What Would Paul Say?

Please turn with me this morning to Acts chapter 20. As we prepare today to ordain and install several men as officers at Grace Church, I want us to consider the words of the Apostle Paul as he bid farewell to a band of elders that had become near and dear to his heart.

Let's hear what Paul charged them to do. And in hearing this ancient charge, let's hear what the Holy Spirit would have us do as we continue carrying out the mission of Christ. Acts chapter 20, we're going to read verses 28 through 32, and if you would please stand in honor of God's Word. And from among your own cells will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. I give 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 are sanctified.

You can be seated. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for your church. Thank you for redeeming her and sanctifying her.

Thank you for equipping her for every good work. And now may we as members of your pure and blameless bride bear the name of Christ well. May we fulfill the responsibilities you've laid on us in our moment of church history. And may all things pertaining to your people lead to the glory and exaltation of her head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, may we hear what you would have us hear. May we do what you would have us do. May we be what you would have us be. We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. During one of Paul's missionary journeys, he traveled to the city of Ephesus where he planted a church. Scripture tells us that Paul stayed in Ephesus for three years. And you can imagine how close he would have gotten to those Ephesian Christians, to this new congregation during that time. Sometime later, Paul found himself in his travels near the city of Ephesus, but he was in such a hurry to get to Jerusalem on important business that he didn't have time to go and visit these dear friends in Ephesus.

So he summoned the elders of the church to come and meet him. We know that Paul would eventually make it down to Jerusalem. We know that he would be arrested and taken off to Rome.

We know that after many years of incarceration, he would eventually be executed. Well, Paul didn't know all the details of what would happen to him, but he knew that he would never see the believers in Ephesus again. And so we come to Acts 20 and we read about Paul's meeting with these elders. And we know that this is for all intents and purposes Paul's swan song, his last charge to these leaders whom he had come to love so dearly. You know, when you're saying goodbye to your family as you head out the door on a Monday morning for work, you don't necessarily say profound things, because you know you're going to see them again in just a few hours. But when you see someone for the last time, the tone of the conversation changes, doesn't it?

When you're seeing someone for the last time, you know this is the last interaction you're going to have with them, and so it heightens the importance, the significance, the depth of communication that's happening. And this is the nature of Paul's conversation with these Ephesian elders. So what does Paul say to them in this moment?

What does the apostle of apostles deem most necessary, most essential, as he conveys to them one last charge? Well, we're going to consider what he has to say, the details of what Paul says to them, but as we consider these words this morning, I want us to recognize that Paul's charge to these specific men at this specific moment in redemptive history is really a universal charge to the church of every age. These are not the casual words of a dad leaving for work, they are the weighty, profound heart pleas of a spiritual father who was concerned for the eternal souls of his spiritual children, and as such they're applicable to the church in every age. We could say this is what Paul would say if he were here with us today at Grace Church, as we prepare to launch four new officers. Now as we see what Paul has to say, I recognize that he is speaking to the elders in Ephesus, and so I'm going to primarily direct this sermon to the elders of Grace Church, but I'm also going to try to draw out the principles embedded in this text and apply them not only to the elders but also to the deacons and also to the congregation as a whole. There are implications in this passage, I believe, that are applicable to every one of us who were here this morning. So with that background in mind, what would Paul say to those who have been called as elders to lead Grace Church?

I think he would charge us with three admonitions. First, he would tell us to be attentive because the calling is important. Be attentive because the calling is important. Notice how every phrase of verse 28 highlights the significance, the weightiness of the call. Verse 28, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock. In other words, be aware.

Get your mind in gear for the task. Have a keen sense of situational awareness for yourselves and for all the flock, the church. It's a call to attentiveness because the job of an elder is an important job.

Why is it so important? Well, first of all, because the one who has called you to the job is none other than the Holy Spirit. Verse 28 says as much. It's the Holy Spirit who has made you an elder, an overseer in the church. Men don't call themselves to this task. It's a God-given call.

And that certainly increases the weightiness of it, doesn't it? I get amused at my kids when they're doing some chore and one of them tells a sibling, hey, you need to do such and such a job. Inevitably, there's some resistance. But when the commanding brother says, dad said you have to do such and such a job, suddenly there's compliance. That's a horse of a different color.

Why is that? Well, it's because a higher authority is issuing the command. Well, imagine if the commanding officer is God himself. If he's the one who's saying do such and such a job and do it in this way, that is a weighty, profound, important, significant call indeed. And so we do well to be attentive and alert in our doing of it.

But look at the next phrase. Paul says to care for the church of God. To care for the church of God. So the source of the call is the Holy Spirit. The nature of the call is to provide care for the church.

This isn't needless, busy work that we're being asked to do. We're being called to the sacred task, the holy task of caring for the church. That word care for is a farming word. It means to shepherd the sheep, to feed the lambs, to be the farmer that gives the livestock what it needs. Paul is obviously speaking metaphorically. The church isn't made up of literal sheep, and the elders aren't being called to literally feed sheep.

So what does this care entail? If we zoom out and consider how the rest of Scripture describes the elders' task, we see that an elder feeds the flock primarily by teaching them the Word of God. We feed the flock, we care for the flock by teaching them the food of Scripture. Acts 6 describes the elders' task as one of prayer and the preaching of the Word. Titus 1 lists only one skill that is a prerequisite for performing the task of an elder, and that skill is the ability to give instruction in sound doctrine. Ephesians 4 describes the elders' task as one of equipping the saints for the work of ministry.

And how does that equipping happen? Paul says, through speaking the truth in love rather than by being carried about by every wind of doctrine. And Hebrews 13 describes the leaders of the church as those who speak to you the Word of God. So the elder is to care for the flock most specifically by teaching and preaching the Word of God.

This is important work with far-reaching consequences. So the source of the call is the Holy Spirit. The nature of the call is to shepherd through teaching, a very profound and crucial task.

Notice also the object of the call. It's not just any old group of sheep. It's the group of sheep that Jesus Christ has obtained with His own blood. If Christ has died for the church, then the call to shepherd that church is as serious and weighty a call as it gets. This isn't something we take lightly or dismissively.

This isn't something we'll get to when we can. It is of utmost importance, something we need to give full attention to. So first Paul tells us to pay careful attention to yourselves and to the flock. Now before we look at Paul's second admonition, let me take a moment to apply this first charge to the deacons at Grace Church and to the congregation as a whole. Deacons, you have also received a call from the Lord. It is different in nature than that of the elders' role, but it is every bit as much a call from the Holy Spirit to serve the flock for which Christ has died. And so your role of serving and meeting the benevolence and practical needs of the body is also a profound and weighty calling.

Not something to be taken lightly, not something to be performed half-heartedly, but something to give your full attention to. And church, if God has called the officers here to perform these roles for your benefit, and He has, then it is in your best spiritual interest to heed the leaders, to encourage them to fulfill this calling. Galatians 13, 17 says, obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account.

Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Well, Paul continues then in verse 29 with the second charge. He tells us secondly to be alert because the opposition is dangerous. So see in verses 29 through 31 that the opposition faced by the church will be severe, it will be subtle, and it will be constant. Paul says in verse 29, I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. You know, wolves and sheep don't mix very well without dire consequences for the sheep, right?

So the threat Paul describes here is a severe threat, it's a dangerous threat. The other thing about wolves is they don't generally announce their presence. Hey everybody, I'm a wolf, I'm here to destroy you. No, they're sneaky, they're subtle. Paul says in verse 30, and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them.

I mean, how subtle is that? These wolves aren't out there in the world identifying themselves by wearing rainbows and posting about how much they hate God. These wolves are among the sheepfold. They're in the church, right under our noses.

In other words, they look like sheep. And so the damage they cause is deceptively subtle. Notice how they deceive. They speak twisted things, Paul says.

They take a standard, a doctrine, a value, and they pervert it just enough to make it believable but heretically wrong. And it's all done with words. A subtle danger. This last month I was recovering from hip surgery and then COVID, so I was at home a lot. I got to help Laura with homeschooling a lot more than I typically do. And one of my jobs was to help Benjamin with his composition. And as we began learning the structure of a well-written essay, I sensed some disinterest in my young Padawan. And so I said, Benjamin, the pen is mightier than the sword. Well, that got his attention. He perked up because we're into swords. And he perked up. And by the end of our conversation, he was eager to go change the world with his pen.

Of course, the next day I had to give the same talk again. But my point is, church, words are powerful. Words are powerful. If you can shape the way people think, you can shape what they do with their swords.

But this cuts both ways, doesn't it? Words can lead people to truth and goodness and beauty. But words can also deceive and lead them into lies and bondage and wickedness. Elders are to care for the flock by speaking God's truth.

Wolves deceive the flock by speaking twisted things that are contrary to God's truth. It's a subtle, dangerous thing that threatens the church. And so we do well to be alert to those dangers. Paul holds himself up as an example of what this keen alertness looks like. Verse 31, therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease, night or day, to admonish everyone with tears.

The sort of alertness we're called to exercise will involve a lot of time and a lot of energy. We have to be as constant as the opposition. And brothers and sisters, the opposition is relentlessly constant. Over in Matthew 10, 16, Jesus describes what this constant alertness looks like. He says, Jesus says, I'm sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Now, that's an interesting analogy. Serpents and doves cannot be further apart in temperament, in character than they are, but we are to take on certain qualities of both of these extremes. If we're merely innocent as doves, in other words, if we're naive, the wolves will prevail at the front door. If we're merely wise as serpents, in other words, if we're heartlessly shrewd, the wolves, I believe, will prevail at the back door. We must handle the wolves like snakes and handle the sheep like doves.

That's hard. That's painfully difficult work, but this is what it means to care for the church. Deacons, your role as servants of the flock is not wolf-free. Those of you who have served as deacons for any length of time know this well. Wolves don't just attack the doctrine of the church.

They also attack its unity, its practice, its reputation. In fact, the very office of deacon was established to ward off this very sort of attack on the unity of the church. In Acts 6, there was a growing division between the Jewish and Gentile members of the church, and it was the deacons that were charged with reestablishing and preserving the unity of the body of Christ. Church, if you know that people will spring up from within the body to try and draw the minds and affections of Christians away from the truth, then make sure you're not vulnerable to these subtle perversions of truth. Know the Word of God. Listen attentively to it when it is preached and taught in this church, and don't be prone to the novel, the sensational, the twisted, because there will always be an eager wolf ready to scratch that itch of novelty and perversion. Very quickly, then, let's consider Paul's third and final admonition. He's told us to be attentive because the calling is important.

He's told us to be alert because the opposition is dangerous. Finally, he tells the elders, be assured because God will sustain you. Be assured because God will sustain you. Verse 32. And now I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace. It's a very heavy burden that you men are about to shoulder, the burden of feeding sheep and fighting wolves. So where do you look for the encouragement, the hope, the security you need for the task?

I think if we're honest, we often look in all the wrong places. Paul doesn't say, and now I commend you to your library where you can find all the answers and objections that you will face. He doesn't say, I now commend you to your wife who will keep you encouraged and motivated in the fight. He doesn't say, I now commend you to your fellow elders and colleagues who will stand shoulder to shoulder with you as you ward off the wolves.

All of those things are wonderful blessings that, to be sure, are divine helps to us. But notice what Paul commends these elders to. He says, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace. Unlike all of those other things to which we run for encouragement and motivation, God and His Word never change and they never fail.

Look at the two effects of this commendation. First of all, God, through His Word, equips you for what you've been called to do. Paul says, I commend you to God and His Word, which is able to build you up. Able to build you up.

That verb, build you up, means to improve your ability to function effectively, to make you more able than you were before. Elders, God, through His Word, makes us better wolf hunters and better sheep feeders. Deacons, God, through His Word, makes you better servants and givers and managers. Christians, God, through His Word, equips you for every good work.

But that's not all it does. Paul goes on, and to give you the inheritance among all those who were sanctified. So, God, through His Word, not only equips you for what you've been called to, but also God, through His Word, will complete what He has started in you. On those nights when your conscience is wrestling with what the wisest course of action ought to be and you just don't know. On those days when your heart is grieved over a Christian brother or sister who is flirting with the wolves, in those moments of exhaustion or elation, of fearfulness or faithfulness, remember, God will finish what He has started.

He will lose none of His elect. The church will triumph in the end because Christ has already triumphed. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. And so, elders, deacons, Christians, be attentive, be alert, be assured, because God's truth matters and God's truth will ultimately prevail.

Let's pray. Lord, the world runs from its Creator, but we are Yours. You have redeemed us. You have recreated us. You have called each of us to live and labor for Your glory. So to whom shall we go besides You? You have the words of eternal life. We desire that life, the life that only You can give. So help us to run hard after You, though the world runs the other way. Help us to labor with attentiveness and alertness and assurance in order that our lives might bring You glory, the glory that You deserve. I pray it all in Jesus' name. Amen.