
to trust in the Lord with all thine heart
and lean not on thine own understanding,
in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path, okay?
You know, Paul had a real specific place
he wanted to go at a real specific time,
but it just wasn't what God wanted
at that particular time in his life, right?
What he did do is he just trusted the Lord,
right, he just trusted God,
trusted that he was just gonna keep serving God
and just trust God to lead him and guide him
and that he would end up where he needed to be, okay?
And look, this is an important principle
that we have to understand
when it comes to walking with the Lord, okay?
You know, the Bible says to trust the Lord
with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding.
You know, sometimes we don't understand
why God allows things to happen,
you know, why certain circumstances aren't,
you know, things we want to happen don't happen,
things we don't want to happen happen,
you know, God has purpose behind these things.
We know the Bible says in Romans
that all things work together for good
to them that love God,
to them that are called according to his purpose.
We know that, okay?
The hard part is trusting, isn't it?
With all your heart.
We say I know that, I believe that,
I know that's true,
but the Bible says, you know,
to trust the Lord with all thine heart
and to stop leaning on your own understanding.
Stop trying to reason everything through
and, you know, figure out, you know,
for yourself what it is that God wants.
Sometimes we need to just trust the Lord
and do what we know we're supposed to do
and leave the rest to him.
The Bible says the preparations of heart and man
and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord, okay?
God, you know, will work in our lives
and he'll prepare our hearts for the time and place
and he'll open up and give us opportunities
and what we need to do is just focus on,
you know, making sure we're doing
what we're supposed to doing in the moment, okay?
Paul didn't go into these other regions of Macedonia
just like constantly thinking about Asia.
He's like, well, I'd rather, you know,
I've gone into Asia, you know?
He just stayed focused on the task at hand,
you know, and God used him.
He just trusts the Lord with all his heart
and you know what?
Eventually God did bring him around to that place
and he was able to minister to both, you know?
Things might have gone differently
had he gone into Asia, you know?
And obviously God wasn't gonna allow that to happen.
Look at Revelation chapter three verse seven.
It says, and the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
these things sayeth he that is holy
and he that is true and he that hath the key of David.
He that openeth and no man shutteth
and shutteth and no man openeth.
You know, God can open up doors and God can close doors.
God can create opportunities
and God can close off opportunities.
That's what he did with Paul in the story.
He said, I know you wanted to go to Asia,
but I'm shutting that door.
I'll open up the door into Macedonia.
Later he shut that door and opened up the door in Asia.
What we have to do is just trust the Lord with all our heart
and just continue to, you know,
just do what we're supposed to be doing day by day.
Stay focused on the task at hand.
Right?
That's why he goes on in verse eight there in Revelation three
and says, I know thy works.
Behold, I have set before thee an open door.
So he's saying, I've set an open door before you.
That's what he's saying.
The Church of Philadelphia and no man can shut it.
He's like this, my will is going to be accomplished
if you'll go through this door.
Thou hast a little strength and has kept my word
and has not denied my name.
So why is God setting this open door before them?
Because they have already been keeping his word.
Thou hast kept my name.
Not, oh, I know you will keep it.
Now that you have the door open, right?
No, you have kept my word.
Therefore, this door has been opened unto you
and no man can shut it.
This opportunity is being made manifest
and no man can shut it.
And he says, look at verse eight.
I know thy works.
Behold, I have set.
Right?
So the people in Philadelphia, they're just busy working.
They're just busy doing what they're supposed to be doing
day in and day out, being faithful,
keeping the word of God.
And then eventually God opens this door
and no man's going to shut it.
An opportunity comes and they can walk through it, right?
But notice who it came to again.
It came to somebody who was doing the work.
It came to somebody who was prepared.
Somebody who was trusting in the Lord with all thine heart,
not leading under their understanding,
just like the apostle Paul.
He's just wherever you want me to go.
That's where I'm going to go.
You want me to go into Mysia?
You want me to go into Ephesus?
You want me to go into Asia?
You want me to go into, you know, Crete, wherever?
He's like, wherever you're going to lead,
that's where I'm going to go.
And God opened up certain opportunities
and closed off other ones for Paul as he went.
So the first point I want to make tonight
out of this chapter is that you need to just be ready to act.
Be ready to act.
Instead of acting ready, be ready to act.
Just be ready to act.
We need to be prepared.
We need to be people that are, when that door opens,
are prepared to walk through it.
How are you going to be prepared?
By doing the work, by keeping his word, right?
That's what you see in Revelation.
I've set this door before you because I know thy works,
the works you've already been doing.
Then the door came and thou hast kept my word.
You've been keeping it.
You've been faithful, right?
Be ready to act when that door opens.
You know, a good example of this, you know, would be,
you know, perhaps, you know, some of the young guys,
the single guys, right?
You know, looking for a wife, right?
Obviously, that's a big thing on a young man's radar and amen.
You know, there's no shame in that.
It's a good thing, right?
So we're finding the wife, find the wife,
find it the good thing and obtain a favor of the Lord, okay?
But, you know, some guys, you know,
they want to wait on the wife.
They just want to wait on a wife.
And I always tell them,
you should probably find a nice single girl.
Don't wait on a wife.
It's a joke.
Anyway, you think about that, you'll get it later, okay?
But they want to, they're kind of waiting for a wife, right?
They're waiting.
Well, you know, rather than waiting for a wife,
maybe you should just focus on being worthy of a wife.
You know, instead of acting prepared,
maybe you should just be prepared to act, right?
So when that door is open, when that opportunity comes,
when a young lady comes around that would make a good wife,
a good spouse, you know, you're somebody worth marrying.
You're somebody that, you know, she wouldn't mind,
you know, hitching her wagon to, so to speak, okay?
That's just an example.
You know, be ready to act.
What about with soul winning?
That's another example, right?
If we just do the work of going out soul winning,
like we're supposed to every week,
and learn how to preach the gospel,
you know, when that other opportunity comes up that,
you know, wasn't at the Sunday or Saturday or Thursday
or Tuesday or whatever soul winning time you attend,
when that other opportunity opens up that's unscheduled,
you know, that just comes out of the blue,
that loved one, that coworker, that friend of yours,
that total stranger, that opportunity opens,
you know, you're ready to act.
That door opens and you can walk through it,
that person gets saved, you know,
if you've been doing the work of preaching the gospel,
learning how to do that,
that opportunity is gonna come to you.
But if we're not, if we haven't done that,
if we're out of practice of doing that,
we don't know where to turn our Bible,
you know, and that door opens up onto us,
and it's like, well, I don't know.
I mean, I look back at my own life and I can think about
times when there was an obvious door open
and I just didn't know what to say.
I never preached the gospel,
not that it's that complicated,
but you know, I just lacked the boldness,
hadn't been soul winning,
hadn't been trained in soul winning,
didn't know you could just talk to people about the gospel,
you know, and people just sitting in the work truck,
just bring up something because they know I'm a Christian,
they know I go to church and they just bring up
some Bible question or something,
and man, it was like, there's this door open,
could have walked through it, but you know what?
As much as I might want to have acted like I was prepared,
I wasn't prepared to act, okay?
So if we just keep doing the work
that we're supposed to doing,
God will lead us, God will guide us,
and we just, you know, sufficient unto the day
is the evil thereof,
and I know I've preached about this recently,
you know, in the last few weeks,
but it's just a good reminder,
and it's just, I see it in the scripture here tonight.
You know, Paul at one time was forbidden
from going into Asia, later he's allowed in there.
God opens up doors, he shuts doors,
we just have to be ready to go through whatever door
he opens up and be willing to just trust him
and allow him to guide us and to lead us to those doors.
You see, what we're doing matters more
than what we're going to do.
In life, we get so caught up about, you know,
what we're gonna do, what we'd like to do, one day.
You know, we're always looking down the road,
we're always, you know, there's this far off horizon
that once we get over that, it's oh man,
all these things are gonna happen.
But we ought to be more concerned
with what we're doing day by day.
Not what we're gonna do someday,
not what we're planning on,
not what might happen down the road.
Well, what are you doing today?
Are we trusting the Lord today?
You know, are we reading our Bibles today?
Are we praying today?
Are we meditating on things of God today?
Are we doing those things which please God today?
Are we, you know, getting the sin out of our lives?
So on and so forth.
Everything that goes along with that, right?
What we're doing matters more than what we're going to do.
Let's move along in the story there.
Look at verse six.
When he sailed from Philippi,
after the days of unleavened bread.
Now, it doesn't say they observed this, okay?
It's just giving you a time frame.
You know, this is just obviously a point of reference.
Doesn't say that they were observing the days of unleavened bread.
And came unto them to Troas in five days,
where we abode seven days.
And upon the first day of the week,
when the disciples came together to break bread,
Paul preached unto them,
ready to depart on the morrow,
and continued his speech until midnight.
So they have dinner,
and then Paul preaches until midnight.
Okay?
You thought my sermons were long.
Now, granted, it's the apostle Paul, okay?
But this is a very encouraging passage to me,
because it says in verse nine,
and there sat in a window,
a certain young man named Eutychus,
being fallen down into a deep sleep.
And as Paul was long preaching,
he sunk down with sleep,
and fell from the third loft,
and he was taken up dead.
So if people can fall asleep on the apostle Paul,
even when they're perched on a window sill,
three stories high,
if even that's not enough to keep some people awake in church,
you know, that I don't feel so bad,
not that it ever happens here, folks.
You know, if it ever did.
You know, if there ever happened to be somebody
that kind of just did one of these,
and, you know, next thing you know,
they're sawing logs, right?
I don't, I've learned to not be so sensitive about that, right?
Because it's kind of like, you see that happens,
like, well, what am I doing wrong here?
What do I need to do to wake you up
and get you excited about the Bible?
Like, I don't know.
I feel like I'm pretty charismatic.
I feel like, I mean, I'm sure there's guys
that are more boring than me, right?
I'm not the most boring preacher to listen to.
You know, some of you are like, well, let me think, right?
Well, it's a short list, Deacon, you know?
You're not at the top, but, you know, you're not far, right?
I try to keep it entertaining.
I try to keep it, you know, flowing
and keep people engaged.
But the fact is, you know, some people,
they come in on a midweek service,
especially when it's triple digits outside.
They've been working out in the sun.
They've been working hard all day.
You know, they sit in a La-Z-Boy.
I'm not picking on you tonight, Miss Joanna.
They sit on one of these nice, comfortable gray chairs.
The AC's blowing.
We got the background noise whirring.
And I just get into a little rhythm in my talking,
and it's just all of a sudden, you know, people nod off, right?
Well, you know, that's just the way it goes.
But it's kind of silly.
It's kind of crazy about this, you know, this eudicus,
this guy here, because he's falling out of a window, right?
You know, maybe people, maybe that's what we need to do,
is just like put everybody on ladders.
Like, everyone getting, please, welcome to Fayetteville Ward.
Please take your ladder.
You know, everyone climbs up.
We got a 15-footer back here.
You know, you could be up there looking down on me, right?
You'd probably wake up, right?
Maybe instead of you guys standing up and going back,
we should just install some ladders
throughout the auditorium, just in the middle of service.
I'm not enough, Deacon.
Sorry about that.
You just climb up on the ladder.
I don't even know if that would be enough, some of you.
I mean, it wasn't enough for this guy, right?
I mean, he's there on the edge of a windowsill.
I'm just like, you know, and Paul,
the apostle Paul's preaching, you know, when he fell out.
So there's a lot that can be said about that,
but let's move along.
It says, when he therefore was come up again
and had broken bread and eaten and talked a long while,
even till break of day, so he departed.
Oh, well, verse 10.
And Paul went down and fell on him, and embracing him,
said, trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him.
So I don't think this is where he like resurrected him.
I just think they looked at him and think,
you got a guy falls out of a three-story window.
Your first thought is, is he dead?
You know, in fact, you might even think he is dead, right?
You know, it does say young man, had he been an older man,
this might have ended differently.
Maybe there would have been need for a resurrection, right?
But apparently, you know,
maybe he went through a couple of those like, you know,
awnings or something like that on the way down,
or hit a bag of trash at the bottom, or I don't know.
Maybe it was just some, it was like a grassy field over there.
Winter? No, I'm just kidding.
Going to the snowbank? Probably not.
But anyway, so he somehow survives,
and everyone's thinking, oh, he's dead, right?
They're thinking he was taken up dead.
But Paul says, no, his life is yet in him, right?
For his life is in him, not I'll put his life back in him.
So I don't think this was a resurrection.
I just think the guy, you know, knocked himself out,
you know, was obviously hurting.
But I love how the story continues.
When he therefore was come up again
and had broken bread, so they take like a midnight snack,
right, and had eaten and talked a long while,
even till break of day, so he departed.
So then like, this doesn't even stop the service, right?
They just like, oh, someone fell out of the window, Paul.
Let's go get him up.
Let's put some food in his mouth.
And like, anyways, I was saying,
you know, he doesn't let this guy ruin the service.
He just keeps rolling with it, right?
Which, you know, there's a few things
preachers could take from this.
One, you know, people are going to nod off.
It's just, it's unavoidable, right?
People just, you know, for different reasons.
Now, I will say this.
If you come to church planning to take a nap,
your heart, you got, there's something wrong with you.
You say, no one ever do that.
Oh, yeah.
People just, I've seen people walk into church
and they're just so disinterested in the service
that they're just like, well, this is my nap time.
This is when I just put my head down for 30 minutes
and I just only look up to look at my watch.
That never happens.
You'd be surprised.
Thankfully, not very often, but it has happened.
But look, so that, you know, that, if that's,
if that is the case for some people, you know,
what's the, there's a problem there.
Like, we got to figure that out.
Some soul searching, you know,
someone needs to look into their heart.
I don't know what's going on, okay?
But, you know, people are going to show up
and they're going to, you know, it's the middle of the week.
Mom's been working at home all day with the kids,
cooking dinner, lunch, everything, you know.
The kids are tired from school, you know,
and I just got a face that just, you know,
just puts you to sleep.
Got that voice, got that face to just, you know,
just take you into La La Land, right?
That happens.
People are going to nod off.
Preachers need to just get over that.
Quit being so sensitive about those kind of things
because it's going to happen.
But also, you know, the whole thing about
the guy falling out of the window and then
Paul just continues preaching.
Like, he goes, like, wake up, you know,
and put some food in his mouth and talk to him for a minute
and then just till the break of day they keep going.
You know, pastors need to get over having to have this,
you know, no distractions in the service, you know,
and there's a lot of guys like this today.
They can't preach unless it's just like, you know,
it's only adults, you know, and but here's the thing,
even adults can be distracting during a service.
If you let them, you know, and one of the things
I think that helped me with this,
not that I'm perfect in this area,
you know, I still get distracted.
Sometimes my wife will come and say,
oh, did you hear that, you know,
one of the kids would be acting up in the back?
She's like, I'm sorry.
I'm like, for what?
She's like, oh, one of the kids was having a tantrum
throwing a fit or whatever, right?
I know one of my kids, it's unbelievable.
I'm like, I didn't even notice.
I don't even hear it.
I really don't like, I don't even like,
it's just background noise to me.
I think the reason that kind of helps is because
that's like, that's my, that's every day for me.
That's every day.
You know, I have a lot of kids, I have five kids,
but when they're all under a certain age,
it's like, there's going to be tantrums,
you know, there's going to be fits,
there's going to be crying, there's going to be,
how about even not fits of negative emotion,
even just the joyful bliss of being a young child
just running through the house,
screaming their head off, having fun.
Playing some crazy game.
I mean, it gets loud.
I live with noise canceling headphones on.
Like, you got to invest in a good quality prayer, right?
You can get some work done.
But even in the earlier days, I would make a point
of sitting down to write sermons at the kitchen table
and my wife would try to quiet the kids down.
I'm like, no, let them be noisy, let them be distracting
because I know that's probably what's going to happen
when I preach too.
People are going to do things
and kids are going to act up and stuff like that
and it's going to be distraction.
Paul has a guy fall out of the window
and was like, well, let's call it off.
He's like, hey man, let's get back up there
and let's finish the sermon.
I've only been preaching till midnight.
You know, the sun's not coming up for a few more hours.
Let's keep going, right?
And that's kind of a lesson for all of us, you know,
is that being in the house of God,
being in the preaching of the word of God
should be something that we desire.
It should be something that we,
I'm not suggesting that we stay here all night tonight.
I don't want to do that anymore than you do,
but I'm not the apostle Paul.
I mean, maybe if I had that ability, you know, I would
and you would probably enjoy it, right?
But we should at least be able to show up for church
and pay attention for an hour, right?
These guys are having a really long meeting.
Look at verse 14.
So he departs from there, right?
Well, let's look at verse 13.
And when he had gone, he went before to ship
and sail to Asos, they're intending to take in Paul
for so he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.
He's like, you guys take the ship
and I'll catch up later.
I'm going to walk, right?
So he's walking, which is interesting, you know,
why he's walking.
Probably because he just wants to, you know,
talk to people along the way, continue to do the ministry
rather than just being with the same people
he's already talked to, limiting himself
to just maybe a few people.
Maybe there's some other deeper reason.
I'm just making some application here.
You know, there's probably a real practical solution.
You know, somebody's thought up or something like that
of why he did that.
Maybe like, well, here's the real explanation
because back in those days, yada, yada, yada.
But you know, let's make application out of it, okay?
You know, maybe he wanted to go on foot
because he's already reached the people in the boat.
These are fellow believers that are going with him.
You guys can preach to the captain and the crew.
You can get those people in the boat safe.
Let me take, I'll walk and I'll run into other people
along the way.
It's kind of like sometimes when we go soul winning,
we'll be knocking the doors, but then you have the,
you know, the passers by, the pedestrians
that are just going somewhere.
And you got to get those guys too, right?
Sometimes guys will branch off from their crew, their group
and hey, I'm going to go get that guy.
It's just over there playing basketball or whatever.
So it kind of reminded me of that.
You know, he's just, hey, I'm going to go on foot
and try to reach some other people.
I just don't, I don't think it was like, hey,
I just need to get away.
He just wanted to make more opportunity.
And then it says in verse 14, and when he met us at Asos,
we took him, we took him in and came to Mydalene, Mydalene.
Verse 15, and we sailed thence and came the next day
over against Chios and the next day we arrived at Samos
and tarried at Trojelium and the next day we came to Miletus.
So there, again, it's just real practical.
They went here, they went here, they went here.
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,
at Jerusalem, the day of Pentecost.
Okay, and that's going to develop into something else
in a few more chapters, you know, real soon.
So Paul is, you know, wants to be at Jerusalem
for the day of Pentecost, which is a Jewish feast, okay.
Now, is it because he wants to go there to make sacrifice
or something like that, or he's still observing the law?
Or is it just, again, you know, he wants to be at Jerusalem
at that particular day for other reasons?
We'll find out.
And from verse 17, and from Miletus,
he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church.
So he says, before I go, let's get all the elders
of Ephesus together, and let me give them
one last talking to, right.
So he's talking, the elders there being the pastors, right,
the leaders, the guys that he had been ordaining,
the people that have been brought up in the church.
You know, he's bringing all of them together.
He's kind of having, you know, a conference with them,
basically.
And when they came to him, he said to them,
you know, from the first day that I came to Asia,
after what manner I've been with you at all seasons,
serving the Lord with humility and with many tears
and temptations which befell me by the lying
and the weight of Jews.
So a couple of things here.
One, you know, when it comes to serving the Lord,
you know, there's a couple of things you need.
First of all, being humility, humility of mind,
you know, and not to be thinking too highly of yourself,
not to be thinking that it's all about you,
or in Paul's case, obviously a man of great ability,
a man of great teaching and speaking,
very powerful man of God, you know,
but yet one that is able to remain humble
in light of that fact, okay.
We always want to preach to bless people.
We don't want to preach to impress people.
Preach to bless, not to impress, okay.
That's what he did there.
So that's maybe, you know, a quick example of that,
but also he says, and with many tears.
So Paul is one who admits even as a man that he cried
at least once, right.
You know, he cried often, it sounds like,
with many tears, right.
That's what he's talking about.
He's anxious, or maybe he's burdened and temptations,
he says, which befell me by the lying and weight of the Jews,
right, and he had all these trials he was dealing with.
So here's some things that you have to keep in mind
when it comes to the ministry.
One, humility comes first.
Two, you got to have a burden.
If there's no burden, you know,
then you're not going to be engaged, okay.
You got to have the tears, okay.
He that goeth forth, you know, a bearing precious seed,
you know, weeping shall doubtless come again,
bringing his she's with him with rejoicing, right.
Now I'm paraphrasing there, right,
but it's the same concept, you know,
and here's the thing.
If we just start going through our ministry here,
just kind of out of, you know, rote repetition,
just through, you know, just robotically,
just mundane, you know, just another day of soul winning,
another 59 minutes and 59 seconds on a Saturday
or whenever we go, and just not really expecting anything,
just kind of checking off the box,
just want to make, get the deacon off my back,
you know, just so I don't have to get preached at,
you know, it'll be for other people
when he starts talking about soul winning, right.
You know, if that's our approach to ministry,
you know, in preaching the gospel,
that's going to come through to the people at the door.
People are going to pick up on that.
And maybe not even on a conscious level,
you know, on a subconscious level,
people, I mean, because people communicate so much
just through body language, facial expressions,
it's not even just the words you say.
You know, even the words you say might be right,
but might be how you say them.
People are, you know, we as human beings,
we pick up on all of these nonverbal cues all the time.
And that's not stuff you can really control,
maybe for a little bit,
but you can't fake it till you make it
when it comes to that.
If you don't have a burden, you know,
if you're not burdened for the people
that you're preaching to and reaching out to,
you know, it's going to show up.
People are going to sense that.
And they're just going to think,
you know, this guy is here at my door,
but he's not really, he sounds like he's interested.
He sounds like he's got something to say,
but it doesn't seem genuine, doesn't seem sincere.
Not interested, right?
You just come across as another salesman or something, right?
You think the guy trying to sell you solar gutters
really cares about your electric bill,
or, you know, he doesn't, he just,
he's trying to make another sale.
And that's not a bad thing.
I mean, that's fine, right?
But we don't want to cut,
that's not how we want to be seen as,
another, you know, spiritual salesman.
You want people to hear it in our voice
and to see it in our eyes and to, you know,
sense it in our being that we actually do care about them.
Amen.
Right.
And Paul could say that, you know,
I've served the Lord with you all humility of mind
and with many tears.
You know, he sees not to pray night and day.
He was burdened for the people that he was reaching out to.
You know, one thing that might help with that,
you know, if that's us,
is going somewhere where it's, you know,
where people are really suffering.
I get it, it's kind of hard to have a burden
when you're in Chandler or these nicer neighborhoods
up in, you know, up in Phoenix,
or even here, you know,
or you're in a neighborhood where people
are just more interested in the game on Sunday afternoon.
They're just more interested in whatever they got going on.
I had a guy not last night and knock on his door
and I'm like, you know, I'm trying,
I want to preach the gospel to him,
but he's like, oh, the debates are on right now.
The Republican debates.
It's like, I'm watching the debates.
Like, like, oh, excuse me.
By all means, sir.
Go watch a bunch of liars tell a bunch of lies.
Go watch people make a bunch of promises
they have no intention of keeping.
Okay, that's as political as I'm going to get.
You know, I couldn't tell you one name
of anyone was that was there.
I don't know.
I don't follow it because I'm not interested in it.
I'm not interested in, you know, Hollywood for ugly people.
It's called politics, right?
They're all acting.
It's just some of them,
these guys are way less attractive than the, you know,
the whore mongers and whores of Hollywood.
But, you know, Paul, he preached with many tears, right?
And look, even when we get into these places
where people aren't interested, that can affect us.
Don't think it can affect you, you know?
And you could just say, well, it's, you know,
it's just another, just another soul winning time,
you know, in this region of the city
and this is the way it's going to be.
And that starts to come across.
That's why I think it's important for people to go
to places where people are, will give you a burden.
Like one for me, of course,
is when I was doing the Indian reservation.
You know, that's not part of my job description anymore,
but there was a long season, you know,
where I would go up there almost every week.
And man, you go into some of these reservations
and you start talking to these people
and you see the conditions some of them are living in.
Like, if that does give you a burden,
I don't know what will, you know?
So what do we do here?
You know how to go to an Indian reservation?
Well, there's this place called Nogales.
It's about an hour and 15 minutes from here.
You know, and I know not everyone speaks Spanish,
but if you do, man, I mean, if I did,
I would love to be going,
I would try to get Nogales every Saturday,
honestly, if I could.
Because, you know, from what I've seen of it,
they're not exactly living in the lap of luxury over there.
I've looked at some of the restaurants on Google
and they got some pretty good Mexican food over there,
you know, getting a thumbs up, right?
But, you know, I'm sure you get out that main road past
where they're trying to serve all the food
to a lot of the, you know, people coming through,
all the gringos and everybody on their way
to Rocky Point or whatever,
you start getting down some of these roads.
I bet you get, I mean, am I wrong to say
it probably gets kind of rough?
Even in Nogales?
It's right there, a border town, right?
I mean, there's probably other places in the world,
obviously, that get far worse.
I mean, people are going to Nigeria.
We got people going to Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
You know, you go and see how people are living
and it might cause you to minister with many tears, okay?
But the other thing I want to point out about this,
and I know I got to move along,
is that men of God are people too, okay?
Paul here is saying he had many tears and temptations, right?
And sometimes we look at men of God
and because when you are in leadership,
you can't, you know, you have to project strength,
certainty, assuredness, you know, you have to project that,
even if you don't feel that way, right?
People are looking to you.
When trials come, when persecution comes,
everyone looks at the leader and they're like,
are we good?
You know, they're kind of, you know,
I mean, that's one thing I would say to my kids.
My kids sometimes would get scared about things
and I would say, hey, look, am I scared?
And they go, no.
I'm like, what are you afraid of, right?
And that would bring them something,
that didn't always work, okay?
Don't, you know, no promises on that one, okay?
It was a valiant effort, okay?
Their little minds couldn't comprehend the,
you know, the deep thoughts I was giving them in that, right?
But I was trying to give them assurance that,
hey, I'm not afraid, neither should you be afraid, right?
But, you know, Paul has tears, he has temptations,
things are befalling him, you know,
it'd be silly to think that he was always just
this unmovable stalwart, you know,
just this bulwark of the faith
who just never displayed emotion,
never had a moment's doubt,
was never hurt by the things that happened to him,
you know, you can't always show that,
you can't always let people know that's what's going on,
but, you know, men of God are people too.
And they have feelings,
and they can be hurt just as much as anybody else, okay?
Let's move along before I choke up up here,
but in verse 20 it says,
and how I kept back nothing that was profitable,
I really want to take a minute with this one
because there's a good point to be made here.
He's saying, I serve the Lord with all humility,
with many tears,
these temptations that came because of the Jews,
and how I, you know, also how I kept back nothing
that was profitable unto you,
but have showed you and taught you publicly
and from house to house.
First thing I want to point out about this verse
is that he said, I kept back nothing
that was profitable unto you.
So think about the words here.
He kept back nothing, meaning he didn't hold back, right?
He says later, I've declared unto you
the whole counsel of the word of God.
There wasn't anything that he didn't say, right?
And in that holding back, or that not holding back,
he says that me not holding back was profitable unto you, okay?
Because when you think about it,
you know, when you think, oh, it's profitable.
What he preached to me was profitable.
A lot of people might instantly start to think,
well, he must have said a lot of nice things.
He must have said just a lot of really just encouraging
and nice, sweet things that were profitable, right?
Because that's how people tend to think.
When you think profitable, you just think of all the good,
nice things that he must have said, right?
And I'm sure Paul said a lot of exhortation
and lots of words of encouragement,
but you have to hold back from doing that.
Is there a temptation to hold back from saying nice things,
from telling people things that are going to make them happy?
Right?
And look, those things are profitable, right?
It's good to exhort the brethren,
to edify the saints before that.
There is profit in that.
But he's saying, I held back nothing that was profitable you.
You know, as a preacher, the temptation to hold back
is not to say, well, I can't get up here
and tell everybody that everything's fine
because that's not going to upset anybody.
You know, everyone's good.
There's no one has to fix anything.
No one has any sin.
I don't have to rebuke anything.
I don't have to get on anybody's case.
I don't have to preach anything negative.
Right?
I don't know if I can do that.
There's no temptation.
You see what I'm saying?
There's no temptation to hold back,
to preach that which is positive, right?
The temptation to hold back is to not preach
that which is negative, right?
But he said, I have kept back nothing.
I didn't hold back.
I didn't keep anything in the back.
And so obviously, what he's saying,
I haven't kept back anything negative.
And he's saying, that negative thing
that I didn't keep back was profitable to you.
You know, the negative preaching
is a lot of times what people need.
That's what's going to profit them.
It's not always going to be
what they want to hear, right?
But it's what they need to hear.
You know, the phrase that we hear
from time to time is hard preaching works.
And it does.
So he's saying, hey, me not holding back
was profitable unto you.
What profits is not always pleasing.
What's going to profit people
isn't always going to please them.
It's not always going to make them happy.
It's not always going to put a smile on their face.
I might send some people for the door, you know.
But the Bible says, you know,
faithful are the wounds of a friend,
but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
The guy who holds back and only tells you
that what you want to hear is not your friend.
The preacher who holds back
and doesn't say what you need to hear,
not your friend.
He's not profiting you.
Okay.
And that's what's going on in a lot of pulpits today.
That's a whole sermon right there.
And he said how I showed on you,
but I've showed on you and taught you publicly
and from house to house.
So another great example of a way to model a ministry, right?
The public speaking when he was getting together
in the synagogues and different places,
the markets, you know, the meeting houses,
the church meetings,
and that would be the public speaking
when there's a public gathering,
but also from house to house.
You know, we could liken that
onto going out and preaching the gospel.
That's why we do it house to house,
not just try to do all of our evangelism in church.
I mean, how much sense would it make for me
to get up here and preach an evangelistic message tonight?
You know, you guys would be making out
like a eudicus at that point.
We'd have people falling over left and right.
Not because you find the gospel boring,
but because you're saved, right?
You've already heard it.
You know it.
You need other things from the word of God.
But, you know, so many churches today,
that's how they pattern their whole ministry
because they forsake in the house to house part.
They just want to do all the, you know,
the house to house, the preaching the gospel,
you know, going out there two by two.
They've replaced that with just like,
well, let's get every, let's be seeker sensitive.
Let's just bring all the unsaved people
into the house of God.
And then we'll do our best to just get them
to have an emotional reaction and preach them down an aisle
or something like that, you know?
And it's like, I'm sorry, but so many of these preachers,
they just, it's like, did they all go to the same,
like, were they taught to all preach the same way?
Because they all, it's just like,
there's like this way that they preach.
It's hard to put in words, but it's just like,
you know, they just get real soft
and they just get real dramatic.
But the words, they put a pause.
There doesn't need to be a pause.
You know, it's just, it's like this,
and it's an appeal to emotion.
You know, it's almost like theatrical preaching, right?
It's almost like they're putting on like a show
to try to elicit some kind of emotional reaction
for people in the church.
Where it's like, what we actually need in the church house
is the practical preaching.
Just get up and tell me what the Bible says.
Give me some scripture.
You know, let's go line by line.
Preach me some doctrine.
Teach me what the Bible says.
Tell me how to live my life
that's gonna be pleasing the Lord.
Don't hold back anything that's profitable.
Give me the good, bad, and the ugly.
You know, that's what we need.
You know, let's save all the emotional,
and I'm not suggesting anyone does this,
but you know, take the emotion out there where it's needed.
Go out there with the burden and all that
and preach the lost.
Take the gospel out into the world, house to house.
Let's say the public gathering for God's people.
Okay, so verse 22.
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,
meaning that they're waiting for him, right?
They're going to remain for him.
There's where you're heading, Paul.
There's bonds and afflictions.
They're going to abide, okay, meaning they remain.
That word abide isn't one we really use a lot today,
but if you look that up,
you'll see that's kind of the meaning in scripture.
For example, 1 Corinthians 7.
Let every man abide in the same calling
wherein he is called.
1 Corinthians 3.
If any man's work abide, you know,
meaning it remains and abides.
He's saying, look, Paul, the Holy Ghost is saying,
bonds and afflictions are waiting for you.
They remain.
They're abiding, okay?
Verse 24.
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 the Lord Jesus to testify
of the gospel and the grace of God.
So he's saying, you know, all these bonds and afflictions,
all the things that I've gone through,
the laying and the weight of the Jews,
so on and so forth, all these things,
none of these things move me, right?
And, you know, that's, and I love how he says
that I might finish my course.
Because you might say like,
well, you sound kind of braggadocious, Paul,
saying none of these things move me, right?
But he says so that I might finish my course.
So he's still saying, you know,
I'm going to remain unmovable so that I may finish,
that I might finish my course.
Not saying it's as good as done, you know,
break out the champagne, don't, it's figure speech, okay?
You know, this race is won, it's in the bag, right?
Now he's saying I'm remain, none of these things move me,
I'm going to be unmovable so that I might finish my course.
Look, if you're going to finish your course in this life,
if you're going to end life well,
you can't be moved by these things.
You can't be driven about, you know,
with every wind of doctrine, you can't be,
you know, an unstable, immature child spiritually,
you have to grow up into Christ,
you have to start eating the meat of the word of God,
you have to grow into these things,
you have to grow in the knowledge, the grace of God,
you have to get your feet under you spiritually,
you can't be movable
if you're going to finish your course with joy
and your ministry, right?
We're all going to finish life,
but we're all going to finish it with joy.
You know, I preached, you know,
I think just this last Sunday, failure is an option.
We could botch this whole thing called life.
We could get to the end of life
and just make a mess out of it
and look back and look at ministry and just say,
well, we were a complete failure for Christ.
You know, that doesn't sound joyful, right?
He's saying, I want to finish my course with joy.
Like, I want to get to the end of it
and look back and say, man, I'm glad I didn't quit.
He's saying, well, how do you get there?
You can't let these things move you.
None of these things move me
so that I might finish my course with joy.
You can't let these things move you.
They're coming, you know,
and you can't let it catch you off guard.
And it's interesting, and we'll close here,
go to 2 Timothy 4, 2 Timothy 4.
We'll go back to Acts, but last place I'll return.
I should never make promises
about being done anytime soon.
Midnight's still another four hours away, folks,
so we'll find that window.
We got to cut one cut out right there.
It's not quite two stories.
I'll break out the ladder.
2 Timothy 4, it says in verse five,
but watch thou in all these things,
endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist,
make full proof of thy ministry.
There's a good three-point sermon,
endure, do, make.
For I am now ready to be offered
in the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought a good fight.
I have finished my course.
So now he's at the end.
He's saying, you know,
the time of my departure is at hand.
I'm ready to be offered.
I've come to the end,
and I have finished my course.
Verse eight, henceforth,
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge,
shall give to me at that day,
and not to me only,
but unto all them also that love is appearing.
Those that are going to keep living for God,
they're going to get the same crown that I'm getting.
Those that finish their course, right?
If we love God,
then we'll do those things which he has commanded.
We won't be moved from these things,
and we'll receive that same crown.
We'll finish our course with joy, right?
Isn't that interesting?
He said in Acts,
I might finish my course.
And then, you know,
we see in verse seven of 2 Timothy 4,
I have finished my course.
He did it.
And why?
By not being movable,
not allowing these things to move him.
And that's exactly what he's telling Timothy.
Don't be moved.
Isn't that what he's saying?
He's saying endure afflictions,
do the work,
make full proof of thy ministry,
finish your course with joy.
Don't be moved by these things.
Endure the afflictions,
just as he did.
The afflictions that he had
about laying in the way of the Jews,
and everything else that came in his life.
So it's great to be able to see that in Paul's life.
This point where he's forward thinking,
where he's thinking none of these things move me,
that I might finish my course with joy.
Then you get to 2 Timothy,
where he's writing to him,
and he's ready to pass on,
and he's saying I've done it.
I've done it.
You know, that's what I want in my life.
That's what I want in the lives of everybody in this room.
To be able to finish their course with joy,
and to not fall out from the Christian life.
Not saying, you know,
obviously we're all saved,
we're gonna go to heaven.
If you're saved, you know,
you're gonna go to heaven no matter what.
You couldn't go to hell if you wanted to.
Okay, but that doesn't necessarily mean
you're gonna get to the end of this course with joy.
It doesn't necessarily mean that this crown of righteousness
is gonna be laid up for you.
You know, if we want that,
well, we can't be moved by these things.
We have to endure the afflictions.
We have to do the work.
We have to make full proof of the ministry.
Okay, we'll wrap up here.
Verse 25, it says,
and now behold, I know that all ye among whom I have gone preaching
in the kingdom of God shall see my face no more.
So he's basically saying goodbye, right?
He's saying you're not gonna see me anymore, this is it.
You know, and obviously we can't get the full weight,
the emotional weight of that moment,
but obviously these are people
that Paul has heavily invested in in his life.
This has been his whole life's purpose
is in building these churches,
training up these men,
winning these souls to Christ,
and he's saying goodbye.
You know, you're not gonna see my face anymore.
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.
So obviously it's kind of a tearful moment here or whatever,
but it's also a stern warning too.
He's saying, I haven't shunned to declare,
you know, there's no blood on my hands, basically.
And then he goes on and says in verse 28,
take heed yourselves.
He gives the warning about the grievous wolves
that are gonna enter in.
People are gonna rise to speaking perverse things,
how he coveted no man's silver,
how he ministered his own necessities
and gave them an example.
Now notice the verse 36,
and we had thus spoken,
he kneeled down and prayed with them all
and they all wept sore, right?
So these people have become very fond of one another
and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him.
And this is the same guy
that held back nothing from them, right?
These people are very endeared to Paul,
you know, and it probably wasn't
because he was always just,
I'm not saying Paul was some belligerent jerk, okay?
But you know, he probably,
I mean, go read the epistles.
You know, it's not all sunshine and roses in there.
There's a lot of face ripping going on.
There's a lot of calling out sin
and telling him, you know,
him just tearing it up, you know,
and saying a lot of negative things.
And no doubt, you know,
these elders of Ephesus,
there was probably a lot of correction,
a lot of instruction,
a lot of just straightening people out,
and yet they're endeared to him for it.
They're like, oh, oh, you're leaving?
You're going?
Fine, you know.
Oh, great.
I mean, oh, well, have a nice trip, Paul.
You know, no, they're like, don't leave, Paul.
They're weeping.
They're falling on him.
Paul's having an emotional reaction.
You know, because again,
you know that the people that are looking,
you know, when someone's correcting you,
instructing you,
it's because they care about you.
It's because they're trying to help you, right?
And the guy that just wants to be your,
you know, never offend anybody,
is it, doesn't really care about you.
He doesn't care to tell you you're wrong.
He doesn't care to tell you to fix something.
That guy doesn't love you.
And they, in turn, left Paul for it.
Verse 38, sorrowing most of all for the words
which he had spake,
that they should see his face no more,
and they accompanied him.
Now, obviously, Paul's ministry had a very,
you know, he was very effective in his ministry.
And I'm going to close on this.
If you notice in verse one,
it says he called them his disciples
and embraced them, right?
When he's leaving them,
he's embracing them.
You know, that's like, you know,
bringing them close,
maybe even, you know,
putting his arms around them.
There's an affection there, right?
That's even, you know,
from what I gather,
it's even physical to a certain degree, right?
Where he's physically embracing them
and, you know,
and telling them goodbye.
And it's just something you kind of see, right?
Again, he goes down when,
when Eutychus falls out of the window,
he embraces them, right?
He's picking them up.
And he's talking about how he's served the Lord
with many tears, right?
He has this burden.
And then at the end here, again,
we see that, you know,
they're falling on him.
They're embracing him.
And the last point I want to make is that,
you know, Paul was obviously really,
really effective in his ministry.
But why was that?
You know, I don't think it was just because
of the fact that he was a powerful speaker
or that because he was well versed in the scripture.
Obviously, those things help.
They should be there.
To whatever degree we can do those things.
But I think what made Paul so effective
is the fact that he was invested in his people.
He's very invested.
If we want to be effective in our ministry,
we have to be invested in it.
You have to care.
You got to care.
You got to care about the people
you're preaching the gospel to.
You got to care about the people
you're preaching to.
You got to care about your brothers and sisters.
You got to genuinely care about people.
You know, and then you'll be invested in them.
You know, what that'll do is it'll make you effective.
You know, because if you don't really care,
are you really going to do anything for anybody?
We really don't do much for the people
we don't care about, right?
But the people that we care about,
you know, we're careful how we speak with them.
We're careful how we treat them.
We're careful to their needs.
If there is something we look after them, we care.
So, you know, that's what I think made Paul.
Obviously, there's many things that made Paul
the man that he was, the great, powerful
man of God that he was.
But it wasn't that he was just riding
on the wave of his ability, right?
You know, there was emotion involved.
There was a genuine, sincere care
for the people that he ministered to.
And you kind of see it come out in this chapter.
When he's getting all the elders together,
and there's this kind of, and he's giving
a very stern warning, like, you know,
even of your own men, even if some of you
shall summarize, you know, speaking of
reverse things to draw away disciples after them,
you know, there's going to be grievous wolves
that are going to enter in.
And he's giving a stern warning.
But, you know, at the end, it's this very,
you know, emotional moment.
It's very sincere because of the fact
they were invested in one another,
and that's what made them effective.
Let's go ahead and close the word of prayer.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for the Bible.
Thank you for its many lessons.
And Lord, I pray to help us to be invested,
Lord, in our ministry, be invested in the
opportunity that's open unto us right here.
And Lord, help us to be found daily doing
the things that we ought to be doing and
to be doing the will of God and to be working
and to keep your word, Lord, and to be faithful to it.
And Lord, to not be moved by the things
that this world, to not be moved by the flesh,
but to be just faithful and, Lord, to be prepared
to walk through the opportunities that you'll
give us in this ministry and, Lord, to be
invested in one another and, Lord, to care for
one another and, Lord, to care for the people
that we have yet to meet and the people that
we're going to preach to.
Lord, every time we go out there, Lord, help us
to go with a tear in our eye and a Bible in our hand,
Lord, and the Holy Spirit upon us.
We ask in Christ's name, amen.
All right, we'll go ahead and sing one more song.
All right, let's sing one more song.
All right.
Okay.