Could you please open your Bibles today to the book of Acts? We are going to seek to finish with Acts 20 today. Since we have covered in our last ministry meeting, Acts chapter 20, verses 1 to 16, I would like today to read Acts chapter 20, verse 17 to verse 38. And will you please follow with me in this chapter? Acts chapter 20, verse 17. And for Miltus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the laying in wait of the Jews.

And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Spirit witness in every city, saying that bonds and affliction abide me. But none of these things moved 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 of the Lord Yeshua, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

And now, behold, I know, that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more. 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. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to feed the church of God which he has purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

Therefore watch, and remember that by the space of three years, I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel, yet ye yourself know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, And to them that were with me, I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak. And to remember the word of our Lord Yeshua, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.

And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship. And this is the end of Acts chapter 20. The verses that I read is verses 17 to verse 38. Reading this passage, beloved brothers and sisters, is a very moving passage that is found in the book of Acts because you can see the heart of the Apostle Paul of Shaul towards the believers that God had used him to minister, to serve them, to share with them the message of the gospel of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

And you can see really a heart of a shepherd, a heart of a minister of the gospel, a heart of a one that was truly seeking to minister the word of God to the world around, both to his own brethren, the Jewish people, as well as to the Gentile world. He had a heart that we can say the heart of God, the heart of the Messiah. He had love towards the saints, whether they were Jewish or non-Jewish, but he loved the ministry and he loved the people to whom he ministered. And how often time I must say that we, by the fact that our hearts are not always the way it should be, we often find ourselves in ministry so hard-hearted and so weak in a sense of our responsibility to the Lord and to the Lord's people.

that we often minister the Word of God without that which is supposed to come along. Yearning heart, conscience that is desiring to please the Lord and to be a blessing to the people of God. And here is the Apostle Paul, who is now on his third missionary journey. He's really towards the end of his ministry because he's going to be captured soon, a bit later on in the city of Yerushalayim in Jerusalem he's going to be taken by the Romans and he's going to be ultimately taken to Rome where he's going to be in prison where he's no longer going to be able to minister in the freedom that he had before and here just before he's heading on towards Jerusalem towards the city of Yerushalayim which he's going to get there by chapter 21 and verse 17.

This is his last half, if you will, his last portion of his third missionary journey. He is now gathering the elders of the city of Ephesus, and he's appealing to them before he's continuing on towards the city of Jerusalem. If you remember in our previous ministry meeting when we talked about Acts chapter 20 verses 1 to 16 he visited Macedonia he visited Greece and in those last verses before verse 17 we find him moving on from Assos to Mitalin from Mitalin to Caius from Caius to Samos and for Samos to Trogileum and from Torghileum to Miltus. Miltus is about 28 miles from Ephesus. It is present-day Turkey. And from there, I want you to notice, brothers and sisters, that in verses 17 to 21, from Miltus, he is now calling the elders of the church of Ephesus to come to him.

You notice it says in verse 17, And from Miltus, he's sent to Ephesus, and he called the elders of the church, the elders of the assembly. Now, that was about 57, 58 A.D., where the Apostle Paul is calling them to come. This is just towards the end of his third missionary journey, which started about 54 A.D. and ended about 58, 57 A.D. and he is now calling from Miltus for the elders of the church of the Ephesians. Now notice, brothers and sisters, he is calling the elders. The elders, the Greek word for elders is presbyterios, which means those that are older and those who are overseeing the condition that existed in the church of Ephesus.

And you know, today we have many elders in various local assemblies, local church groups, and their responsibility is the welfare of the flock of God. God had raised men, God had raised brothers, and he had gifted them and had given to them the spiritual responsibility to oversee the welfare of the flock. on which God had placed them as responsible you notice it's called there in verse 17 the elders of the church many times we emphasize the word church the church is not the building the word for church is ecclesia called out individuals and whether it is from Israel from among our Jewish people or whether it is from among the Gentile believers, the church is the body of Messiah, it is the living stones, the believers, and those are the elders over this local assembly at Ephesus.

Now what he does here, beloved brothers and sisters, in the rest of the chapter, he is reminding the elders of his past dealing with them first of all then he's telling them of his present feeling and what's going to happen to him and then he is telling them about the future of the things that will happen in the local assembly at Ephesus and what we really see here that the apostle Paul speaking about the past the present and the future the way he acted in the past the way the things are headed up to happen for him in the present and the things that will happen in the future to the church of ephesus and

ultimately it will be among all believers elsewhere around the world in the body of our lord yeshua the messiah so let's look at over here in our verses how the pastor paul first of all remind the elders of ephesus of his past ministry among them notice this first of all he is telling them in verse 18 and i want you to see brothers and sisters what kind of a man was shaul paul this hebrew servant of the lord among the gentile believers look at the kind of servant he was in verse 18 Paul pointed out to the elders the manner in which he behaved among them he says in verse 18 and when they will

come to him he said unto them you know from the first day that I came into Asia after what manner I have been with you at all seasons he is first of all pointing out to the manner in which he conducted himself we know very well from many many passages in the bible the mannerizing of the apostle paul he was a gracious man he was a man that spoke the truth of the word of god he stood firm for the word of god for the person and the work of our lord yeshua the messiah and the manner in which he conducted himself his mannerism had been such a consistent mannerism he was faithful he was

consistent you know many times the manner of our behavior as believers is not always pleasing to the lord but our pastor paul apparently in his mannerism in a way that he conducted himself in such a way that was a blessing to those that were around him and especially in the connection with the believers at the city of ephesus he says look from the day from the first day that i came you know until and all along what manner i have been with you and notice at all seasons from the beginning till the time that he have left them apparently he was there for three years you can find the word three years found in verse

31 that for three years spent at the city of ephesus he conducted himself in a manner that was pleasing to the lord and a blessing to the others you know this is so important for us in the manner in which we also conduct ourselves you know how it is for us sometimes we are quickly to get angry we are quickly to behave in a manner that is not right and not pleasing to the lord and we can mention all kind of things that sometime in our behavior is not pleasing to the lord but the apostle paul behaved in a manner in what manner i have been with you at every season you know when they

had a hard time he was with them dealing with issues that the problems that occurred there in a hard time in an easy time his mannerism was consistent with the need of the local assembly at Ephesus what an encouragement you and I can receive from the manner in which the apostle Paul was and then look at this he developed this in the next verse, in verse 19, and he's saying to them, listen, I was really serving the Lord by my manner in my behavior.

Verse 19, he says, listen, I was serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befall upon me by the laying in weight of the jewish people he's saying to them look at that beloved elders of the ephesians look at a manner in which i was actually serving the lord you know he served the ephesians but really when he conducted himself in such a godly way he was looking to yeshua the messiah the glorified messiah and he said in my service in my ministry really even though i served you but actually i was serving the lord i was looking to the one that have called me for this purpose

for this service and look at his brothers and sisters in verse 19 he says with all humility now if we are going to serve our blessed lord yeshua the messiah it is necessary to have humility in all our service there is no room for pride pride comes before a fall god resists the proud but he gives grace unto the humble we read in scripture humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due time you know brothers and sisters if we are going to serve the Lord if we are going to be used in a ministry of the gospel it must be done in humility it must be done as

we are looking at our blessed Lord Yeshua the Messiah who humbled himself we read in the book of philippians made himself of no reputation he humbled himself he came down from heaven he became a man just like you and i and he humbled himself and he took a form of a servant and as a servant we read about our lord yeshua the messiah that he humbled himself and he went down even unto death and that is the death of the cross when he paid for our sin on the tree when he died for us this is the ministry in humility the apostle paul served the ephesians and that's why he used this expression in verse

19 i serve the lord number one with all humility of mind in other word he put a check on his mind sometimes you know in ministry we get to be kind of thinking of ourselves a little bit more than we ought to think and we think that the whole world depend upon me as if God could not do anything without me or without this servant that he used but let me tell you that when there is pride in our ministry the Lord will have to put it down he will have to remove from his presence because that is not the characteristics of our lord jesus the messiah and every one of us that participate in

ministry had to put a watch on his own hearts and his own conscience when he began to lift himself in pride because god resists the proud but then secondly brothers and sisters it was not only in humility that you find here the apostle paul in verse 19 he says with many tears now why do we cry why do we weep sometime you know tears coming because of disappointments because of concern you know that pastor paul was so concerned for the believers wherever he served that many times you find him weeping before the lord weeping for the people of god you remember yesterday in our bible study when we studied in first corinthians in chapter one

how the apostle paul said to the corinthians that he was praying and mentioning the corinthians consistently before god before the lord yeshua the messiah why because he loved the brothers and sisters of corinth and he cared for them and he wanted them to grow spiritually so in his ministry he finds himself many times weeping in ministry you notice in this same chapter at least another two times that the word tears or weeping is mentioned if you look at verse 31 he said i want everyone night and day with tears notice in verse 37 and they all wept sore the weeping the tears that the apostle shed was a tears that he's concerned for the welfare

of the people of god and you know he was not different than our lord yeshua jesus the messiah one of the shortest verses is found in john chapter 11 where we read of our lord yeshua the Messiah and Jesus wept and Yeshua Bacha in Hebrew Yeshua wept why did he weep he was at Lazarus graveside and he's looking at the Jewish community there when Lazarus is in the grave and he saw the condition of his own people Israel the Jewish community the Jewish people and they were mourning and they were weeping of the loss of Lazarus and here in the midst of them was the one who is called the resurrection and the life, the

Messiah Yeshua himself.

And he's looking at the people, and he saw them all mourning and weeping of the loss of Lazarus because they did not recognize that there is a hope beyond the grave, that there is a resurrection from among the dead. And Yeshua wept when he looked at the people, and that's where he says, Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus, the one who was dead, came alive and he rose. But this is the shortest verse in the scripture. Yeshua wept for the care and the concern for the people of God. Elsewhere you read about him in the Gospel of Luke where he saw the city of Jerusalem and he wept over the city of Jerusalem because of his love for his own people Israel and the concern for the nation.

And here the Apostle Paul, in a very same way, he was weeping. We never read that earlier when we studied chapter 18 and 19 of the book of Acts. But apparently in those three years when he served at the city of Ephesus, according to verse 19, not only that he had been there in humility, but he also shed many tears. And I can tell you, beloved brothers and sisters, in the ministry of the work of the Lord, Many servants, many times spending in weeping before the Lord because of the condition of the believers, because of the friction among the believers, because of the needs of the people of God.

And I have seen it many years ago. I went to a meeting, our own meeting of Holy Scriptures and Israel meeting, and I came a little bit earlier to the meeting. And there is another group that was meeting in the same hall, but they were meeting earlier than us. And I went to the hall and I was alone in that hall. I thought I was alone. And then I was going further down to the basement. And I was watching another brother who is on his knees weeping before the Lord. And I heard him as praying aloud. He was praying for the people of God, for those to whom he was ministering.

He was on his knees alone. He thought he was alone, just the same like I thought that I was alone. But he was weeping. Nobody knew that he was weeping. Nobody knew that he would care so much for his people. Maybe he did show it in his life, and I'm sure he did. But when he was alone, he went in the presence of the Lord and he was weeping on behalf of the local assembly upon whom the Lord gave him the responsibility to minister the word of God.

The care for the flock of the people of God bring those leaders into the time when they have to weep before the lord for the sake of the flock so you can see the mannerism in which the apostle paul shaul was serving then notice thirdly brothers and sisters in the very same verse 19 we see the third thing that our pastor paul had to experience in his manner and his behavior notice it says in temptation this word for temptation it really needs to be the word for trials how many trials this man have experienced on the way to Damascus when Yeshua have called him to serve him and then later on he told Hananiah that

he will go and he will touch his eyes and he will give him sight he said to Hananiah you go for he is a chosen vessel unto me this is Shaul Paul to bear my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the children of Israel for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake Shaul Paul has suffered for the name of the Lord so many things in his life he had experienced a lot of suffering in his life he had experienced suffering by his own jewish brethren he had experienced suffering by their own gentle brethren he had experienced by the unbelieving world by the romans by strangers he

had experienced all sort of persecutions and suffering that we can read that in many passages in the scriptures in the word of god and so the Apostle Paul reminding the believers of the fact that he was faithful in the manner in which he behaved when he served the Ephesians.

And he's reminding this to the elders in verses 17, 18, and 19. And now let's move on. In verse 20 and 21, Paul pointing out to the message that he presented the Ephesians with. Look at the message when he arrived to the city of Ephesus.

It says here in verse 20 and verse 21, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but I have showed you and I have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and to the greeks repentance towards god and faith towards our lord yeshua jesus the messiah notice the message now he's pointing out to the message when it's come to the message i want you to notice a few things first of all paul taught publicly and from house to house he was speaking and preaching publicly to the multitude but he also went from house to house as we read here in verse 20 he was preaching publicly

and privately publicly and from house to house interesting to see at the manner in which he was presenting the message and then in verse 21 he was not only preaching to the jewish people but he was also preaching to the greeks in other words his message was not limited to one group or to another it was both to his own brothers in the synagogue wherever he went and then to the greeks or to the gentile you remember this was his practice whenever he arrived to any city the first thing that shaul paul have done he have gone to his own brethren the jewish people to the synagogue and he presented yeshua the messiah in the

synagogue to the jewish people but when they have rejected him then he moved on and he also went and he presented a message to the gentiles as well so you can see beautifully here door to door house to house and publicly jewish people and gentiles alike everyone need to hear the message of the gospel and thirdly we find here in verse 21 that notice the message itself repentance towards god and faith towards our lord yeshua jesus the messiah repentance was important you know people think that they can just say jesus yeshua i believe in you and they are going to be saved just by saying that they believe well if faith in the messiah does

not proceed with repentance what is repentance repentance is turning away 180 degrees and saying to god god i'm turning away from that which i have lived like and i'm turning away towards you towards god and then i confess before the Lord when I say, Lord, I believe that it is you, Yeshua, you, Jesus, our Messiah, the one that have paid the price for my sin.

So repentance was very important because without repentance, there is no remissions of sins. In Athens, in the previous chapters, in chapter 17, he said to the people in Athens in verse 30 the time of this ignorant God winked at but now he commanding all men everywhere to repent repentance is very important to identify with God and to confess our sins before the Lord, to take the side of God against ourselves. That's what repentance means. God, I admit that what you say about me is 100% correct. When you say that I have fallen short of the glory of God, that I have sinned, God, I agree with you and I repent.

I confess this before you so the message of the apostle paul when he was in the presence of the ephesians his message was repentance towards god and faith in our lord yeshua the messiah this is so beautiful brothers and sisters so verses 17 18 19 20 21 the apostle paul remind the elders of the ephesians of his past ministry among them in the city of Ephesus so he's now moving in the next verses verse 22 to verse 27 he's moving from the past to the present and you can see that he's moving by twice the word that is mentioned in verse 22 notice and now verse 22 notice also verse 25 and now he's just moving now from the past to the presence and when he speaks about the presence he shared with the elders of the Ephesians his inner being his innermost feeling what is really going on now in his own heart and what is going to happen to him now as he's now going towards the city of Jerusalem.

He opened his heart with the elders of the Ephesians. And this is also very important, brothers and sisters, that we need to share our hearts with each other.

Unfortunately, even in local assemblies and local churches, sometimes we don't tell our brothers and sisters what's going on in our own hearts because we're afraid that they will condemn us or we're afraid that they will judge us or we're afraid that they will look down upon us but this is not what the bible really teaches us the bible does teach us that we should share with each other our hearts and our yearning and our burdens not that we will be judged by the others but that the other believers will encourage us and build us up and support us in prayer and encourage us but because we are oftentimes so carnal we don't share things with

each other because we are worried of how the believers will look at us and they will find fault in us and later on hold it against us this is not the way of the lord even though we fail in those things in our practice and this is to our own shame but here the apostle paul sharing with the elders of the Ephesians the things that are going to happen now presently to the Apostle Paul and so I want you to notice first of all that Paul was compelled by his own spirit to go to the city of Jerusalem to the city of Jerusalem this is verse 22 and now behold I go bound this word

for the word bound i'm compelled by the spirit unto jerusalem not knowing the things that shall befall me there now you see he was going to go to jerusalem and you know many many bible teachers believe that he made a mistake that actually he was not guided by the spirit of god when he went to the city of jerusalem and they oftentimes say that this is one of the things that our pastor paul have done that it was wrong by going to jerusalem because if you remember it was in jerusalem that he was taken and delivered unto the romans that was taken to the city of rome and it was in the city of rome

that he ultimately died so some suggest i don't agree with it that Shaul Paul, out of love for his brethren, the Jewish people, was desiring to go to Jerusalem for the feast, and to be with his people, and to share with his people, and some suggest that he was wrong in doing so.

Well, personally, I don't see that this way. In fact, the opposite. I believe that Apostle Paul, the Shaul, was in the Spirit by doing so. he was in a right condition spiritually to go to the city of jerusalem but that means that through going to jerusalem the experience of sufferings and persecution he will have to go through because he has followed a divine order and so here we see that he was compelled he used the word in the spirit this is his human spirit he was compelled by his own spirit to go into jerusalem And he said, I do not know the things that will befall me there.

I just want to point earlier, if you go back to verse 16 of the same chapter, notice he says in verse 16b, he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost. The word Pentecost means Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. He wanted to go to the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Shavuot, the Feast of Wix. He had actually earlier even wanted to go to the city of Jerusalem, but he hasn't arrived there even earlier. Now he also mentioned that he wanted to go to Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot. And again, now from Miltus, as he speaks to the elders, he is saying to them, I am going to go to Jerusalem, and I do not know the things that shall befall me there.

So he did not know what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem. And so, in verse 23, we can find out that it's not only his human spirit that made him compelled to go to Jerusalem. In verse 23, we find out that it was the Holy Spirit himself that witnessed this in his own heart, that he was going to get affliction and he's going to be in bonds.

look at this verse 23 it says accept save that the holy spirit witnesses in every city saying that bonds and affliction abide me you know wherever you've gone wherever he ministered the word of god the holy spirit of god have really witnessed to him that there will be an affliction that there will be a bonding that he will end up to be captured ultimately and be afflicted so it was not only his own personal compelling but it was the guidance of the holy spirit of god that we have here in verse 23 but then paul said to us in verse 24 that he's really willing to be subject to what the lord has for him

in verse 24 he said 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 of the lord yeshua to testify the gospel of the grace of god you see beloved brothers and sisters what a man this man have been he said none of these things have moved me you know many times and i think you would agree with me many times we did not speak for the name of the lord yeshua the messiah because we were worried of the consequences you were worried and i was worried that there would be persecution maybe a little

bit and maybe somebody will reject us maybe our friends maybe our family maybe our neighbors we were afraid to speak of our lord yeshua the messiah because we knew the result the consequences and we did not speak and we close our mouth and we did not testify of our lord yeshua but paul said none of these things move me whatever going to happen i will take it from the lord he says neither count i my life dear unto myself in other words whatever going to happen i'm giving over my life for my messiah for yeshua the messiah he says nothing move me i don't count my life as dear to myself so i will finish

my course with joy in other words he wanted to finish his ministry when he will die and he will leave this ministry and go to be with the lord he wanted to finish his ministry with joy that to know that he had pleased the lord fully can you please turn to second timothy for a moment in the britah adasha in the new testament second timothy chapter 4 i want you to see what he wrote to timothy at the end of his life second timothy chapter 4 verses 7 and 8 paul said this when he wrote to this younger brother by the name of timothy he said in verse 7 i have fought a good fight

i have finished my course i have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto all them that love his appearing here shaul paul said to timothy later on when he was writing those two letters to timothy he says timothy listen i have fought a good fight timothy i have finished my course timothy i have kept the faith timothy i have been faithful to the end and you see this comes from the very verse that we are reading here in act chapter 20 he wanted to finish his course with joy and

that's why he says listen beloved elders of ephesus none of these things move me i don't count my life dear unto me because i want to finish my course with joy i want to carry on all the way until the lord will take me i want to finish the ministry with joy and you notice he says also in verse 24 of acts 20 he says in the ministry which i have received of the lord jesus and look at the ministry and i love this expression here the gospel of the grace of god now that is important beloved brothers and sisters this expression the gospel of the grace of god is a very important expression why

it is important because the gospel of the grace of god is the gospel that we preach today in the tribulation period the 144 000 hebrews will preach the gospel of the kingdom we find it in Matthew 24 verse 14 but we today preach the gospel of the grace of God it is the same message it's not a different message but the only difference between these two words the gospel of the grace of God and the gospel of the kingdom is the gospel of the grace of God takes us now into the time where we the church is going to be with our Lord Yeshua in glory we are in the church age preaching the gospel

of the grace of god in the tribulation period the 144 000 hebrews going to preach the gospel of the kingdom because the kingdom the messianic kingdom is going to come so during the tribulation they're going to preach the gospel that will bring people into the kingdom we preach the gospel of the grace of god which will introduce people to be part of the body of messiah and to bring us into what is called today the church the assembly the ecclesia it is the same message jesus the messiah died for our sins and was raised for our justification the same message but the focus is one on the body of messiah the church and the other

is the coming kingdom where Israel is going to be restored and the nations are going to be blessed when the Messiah will rule and reign as a king so verse 22 verse 23 verse 24 Paul is compelled to go to the city of Jerusalem he wanted to finish his course with joy now verse 25 26 and 27 paul saying listen i am pure from the blood of all men in other words i'm innocent because i faithfully preach the message of the gospel faithfully to all men that's why he says in verse 25 again this is the second time that he's speaking about the word now and now behold i know that ye all among whom

i have gone preaching the kingdom of god shall see my face no more they are not going to see him anymore he's telling them in verse 25 wherefore he says i take you to record this day that i am pure from the blood of all men in other words he says i am pure from the blood of all men i have shared the message i've been faithful in giving the message of the gospel i have a clean hands i'm innocent i'm not guilty in not sharing that message and he does something very similar to what ezekiel was called by god to share the message with the nation of israel in chapter 3 you know the

prophet ezekiel was told by god to share the message that the people will hear the truth concerning that god will judge sin and ezekiel felt before the lord that he need to stand and be a witness to the nation of israel that they will know that he is free from responsibility he shared the message of the God of Israel with the people of Israel we read about it in Ezekiel chapter 3 and allow me to read that in verse 17 we read son of men I have made you a watchman unto the house of Israel therefore hear the word at my mouth and give them warning for me when I say unto the wicked you

shall surely die and you give him not warning nor speakers to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity but his blood will i require at thine hand you see god is really saying if you don't share the message with a person that need to know about Yeshua the Messiah you become in a sense responsible when you don't give him that warning but when you gave him the warning and he rejected that message I'm not going to hold you accountable but he is going to be the one that I will judge and he is accountable for his own life and the same expression

his blood will I require a thine hand you see Paul knew he was a Hebrew he was an Israeli he was a Jewish man who knew his history and therefore he was telling concerning the fact that I'm innocent I'm pure of the blood of all men because I shared and I gave the warning that men needed to receive concerning the gospel message.

In verse 27, he declared to them all the counsel of God. Notice, I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Now, brothers and sisters, I want to tell you this. Since I became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, I noticed that in many local churches, in many local groups of believers we don't hear all the counsel of God that means we hear so much about God's promise to the church and God's promise to those who believe in Yeshua the Messiah today and we really read a lot of New Testament teaching but very little of the Tanakh the Old Testament teaching and God promises to Israel in other words we hear a lot of partial counsel of God and not all the counsel of God.

Now, all the counsel of God is including not only what God promised to the church, to the body of Messiah, but also what God promised to Israel, the nation, and also what God promised to the whole world. We have to realize that. We cannot only teach church truth and not Israel truth and not world future truth that god has concerning the whole world we have to give a message that is encompass everything all the counsel of god not to be only teaching about israel and not the church and not only to teach about the church and not israel no we need the whole counsel of god to teach and that is the beautiful thing about the apostle paul he says listen i did not shun i was not ashamed or afraid to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

I told you the promises that God has for you, the church. I told you the promises that God had for Israel, the nation. I told you all the promises that God had for this world, both judgment and blessings. And that is all the counsel of God. And we need to be faithful in preaching all the counsel of God. That's why when we gather together, we will talk about the promises of Israel that are sure that God is going to restore his people Israel to himself. God had not done with the nation of Israel. He's yet to restore them and to establish the Messianic kingdom in the coming day.

But he's building the body of Messiah, the church, the ecclesia. And we are going to speak about the promises to the church, to the body of Messiah. And we also are going to talk about God's dealing with the world, both present as well as in the future day. Paul was faithful in preaching and declaring all the counsel of God, which is found in verse 27. So, verse 17 to 21, he reminded the elders about his past ministry with them. Verse 22 to 27, he opened his heart and he shared with the Ephesians elders about his present feeling and what is going to happen to him as he's heading on towards the city of Yerushalayim.

Now finally, listen to these beloved brothers and sisters, verse 28 to 38, Paul warns the elders of the Ephesians of future dangers.

and here listen to what he's saying in verse 28 he's saying to them you better be careful elders take heed to feed the church of god notice verse 28 take heed therefore unto yourselves and unto the flock over which the holy spirit has made you overseers to feed the church of god which he has purchased with his own blood that word here take heed it's like the word for watch be careful leaders elders watch it take heed to feed the flock which belong to god or the church of god feed the church of god which he purchased with his own blood you know every elder every spiritual leader have the responsibility to feed you know

earlier we were talking about food but spiritual food that is needed among the people of God that's why when we meet brothers and sisters we are always feeding on the word of God because if we are going to grow and mature and develop in a world such as this with satan attacking us the world tempting us the flesh hindering us if we are to be able to fight the good fight and to be growing and being serving the lord here we need to feed on the person of the lord and you notice here in this verse we have the whole three persons of the godhead it says here in verse 28 take heed unto yourself

and to all the flock which the holy spirit notice first of all it is the holy spirit has made you overseers they didn't go to a course to become an overseer you know this is why it is very important a person who will oversee the local assembly it's not by people voting for him it's not by people going to a course in a school in a bible school it is the holy spirit of god who places an overseer and it is evident by his life you don't buy it you don't go to school for that you don't get voted for that in the world you vote but biblically speaking it is the holy spirit that

guide and lead and raise the men to lead over the local churches the local assembly so the first thing we find out that the holy spirit is the one that put them to oversee the local assembly secondly it is called the church of god not the church of paul not the church that belong to the elders at ephesus not the church that belong to anybody else it is the church that belong to god every believer who have come to faith in yeshua the messiah he or she belong to god you remember again when we studied first corinthian chapter one and the first verses the apostle policies unto the church of god in verse two of

first corinthian chapter one it is the assembly the believers the called out ones that belong to god not even to the elders not to anybody not to any name but they belong to god thirdly it's not only the holy spirit of god who put them overseeing it is a church it is an assembly that belong to god but it says which he had purchased with his own blood see god had purchased it with his own blood how how did he purchase this with his own blood this is where god the son yeshua hamashiach jesus the messiah god became men and as men he went to the altar to the cross and with his precious blood

as men by suffering on the tree by losing his life by dying on the cross where he purchased us you remember what peter said in first peter chapter 1 and verse 18 he says you were not redeemed or bought with corruptible things as silver or gold from your vain conversation received by tradition but you have been redeemed by the precious blood of the lamb of the messiah as of a land without blemish the price beloved brothers and sisters that we have been purchased was the blood of the messiah and that's what he's saying to them listen you be careful elders of the Ephesians you make sure that you are feeding the assembly of God which

God had purchased through the person of the son who became a man through blood it was the life that had been taken away from Yeshua the Messiah when he died for us on the tree and then he's telling them now the warning and i want you to notice this beloved brothers and sisters there is always a problem that the church are experiencing by those who desire to hinder the spiritual growth of the people of god in verse 29 he says there will be grievous wolves that will come from without for i know paul no he knows what's going to happen said i know that after my departing shall grievous wolves will enter in among you

not sparing the flock i know paul is saying that i'm leaving you now ephesians elders i'm going back you're going to the city of ephesus but i can tell you elders of the ephesians that i know that grievous wolves will come and they will enter in among you so in other words what he's saying those from without will come to be within and will infiltrate and ultimately as it says here they will not spare the flock he's warning them of those that are coming you know Yeshua have mentioned that already earlier in Matthew chapter 7 and let me just read that one verse here in matthew 7 where yeshua already warned the earlier jewish believers

even before the church was born in verse 15 of chapter 7 beware of false prophets which shall come to you in sheep clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves they're going to come with an appearance as that they are sheep oh they are very humble but in reality behind there there are wolves that are ready to not spare the flock and we know that by the way from experience over the years there are many who've came in our meets in many of our meetings and so on and i can tell you stories of things that we have experienced the people who came with the assumption that they are going to help us but they came

within and ultimately caused a lot of friction among the people of God and as he say here not sparing the flock these are from without these are all that will come from without there's many many verses that we can quote here in this verse as well for example in second peter 2 where peter gave warning of false prophet second peter chapter 2 and verse 1 where peter was saying as well and i read that but there were false prophets also among the people even there shall be false teachers among you who privately shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the lord that have bought them and bring upon themselves the swift destruction and many shall

follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of peter also gave this warning to the early believers just like paul and just like john yohanan shaul petro shimon all those earlier jewish believers leaders who have given those warning to the flock to the leaders above whom the lord have placed them to oversee and to lead them so those warnings we need to take to heart and to recognize that this is a reality but listen to this brothers and sisters in act chapter 20 not only those that are from without are wolves but look what he says in verse 30 he says there will be men who

will speak falsely from within look at this verse 30 also in additional to that of your own selves shall men arise speaking previous things to draw away disciples after them now Paul is saying listen not only from without but also from within there will be those that will rise up and will speak things that are not honoring unto the lord there's also a verses that can be read but in the epistle of john there was a man in the third epistle of john by the name of diatrophies he was within he was a believer he was a part of the local assembly but john wrote in 3 John verse 9, I wrote unto the church,

but Diotrephes, who love to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds, which he does, and so on, pertaining against us with malicious words, and not content therewith. Neither does he himself received the brethren he forbid them that would and he castes them out of the church in other words there was a man like diatrophies who was an inside man and because of pride and arrogance his behavior was wrong before the lord and the apostle paul give them here this warning in verse 30 so those without verse 29 those within verse 30 and now quickly verse 31 there is a need to watch therefore he says watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn every one night and day with tears in other words our pastor Paul is saying to them listen I want you to watch to be careful and brothers and sisters I'm challenging us all that we all today need to also be careful.

We need to watch for each other. We need to be discerning of things and those that maybe come from without. And we need to watch for ourselves, not to be elevating ourselves in pride and arrogancy and start to speak against each other and to cause things that will bring friction among the people of God.

it is so important that pastor paul give these warnings to the elders in those verses in verse 32 he says that you really need the grace of god now brethren i commend you to god number one into the word of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified you know that's one thing he commended to god number two he commended to the word this is the word the scripture to the word of his grace you know when we have the word of god search us speak to us reach us it cleanses us it speaks to us it convicts us and it changes

us mold us and change us that's why we need the word of god in the power of the spirit of god the word of god will direct us to the person of our lord yeshua the messiah and will cleanse us and will make us different in our behavior we need the word of god so he commend them to god and to the word of god to his grace then quickly to the end verse 33 to 35 paul did not covet the things that belong to other people you know when he served he says listen i have coveted no man silver or gold or a pearl yeah ye yourself know that these hands have ministered unto

my own necessity and to them that were with me i have showed you all things how that so laboring ought ye to support the weak and to remember the words of our lord yeshua how he said it is more blessed to give than to receive you know that pastor paul never usurp that which is not belong to him now people supported him the philippian was sending him gifts and supported him and others but he says listen i didn't covet it in other words the ministry was not because i wanted to grab and to take from you no man's silver no man's gold no man apparel clothing or anything i did not cover this even with

my own hands i've worked these hands ministered unto my necessity as well as to others he was an amazing man and then he said i'll show you in the conduct by labor he says are we supposed to support the weak and to remember the words of our lord which he said now we do not know when the lord jesus the messiah said it is more blessed to give than to receive we do not know actually we don't have a record of that but he may have referred to the gospel of luke where in chapter 14 yeshua said and i want to read that luke chapter 14 verse 12 he said unto him when you make

a dinner or supper call not your friends nor your brethren neither your kinsmen and i don't think of your family only nor of your rich neighbors lest they also bid thee again and give you back but he said when you make a feast call to the poor and to the main to the lame to the blind and you shall be blessed for they cannot recompense thee for thou shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just see we do not know when the lord said those statement it is better to give than to receive but he may have had a reference to this time where yeshua said in this parable he says when you make

a celebration a party don't only invite your friends and your families and your brothers and your sisters and your uncles and your cousins but invite those that don't have anything those that are maimed and poor and lame and blind invite them that you will be blessed that's where we get this expression it is more blessed to give than to receive and that's perhaps the reference that the apostle paul had when he pointed out in verse 35 of our chapter it is more blessed to give than to receive something that yeshua had said earlier now to conclude beloved brothers and sisters here in verse 36 to verse 38 paul is praying with the elders and for

the elders it is so nice to see in verse 36 when he had thus spoken he knelt down and he prayed with them all notice that he's kneeling kneeling is really falling on our face it is an expression of total dependence upon the lord it was abraham in chapter 17 who fell on his face before the lord and verse 3 it was actually joshua in chapter 5 in the book of joshua in verse 14 that also fell before the lord in prayer and in worship fell on his knees fell on his face it was king solomon when he's ready to actually build the temple in jerusalem in second chronicle chapter 6 and verse 13 he

himself went on his knees and worshiped the lord in prayer it was actually yeshua the messiah himself in luke chapter 22 in the garden of gethsemane that he himself fell on his knees he kneeled down and he prayed unto the lord as a man yeshua the messiah himself it was also the apostle peter in act chapter 9 who also kneeled down and prayed and worshiped the lord and here also we have the apostle paul in this chapter going on his knees and praying for the people of God and I always appreciate in our local assembly meeting when we have a prayer meeting we go on our knees and our knees I know we all cannot

go necessarily because our age and so on but it is an expression of dependent upon the Lord saying to the Lord Lord I need your grace and so falling on our faces and kneeling down it is the expression of dependence and so he fell down on his knees and he prayed with them and for them and notice that here is the third time that we find the word weeping in this chapter they all wept so they fell on Paul's neck and they kissed him you know why because it says in verse 38 especially because he said unto them that they should see his face no more when he told them that they're not going to

see him they all began to weep together because it may have been the last time that they would see each other here on earth and they were sorrowing they were sad they wept sore and they fell on his neck it must have been such a beautiful relationship between Paul and the elders of the assembly at Ephesus that they could whip with each other they could embrace each other and were wishing to be able to see each other again you know by the way they will see each other and this is a sure thing because Paul elsewhere said in first Thessalonian chapter 4 we do not sorrow as other sorrow which have no hope but they

had hope and the hope was the resurrection and the rapture of the body of messiah of the church to be with the lord to meet him in the air they will see each other they already see each other since almost 2 000 years have gone by and brothers and sisters we also will see each other again even if here we might need to separate from each other for a little while, but we are going to see each other because of the fact that we are saved, we are part of the redeemed company which belong to our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

And with this, beloved brothers and sisters, the Apostle Paul have concluded his appeal to the elders of the church of the Ephesians. He told them of his past ministry, he shared with them his present situation of his heart, and he warned them of the future trials and dangers that will come their way. And you and I also need to recognize this. We are to watch, we are to wait, we are to be faithful and we are to seek to minister to the people of God for his glory as well as for the blessing of the people of God. Can we say amen to that? May the Lord bless this word to all of us.