As you may please the Lords to
help us this evening, we'll continue our meditation in the Acts of
the Apostles, chapter 20, and this evening we'll just read
one verse, and that's verse 28. The 20th chapter of the Acts
of the Apostles, I'm reading verse 28. Take heed, therefore,
unto yourselves and to all the flock over the witch the Holy
Ghost has made you overseers to feed the church of God which
he has purchased with his own blood." This was really a divine commission
that the Apostle was speaking to the elders from Ephesus. You
remember he called them together that they might come and he might
speak to them before he departed. It wasn't in Ephesus but Nonetheless,
he called for them and there he was addressing them, and so
he speaks to them in this way, that they should take heed, therefore,
unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy
Ghost hath made you overseers. And it's a good exhortation,
is it not, for all of us, individually, not only those who are, of course,
those who are elders or preachers, It says here, to themselves and
to all the flock. Well, there was a large flock
and it was scattered in various places, but the apostle was speaking
to these people now to encourage them. in those things that they
should do, and how they should go, and what they should say,
and how relevant it is still for us today to realise the importance
of such words as this. The Lord Jesus himself, when
he was on this earth, on the upper room, he spoke to his disciples
and he said these words, as the father knoweth me, even so know
I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And of
the sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must
bring, and they shall have, hear my voice, and there shall be
one fold and one shepherd." There is truly one spiritual fold. There is one spiritual church. There is one true flock. And
what a blessing it is to realise that the Lord Jesus Christ is
the Good Shepherd. And as the word tells us, the
Saviour said, I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep and have known
of mine. And therefore it is a blessing
to realise that we are to encourage the flock and the flock are also
to take heed to themselves. that they are following the Good
Shepherd and that they are being instructed in the true ways of
God and not left to wander away to follow their own situation. You know, these words, of course,
are New Testament words, but there were still words in the
Old Testament to which similar situations were addressed. And in Jeremiah, We read the
words that the Lord gave his servant Jeremiah to speak and
in the 26th chapter we read, thus saith the Lord, stand in
the court of the Lord's house and speak unto all the citizens
of Judah which come to worship in the Lord's house all the words
that I command me to speak unto them Diminish not a word. Here, Jeremiah was exhorting
those to be faithful as the Lord spoke to him, faithful in the
words that he was to speak and the prophets were to speak, the
word of the Lord. And they weren't to diminish
it. They weren't to water it down. They weren't to bring it
to a situation which just might suit the people's natural situation. No, they were to bring the word
of the Lord which the Lord had commanded them to speak and that
word was not to be diminished. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseer. And how necessary it is that
we do take heed to the words of God the truth of God, the
word that he has commanded, and not to move away from them. In
the day and age in which we live, it's very easy. We see that so
many preach what we might term a social gospel. They're not
prepared to declare the whole counsel of God. They're not prepared
to speak the great truths concerning the word of God, but they speak
those words which the people want to hear, the fleshly people
desire to hear those things which will not upset their lifestyle
or endanger them from doing those things which please themselves.
They want to keep into those things which are not convenient. But therefore there is that necessity
to take heed that God's servants and the elders do not fall into
such a trap but they are able to follow carefully and truthfully
the word of God. And it's so important that we
have this statement here. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseer. Overseer, of course, is really
a bishop or an elder, and which the Holy Ghost hath done. How solemn, and how important
to think that those whom God has placed in this position are
placed there by himself, the Holy Spirit, and what a great
honor and what a great responsibility it is, therefore, to come and
to declare the whole counsel of God. And the apostle speaks
in this way when he says, to feed the church of God, which
he hath purchased with his own blood." That is the great commission,
that is the important aspect, that there is to be those words
set before the flock which feed them. It may be, indeed it should
be, to give them a spiritual understanding of the great truths
of the Word of God. as the Lord opens up to his servants
those great truths, then they are to declare them to the flock
so that the people might be established in the truth of God, established
in the doctrine of the things of God, and not just to be left
on one side with just a preaching which comes so far short but
does not enter in to the great sacred truths of the Gospel. And of course that refers to
the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit in all their
gracious work that we read of in the Word of God and the wonderful
unity there is in the Trinity. And to be thankful tonight that
we're able to gather together to hear the truth of God and
that the flock might be fed. And so therefore, the church
of God is to be fed with knowledge, is to be fed with understanding,
and by that I mean spiritual knowledge and spiritual understanding,
and not just to feed our minds, but to feed our souls, so that
we are aware of God's great plan and how it all works together
and how it's all interwoven. And as the Spirit of God therefore
shows this, we may rejoice in it. And then to come really to
these last words which the Apostle speaks of here, which he has
purchased with his own blood. What is that? It's the church,
it's his people, the people of God, which he hath purchased
with his own blood. This is what is to be set before
the flock. This is what will truly feed
the flock. Because the church of God do
feed on none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Except ye eat my
flesh and drink my blood, there is no life in you. It's a very
solemn statement the Lord makes, isn't it? But it is a very true
statement, because what it does is directs us to the Lord Jesus
Christ and the cost of our salvation, so that we never are able to
settle down lightly and think nothing of it, but that it might
enter into our hearts and we might appreciate the great depth
and the great mercy and the great favour that Almighty God has
gone to in order to save our souls. What a blessing it is
to realise we have such a God. a God who does not deal with
us according to our sins. And surely that's food to our
souls as we realize the Lord's goodness and mercy toward us,
that he hasn't dealt with us as we deserve, but that he's
looking after us with love and compassion toward our souls. And the apostle, when he wrote
to the Romans, he tells us, for all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God." Now, such a statement is something which
we solemnly should realize. And as the Spirit of God applies
the word, we do realize. And then it goes on to say, being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to bear propitiation
through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. In a few words there is wonderful
truth and surely here is food for the soul. Surely this is
what is to set before the people of God so that they do feed and
through that feeding they grow. And how do they grow? They grow
in grace and in the knowledge of their Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. There is no real growing outside
of that truth. And how needful it is then that
we are fed spiritually as we journey on and that means these
great truths of the gospel are set before us As we've been shown
our sinnership and the evil of our hearts, and then to realise
there is this great blessing of being justified freely. The free gift from the Saviour
himself to justify us. We can't justify ourselves. Sometimes
we might try to justify doing these things and that thing,
but you know when the Spirit of God shines into our heart. We can't justify anything ourselves,
but we're thankful to know that we are justified in Him, and
that freely. Freely because the price for
our justification was paid for by the Saviour when He died upon
the cross at Calvary, whom He hath been justified freely by
His grace, it is indeed His grace. It is wonderful to think that
it's a free unmerited favor to us if we have received this justification. It's nothing that we could earn
or deserve, but here we have it set before us here by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Well redeemed. with the precious
blood of Christ. We sang about it, didn't we,
in our first hymn, the great glory of redemption. Surely this
is food to the souls of the sheep of Christ. You know, Peter was
told to feed my lambs and to feed my sheep. That was a great
thing, a great commission to him and not isolated to the Apostle
Peter, but to the whole people that the Lord has commanded
to preach the gospel, he's called and sent forth, they are to proclaim
these great and glorious truths through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. Redemption nowhere else, nowhere
else. It's only through Christ who
died to redeem our souls. And how did that redemption come?
Well, the redemption came indeed through these words, he hath
purchased with his own blood. Without shedding of blood, there's
no remission, no forgiveness. The Savior died that we might
receive this great, wonderful blessing of being purchased. ponder that, to think of ourselves,
think that God, almighty God, should be so willing to look
upon us in our lost and ruined condition. And indeed, as we
continue, when we've been called by grace to still sin, and still
perhaps rebel against God, and still perhaps sometimes to backslide
against that gracious Lord, to realize that through his grace,
He's paid the purchase price to redeem our souls from all
our sins. My friends, how hard it is for
us to really appreciate the wonder of it. And it's something that
you and I cannot just work up in our own spirits. We can't
work ourselves up to appreciate the wonder of it. It is the gift
of God. And the Lord shows it to us as
he shines forth in the face of his Saviour, our Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful view then, to
be able to come and to view the Lord Jesus Christ as that one
that the Apostle speaks of here, which he has purchased with his
own blood. Neither blood, right down through
the ages, there being that bloodshed of animals, could never take
away sin. But this man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, he satisfied the holy demands of a holy God, and through
his death, through his shed blood, he purchased our souls, so that
one day, through his grace, we should be with him in glory. Now surely, these are the things
which feed the soul. These are things which encourage
us as we journey on through life, many things to discourage us,
but you know, maybe we found looking up, looking to the Saviour
and looking forward to our eternal home where we shall, by God's
grace, be found at last to sing His praises that one who has
purchased us with his own blood. Isn't it an amazing truth to
think that almighty God should have come down to deliver our
souls from the wrath to come and to set us free. And we know
that if we are set free through the blood of the Saviour, we
shall be free indeed. The devil can never take us again
under his command, because we are bought with a price, and
that price, the blood of the dear Redeemer. So here we have
then, these words set before the Ephesian elders and set before
the Church of God today, take heed therefore, how important
it is that these things are concentrated on They are the essential things. They are the central things of
the salvation of the Church of God. And may they be the central
things in your life and my life, so that the Lord may be lifted
up and honoured and glorified, and we may indeed praise his
great and glorious name. And therefore, take heed, therefore,
unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath
purchased with his own blood. Amen.