The first of which is this. This
is a rare meeting, a very unusual and rare meeting of pastors,
pastors and elders and preachers. This meeting was called by the
Apostle Paul. He brought these men together
to speak to them. That interested me a great deal.
Secondly, Paul had been the instrument which the Lord used to reveal
the gospel to these men. Most of them heard the gospel
from Paul. He talked about three years laboring
among them, three years they heard the gospel. So they were
special to him, and he was special to them. And then the third reason why
these verses are especially interesting to me is because this is the
last time that most of these men would ever hear Paul preach
or see his face. You look at verse 25. He said,
And now, behold, I know that you all among whom I have gone
preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more. Verse 36, 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 spake, that they should see
his face no more. This is the last final time that
he would speak to these men. That gives special weight to
these words. And then let me turn to this
scripture quickly. Paul said over here in 1 Timothy
1, 16 that he was a pattern. His conversion was a pattern. those who would afterward believe. He said in 1 Timothy 1, 16, Howbeit
for this cause I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ
might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should
hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. So if his conversion
is a pattern to those who will believe, to us, and all who preceded
us, then is not his ministry a pattern for our preachers and
elders and those who witness and those who support the ministry
and those who engage in the business of witnessing and teaching any
type of ministry? If he's the pattern, of the long-suffering
and patience of Christ in salvation, then is not his ministry a pattern? I think so. We can pattern our
ministry after his. I'd much rather do that, hadn't
you? And then I'd better tell you another reason why this chapter
is especially interesting to me is because today's preaching
and ministry is so far removed from this. I'm so sad, aren't
you, that I'm so sad at what's happening in my day to the churches
and to the ministry. I honestly confess unto you that
I am embarrassed in most cases to be introduced in most places
as a preacher. I really am. Because most preachers
are an embarrassment to the gospel. to God. Shame. Just so sad. And this, I like
to go back to this and read it again. So let's look at verse
18. And he says here in verse 18,
And when they were come to him, he said to them, You know, from
the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I've
been with you at all seasons, you know my manner of life, my
objective, Serving the Lord with all humility
of mind, serving the Lord. Paul talks about serving the
Lord. I've served the Lord. How does one serve the Lord? God said, if I were hungry, I
wouldn't ask you. If I needed anything, I wouldn't
ask you. He said, the cattle on a thousand
hills of mine, the silver and gold that hadn't even been taken
from the earth is mine. I don't need anything. Well,
how do we serve God? Our Lord gave us a lesson in
that. He said, I was hungry and you
fed me. I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you visited me. I was naked and you clothed
me. And the believers said, Lord,
when did we ever see you hungry? Naked and in prison These things
you're talking about and he said in as much as you've done it
to the least of these you've done it to me, so We serve him
best when we serve his people That's when we serve him when
we serve his people for Christ's sake we're his servants To his
people let me show you that I want you to turn to this over in Colossians
chapter 3 That's the reason that, one of the reasons I love you
all so much, this church. I'm just so thankful to God that
he has, Colossians chapter 3 verse 17, that he has enabled us to
reach out to others, other pastors and churches and missionaries
and preaching the gospel and to the Ramey home and the East
Step home and the community kitchen and the and the social services
and feed the hungry and people come by here every day and get
medicine for folks. I just love this. I like for
us just to have an open hand. Don't you like that? Martha just
takes so many, you don't know how many people that look to
this church and to this secretary and how many people we're able
to reach out to And our Lord said, that's when you serve me.
In Colossians 3, listen to this, in verse 17. And whatsoever you
do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Giving
thanks to God and the Father by Him. Wives, submit yourselves
to your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love
your wives. Be not bitter against them. Children,
Obey your parents in all things. This is well-pleasing to the
Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they
be discouraged. Servants, obey in all things
your masters according to their flesh, not with eye service,
as men pleases, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever
you do, do it heartedly as to the Lord, not unto men, knowing,
now listen, that of the Lord you shall receive the reward
of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ." See that? You're serving Him. You're serving
Him. When you minister to and serve
His people, you're serving Him. That's what Paul said, I've served
the Lord. And what's the next thing is,
I've served Him with humility of mind. This is deeper than
an outward false humility or so-called meekness. It's a humility
of mind. A humility of mind. You know,
Paul is so clear on that. He said on one occasion, he said,
I'm not worthy to be an apostle. Pride has no place in the ministry
of the gospel, in serving the Lord. Pride has no place. Self-serving. That has no place. Paul said,
I'm not worthy to be an apostle. On another occasion he said,
I know myself, I'm less than the least of all the saints.
Pick out the least of the saints and I'm less. And Christ came
into the world to save sinners, he said, of whom I'm cheap. That's
a humility of mine. I know my imperfections and you
know yours. I know that all my gifts are
borrowed. All my gifts are borrowed. They're not mine, they're His.
He loaned them to me. He made me a steward. You know,
we talk about being stewards of God. We're stewards of His
grace. We're stewards of His gifts. We're stewards of His
possessions. They're not ours, they're His.
And He blesses us that we might be a blessing. He blesses us
that we might be a blessing. He makes us a channel of blessings.
I know that my gifts are borrowed, and I know that I am what I am
by His grace, and I know I'm here for a little while to minister
to my generation. I'm here to be a blessing. That's
what we want to do. That's humility of mind. I'm
serving the Lord with humility of mind. It's attitude. The right
attitude. Alright, let's read on. He says
this, but with many tears, Paul was a man of great tears, like
Jeremiah the weeping prophet. He said on one occasion, I have
great heaviness and continual sorrow for my brethren according
to the flesh. I pray for them. I weep over
them. Many trials which befell me by
the lying inner weight of the Jews. You know, Paul went through
a lot of trials, but most of his trials were brought upon
him by religious people. Most of them, that's true. Most
of the time, the Apostle Paul suffered at the hands of religious
people who despised his message. That's what he's talking about
here, about the trials by the lying which befell me by the
lying in wait of the Jews. Now watch verse 20. And he said,
I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you. I kept back
nothing. I said that this morning. Paul
was a man of great compassion, great feeling, and great love
for others. But his fear of God kept him
from being afraid of men. You hear people say, well, I'm
not afraid of anybody. Well, maybe you aren't. Maybe not. But I tell you what will keep
you from being afraid. And that's the fear of God. Fear
of God will overcome any fear of man. When we fear God, we
don't fear what men can do to us. He said, our Lord said this,
fear not them which hurt the body. After that, have no more
that they can do. I tell you, whom you shall fear,
fear Him. Fear Him who is able to cast
you body and soul into hell. So when we stand to preach or
teach or witness, our fear of God overcomes our fear of men.
And then Paul, Paul's love for Christ was greater than his love
for himself. This is the thing that This is
the thing that leads you to serve Him and to labor in His vineyard
and to please Him is because your love for Him is greater
than love for yourself. And really greater than your
love for your family or your friends. He that loveth father,
mother, brother, sister, husband or wife more than me is not worthy
of me. Your love for Him is greater
than your love for You love them. You can't describe
how much you love them. But when it comes between him
and them, I hate to choose that. I hate to have to make that kind
of choice. I hate to. That's so terrible. But it's
really no choice. It's really no choice because
he's first. And then Paul, that's the way he felt. That's the reason
he said, I've kept back nothing profitable to you. He said, if I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to boast of. Necessity is laid upon me. Woe
is unto me if I don't preach the gospel. These elders don't
even have any conflict about whether I'm going to preach anything
or not. If God shows it to them, I'm going to preach it. You know,
you have to. Necessity is laid upon me. His
desire to please God overruled his desire to please me. We like
to please people. in this world that I enjoy more
than someone saying, now, I believe that. I love that. Oh, that's a rich, wonderful
gospel you're preaching. Oh, I enjoy that. For someone
to say, I don't believe what you're saying, that hurts. I hate that. I just, that's so
sad. And it doesn't make you happy
at all. Somebody says, well, I don't care what people think.
I really do care. But I'd rather please Him than
them. I'd hate to make the choice.
Don't you? You understand what I'm saying?
That's the reason Paul says, I've kept back nothing. I've
held back nothing. Though it wounds and though it
hurts and though it convicts and though it spikes the flesh
and strips us and puts us in the dust and shuts our mouths
and sends division, Causes division, but our fear of Him overcomes
our fear of men, and our love for Him is greater than our love
for people. And our desire to please Him
far outweighs our desire to please them. Isn't it wonderful when
we can please both? Isn't that wonderful? I think
I'd like to preach to you. I've gone places where, oh boy,
it's tough to preach. Here it's easy. And his knowledge,
watch this now, his knowledge of himself and of God's grace
to him kept him from ever, ever becoming ambitious for self-glory. So he could say, I kept back
nothing profitable to you, but I've showed you and taught you
publicly from house to house, publicly and privately. I got
the same message. I've showed you and I've taught
you publicly and privately, publicly and in your homes. Same message. What is that message? Listen
to verse 21. Testifying both to the Jews and
to the Greeks. Two things. Repentance toward
God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody says, which
comes first, repentance or faith? They come at the same time. Repentance
and faith are like this piece of paper. You don't have a piece of paper
unless you've got both sides. You can't have a piece of paper
with just one side. You can't have repentance without
faith. You can't turn from your idols
unless you turn to Him. And you can't turn to Him unless
you turn from your idols. Isn't that right? That's what
it says over here, what repentance is in Psalm 51. Turn over there a moment. Psalm
51. Here's repentance. It's turning
from my idols to the living God. It's a plea for mercy. It's a
confession of sins. It's a change of mind. Isaiah
said it's a change of mind, it's a change of thoughts, it's a
change of attitude, change of direction, change of manners,
Psalm 51, David said, Have mercy upon me, O God. According to
thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions, wash me throughly, throughly
from mine iniquity, cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge
my transgressions. My sin is ever before me. against
thee, and thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear
when you judge. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
in sin did my mother conceive me." That's repentance and faith. That's justifying God and confessing my sins. I'll
tell you this about repentance and faith. Four or five things. Number one, where you find one,
you'll find the other. Where you find faith, you'll
find repentance. Genuine repentance toward God. An acknowledging of our sins,
a confession of our sins. And secondly, both are the gift
of God. Both repentance and faith are
the gift of God. It's the goodness of God that
leads us to repentance. Isn't that what he said? The
goodness of God that leads us to repentance, and faith is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Thirdly,
both repentance and faith are heart work. Isaiah said, let
the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,
and let him return to God. That's repentance. Faith's a
hard work. Fourthly, now watch this, both
repentance, that has to do with the thoughts, with the mind,
both repentance and faith, acknowledge God's right to do with His own
what He will. Got to come to that place. Got
to come to that place. We'll be saved on His terms.
Let God be God and every man a liar. That's right. That's genuine repentance. Let
God be God and every man a liar. Then the next thing about repentance
and faith, they both continue. You see, repentance, listen to
me a minute. Repentance, sorrow for sin, confession
of sin, a weariness with sin, a desire to be washed from our
sins, Faith in Christ. These are not isolated acts.
A fellow says, well, I repented. No. Repentance is not an isolated
act. It's a state of being. I have
repented. I am repenting. I'm still repenting. And I shall repent. Repentance
is not an isolated act. If a man is not still repenting,
he never did. Isn't that right? And faith. Faith is not an isolated act.
Faith is a state of being. I have believed. I am believing.
I will believe. If I don't continue to believe,
I never did. I have been saved. I am being saved. My salvation
is nearer than when I believed. It's life. It's not just an experience. It's life. Old Pastor Dodd used
to talk about He always preached repentance and faith, repentance
toward God and faith in Christ. He said this, if I die in the
pulpit, I desire to die preaching repentance toward God and faith
in Christ. If I die out of the pulpit, I
desire to die practicing repentance toward God and faith in Christ.
Hall said, that's what I preach. John Flavel had this to say.
Now this helped me a great deal years ago. John Flavel said,
repentance. And repentance is something you
can talk about for a long time. And when you define it, you kill
it. If a man has repented, he understands
it. If he hadn't repented, he doesn't
understand it. But here's what he's saying about repentance.
We haven't repented until we repent of what we are. What are
we? We're sinners by nature. That's
what we are. That's our character. That's
our nature. It's so much easier to sin, isn't
it? This flesh, it just comes natural
with us. It comes natural. That's what
we are. Secondly, we repent of what we've done. We have sinned
and come short of His glory. Thirdly, we repent of what we
haven't done. We haven't loved God with all
our hearts, minds, souls. We haven't loved our neighbors,
have we? And then fourthly, he said this, to truly repent is
not only to repent of what we are, what we've done, what we
haven't done, but to repent of our religious exercises, which
are so full of self-righteousness. Oh, my, my, my. You know what
I'm talking about? Isaiah did. He said, even our
righteousness is a filthy rag. There's so much self. Don't you wish you could do what
you do totally for the glory of God? Self is not in there
anywhere. No way. Just do it for the glory
of God. Not do it to be seen of men,
not do it to be bragged on, not do it for any reason, but to
glorify God. That's what I'm talking about.
I've never done that. Not totally. Not totally. I'd like to be able to. Someday
I will. Someday I will when I'm like Him. Now let's look at verse
22 quickly and listen to this. And now behold, he said, I go
bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesses in every
city, saying that bonds, that is, chains and afflictions await
me. But none of these things move
me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might
finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received
of the Lord Jesus to testify of the gospel of the grace of
God. What's he saying here? Just paraphrasing. I go to more
trouble. I've had trouble, I go to more
trouble. Because this world is not a friend of grace. This world
is hostile. Hostile to the grace of God. And the Spirit of God revealed
to him that he could expect more trials. In fact, martyrdom. But
he said, these things don't move me. I do not count my life dear
to myself, I do not count my life or anyone else's life above
Christ. I desire to finish what I began. My ministry and my stewardship.
Isn't that what he said? Look at verse 24 again. None
of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself,
so that I might finish my course. My ministry. which I have received
of the Lord. I have a, you have too, I have
a ministry. God brought me to Ashland, Kentucky.
Doris and I had been married January, February, March. Three
months. Fifty years ago, we came to Ashland. God gave me a ministry here.
And one day I'll finish it, my ministry. That's what Paul, God
gave him a ministry. And he said, I don't count my
life dearer than myself, whatever lies ahead, I'm determined to
finish my ministry, which he gave me. And I really believe,
I just, I watch men bounce from this place to that place to the
other place, and I just wonder, did God give them that ministry?
And why aren't they still there? Why aren't they still there?
Finishing that ministry. Remaining faithful to that ministry.
Paul did. Paul did. No matter what impressed
him to quit, he never quit. He never threw in the towel.
He was determined to finish his course. And I'll tell you, over
in 1 Corinthians 3, if you'll turn over there just a moment,
this thing, ministers, preachers, elders, deacons, church members,
people in the ministry, all of us in the ministry, God's ministry. We're serving Him by serving
others, by serving where He put us. We've got to give an account. Our ministry is going to be tested.
Now, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 is written to preachers. And Paul
said in verse 11, For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid,
which is Jesus Christ. That's the foundation, Christ.
He's the cheap cornerstone. Now, if any man build on this
foundation, gold, silver, and precious stone, what are those
things? They're all lasting. They all
stand the test. Gold, silver, precious stones.
It's all permanent work, lasting work. Gold, silver, precious
stone. But there's another type. people build on that foundation
on Christ, wood, hay, and stubble. What's significant about that?
It's temporary. Wood, hay, and stubble. It won't
stand the test. It won't stand time, fire, or
the test. It's going to perish. The gold,
silver, and precious stone are going to remain. The wood, hay,
and stubble are going to perish. God has ministers. Christ is
the foundation. Paul, the apostles, the apostles
laid that foundation. Now we follow them. We ministers
follow these apostles, prophets of God. And we build on that
foundation. I don't lay the foundation. Christ
is the foundation. That's laid. That gospel is recorded. Here it is. It's recorded. It's
written. All I'm doing is ministering.
I'm an under-shepherd of the shepherd. I'm building on that
foundation. But through these years where
I've been preaching, There's some fruits of this ministry,
your ministry, this ministry, here in this congregation. And
it's either wood, hay, and stubble, or it's gold, silver, and precious
stone. How are we going to know the difference? Read the next
verse. Every man's work shall be made
manifest. It's going to be revealed. It's
going to be tried. The day is going to be declared. What day
is that? That's the day of the Lord. That's judgment. Remember
in Matthew 7, those people said, Lord, we preached in your name,
did many wonderful works, cast out demons, we just ran all over
the country doing all these things, you know, whoop-de-doo, and he
said, I never knew you. You workers of iniquity. Well,
the day is going to declare it, the day of judgment. But there's
another test. Listen. Because it shall be revealed
by fire. What's the fire? Trials. Peter
said, brethren, count it not strange, fiery trials that come
upon you. Trials. Trials in the church,
trials in the home, trials in personal life, trials, trials,
trials. They're fiery trials. They're
hard trials. They're burning trials. And they take folks with
them. Those fiery trials, they can't
stand the Harry Truman said one time, if you can't stand the
heat, get out of the kitchen. And that's what people do. They
get out of the kitchen. But not the gold, silver, and precious
stone. It loves the fire. It gets better. The fire burns
up the wood, hay, and stuff. The fire makes the gold a little
more precious. That's right. Burns off the draughts
and leaves pure gold. So this ministry is going to
be tried. It will be tried in the day of
judgment. It will be tried every day by trials, fire. Then I'll
tell you another thing that tries it, and that is verse 14. He said, "...and the fire shall
try every man's work." Verse 14, "...if any man's work abide
which he hath built on that foundation, he'll receive a reward." That
reward is the joy of the Lord. You are my reward. That's what
Paul said. He's my reward. But time and
the word. The day of judgment will try
our ministry. Trials, fiery trials will try
our ministry. Time will try our ministry. That's
right. Time. Continuing in the faith. And the word will try our ministry. Be tested. If any man's work shall be burned,
he'll suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, so as by fire. You mean there are ministers
whose entire ministry will almost go up in flames before them?
That's right. That's right. Paul said, I keep
my body and bring it into subjection, lest while preaching to others
I become a castaway. I want to finish this ministry.
That's what he said here. I want to be faithful. God gave
it to me. I've received of the Lord Jesus
to testify of the grace of God. And when it's over, it'll be
over. All of you will be able to say,
the time of my departure is at hand. I finished my course. I finished it. I didn't quit.
I finished it. I kept the faith. that laid up
for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord will give me in
that day and those who love his appearance." Don't quit. I'd say to any true preacher
of the gospel, any true missionary, any true servant of God, if God
puts you somewhere, you stay there until the cows come home.
Walter Gruber is a good illustration of that. Thirty years. Mexico
is not an easy place to live. It's a tough place. It's a tough
place. But that dear man and dear woman,
amid all the trials and conflicts and heartache and loneliness
and heat and sickness and amoeba and all that, he's there. And God's blessed him. And the
work's been tried by fire. Bill Clark, I keep naming these
men. Go back through history. God put them somewhere in the
States. Somebody says, well my work's
finished. Not unless his is. My work be good, be finished.
It's quicker the better. But his work. I'm not doing my
work, I'm doing his work. And I'm not through till he's
through. And you and I pray that he'll never be through here for
a long time. That's right. That's what I'm
praying for the benefit of these young people right here. I hope
he's not through. I hope he doesn't close the door.
Let me finish and one of these men pick it up. This is what Paul says here now.
Let me go on here. I'll let you go in a minute.
In verse 25, And now, behold, I know that you 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. I preach the gospel. I have not
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Now then,
he gives them a warning. Listen to this. Take heed to
yourselves. Examine yourselves. Don't ever
quit taking inventory. Don't ever quit. Mike, don't
let us think because we've been up here all these years that
we ought to quit examining ourselves. Examine yourself. Take heed to
yourself. And take heed to the flock. Take
heed to this congregation that loves you and you love them,
over which God, the Holy Ghost, has made you an overseer. You're
responsible. You men are responsible. We're
responsible to do what? To feed the Church of God, which
He purchased with His own blood. I'm responsible. To get up here
unprepared to preach and teach is inexcusable. I'm responsible. It's like a mother neglecting
to feed her children. That's irresponsibility. That's
not being responsible. Feed the church of God. Feed
them what? The Word. Teach them. I know this, that
after I'm gone, grievous wolves will enter in among you, not
sparing the flock. There's always somebody waiting,
led by Satan, to creep in and pounce upon God's flock. Therefore,
he says, and of your own selves, Men will rise up speaking things
that aren't true to draw attention to themselves and disciples after
themselves. Therefore, watch. Watch. Be alert. Stay in the Word. Stay in the prayer closet. Watch.
And remember, by the space of three years, I cease not to warn
everyone night and day with tears. And now, brethren, listen, I
love this. I commend you. To two things, I commend you
to God and to His Word, the Word of His grace, which is able to
build you up, God and the Word of His grace, and to give you
an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Now listen,
I've coveted no man's silver, gold, or apparel. God's true
preachers are not covetous. They are not covetous. They don't
covet other men's possessions. Don't you follow a man that does.
Don't you do it. And you yourselves know, verse
34, Paul says that these hands have ministered unto my necessities
and to them who were with me. Paul was a tent maker. And to
keep from bringing reproach on the gospel and to keep people
from saying, well, he's in it for the money. He said, I don't
take anything. I'll work. I'll build tents.
He did that. I've showed you all things, how
it's so laboring. You ought to support the weak.
And to remember the words of our Lord Jesus, how he said,
it's more blessed to give than to receive. And you're that way. God's given you that grace. You're
so gracious and so generous. God's blessed you. Stay that
way. Continue in the faith. God's given us a ministry. God's
given us a stewardship. Let's be faithful stewards. All
right, I hope that's a blessing. I hope it's a blessing to you.
Let's sing a closing hymn.