Acts 20:13-20:38
But we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go by land. And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos; and the day following we came to Miletus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. – Acts 20:13-16
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. – Acts 20:17-23
"But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. – Acts 20:24-27
"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. – Acts 20:28-31
"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 are sanctified. I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" – Acts 20:32-35
When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again And they were accompanying him to the ship. – Acts 20:36-38
The main message or point of the entire book of Acts; indeed, the main point of the entire Bible is The person of Jesus Christ. Briefly, in Acts, the message to the Jews is "Your promised Messiah is here now." To the Gentiles, the message is "You can join into fellowship with the greatest Man who ever lived too."
One thing you see in the Book of Acts in general, and in this passage specifically, is the truth that this material world isn't everything. Sometimes you see normal daily life in the Bible, but other times you see the "other" world. There are many examples of this in Acts; one is when Paul is released from chains in the earthquake. In the Gospels, the enitre life of Jesus Christ is filled with these hints at the "other" world: at times of His healings, His other miracles, at His baptism, at the transfiguration, and of course at His resurrection. We see a hint of this other world in verse 23.
The Holy Spirit testifies to Paul in every city that bonds and affliction await him. This may not be the hint of the other world that we want to see or hear.
Bonds and affliction. We tend to think, "If I could only be in the right city, or have the right job, or the right spouse, everthing would be OK and I would live happily ever after." But this is not what Paul is told by the Holy Spirit. Wherever Paul goes, whatever he does, he hears a message not that everything will be OK but that bonds and affliction await.
What about us? Are we promised happily ever after? No. Generally, God does not reveal his plans to us in advance, but nowhere are we promised happily ever after. Finding the right city, job, or spouse does not "fix" things.
What do bonds do? They restrain your freedom. What are afflictions? They are things that are painful. These are not things we normally desire. Yet they are a part of our world.
We live in a broken world, and we ourselves are broken.
There is no "if only" to fix either the world or us. This sounds like a depressing message, but since God knows about it there is comfort. We know that God must have a purpose in everything we experience, even bonds and affliction. Recall that Christ said, "In this world you will have trouble. But be of good cheer: I have overcome the world."
Consider the following passage from Acts 17:
…and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; – Acts 17:26-27
Wherever you are in place, job, and marriage, God has determined their times and places and their boundaries. We want maximum freedom and no pain, not bonds and affliction. But God does not give us what we want - He gives us something that is filled with His purpose. What is His purpose? According to this passage, it is that we would seek God, and then grope and find Him. We naturally chafe against our bonds and afflictions, but He gives them to us that we may be driven to Him. Finding Him, we can begin to know Him as He intends: intimately. Bonds and affliction are His way of getting us there.
Consider the following passage:
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. - Eph. 4:11-13
Of particular emphasis is verse 13, the last part of the passage: until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
God's purpose is to have us attain to the fullness of Christ.
God is set on making us become like Christ and to be ones others see Christ in. He will do whatever it takes to make this happen.
God will work on us even while He uses us for other purposes. For example, consider Jonah. God made the plant rise up and whither not for the people of Ninevah, but for Jonah. God was working on Jonah even as He was using him to reach out to the lost people of Ninevah. Another example is Cain. God sees his countenance falling. "Why is your countenance falling, Cain?" Cain thought God didn't care for Him because his offering was not accepted. But the opposite was true. God cared for Cain and told him, "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."
As an aside, note that Cain disregarded this and killed his brother, and God told him, "The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground." God then cursed him. In Hebrews 2 we read "Christ's blood speaks better than the blood of Abel." How true!
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. – Acts 20:17-23
"But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. – Acts 20:24-27
"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. – Acts 20:28-31
"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 are sanctified. I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" – Acts 20:32-35
When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again And they were accompanying him to the ship. – Acts 20:36-38
The main message or point of the entire book of Acts; indeed, the main point of the entire Bible is The person of Jesus Christ. Briefly, in Acts, the message to the Jews is "Your promised Messiah is here now." To the Gentiles, the message is "You can join into fellowship with the greatest Man who ever lived too."
One thing you see in the Book of Acts in general, and in this passage specifically, is the truth that this material world isn't everything. Sometimes you see normal daily life in the Bible, but other times you see the "other" world. There are many examples of this in Acts; one is when Paul is released from chains in the earthquake. In the Gospels, the enitre life of Jesus Christ is filled with these hints at the "other" world: at times of His healings, His other miracles, at His baptism, at the transfiguration, and of course at His resurrection. We see a hint of this other world in verse 23.
The Holy Spirit testifies to Paul in every city that bonds and affliction await him. This may not be the hint of the other world that we want to see or hear.
Bonds and affliction. We tend to think, "If I could only be in the right city, or have the right job, or the right spouse, everthing would be OK and I would live happily ever after." But this is not what Paul is told by the Holy Spirit. Wherever Paul goes, whatever he does, he hears a message not that everything will be OK but that bonds and affliction await.
What about us? Are we promised happily ever after? No. Generally, God does not reveal his plans to us in advance, but nowhere are we promised happily ever after. Finding the right city, job, or spouse does not "fix" things.
What do bonds do? They restrain your freedom. What are afflictions? They are things that are painful. These are not things we normally desire. Yet they are a part of our world.
We live in a broken world, and we ourselves are broken.
There is no "if only" to fix either the world or us. This sounds like a depressing message, but since God knows about it there is comfort. We know that God must have a purpose in everything we experience, even bonds and affliction. Recall that Christ said, "In this world you will have trouble. But be of good cheer: I have overcome the world."
Consider the following passage from Acts 17:
…and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; – Acts 17:26-27
Wherever you are in place, job, and marriage, God has determined their times and places and their boundaries. We want maximum freedom and no pain, not bonds and affliction. But God does not give us what we want - He gives us something that is filled with His purpose. What is His purpose? According to this passage, it is that we would seek God, and then grope and find Him. We naturally chafe against our bonds and afflictions, but He gives them to us that we may be driven to Him. Finding Him, we can begin to know Him as He intends: intimately. Bonds and affliction are His way of getting us there.
Consider the following passage:
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. - Eph. 4:11-13
Of particular emphasis is verse 13, the last part of the passage: until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
God's purpose is to have us attain to the fullness of Christ.
God is set on making us become like Christ and to be ones others see Christ in. He will do whatever it takes to make this happen.
God will work on us even while He uses us for other purposes. For example, consider Jonah. God made the plant rise up and whither not for the people of Ninevah, but for Jonah. God was working on Jonah even as He was using him to reach out to the lost people of Ninevah. Another example is Cain. God sees his countenance falling. "Why is your countenance falling, Cain?" Cain thought God didn't care for Him because his offering was not accepted. But the opposite was true. God cared for Cain and told him, "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."
As an aside, note that Cain disregarded this and killed his brother, and God told him, "The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground." God then cursed him. In Hebrews 2 we read "Christ's blood speaks better than the blood of Abel." How true!
We are responsible to speak to those around us about God.
In Acts 20:26, Paul says, "I am innocent of the blood of all men." What does this mean? It means that Paul has done his utmost - he has shared the gospel all around him to all who would listen. In Ezekiel, God warns that if a wicked man dies without you warning him, you will be guilty of his blood. Paul is innocent of the blood of all men because he has warned all who will heed the warning. And so God's purpose for us is not just to find Him and to become like Him, it is also to use us to warn people and share the gospel with them.
One of the snares for us is getting caught up in seeking possessions or money. Note that in verse 33 Paul says he never did this. This is a lesson for us.
Despite his bonds and affliction that awaited him, Paul was never more free than he was in Acts 20:36-38. The world had no hold on him. He was filled with the knowledge of God's purpose in it, and he gladly embraced the bonds and affliction because it meant that he was in the center of God's will and purpose. May we be free like him and do likewise.
One of the snares for us is getting caught up in seeking possessions or money. Note that in verse 33 Paul says he never did this. This is a lesson for us.
Despite his bonds and affliction that awaited him, Paul was never more free than he was in Acts 20:36-38. The world had no hold on him. He was filled with the knowledge of God's purpose in it, and he gladly embraced the bonds and affliction because it meant that he was in the center of God's will and purpose. May we be free like him and do likewise.
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