Well, if you would turn to Acts
chapter 20. Robin and I are ready to go back
to the field, ready to go home, ready to continue the work there.
No question about it, but it always is, always bittersweet
leaving, you know, and And we wish we could have spent more
time with you all here. But that was in the Lord's providence,
and we know that that was for the best. And we'll look forward
to more time in the future. But I do want to say, for Robin
and I, it's such a blessing to be considered part of the body
of Christ here. I mean, we felt that way for
many years. And I think to us, it's a blessing
to identify with the Lord's work here and be considered part of
the Lord's work here. It's a blessing for believers
to be able to do that. And I don't know if you've considered
that, but it truly is. And we're thankful for it. We're
thankful for you all and the friendship, the love that the
Lord has brought about as we've had time here. But anyway, tonight,
I'd like to look at here, this passage in Acts chapter 20. And
it's a farewell message. It's not, that's not my purpose
for choosing it at all. But it is Paul's farewell message
to these elders of the church at Ephesus. I want to bring out
some things here. It both speaks to the work on
the field, but it's universal in scope, naturally, because
it has to do with the work of the ministry of the gospel. This is our concern. This is
your concern. I think that there's so much
in this passage that the Lord can teach us and by his grace
we'll just look at just a few things. Over the years as I've
had the great privilege of preaching and teaching and seeking to see
the Lord raise up men into the ministry to pastor the churches
there, this is of course one of the passages that I've returned
to again and again. And, you know, each time I do,
I realize how much is here, how deep and rich it is with respect
to exactly what we're concerned with. That is the ministry of
the gospel and the minister of the gospel. And so here in this
passage, we know, I think you know, that these are the last
words in this life that the Apostle Paul will speak to these elders
at Ephesus. And given that, I think that
adds weight to what he has to say, doesn't it? Now, the Apostle
Paul had spent about three years there in Ephesus, in this church,
and he's about to leave them. And he, as every gospel minister,
every pastor, has a great concern for this church. He wants these elders, these
men who have been set apart to oversee and to shepherd the church
of God, he wants to tell them to consider something of the
greatest importance that, just like us, that they tend to forget. He wants them, as they minister,
he wants them to consider this ministry of the gospel and he
wants them to consider, above all, whose work it is and who
appointed them. Now, I know that I tend to forget
these things. I really do. I mean, it's incredible
that this is the case, but it's true. And Paul calls these men
because he knows it's true also. And he does it in an unusual
way. He says, in effect, Look at me. Consider the ministry
and the labor I've had among you in these three years that
I've been with you. In the ministry, consider me.
This is the gospel minister, and this is the work that you're
called to do. And so in doing this, Paul not
only speaks about the work, but he also speaks about the character
of the man whom the Lord puts into the ministry, and that's
what we're concerned with. And here in New Guinea, the Lord
in his grace calls out his people, gathers them into bodies. We
look to see the Lord raise up men who are appointed by him,
not by me, not by the church. Yes, it's true. These are the
means that the Lord uses, but we'll see that he's the one who
appoints men to shepherd his church. Now, let's just listen,
read through this passage, and let's listen to what Paul has
to say, and then we'll come back and just look at some of these
things. So in verse 17, then from Miletus,
that Paul is traveling, he passes Ephesus, lands in Miletus, and
from Miletus he's sent to the to Ephesus and called for the
elders of the church. And when they had come to him,
he said to them, you know from the first day that I came to
Asia in what manner I always lived among you, serving the
Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened
to me by the plotting of the Jews, how I kept back nothing
that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly
and from house to house, testifying to the Jews and also to the Greeks,
repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing
the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy
Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations
await me. But none of these things move
me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish
my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord
Jesus. to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed,
now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the
kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore, I testify
to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for
I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore, take heed to yourselves
and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with
his own blood. For I know this, that after my
departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing
the flock. Also from among yourselves, men
will rise up, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples
after themselves. Therefore, watch and remember
that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone, night
and day, with tears. So now, brethren, I commend you
to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build
you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no one's silver
or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that
these hands have provided for my necessities and for those
who are with me. I have shown you in every way
by laboring like this that you must support the weak and remember
the words of the Lord Jesus, that he said, it is more blessed
to give than to receive. And when he had said these things,
he knelt down and prayed with them all. Then they all wept
freely and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most
of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his
face no more. And they accompanied him to the
ship. Now, here's Paul and he's departing. And, you know, he
has these words for these men. And as he finishes, they fall
on his neck, as it says, and weep. And you and I would have
to, wouldn't we? With a minister of the gospel
of God's grace having come and delivered this glorious message
to us that our eyes have been opened and we have come to know
and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so here is Paul leaving
them and they're brokenhearted and they should be. And they
should be because the Lord had done so much good to these people,
hadn't he? So much good. Here they were
in the darkness of their sin, captive without God and without
Christ in this world until the Lord in his grace sent this man.
And you know the same is true of you and I. It is. It's no different. It's no different. What rich, rich grace the Lord
has given to each of us that know him. Now, the Apostle Paul,
as he calls these men together, he wants to impress certain things
upon them. I mean, as I read through this,
you can't help but see that, can you? And he wants to impress
upon them something that we so quickly forget. The church is
the church of God, not ours. It's his church, and he appoints
overseers to shepherd his flock. There's no question that if we
want to look at the key verse of this passage, it's verse 28.
Look in verse 28. Take heed to yourselves and to
all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers
to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own
blood. Now, think of how much is in
this one verse alone. Here is this church. It's the
church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. If all men
and all angels and a thousand worlds were given, they wouldn't
approach the worth of one drop of this splendid being. We've been redeemed, Peter says,
by the precious blood of the spotless Lamb of God. This purchase
too, what is it? It's a distinctive purchase.
You know, you can't turn anywhere in the Word of God without seeing
this glorious doctrine proclaimed. It's a distinctive purchase,
isn't it? He didn't purchase the whole
world with his blood, did he? He purchased what is referred
to here as the Church of God. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
was shed as the purchase price of a particular people. And,
you know, If he's shed his blood, this precious blood to purchase
his church, then he has a vital interest in it, doesn't he? It's
something to him of immeasurable value. And if it's his church, well,
the one who does all the work is gonna be one who is perfect
in every way. And that's Christ, isn't it?
I think if we could just get a hold of this truth, we would
have such a greater view of the Lord Jesus Christ. The work of
the gospel, the work that I do in New Guinea, it's not my work. You begin to think that. You're
busy. You're doing all these things.
You're planning and executing. You begin to think it's your
work, but it's not my work. It's the Lord's work. The work
is not dependent upon what I do. It's not. Yeah, we just cannot
believe that, but it's dependent on what Christ does. The work that I do, listen, the
work that I do will be burned up. It will. It will. The work that I do in my own
wisdom and in my own strength will be burned up in the last
day. It's only the work that Christ
does that is everlasting. It's only the work that Christ
does in me and through me that is eternal. And we wouldn't want
it any other way. Let's just think of this. Turn
to John. Keep your place here, but turn
over to John chapter six. John chapter 6, and let's think
about this aspect. Who is it that does the work? John chapter 6, and look there,
and we'll begin there in verse 35, but let me just say first that rather than
this be a discouragement, this is the hope of every gospel minister,
isn't it? It's that it's not my work and
it's not dependent upon me, but it's Christ's work and it's dependent
upon him. If that's true, then what is
the outcome going to be? It's going to be perfect, and
it's going to be complete, and it's going to be full, and there's
an absolute certainty of the success of the work of the gospel. And this is the hope. Honestly,
Robin and I could not continue one day on the field without
believing this. We couldn't. And I'll tell you
what, here we'll see in a moment why that would be. But it's not
only our hope. David knows this is the hope
of every gospel minister. And the more we remind ourselves
of this, the more encouraged we'll be, not only in trusting
Christ more, but the more encouraged we'll be in the work. Because
when you know that the work is certain and sure, then That's
an encouragement, isn't it? You pick up and you run, and
you run, not in your own strength, but in Christ's strength. Now,
the success of the work is certain and sure. Why is that? Because
of the one in whose hands it's been entrusted. That's the reason,
isn't it? If it was in my hands, well,
it's certain a failure. If it's in the hands of any man,
it's certain a failure. But it's not in the hands of
any man. It's in the hands of this person who is, well, let
me just read these verses in Colossians. You don't need to
turn there. These are texts that you and I know so well. I know I don't believe them as
I should. My faith is weak and I pray for more faith. You too,
think of them. Look, listen to these are verses
that we're comfortable with. We know them so well. They don't
ring with any difficulty upon our ears. We know them, but we're
like the disciples, you know, they just don't believe and we
don't believe. But here is this description
of this. this person at the hands of whom
the work has been entrusted. He is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn over all creation, for by him All things that were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things.
And in him, all things consist. And he is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he may have the preeminence. Why? For it
pleased the Father that in him all the fullness should dwell.
That's why, that's why. And in that second chapter of
Colossians, we read this, that in him are hidden all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. I think he might know how to
do the work, don't you? I think he might have the wisdom.
He might have the understanding. He might have the ability to
do this work that the Father has entrusted into his hands.
There's no one better. No one better. Well, look here.
Look here in John 6. But let me just refresh our memories
of the context of where this comes. You know that Christ had
preached to this multitude of people. And who is preaching
to them? The greatest preacher the world
has ever known and ever will know. Think of that. This multitude
of people gathered together and Christ, the word himself, preaches
to them. Think of that. Every word perfect. You know, I stand here and I
stumble around and I get lost and I'm confused and I use the
wrong words and the wrong intonation and I forget things. But did Christ ever do that?
No, no. He preached. If there's anyone
that preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, it was Christ,
wasn't it? And here he is preaching. must have been for a great length
of time. And he sees that they're hungry
and he has compassion upon them and he does this mighty miracle. And he takes these loaves and
fish and feeds 5,000, 5,000 till they were fully satisfied.
Every one. And there was baskets and baskets
of food left over. And then he goes across the sea,
and many people follow him. And they come, and why did they
follow him? He said, not because of what
they'd heard, not because of the signs, but because their
bellies had been filled. If there's ever a commentary
on the total depravity and inability of man, it's that, isn't it? That's you and I, apart from
the grace of God working in us. And you know, Christ says, don't
seek the food that perishes, but seek the food which is for
everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you. And what
did they say? What did they say? What sign
will you show us? What sign? Think of the blindness. What sign will you show us? He's just fed 5,000 people. He's just fed them. And they
say, what sign will you show us? When he urges them to believe
in the one whom God had sent. What sign will you show us that
we may believe? And this is the context that
Christ speaks these words. Now listen, verse 35. He's speaking. He's speaking
to them. He's speaking to you and I. Listen. And Jesus said to them, I am
the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never
hunger. And he who believes in me shall
never thirst. What a proclamation. What a promise. That is good news, isn't it?
This is the words of the living God. Now the next verse. But I said to you that you have
seen me and yet do not believe. Now, if anything seemed hopeless,
that's it, isn't it? You know, if this was the response
to Christ preaching and his miraculous signs, mighty signs and wonders,
the word says, demonstrated before them, this is the response. Well,
what hope do I have as a gospel minister? What hope does anyone
have? Well, none, none in ourselves, none in our own strength. But
listen, what does Christ say? Go on. Yeah, they don't believe,
that's true. Verse 37, all that the Father
gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me I
will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven
not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Now
what is his will? What's the will? He has come
to do this work. He's been sent to accomplish
a specific work. He's come to do the will of the
father. Well, what is the will of the father? Here's the will
of the father, verse 39. And this is the will of the father
who sent me that all he has given me I should lose nothing, nothing,
but should raise it up at the last day. This is why the work is certain
and sure, and this is the great encouragement to Robin and I
in the work on the field. This is a great encouragement
of David as he pastors this church and preaches the gospel and the
others who minister here because it's not your work, it's not
my work, and we don't do the work, not the lasting work, and
that's the only work we're interested in, isn't it? He does the work. Why? Because the Father has sent
him. And he does the will of the Father. And this is the will
of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes
in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up in the
last day. What a glorious proclamation
of the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? Turn there. This doesn't
have only to do with the gospel, does it? This has to do with
your life, in my life, the life of everyone who has been purchased
and redeemed with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to do that work in
every one of his sheep and bring us faultless before the throne
of grace. It's his work, and it's a glorious,
it's a great work, and it's my hope. It's the hope of every
believer. This is what the prophet Isaiah
means when he says, the pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his
hands. This is the church of God. It's
his church, and it's his work. Now, Paul never forgot this. Why? Because he once persecuted
the church of God. You can see in all of his epistles
as you read that Paul could never, never get over the wonder that
the Lord Jesus would call him into the ministry of the gospel
of grace. That the Lord would give him,
he describes himself doesn't he? a blasphemer, a persecutor,
an insolent man, going about to destroy the church of God,
wreaking havoc, that he would give him this great privilege
of not destroying, one who destroyed the church, but one to raise
up churches, establish churches. To Paul, this was truly a marvelous
thing. And because of these things,
there's no question that Paul's concern for the church was a
deep and abiding thing. In second Corinthians, listen
to this. You don't need to turn there again. This is, you know,
this he's going through defending his ministry. against false teachers
coming into the church. And he's defending himself. And
in doing that, he goes through all of the trials and persecutions
that he had suffered. Now listen, he says, are they
ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. He felt so
uncomfortable defending himself, but he knew it was necessary,
important. I speak as a fool. I am more,
in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more
frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews, five times I received
40 stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with
rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked.
A night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeys often,
in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my countrymen,
in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea. in perils among false
brethren, in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger
and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Now listen, after all of this,
all of this, what is the great burden? He leaves the greatest
burden to last. Listen, besides the other things,
what comes upon me daily my deep concern for all the churches."
Paul had a deep and abiding concern for the Church of God, which
he purchased with his own blood. And it's clear, as he gathers
these men together, that he's about to leave. And naturally,
he's worried. He's concerned. And he wants
to speak to them about certain things. And he wants to remind
them of the work to which that They have been appointed. Now, this work of appointing men,
I don't hesitate to say, has been
one of the greatest burdens I've faced as a missionary on the
field. How serious this work is. to
see men appointed to pastor, shepherd these churches that
the Lord has raised up. There's nothing that can cause
more havoc and nothing that can bring greater dishonor to Christ
and his church than to appoint men that he hasn't appointed. We've all seen it. We have preachers in all 11 churches
in the Minyamya area that we work in, but it's only in four
of these churches that have had the privilege of appointing men
to shepherd the church of God. And why is that? Why is that?
Because we look for the men of God's choosing. We look for the
time of God's choosing. It's not in our hands. And we wait upon the Lord to
make clear as you minister among these men, as they themselves
preach and minister in the churches, for the Lord to make clear through
his word who it is that he is setting apart and appointing
into the ministry. And really what we do is just
in appointing a man, Lord willing what we do in appointing a man
to shepherd the churches, we're just recognizing the appointment
of God. That's what we're concerned with. Now listen, every pastor is a
preacher. Every pastor is a preacher, but
not every preacher is a pastor. We would have a lot less grief
if we would just learn this. It just seems to take me a long
time to learn things. Well, how can we know who it
is? See, that's the question then,
isn't it? Not only on the field, but here anywhere there's a gospel
work. How can we know who it is that
the Lord appoints to shepherd the church of God? Now, automatically
the thought is to the qualifications laid out in First Timothy and
Titus, which speak of the things that are necessary. I'm not diminishing
those. These are qualities, these are
characteristics that are absolutely necessary in those who minister,
but they're the basic basic characteristics, those things must be there, is
what the word is telling us. They're not the only characteristics,
not at all, and this is what Paul wants to speak about to
these men. Here he's going to go through,
and as I said, what is he going to do? He's going to say, look
at me, consider the ministry I've had among you, the labor,
consider my work. And now why can Paul say that?
because he's an apostle. I can't say that, can I? In fact,
I need to say, don't consider me. Consider the word of God. Consider Christ. Consider the
apostles. Because Paul says that, doesn't
he? Imitate me even as I imitate Christ. That's why Paul can say
this. And so he can tell them, look
at my ministry in these three years I've lived among you. look
at my ministry and consider that as you consider this great work
that the Lord has appointed you to. All right, well, what's the
first thing that Paul says? Well, think of this. He says,
serving the Lord, serving the Lord with all humility. The Apostle
Paul was a man of remarkable ability. Astonishing intellect,
enormous reserves of strength and perseverance. We just read
through some of those things, haven't we? You know, people
ask us about the struggles we've had as missionaries. Just open
the word of God and it'll shut your mouth. We have never experienced
anything on the order of what Paul speaks of. accomplishments of Paul were
staggering in nature, he was and he is a giant in the church
of God. But how does Paul think of himself?
How does he view his labor in the gospel? He sees himself as
a servant of the Lord laboring in all humility. Here's what he wrote to the church
at Ephesus. To me, who am less than the least of
all saints, this grace was given that I should preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. This is the man who God calls
and sets apart. And this is one of the most important
qualifications in the ministry, a humble man. This is the first
thing that Paul says to them, how important this is and how
ignored this is, particularly in our time, in our day and age. But see, two in that verse, think
of the comparison that Paul is drawing for us. Here he is, he
sees himself as the least of all saints, but what grace it
is that's been given to him to preach what? The unsearchable
riches of Christ. This doesn't mean these riches
of Christ are hard to find. That's not the meaning there.
They're not unsearchable in that sense, in the sense that you'll
search for them and not find them. That's not the word at
all. The unsearchable riches of Christ mean that these riches
are so broad, so deep, so high that you can search forever and
ever, and you'll never come to the edge. You know, the people
in New Guinea, this is how they express this idea of infinity.
There's no edge. You'll keep going and going and
going and going. You'll never get to the edge.
That's what this means, the unsearchable riches of Christ. They're all
bound up where? In Him. In Him. All the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge and all righteousness and holiness. the
fullness of God in this person, that he who is the least of all
saints would be given the grace to preach Christ Jesus and the
unsearchable riches found in him. If a man sees himself as a servant
of Christ, who will he serve? Christ, not himself. See, this
is why this is so important. Who will he preach? Not himself,
but Christ. What will he do? What Christ
wants him to do. And what will he do with this
flock that he's been entrusted with? Well, he'll feed them,
won't he? He'll care for them. And he'll
love them. And he'll feed them with the
bread of life. Well, what would you say, that's
one of the most important characteristics, it is. But what would you say
is the most important characteristic? Just think of that for a minute.
What would you say is the most important characteristic to be
found in a minister of the gospel? Love for Christ. Love for Christ. You know, it's amazing to me
as I look and see men put into the ministry all over. Is this
ever even considered? Are these things ever considered? But we know that Paul loved the
Lord Jesus Christ. You can see this in all of his
writing, in all of his ministry. You can hardly open to an epistle
of Paul and go two sentences without him speaking of Christ.
And even when he's dealing with such profound doctrinal truths
that even Peter said the apostle Paul has written many things
hard to understand, right in the midst of these things he
He just cannot help himself but break into glorious adoration
and praise of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's so on his heart
and on his mind and he loves the Lord Jesus Christ so much
and we see it of course in Philippians 3 as he speaks about his salvation. We would say what is Paul doing?
He's giving his testimony and you all know that as he speaks
about who he was and what he treasured, what he embraced,
his position as a Pharisee, his birth, the esteem he had, his
own righteousness. You know, Paul was, we know that
Paul was a man who was excelling in religion, in the religion
of the Pharisees, he says so. And this is the most important
religious sect among the Jews. And with that, there was no separation
of church and state, keep that in mind. If you excelled in religion,
the most important religion of the Jews, that means you were
coming to a prominent position of esteem and power within the
nation of Israel and that was where Paul was headed. All of
these things that were so important to him, his obedience to the
law, his education, All of these things, Paul goes through all
of these things that he so treasured, that were so important to him
until what? Until he saw Christ. Until Christ
met him on the road to Damascus. And you know, what a picture
is given. These naturalized blinded, Paul's
naturalized blinded. but given a sight of Christ,
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And from that
moment on, Paul could just, what does he say? That I might be
found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith, that I might know him. That was Paul's
deep concern, wasn't it? Because he loved the Lord Jesus
Christ. And this isn't just my opinion.
Think of Peter. This is so important. Think of
Peter and his denial. You remember the circumstances,
don't you? Leading up to that, how the Lord
had gathered the disciples together and he told them of his coming
death upon the cross. And the disciples didn't understand
fully. And the Lord said that you'll
all leave me. The sheep will be scattered.
And what does Peter say? Lord, here's Peter, he spent
He's been with the Lord from the very beginning of his ministry,
hasn't he? And he he's gone forth preaching with Christ, he's day
by day been with him, he was given this great gift of going
forth, casting out demons and healing the sick. And he was
one of those three that went up that mountain and saw Christ,
this glorious demonstration of Christ transfigured where his
face shone and this glory of God shone forth. And Peter had
experienced all of this. And here he is, Lord, all these
others. All these others will leave you,
but not me, not me. Well, what did Christ say? Well,
Peter, I'll just leave you to yourself for a little bit. Before
the cock crows twice, you'll deny me three times. You know,
there's a message there for ministers of the gospel, isn't there? Left
himself, here is Peter, and you know the sorry story, don't you? In that crucial time, he denies
the Lord Jesus Christ. Three times. And the cock crowed. And what did Peter do? He remembered
the words that the Lord spoke to him and he wept bitterly. What agony. What agony Peter
must have been in all those days until he saw the Lord Jesus by
the Sea of Galilee. Think of this. He must have thought,
I can never serve the Lord again. What grief that he's denied his
Christ, his Lord, especially after seeing him crucified and
the weight of that upon Peter. What an agony of soul he must
have been in until he sees Jesus by the Sea of Galilee. And why
is he there? Because Christ told him to be
there, didn't he? And so Peter is where the Lord has told him
to be and he sees him by the Sea of Galilee and Christ asked
Peter just one question three times. Peter, do you love me? Until Peter And that third time
couldn't take it anymore and he cried out, Lord, you know
that I love you. You know all things, you know
that I love you. And what does Christ say? Feed
my sheep, feed my sheep. I don't doubt that love for Christ
is the greatest characteristic of all who are truly called of
God. And why? Because like Peter,
the Lord, it's that love is a love poured out in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost. If a man loves Christ, he'll
love his sheep. Isn't that true? Paul was willing
to suffer all things for the sake of the elect. Here we read
too, he says, in the midst of tears and trials, he continued
in the ministry among these Ephesians. Then look there in verse, let's
just look at a couple of these things. He says, verse 20, he
says, how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed
it to you and told you publicly from house to house testifying
to the Jews and also to the Greeks' repentance toward God and faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, before I go on, think of this. Paul says that
he kept back nothing that was helpful. In other words, he gave
them only what was helpful and kept back what was not helpful. Now, how opposite that is in
religion, isn't it? Religion gives everything that
isn't helpful and keeps back what is not helpful. But the
true minister of the God knows the difference, and this is vital
and this is critical, that he knows what is helpful, that he
has the wisdom and the understanding to know what is not helpful. Now, in these verses here, Paul,
in these gives four statements about what is helpful, because
that's the question, isn't it? What is it that's helpful? Well,
here, the first he already said. What did he testify to them?
Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And then in verse 24, towards the end of verse 24, look at
that. What else? He testified to the gospel of
the grace of God. In verse 26, indeed now I know
that you all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of
God. And then in verse 27, what does
he say? For I have not shunned to declare
to you the whole counsel of God. See, Paul is making certain that
they understand when he says, I kept back nothing that was
helpful, that they understand that he's speaking about the
gospel. He gives these four statements. of what he testified to them,
what his ministry among them was, and what was it? What was
it? Everything having to do with
the gospel, wasn't it? In these four statements, he's
saying exactly what he told the Corinthians in summary when he
said, I determine not to know anything among you except Christ
and him crucified. This is what is helpful. This
is what is helpful to the church of God. Let me give you an illustration
of this that made such an impression upon me. Shortly after my parents
returned from the field about five years ago, and I think about
a year after they were gone, I made a trip into the area that
they work in, and there was a man who was trying to steal
part of the property of the mission and had begun to build a house
on there. And this became a big conflict
and about one day met with a whole lot of men, about 50 men in opposition. And I was there with a couple
of other men. And the leader of this group
that was trying to steal this land was an SDA pastor. And this
is what he said. He said, well, look, your father
was here. What has he done? What has he
accomplished? What development has he brought in all of these
years, 50 years that he's been here? And what was he talking
about? Well, where's the hospital? Where's
the school? Where's the headquarters buildings? They're just all of these things. What would
we say? Things made with hands. That's what he's talking about.
Well, what good, what help has he been? Now the week before I'd gone
up to visit this church at a village called Lukotako, and it's about
three hours hike up one of the valleys there. And the last bit
is you go up onto a ridge, and there's a wood fence with a style
to go up over into the village area. And the people of the church
there in that village were all expecting me, because that had
been arranged that I would come up and spend a few days with
them preaching. And I came up, and I'm carrying my bag with
the food and things I needed, sleeping material, and I go up
over that stye into the village. The church are gathered there,
they've prepared food, they're sitting around on the ground.
As I walked over, I could see that many of them, tears were
welling up in their eyes and beginning to run down their faces.
whole group of the believers there began to weep. And the pastor of the church,
Havaguli, was a distance back, and he walked up to me and could
see that I was confused. I didn't know why this was happening. And he said, he embraced me and
said, you know, they're crying because we thought your father
had left. But they say that he hasn't. Now, let me interpret that for
you. See, culturally it's true that
I'm the son of my father, so I'm like a replacement, but that's
not what they were talking about. No, what they were talking about
is that year after year after year my dad would go out preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God, preaching repentance, preaching
faith in Christ. holding up Christ before them.
And year after year, they'd seen him come up over just like I
had. And all of these thoughts came
rushing back to them. And these believers, well, this was helpful to them, wasn't
it? This was life to them. They'd come to know Christ and
they'd believed in him. And just like for Paul, to them,
they'd receive these unsearchable riches of Christ. And to them,
that's all that mattered, isn't it? This was something that was
lasting and eternal, things not made with hands. And as I came up, you know, they
just brought back all those memories of years of hearing the gospel
of grace, the Lord working in them and bringing them out of
darkness into his marvelous light. And they were just overwhelmed.
And that's why, because my father gave them what is helpful. And
that's what you receive here too, isn't it? The things that
are helpful. That's what we want. That's what
we want. Now, two, what does Paul say? He goes on, he says that he doesn't
know what awaits him, he's going, he doesn't know what awaits him,
what would happen to him in the ministry of the gospel, but he
did know in his particular situation, he knew that chains and tribulations
awaited him. Did any of these things move
him? No, no, not at all. Did he count his life dear to
himself? No, not at all. What moved Paul? What moved Paul and what did
he count dear to himself, we might say? Well, but none, look
in verse 24, but none of these things moved me, nor do I count
my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy
and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus Christ. In reality, that's all that matters. That's all that matters. If a
man has received the ministry from the Lord Jesus Christ, then
he'll equip him with everything he needs for the work. All the
abilities necessary for the work of the gospel are spiritual. They're God-given. And so if
the Lord has given the ministry, then that's all that matters.
It really is. No matter the difficulties, the trials, the enemies, persecutions,
he won't give up. Why? Because for Paul, he's been
bought with a price and he's willing even to give his own
life for the sake of Christ and the sake of his sheep." What
does he say? He'll yet testify of the grace
of the gospel, of the grace of God. And Paul's desire was that
he might finish his race with joy. And I need to hear this. How
is it that we finish, the minister of the gospel, how is it that
he finishes his race with joy? How would that be accomplished?
by testifying of the gospel of the grace of God. Preaching the
kingdom of God, declaring the whole counsel of God. This is
what Paul says, you know what manner I always lived among you,
says Paul. This, he's telling them, look
at me, consider the ministry that the Lord has given you.
This is who the gospel minister is. This is what the gospel minister
does. And this is the man we want to
shepherd the church of God. You know, the gospel ministry
is such a glorious work. It's received. by the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ and every gospel minister looks upon it as something of
surpassing value, a great gift, a great privilege. I can't even
find the words to tell you of what a God's grace to me that
he would give me this privilege to stand before you even tonight
to preach this message. But let me close just by telling
you a little bit about Sampson, which you know of. And why do
I do that? Because if there is everyone
who pictured to us what's being spoken
of here, it's Sampson. You know, when we were in that
meeting, in my parents' area working. We were away from the
part of the country we work in. And Samson had become very sick
with his spinal TB, which we were unaware of. And when we
got out, there was word from him asking if when we returned,
if I could come out and pick him up, come out as far on the
road as the vehicle could go, and they would carry him out.
to meet me there to take him to some medical center that he
could find help. And I did that the day or second
day after we returned. And he was in bad shape. He could barely
walk. He could only walk with assistance.
And his legs were becoming paralyzed. And at that point, we didn't
know what the cause was. And I took him down and tried
to get him the help that whatever help that they could give him
at that point, and took him back then and left him with a relative
who was near a Lutheran medical center in the area that he lived. And I told him I'd come back
in a week and just see how he was doing. And so I did that. And because of the weather, the
road was much worse, so I left my vehicle. about an hour and
a half walk from where he was and I walked up and as I was
going by the Lutheran Medical Center, And his relatives ran
out and said, he's not in the house. He's much worse, and they
carried him down here. And I walked in, and Samson was
in, he's completely paralyzed now from the waist down. And
his urinary tract was blocked. He was in tremendous pain. His
back was literally collapsing with the spinal tuberculosis. And he had a fever. and all kinds of things. A person
who had no experience had tried to insert a catheter and pierced
him internally. He was bleeding everywhere. And
we said, look, we've got to try and get you down to the larger
hospital medical facility. There's no doctor there either.
But this is what Samson said. He said, no, look. You know, if he hadn't gotten
help, he was dying, and he knew it. And he said, look, don't
trouble yourselves. He said, my body is ruined. He said, but I'm ready to see
Christ. He said, I know that he's my
righteousness, and that's all that matters. And he said, the
only concern I have He said two things. He had a young son, a
few years old, and he said, I've already talked to my wife and
I told her, do not take him away from these men who preach the
gospel. And he said, and my other concern is for the sheep. He said, the Lord has given me
this great work. And he said, that's my only concern,
who will feed these sheep? You know, this is what Paul is
speaking about. These are the men that the Lord
appoints to shepherd his flock. And, you know, I can't go through
all the gracious words which came from the lips of Samson.
Not only then, but in the succeeding months before we came back, he
just, rejoiced in Christ, rejoiced in Christ. I couldn't, I could
not believe the grace that the Lord gave him in the midst of
great suffering, great trial, fear, all of these things. Now,
the week before I left, he was paralyzed for months and months
and months, almost nine months up until the time we left. As you know, humanly speaking,
there was no hope, no hope of him ever recovering. But anyway,
I went down and I told him I'd come see him before we left,
and I hiked down to his village of Soyanga. And I just want to
tell you one thing that he said. This is what he said. I went
down with a couple of other pastors, preachers, and this is one of
the things that Samson said about 10 minutes after we got there,
he said, before I became sick, he said, I knew Christ. I knew
Christ. But because of this illness,
I've come to know him so much better. He said, I know that you grieve
for me. I know that he's saying to me
and to these other men, I know that you grieve for me, but I
thank the Lord for this disease. Think of that. You know, we read of Job, don't
we? We read of Job. Think of all that he lost, all
that he suffered in one day. Losing his children, and his
servants, and his wealth, and all of his livestock, all in
one day. In one day. Because the Lord
had allowed Satan to try him, hadn't he? And Satan brought
all of this upon Job. But Job wasn't conscious of that,
was he? What did Job say? Who did he
know had brought this about? The Lord. He said, the Lord giveth
and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. This is God-given faith, isn't
it? And that's the faith that the Lord gave Samson. He recognized
that this was all in the Lord's hands, that he'd, in God's good
providence for him, he'd given him this disease. And what did
Samson rejoice in? That he'd come to know Christ
so much more because of this disease. And this is what he
said. He said, I'm just a sinner, but God has given me this great
work, and I'm thankful for that. All of this time, paralyzed,
he would gather together the people and preach to them every
week, the entire time. He said, I'll serve him for as
long as he allows, and if now is the time that he's appointed
for me to go and be with him, I'm happy. He said, don't grieve
for me. I'm content. This is what he
said. I just want to tell you about
this man. He said to us, he's speaking
of Christ. I just want to tell you about this man. He's another
kind of man. That's how he put it. And he
is, isn't he? He's another kind of man. And
these are the men we want to see appointed into the ministry.
Isn't it? The men appointed by God. Amen.