Now here's the title of our message
today, The Preacher's Last Sermon. The Preacher's Last Sermon. And
I'm taking my text from the 20th chapter of the book of Acts.
Acts chapter 20. Now I'll be using, now watch
this, listen, if you're following in your Bible, I'll be using
verse 17 through 35. Acts 20, 17 through 35. On this subject, the preacher's
last sermon. I want you to listen to this
message. I think I have something for us here. I believe God has
given me a message that we all need to listen to very carefully.
Now, what's the occasion? Well, the Apostle Paul was leaving
his friends at Ephesus. The people at Ephesus, he had
preached to them, he had written to them, he had instructed them
and taught them. And now he was leaving them.
He was going to suffer and die. He knew it. They knew it. And
the Spirit of God had given many prophecies and many warnings
that Paul would be bound and would suffer martyrdom. And they
would never see him again. These people to whom he was preaching
at this particular time would never hear his voice again. Would
never hear him preach again. Would never see his face again.
This was his final, his last message to them. Now, what did
he do in this message? What did he say? Acts 20. Well,
I'll tell you something he did not do. And this will kind of
hit home right now. It'll hit this generation. He
didn't spend his time boasting of how many people he had won
to the Lord. There's no mention of that in
this sermon. He didn't stand before these people to whom he
was preaching for the last time. People to whom he had preached
and witnessed and taught and been a pastor. He didn't spend
his time bragging about how many people he had won to Jesus. He
did not. And then secondly, he didn't
boast of the books that he had written. He could have, but he
didn't mention the books he'd written. He didn't mention the
many sermons that he'd preached. He didn't mention his hardships
and his difficulties. He didn't mention to them what
they owed him. He didn't mention the churches
that he had organized. He had organized churches all
over that area. And he had ordained elders and
preachers all over that area, but he doesn't even mention it.
And he didn't seek their praise. He didn't seek their acclaim.
They didn't have a testimonial dinner. And I'll tell you this,
he wasn't going to a larger church. He wasn't leaving this church
to go to a larger church and a bigger salary. He was going
to die, and he knew it. And he preached to these dear
people for the last time. He said, you won't see my face
anymore, but I've got some things to say to you before I leave.
Now here's what he said. Number one, there are about five
things that he pointed out, five specific things. Five important
points. All the way through you'll have
much that he said. But what's these five things? First of all,
he said this. And it's interesting to listen
to this man, Paul. Our Lord called him the pattern
of believers. He was a chosen, appointed, God-sent
messenger. No question about that. Paul
the apostle. And this is what he said in his
last message to the people of Ephesus before he departed. Number
one, verse 19. You see it there, verse 19? He
said, I have served the Lord with humility. I have served
the Lord with humility. Now, here Paul, listen to him,
throughout all his epistles, listen to the way he talks. I
am what I am by the grace of God. Paul never boasted and bragged. I get so weary of hearing preachers
brag about numbers and accomplishments and all of these things. Paul
never bragged. He never boasted. He always said,
I am what I am by the grace of God. He said, I'm not worthy. I'm not fit to be called an apostle. How long has it been since you
heard a preacher say he wasn't fit to be a preacher? He wasn't
fit to be a pastor. He wasn't fit to be a bishop.
You ever hear one say that? No, everybody today is worthy.
Everybody today has the credentials. Everybody today has whatever
it takes to be whatever they want to be. But Paul said, I'm
not worthy to be called an apostle. He said, I am less than the least
of all the saints. What do we do? We seek the important
seats, the high seats, the seats with names on them. We think
we are higher than all the saints. Paul thought he was less than
any of the saints, less than the least. And he said, Jesus
Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. He didn't say I was chief, I
am chief. How many chief sinners do we
have? How many people are willing to say, I'm the chief of centers,
I'm the greatest center, I'm the neediest center. No, we're
all good folks, you know. Pretty good folks. We have good
reputation, good character, good standing, goodness and good that,
and God said there's none good, no not want. But Paul said, I
serve the Lord with humility. All of us need to be conscious
of our sins. We need to be conscious before
God of our imperfections. Brethren, we need to learn to
walk humbly before God and humbly before men. I don't wear religious
uniforms. I'm not going to put one on.
I'm not going to take to myself a title of reverence or a title
of respect for I'm only a man and you're only a man and everybody
else is only a man. We're men among men. Richard
Baxter once said this, I preach as one who may never preach again.
I preach as a dying man to dying men. That's what I am. The apostle
Paul said this, I'm not one whit behind the chief apostle, but
I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I saw a sign one time advertising
a church and it said a church where everybody's somebody. Wonder
what it'd be like to advertise where everybody's nobody. But
that's what Paul said, I'm nothing. He said, I haven't arrived. Philippians
3.12, I haven't arrived, I'm not perfect. I'm not apprehended
or laid hold upon that for which I've been laid hold of by Christ.
Oh, all of us need to remember this. Will you listen to me?
We need to remember that our gifts, whatever they are, our
blessings, whatever they are, are all ours by the grace of
God. They're borrowed. They're borrowed. He said in 1 Corinthians 4, 7,
who made you to differ? Who made you to differ? You're
talented and gifted, who gave you the talents and the gifts?
You're beautiful, who gave you the beauty? You're strong, who
gave you the strength? You're rich, who gave you the
riches? Who made you to differ? What do you have that you didn't
receive? Now if you received it, why do you boast as if you
didn't receive it? Do you have anything you didn't
receive from God? You preachers and believers,
your minds, our minds are enlightened by the grace of God, what I know
God taught me. And our hearts are made to love
by the grace of God, and our lips are opened and made to speak
by the grace of God. The prophet cried, not unto us,
not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, O God. And Paul said,
I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not
I, it is Christ that liveth in me. I wish God had stamped this
on my heart in an indelible ink. Write it, write it on my heart
with a point of a diamond in the stone. I am what I am by
the grace of God. Have what I have by the grace
of God. Know what I know by the grace of God. And whatever I'll
be, only by the grace of God. He said, I've served the Lord
with humility. The great John Newton, who wrote Amazing Grace,
one of the greatest preachers I guess that ever lived, The
great John Newton said, when I get to heaven, there are three
things that will amaze me. Three things that will amaze
me more than anything else. He said, I'm going to see some
people in glory I didn't expect to see. And secondly, I'm going
to miss some people I sure thought would be there. And thirdly,
the most amazing thing of all will be to find John Newton in
the presence of the Lord. That will amaze me more than
anything else. Can you say that? Paul said, I've served the Lord
with humility. It ought not be hard for us to
serve the Lord with humility. Every one of us ought to be amazed
that God would even have us. David said, the great king of
Israel said, Lord, who am I? And what is my house that you
should show such mercy to me? Are you amazing grace? How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. I was blind, but now I see. Amazing grace. We say these things,
but how we need to learn them in here, in the heart. All right,
verse 20, here's the second thing. Paul said to those people, he
says, I've kept back nothing that was profitable unto you.
Now here he is preaching his last sermon to these people.
He's leaving them. And he said, I'll tell you about my ministry.
I've served the Lord with humility. And I've kept back nothing that
was profitable unto you. I've testified both to the Jews
and to the Gentiles two things. Repentance toward God and faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ. I've testified from house to
house with tears to every one of you, two things. Repentance
toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. My friends,
these two things are not only profitable Paul says, I kept
back nothing profitable unto you. But these two things are
not only profitable, they are essential. Repentance and faith
are essential. Our Lord said, except you repent,
you'll perish. Now that's how essential repentance
toward God is. Except you repent, you perish. And then faith. He says in Hebrews
11.6, without faith, it's impossible. to please God. He that believeth
on the Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. There
was an old pastor named Dodd, D-O-double-D, who preached over
in England many years ago, old Pastor Dodd, and every time he
preached, he'd preach on this subject, repentance toward God
and faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, he preached it so much
That he got the nickname, Old Mr. Repentance and Faith. That's
what they called him everywhere. They advertised he's going to
preach. And somebody said, well, Old Mr. Repentance and Faith
is going to preach. Well, this is what he had to
say about that when he heard what they were saying. They were
calling Pastor Dodd, Old Mr. Repentance and Faith. And when
he heard it, he said, well, I'll tell you this. If I die in the
pulpit, I want to die preaching repentance toward God and faith
in Jesus Christ. And he said, if I die out of
the pulpit, I want to die practicing repentance toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why are these two things so important?
Paul said, I've kept back nothing profitable unto you, profitable,
essential to you. I've testified to Jew and Gentile
repentance toward God, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What
is repentance toward God? Now notice it says repentance
toward God. That's where repentance is born.
Godly sorrow. Paul writing to the Corinthians
says, you have repented with an earthly sorrow that bringeth
death. In other words, a lot of people
are sorry for their sins because they have failed financially,
or because they've been caught, or because they've had to pay
the price. And they're sorry for their sins, they're sorry
in an earthly fashion. It's cost them earthly friends,
and earthly gain, and earthly treasures, and earthly comforts,
and earthly praise, and all of these things. Godly sorrow is
that sorrow toward God, which David uttered when he said, O
Lord, against Thee. have I sinned, against thee and
thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight."
So true repentance is an attitude. It's a spirit. It's not just
an act. You can shed tears and not repent
because Esau sought repentance with tears. But he didn't find
it. Repentance is a spirit and an
attitude toward God. It has to do with God. My relationship
with God. And this thing about repentance,
it's an attitude that continues We continue to repent because
we continue to sin. That's true. There's none without
sin. If any man says he has no sin,
he's a liar, and the truth's not in him. If we say we have
not sinned, we make God a liar. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves. So we continue to repent. We
daily repent toward God, and we repent. Listen to me. Not
only for what we've done, we repent for what we are. Attitude,
spirit, Our thoughts and imaginations, we repent because of our pride,
and anger, and hatred, and covetousness, and jealousy, envy, and all of
these things that possess us. And live within us, we wrestle
with them. And we seek to defeat them and
crucify them and put them aside. Attitude toward God. Paul said,
I've preached unto you repentance toward God. And repentance has
to do with attitude toward God and toward myself and toward
others. A broken heart. That's what it's all about. A
contrite spirit. The scripture says, God is known
to them of a broken heart. He saith it such as be of a broken
and a contrite spirit. Has your heart ever been broken?
Broken over your sins against God. Broken daily. Constantly. And then what is faith toward
Christ? Paul said, I preach repentance toward God and faith toward Christ.
Listen to me. True saving faith has one object. Jesus Christ. He's the object
of faith. He is the object of faith. Faith
looks to Christ. Faith leans upon Christ. Faith
receives Christ. Faith trusts Christ. For He's
the only object of faith. The scripture says God has given
us eternal life and that life is in his Son. And he that hath
the Son of God hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
shall not see life. He that hath the Son. Christ
is the one object of faith. And then true saving faith has
one foundation. Only one. Not feeling, not logic,
not human wisdom. The one foundation of faith.
That basis, that foundation, that footer upon which the whole
house of faith stands is the Word of God. The Word of God
is the foundation of faith. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. We believe because God has spoken.
I believe, therefore I've spoken. I found it in God's Word. If
you can't find it in God's Word, you've got no reason to believe
it. You've got no foundation for believing. And I say, well,
I think this. God says, your thoughts are not
my thoughts. Well, this is the way I think it is. Your ways
are not my ways. If they speak not according to
the Law and the Prophets, it's because there's no light in them.
The one foundation of faith, the Word of God. And then thirdly,
true faith has one goal. Only one. To be like Christ. David said, I shall be satisfied
when I awake with his likeness. He that has this hope, what hope?
That he's going to be like Christ. That's true. True saving faith
has one object, Christ. It has one foundation, the Word.
It has one goal, to be like Christ. My faith hath found a resting
place, not in device nor creed. I trust the ever-living One.
His wounds for me shall plead. Enough for me that Jesus saves. This ends my fear and doubt. A sinful soul, I came to Him.
He'll never cast me out. I need no other argument. I need
no other plea. It's enough for me that Jesus
dies. that he died for me. Paul said,
I'm leaving you, but I've served the Lord among you with humility. He says, I've kept back nothing
profitable to you. I preach to you, Jew and Gentile,
repent us toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now watch verse 27. He says in verse 27, I have not
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. I have not
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." Now, I may
not preach with the power I desire, and I don't. I'd like to have
more power, the power of God upon my ministry. I may not preach
with the earnestness that I covet, and I do covet to preach with
godly earnestness and sincerity. We're not playing games. We're
in a battle in which there's no discharge. I may not preach
with the wisdom with which I ought to preach, and I'm sure I don't.
I may not preach with the effectiveness, and I sure know that, that I
covet. But one thing is sure, and one
thing cannot be said. I have not withheld from you
the truth of God, whatever it is, to please you or to gain
from you. And preachers need to be able
to say that. That's what Paul is saying here. He says, I have
kept back. To keep something back is to
withhold it, not tell it. Not put it out there, not give
it to the people, to keep it back, keep it hid, you know,
keep it away somewhere. Because you don't want to hurt
them, or offend them, or lose their friendship, or displease
them, therefore we hide it. Paul said, I haven't hidden anything
from you. If I know it, I've told you about it, he said. He
didn't say he preached the whole counsel of God, he didn't know
the whole counsel of God, nobody else does. He said, I've not
shunned declaring to you all the counsel of God. If I know
it, I'll tell it to you. If God's taught it to me, I'll
tell it to you. I've heard preachers say, well, I believe that, but
you can't preach that. Well, that's a family doctrine,
or keep it in the study, or keep it in the basement, or keep it
in the classroom. Don't get it out in the public. Let me tell
you something. The Apostle Paul says, if I please
men, I am not the servant of Jesus Christ. If I seek to please
men. Now, shall we try to make God
known, the living God, the God of the Bible, and at the same
time, Withhold the true character of God. Can we do that? Can we really make God known?
And not preach God's attributes and character, His righteousness
as well as His mercy, His wrath as well as His love, His truth
as well as His grace, huh? We've got to tell everything
we know about God. Shall we try to please men by
denying the true nature of sin? I've got to tell men what they
are, and who they are, and where it happened, and the consequences
and results of the fall. I've got to be honest with men.
Jeremiah was. He said the Ethiopian can't change
his skin, the leper can't change his spots, and men can't do good
that are accustomed to doing evil. John said you love darkness
and hate light. Our Lord said all men are liars.
David wrote in the Psalms, there's none good, no not one. Paul repeats
it in the book of Romans, none righteous, no not one. Shall
we deny God's grace and preach a doctrine of works and tell
men that they can be saved by works when we know it's not so?
Shall we give a man a hope for heaven who is not a new creature
in Christ, who does not know Christ, who does not love him?
Shall we compromise the word of God to gain converts? Shall
we compromise the Word of God, the truth of this book, in order
to get some rich fella to join our church so he'll give a big
offering? So he'll build a building or so he'll do something like
that? Shall we compromise God's Word to court men, to please
men? God have mercy on our soul, but
he won't do it. Not if we compromise his Word.
Shall we tell men the whole truth? The whole counsel of God. Shall
we try to make the cross acceptable by taking away the offense of
the cross? To please men? Oh, Paul said,
I didn't do it, and I won't do it. I won't do it. I'll die first,
and he did. Bunyan said, I'll go to prison,
and he did. Bishop Latimer said, I'll go to the stake, and he
did. And he did. My friends, we're on the trail
of God's sheep. Every preacher needs to realize this. We're
not out there trying to see how many people we can get to quit
their meanness. We're on the trail of God's sheep. And His
sheep will hear His voice. That's what He said. And His
sheep will follow Him. And we don't need to soft-soap
them or sweet-talk them or entertain them. His sheep will hear His
word. And they'll follow Him. One day
some fellas came to Him and they said, now if you be the Christ,
why don't you tell us plainly? Well, he said, I told you, I
told you, but you didn't believe me. You didn't believe me because
you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life.
And they shall never perish, and nobody's going to pluck them
out of my hands. And I'm on the trail of God's sheep. Out there
somewhere are some people whom God is pleased to save. And I'm
trying to find them, and I'm going to tell them the truth,
because they can't be saved without the truth. No, sir, they can't
be. now here's the fourth thing Paul
said in verse 32 he says I've served the Lord with humility
humility and I've kept back nothing profitable to you I've preached
repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ and he said I
haven't shown to declare unto you the whole counsel all the
counsel of God as much as I know it What God has taught me, I've
taught you. What I've received of the Lord,
I've delivered unto you. What God has revealed to me,
I've tried to preach to you. Now what you do with it is your
business. But I will not please men, I will not seek their favor
or seek their fame, I'm going to preach his word. That's what
he said. Now fourthly, verse 32. Now watch this. He said,
I commend you to God. I commend you to God. and to
the word of his grace. Now here's the way, I want you
to listen to me for a few moments. I want to deal with something
that's very important here. He's about to leave them and he doesn't
say, now how many of you believe what I'm preaching? Raise your
hand. I want you to come down, make one more decision. I want
you to come shake my hand one more time. I want you to come
rededicate one more time. I want you to come and all get
around a circle, let's burn a candle and hold hands and sing bless
me the tithe one more time. No sir. He says, I'm leaving. And I've served God with humility.
And I've kept back nothing profitable to you, and I haven't shunned
to declare unto you the whole counsel of God. Now I commit
you to God and to His Word." That's what he said. I commend
you to God. This is what he's saying. I commit you to God to
save you, and I commit you to God's Word to teach you. Now
I know what the present day method is. I know what the present day
plan is. You preach and then you invite people to the front.
You invite people to the altar, you invite people to the water,
you invite people to the church, you invite people to the pastor,
you invite them anywhere. But my friends, salvation is
not in the altar, it's not in the water, it's not in the bread
and the wine, it's not in the preacher's hand, it's not in
reaching your hands up in the sky or buying a book. Salvation's
in Christ. It's to come to Christ, not to
me. I can't save you. I hear preachers saying, if you
made your decision, write to me. Paul didn't say, now if you
know God, write to me. He said, I commend you to God.
I commend you to God's Word. We've got all these books on
how to be saved, and how to live saved, and how to be happy though
saved, and how to get the baptism of the Spirit, and how to do
this, and how to do that. God wrote a book, and that book's
sufficient for His people. It's the only rule of faith and
practice. And my friend, I commend you to God, and I commend you
to His Word. I commend you to God the Savior,
and to His Word to teach you. And that's sufficient. He's sufficient.
Salvation is to come to Christ. Our Lord said, Come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest.
Come to me, O everyone that thirsteth, come to me. Eternal life is to
receive Jesus Christ, and I sincerely commit you to God and to His
Word. John wrote over in 1 John 5.11,
This is the record. God hath given us eternal life,
and that life is in His Son. That's where it is, it's in Christ.
Life, hope, salvation, forgiveness, pardon, redemption, sanctification
is in Christ. You won't find those things in
an altar or in a water, pool or drops of water. You won't
find them in a catechism or a creed. You'll find those blessings in
Christ. Seek the Lord. Turn to Christ.
Call upon Him. Fall upon your face. Pray to
God. Cry like the publican in the
temple. God be merciful to me, a sinner. Don't do business with
a preacher or a soul winner or anybody else. Do business with
God. If men can talk you into religion, another man can talk
you out of it. If a man can talk you into a profession of faith,
you can talk yourself out of it. But I'll tell you, if God
saves you, and if God deals with you, and if God gives you a new
heart, and God gives you a new life, if God gives you faith,
it'll be eternal. I commend you to God. I commend
you to God to save you, and I commend you to His Word to teach you.
And Christ alone can save. Now watch this last thing, verse
33. And this is something that I'm going to shoot straight with
you on. Paul said, I've coveted no man's silver, gold, or apparel. You'll never hear anyone on this
television broadcast. on this broadcast on the 13th
Street Baptist Church, ask you for one dime or one dollar. We
don't sell trinkets. We don't sell souvenirs. We don't
sell holy water. We don't sell Bibles made in
Jerusalem. We don't give away lapel pins.
We don't try to get people to send in money. God will support
this program. If God's in it, God will pay
for it. And that's what Paul is saying to these people. I
haven't coveted your silver, nor your gold, nor your peril.
I preach Christ to you. We're not beggars. We're not
salesmen. We're God's preachers. Preaching the gospel of God's
Son. Shame on the churches and preachers of this day that have
made the Holy God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, a beggar,
depending on people to support Him by begging them to send in
money or selling little silly religious gimmicks and souvenirs. God help us. We're in bad shape. Now this message is on cassette
tape. If you'd like to have it, you
write to us and order it. We'll send it to you. There's
two messages. The parable of the sower and this message, the
preacher's last sermon. And it cost us two dollars to
make it and send it to you. You send two dollars and we'll
make you this tape. Until next Sunday, may God bless
you, everyone.