I please the Lord to bless us
this evening as we continue our meditation in the Acts of the
Apostles, chapter 20. And this evening we'll speak
from verse 24 to verse 27. Verse 24 to verse 27. I'll just read them again. But
none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear
unto myself, that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry
which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel
of the grace of God. And now behold, I know that ye
all among whom I have gone preaching, the kingdom of God shall see
my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record
this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men, For I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God." Well, we see the Apostle here,
he's been speaking to some of those elders who've come down
from Ephesus. He'd asked them to come down
to meet him, and no doubt he'd been discussing many things and
preaching to them, and the congregation's there. And now he's told them
the situation which he'd done. He said testify in both of the
Jews. and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound in
the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that should
befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every
city, saying, the bonds and afflictions abide me." Well, we know what
the Apostle had suffered already. very considerable amount of difficulty
as he'd been preaching in Ephesus and Trias and the various places
as he journeyed along. And now he comes and he makes
this glorious statement really. He says, but none of these things
moved me. All the adversaries, all the
difficulties, all the trials, all the temptations, they did
not move him. Why? Because his religion was
founded upon a rock. And that rock was none less than
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that could not be moved.
And therefore, he had that confidence in that, that none of those things
which had come upon him would move him. What a blessing for
us today to realize as we come into trying situations, which
we will, in various ways, to realize that no, we have to stand
firm. We are not to move. We are not
to, as it were, try and ease the situation, to make it more
comfortable for us. No, the Apostle didn't ask for
that. He wanted to stay where he was
and not be moved by all the oppositions and therefore he says, but none
of these things move me. Well, may we all know what it
is to be able to stand firm the truth of God and not be moved.
The devil will endeavour to move us off the rock, he'll endeavour
to turn us aside, away from the truth, and he'll bring many things
into our lives that tempt us and say to us, well, surely you
can do this, just like you did to Adam and Eve in the Garden
of Eden. And he'll come to us and say, hath God said, well,
we need to point the old devil to the word of God, as the Saviour
did himself. And be able then to come and
say, through faith and that grace of God, stand side by side with
the Apostle Paul and say, but none of these things move me. And then he moves on and says,
neither count I my life dear unto myself. Well, that's a wonderful
statement because naturally our life is dear to us. To every
one of us, naturally our life is dear to us. But what a blessing
it is when the grace of God comes and moves us to such a condition
and situation that we're able to echo the words of the Apostle
and say, neither count I my life dear unto myself. So the Lord
has given us life and my friends the Lord can take our life and
if we have the evidence that our security is in what Christ
has done, we're resting upon his finished work, then surely
it will be well with our souls, well with our souls eternally,
and surely in measure we can come and join and say, neither
can't I my life dear unto myself, because you and I, and may it
be in every one of us, because it applies to all God's children,
we're all found serving the Lord, one way or another and indeed
we're all labourers together and what a blessing it is and
therefore if we have a single eye to the honour and glory of
God and the single eye to that glory which awaits the children
of God then may we also be blessed with this wondrous grace to be
able to come and say, neither count I my life dear unto myself,
so that I might finish my course with joy." The Apostle was looking
forward, wasn't he? He was looking forward to that
inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away. And he desired, therefore, to
walk this way so that he wouldn't have regrets when he came down
to die, when he came to give up his life. He wouldn't have
any regrets that he wasted his time. He wouldn't have any regrets
that he spent it in wrong ways, but that he'd been found serving
the Lord. And so he says, so that I might
finish my course with joy. Well may that be our great desire,
to finish our course with joy. And you know it will be so if
the Lord has enabled us to serve him, to obey him, to follow him. And what wondrous grace it is
the Lord gives which enables us to do these things. and therefore
to come down to this time when we shall be found like this and
not have regrets. Oh, my friends, let us not have
any regrets. If there are any things that we can put right
which we haven't done, let us do so. If there's any stumbling
blocks, let them take us up, let them take them out of the
way. Let us not listen to our own evil heart, let us listen
to the great and glorious word of God and be a true follower
of our gracious and saviour, and every day taking up our cross
and following him. That's what the Apostle did.
That's what the Apostle said. And therefore he was able to
make such a declaration as this. Finish my course with joy and
the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus. You see, it
wasn't his ministry that he dreamt up. It was the ministry that
he had received. And how wonderful that is. that
God does give to his servants the ministry, the ministry to
declare, the ministry to preach, the ministry to testify. He says,
I have received the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the
grace of God. This was his constant desire
to preach the gospel and he wasn't concerned about the cost. He
desired to preach the gospel And so it may be our concern,
those who are blessed with this call to preach, may we indeed
be found in the same place and to testify the gospel of the
grace of God. Well, what a glorious subject
it is, isn't it? The grace of God, the free unmerited
favour which comes to the Church of God because of what the Saviour's
done, because of his great and glorious work finished on Calvary's
cross, the wonderful overcoming of death, head on the grave,
a victory, a great victory, and then rose again from the dead
and then ascended up into glory. Oh, to testify the gospel of
the grace of God, and if it's gospel, then it's come to us
my friends, what a blessing it is to realise that we have received
this from our God. The Lord has granted it to us,
we haven't deserved it, but do we stand amazed at the mercy
and the love and the favour of almighty God that caused him
to so willingly die that his shed blood might atone for all
our sins and to know that we are washed and we are whiter
than snow in the eyes of Almighty God, because we stand complete
in Him, not in ourselves. And now, behold, I know that
ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God,
shall see my face no more." Clearly the Apostle had this persuasion,
he was going to leave them, and he was journeying, as we know,
to Jerusalem, and he carried on, and of course he went back
to Rome, and there were long journeys, but he didn't ever
come back to this specific location. And clearly he had the intimation
that it would not be so. And therefore he didn't pretend
that, well, perhaps I might be able to. And he was honest and
he spoke in this way. And he says, and now behold,
I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom
of God. He was able to declare it, wasn't
he? The Lord had enabled him to go on preaching the kingdom
of God. It wasn't something that he was
ashamed of. It was something that he was thankful for, and
able to acknowledge that it was what God had blessed him with,
and he'd been able to do it. And now he comes and says, shall
see my face no more. Wherefore, I take you to record
this day. There was to be a record made,
a record which would be an account which was declared and would
be remembered for the honor and glory of God. Wherefore, I take
you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men."
It's a great testimony, isn't it? It's an important testimony
because he was pure, he was free from the blood of all men. He
preached the gospel faithfully. He preached the whole gospel.
And he preached that gospel which laid the sinner low and raised
Christ on high. And therefore he was able to
declare that he was free from the blood of all men. No one
that he preached to would be able to say, Paul, you never
spoke. You never said anything. You
never mentioned the blood of Christ. You never mentioned the
need for salvation. My friends, he had preached.
whole Council of God, and therefore he was able to make this true
and gracious statement, an important statement, and those who preach
the Gospel today need to be able to declare in all humbleness
before Almighty God such a statement as this, wherefore I take you
to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men,
for I have For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel
of God." He wasn't afraid to preach the whole gospel. He had
not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God, everything that
he'd been shown, all those things that he was able to record in
those letters to the churches. and that we have recorded for
our benefit this day to think that here he was, able to tell
to these people in these clear terms, and there wasn't pride
in it, there wasn't any pomposity in it, there was just the honesty
and to be able to declare and to tell these people they were
without excuse because he had not shunned to declare unto you
the counsel of God. Well, my friends, what a blessing
it is if we're able to declare that today and to understand
what a wonderful testimony it was of the Apostle Paul. And
may we also be able to, in light manner, give a light testimony,
not for our own justification, but for the honour and glory
of our God, who is worthy to receive all honour and all praise
and all glory. Amen.