May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we continue our thoughts in the Acts of the
Apostles and tonight we'll speak on chapter 20 and from verse
33 down to the end. So that's the Acts of the Apostles
chapter 20 and from verse 33 and we'll just read a few verses
I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye
yourselves know that these hands are ministered unto my necessities,
and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things,
how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember
the word to the Lord Jesus, 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 spoke, that they should see his face no more.
And they accompanied him unto the ship. This evening we come to the last
few words that the Apostle Paul was speaking to the elders of
Ephesus. Remember he requested they come
and meet him and they come down and he was speaking to them and
instructing them in many ways. And so we come down this evening
to these last few words that he spoke. And he tells them,
I've coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel. Now that's
a wonderful statement. to be able to make. Because by
nature we are covetous. Although we know we have the
command which tells us thou shalt not covet. That means we shouldn't
really want things that are not ours. But we should be content
with such things as we have. And it's a wonderful blessing
to be granted grace to be like that. Because nature wants more. And once more, nature is never
satisfied. It always wants more. But what
a blessing it is if you and I possess the favor of God's grace in our
hearts to realize that godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this
world and it is certain that we shall carry nothing out. And
it's good for us to be reminded of these things, that we didn't
bring anything into this world, and we shan't take anything out.
And therefore, let us be content with those things that God has
given us. He's given us food and drink, and clothes to wear,
and perhaps homes to be in. Well, that's a great blessing,
is it not? Especially as we look around the world today. And we
can see so many people in the world who do not enjoy the privileges
and the favours that we have. And so here was the Apostle.
He was able to be truthful in these things. And as I've said
so many times, it's good to realise that the Apostle was an honest
man. He spoke the truth from his heart. He didn't pretend
to be what he was not. But it's wonderful to be able
to read such a statement as this, as the Apostle was able to make.
He says, I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel. And you know, we can imagine,
can't we, what silver and gold is? And perhaps, especially young
people today, you may see other people dressed in some designer
gear, and you may think, oh, I wish I had something like that.
Well, the Apostle, he didn't desire anything like that. He
was content with the clothes that he had. And it's good, isn't
it, today to be content with those things which God has given.
Because we mustn't forget that everything we have, you know,
our clothes, our food, our brains, everything God has given us.
We haven't produced it ourselves, God's given it to us. And therefore
it's good to understand what the Apostle was speaking here.
And then he moves on. And he speaks about his work.
Now we know the Apostle had a great and glorious spiritual work.
God had called him to go and to preach the unsearchable riches
of Christ. And it was indeed a wonderful
favour and a wonderful blessing that he rejoiced in. And you
may remember that when he addressed the Corinthians And in the second
chapter, we read those lovely words when he says, And I, brethren,
when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or
of wisdom, declaring unto you the testament of God. For I determined
not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified."
Well that was the testimony of the Apostle Paul and what a wonderful
statement to be able to make. And therefore he's able to come
now and say, Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered
unto my necessities and to them that were with me. Clearly the
Apostle was never an idle man. He'd been called by God to preach
the gospel. But we know that when there was
a necessity, so that he didn't become a burden on the churches
or the people, he laboured with his hands. And what did he do? Well, we know he was a tentmaker.
And that was his trade. He was a tentmaker. And when
you think back in the life of Paul, he was brought up at the
feet of Gamaliel, and he was a wonderful student now but clearly
in those days he still learnt a trade so that he could earn
money if it was so needful. And of course it wasn't an easy
trade because those tents were usually made out of leather and
it would have been quite hard to cut the leather and then to
sew it all together. So it wasn't what we might say
a cushy number. No, but God had given him that
ability and therefore when it was needful, he did that work. And therefore he tells us here
in these words, you yourselves know that these hands are ministered
unto my necessities and to them that were with me. There were
those working with him. The other apostles and the other
elders, they all joined together to work in this work. And then
he says, I have showed you all things, how that so laboring,
you ought to support the weak and to remember the words of
the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than
to receive. So he clearly considered it was
good to labor. And to labor, not only in the
word and doctrine, which of course he was called to, but when there
was a necessity to also labour in those things which were needful
to support the weak. And we read together in that
ninth chapter in the first epistle to the Corinthians where again
the apostle here is addressing the Corinthians to tell them
that they should look after those who preach the gospel, they should
be generous they should help them and he said in this chapter
for you know that which they which minister about holy things
live of the things of the temple and they which wait at the altar
are partakers with the altar even so the Lord ordained that
they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel so
we see there the picture don't wait that obviously those who
were called to preach, as the Apostle was, to put those things
first. But then there were those necessity
which he had, and therefore he occupied himself with the labour
of his hands. And then he brings forth these
beautiful words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed
to give than to receive. Now, naturally, people would
think that wasn't true. They would think the opposite
was true. They want to receive all the time. And a natural man
is not a very generous man generally, and wants more himself. But here
we see this statement, it's more blessed to give than to receive. And sometimes, of course, receiving
can be an embarrassment. It can be therefore much better
to be found on the giving side. I remember, I think I've told
you before, once I was in Romania, and we were entertained by a
family in a place, and we had a very nice meal, and we went
to another place, and just a short time after, and they gave us
another meal. And after a short time, we went
to another place, and they gave us another meal. Well, it was
so embarrassing. because we really could not eat
it, it was just too much. And therefore we appreciated
how these very kind people had done all that they could to give
us that which they hadn't got much themselves. More blessed
to give than to receive. And I'm sure if we are generous,
it's good to see people be thankful and rejoice to receive things
perhaps which they weren't able to purchase themselves. They
may have been too poor. And if God has blessed us with
ability to be able to give, well it's a wonderful blessing to
be able to do that. Remember, freely ye have received,
freely give. Again coming back to that important
consideration that we didn't produce anything ourselves. God
has given us the ability to produce things and to have things. And
so let us take to heart these blessed words, and they are very
true. It is more blessed to give than
to receive. And they are the words of the
Lord Jesus. And you know, when you think what the Lord Jesus
Christ gave, what did he give? My friends, he gave his life,
didn't he? What a wonderful gift that was to unworthy sinners
to receive. And what a wonderful blessing
it is. realise the Saviour set that
great and glorious example. No greater example, no greater
gift than what the Saviour did when he gave his life. It is
more blessed to give than to receive. And so that is the end
of the statement or his sermon that he gave to these elders
at Ephesus and now it's time to depart. And when he had thus
spoken he kneels down and prayed with them all." Again, that's
a good example, isn't it, for us to realise that when perhaps
people go away, they part, to come together and to kneel down
and pray. Pray for their blessing, the
Lord will be with them. And pray for the help that would
be required. And when he had thus spoken,
he kneeled down and prayed with them all. Well, what a favourite
it is. to be blessed with spiritual
prayer, prayer for one another, prayer that there may be the
blessing of the Lord resting upon one another, there may be
that growth in grace and be found serving the Lord in all those
things which are set before us. And so here was the Apostle then
giving us this beautiful example, and prayed with them all. And
then we see the natural reaction. These Ephesians. They'd had Paul
with them for some three years. They'd wonderfully benefited
from the preaching of the gospel. They'd seen his testimony. They'd had him give them an understanding
of the great truths of God. They'd listened as he directed
them to the Saviour and the Lord Jesus Christ. as he pointed no
doubt to the Old Testament dispensations, all the sacrifices, and then
led them forward to the great and glorious sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Well, they'd been blessed indeed,
and now it was time for a parting. And what a sad time it was. And
so there was this experience, and they all wept sore. It wasn't
just the odd little tear. They were really sorry. to see
Paul go, and they wept sore because of it. They were so sad. Well,
what a good example again to see, isn't it? To think that
his ministry had been so blessed, he was so valued. They were so
sorry to see him depart, and therefore they wept sore. We
should never be ashamed of weeping. It gives an evidence of the heart's
been moved And it's a wonderful blessing when the heart's moved
by the Spirit of God so that we do indeed weep. And they all wept sore. It doesn't
say there were any exceptions. Here they were, a little company
of true believers gathered together and they wept sore and fell on
Paul's neck and kissed him. Very much of that today, of course,
and with the sad world we live in, of course, if men were to
kiss each other, well, it would be looked upon askance. But you know, it's a good thing,
and it's a scriptural thing, and shouldn't be despised. And
then we're told, sorrowing most of all for the words which he
spake, they should see his face no more. So they wouldn't hear
his words anymore. and they wouldn't see his face.
And they were so sad and sorrowing because of that. I'm sure that's
a good testimony, isn't it? As we see here, the blessed work
of the Spirit which moved these people, moved their hearts to
come and to bow down and to come and to weep and sorrow because
they would, for the words which he spoke, that they should see
his face no more. And didn't this say, well go
on Paul, get on your way, went down and accompanied him onto
the ship. They wanted to be with him as
long as they could, and perhaps to hear even at last a few extra
words that the Apostle might be able to speak which might
touch their hearts and would do them good and be for the honour
and glory of God. And so we leave Paul as he gets
into the ship and takes his journey, and may we remember the example
in the words that he's spoken to the elders of Ephesus. Amen.