Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Acts chapter 20 and reading
for our text, verse 32. Verse 32. And now, brethren,
I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able
to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them. which are sanctified. Acts 20 and verse 32. The Apostle here says to the
Ephesian elders that they will not see him again. He was leaving them, he'd been
ministering to them over a number of years, and now he is leaving
them. They won't have his ministry,
they won't have the word. But like it is expressed by Peter
in his epistles, he desired that even after his death, they might
have these things still in remembrance. And so we have his epistles,
Here the Apostle, he commends them unto God and to the word
of his grace. You might think what is the difference
between recommending something and commending something? We could On a personal level,
recommend or comment someone as an applicant for employment. Both words could be used, but
to commend is used more specifically, and that is for public praise. For example, he was commended
for bravery. and the way, and I want to just
draw your attention to this in this verse, because when I first
looked at it, I took it the other way. We might think that Paul
would say to these Ephesians, now I'm leaving you, and therefore
I would Commend God to you. Instead of me, you have God in
my place. He is still with you. If Paul was going and someone
else was coming in his place, he would speak of that person
and say, listen to that person's ministry. I commend him to you,
he's a good minister. But it's put the other way around.
It is, I commend you to God. And if he is doing this in prayer,
he is going before God in prayer and saying, praying unto God,
here is a people. Here are the Ephesians. They
have used me. brought me to them. They are
a people that are prepared for you. A people suitable to be
saved. Perhaps to put it in an extreme
way, this couldn't be said to an angel. Because angels are
not sinners. Angels are not to be saved. He
couldn't commend angels to God as a suitable people or being
for God to show his saving grace and mercy upon because they are
not fallen. But he can commend to God and
say here is a people, a people that need thy grace, that need
thy blessing. Now of course it works in both
ways. If we think of the situation
of an employee or an employer, then there is a mutual help,
isn't there? If it is said this person would
be a good employee for you, or this employer would be a good
employer for you, If it is a right way, then both would benefit
each other. And so in that sense, the apostle
would be right in saying to these people, I am going, but I commend
God to you. You look direct to God. You come
straight to God. But it's interesting that he
puts it this way. I commend you. to God, and not only to God, but to the
Word of His Grace. I commend you to the Word of
His Grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance
among all them which are sanctified. Time to look with the Lord's
help this evening. Firstly, a church, in this case
it's the elders of the church, commended to a word, and that
word being the word of His grace. And secondly, why the church
is commended to the word of God's grace, because we're told here
is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among
all them which are sanctified. A church commended to a word. And I want to go back to this
thought in the way that it's put, because some of those people
might be very tried and very tempted and think that they are
not the suitable subjects for God, that the word is not for
them. The apostle, he uses his own
example have been such a notorious sinner who persecuted the people
of God that he was the chiefest of sinners and therefore none
may despair, all may have hope of salvation as he had obtained
it. And he is thinking then in that
sense that here is one that is a right character for the word
of God. Now you might say, well, isn't
it the case for all as the gospel is to be proclaimed and preached? And really, when we think of
the word here, the word of his grace, in verse 24, we have the
apostle saying that the ministry which I received of the Lord
Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. The word of
his grace is the gospel and the gospel is good news and it is
good news for sinners and it is in effect then what Paul is
saying here to these Ephesians. The gospel is good news for you. You are the right subjects of
this word. Don't be in doubt as that word
is for you. And it may especially be said
to those that the Lord has quickened into spiritual life, given them
to feel their sinnership, those that need assurance, need assurance
that they're not too bad for the gospel, The hymn writer says,
sinners can say, and none but they how precious is the gospel,
how precious is the Lord. And there are many that still in
unregeneracy, and they wouldn't hesitate to say, well, we're
entitled to the word and the Lord shall bless us and we shall
go to heaven, but really it is only those that have been quickened
into life that really know what sin is, how desperately wicked
their own hearts are, to know what they really deserve, and
it is those that need assurance and to actually know that the
apostle here who knew this people knew all about them, he was able
to say in this way, that I can take you as you are, as sinners,
as those who are quickened by God's grace, of those who know
the worst state of your own heart, and commend you to God. and not
only to God, but to the Word of His grace. I wonder how often
we really think of how vital it is for us to be prepared for
the Word of God's grace. We think of the Apostle writing
to The Romans in chapter 10. And we've referred to this this
morning, but he said that he bare them record that they had
a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. They being ignorant
of God's righteousness, going about to establish their own
righteousness, had not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God. Now grace, really the meaning
of grace, is the pure, the pure gift of God, the pure favor of
God, not mixed in any way at all with works. Knows why? And we think of how the apostle
wrote to the Ephesians. In Ephesians chapter two, you
hath he quickened. who were dead in trespasses and
sins. And what does he say? Of the
grace, for by grace are ye saved, through faith and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God. And then to make clear what
grace is, that is not mixed with works, not of works, lest any
man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which are the fruit which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them. So Paul
was writing to the Romans as those really that were not suitable
at that time for grace because they didn't feel their need of
it. They still were clinging to their works. They still were
thinking that they could, by some deeds of their own, merit
salvation. And so the gospel was not needed
by them. They did need it, but they didn't
feel their need of it. Their heart was not open to it. Their ear was not open to it. And that is the state, that is
the condition of many, we may say all, who have not had their
eyes open to see the depth of the fool. One of the vital things
that is really a key to all real doctrine, true doctrine, is a
true knowledge of the malady of a sinnership, and it is only
God that can disclose what the heart is and show to us our real
need of a saviour. Otherwise, it's just, our Lord
came to give us an example. Many times that is said for it
is true, but that's not the main reason why the Lord came. The
Lord came to fulfil the law and to die in the place of his people. to shed his precious blood as
required by the law. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. And the price demanded for sin
and for the life of the people of God was that it should be
the law fulfilled in one dying in the place of those that were
sentenced to death. And we are under the sentence
of death. Every one of us must die. But
the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ is life through His death. Our Lord died and He rose again,
ascended up into heaven. And it is those that the Lord,
by His grace, teaches that they are sinners and cuts off from
them any thought of righteousness, goodness, or merit in themselves. And those that are brought to
that place, they can then be commended to
the Word of God's grace. Sinners can say, and none but
they how precious is the Saviour. And may we really be able to
discern this, Are we, would we, be able to be commended to the
word of God's grace? If we perhaps use the illustration
of in a medical way, we might have a very skilled physician,
one that is able to perhaps perform operations or affect cures, and
there'd be many people that their condition, it doesn't suit what
he is able to do. You couldn't say to a person,
I commend you to this surgeon, because I know from your symptoms
and from what you're going through, that you are just the type of
person, you have just the condition that he is able to treat. But
if you knew another person and you knew what they had and you
thought it doesn't match, I can't commend you to that surgeon because
your condition is not what he treats. And it is in this way that the
Apostle is bringing these Ephesians and he is saying, you yourselves,
I can command you to God and to the word of his grace. To the gospel, the word of God
that brings the grace of God to a sinner makes it known to
him makes it known of what Christ has done, what he has accomplished
at Calvary, what he's done in his perfect life of obedience,
a righteousness wrought out, a proof that he is the true God,
the sinless one, the one who could offer that perfect sacrifice,
the empty tomb assurance given unto all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead? Know I believe this, that those
that truly can be commended to the word of his grace will find
in that word such words as so suitable to them, so precious
to them, such full of hope, What if it was put in this way?
I command you to the word of the law. Command you to the word of the
law. John says that the law by Moses
came, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ. It is pointing to the gospel. Our Lord says, as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but
should have eternal life. But what was the serpent lifted
up for? Who? For those that were bitten
by the serpents. Those that were dying. Those
that couldn't help themselves. That's what the serpent was lifted
up for. And Moses, he would commend all
of those bitten, sinners, to look to the serpent, that you
are the suitable ones. It's a blessed thing to realise
that what the Lord has done in beginning prepares for the word
of His grace. The Apostle Paul says of his
own conversion that he was alive without the law once, but when
the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And that which was
ordained unto life he found to be unto death. And yet the apostle
would say here, though I found that unto death, though it slew
me, and though it brought me as a guilty sinner, it brought
me into a place where instead of as a Pharisee looking to be
approved unto God by works, I now for the first time had a heart
open to receive the word of grace. ready for the gospel, ready to
receive. Mercy, mercy, mercy through blood
I make my plea. God be merciful to me. And so as the apostle commended these Ephesians to
the word of God's grace, so I would commend each one of you here,
each that hear me this evening, those of you that feel your sin,
those that know what you deserve, those that know that your own
works are about filthy rags and not to be trusted in, to commend
you to the gospel. The realization that you are
one for whom this word is to be especially precious, so suitable at this time. It may be. To those like the
Apostle, one time in his life, this word was not precious. He had no need of it. He didn't
want it. The Lord brought there to be
a time that he began to be in want, like the prodigal. He began
to be in want. We think of it in another way.
David, a man after God's own heart, is in the way of restoring. When he had sinned in adultery
and murder, And then he is brought to conviction
under it through the parable of Nathan. And he says, I have
sinned. Immediately then, he is in a
very different state than his hardened state that was before. When he's brought into conviction,
immediately we have the word of the gospel through Nathan.
The Lord hath also put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. The same God that brought him
to confess, to fall under, to bow before God's hand, pronounced
his forgiveness. The Lord Jesus Christ is exalted
to give repentance and remission of sins unto Israel. His name, thou shalt call his
name Jesus. For He shall save His people
from their sins, and we can be sure His people will be brought
in His time and way to know that they are sinners, that they are
then brought into a place where they are, we may say, ready to
be saved, suitable to be saved, an ear opened, a heart opened,
longing for that word of mercy and grace. The Lord knows how
to prepare. The woman at the well of Samaria
really in one discourse prepared her and gave her that living
water. With the apostle it was said
it was hard for him to kick against the pricks and we Get the idea
that there had been some time there that he resisted the word
of the Lord. But the apostle has known these
people here. In one way it must have been hard
for him to leave them when he saw he was a people that needed
the gospel. but he was able to command them
to the word of God's grace. There's another way that possibly
we could look at this. I don't believe it is the original
intended from what follows on, because how it follows is which
is able to build you up, not who is able to build you up. But when we think of the Lord
Jesus Christ, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God, He is the incarnate Word, and
by the grace of God, the Lord Jesus Christ was given. And so in that sense, the Apostle
could be saying, hear now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the
Lord Jesus Christ, his word, the word of his grace, the way
that all grace comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. But I
think with the context from verse 24, the gospel of the grace of
God and then which follows is more designed, the Gospel of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Word preached, the Word written,
the holy and fallible Word of God, the Word of God's grace. I just notice, before we move
to the second point as to why the church is commended to the
word of God's grace is the way that the text begins. He addresses them as brethren. And remember, of course, the
apostle is an apostle. And yet he is speaking to those
that are elders, you might say of lesser standing, but he speaks
of them as brethren. And I know when I was first brought
to faith, it seemed to be a strange thing sometimes when there were
those who had been long in the way, ministers of the gospel,
those that I really looked up to and esteemed. And they started
to call me a brother in faith or brethren. I thought, but who
am I? What am I compared with you? But in the Word of God, though
we may have different offices and different roles or standing
in the Church of God, the Apostle here reminds us that we are all
brethren, brethren of the Lord. I remember, I think it might have
been in the Gospel Standard, one of the little booklets of
Mr. Ansbottom, and he made the point about what is said of deacons
in some churches. He said, well, there's a senior
deacon, a junior deacon, And he said, in the Word of God,
there's no such distinction. You're either a deacon or you're
not. There's not a hierarchy. And sometimes we can perhaps
go a bit beyond what is written in the Word. And I just point
that out as the text begins and now brethren and thinking of
the difference between the apostle and those that he is addressing.
Really the youngest child that was converted and brought to
faith would be referred to as the brethren, as a brother or
sister in Christ. their position in Christ, their
relationship in Christ. It's a beautiful thought in that
way. I want to then think with the
second point, why the church is commended to the word of God's
grace. And this is where, again, it
looks like it is a twofold way, And here it is put in the benefit,
in the way that the Gospel, the Word of God's grace, is able
to affect them. And the first thing it said,
it is able to build you up. He doesn't say able to build
some of you up, or some of you a bit behind in the faith, or
some of you need more strengthening, really with the people of God,
there's always that need to be built up. Even if we got to the
end of our journey after 60 years in the way, we'd still say we
know but a little of the things of God. We say So much need to
be built up, to be strengthened, to have our coast enlarged, to know something more of those
riches of Christ that we've only just started a little to drink
a drop of. When we think of the ocean, if
we go down to the sea, We couldn't possibly comprehend it all and
the greatness of it. We can get a few drops of it,
and we say we've partaken of the ocean. We've had a little
bit of it, but we could never fully enter it. But the Lord
has said that where he begins, he which hath begun a good work
in you, he will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. And
there is a need for the people of God to be built up, as put
in the prophet Isaiah, that he shall teach them line upon line,
precept upon precept. Let me think, and I think of
my profession as a design engineer, and the things that I know, and
especially when the the peak of my profession, be able to
draw upon and the machines to design and to draw. And I think, how did I come to
that? I look at one that is just leaving
school and I think, how could they come to that ability? I was always frustrated when
I first finished my training because every job applicant,
a job I applied for, it said, must have five years experience. I thought, well, if you won't
employ me, how can I get any experience, let alone five years?
But after I'd been in the profession, then I realized why they needed
that experience. There was a need to be built
up. There was a need to have that experience and that understanding
to be able to be of any use to an employer. When we think of a child beginning
school, and they begin to learn their letters first, and then
the words, and then sentences, and then their numbers, and then
the basic maths. And all the way through schooling,
it's building up upon what has been learned before. And in the
things of God as well, they shall all be taught of God. And the
Lord said to his disciples, I have many things to say unto you,
but ye cannot bear them now. You cannot bear them now. Later
on, when he had died and risen again, and sent forth then his
disciples, and the Holy Spirit given, then they could bear them. Then they could have those things
revealed to them. And so there is a building up. Often it is through trials and
tribulations. We mentioned the context of this
chapter where there had been that uproar, the opposition,
when the idolaters had been converted and no longer wanted their idols.
But it was to be strengthened in the ways of the Lord, established
in the ways of the Lord, built up to really understand what
they believe, why they believe it, and to be built up in their
most holy faith. And so it is the word of grace,
the word of God's grace, that is able to build you up. If this
evening you feel your ignorance and weakness, instability, uncertainty
of many things, proneness to be tempted, drawn away, attacked
by Satan, be shaken in your mind, then here is set before you the
reason why The apostle commands the people to God and the word
of His grace because that is able to build you up. His God's
appointed way, His God's ordained means that He will use for His
people. Then there's a second thing. Not only to build you up, but
to give you an inheritance. among all them which are sanctified."
Very interesting way that he describes the people of God. He doesn't say to give you an
inheritance amongst all those that were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world, or an inheritance in heaven,
or inheritance amongst God's people. All of those things may
be right, but he chooses to say among all them that are sanctified. This is how you will know the
people of God is those that are set apart for a holy use, is
those that are a holy people, those that are separated from
the world. This people have I formed for
myself they shall show forth my praise. This people I have
prepared for the word of my grace, and the word of my grace is suitable
for them, and the word of my grace will build them up, and
it will give them this inheritance." Notice just in this one verse,
grace, you can never merit it, you cannot earn it, it is free,
it is sovereign, It is completely devoid of works. Inheritance. You cannot earn it, you cannot
pay for it. It comes through the death of
another and it comes by relationship to another or by the will of
another. That is the way of the Gospel. It is the Lord's work and it
is free. and is given to sinners. And
the number that are joined together in this inheritance in Christ,
an inheritance in heaven, are those that are prepared for it
here, sanctified and set apart. In the practical sense, these
Ephesians, they were once idolaters. But through the Word preached
to them, they heard that Word, they fell under that Word. They
were made so that that Word was to be their meat and drink, and
that Word that had been used to convert them was to be the
Word that built them up, and was to be the Word that brought
them at last to be in heaven, to be with the people of God.
to give you, again, another word, is not earned, is not bought,
it is given. The gift of God is eternal life. Maybe really notice the means
that God uses. The apostle does commend them
unto God. but then he makes it very specific
to the word of his grace. May we bless the Lord for his
word and where he's made that word to be our meat and drink
and so suitable to us. In one sense, this is a token
for a child of God. Has the Lord made us so that
His Word, His Word of Grace, is suitable to us, precious to
us, meets our case, is what our poor souls want, that is what
we need? Because that is what the Lord
does for those that He will gather as a separated, sanctified people,
and around the throne at last. And now, brethren, I commend
you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build
you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. And we may say this, that this
building up is a growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. Growing more and more in the
persuasion that ever my poor soul be saved, tis Christ must
be the way and it must be. Grace, grace, grace, all of grace. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.