1559. A Ministry Worth Pursuing

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina.

The school was founded in 1927 by the evangelist Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. His intent was to make a school where Christ would be the center of everything, so he established daily chapel services. Today, that tradition continues with fervent biblical preaching from The University Chapel platform. Today, we conclude a study of Acts 20 from Seminary Chapel. Today's speaker is Trent Hunter, pastor of preaching and teaching at Heritage Bible Church in Greer, South Carolina. We have the distinct privilege this morning to be able to hear from Pastor Trent Hunter, and he comes as the conclusion to our Acts 20 series. So we're looking forward to the Word of God being delivered to our hearts today. As many of you know, he's the pastor of preaching and teaching at Heritage Bible Church, has three children, has authored a couple of books, and is a faithful teacher of the Word of God. So we're so glad that you've taken time to come and minister to us.

Well, I'm so glad to be here with you. Please take your copy of God's Word and open it up to the Book of Acts, chapter 20. The Book of Acts, chapter 20. That's where we'll be this morning.

That's where you have been for a long time. This has been a long sermon, hasn't it? A nice slow soak and a very important moment in the church's history in the story of the Book of Acts, and you won't forget it.

And I pray that this morning's sermon is a nice cap. Well, today we come to the conclusion of his farewell visit, Paul's, with the Ephesian elders on his way to Jerusalem. He of course stopped at Miletus and called the Ephesian elders up to him. Maybe you've heard some answers as to why he didn't stop in Ephesus.

Maybe it was danger. Maybe he just didn't have time for all the dinners, but he had to say goodbye. And so he called these elders to himself and they had to say goodbye. And so they came. Over the weeks, you've listened to these elders, with these elders, to Paul's farewell speech. Now all of us together will watch them say goodbye.

Verse 36. And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul and they kissed him, being sorrowful, most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again.

And they accompanied him to the ship. Well, there are some good reasons to be cynical about leadership, especially maybe in the political sphere. We're kind of used to politicians saying what they must say for our vote in a moment. They don't all lack integrity, but we aren't always sure if we're getting the real story. We're not always sure if they intend to do what they say.

Of course, the political system will constrain them from being able to do what they promise at times. But we have grown and can grow a little cynical with leadership in that sphere and in almost any sphere. And it works both ways, doesn't it?

We wonder if our leaders sometimes, no matter where we're at, don't have some contempt for us, don't condescend to us. Well, it can go both ways in the church as well. I hesitate to say this, but it was as if I was divinely given a treat this morning for an illustration for you.

It came to me in the form of an Alf meme when I opened up my computer. Hi pastor, says Alf on the phone. This is an anonymous church member. Just wanted you to know that your sermons are terrible.

Goodbye. And Alf was just a little bit crasser than that, but you get the idea. It's not a direct quote. You know, if you've been ministry long enough, depending on where you have sat on the bus and in a church, if you've served people long enough, you'll know what can get served to you. And if you haven't been served some things, you'll be served some things. And it's not always untrue. And it's almost always useful for humility.

But if we're not careful in our roles of leadership, we can grow cynical ourselves toward the sheep. But it doesn't have to be this way. This little moment that we have here on the page is a beautiful moment and it is filled with affection. These are not fake tears, like the cry emoji that has to cry all the time and doesn't mean it. These are not, these are not the kind that are on command like an actor or they're not the kind of tears that you have when after 90 seconds and you didn't see it coming.

But how that cat took care of that turtle in that YouTube video was really precious. And you're moved. These, these are deep tears.

They come at the end of a speech, but they're not provoked by oratory. These tears are provoked by years in this relationship with the apostle Paul, which we'll explore and reflect on by way of conclusion to the series and in a bit. Deep affection here, a picture of how the apostle cared for the church at Ephesus and how the church at Ephesus represented here by their elders cared for Paul.

Pastoral leadership, sheep and their shepherd at, at its best. And it's for that reason that this scene is also filled with instruction for us. It's filled with affection and instruction. How is it instructive for us exactly? I don't usually preach on a passage this short and it was a good exercise to stare at it and ask how is it instructive for us? Paul here, the apostle, the sent one, the missionary church planter offers himself as a model for these local church elders. We don't all, we're not apostles and neither are all of us now or we'll be sent one missionaries, but he offers himself as an example.

You've examined carefully his speech filled with reminders of his own ministry, his life and his teaching. Then moving toward exhortation for their care for the flock. What Paul has done among them, he has called them up to my lead us to say what you've seen me do do. This is instructive for the elders as they head back home. And so it's instructive for those of us who serve as elders in this room.

Some of you friends now from my own church and other churches in town. For those of you who are under elders, I pray you're all under the shepherding care of elders, how to pray for them, how to appoint them, what to expect of them. And for those of us who aspire to eldership, which may be any number of you. And of course there's application here by way of principle to those who would lead in any capacity.

We focus today on elders. Notice that they were sorrowful, verse 38, most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. Paul was doing something right when he was with them face to face. And what we see here in this final moment, these final goodbyes, as we stand at the back of the room and watch this happen, what we watch happen here is the blessed, God blessed, not always inevitable, but the God blessed fruit of a faithful ministry that Paul is himself commending to these men to imitate.

Well what went into it? Well our material for our meditation on this several verse section is going to come from the speech which you've all walked through over a number of months. After all, verse 36, when he had said these things, he knelt down and they prayed together. A speech which you know well, how Paul reminded them of his ministry and then exhorted them concerning concerning theirs.

So let's train our eyes on four little interactions in the passage. We'll watch them kneel, we'll watch them weep, watch them embrace, we'll watch them walk Paul to the ship. Let's watch them kneel. Why are they on their knees? We're going to, as I call this like a devotional meditation, there isn't a straight line from these observations, a reflection. This is more of a reflection on what we're seeing and how everything Paul has said and has done contributes to what we're seeing. Why are they on their knees?

Number of ways to answer that. Why did, what did Paul do in the course of his time with them face to face so that they were properly on their knees by way of immediate reflex with him. They knew what to do when the speech was up. Well they're kneeling down with Paul in prayer because Paul opened up the Bible with them.

That's the first thing we'll see here. They're kneeling down in prayer with Paul because Paul opened up the Bible with them. It's the first thing they do together after his speech because the Bible was the main thing he was doing with them in the course of his ministry.

This is not merely a relational moment where good friends say goodbye. It's a deeply spiritual moment. His impression on them wasn't merely social and relational but deeply spiritual. God worked through the man and he did it through his word. Not just any moment of prayer here but a particularly reverent moment of prayer.

They don't stand there on their knees and knelt down in prayer together because Paul opened the Bible with them. Let me rehearse some of these lines from verse 20. I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public from house to house, testifying both to Jews and Greeks.

He's emphasizing something. Verse 25, behold I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom of God will see my face again. Verse 26, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of you all.

For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. You're getting something of Paul's agenda in the summary of his own ministry as he speaks to these men in order to impress on them what they need to be doing when they go home. And all of us as we listen, what we need to expect from those who lead us, that they'd have a Bible in their hands declaring, testifying, that's what he was doing. The vehicle for bringing salvation, as he proclaimed among Jews and Greeks, was the same vehicle for sanctifying and strengthening the church, which he did at Ephesus. Total Bible saturation.

Where did he do this? Verse 20, I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you where? In public and in private.

Is Bible open in both contexts? Some of us have a more public preaching and teaching ministry. We need to be in the home too.

Those of us without a primary public teaching and preaching ministry who are nevertheless elders can have a robust ministry of the word in the home. Across the coffee table. When did he do this? Verse 31, for three years I did not cease night or day.

For three years. He was doing this all the time. This was his work. He had a Bible in his hands. He goes to breakfast, Bible came with him. I meet someone for coffee, Bible comes with him. When I meet with people, wherever I'm at, I got this Bible in my hands. I've got a smaller one. It's a little less intimidating, a little less intrusive, takes up a little less space on the coffee table at Starbucks. It's a little small circle of things.

You don't get much room. But the Bible goes with me instinctively. And I get that from Paul.

Let's do that with each other. To whom will he speak the word did he? He testified, verse 21, to Jews and the Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Gathered a church out of those who believed. What did he say exactly? Well his message was simple.

Repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew how to put it in a sentence. You've got these all over the New Testament. Gospel in a sentence.

And they never sound the same way. He gets the heart of the matter. And yet it was rich and textured and layered and broad. Verse 20, I didn't shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable. And of course he preached the entire, the whole counsel of God. He says he gave them, get this, he gave them a body of apostolic teaching. He built a theological city for them over the years that he was with them. He threw up walls and laid foundation and added an extra room and wired things up and went in to correct the wiring when things weren't quite right. Wall by wall, reinforcement by reinforcement, he built the church.

Christ built the church through his own word, ministered by his apostle. Here's another illustration. Bees. These are fresh on my mind. I was at my calm shepherding group. I was at my community group Sunday night. And in the backyard of this brother who was hosting was this stack of white tray things. And I'm going to be very unscientific here if any of you are beekeepers.

Forgive me. And he explained to me how his beekeeping works. There's bees hovering all over.

I get too close so they'll bounce off me. I tried to get a bee to bounce off of me. And I got brought into the whole world of bees. And whenever I do this, I end up down the YouTube wormhole learning about beekeeping. I've got always, every church has a beekeeper in it somewhere.

And then there's like another one who's learning from him. And so we've got a couple beekeepers. And I was at a beekeeper's house. Well, bees, they make this little hexagon shape for their honey. And there's a queen in there somewhere working away. And apparently if the queen is a good queen, she's going to make these little hexagon shapes and they're going to make this arc, a certain kind of pattern.

I can't get any more detailed than that. But a bad queen, a lazy queen will make a bit of a mess. Maybe, maybe she's got hexagons still, but, but things are spread out and the honey's in a weird place. And he went into all this and I thought that's not a terrible illustration for what we see that Paul is doing here. If the queen did her job, she'll spread these things out in a certain shape across the slat.

A bad or lazy queen will make a bit of a mess. Well, Paul is a faithful shepherd and at the center of his teaching is the gospel is simple, strong, hexagonal shape. And with that he builds out for a well ordered, thoughtful, strong design that he leaves with the people that keeps them safe. The whole council of God, the gospel in all its fullness, the purposes of God, the nature of God, the plan of God, the promises of God, the gospel in its fullness, these are what compelled these men to kneel when they heard him rehearse his ministry with them and to pray with him. And these are what shaped the prayers that they prayed when they knelt together which are not recorded for us. If we want our people to kneel down in prayer with us, we must first open up the word of God with them, in all of its simplicity and depth. So brothers in particular, those of you who will pastor churches and elder, work hard, give yourself to the words. But let us make an additional comment here as we transition to the next thought. This work is not merely a matter of words, reading them, ordering them, writing them, speaking them, it is not less.

But it is not merely a matter of content and curriculum and scope and sequence of study and delivery. Brothers, the mere transmission of words cannot explain why this page is wet with tears. Over Paul, over Paul, notice now that they're weeping.

Why? May I suggest that this scene is wet with tears because Paul's Bible was wet with tears. They're weeping over Paul because Paul wept over them. Acts 20, 18 and 19, you yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day. I set foot in Asia serving the Lord with all humility and with tears.

Or verse 31, he says it again, be alert. You remember that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one of you with tears. So you be alert because I cried over you.

Do the same. Paul was no softy, but he cried. He cried because he cared for them. When they suffered persecution, he cared for them. When they sinned, he was concerned for them. When they repented and believed, he celebrated God's work in them. And there's the story of their repentance even into their conversion in the book of Acts.

How rejoiced, how much Paul must have rejoiced when they turned in their magic books and set them aflame at great cost to themselves and danger. We're not talking about emotional expressiveness here that can benefit the church. If that's your temperament, I'm not terribly emotionally expressive.

Neither are we talking about care and concern in general. Some of the most dangerous Christian leaders I have known, in particular when they're elders because of the kind of cockpit leadership role that we share as elders, are the guys who aren't good with the Bible but really love the sheep because they're not guided. Very dangerous. Susceptible to do whatever is demanded of them. Vulnerable to people pleasing. What the church needs is shepherds who love the people with and from and because of and through the Bible. Shepherds whose hearts beat with the heart of the Good Shepherd on the page of the Bible, who loved his sheep and laid down his life for them and said to Peter, feed my sheep.

I used to find this easier. In my role before this one, I moved here a few years ago, I was in largely a leadership role less a weekly preaching role and I just found that I had mental bandwidth and time bandwidth for more lingering with people. At the moment, the study has its demands and so does the machinery of the ministry have its demands and in the long term, I must labor to design the ministry and my schedule around the priorities so that there is lingering time among the sheep. Now it's planned time and I pray faithful time and the machinery needs its time but it's a part of the work. It won't be enough for me to be busy preaching and overseeing. It requires ordering the ministry in such a way to be available which is a great reason for you to be here right now because as you're investing in your work and your ministry now by focusing on Bible and theology, all of that will get cashed in. You're like building an engine that will run for years, that will run for years and the harder you work now, the freer you will be, the more agile you will be, the more nimble you will be to lead in a balanced fashion in the local church.

So be busy here. You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day until I set foot in Asia. He lived among them.

Let us live among our people which requires proximity and which requires time. If we want our people to weep over us, we must weep over them. Now watch them embrace Paul. They embrace Paul because Paul clung to Christ. That's why they embraced him.

What explains Paul's coming to this dangerous place and his persisting with these people such that they would embrace him in this way, not mere formally but heartfelt tender loving goodbye hugs. He says I do not account my life of any more value or as precious to myself if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel the grace of God. The ministry he had was a ministry he received. It was not his church or his ministry in the first place but Christ's given to him which means he did not minister for their approval or his own name but for the approval of the one who gave it to him who is Christ. And this is what the church needs.

This is what you and I need in our shepherds. It's how Paul began his ministry. Verse 18 you know how I lived among you. Verse 19 serving the Lord with all humility. The Lord with humility and tears and trials and through plots. No cynicism here. Humility.

Why? He's serving the Lord. We'll grow cynical about our people if we think we're ultimately serving them and we'll grow cynical about our leaders if we think they're there to serve us ultimately. No Christ is a great master. No pastor and no church makes a great master. Only Jesus. This is how Paul began with them. It's how he endured as he did not shrink and he did not shrink as we've heard.

He did not need their approval. The church needs shepherds who don't need their churches. That may be too emphatic but it makes a point who don't need their people's approval but Jesus's. This is how Paul began.

It's how he endured and having modeled it it's what he commanded. Verse 28. Pay careful attention to yourselves and all the flock which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God which he obtained with his blood.

A beautiful Trinitarian frame for ministry. It's God's church. It was not accomplished by his smart work and sweat but Jesus's blood and it is led not by the elders he appointed. It was led by the elders the Holy Spirit appointed and in all of this he's leading these people. He's leading these elders to know how to think about talk about and lead their own church. It's why this big A apostle was not a big shot. If we want our people to embrace us when we leave if that has to happen we will need to embrace Christ as we lead them. One final movement on the page.

A movement to the ship. Finally they accompanied Paul to the ship because Paul commended them to God. Put perhaps too plainly they did not need Paul anymore. They did not beg Paul to stay.

This is really assuming the best. I'm sure they were all conflicted but assuming the best they took Paul at his word when he said and now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who were sanctified. That's the God and that's the word to whom Paul entrusted the church and if they believed him before they should believe him now.

He could entrust them to God because they were never his and they could let him go because he had commended them to God. You might not have a goodbye like this. The context of your ministry might not occasion this. Some of us may die preaching and not retiring and moving on but you may have to move on.

Either way I hope you have a relationship like this either as a leader or as one who follows a sheep. I hope God gives this to you and if you're a pastor if you aspire to elder friend to give yourself to teaching give yourself to weeping give yourself first to Christ and give the people to God. Let's pray. Father we thank you for this beautiful passage. We thank you that our Bibles are wet.

We thank you that we have this vision of really a beautifully ideal parting and one we can pray for. We thank you most for the model of ministry that Paul offers us. His faithfulness. His busyness with the word at great cost to himself because he clung to Christ and not the approval of man because he had a vision for his church to know Christ and to be strengthened in the word above all. Father make us to be faithful by your spirit. We thank you for this beautiful passage in these months in this passage and now these final words this beautiful scene. We pray you'd multiply it in our churches in Greenville in Jesus's name we pray.

Amen. You've been listening to a sermon preached by Trent Hunter pastor for preaching and teaching at Heritage Bible Church in Greer, South Carolina. Thank you for joining us today. You know these daily programs are made possible by the many friends of Bob Jones University and this radio ministry. If you appreciate these programs and benefit from the faithful preaching and teaching of God's word, would you consider sending us a special financial gift today? You can easily do that through the website thedailyplatform.com and then click on the give button on the home page. Thanks again for listening and we hope you'll join us tomorrow at this same time as we study God's word together on The Daily Platform.