When the Apostle Paul prepared to leave Ephesus, he was eager to ensure that the church would remain strong in the faith and continue to grow. Today on Truth for Life, we'll consider Paul's warning to the elders and find out why the greatest threat to the church, both then and now, often comes from within.
Alistair Begg is teaching from Acts chapter 20. Paul equally declares first his innocence and then his diligence, and then he brings an exhortation. His exhortation is equally clear in verse 28—"Keep watch over yourselves and all the flunk of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." Now, this word of exhortation is directed to the elders of the church in Ephesus, the leaders, these men, a group of men appointed by God, recognized by the church, and having responsibility for spiritual oversight. The words that are used interchangeably in the English translations that we may have—words like bishop, leader, shepherd, and so on—fall under three words in Greek. One is presbuteroi, from which we clearly get presbyter. One is episkopoi, from which we get episcopal.
And the other is a verb poimeno, which means to shepherd. And these words are used interchangeably of the leadership of the church. And it is this leadership of the church at Ephesus that is before him now.
A plurality of these men had been appointed, often by Paul himself—Barnabas, Titus had responsibility for it, and so on—and these men had been entrusted with the responsibility of tending or shepherding the flock of God. So he exhorts them, first of all, to watch themselves. Watch yourselves.
Keep watch over yourselves. In other words, pay attention to your own spiritual condition. If the leader in the church is neglectful of his spiritual welfare, then it follows almost inevitably that he will show little concern for the spiritual welfare of others. Last time, we reminded one another that the churches in various locations, in respect to local churches, they cannot progress beyond the spiritual progress of their leaders. And that is Paul's first concern.
And it is a right concern. Although he doesn't elaborate on the characteristics of leaders, he does so elsewhere, and for your homework you can read, for example, the qualifications and guidelines that are provided when he writes to Titus to get the leadership right in Titus chapter 1. The elders of the church, he said, are to be men who are not up to be blameworthy, who are men who are one-women men, and so on. And so the exhortation is clear.
Look after yourself. Incidentally, that's why it's so important that there are pluralities of these individuals, because one of the questions that is inevitable, who pastors the pastors? Who's going to help the pastors watch themselves? The answer is, they're fellow elders. I'm sure you pray for our eldership here at Parkside.
I hope you do. In fact, I know you do, because we enjoy such wonderful unity and blessing together beyond anything that I've known in any other place for which we thank God routinely and take nothing for granted. The exhortation is first to them as individuals, and then in order that they themselves as a group might tend the flock, he watch over yourselves, and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers be shepherds of the church of God. Now this picture is a familiar one in the Bible, isn't it?
It's a familiar metaphor. The psalmist says, We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Isaiah 40 describes the Lord as a shepherd who gathers the sheep together. He holds the lambs close to his heart, and Paul is reminding these individuals in the phraseology that he uses that it's not their church, it's God's church. It's not their flock, it's God's flock. A flock that is precious, which has been purchased at great cost. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. The centrality of the cross in Paul's thinking, not only as it relates to the wonder of individual salvation, but as it relates to the nature of what it means for God to put together a company that is his very own. Those whom God has redeemed, the elders are to care for. Now, that is an awesome privilege, and it is a distinct challenge. During the week in Denver, or Golden, Colorado, as I spoke to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of America's National Assembly, I had occasioned to run into some old friends.
I met a man in inquiring how he was doing. He said that he had come through a rocky and a difficult time, and in the company of another minister, he commanded this pastor for his help in helping him and helping his wife, who in the previous twenty-four hours had been together in the company of this older pastor, breaking their hearts because of the nature of their ministry in Michigan, because the sheep had been so divisive and so cruel and so undermining that for the pastor to execute his ministry with any kind of effectiveness and usefulness was completely undermined by those to whom he spoke. And yet, he cannot be relieved from the responsibility, along with his colleagues, to take care of all of the church of God which is in your charge. Not the ones you like, not the ones you want to spend time with, but all of them. And that, of course, speaks to the nature of plurality and eldership, doesn't it?
Because not one individual can do all that is necessary. Years ago, we had a children's musical here. I still recall it with affection. It had something to do with sheep. I think it was We Like Sheep, or the title song was We Like Sheep, and a number of our children, who now would be embarrassed to see the video, cavorted around up front for a number of evenings declaring, We Like Sheep, We Like Sheep. And the prevailing notion amongst the congregation, the aunts and uncles and the moms and dads and the grandpas and everything was, oh, it's so sweet, you know, with the little lambie ears and the little sheepy woos and, oh, it was so nice.
But, you know, that only testifies to the fact that we don't know anything about sheep, bunch of city dwellers that we are, most of us. And my grandfather was a shepherd on my father's side. I was going to bring his crook this morning, but I thought it may look a little threatening. I never occasioned to meet my grandfather, but my father used to take me to the Dippings. As a small boy, I couldn't imagine how excited my father could possibly get about the Dippings, as he called them. If we go to Farmer X's place this afternoon, they're doing Dippings. Ooh!
I said, can't wait to see that. But it actually was pretty impressive, because a shepherd or his workers got all one of these massive beasts and manhandled it down into a fiery bath of chemicals. Why? Because the sheep was stinky. Because the sheep was infested by unpleasant pests.
It was full of lice and ticks and worms. We like sheep. We like sheep.
So we got a different picture now, aren't we? Take care of the flock that is in your charge. Stinkers, full of unpleasant pests that regularly need to be dipped in strong chemicals. Not to mention the fact that they are unintelligent, wayward, and profoundly obstinate. I speak as a sheep to other sheep.
Dumb, wayward, stubborn. Welcome to pastoral ministry. Go ahead. Tend the flock of God that's in your charge. John Stott says, I hesitate to apply the metaphor too closely, but some people are a great trial to their pastors.
Yes, and some pastors are a great trial to their people. A declaration of his innocence and of his diligence, an exhortation to watch themselves and watch the flock, and thirdly and quickly, a premonition. A premonition is simply an advanced warning.
You know that, don't you? Or a warning in advance, admonition, and then premonition. So he has this premonition, which he provides, and he sees, first of all, in verse 29, savage wolves attacking. Savage wolves attacking. It's a dramatic picture.
Of course, he's using the imagery that was immediately understandable to the people then. When the wolves came, the sheep could do nothing to defend themselves. The sheep were incapable of fighting off the attacks of wolves. Therefore, the shepherd's role was vital in securing the safety of the sheep. And he said, I see savage wolves coming in attacking you. Remember Jesus in Matthew 7 spoke of those who were appearing as wolves in sheep's clothing.
He made clear in the parables that he taught that the evil one was constantly seeking to insinuate within the company of the faithful unfaithfulness, to sow false believers in the context of true believers. People ask from time to time, So why do you have a membership class? Why do you ask people to give their testimony? Why do they sit and talk with the elders?
And so on. Because we're obeying the exhortation. Watch yourself, watch the flock, and realize that the evil one delights to sow unbelief, discord, wrong thinking, wrong practice in the heart of places that are committed not simply to orthodoxy but to orthopraxy.
Remember Jesus said in the parable of the wheat and the tares, Matthew 13, the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. Notice the phrase, while everyone was sleeping. It's possible for a church to fall asleep, just to drift off, not paying attention. If you've ever nodded off at the wheel, what an alarming thing it is when you come to.
Because in that moment, in that nanosecond, you were drifting into unconsciousness, and you had no thought of the danger that was before you. But as soon as you snapped to, boy, did you realize that was a close one. When the church is tempted to fall asleep, when the church becomes naive like Little Red Riding Hood, oh, what lovely teeth you've got, Grandma!
Oh, what lovely teeth you've got! Not realizing that the wolf says, Oh, the better to eat you with! Don't you love those little nursery rhymes? How did our kids ever go to sleep listening to that stuff? Come on, let me read you a nice little nursery rhyme. No wonder our children have grown up as whacked out as many of them are. It was those nursery rhymes that did it to them—pigs and… Oh!
Now, the call is clear. It's a call to vigilance and to constancy so that the leaders might provide sound instruction and be able to teach people to refute that which opposes sound doctrine. He saw this attack by the wolves, and then he sees, you will notice, not only attack coming from without, but the emergence of error from within, verse 30, even from your own number. Men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. There will emerge, he says, even from among you, those whose perverse and seductive teaching will draw folks from Christ and attach them to themselves.
This, of course, is a mark of cultish activity always. Whether you reach back into our immediate past with a name like David Koresh or Jim Jones, many of these individuals, first of all, invaded the realms of orthodoxy, drew to themselves people who were passionate and interested in things, often endeavoring to lure them in with esoteric perspectives on end-times theology. I can explain to you how the world is going to end.
I can explain to you how this works, and so on. And these naïve and devoted folks are drawn into that. Before they know where they are, they're held in the vice-like grip of someone who has distorted the truth and drawn people away from Christ and drawn them to themselves. Calvin says, this verse teaches that almost all corruptions of doctrine flow from people's pride. Ambitious men will always turn away from the proper purity and corrupt the Word of God.
You can write that down and take it to the bank. Ambitious men will always turn away from proper purity and corrupt the Word of God. When I say to you, you are sensible people, examine the Scriptures yourselves. That is not simply an exhortation to you.
It is a constant reminder to me. This is God's church. This is God's Word.
You are God's people. And I, along with my fellow elders, will give an account to God on the day of judgment for everything I taught you. And it is imperative that you do your homework, that you become like the Bereans, examining the Scriptures every day to see if these things are so. That when I refuse to be drawn into your peculiar propensity for minute inventions of detail regarding obscure passages of the Bible, it is not because I am totally disinterested in it. It is because I recognize that it is totally useless ultimately to you, because the main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things.
And if ever you hear me or any of my colleagues suggesting anything different and suggesting to you that if you meet with me personally, I can give you the inside track on this, or I can introduce you to that, then you ring a large bell and run a hundred miles from here. For ambitious men will always divert from the purity of the truth and will distort the Word of God. It is a mark always of the activity of the cults. Think about it in relationship to Joseph Smith. Who in the wide world did Joseph Smith think he was?
Who did he think he was? Why didn't somebody stand up and say, Joseph Smith, sit down at the back of the bus? Shut up!
You're full of nonsense, Smith! There is only one Christ and one Lord. There is only one Word. There is only one final prophet, and it is Jesus of Nazareth.
Sit down! But an ambitious man, veering from the purity of the gospel, distorting the truth of the Word of God, has left a legacy with spires that stand in strategic places from San Diego to Orlando, Florida, to the key cities of North America, and the plan for the world, standing there as a great testimony to the hidden and secret dimensions of a cultish endeavor that began as a result of the ambitions of one man. Finally, a benediction. Well, you say, that's good, because our time is gone.
Yes, it has. I know that. They've been charged with such a grave responsibility to take care of matters moral and doctrinal and spiritual, and now he comes with this Word, which must have been a real balm to their souls, a great encouragement to them. I commit you to God and the Word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
Because the average elder is going, oh, dear, oh, dear, I don't know how I'm going to do this. This is dreadful. I look after myself.
I've had a bad week. And look after the church. Oh, dear, look at these people. What are we supposed to do?
We don't even know who half of them are, and so on. And then, oh, what a lovely word this is. I commit you to God and the Word of His grace. Paul says, I'm not going to be here any longer, but God will always be here.
You're not going to be able to hear my voice, but you can always turn to the Word of God's grace. And what does the Word of God's grace do? It'll do this for you in the present. It will build you up.
Oikodomia. And it will give you an inheritance amongst all those who are sanctified. In other words, he turns them to their ultimate source of confidence. He turns them to the provision that God alone can make. And how desperately they needed that.
And how vitally do we need that too. And if I can quote for one final time from our new friend John Brown, we recognize the same thing. He, in writing this farewell letter to his congregation, says, Having through the patience and mercy of God long labored among you, not as I ought, far, far from it, but as I could, I must now leave you to appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of my stewardship. It's quite a sentence, an opening sentence, isn't it? Having labored long among you, not as I ought, far, far from it, but as I could, I must now leave you to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that I might receive from him according to my stewardship and give an account of it. And then he goes on, and he actually interestingly follows the pattern of Acts chapter 20.
I think he used Acts 20 as the profile for the opening section of his letter. And he describes what he's done, how he's endeavored to teach them and to encourage them and to call them to heaven and so on. And he's able to go through quite a list of his pastoral activities. And then—and this is what struck me most forcefully, and with this I finish—he says, having outlined all that he's done, I did this and I did that and I taught you the Bible and I tried all these things. And then he says, But I have no confidence in any of these things before God is my judge. I see such weakness, such deficiency, such unfaithfulness, such imprudence, such unfervency and unconcern, such selfishness, in all that I have done as a minister or a Christian, as richly deserves the deepest damnation of hell. I have no hope of eternal happiness but in Jesus' blood which cleanseth from all sin, in redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of my sins, according to the riches of his grace. It is the everlasting covenant of God's free grace, well ordered, in all things ensured.
That is all my salvation and all my desire. In other words, he says, I've done my best, but God who searches my heart knows what an unfaithful wretch I really am. Therefore, I cannot approach the bar of God's judgment on the basis of my service among you as an elder. I can only approach the bar of God's judgment as I encourage you to do likewise, trusting solely in the work of Christ. You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life.
Alistair returns in just a moment to close today's program. We'll hear more about Paul's journey tomorrow as we continue our study in the book of Acts, and I want to point you to a book that's a unique and helpful supplement to this series. The book is called An Illustrated Guide to the Apostle Paul, His Life, Ministry, and Missionary Journeys. This is a book that gives us a close-up historical look at the great apostle's life, beginning with his upbringing in the city of Tarsus, you trace his days as a Pharisee to his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and all the way through his missionary journeys.
This guide is packed with colorful maps. There's a timeline that brings Paul's story to life. You'll follow his travels through what is now modern-day Turkey, Cyprus, Galatia, right up to his final days being imprisoned in Rome. Each chapter takes you to a different location and includes photographs of where Paul traveled, introducing you to those who joined him, and unpacking what he encountered. This is an engaging book that invites you to get to know Paul and his ministry by following along in his footsteps. Be sure to request your copy of An Illustrated Guide to the Apostle Paul.
It's yours when you donate to Truth for Life online at truthforlife.org slash donate, or you can call us at 888-588-7884. Now, here is Alistair. Father, thank you that Jesus died, that we might live. Thank you that commending one another to the word of your grace, it is able to build us up and grant to us the assurance of an inheritance amongst those who are being sanctified. Help us, Lord, as a church family, as a church family, to be as loving and as welcoming as we possibly can so that we might be as harmless as doves. Help us to be as sensitive and discerning as we must necessarily be so that we might be as wise as serpents.
Prepare us even now for the generations that will follow. Grant that we might, as it were, keep our foot in the door in order that those who come after us may know your blessing in greater measure, that countless souls will be one to Christ. And in the meantime, Lord, help us then to watch ourselves in the private place, and help us to shepherd God's people, not because of how lovely and attractive they are, but because you, Lord Jesus, purchased them by your precious blood. Thank you that while all we like sheep have gone astray and have turned everyone to his own way, that you have laid on Christ your Son the iniquity of us all. May the grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be our portion throughout the hours of this day and the days of this week and forevermore. Amen. We are glad you joined us today. What do you do when you believe God's Word is prompting you in one direction but others strongly disagree? Join us tomorrow as we find out how Paul responded when he faced a similar dilemma. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the Learning is for Living.
