Paul Exhorts the Elders at Ephesus Act 20:17-38 gives us a lengthy account of Paul’s brief visit to Miletus to meet the elders of the church at Ephesus. The importance of this event lies in the fact that the church of Ephesus would become the leading church in the region. After Paul’s death, John the apostle would become the elder shepherd over the churches of Asia Minor and would minister out of the church in Ephesus.

Act 20:19 Comments – Jesus is our example of humility, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Php 2:8)

Act 20:22 Comments – Just as Jesus set His face towards Jerusalem (Luk 9:51), knowing that this decision would cost Him His life, so Paul made the same decision to go to Jerusalem, knowing that afflictions awaited him (Act 21:11), even possibly death.

Luk 9:51, “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,”

Act 21:11, “And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.”

Act 20:23 “the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city” Comments Act 20:23 confirms the fact that the gifts of the Spirit were operating in every New Testament church that Paul established.

Act 20:24 Comments – Here, we begin to see that Paul is making a choice. He knows that if he goes to Jerusalem, he would be bound and imprisoned. He knows that it meant possible death. Therefore he says here that he does not count his life dear. He also knew that he must preach the Gospel in Rome (Act 19:21). It was God’s will for Paul to go to Rome, yet the Holy Spirit was warning Paul of its consequences, which was certain death. Here, Paul makes a choice, to finish the work that God’s has called him to, resulting in death, or to save his own life, yet never reach Rome. In Paul’s visit to Rome, he increased the influence of his ministry, but it cost him his life.

Act 19:21, “After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome .

Act 23:11, “And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome .

The Lord allowed Paul to make the choice. Paul chose God’s will above his own will. Paul had to make a choice many times in his life. When he was taken captive a Caesarea shortly after leaving the Ephesians, he made a choice to face death for an opportunity to preach the Gospel before Caesar (Act 25:11-12). This was the culmination of his ministry. He had finished his course.

Act 25:11-12, “For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar. Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go .”

Act 20:23-24 Comments Testimonies of the Suffering of the Godly – Since all Scripture is inspired by God, the Holy Spirit is witnessing to us also in many places in the Scriptures. In Act 20:23-24 we are able to identify with Paul while he awaits bonds and afflictions. In five places in Scripture (Psa 34:9, Joh 16:33, Act 14:22, 2Ti 3:12 and 1Pe 5:9) we have the Holy Spirit witnessing to us that we must bear these same kinds of afflictions. So, let us confess by faith along with Paul (Act 20:24). Let us not be moved nor offended by afflictions (Mar 4:17).

Psa 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.”

Joh 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Act 14:22, “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

2Ti 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

1Pe 5:9, “Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”

Mar 4:17, “And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.”

Act 20:31 Scripture Reference – Note:

Php 3:18, “(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping , that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:”

Act 20:32 Comments – Paul commended the churches unto God each time he departed from them. When my wife goes out of the home to do errands, she commends my child into the hands of our nanny. It becomes the responsibility of this nanny to care for the child while my wife is away. Paul had to leave and minister to other churches. In commending them unto God he knew that through divine providence the Lord would work in their lives and keep them in the faith. The Lord would bring people like Apollos and others to them to teach them the Word. God would encamp about them by His angels to keep them from many trials that the Devil would attempt to bring.

Act 20:35 “It is more blessed to give than to receive” Comments – Calvin Coolidge, the thirtieth president of the United States (1923-29), once said, “No person was ever honoured for what he received. Honour has been the reward for what he gave.” [256] Someone once said, “The quality of one’s life is calculated by one’s donation, not by one’s duration.”

[256] Calvin Coolidge, Have Faith in Massachusetts, 2 nd ed (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1919), 173.

Act 20:34-35 Comments – Paul’s Labours In Act 20:34-35 Paul tells the elders of Ephesus how he has laboured with his hands on many occasions during his three missionary journeys. He refers to his labours in Act 18:1-3 and 1Co 4:12.

Act 18:1-3, “After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.”

1Co 4:12, “And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:”

Alexander Mackay, the famous missionary to Uganda, East Africa, worked daily among the native Africans, realizing it was his access to preaching the Gospel to a naturally lazy culture. These natives saw in him each day a sacrifice was made to serve them, which opened their hearts to the testimony of God’s love towards them through Jesus Christ.

“All through his mechanical work, building, turning, casting, carpentering, glazing, engrossed as he was with these crafts, and earning his bread literally by the sweat of his brow, Mackay’s burning desire was to lead the people to Christ. He grudged the time spent in these secular occupations and longed to give himself entirely to teaching and preaching. Indeed, he had serious thoughts of going home, and studying for ordination as a clergyman, in order that he might be able to baptize and

administer the communion. But happily for the success of the Mission, and happily for Uganda, he was led to give up this idea of return. After studying the subject long, and with much prayer, he came to the conclusion that the sphere of working missionary was the one in which he had most influence, and to which God had called him. The example of hard work which he set was of great value to the natives, who were naturally lazy. Here was a man who taught that work was noble, and proved that he believed it, by himself working harder than any of them. They called him Mzunguwa-Kazi, which means ‘white man of work;’ for, from the time that he first came to their country, they had never seen him idle.” [257]

[257] C. T. Wilson, Alexander Mackay: Missionary Hero of Uganda (London: The Sunday School Union, 1893), 83.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Paul and the Elders of Ephesus.

Paul addresses the elders of Ephesus:

v. 17. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the Church.

v. 18. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,

v. 19. serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews;

v. 20. and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly and from house to house,

v. 21. testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Miletus was a matter of only about thirty miles from Ephesus, and connected with the capital by a good Roman road. As soon as Paul, therefore, found out that the vessel would be delayed for a number of days, he sent a message to Ephesus, earnestly asking the elders of the church to come down. The congregation at Ephesus, where Paul had labored so long, was especially dear to him, and he felt that he could not afford to let this chance go by. And when the elders had come to see him, he addressed them in words of a tender farewell. He gave them, first of all, a brief review of his labors in their city. From the day that he had first set foot into their province, his concern, during his entire stay, had been for their spiritual and temporal welfare. He had done his work as a faithful servant of the Lord and in His interest only, with such a servant’s full and complete humility. His attitude had not been me of apathy, but he had been filled with genuine sorrow for his brethren and for the world, which even manifested itself in tears. His work had been done in the midst of temptations which had surrounded him, which had stepped forward from all sides on account of and in the plots of the Jews. Their enmity had not been confined to an occasional outburst of malice, but had attended him at all time, always with the intention of making him weary in his work for the Lord. But in spite of all these and other difficulties he had not made use of reserve in teaching, as a coward might have done, but openly and candidly he had proclaimed to them what was of value and use to them. For a minister to shrink back from plain statements of truth out of fear for his own welfare is usually a sign of unworthiness, and almost invariably harms the congregation. But Paul had taught the things profitable to the salvation of the Ephesians, publicly, before the assembled congregation, and privately, in visits from house to house. His constant endeavor had been to be a fearless and worthy witness both before the Jews and the Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in their common Lord Jesus Christ. That is briefly the substance of all Christian preaching, that all men, all sinners, should acknowledge their sins and turn from them to the God of their salvation, accepting the full atonement and redemption of Christ by faith in this their Savior. “Repentance is nothing else than truly acknowledging sin, to be heartily sorry for it, and to desist from it; which knowledge comes from the Law, but is not sufficient for a saving conversion to God, unless faith in Christ is added, whose merit offers the comforting preaching of the holy Gospel to all repentant sinners that are terrified by the preaching of the Law.”

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

C.THE APOSTLE PAULS FAREWELL DISCOURSE TO THE EPHESIAN ELDERS, AT MILETUS

Act 20:17-38

17And [But] from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. 18And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, [how, ] from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner [om. after what manner] I have been with you at all seasons [the whole time], 19Serving the Lord with all humility of mind [om. of mind], and with many [om. many8] tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait [the plots] of the Jews: 20And [om. And] how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you [om. unto you], but have shewed [proclaimed unto] you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house [in houses], 21Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 22And now, behold, I go [journey] bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall [will] befall me there: 23Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth [to me9] in every city [from city to city], saying that bonds and afflictions abide [await] me.10 24But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself [But I esteem not my life as worthy of mention, as far as I am concerned11 ], so that I might [in order to] finish my course with joy, and the ministry [service], which I have received of [from] the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. 25And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God [om. of God12 ], shall [will] see my face no more. 26Wherefore I take you to record [I testify to you] this day, that I am13 pure from the blood of all men. 27For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the [For I have kept back (as in Act 20:20) nothing, but have proclaimed unto you the whole] counsel of God. 28Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which [in which, ] the Holy Ghost hath made you [set you as, ] overseers, to feed the church of God [of the Lord14 ], which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29For I know this, that [I know that15 ] after my departing [arrival] shall grievous [ravening] wolves enter in among you, not sparing [who will not spare] the flock. 30Also [out of the midst] of your own selves shall [will] men arise, speaking perverse [perverted] things, [in order] to draw away [the, ] disciples after them. 31Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of [that for] three years [night and day] I ceased not to warn [exhort] every one night and day [here om. night and day] with tears. 32And now, brethren [om. brethren16 ], I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which [who] is able to build17 you [om. you] up, and to give you [om. you18 ] an inheritance among all them which [who] are sanctified. 33I have coveted no mans [desired of no one] silver, or gold, or apparel. 34Yea, [om. Yea19 ] ye [Ye] yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. 35I have shewed you [in] all things, how [om. how] that so laboring ye ought to support [sustain] the weak, and to remember the words20 of the Lord Jesus, how he [for he himself, ] said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

36And when he had thus spoken [had said this, ], he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. 37And they all wept sore, and [And there was much weeping on the part of all, and they] fell on Pauls neck and kissed him, 38Sorrowing most of all for the words [word, ] which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Act 20:17-21. And from Miletus.It is obvious that the apostle addressed this memorable farewell discourse to the elders of the congregation of Ephesus, that is, to them alone, and not also to those of neighboring congregations (Irenus: Adv. Haer. III. 14, 2). He reminded them, first of all, of the fidelity and conscientiousness with which he had labored among them. Although the words precede , they logically belong to the latter, and not to . He describes his conduct in Act 20:19-21, as that of a servant who was on all occasions sincere and faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. . is a genuine Pauline expression, denoting every possible expression of humility. , etc., in Act 20:20, is an additional exposition of in Act 20:18. occurs also in classic writers, e. g., Demosthenes, Isocrates, Plutarch, as descriptive of the act of speaking with reserve, while . indicates that of speaking openly and candidly. A phrase like . expresses design, only in consequence of the original import of the infinitive with the genitive of the article [Winer: Gram. 44, 4, b. sqq.Tr.]; here, however, and in many other places, it refers simply to the manner or form: quominus ea vobis annuntiarem. is here followed by the accusative of the object to which the testimony practically refers, and to which it urges men to give heed. . is a change of mind, a turning back to God, and ought not, as Beza, Bengel and others suppose, to be restricted to the pagans, as if it were not necessary, in the view of Jesus and the apostles, that the Jews should be converted as well as the pagans, in order to be received into the kingdom of God.

Act 20:22. And now, behold, I go bound, etc.The apostle, who had hitherto spoken of the past, now refers to the future. Different interpretations have been given of the phrase , both . and . having been variously explained. The former has often been supposed to refer to bonds and fetters: spiritu jam alligatus, vincula prsentiens (Erasmus, Grotius, Bengel). But this interpretation by no means accords with the words ; hence . must be taken in the figurative sense of urged, compelled. Many interpreters, further, assume that refers to the Holy Ghost, and suppose the sense to be, either, compelled by the Holy Ghost (Beza, Calvin), or, bound to, that is, depending on the Holy Ghost (Meyer, first edition), or else interpret: By the impulse of the Holy Ghost I go bound (Oecumenius). But as is expressly mentioned in Act 20:23, the word , standing alone, Act 20:22, cannot be Understood of the Spirit of God, but can refer only to the spirit of the apostle himself, in the following sense: I go to Jerusalem, impelled in spirit, led by an internal necessity. [This is the interpretation which Meyer gives in his third edition (1861), in which he expressly rejects the opinion which he had stated in the first, to which Lechler refers above.Tr.]

Act 20:23. Save that the Holy Ghost. after is still dependent on . The Holy Ghost witnessed, namely, through the mouth of Christian prophets; comp. Act 13:2; Act 21:4; Act 10:11. Paul says that from city to city it is foretold to him that bonds and afflictions await him in Jerusalem. It is true that such predictions have not yet been mentioned, and none of that nature are introduced until Act 21:4; Act 21:11. But what evidence do we find that Luke, who, after Act 20:2, merely gives a summary of the events that occurred, did not omit predictions of this class? It is only such evidence which would give force to the assertion that Luke here speaks proleptically (Schneckenburger: Zweck d. Apgsch. p. 135). The predictions of the prophets led the apostle to expect imprisonment and other tribulations in Jerusalem; still, he did not precisely know (Act 20:22) what things would there befall him.

Act 20:24. But none of these things, etc.The reading . ., can scarcely be so construed (with Meyer) as to connect together the words . ; for even if occurs on one occasion (Plato, Soph. 216:100) with the genitive of value, it is nevertheless employed absolutely in far the greatest number of instances, particularly as itself already involves the conception of valuing. Hence the literal meaning would be: I esteem not my life as worthy of mention, as a life precious to myself. The two other readings [see note 4 above, appended to the text,Tr.], i.e., and . imply: I have regard to nothing, and, further, do not count my life dear to myself. Bengel takes comparatively, in the sense: My life is not of so much importance or value to me as the finishing of my course. This interpretation is marked by simplicity, in its grammatical aspects, but, logically, is less satisfactory than the former, as, if it were correct, we would necessarily expect: finish my course with fidelity, instead of with joy. [On the reading , see above, note 4, ult.Tr.]. Accordingly, the infinitive with here expresses the design: In order that I might finish my course with joy. [Winer: Gram. 44. 1.Tr.]

Act 20:25. And now, behold, I know.The apostle did not know the things that would befall him in Jerusalem (Act 20:22). But he declares that he positively knows that those who came from Ephesus, and, indeed, all the congregations in which he had preached the Gospel, would no more see his face. [Still, , as in Act 26:27, does not necessarily imply that Paul spoke from divine and unerring knowledge; it may simply express his own conviction of the certainty of that which he says. (Alf.).Tr.]. The words assume, as it were, that the Ephesian elders are the representatives of all the Christian congregations which Paul had founded in Europe and Asia Minor. The words [omitting , see note 5, appended to the text.Tr.] with great force and brevity express Pauls consciousness that he is the herald of a king and of His kingdom. He very decidedly utters a presentiment of his own death, but does not speak as if he had received a divine revelation on that point. It is true that at a later period he speaks in his Epistles written during his imprisonment in Rome, e. g., the Epistle to the Philippians [Act 2:24; Phm 1:22], as if he were not sure that he would not be set at liberty and again see his congregations. But as his liberation in Rome is, historically, very doubtful, his presentiment in this case did not deceive him. And the assertion [of some recent German writers,Tr.] that Luke put these words in the mouth of Paul post eventum, cannot be defended, until it is demonstrated that Paul could not possibly have really used such language on that occasion.

Act 20:26-27. Wherefore I take you to record [I testify to you] this day; the sense is: I do so, because I now take leave of you, and shall never see nor address you again. Bengel here takes in the sense in which it frequently occurs in classical writers, namely: testem cito, in testimonium voco. This interpretation would be very satisfactory, if the dative were not, here appended [as, e. g., Gal 5:3, I testify to,Tr.], whereas the word, when used in the sense which Bengel gives to it, is followed by the accusative. Act 20:27 is identical with Act 20:20 in the matter, and, to a certain extent, also in the words. The counsel of God is his counsel of redemption and grace; , that is, all that belongs to this counsel. [ etc., that is: I am not myself guilty, if any man perishes; see Act 18:6. is not a Hebraism, ; is sometimes found also in Greek writers in combination with (Kypke, II. p. 108 f.), although it is generally followed by the genitive (Bernhardy, p. 174). (Meyer).Tr.]

Act 20:28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves.The farewell exhortation, Act 20:28 ff., is connected with the apostles testimony respecting his innocence. The sense is: No guilt attaches to me; it could attach only to yourselves. Therefore (), perform your part faithfully, by caring alike for yourselves and for the whole flock. The congregation is, as it were, a flock, which must be fed and protected against ravening wolves (, , ). Such services the elders are expected to render, as they are the appointed overseers. The word is, properly speaking, not here employed as an official title, but is intended to describe the task and duty of the elders, that is, to take the oversight [comp. 1Pe 5:2] of the flock, and exhibit watchfulness and care. [The word is here applied to the same persons who were before described as elders, proving clearly that the titles are convertible in this case, as they are in Tit 1:5-7; a conclusion strengthened by the otherwise inexplicable fact that both are never named together as distinct classes of church officers. (Alex.). See Exeg. note on Acts 11, 29, 30. b.Alford says, on Act 20:17 : The English Version has hardly dealt fairly in this case with the sacred text, in rendering , Act 20:28, overseers, whereas it ought there as in all other places to have been bishops, that the fact of elders and bishops having been originally and apostolically synonymous (terms) might be apparent to the ordinary English reader, which now it is not.Tr.]. The word itself comprehends both the practical guidance and government of the flock, and the act of nourishing and furnishing it with the wholesome food of the word and all the means of grace. means to acquire, to make any thing ones own property; see Doctr. and Eth. no. 7.

Act 20:29-30. I know grievous wolves.Thoughtful pastoral fidelity and attention are the more necessary, since () wolves and seducers will come; the wolves are , that is, ravening and ferocious; the term describes persons who will deal in a pitiless manner with the congregation. They will come . ; these words refer, as most of the interpreters allege, to the departure or the decease of the apostle; , however, never signifies departure, but always and only arrival, going to a place. [Still, the word occurs twice in Demosthenes, joined with , in the sense of departure for home, p. 1463, ed. Reisk., ( . . Vol. 8. p. 497. Lond. 1828,) and p. 1484 (. .), that is, reditus domum. In 3Ma 7:18, , the usual meaning of departure seems to be intended.Tr.]. Hence, the words simply imply: After I have come, persons of an entirely different character will also come. Bengel says: primum venit Paulus, deinde venient lupi. But they come . ., and not . ., that is, they come from without, and enter into the congregation. According to this view, Paul cannot refer to persecutors (Grotius: persecutio sub Nerone), but only to false teachers, who, however, will come from without. In Act 20:30, on the other hand, seducers are indicated, who will proceed from the bosom of the church. The word implies that all who would attach themselves to these persons, would be guilty of apostasy from the truth, and from the true church of Christ.When we consider the contests which the apostle had already at that time maintained with false teachers, as his Epistles show, and the accurate knowledge which he possessed of the state of affairs in Ephesus, and in Asia Minor in general, it cannot in the least surprise us, that, when he glances at the future, he should predict that the congregation at Ephesus would encounter internal and external dangers; and these he has, moreover, sketched only in their general outlines. We have, therefore, no reasonable ground for suspecting that we have here an anachronism, or a prediction made after the events had occurred, which the historian has put into the mouth of the apostle (as Baur and Zeller assume).

Act 20:31. Therefore watch. ., that is, on account of the impending danger, a watchful oversight becomes the duty of the elders. According to Pauls statement, as here recorded, he had resided three years at Ephesus. According to Act 19:8-10, he had taught during three months in the synagogue, and, afterwards, two years longer in the school of Tyrannus. These two statements will not be found to be contradictory, when we remember that the narrative does not profess to furnish precise chronological dates, and that, besides, it would be out of place to expect such in the present connection. [See Exeg. note on Act 19:9-10. b.Tr.]

Act 20:32. And now,I commend you.If the elders are to exhibit inviolable fidelity, they must themselves be firmly established in the grace and fellowship of God; hence Paul commends them to the mighty and faithful protection of God. For , etc., cannot, with Erasmus and others, be referred to [taken in the sense of word, doctrine, Tr.], and the interpretation according to which the personal [Johanneic (Meyer)] Logos is meant (Gomarus, Witsius), has no foundation whatever; the act of bestowing the eternal inheritance cannot possibly be ascribed to the word, but only to the personal God. Hence, . must, with the Vulgate, Luther, Calvin, Grotius, Bengel, etc., be referred to , so that the words . . are parenthetically introduced [a very natural hyperbaton occurs here (Meyer).Tr.].God can build up, that is, bestow sound and enduring spiritual life; and He, too, is able to give an inheritance, that is, to grant a rightful and abiding share in the blessed kingdom, among all, that is, in fellowship with all, those who are consecrated to Him.

Act 20:33-35. a. I have coveted no mans silver or gold.Finally, the apostle refers to his own disinterested course of conduct [comp. 1Sa 12:3], and exhorts the elders to adopt the same course, in accordance with the saying of the Redeemer. emphatically commences the sentence, and signifies: in all things [comp. 1Co 10:33; Eph 4:15]; , namely, by his own example. The words . . can scarcely be understood in a literal sense, in which case they would refer to the care which should be taken of those who are sick and feeble in body. It is already a deviation from the original sense, when they are interpreted as referring to the support of the poor (Chrysostom; de Wette); for, although unquestionably signifies poor in some passages of classic Greek writers, which Wetstein has collected, the verb and its participle never have this meaning. No other interpretation, therefore, remains, except that according to which refers to those who are weak in faith and Christian sentiments or principles [comp. Rom 14:1; Rom 15:1; 1Co 9:22; 1Th 5:14]. is accordingly to be understood as descriptive of tender forbearance and of encouragement given to the weak, in so far as any demand [on the part of the elders, etc.] for money and pay, or even the mere acceptance of them might lead the minds of those who were not yet firmly established in the faith, to suspect that covetous feelings had prevailed, and might thus close every avenue to the truth; the absolute disinterestedness of a teacher, would, on the contrary, tend to encourage and strengthen them. [It may be added, that Paul, although he waived his own right to a maintenance from those to whom he preached, was remarkable for the decision with which he asserted that right in behalf of others; comp. Rom 15:27; 1Co 9:13-14; Gal 6:6; 1Ti 5:17-18. See also the Saviours rule on this subject in Luk 10:7. (Hackett).Tr.].Among the many words of Jesus referring to this point (), Paul quotes only one saying, which is not found in the four Gospels, but which he doubtless derived from oral tradition. We should assuredly, not so restrict the original meaning of this saying of Jesus, as if it merely taught that the act of giving rendered more happy than that of receiving. (Meyer). In its full and comprehensive sense it teaches that giving is a more blessed act than receiving, for it glances from God to man (of which an analogy may be found in Mat 5:48, and other passages), and both the giving and the receiving embrace, in the widest sense of the terms, spiritual and bodily, temporal and eternal blessings. The application which Paul makes of the saying in this sense, is then the more appropriate. [The special application of this general remark of Christ, as the apostle, according to the context, intended, is the following: The act of giving spiritual blessings, when compared with that of receiving temporal gains as pay, confers greater blessedness than the latter. The itself, is that of eternal life, in conformity to the conception of the Messianic mode of recompensing, Luk 6:20 ff. and Act 20:38; Act 14:14. (Meyer, 3d ed.).Tr.]

b. This address consists of three parts: I. A retrospective view of the past, Act 20:18-21. Paul reminds the elders of the labors which he had performed in Ephesus. II. A glance at the future, and Pauls announcement of his final separation, Act 20:22-25. III. An exhortation to the elders respecting their duty to the congregation, in view of Pauls own faithful and disinterested labors in its behalf, Act 20:26-35. It is not necessary to enlarge upon the general character of this address, or to show how well it is adapted to the circumstances, when viewed as a farewell address of an upper shepherd, how impressive and affecting it is, how full of love and holy earnestness. And yet it has recently been represented as unhistorical, and as altogether the original production of the author of the Acts (Baur and Zeller). Tholuck has, on the other hand, demonstrated (in the Studien und Kritiken, 1839, p. 305 f.) that this address breathes the same spirit, and exhibits the same emotions of the heart, which we find in the Pauline Epistles. Moreover, as far as doctrinal points are concerned, the views which are peculiarly Pauline in their character, are here distinctly expressed; comp. Doctr. and Eth. no. 4 and no. 7.

Act 20:36-38. And when he had thus spoken.At the conclusion the apostle kneeled down, and, when all who were present had done the same, he closed his address to men by offering a prayer to God. [The mention of his kneeling seems to imply that it was not his customary posture in public prayer, but one occasioned by the strength of his emotions. Long after, as we learn from Justin Martyr and others, it was the practice of the church to stand in public prayer upon the Lords Day, etc. (Alexander).Tr.]. Then each individual took leave of Paul by embracing and kissing him, amid many tears; the grief of his friends was, the deeper, as he announced that they would never see him again; graphically describes the scene. [It suggests the idea of the interest and affection with which they looked upon that countenance for the last time. (Hackett).Tr.]. Paul himself had simply said: . (Meyer). Finally, they escorted him to the vessel, and then reluctantly parted from him.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Paul declares more than once in this address that he had taught the whole truth in Ephesus, and kept back nothing, Act 20:20; Act 20:27. He does not, therefore, lay a stress solely on the circumstance that he had taught the truth in its purity, that he had introduced no errors when he imparted a knowledge of the actual will and counsel of God ( , Act 20:27), and that he had communicated truths which were profitable to the souls of men ( , Act 20:20), without mingling with them matter that was unprofitable, or even pernicious, and adapted to lead men astray. He expressly adds, for the purpose of justifying himself and of demonstrating that he was pure from the blood of all men, that he had kept back nothing. He had proclaimed the truth alike in its purity and in its fulness. The word of God is an organism, of which all the parts are closely connected, so that not a single member can be neglected or set aside, without inflicting an injury on the other members. Gods decree of redemption constitutes a whole, in which righteousness and grace, the realization and the appropriation of salvation, conversion and sanctification, the individual and the congregational, may certainly be distinguished, but which cannot be separated without guilt and loss. In God Himself and in His work of salvation, all is inseparably and eternally united. So, too, when the Gospel is proclaimed, and also when the science and doctrines of theology are taught, no part should be set aside and overlooked; the pure truth, and the full, entire truth, ought to be developed, and all the aspects and articles of the truth be exhibited in their actual temperamentumin their natural harmony.

2. The apostle describes his labors as having been of a twofold character: public, and from house to house, Act 20:20; he had directed his attention not only to the congregation, but also to every individual, Act 20:31. He neglected neither of these, and neither should at any time be neglected. Christianity undoubtedly seeks the salvation of the individual soul through conversion and sanctification; it forms anew the ties of a living and blessed communion of man with God, which sin had severed, and continually adds to their strength during the process of mans renewal. The Spirit of God is imparted to individuals, and constitutes them the children of God. But the individualism of Christianity is not unhealthy and anchoretical; conversion to the Lord, on the contrary, creates a social feeling even in those who had lived in solitude; the family, like the congregation and Christendom, is, by degrees, thoroughly pervaded by the spirit of Christianity. And this is a regeneration not only of the individual, but also of the human race (the second Adam, 1Co 15:45; 1Co 15:47), according to its various communities.

3. Paul testified both to the Jews and to the Gentiles, repentance and faith, Act 20:21, that is, a change of mind or return to God, and faith in the Lord Jesus. He did not separate the one from the other; and such a course the truth in its fulness requires. Faith without repentance is superficial; the prominent feature of faith is a contrite heart; Christ came to call, not the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Repentance without faith is either destitute of comfort and hope, and ends in faintheartedness and despair, or is self-righteous, and ends in the effort to make redemption superfluous.

4. Paul twice terms in this address the Gospel the word of the grace of God: . . . , Act 20:24; . . , Act 20:32. The peculiar and essential feature which distinguishes the revelation of God in Christ from that of the old covenant, is the manifestation of grace towards the sinnerredeeming, forgiving, sanctifying, and saving grace. But the apostle Paul was not enabled to exhibit this grace as the central point of the whole counsel of God in Christ, and to give it such a concise name, until he had been personally conducted to Christ, and the great work of his life among the Gentiles had imparted to him this knowledge. The fact that the Gospel is here designated by this name, is an evidence of the genuineness of the discourse.The high value which the apostle assigns to the word of grace, also claims attention. The ministry which he had received from Christ, refers solely to the proclamation of the Gospel of the grace of God, Act 20:24. Thus the word of grace acquires a lofty and noble character. This word of Gods grace is, accordingly, represented in Act 20:32 as a power. It is true that the terms: . . refer to God Himself, and not to His word. Still, the language in which the brethren are commended not only to God Himself, but also to His word, would be unmeaning, if the word of God were not in itself also powerful and efficient. Hence, it is a power (comp. Rom 1:16), which strengthens, comforts, and aids us (Catech. Maj. Prf.). [Luthers preface to the Large Catechism, p. 394. ed. R.Tr.]it is a genuine means of grace.

5. Paul speaks with a sad presentiment of the things which shall befall him in Jerusalem; prophets, enlightened by the Holy Ghost, tell him that bonds and afflictions await him; he himself attaches no value to his life, and knows that the congregations which he had founded, shall see him no more, Act 20:22-25. Such remarks are undoubtedly very significant. Still, they are not sufficient to produce in us the conviction that it had really been determined in the counsel of God that Paul should be allowed to die in Jerusalem as a martyr, but that God had graciously looked at the tears and intercessions in behalf of the apostle on the part of all the Gentile congregations, had, accordingly caused him, when condemned to death, to be rescued by the Romans (e. g., Act 21:31), and had prolonged his life and ministry (Baumgarten, II. 2, 89 ff.). As long as no passage can be adduced which unequivocally expresses such views, it is by no means advisable to resort to such suppositions.

6. The office, and the Holy Ghost. The elders are set as overseers by the Holy Ghost, for the purpose of feeding the church of the Lord, Act 20:28. We are not informed of the manner in which the elders at Ephesus obtained their office, but from analogy (Act 6:2 ff; Act 14:23), we may assume that they were chosen under the direction of the apostle, and not without the coperation of the congregation, and that they were consecrated by the imposition of hands in connection with prayer. Such were the human and visible features of the case; the apostle, however, also directs attention to those which were invisible and divine. It was the Holy Ghost to whom the action is really to be ascribed; it was, in truth, He who had appointed and commissioned the individuals, and to whom they were bound and accountable. The apostle does not deny that men performed a certain, part, but he gives special prominence to the decisive action of the Holy Ghost, which it would be at least as erroneous and unjust to overlook as the former. As the Divine and the Human are one in the Redeemer, so, too, they are one in the church, which is, indeed, the church of the Lord ( . . ). There is in so far a difference, that, in the church, the Spirit of the Father and the Son acts, and that the union of the divine and human is not personal and inseparable. But in all the appropriate transactions of the church, which refer to the kingdom of God, and are performed in dependence on God and His Anointed One, in conformity to the divine word, and with prayer, it is the Holy Ghost who administers the whole. Now if the Holy Ghost acts and decides, it follows that he dwells in the members of the church, and, consequently, the appointment by the Holy Ghost of the elders to their office as shepherds, rests on the common priesthood of believers as the antecedent, or presupposes the latter, and is not a hierarchical conception, as it might, at the first glance, seem to be.

7. The church, and the death of Christ on the cross.In order to exhibit distinctly to the elders their pastoral duty to the church, and to awaken a deep sense of their responsibility, Paul testifies that the church itself belongs to the Lord, having been purchased with his own blood. The blood of Jesus Christ which he shed when he suffered a violent death, is, accordingly, the means by which he made the church his lawful property. in the phrase . can scarcely be assumed to indicate the purchase-money, with a strict application of the figure found in the word . But it is true that the death of Jesus on the cross is exhibited as the means of appropriation, by which souls which would not be his own without his sufferings and death, have now become his propertyobjectively, in so far as he acquired a claim to them by the death which he suffered in their behalf, and, subjectively, in so far as the love of the Redeemer, which prompted him to expose himself to death, fills the soul with grateful love, and attracts it to him. And hence, not only is the most decisive influence in the work of redemption ascribed to the death of Jesus, but that death is also exhibited as the essential foundation on which the establishment of the church of Christ dependsa thought which, in itself, is of deep moment, and which is, at the same time, peculiarly Pauline in its character.

8. The false teachers.The apostle distinguishes two classes of them, in these prophetic words, Act 20:29 : first, those who would come from without, and who would, like wild beasts, ravage the church without mercy, and, secondly, those who Would arise in the bosom of the church itself, and attempt to gain adherents. They are described as . Paul purposely avoids the use of the word , which would do too much honor to the perverted and distorted things which they will advance. As a limb of the body may be dislocated, and, by a violent movement, be placed in an unnatural position, so truths may be perverted, be placed in false relations to each other, be distorted by exaggeration, and be converted into caricatures of that which they originally represented. Such is the nature of false doctrine. Error is simply a perversion of the truth; there is a truth lying at the bottom of every false doctrine, but it has been perverted and disfigured by the fault of men.

9. An inheritance among all them which are sanctified, Act 20:32.The blessed inheritance consists not only in a perfect communion with God, but also in a communion with all those who are sanctified. The rich inheritance of the invisible Canaan lies in the midst of all who have, by the grace of God in Christ, been redeemed from sin, and sanctified by the Spirit. It is remarkable that precisely in the Epistle which, if not originally intended for the Ephesian congregation exclusively, was at least specially addressed to it, the same thought occurs: , Eph 1:18. It is, indeed, the widely extended communion with all those who are sanctified, that exalts the glory of the inheritance, and the blessedness of the world to come.

10. It is more blessed to give than to receive, Act 20:35.The natural man, under the influence of egotism, reverses the terms of this saying; its truth is, however, recognized by every one whose moral state is more favorable, and who is governed by sounder and purer principles. Plutarch relates that Artaxerxes said . And Aristotle says: , Eth. Nicom. IV. I. Both of these sayings correspond in expression to the aristocratic views of antiquity. The former refers to the distinction which existed between rulers and the people, the latter to the ancient distinction between free men and slaves. Seneca, on the other hand, speaks in reference to the gods, when he says: Qui dat beneficia, Deos imitatur; qui recipit, foeneratores There is, however, in all these classic sayings a certain aristocratic pride of sentiment, which cannot fail to be perceived. The saying of Christ, on the contrary, is founded on the fact that God is love; and the use which the apostle here makes of it, is sustained by his own experience of the redeeming and compassionate love of God in his Son, as well as by his desire to see all men enjoy the blessedness of loving and giving.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Act 20:17. And from Miletus he sent and called the elders of the church.When Paul was at Miletus, lie was induced to send for the Ephesian elders not only by his remembrance of the divine blessing which he had experienced in their city, amid all his conflicts and trials, but also by his earnest desire to see the brethren personally, and impart to them, and, through them, to the whole congregation, an abiding blessing. (Leonh. and Sp.).Superintendents and inspectors [whose office, duties, etc., are described in Herzog: Encyk. XV. p. 256262.Tr.] should imitate the example of Paul in their conduct towards those over whom they are placed, by conferring with them, exhorting, and encouraging them; for benefits conferred on pastors are in reality conferred on entire congregations. The servants of the Lord, on the other hand, should gladly avail themselves of such opportunities for receiving the wholesome admonitions of their inspectors, and of eminent theologians, and actively sustain them in their good work. (Starke).

Act 20:18. And when they were come to him, he said.Pauls address to the elders is an admirable compend of practical Pastoral Theology, according to the principles which the apostles observed; it is a mirror which causes us to blush, when we survey our own dissimilar features. It usually furnishes texts for introductory and farewell sermons, but the Lord knows how often it has been abused on such occasions! (Ap. Past.).ye know, from the first day after what manner I have been with you at all seasons.Ye know! Happy is he who can begin his discourse in such terms, and to whom the conscience of the hearer bears a favorable testimony! (Bengel).Paul appeals solely to the conscience of his hearers, and asks for no flattering reply. It is not his object to obtain letters of commendation from men; he desires to see the fruit of his labors, and to promote the cause of the truth. (Ap. Past.).He had served the Lord in Ephesus from the first day. The unconverted man who assumes the sacred office, loses this blessing. He may be subsequently converted, it is true; still, he has grievously failed in many respects. This consideration should urge all candidates for the ministry to adopt such a course that God may grant them the necessary qualifications at the earliest period, (ib.).

Act 20:19. Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations.Pastors shed many tearstears of love, tears of grief, and tears of joy. O Lord! Send us many Pauls! (Starke).The ministry of the word does not furnish happy days alone, for Paul mentions not them, but his tears. Give heed to this circumstance, ye candidates for the ministry, and be prepared for it! (id.).What noble qualifications of a faithful teacher! Humility before God; patience in affliction; candor and fidelity; unwearied efforts to feed the flock; thorough knowledge of the matter and manner which are essential to edifying discourses; undaunted courage when persecution begins; zeal and diligence in walking in the way of the Lord, alike in public and in private life; sincere love to the church; a confident mind and holy boldness in speaking the truth to every one according to his necessities; a high estimate of the value of souls that are bought with a price; prudent measures in view of coming trials; contentment in temporal things, and a hatred of covetousness (1Co 15:9); perseverance and ardor in prayer. (id.).The dignity of his office, in the view of the upright apostle, primarily consists in his own consistent and humble walk. But in our day there is usually a reference made to the honos ordinis, orthodoxiae, etc. (Ap. Past.).An old pastor of our church prayed to God that the blessing which should attend his office might consist also in gratia lacrimarum.A faithful servant of Jesus may appeal also to his past afflictions, for they are a seed of tears, and are honorable to him. (ib.).When we are without temptations, we learn nothing, and make no progress; they are the warfare and the exercise of Christians; they are our theologya theology not very easily nor quickly learned. (Luther).Paul speaks of his tears, for he was a Christian, not a Stoic. His whole office was a ministry of tears; his cup was full of bitterness; but, nevertheless, he looked for that glorious reward of which the Psalmist speaks: They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. [Psa 126:5.]. By the power of his faith he anticipates the joys of harvest; he triumphs even when he weeps; still, he does not weep the less because he triumphs. He weeps, when at midnight he sings praises unto God in the prison of Philippi. He weeps, when he writes to the Thessalonians: Rejoice evermore. He weeps, when at Miletus he declares: I finish my course with joy. He weeps, when at Rome he writes his last words: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.We cannot wonder that Paul so often recurs to the sorrows which he had endured; his remarks were dictated not by egotism, but by his earnest desire to gain men for the truth; he had been so taught in the school of his Lord. If the sufferings of Jesus appeal to the Father, and beseech Him to grant mercy to sinners, they also appeal to men and beseech them to accept the doctrine of their redeeming God. (A. Monod.).

Act 20:20. How I kept back nothing that was profitable.That is, only that which is profitable, but, also, all that is profitable; and hence, not that which is learned, or novel, or beautiful, or sublime, or unusual, etc., but that which is really good to the use of edifying [Eph 4:29]. Such were, briefly, the contents of the sermons of the apostle. Mark this well, ye pulpit orators. (Ap. Past.).To proclaim that which is profitable, without being deterred by the fear of men, and to refrain from all that merely gratifies itching ears, or is only adapted to please men, have at all times been prominent characteristics of a faithful steward of God. (Rieger).Publicly, and from house to house.Accordingly, a faithful teacher serves the Lord, and His church, not only in the pulpit, but also in private houses, not only by preaching, but also by pastoral labors, not only in public, but also at private interviews with individuals. Two temptations are to be overcome by a holy sense of official duty: the fear of men, and carnal sloth.

Act 20:21. Testifyingrepentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.We have here a concise and faithful description of that way of salvation, of which every sermon should treat. It is the general impost which the messengers of God are commissioned to demand of all men over the whole earth. They do not engage in other matters. (Gossner).

Act 20:22. I go bound in the spiritnot knowing the things that shall befall me.Faith does not desire to know and see all things, but obeys God and the impulse of His Spirit, as with blindfolded eyes. Faithful teachers, specially, are not their own masters, but are bound in heart and mind, on account of their office, to do and to forbear, not as they choose, but as God directs. Jer 10:23. (Starke).

Act 20:23. Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth.The Holy Ghost is a prophet of afflictions, but also a comforter in afflictions. (Quesnel).

Act 20:24. But none of these things move me, etc.Fear not them, etc. Mat 10:28. (Starke).The children and servants of God look not so much to danger as to duty; but the children of the world adopt the opposite course. (Quesnel).And the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus.Pauls ministry was consecrated not only by his tears, but also by his blood. And by what additional tears, sufferings and blood, was it not subsequently consesecrated, before we received it! Should not our reflections on the army of holy witnesses and martyrs of former times, cause us to blush on account of the indifference with which we defend the truth to which our fathers bore witness with their blood? (Williger).No one should force himself into the sacred office, nor acquire it by purchase, marriage, or private solicitations, and thus run and preach without a divine mission and call, but should wait until he receives it, and is sent. But an ordinary call is attended by the divine power and blessing, when it is received in the fear of God. He whom God sends, is endowed with the necessary qualifications, Jer 1:9-10. (Starke).To testify the gospel of the grace of God.Paul proclaims gracethe Gospel, with his latest breathnot the law, not mere morality. For millions of moral discourses and folios written on morals cannot accomplish in a thousand years that which this despised word: Gracethe Gospel accomplishes, when it is received in faith, and takes possession of the heart. (Gossner).

Act 20:25. I know that ye all shall see my face no more.Thoughts on death increase the zeal of preachers. He who at all times says to himself: This is perhaps my last sermon; my hearers will see my face no more, will the more earnestly entreat them: Be ye reconciled to God!The hearers may indeed pass away from the sight of a faithful preacher, but never from his thoughts. (Starke).

Act 20:26-27. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.Many would gladly imitate the apostle, and, like him, testify in their farewell sermons, that they are pure from the blood of all men, but that joyful consciousness is the fruit only of long-continued humility, of trials, and of tears. (Rieger).A preachers declaration that he is pure from the blood of all men, assumes that many duties have been performed. He must have set forth all the counsel of God, and kept back nothing, Act 20:27; he must have addressed all, both from the pulpit and during his pastoral labors, Act 20:20; he must have taught in every possible way, not only by his sermons, but also by his example, having lived and suffered as a Christian, Act 20:18-20. Alas! how many omissions of duty weigh on our conscience; instead of joyfully declaring: I am pure from your blood, we are rather constrained, in grief and pain, to utter the petition: Cleanse me, O Lord, with thy blood!

Act 20:28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock.A preacher must guard against two errors: either that of being too much occupied with himself, and thus neglecting the flock, or that of being so devoted to the flock as to neglect the care of his own salvation. (Quesnel).We must ourselves first be cleansed, and then cleanse othersbe instructed, and then instruct othersbe enlightened, and then enlighten othersbe conducted to God, and then conduct others to him. (Gregory Naz.).An evangelical preacher takes heed to himself, when his own soul is fed by the gospel of the grace of God; his personal experience of the value and power of sound doctrine, will secure him from going astray and adopting false doctrines. Continue to be one of the sheep of the Good Shepherd, and then thou wilt not become a faithless shepherd. (Besser).Can the blind lead the blind? It is a fearful thing when an unconverted man is a professor of religion, but it is a far more fearful thing when such an one attempts to preach the Gospel. Do ye not tremble, when ye open the Bible, lest ye might there read the sentence of your own condemnation? Do ye not think of it, that when ye are penning your sermons, ye are drawing up indictments against your own souls? (Baxters Reformed Pastor).Over the which [in which] the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.What a powerful admonition to be faithful we have in the fact that we are appointed to feed a flock which God has purchased with His own blood! (Starke).Paul does not here repeat his instructions respecting the manner in which they should feed the church; he does not intend to instruct, but to exhort. He wishes, in that sacred hour, to pronounce an imperishable word, which may make an indelible impression, and furnish a lasting impulse to his hearers. He pronounces a single word which expresses all, and relieves him from the task of addressing further admonitions; his hearers are so deeply impressed with the grandeur and holy character of their work, that no human eloquence could have produced the result which followed the utterance of this one word of truth. He terms the church the church of God,His possession, in a still higher sense than that in which the people of the old covenant, whom He bare on eagles wings, were His peculiar treasure, Exo 19:3-6His possession purchased with the blood of His own Son. (Menken).The poorest village is a church of God, purchased with the blood of Jesus. Its pastor is, therefore, not appointed to be a gatherer of gold, a luminary in the learned world, an antiquarian, a gardener, a drone; he is called to be a shepherd of Jesus, who is the Chief Shepherd. (Ap. Past.).

Act 20:29. After my departing shall grievous wolves enter in.False teachers say in their hearts: Let there only he peace whilst I live; but an apostolical teacher endeavors also to prevent evils that might arise even after his death. (Ap. Past.).

Act 20:30. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things.The enemies to whom the apostles warning refers, are described, on the one hand, as ravening wolves, that is, as men who are obviously seducers and murderers of souls, and, on the other, as false brethren who arise in the church itself, and who, with specious words, teach false and dangerous doctrines. The apostle earnestly warns his hearers against both of these classes of men. The former may be easily recognized; the latter are more insidious and more dangerous enemies. (Ap. Past.).And here the elders, like the disciples on an earlier occasion [Mat 26:22], might have each asked, in sorrow and dread: Lord, is I?

Act 20:31. Therefore watch, and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.The language which evil-minded men represent as that of self-praise, is not always really of that description. It was love which constrained the humility of Paul to reveal to us his tears. (Starke).

Act 20:32-33. And now, I commend you to God, etc.Here take a view of the heart of a faithful shepherd. He commends his flock to God and to the word of his grace, in accordance with his Masters example, Joh 17:6; Joh 17:9. When pastors have taught, refuted, exhorted, rebuked, and comforted, they should still submit the whole matter to God, and humbly ask for his guidance and aid. (Starke).Such apostolic sayings abundantly comfort our souls; it is a salutation addressed by the apostolic age to the distracted church of our times. Those fathers assure the church, even in her deepest affliction, that she is the true church of God, and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. (Williger).

Act 20:33. I have coveted no mans silver, or gold, or apparel.I seek not yours, but you. 2Co 12:14. Although the preachers of the Gospel do not, like Paul, work at a trade, but live of the things of the temple (1Co 9:13), these words, nevertheless, furnish them with a valuable lesson. They ought to demonstrate by their self-denial and personal efforts, (which should comprehend far more than the ordinary official duties,) and by their entire freedom from avarice, that the world very unjustly accuses them of performing the least amount of work, and of receiving for it a disproportionately large amount of wages. (Williger).

Act 20:35. It is more blessed to give than to receive.This word of the Lord, which the Holy Spirit has preserved for us independently of the Gospels, should be the motto of every true disciple of Christ; for He came into the world not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many [Mat 20:28]; even when seated on the throne of glory, He imparts Himself, in the fulness of His divine grace, to His church on earth, and His blessedness consists in thus freely imparting Himself to His people. (Leonh. and Sp.).It is more blessed to give than to receive; for the nearer we approach to God, the more blessed we are. God does not receiveHe gives. He derives His name from His goodness, and it is the nature of that which is good to impart itself. The more we give, the more we possess. When we bless others, we bless ourselves. Let no heart depart without consolation from thy door, and God will not dismiss thee from his presence without consolation. (Henry Mller).It is true, that with respect to God, we may, and indeed should, receive from His fulness, grace for grace. The more we receive of Him, the more blessed we are ourselves, and the more we can impart to others. An unwillingness to receive from Him, is, in truth, the height of misery. (Fr. Arndt.).

Act 20:36. And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all.Kneeling down at prayer is a privilege of the children of God. Others are ashamed of it. The act should therefore be performed only in the closet, or in the presence of those who rightly understand its nature, and should not unnecessarily be exposed to the mockery of the world. (Williger).We often accomplish more by praying than by preaching. (Ap. Past.).When Christian friends thus part from one another with prayer to God, they become the more intimately united in God. (Starke).

Act 20:37. And they all wept sore, and fell on Pauls neck, and kissed him.Christians are not Stoics, who professed to be unconscious of strong emotions. Their love is a fountain from which tears often flow.We too should fall on Pauls neck, and endeavor to retain him with us; and this is done when we receive his doctrine and believe the Gospel which he preached; 1Th 2:13. (Starke).

Act 20:38. Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more.If it pains us that we shall no more see here below the faces of those whom we love, how much more painful would it be, if we should be eternally deprived of the sight of God, of the angels, and of the elect! When we therefore part on earth, may it be our earnest expectation and our hope that we shall meet again in the heavenly Jerusalem. (Leonh. and Sp.).

ON THE WHOLE SECTION, Act 20:17-38.The true relation between the shepherds and the flocks of Christ: it really exists, and abides in time and in eternity, when it is sustained, I. By union in the true doctrine; II. By union in sincere love; III. By union in believing prayer. (Harless).

Pauls farewell address to the elders of Ephesus: I. When he appeals to his apostolical labors, he describes the principal features of the evangelical ministry of the word, Act 20:17-21. II. When he expresses his willingness to suffer, he exhibits to them the courage which faith imparts, and which is connected with a self-denying love to Christ, Act 20:22-25. III. When he refers to the glory of the church of God, he exhorts them to be faithful in discharging the duties of their sacred office. IV. When he prays, on parting from them, he conducts them to the source of all strength and joyfulness in seasons of affliction, Act 20:32. (Leonh. and Sp.).

By what means may the pain of parting from our friends be alleviated? I. By the consciousness that we have faithfully fulfilled our duty; II. By submission to the clearly understood will of God; III. By the conviction, strengthened by prayer, that God guides and protects us. (ib.).

The farewell address of Paul at Miletus: I. His testimony respecting his labors in the congregations, Act 20:18-21; (a) respecting the discharge of the duties of his ministryhis humility and fidelity, even amid temptations; (b) respecting the subjects of his preachinghe had declared all the counsel of God, specially, repentance and faith. II. His announcement that he took leave of them forever, Act 20:22-25; (a) referring to the trials that may await him, and to Jerusalem, as the point to which he was proceedingthe afflictions which he expected to endure; (b) referring to his willingness to sacrifice his lifehis conviction that he would suffer a violent death. III. His final directions to the elders, Act 20:26-38; (a) an exhortation that they should be faithful to their dutythe special reasons for which fidelity on their part was necessary;(b) the commendation of the elders to the grace of Godthe conduct which they should observe, (Lisco).

Two things which all men need: I. Repentance, Act 20:20-21; we descend by three steps into the depths of our hearts; (a) the knowledge of sin; (b) sorrow for it; (c) the desire for salvation. II. Faith, Act 20:21; we ascend by three steps to God and eternity: (a) the knowledge that the Redeemer has come; (b) holy joy that he has taken up his abode with us too; (c) unshaken confidence in his reconciling, sanctifying, and saving grace, Act 20:19; Act 20:22-27. (id.).

The glory and comfort of a Christian preacher (a farewell discourse): I. His glory: (a) nothing that is external, neither riches nor honor, Act 20:19; (b) not even temptations and misrepresentation, Act 20:19; (c) but the glory of having endured with his congregation in joy and in sorrow, Act 20:18, of having kept back no part of the wholesome doctrine of the Gospel, Act 20:20, and, especially, of having preached its two chief points, repentance and faith, Act 20:21. II. His comfort: (a) the hour of parting has arrived, and now duty calls to new and greater conflicts, Act 20:22-23; (b) the preacher does not regard this fact, since the fulfilment of the duties of his office is his only care, Act 20:24; (c) although the parting is painful, he knows that he is pure from the blood of all men, and he commends his flock to faithful successors and to the Chief Shepherd, Act 20:26. (From Lisco).

Paul, in the discharge of his official duties at Ephesus, a model for the evangelical pastor: he teaches us, I. To serve the Lord with all humility, Act 20:19; II. To feed the flock with undivided love, Act 20:20-21; Act 20:26-27; III. To resist the enemy with entire fidelity, Act 20:19; Act 20:29-31; IV. To look forward to the separation from the flock with confidence and holy joy, Act 20:22-25; Act 20:32-36.

The best discourse which we can address to our congregation: I. It is good when we preach the word of the Gospel, Act 20:20-21; Act 20:27; II. It is still better when we preach by our evangelical walk, Act 20:18; Act 20:33-35; III. It is the best of all when we preach by our evangelical sufferings, Act 20:19; Act 20:22-25.

How may a servant of God, in this vale of tears, finish his course with joy? (Act 20:24). I. When he enjoys true peace of conscience, sincerely believes that he has fulfilled his duty, and has an assurance of the grace of God, Act 20:18-20; Act 20:26-27. II. When he leaves behind him the seed of the kingdom of God, which will grow up over his grave through the labors of his faithful successors, Act 20:28, and the faithfulness of the eternal God, Act 20:32. III. When he can hope that he will receive in heaven the reward of his labors, and be eternally blessed, Act 20:24.

When are we pure from the blood of all those whose souls the Lord has intrusted to our care? (Act 20:26). I. When we have preached all that the Lord has commanded, and have kept back no part of the counsel of God, Act 20:20; Act 20:27. II. When we have taken an interest in the welfare of all who were accessible to us, both in public and in private, Act 20:20Jews and Greeks, Act 20:21. III. When we have done all that lay in our power in order to open an avenue for our word, by our evangelical walk and conductin obedience, humility, love, patience, self-denial. IV. When we have washed away everything of which our conscience accuses us before the Lord, in the blood of Jesus Christ, without which neither we nor our hearers can be cleansed and reconciled, Act 20:24; Act 20:36.

I know that we shall soon finally part, (Act 20:25) a thought which solemnly admonishes, I. The teacher; II. The hearers. Take heed therefore unto yourselves! an impressive official admonition addressed to all shepherds of souls, in the church and in the family, (Act 20:28): I. Take heed to yourselvesto your doctrine and your walk. II. Take heed to the flockto its divine dignity, and to its human infirmity. III. Take heed to the wolvesto those who come from without in a threatening form, Act 20:29, and to those in the bosom of the church, who are concealed in sheeps clothing, Act 20:30.

And now, brethren, I commend you to Godthe most appropriate farewell address of an evangelical pastor (Act 20:32): I. It expresses evangelical love, which extends its care even beyond the speakers own period of labor. II. It expresses evangelical humility, which, even after faithful labors, is conscious that man can accomplish nothing by his own strength. III. It expresses evangelical faith, which relies on the power and faithfulness of the Great Shepherd of souls and Guardian of men.

The apostles farewell discourse at Miletus: I. A model sermon, exhibiting an apostles fidelity of love, and the power of his faith; II. A consolatory sermon, intended to alleviate the pain of parting and the anxiety of love; III. An awakening sermon, exposing our official sins and neglect of duty, as compared with out great Predecessor in office.

Why is it more blessed to give than to receive? (Act 20:35). I. Because the former delivers us from the dominion of selffrom the bonds of self-love, from the cares connected with superfluous possessions, from the burden of dependence; II. Because it unites us with the brethrenthrough their sincere attachment, their active gratitude, their prayers in our behalf; III. Because it brings us nearer to our Godwe thus resemble Him who is merciful to all, partake of the happiness of Him who loves all, and may hope for the gracious reward which He who recompenses men will bestow.

The farewell words of love: A little while, and ye shall see me no more (Act 20:38, compared with Joh 16:16): I. The grief which they occasion; (a) the painful feeling of loneliness; (b) reproaches of conscience, if we have neglected the season of gracious visitation. II. The comfort which they impart; (a) we remain united in the Lord; (b) we hope for a future reunion in the presence of the Lord.

[The pastors farewell address (see Exeg. note, Act 20:33-35. b.): I. Glances at the past, (Act 20:18-21; Act 20:26-27); (a) the external history of the congregation (additions, losses, etc.); (b) the doctrines and duties taught by the pastor; (c) the past and present spiritual condition of the congregation. II. Glances at the future, (Act 20:22-25; Act 20:29-30); (a) the pastors future lot uncertain (divine Providence); (b) the dangers to which the congregation (young and old) may be exposed (externalinternal); (c) the hopes which the congregation may entertain. III. The Pastors parting counsels, in view of the past and the future (Act 20:31-35); respecting (a) watchfulnesson the part of church officers and private members; (b) the duties of Christian love; (c) the exercise of Christian faith and hope.Tr.]

Footnotes:

[8]Act 20:19. before is a later addition; it is wanting in the majority of the uncial manuscripts [A. B. D E., also Cod. Sin.], and in many versions [e. g., Vulg.; but it is found in C. G. H. It is dropped by recent editors generally probably an interpolation; see 2Co 2:4. (Alf.; Meyer.).Tr.]

[9]Act 20:23. a. The five oldest manuscripts [A. B. C. D. E., and also Cod. Sin.] insert after , which the text. rec. has inaccurately omitted in accordance with the two latest manuscripts [G. H.; it is reproduced in the Vulgate (mihi), and inserted by recent editors generally.Tr.]

[10]Act 20:23. b. [Instead of abide me (Wiclif, Tynd., Cranmer, Geneva, Rheims), the margin of the Engl. version offers wait for me; the original may be rendered await me.Tr.]

[11]Act 20:24. The most difficult reading undoubtedly here claims the preference; it is supported by four manuscripts of the highest rank (Vatic. [B.]; Ephraemi, rescr. [C.]; Cambr. [D. (corrected).; Cantabrigiensis, or, Bez]; and Codex Sinaiticus); it is the following: [this is the reading adopted by Tisch. and Alf.]; the text. rec., on the other band, reads [with E. G. H.]; , . . . Lachmann reads: . . . . The two latter are obviously alterations of the original text, intended to furnish an easier reading. [The variations in the manuscripts are very numerous. D (original), exhibits: . . . . . . A later hand, C, corrected the original text of Cod. Sin., as given above, thus; . The vulg. has: Sed nihil horum vereor, nec facio animam meam pretiosiorem quam me. Bornemann agrees mainly with Lach. but inserts after and after . Meyer agrees with Tisch., and with him thinks that the reading of text. rec., and that of Lach (from A. D (original), and minuscules), are corrections of the original, which was not understood by copyists.The words of text. rec. from C. E. G. H,. are omitted in A. B. D. Cod. Sin. Vulg., etc., and are dropped by Lach., Tisch., and Alf., but retained by Scholz.Tr.]

[12]Act 20:25. after is an explanatory addition, not found in the three most important uncial manuscripts [A. B. C.], and some other authorities, and would unquestionably not have been omitted, if it had originally belonged to the text. [The two words are found in E. G. H. Vulg. (Dei); D. has I. They are not found in Cod. Sin., and are omitted by Lach., Tisch, and Alf.Tr.]

[13]Act 20:26. [Instead of , as in text. rec., without a verb, Lach. and Tisch. read . The former reading is found in A. G. H.; the latter in B. C. D. E. Cod. Sin. Vulg. (sum). Alford retains , and, adopting Meyers view, says that was taken from the margin, and substituted for the original .Tr.]

[14]Act 20:28. We have here a variation in the reading of the text, which is one of the most important, in a doctrinal point of view, of all those that occur in the New Test., namely . , and . . . . The latter is the reading of the text. rec.; the former, however, is decidedly sustained by external evidence, and is undoubtedly the original reading. For four of the uncial manuscripts (Alex. [A.]; Cod. Ephraemi [C (original).]; the Cambridge MS. [D.], and Cod. Laudianus [E.]), fourteen minuscules, several oriental versions, and all the earlier church fathers exhibit . There is only one uncial manuscript, the Vatican [B], in which occurs; but it is also found, according to Tischendorfs Notitia editionis codicis bibliorum Sinaitici, 1860, in the Sinaitic codex recently discovered by him, and belonging to the fourth century; [In the edition of 1863, Lipsiae, Tisch. does not indicate that any later hand altered the original, ]; it is, besides, found in several minuscules and in the Vulgate, but not in the writings of any one of the church fathers who flourished previously to the fourth century and the Arian controversies. Some manuscripts combine both readings, and , in some cases with [as C (second correction). G. H.], in others, without it.With regard to internal evidence, the very fact which Bengel adduces in favor of the reading of the text. rec. i. e., decides against it: Paul never employs in his Epistles the expression , but eleven times the other expression . . . [Once . , Rom 16:16.Tr.]. On this account certain copyists placed on the margin the Pauline terminus, and this circumstance led, in some cases, to the combination of and , and, in others, to the alteration of to . And, independently of this circumstance, the expression corresponded very fully to the doctrinal tendencies of the fourth and fifth centuries. [The reading is adopted by Mill; Wolf; Bengel; Matthaei; Knapp; Scholz; Rinck; Stier; Alf.; etc.; , by Grotius: Le Clerc; Wetst.; Griesb.; Kuin.; de Wette; Meyer; Lach.; Tisch.; Bornemann, etc. after , of text. rec., from C. E. G. H., is omitted in A. B. D. Cod. Sin. Vulg. It was dropped by copyists or writers of the lectionaria, as an ecclesiastical reading lesson began with (de Wette; Alf.) It is accordingly retained by Alf., although omitted by Lach. and Tisch.Tr.]

[15]Act 20:29. The original reading is , and not , as Tischendorf alleges; he adopts the reading of the text. rec., but is sustained only by some of the later manuscripts [C (second correction). E. G, H.]. The words and are favorite amplifications of the text. They are not found in A. B. C (original) D. Cod. Sin.; the Vulgate has simply scio. They are rejected by recent editors generally.Cod. Sin. (original) reads: .; a later hand, C, inserted before .Tr.]

[16]Act 20:32. a. after is unquestionably also a later addition; it is wanting in A. B. D., and six ancient versions. [It occurs in C. E. G. H., but not in Cod. Sin., nor in Syr., Vulg., etc., and is dropped by Lach., Tisch., Born. and Alf.Tr.]

[17]Act 20:32. b. is the original reading. Tischendorf has erroneously adopted the compound . [of text. rec.] on the authority of the two latest uncial manuscripts [G. H.], whereas the simple form is sustained by the other five uncial manuscripts [A. B. C. D. E., and also Cod. Sin.Lach and Alf. adopt the latter.Tr.]

[18]Act 20:32. c. [The text. rec. inserts after , with C. G. H. It is omitted in A. B. D. E., Cod. Sin, Vulg., and dropped by Lach., Tisch., and Alf.There is no pronoun in the Greek, corresponding to you after build in the Engl. version.Tr.]

[19]Act 20:34. [The text. rec. inserts after , on doubtful authority; the particle is omitted in A. B. C. D. E. G. H., Cod. Sin., and is dropped by recent editors generally.Tr.]

[20]Act 20:35. The Gen. plur. [of text. rec.] is undoubtedly the original reading; neither [in G., and some minuscules; Vulg. verbi], nor [in other minuscules], is sufficiently supported by external evidence; the two readings were merely suggested by the fact that only one saying of Jesus is here quoted.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 1798
ST. PAULS APPEAL TO THE ELDERS OF EPHESUS

Act 20:17-21. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came info Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons. Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and hare taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

IT is to peculiar, and, if we may so speak, to accidental circumstances, that we are indebted for that full developement of St. Pauls character which we have in the Holy Scriptures. He never willingly set about to commend himself; but he was sometimes compelled to vindicate himself against the accusations of his enemies, and to make known his own principles and conduct, in order to prevail on others to tread in his steps. It was with this latter view that he made his appeal to the elders of Ephesus, when he was about to take a last farewell of them at Miletus.
Let us consider,

I.

The appeal he made to them

His stay among them had been of three years continuance; so that during that time they had had abundant opportunities of knowing every thing respecting him. To them therefore he appealed respecting,

1.

The exercises of his mind

[He had served the Lord with all humility of mind conscious of his own utter insufficiency for so great a work as had been committed to him [Note: 2Co 2:16.], and willing to make himself the servant of all, if by any means he might promote their eternal welfare [Note: 2Co 4:5 and 1Co 9:19.] With this humility of mind he had blended compassion for their souls; so that whether he thought of those who rejected the Gospel, or those who walked unworthy of it, he had wept much on their account, both in his addresses to them, and in his supplications in their behalf [Note: Rom 9:2. Php 3:18. 2Co 2:4.] Moreover, he had persevered in his efforts for their good, notwithstanding such difficulties, as had often proved a severe trial to his faith and patience [Note: Act 20:3 and Act 13:50-51; Act 14:5-6; Act 14:19-20; Act 17:5.] [Note: This subject should be differently enlarged upon, according to the occasion on which it should be delivered. If it were a Visitation or Ordination Sermon, the duties of the Ministry should be inculcated agreeably to this model: if it were a Funeral Sermon, the character of the deceased, as far as it accorded with this pattern, might be set forth: or, if it were a Farewell Sermon, a similar appeal might be made by the preacher, as far as it might be done with truth.]]

2.

The labours of his life

[He had exerted himself for them with fidelity and diligence: in all his communications, consulting, not what might please, but what would profit them: and delivering to them his sentiments, not merely in public addresses, but privately and personally in their own houses, whenever an occasion offered ]

3.

The subject of his ministrations

[He had never entertained them with unprofitable speculations, but had uniformly endeavoured to instruct them in the two great fundamental doctrines of Christianity, repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. These he inculcated on all, whether they were self-righteous Jews, or philosophizing and contemptuous Gentiles: he inculcated these things, I say, on all, as being equally necessary, and equally sufficient, for all the human race ]
As the making of such an appeal to them may, to a superficial observer, appear to savour of pride, let us consider,

II.

The end for which he made it

We may be well assured that he sought not to advance his own glory: no; he had higher ends in view: he endeavoured to shew them,
1.

How much they were indebted to God for the privileges they had enjoyed

[To have such a ministry of the word so long continued to them, was a greater blessing than to be loaded with all the temporal benefits that could have been bestowed upon them. By means of his ministry, vast multitudes had been turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God: now therefore that they were about to be deprived of those blessings, it became them, not so much to grieve at the loss they were to sustain, as to adore God for the benefits they had enjoyed. In reviewing his labours amongst them for the space of three years, they would see how greatly they were indebted to God above other cities, which had enjoyed only a transient visit of a few days or weeks; and would feel themselves bound to render to the Lord, according to the benefits he had conferred upon them ]

2.

How carefully they should guard against departing from the faith

[Notwithstanding all the instructions they had received, they might, and would, if left to themselves, depart from God. St. Paul knew, that, after his departure, grievous wolves would enter in among them; and that even from among themselves men would arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. This, alas! is what frequently takes place at the removal of a faithful minister, unless there be substituted in his place an Elisha, on whom the mantle of Elijah has fallen. When Moses was on the mount only forty days, the people, even with Aaron at their head, departed from the Lord, and made a golden calf. What then must not be expected, where the bereavement is of long continuance, and the people are left without any such distinguished saint to superintend and controul them? O let all of you take care, lest any root of bitterness spring up and trouble you, and thereby many be defiled! ]

3.

How earnestly they should strive to promote the interests of the Church

[These elders were the same as in a subsequent verse are called overseers, or bishops; and, as their peculiar duty called them to feed the Church of God, he charged them to take heed both to themselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost had placed them, even that Church, which our incarnate God had purchased with his own blood. What weighty considerations does he here urge, to stimulate them to a diligent discharge of their high office! O that every minister felt their full influence, and were actuated by them in the whole of his conduct!
But we must not suppose that ministers alone are interested in this charge: for every member of a Church may do much towards the establishment of his brethren in faith, and love, and holiness. All should watch over one another for good; and this duty is still more imperative, when a faithful pastor is removed, and scope is thereby afforded for the entrance of contentious persons to distract and divide the Church [Note: The course of discussion in this Sermon depending so entirely on the occasion on which it should be used, little more is afforded to the reader, than an outline, to be filled up as the occasion may require.]]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. (18) And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, (19) Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: (20) And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, (21) Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (22) And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: (23) Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. (24) 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 the gospel of the grace of God. (25) And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. (26) Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. (27) For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. (28) Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (29) For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. (30) Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. (31) Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears. (32) And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. (33) I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. (34) Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. (35) I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. (36) And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. (37) And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, (38) Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.

It hath been thought by some, that Miletus was near fifty miles front Ephesus; though others make it no more than thirty. But, even thirty miles in those days, was a great distance for the Elders to attend the Apostles’ visitation. Reader! you and I have cause to bless God the Holy Ghost, both for this meeting of the Apostle with the Bishops and Deacons, and for having caused this precious sermon of the Apostle’s to be recorded. What refreshment hath the Church in all the intermediate ages to the present hour found from it? And what numbers yet unborn will arise to enjoy the blessing of it? Eph 1:1 ; Phi 1:1 .

I cannot, propose to the Reader to offer any observations by way of comment, on Paul’s discourse. It is in itself so truly Apostolical, and carries with it in every verse, such evident marks of being the immediate work of inspiration; that it can need nothing more, than for the same Almighty Lord, which guided Paul’s mouth, to accompany the reading of it to the heart of his people who peruse it, or hear it read, to make, it a sweet savour of Christ in every place. Oh! that all the sent servants of Jesus were so taught, so helped to speak, and so enabled to appeal to the hearts and consciences of the people, among whom they minister, in proof of their honesty and faithfulness, as Paul here did. What a Church of Christ would it be were servants so to labour? What a visitation would it form, were the meeting and the parting become so tender and affectionate? Happy period of the Lord’s household! When shall the Lord’s people behold the return of days so truly blessed?

Though I venture not to attempt any remarks on Paul’s sermon, (perfectly aware, that the beautiful simplicity which runs through the whole of it, from beginning to end, would suffer from the least alteration made in it;) yet, I would beg to point to the Reader some of the more prominent parts of it, as they strike me, which serve to set the whole in a more interesting point of view; and which, under God’s teaching, may render it more profitable, both to the Reader’s apprehension, and my own.

And here I request him first to notice, that it was not only the parting farewell discourse of an Apostle to the Church at Ephesus, rendered dear, to him, by a three years ministry, exercised among them; but it became infinitely more interesting, in that it appealed to their consciences, that he had preached none but Christ. This, Reader, appears to me, to be the grand and distinguishing feature, of this very blessed discourse. I am free to allow all that may be demanded, of affection, and tenderness, and love, which ought to distinguish a Church of Jesus, between a minister and the people. But, when this is heightened in the utmost extent the imagination can heighten it, the whole is nothing in my view, compared to what ought to mark the faithfulness of the servant of the Lord, in ministering in holy things. It is the Lord’s work, and to the Lord, the servant is to be everlastingly looking. The tenderest sympathy and affection to the people can admit no departure from steadfastness here. Nay, without a constant eye to this first leading principle of duty, it is possible, that a mistaken tenderness to the people, might induce an inattention to the Lord. The Apostle hath in another place, stated this idea of service, when he saith: not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men: knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ, Col 3:22-24 , And hence, what a solemn appeal the Apostle makes in the midst of his discourse, on this ground; that lie was pure from the blood of all men, because he had kept back nothing that was profitable to them, but had declared the whole counsel of God. Reader! ponder over the view. Think what a blessed frame of mind Paul was in, when he thus spake. It is not indeed the privilege of all the faithful ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ, so to take a farewell of the Church and people. But, amidst the consciousness of a thousand infirmities, as the believer finds them daily in his heart; it is, it must be, truly blessed, when he can, and doth appeal, in the first and highest of all concerns, in the humble hope, that his preaching, hath been wholly Jesus.

Having looked at Paul’s sermon in this first; best, and most important point, we, may look at it in another; I mean, the unbounded affection expressed in it, to the Church. Reader! depend upon it, there is a relationship, between the members of Christ’s mystical body, that infinitely surpasseth all the mere natural ties of common life. They are kindred souls. Their union with each other, begins in Christ the Head; and is kept alive in Him, and by Him. And, it is an union, which is indissoluble and everlasting. Death, which puts an end to all the affinities of this world, makes no alteration here. Nay, as it is with the glorious Head of the body, to which the Church is but betrothed in the time-state of her existence, and the complete union begins but at death, when brought home to the marriage supper of the lamb in heaven: so, by the several members, their perfect union, freed from all the interruptions arising from a sinful, sorrowful body, can only be truly said to be pure and unbroken, when that which is perfect is come, and that which is but in part is done away. And, under this view, what very sweet and precious apprehensions of the mind, Must the faithful servant of the Lord Jesus feel towards the several members of Christ’s body, among whom he ministers, and over whom, as Paul here, beheld it, the Lord makes his ministering servants Overseers,

Whoever reads the several parts of this blessed discourse of the Apostle with an attention to this particular will discover, how much the heart of Paul was in all he said in his earnestness for their Spiritual and eternal welfare; and that his very soul, was going forth, in the most unbounded affection towards them. He calls upon them to observe, that the whole drift of his preaching was to hold up Christ. He expressed his jealousy, lest any other subject at any time, from any quarter whatever, should be brought forward, to mingle with this one, this only one of salvation. He foresaw by the Spirit of prophecy the Lotto had given him, (Joh 16:13 ; 1Co 12:10 ) that there would be grievous wolves entering in among them; yea, some among themselves would arise, from the corruptions of nature and the temptations of Satan, which would speak perverse things. Paul therefore charges them to watch, and remember, how for the space of three whole years, he had been preaching Christ, and Christ only; and that even with all the tears of entreaty, in holding him up in his beauty, glory, suitableness, and all-sufficiency!

Reader! I beseech you, look over this sermon of Paul’s; yea, look over the whole preachings and writings of Paul, with an eye to those things, and then judge, under the Lord’s teachings, for yourself, whether Christ and him crucified, Christ and him glorified, is not the whole of all, 1Co 2:2 ; Gal 6:14 ; Col 3:11 . All the sweet and precious conclusions of the Apostle’s Epistles, are spoken of by him, and recommended by him, as the effects, and not the party cause, of the real conversion of the heart towards God. Paul makes Christ to be, in all his Sermons, and in all his Epistles, what Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, made Him, from all eternity; the One, and only one, great and complete Ordinance of heaven, for salvation to everyone that believeth. Indeed, as another great Apostle said, and the faithful gone to glory all along have proved, by experience; salvation is in no other: neither is there any other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, Act 4:12 . And, if these things are so, as the word of God, in every part ‘beareth witness, how sad, how wretchedly sad, must it be, to preach any other, which can only tend to mislead, and carry sinners From Christ, instead of leading them to Christ. Had Paul studied oratory, who more eloquent? Had he meant to, gratify men’s ears, instead of awakening under God the Spirit their souls; who better able? But, conscious that be was always addressing men, who by nature were all guilty, and polluted before God; he came not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom; but simply preached Christ, And, who shall count the honor which God the Holy Ghost put upon his labors, in the vast success of his ministry to souls?

I must not enlarge. But Paul’s sermon leads to an almost endless subject, in marking the beauties of it. What an affecting account the Apostle gives of himself; his watchings, his humbleness, bonds, imprisonments! The earnestness of his labors, with tears, amidst temptations, persecutions, and conflicts: and how the Hoar Ghost witnessed to his trials in every city, which awaited him! And with what holy triumph he viewed the whole, now going bound as he was, to Jerusalem; declaring that none of these things moved him, not counting his life dear to himself, so that he might finish his course with joy, and the ministry which he had received from the Lord Jesus! Faithful servant of thy God! thou Mist indeed long since finished thy course with joy, and hast entered into the joy of thy Lord! Oh! that the Lord would raise up many a Paul, in the present dark day of the Church, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God! 2Ti 4:6-8 .

Reader! let us not overlook the sweet prayer at parting, when the Apostle tore himself away, as it were, from the embraces of the people. The Lord, who gave the Apostle grace to preach, gave both him and them, the grace also to pray. Such a sermon, could come only from the Lord. And, though the prayer is not recorded, yet there can be no doubt, but it was a very blessed one, for it could only some from the Lord too. And what a place of weeping was it Made! But the tears were holy tears, like the spiced wine of the pomegranate. Jesus, who wept himself at the grave of Lazarus, hath sweetly sanctified all the sorrows of his people. And how have all those tears on this occasion since terminated in joy? How Hath Paul, and the gracious party which were then with him, long sung together their hymns of everlasting glory, and praise, around the throne of God, and the Lamb; where all tears ore wiped away from all eyes, and sorrow and sighing are done away forever, Rev 7:9 to the end.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.

Ver. 17. From Miletus ] A city of Asia, lower than Ephesus.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

17. ] The distance from Miletus to Ephesus is about thirty miles. He probably, therefore, stayed three or four days altogether at Miletus.

.] called, Act 20:28 , . This circumstance began very early to contradict the growing views of the apostolic institution and necessity of prelatical episcopacy. Thus Irenus, iii. 14. 2, p. 201: ‘In Mileto convocatis episcopis et presbyteris , qui erant ab Epheso et a reliquis proximis civitatibus .’ Here we see (1) the two, bishops and presbyters, distinguished, as if both were sent for, in order that the titles might not seem to belong to the same persons, and (2) other neighbouring churches also brought in, in order that there might not seem to be in one church only. That neither of these was the case, is clearly shewn by the plain words of this verse: he sent to Ephesus , and summoned the elders of the church (see below on , Act 20:25 ). So early did interested and disingenuous interpretations begin to cloud the light which Scripture might have thrown on ecclesiastical questions. The E. V. has hardly dealt fairly in this case with the sacred text, in rendering , Act 20:28 , ‘ overseers ;’ whereas it ought there as in all other places to have been bishops , that the fact of elders and bishops having been originally and apostolically synonymous might be apparent to the ordinary English reader, which now it is not.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Act 20:17 . . .: Apparently the Apostle could reckon on a stay of some days at Miletus. If we take into account the landing, the despatching a messenger to Ephesus, and the summoning and journeying of the elders to Miletus, probably, as Ramsay thinks, the third day of the stay at Miletus would be devoted to the presbyters. : “called to him,” R.V., cf. Act 2:39 (and see on Act 7:14 , only in Acts), indicating authority or earnestness in the invitation. ., see on Act 12:25 , and also below on Act 20:28 . For Pauline words and phraseology characterising the addresses, see following notes.

When Spitta remarks ( Apostelgeschichte , p. 252 ff.) that the speech at Miletus is inferior to no part of Acts, not even to the description of the voyage in chap. 27, in vividness of expression and intensity of feeling, he expresses the opinion of every unbiassed reader. He justly too lays stress upon the fact that while criticism admits the forcible and direct impression derived from the speech, it fails to account for it in the most natural way, viz. , by the fact that whilst for the addresses delivered in the Pisidian Antioch and in Athens we are dependent upon a report derived from hearsay, we are here in possession of the testimony of an eyewitness, and of a hearer of the speech (p. 252). Spitta (p. 254) defends the speech against the usual objections. It is disappointing to find that Hilgenfeld is content to regard the whole speech as interpolated by his “author to Theophilus”. Clemen refers the whole speech to his R. or to R.A.; thus whilst Act 20:19 a is referred to R., 19 b with its reference to the plots of the Jews is ascribed to R.A. (Redactor Antijudaicus); Jngst ascribes Act 20:19 b from the words . to the Redactor, but the previous part of the chap. 21 to , Act 20:19 , to his source A. So Act 20:38 with its reference to Act 20:25 is referred to the Redactor; whilst Clemen refers Act 20:38 a to his R.A., 38 b to R.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act 20:17-18 a

17From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. 18And when they had come to him, he said to them,

Act 20:17 “Miletus” This port was about 30 miles south of Ephesus.

“elders” From this word (presbuteros) we get “Presbyter” or “Presbyterian.” Because of Act 20:17; Act 20:28 and Tit 1:5; Tit 1:7 the terms “elders” (presbuteroi) and “bishops” (episcopoi) are synonymous with the term “pastor” (poimenos, cf. Eph 4:11). The term “elder” had a Jewish background (Jewish tribal leaders) and “bishop” or “overseer” had a Greek city-state political/administrative background.

There are only two groups of local church leaders mentioned in the NTpastors and deacons (cf. Php 1:1). There may be three groups listed in 1 Timothy 3, which includes the widows’ role or deaconesses (cf. Rom 16:1).

Notice that the term is plural. This probably refers to house-church leaders (cf. Act 11:30; Act 14:23; Act 15:2; Act 15:4; Act 15:6; Act 15:22-23; Act 16:4; Act 21:18; 1Ti 5:17; 1Ti 5:19; Tit 1:5; Jas 5:14; 1Pe 5:1).

“the church” This Greek term (ekklesia) is the word used for a town assembly (cf Act 19:39). However, it was used to translate the OT phrase “the congregation (qahal) of Israel” in the Septuagint. The early church chose it to describe the new body of believers because it identified them with the OT people of God. The NT church saw themselves as the true fulfillment of the OT promise because Jesus of Nazareth was the true Messiah. See Special Topic at Act 5:11.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Miletus. A city of great importance, as its remains show.

sent = having sent. Greek. pempo. App-174.

Ephesus. The time taken in summoning the elders was much less than he would have had to spend there, besides which there was the danger of a renewal of the rioting.

called. Greek. metakaleo. See note on Act 7:14.

elders. Greek. presbuteros. See App-189.

church. See App-186.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

17.] The distance from Miletus to Ephesus is about thirty miles. He probably, therefore, stayed three or four days altogether at Miletus.

.] called, Act 20:28, . This circumstance began very early to contradict the growing views of the apostolic institution and necessity of prelatical episcopacy. Thus Irenus, iii. 14. 2, p. 201: In Mileto convocatis episcopis et presbyteris, qui erant ab Epheso et a reliquis proximis civitatibus. Here we see (1) the two, bishops and presbyters, distinguished, as if both were sent for, in order that the titles might not seem to belong to the same persons,-and (2) other neighbouring churches also brought in, in order that there might not seem to be in one church only. That neither of these was the case, is clearly shewn by the plain words of this verse: he sent to Ephesus, and summoned the elders of the church (see below on , Act 20:25). So early did interested and disingenuous interpretations begin to cloud the light which Scripture might have thrown on ecclesiastical questions. The E. V. has hardly dealt fairly in this case with the sacred text, in rendering , Act 20:28, overseers; whereas it ought there as in all other places to have been bishops, that the fact of elders and bishops having been originally and apostolically synonymous might be apparent to the ordinary English reader, which now it is not.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

59. PAUL’S FAREWELL MESSAGE TO THE EPHESIAN ELDERS

Act 20:17-38

Sometimes God places a man in a field of service for life to preach the gospel and rule the church of God in a given place permanently. The man who is truly the servant of God will be faithful in the place of his calling. He cannot be driven away by hardships, trials, or opposition; and he cannot be drawn away by the allurements of personal gain, worldly comfort, or greater recognition. Preachers who use churches as stepping stones on the road to ministerial success are not God’s servants. They are hirelings who sell their services to the highest bidder.

However, the Lord sometimes sends a man to a place to do a specific work. When his work has been accomplished, the Lord sends him to another place to accomplish other things. Faithful men move from place to place to preach the gospel as they are led by the Spirit of God. Their place of service is not determined by anything except their desire to serve the interests of Christ’s kingdom according to the will of God. Every God sent preacher is a spokesman for God, and is to be received and honored as such (1Th 5:12-13; Heb 13:7; Heb 13:17). However, he is only a temporary spokesman, a voice crying in the wilderness (Joh 1:23). No matter how useful, influential, and beneficial a man’s ministry is in a given place, it is only temporary. It will, either by death or by the direction of God the Holy Spirit, come to an end. Yet, the cause of Christ, the church of God, and the gospel of God’s free grace in Christ continues. Thus it becomes the duty of God’s servants to prepare the people they serve for a continued, uninterrupted, vibrant ministry when they are removed.

That is what Paul is doing in Act 20:17-38. He had faithfully preached the gospel of Christ at Ephesus for three years. The Lord had greatly blessed his labors to the conversion of many. But the time had come for him to move elsewhere. His work at Ephesus was done. The Spirit of God led him to Jerusalem. Paul was leaving behind a large congregation, one that required the labors of several preachers (elders) to oversee it. Probably, the church at Ephesus met in several congregations throughout the city, with each one having its own pastor/teacher. The Apostle Paul called for all the elders at Ephesus to meet him at Miletus, where he gave them the solemn farewell message contained in these verses.

PAUL WAS AN EXEMPLARY GOSPEL PREACHER (Act 20:17-27). Here he sets himself before the elders at Ephesus as an example of what every gospel preacher ought to be, both in life and in doctrine. He did not speak with arrogance, but with honest confidence (2Ti 4:6-8). He had conscientiously done what God sent him to do. He had been an example to these men of what he expected from them, and they all knew it. They knew him to be a gracious, sober minded faithful man. He was not a self-seeking, self-promoting, self-serving religious charlatan (1Co 4:1-5). Both the tenor of his life and the doctrine of his lips demonstrated his devotion to the gospel and the glory of Christ (Php 4:9).

In his daily life, as in the pulpit, Paul was the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ (Act 20:18-19). He made no pretense of perfection, but he did live blamelessly before men, as one whose manner of life was above reproach. That simply means that in the tenor of his life Paul was evidently a man consecrated to Christ. That is what God requires of every gospel preacher (1Ti 3:2-7). Paul served the Lord with humility, knowing his own insufficiency in the flesh (2Co 2:16), and the sufficiency of God’s grace (2Co 3:5; 2Co 12:9). He served the people of God with sincerity and great concern. He was faithful to God and to men in the midst of many trials and temptations (2Co 4:7-14). He was consistent in his devotion to Christ, not spasmodic. For three years the men to whom he was speaking had watched him day and night. They found him to be steadfast, never wavering. In the pulpit and out, he was the servant of God. He was not pretentious and hypocritical. He was a preacher whose doctrine was demonstrated in a life of devotion.

Paul’s preaching, like his life, exemplified what the servant of God must be and do (Act 20:20-27). He came to Ephesus to preach the gospel of Christ to the people of that city; and he had been faithful to his calling. His message was constant. In public and in private, he preached Jesus Christ crucified, teaching “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Act 20:20-21). Paul never deviated from the message God sent him to preach (1Co 2:1-2; 1Co 9:16). His motive was pure (Act 20:22-25). Knowing by divine revelation the troubles that awaited him, Paul would not be deterred from the work to which he was called (Act 21:4; Act 21:11). Read Act 20:24, and pray for the grace and commitment to the gospel that Paul demonstrated! His hands were clean (Act 20:26-27). As God’s appointed watchman he had faithfully proclaimed the word of life and grace God gave him (Eze 3:15-21; Eze 33:1-16). No one perished because Paul kept back the Word of God! Two things must characterize every gospel preacher: (1) He must live by the gospel. The man who preaches the gospel must live by gospel principles as one who is dedicated to the glory of God. (2) He must preach the gospel. He must, with honesty, plainness, and boldness, preach the gospel to all who will hear him, never hedging, never trimming his message.

In Act 20:28-31, PAUL LAYS A GREAT BURDEN OF RESPONSIBILITY UPON ALL WHO ARE ORDAINED OF GOD TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. This charge is specifically addressed to pastors, but its implications extend to all who are in positions of leadership in local churches (elders, teachers, deacons, missionaries, and evangelists).

It is the responsibility of every pastor to be an overseer, a spiritual shepherd and ruler in the church of God (Act 20:28). The church belongs to Christ. He bought it with his precious, sin-atoning blood. It does not belong to the pastor or the people. It belongs to Christ, and must ever be regarded as his peculiar possession. Pastors are under-shepherds to Christ, placed in the church by the gifts and graces of God (Eph 4:8-16). God raises up chosen men, gives them the gifts necessary for the work he has for them to do, and places them where he wants them in his vineyard (Jer 3:15). Yet, the work of the gospel ministry is a laborious responsibility that demands the preacher to be diligent in prayer, study, and preaching, and watchful over his own soul (1Ti 4:12-16; 2Ti 4:1-5). As Christ’s under-shepherd, it is the pastor’s responsibility to watch over, protect, feed, and rule the church of God. He must watch over men’s souls, protect them from danger, feed them with knowledge and understanding by the gospel, and rule the house of God by the preaching of the gospel and personal example (Heb 13:7; Heb 13:17; 1Pe 5:1-3).

The pastor’s work is necessary because the people of God in this world, like sheep in the wilderness, face many dangers (Act 20:29-31). Many wolves rise up within the walls of professed christianity that would devour the flock (freewillism, legalism, ritualism, etc.). It is the pastor’s responsibility, by sound instruction in gospel doctrine, to protect Christ’s sheep from the wolves of false religion.

ONLY GOD HIMSELF CAN PRESERVE HIS CHURCH IN THE GOSPEL (Act 20:32-38). Paul knew that. Though he had faithfully labored among the Ephesians, preaching the gospel for three years to them, though he left the church in the hands of capable men, he knew that only God himself and the gospel of his grace could effectually preserve the church in the faith of Christ. So he commended the church to God and to the word of his grace. He told them to look to God and to the word of his grace (his gospel) for direction (Act 20:32). He taught them to measure all who claimed to be gospel preachers by his own example of faithfulness and generosity (Act 20:33-35). As he left Ephesus, he prayed with his brethren and for them (Act 20:36-38; Eph 1:15-23; Eph 3:14-21).

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

the elders: Act 20:28, Act 11:30, Act 14:23, Act 15:4, Act 15:6, Act 15:23, Act 16:4, 1Ti 5:17, Tit 1:5, Jam 5:14, 1Pe 5:1, 2Jo 1:1, 3Jo 1:1

Reciprocal: Exo 3:16 – elders Jos 23:2 – all Israel Act 20:15 – Miletus Act 21:18 – all 2Ti 4:12 – to 2Ti 4:20 – Miletum Rev 1:11 – Ephesus

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

7

Act 20:17. Paul knew he would lose less time by calling these elders to him while waiting for the ship to resume its journey, than for him to make this “detour” to Ephesus to see them. Chapter 14:23 states that Paul ordained elders in every church, and evidently that included those at Ephesus.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Act 20:17. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. The elders or presbyters here summoned to hear the parting address of their old master, probably represented several congregations of Ephesus and its neighbourhood. St. Paul had, we know, for a long period made Ephesus his headquarters, and no doubt at this time there were a large number of professing Christians in, the Church of this great and populous city. In Act 20:28 of this chapter, these elders or presbyters are spoken of as episcopoi, bishops or overseers. It is quite clear that in the lifetime of Paul, the names episcopos, presbuteros, bishop and presbyter (or elder), were applied indifferently to the same person. This is quite evident from the language of the pastoral epistles of this same apostle. In the lifetime of St. Paul, no necessity had arisen in the constitution of the Church for the appointment of a special order of superintending presbyters. While Peter, and Paul, and John, and the majority of the apostolic body were still living, these filled the place of general superintendents of the churches. But, though this fact is indisputable, there is not a shadow of doubt but that the episcopal office, as we understand it, was constituted before the close of the first century, for very tarty in the second century we find this higher order widely established.

Professor Rothe of Heidelberg (quoted by Bishop Lightfoot of Durham in his Commentary on the Philippians) concludes that the Episcopate was established shortly after the deaths of St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. James, who suffered martyrdom nearly at the same time, all shortly before the fall of Jerusalem. The pillars of the Church being thus removed by death, and Jerusalem the visible centre of the Church being destroyed, there was an urgent need for some organization which should cement together the diverse elements of Christian society now so rapidly increasing, and preserve it from disintegration.

Out of this need the Catholic Church, in its Episcopal character, arose. From notices in Eusebius, Irenus, and Clement of Rome, Professor Rothe (quoted by Lightfoot) concludes that, immediately after the fall of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), a council of the surviving apostles and first teachers of the gospel was held to deliberate on the crisis, and to devise measures for the well-being of the Church. The centre of the system thus organized was Episcopacy, which at once secured the compact and harmonious working of each individual congregation, and, as the link of communication between the separate brotherhoods, formed the whole into one undivided Catholic Church. Recommended by this high authority, the new constitution was immediately and generally adopted.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

The foregoing verses acquainted us how very intent St. Paul was upon his journey to Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost, he hoping then and there to have a precious opportunity for preaching Jesus Christ, and him crucified, to his countrymen the Jews: now, lest he should be hindered in his expedition, he determines to slip by Ephesus, without touching there; but could not satisfy himself without seeing of, and speaking to, the ministers of Ephesus, whom for that purpose he sends for to Miletus, and there in a grave and pious discourse, which warmed their hearts, and melted them into tears, he takes his farewell of them.

Here note, 1. That St. Paul speaks much in his own vindication, but nothing by way of ostentation. A minister, when he is leaving his people, may modestly enough say something in his own vindication; for there are enough, as soon as his back is turned, will say more than is true by way of accusation.

Note, 2. That when the apostle here speaks much that looks like self-condemnation, it is rather to propound himself as a mirror for gospel-ministers, and a pattern for all pious pastors; that whenever they leave their people they may go off with a clear conscience, and be able to appeal to the consciences of their people as touching their carriage and conversation amongst them.

Note, 3. The several particular instances of his ministerial faithfulness:

1. He instances in his own humility; though he was lofty in his ministry, yet was he lowly in his mind; He served the Lord with all humility of mind. The better any man is, the lower thoughts he has of himself. Almighty God renders that man most honourable, that minister most serviceable, whom he finds most humble. In his affectionateness in preaching the gospel, he mingles tears with his exhortation, Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears.

2.In his constancy in preaching, and private inspection: publicly in the synagogues, and privately from house to house, like a good shepherd, labouring to understand the state of his whole flock, and of every lamb in it, that no soul might miscarry through his neglect, for which the great and good Shepherd died.

3. He acquaints them, not only with the manner, but also with the matter of his preaching; namely, Repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; which two graces comprehend the sum of a Christian’s duty. Ministers must join these two together in their preaching, and our hearers must not separate them in their practice. They who repent without believing, or believe without repenting, do indeed do neither.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Act 20:17. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus Though Pauls concern to be at Jerusalem by the feast of pentecost, prevented his going in person to visit the Christians at Ephesus, yet, as he was now only about ten miles distant from that city, and was desirous to know the state of the church there, and to contribute all in his power to its prosperity, he called the elders of it to come to him, that he might receive from them such information as he wished to obtain, and might give them such instructions and admonitions as he judged to be needful, and calculated to encourage and excite them to zeal and diligence, in the execution of their important office. And, on this occasion, he spake to them one of the most pathetic and edifying discourses which was ever delivered to a company of ministers; a discourse which the sacred historian has accurately recorded, and which, like the precepts of Moses, deserves to be written on the door- posts of the houses of all ministers, that, in going out and in, they may have it continually in their view, and adjust their conduct by it, as in a looking- glass.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

17. His desire to see the brethren in Ephesus was gratified, in part, by a short delay of the vessel in the harbor of Miletus. (17) “But from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called for the elders of the Church.” The distance was about thirty miles. gone up himself but for some uncertainty about the movements of the vessel, which was probably waiting for some expected ship to come into port before proceeding. If he had missed the vessel, it would have defeated his purpose of attending the feast; whereas, if the elders should get down too late, they would suffer only the inconvenience of the walk.

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

17. From which he sends for the elders of the Ephesian Church, testifying to them the humility and fidelity with which he had served the Lord the three years of his ministry among them.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Act 20:17-35. Pauls Speech to the Elders of Ephesus at Miletus.See Ramsay, art. Miletus in HDB, as to the difficulties of the journey at that period from Miletus to Ephesus; one had to sail to Priene and make from there a journey of 25 miles across the mountains to Ephesus. The elders or presbyters (mg.), afterwards called bishops or overseers (Act 20:28), make the toilsome journey, and Paul addresses them. We have had Paul addressing Jews (ch. 13) and Gentiles (ch. 17); here he addresses Christian office-bearers at a solemn point of his life. This speech hardly stood as we have it in the source; still there are things in it which do belong to this situation and to no other; some heads of it might be in the source, which have been worked up later with hints from Pauls epistles and other writings, and with reference, as we shall see, to later circumstances in the Church. The whole is in a fine style and in a warm tone of sentiment. There is an entire absence of specific Pauline ideas, but there is much in it that Paul could say and did say (cf. Cambridge Biblical Essays, pp. 401ff.).

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

20:17 And from {c} Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.

(c) According as the situation of these places is set forth, the distance between Ephesus and Miletus was almost 50 miles or 80 km.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Paul’s address to the Ephesian elders 20:17-35

"Paul’s farewell address to the Ephesian elders is the nearest approximation to the Pauline letters in Acts. Its general content recalls how in his letters Paul encouraged, warned, and exhorted his converts. Moreover, its theological themes and vocabulary are distinctively Pauline. In his three missionary sermons (Act 13:16-41; Act 14:15-17; Act 17:22-31) and five defenses (chs. 22-26), Paul addressed non-Christian audiences. But he was speaking to Christians here. It is significant that, in a situation similar to those he faced in many of his letters, this farewell to the Ephesian elders reads like a miniature letter of his. This becomes all the more significant when we recall that nowhere else in Acts is there any evidence for a close knowledge of Paul’s letters.

"The address is constructed in a way familiar to all readers of Paul’s letters. The body of it has three parts, which deal with (1) Paul’s past ministry at Ephesus (Act 20:18-21), (2) Paul’s present plans in going to Jerusalem (Act 20:22-24), and (3) the future of Paul himself and of the church at Ephesus (Act 20:25-31). It concludes with a blessing (Act 20:32) and then adds further words of exhortation that point the hearers to Paul’s example and the teachings of Jesus (Act 20:33-35). Heading each section is an introductory formula: ’you know’ (hymeis epistasthe) at Act 20:18; ’and now behold’ (kai nyn idou) at Act 20:22; ’and now behold I know’ (kai nyn idou ego oida) at Act 20:25; and ’and now’ (kai ta nyn) at Act 20:32." [Note: Longenecker, pp. 511-12. See Witherington, p. 610, for a chart comparing terms and concepts Paul used in this address with similar ones he used in his epistles.]

This is probably one of the few speeches in Acts that Luke heard with his own ears. The Greek physician Galen wrote that his students took down his medical lectures in shorthand, so perhaps this is what Luke did on this occasion. [Note: Robertson, 3:346-47.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Evidently Paul’s ship had a several-day layover in Miletus, or he may have changed ships after spending a few days there (cf. Act 21:3-4; Act 21:8). It would have taken at least one day for Paul’s message to reach the Ephesian elders and at least one more day for them to make their way to Miletus to join him.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

ete_me Act 20:7

Chapter 16

ST. PAUL AND THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

Act 20:1; Act 20:7; Act 20:17-19; Act 20:28

THE period of St. Pauls career at which we have now arrived was full of life, vigour, activity. He was in the very height of his powers, was surrounded with responsibilities, was pressed with cares and anxieties; and yet the character of the sacred narrative is very peculiar. From the passover of the year 57, soon after which the Apostle had to leave Ephesus, till the passover of the next year, we learn but very little of St. Pauls work from the narrative of St. Luke. The five verses with which the twentieth chapter begins tell us all that St. Luke apparently knew about the Apostles actions during that time. He gives us the story of a mere outsider, who knew next to nothing of the work St. Paul was doing. The Apostle left Ephesus and went into Macedonia, whence he departed into Greece. Three months were occupied in teaching at Corinth, and then, intending to sail from Cenchreae to Ephesus, he suddenly changed his mind upon the discovery of a Jewish plot, altered his route, disappointed his foes, and paid a second visit to Macedonia. In this narrative, which is all St. Luke gives, we have the account, brief and concise, of one who was acquainted merely with the bare outlines of the Apostles work, and knew nothing of his inner life and trials. St. Luke, in fact, was so much taken up with his own duties at Philippi, where he had been labouring for the previous five years, that he had no time to think of what was going on elsewhere. At any rate his friend and pupil Theophilus had simply asked him for a narrative so far as he knew it of the progress of the gospel. He had no idea that he was writing anything more than a story for the private use of Theophilus, and he therefore put down what he knew and had experienced, without troubling himself concerning other matters. I have read criticisms of the Acts-proceeding principally, I must confess, from German sources-which seem to proceed on the supposition that St. Luke was consciously writing an ecclesiastical history of the whole early Church which he knew and felt was destined to serve for ages. But this was evidently not the case. St. Luke was consciously writing a story merely for a friends study, and dreamt not of the wider fame and use destined for his. book. This accounts in a simple and natural way, not only for what St. Luke inserts, but also for what he leaves out, and he manifestly left out a great deal. We may take this passage at which we have now arrived as an illustration of his methods of writing sacred history. This period of ten months, from the time St. Paul left Ephesus till he returned to Philippi at the following Easter season, was filled with most important labours which have borne fruit unto all ages of the Church, yet St. Luke dismisses them in a few words. Just let us realise what happened in these eventful months. St. Paul wrote First Corinthians in April A.D. 57. In May he passed to Troas, where, as we learn from Second Corinthians, he laboured for a short time with much success. He then passed into Macedonia, urged on by his restless anxiety concerning the Corinthian Church. In Macedonia. he laboured during the following five or six months. How intense and absorbing must have been his work during that time! It was then that he preached the gospel with signs and wonders round about even unto Illyricum, as he notes in Rom 16:19, an epistle written this very year from Corinth. The last time that he had been in Macedonia he was a hunted fugitive fleeing from place to place. Now he seems to have lived in comparative peace, so far at least as the Jewish synagogues were concerned. He penetrated, therefore, into the mountainous districts west of Beroea, bearing the gospel tidings into cities and villages which had as yet heard nothing of them. But preaching was not his only work in Macedonia. He had written his first Epistle to Corinth from Ephesus a few months before. In Macedonia he received from Titus, his messenger, an account of the manner in which that epistle had been received, and so from Macedonia he despatched his second Corinthian Epistle, which must be carefully studied if we desire to get an adequate idea of the labours and anxieties amid which the Apostle was then immersed. {see 2Co 2:13, and 2Co 7:5-6} And then he passed into Greece, where he spent three months at Corinth, settling the affairs of that very celebrated but very disorderly Christian community. The three months spent there must have been a period of overwhelming business. Let us recount the subjects which must have taken up every moment of St. Pauls time. First there were the affairs of the Corinthian Church itself. He had to reprove, comfort, direct, set in order. The whole moral, spiritual, social, intellectual conceptions of Corinth had gone wrong. There was not a question, from the most elementary topic of morals and the social considerations connected with female dress and activities, to the most solemn points of doctrine and worship, the Resurrection and the Holy Communion, concerning which difficulties, disorders, and dissensions had not been raised. All these had to be investigated and decided by the Apostle. Then, again, the Jewish controversy, anti the oppositions to himself personally which the Judaising party had excited, demanded his careful attention. This controversy was a troublesome one in Corinth just then, but it was a still more troublesome one in Galatia, and was fast raising its head in Rome. The affairs of both these great and important churches, the one in the East, the other in the West, were pressing upon St. Paul at this very time. While he was immersed in all the local troubles of Corinth, he had to find time at Corinth to write the Epistle to the Galatians and the Epistle to the Romans. How hard it must have been for the Apostle to concentrate his attention on the affairs of Corinth when his heart and brain were torn with anxieties about the schisms, divisions, and false doctrines which were flourishing among his Galatian converts, or threatening to invade the Church at Rome, where as yet he had not been able to set forth his own conception of gospel truth, and thus fortify the disciples against the attacks of those subtle foes of Christ who were doing their best to turn the Catholic Church into a mere narrow Jewish sect, devoid of all spiritual power and life.

But this was not all, or nearly all. St. Paul was at the same time engaged in organising a great collection throughout all the churches where he had ministered on behalf of the poor Christians at Jerusalem, and he was compelled to walk most warily and carefully in this matter. Every step he took was watched by foes ready to interpret it unfavourably; every appointment he made, every arrangement, no matter how wise or prudent, was the subject of keenest scrutiny and criticism. With all these various matters accumulating upon him it is no wonder that St. Paul should have written of himself at this very period in words which vividly describe his distractions: “Beside those things that are without, there is that which presseth upon me daily, the care of all the churches.” And yet St. Paul gives us a glimpse of the greatness of his soul as we read the epistles which were the outcome of this period of intense but fruitful labour. He carried a mighty load, but yet he carried it lightly. His present anxieties were numerous, but they did not shut out all thoughts upon other topics. The busiest man then was just the same as the busiest man still. He was the man who had the most time and leisure to bestow thought upon the future. The anxieties and worries of the present were numerous and exacting, but St. Paul did not allow his mind to be so swallowed up in them as to shut out all care about other questions equally important. While he was engaged in the manifold cares which present controversies brought, he was all the while meditating a mission to Rome, and contemplating a journey still farther to Spain and Gaul and the bounds of the Western ocean. And then, finally, there was the care of St. Pauls own soul, the sustenance and development of his spirit by prayer and meditation and worship and reading, which he never neglected under any circumstances. All these things combined must have rendered this period of close upon twelve months one of the Apostles busiest and in-tensest times, and yet St. Luke disposes of it in a few brief verses of this twentieth chapter.

After St. Pauls stay at Corinth, he determined to proceed to Jerusalem according to his predetermined plan, bringing with him the proceeds of the collection which he had made. He wished to go by sea, as he had done some three years before, sailing from Cenchreae direct to Syria. The Jews of Corinth, however, were as hostile as ever, and so they hatched a plot to murder him before his embarkation. St. Paul, however, having learned their designs, suddenly changed his route, and took his journey by land through Macedonia, visiting once more his former converts and tarrying to keep the passover at Philippi with the little company of Christian Jews who there resided. This circumstance throws light upon verses 4 and 5 of this twentieth chapter, which run thus: “There accompanied him as far as Asia Sopater of Beroea, the son of Pyrrhus; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. But these had gone before, and were waiting for us at Troas.” St. Paul came to Philippi, found St. Luke there, celebrated the passover, and then sailed away with St. Luke to join the company who had gone before. And they had gone before for a very good reason. They were all, except Timothy, Gentile Christians, persons therefore who, unlike St. Paul, had nothing to do with the national rites and customs of born Jews, and who might be much more profitably exercised in working among the Gentile converts at Troas, free from any danger of either giving or taking offence in connection with the passover, a lively instance of which danger Trophimus, one of their number, subsequently afforded in Jerusalem, when his presence alone in St. Pauls company caused the spread of a rumour which raised the riot so fatal to St. Pauls liberty: “For they had seen with him in the city. Trophimus the Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.” {Act 21:29} This incident, together with St. Pauls conduct at Jerusalem, as told in the twenty-sixth verse of the twenty-first chapter, illustrates vividly St. Pauls view of the Jewish law and Jewish rites and ceremonies. They were for Jews national ceremonies. They had a meaning for them. They commemorated certain national deliverances, and as such might be lawfully used. St. Paul himself could eat the passover and cherish the feelings of a Jew, heartily thankful to God for the deliverance from Egypt wrought out through Moses centuries ago for his ancestors, and his mind could then go on and rejoice over a greater deliverance still wrought out at this same paschal season by a greater than Moses. St. Paul openly proclaimed the, lawfulness of the Jewish rites for Jews, but opposed their imposition upon the Gentiles. He regarded them as tolerabiles ineptiae, and therefore observed them to please his weaker brethren; but sent his Gentile converts on before, lest perhaps the sight of his own example might weaken their faith and lead them to a compliance with that Judaising party who were ever ready to avail themselves of any opportunity to weaken St. Pauls teaching and authority. St. Paul always strove to unite wisdom and prudence with faithfulness to principle lest by any means his labour should be in vain.

St. Luke now joined St. Paul at Philippi, and henceforth gives his own account of what happened on this eventful journey. From Philippi they crossed to Troas. It was the spring-time, and the weather was more boisterous than later in the year, and so the voyage took five days to accomplish, while two days had sufficed on a previous occasion. They came to Troas, and there remained for a week, owing doubtless to the exigencies of the ship and its cargo. On the first day of the week St. Paul assembled the Church for worship. The meeting was held on what we should call Saturday evening; but we must remember that the Jewish first day began from sundown on Saturday or the Sabbath. This is the first notice in the Acts of the observance of the Lords Day as the time of special Christian worship. We have, however, earlier notices of the-first day in connection with Christian observances. The apostles, for instance, met together on the first day, as we are told in Joh 20:19, and again eight days after, as the twenty-sixth verse of the same chapter tells. St. Pauls first Epistle to Corinth was written twelve months earlier than this visit to Troas, and it expressly mentions {1Co 16:2} the first day of the week as the time ordered by St. Paul for the setting apart of the Galatian contribution to the collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem; and so here again at Troas we see that the Asiastic Christians observed the same solemn time for worship and the celebration of the Eucharist. Such glimpses-chance notices, we might call them, were there not a higher Providence watching over the unconscious writer-show us how little we can conclude from mere silence about the ritual, worship, and government of the Apostolic Church, and illustrate the vast importance of studying carefully the extant records of the Christian Church in the second century if we wish to gain fresh light upon the history and customs of the apostolic age. If three or four brief texts were blotted out of the New Testament, it would be quite possible to argue from Silence merely that the apostles and their immediate followers did not observe the Lords Day in any way whatsoever, and that the custom of stated worship and solemn eucharistic celebrations on that day were a corruption introduced in post-apostolic times. The best interpreters of the New Testament are, as John Wesley long ago well pointed out in his preface to his celebrated but now almost unknown Christian Library, the apostolic fathers and the writers of the age next following the apostles. We may take it for a certain rule of interpretation that, whenever we find a widely established practice or custom mentioned in the writings of a Christian author of the second century, it originated in apostolic times. It was only natural that this should have been the case. We are all inclined to venerate the past, and to cry it up as the golden age. Now this tendency must have been intensified tenfold in the case of the Christians of the second century. The first century was the time of our Lord and the age of the apostles. Sacred memories clustered thick round it, and every ceremony and rite which came from that time must have been profoundly reverenced, while every new ceremony or custom must have been rudely challenged, and its author keenly scrutinised as one who presumptuously thought he could improve upon the wisdom of men respired by the Holy Ghost and miraculously gifted by God. It is for this reason we regard the second-century doctors and apologists as the best commentary upon the sacred writers, because in them we see the Church of the apostolic age living, acting, displaying itself amid the circumstances and scenes of actual life.

Just let us take as an illustration the case of this observance of the first day of the week. The Acts of the Apostles tells us but very little about it, simply because there is but little occasion to mention what must have seemed to St. Luke one of the commonest and best-known facts. But Justin Martyr some eighty years later was describing Christianity for the Roman Emperor. He was defending it against the outrageous and immoral charges brought against it, and depicting the purity, the innocency, and simplicity of its sacred rites. Among other subjects dealt with, he touches upon the time when Christians offered up formal and stated worship. It was absolutely necessary therefore for him to treat of the subject of the Lords Day. In the sixty-seventh chapter of Justins First “Apology,” we find him describing the Christian weekly festival in words which throw back an interesting light upon the language of St. Luke touching the Lords Day which St. Paul passed at Troas. Justin writes thus on this topic: “Upon the day called Sunday all who live in cities or in the country gather together unto one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And those who are well to do and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows, and those who through sickness or any other cause are in want, and those who are in bonds, and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead.” This passage gives us a full account of Christian customs in the first half of the second century, when thousands must have been still alive who remembered the times of the apostles, enabling us to realise what must have been the character of the assembly and of the worship in which St. Paul played a leading part at Troas.

There was, however, a difference between the celebration at Troas and the celebrations of which Justin Martyr speaks, though we learn not of this difference from Justin himself, but from Plinys letter to Trajan, concerning which we have often spoken. St. Paul met the Christians of Troas in the evening, and celebrated the Holy Communion with them about midnight. It was the first day of the week according to Jewish computation, though it was what we should call Saturday evening. The ship in which the apostolic company was travelling was about to sail on the morrow, and so St. Paul gladly joined the local church in its weekly breaking of bread. It was exactly the same here at Troas as reported by St. Luke, as it was at Corinth, where the evening celebrations were turned into occasions of gluttony and ostentation, as St. Paul tells us in the eleventh of First Corinthians. The Christians evidently met at this time in the evening to celebrate the Lords Supper. It has been often thought that St. Paul, having referred just twelve months before in the First Corinthian Epistle to the gross abuses connected with the evening celebrations at Corinth, and having promised to set the abuses of Corinth in order when he visited that church, did actually change the time of the celebration of Holy Communion from the evening to the morning, when he spent the three months there of which this chapter speaks. Perhaps he did make the change, but we have no information on the point; and if he did make the change for Corinth, it is evident that he did not intend to impose it as a rule upon the whole Christian Church, when a few weeks after leaving Corinth he celebrated the Lords Supper at Troas in the evening. By the second century, however, the change had been made. Justin Martyr indeed does not give a hint as to the time when Holy Communion was administered in the passages to which we have referred. He tells us that none but baptised persons were-admitted to partake of it, but gives us no minor details. Pliny, however, writing of the state of affairs in Bithynia, -and it bordered upon the province where Troas was situated, -tells us from the confession extracted out of apostate Christians that “the whole of their fault lay in this, that they were wont to meet together on a stated day, before it was light, and sing among themselves alternately a hymn to Christ as God, and to bind themselves by a sacrament (or oath) not to the commission of any wickedness, but not to be guilty of theft or robbery or adultery.” After this early service they then separated, and assembled again in the evening to partake of a common meal. The Agape or Love-Feast was united with the Holy Communion in St. Pauls day. Experience, however, showed that Such a union must lead to grave abuses, and so in that final consolidation which the Church received during the last quarter of the first century, when the Lords Second Coming was seen to be not so immediate as some at first expected, the two institutions were divided; the Holy Communion being appointed as the early morning service of the Lords Day, while the Agape was left in its original position as an evening meal. And so have matters continued ever since. The Agape indeed has almost died out. A trace of it perhaps remains in the blessed bread distributed in Roman Catholic Churches on the Continent; while again the love feasts instituted by John Wesley and continued among his followers were an avowed imitation of this primitive institution. The Agape continued indeed in vigorous existence for centuries, but it was almost always found associated with grave abuses. It might have been innocent and useful so long as Christian love continued to burn with the fervour of apostolic days, though even then, as Corinth showed, there were lurking dangers in it; but when we reach the fourth and fifth centuries we find council after council denouncing the evils of the Agape, and restricting its celebration with such effect that during the Middle Ages it ceased to exist as a distinctive Christian ordinance. The change of the Holy Communion to the earlier portion of the day took almost Universal effect, and that from the earliest times. Tertullian (“De Corona,” 3.) testifies that in his time the Eucharist was received before daybreak, though Christ had instituted it at a mealtime. Cyprian witnesses to the same usage in his sixty-third Epistle, where he speaks of Christ as instituting the Sacrament in the evening, that “the very hour of the sacrifice might intimate the evening of the world,” but then describes himself as “celebrating the resurrection of the Lord in the morning.” St. Augustine, as quoted above, writing about 400, speaks of fasting communion as the general rule; so general, indeed, that he regards it as having come down from apostolic appointment. At the same time St. Augustine recognises the time of its original institution, and mentions the custom of the African Church which once a year had an evening communion on Thursday before Easter in remembrance of the Last Supper and of our Lords action in connection with it. My own feeling on the matter is, that early fasting communion, when there are health and strength, is far the most edifying. There is an element of self-denial about it, and the more real self-denial there is about our worship the more blessed will that worship be. A worship that costs nothing in mind, body, or estate is but a very poor thing to offer unto the Lord of the universe. But there is no ground either in Holy Scripture or the history of the primitive Church justifying an attempt to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which they cannot bear and to teach that fasting communion is binding upon all Christians. St. Augustine speaks most strongly in a passage we have already referred to (Epist. 118., “Ad Januar.”) about the benefit of fasting communion; but he admits the lawfulness of non-fasting participation, as does also that great Greek divine St. Chrysostom, who quotes the examples of St. Paul and of our Lord Himself in justification of such a course.

The celebration of the Eucharist was not the only subject which engaged St. Pauls attention at Troas. He preached unto the people as well; and following his example we find from Justin Martyrs narrative that preaching was an essential part of the communion office in the days immediately following the apostles age; and then, descending to lower times still, we know that preaching is an equally essential portion of the eucharistic service in the Western Church, the only formal provision for a sermon according to the English liturgy being the rubric in the service for the Holy Communion, which lays down that after the Nicene Creed, “Then shall follow the sermon or one of the Homilies already set forth, or hereafter to be set forth, by authority.” St. Pauls discourse was no mere mechanical homily, however. He was not what man regarded as a powerful, but he was a ready speaker, and one who carried his hearers away by the rapt, intense earnestness of his manner. His whole soul was full of his subject. He was convinced that this was his last visit to the churches of Asia. He foresaw, too, a thousand dangers to which they would be exposed after his departure, and he therefore prolonged his sermon far into the night, so far indeed that human nature asserted its claims upon a young man named Eutychus, who sat in a window of a room Where they were assembled. Human nature indeed was never for a moment absent from these primitive Church assemblies. If it was absent in one shape, it was present in another, just as really as in our modern congregations, and so Eutychus fell fast asleep under the heart-searching exhortations of an inspired apostle, even as men fall asleep. under less powerful sermons of smaller men; and as the natural result, sitting in a window left open for the sake of ventilation, he fell down into the courtyard, and was taken up apparently lifeless. St. Paul was not put out, however. He took interruptions in his work as the Master took them. He was not upset by them, but he seized them, utilised them, and then, having extracted the sweetness and blessedness which they brought with them, he returned from them back to his interrupted work. St. Paul descended to Eutychus, found him in a lifeless state, and then restored him. Men have disputed whether the Apostle worked a miracle on this occasion, or merely perceived that the young man was in a temporary faint. I do not see that it makes any matter which opinion we form. St. Pauls supernatural and miraculous powers stand on quite an independent ground, no matter what way we decide this particular case. It seems to me indeed from the language of St. Paul-“Make ye no ado; for his life is in him”-that the young man had merely fainted, and that St. Paul recognised this fact as soon as he touched him. But if any one has strong opinions on the opposite side I should be sorry to spend time disputing a question which has absolutely no evidential bearing. The great point is, that Eutychus was restored, that St. Pauls long sermon was attended by no fatal consequences, and that the Apostle has left us a striking example showing how that, with pastors and people alike, intense enthusiasm, high-strung interest in the affairs of the spiritual world, can enable human nature to rise superior to all human wants, and prove itself master even of the conquering powers of sleep: “And when he was gone up, and had broken the bread, and eaten, and had talked with them a tong while, even till break of day, so he departed.”

We know nothing of what the particular topics were which engaged St. Pauls attention at Troas, but we may guess them from the subject-matter of the address to the elders of Ephesus, which takes up the latter half of this twentieth chapter. Troas and Ephesus, in fact, were so near and so similarly circumstanced that the dangers and trials of both must have been much alike. He next passed from Troas to Miletus. This is a considerable journey along the western shore of Asia Minor. St. Paul was eagerly striving to get to Jerusalem by Pentecost, or by Whitsuntide, as we should say. He had left Philippi after Easter, and now there had elapsed more than a fortnight of the seven weeks which remained available for the journey to Jerusalem. How often St. Paul must have chafed against the manifold delays of the trading vessel in which he sailed; how frequently he must have counted the days to see if sufficient time remained to execute his purpose! St. Paul, however, was a rigid economist of time. He saved every fragment of it as carefully as possible. It was thus with him at Troas. The ship in which he was travelling left Troas early in the morning. It had to round a promontory in its way to the port of Assos, which could be reached direct by St. Paul in half the time. The Apostle therefore took the shorter route, while St. Luke and his companions embarked on board the vessel. St. Paul evidently chose the land route because it gave him a time of solitary communion with God and with himself. He felt, in fact, that the perpetual strain upon his spiritual nature demanded special spiritual support and refreshment, which could only be obtained in the case of one who led such a busy life by seizing upon every such occasion as then offered for meditation and prayer. St. Paul left Troas some time on Sunday morning. He joined the ship at Assos, and after three days coasting voyage landed at Miletus on Wednesday, whence he despatched a messenger summoning the elders of the Church of Ephesus to meet him. The ship was evidently to make a delay of several days at Miletus. We conclude this from the following reason. Miletus is a town separated by a distance of thirty miles from Ephesus. A space therefore of at least two days would be required in order to secure the presence of the Ephesian elders. If a messenger-St. Luke, for instance-started immediately on St. Pauls arrival at Miletus, no matter how quickly he travelled, he could not arrive at Miletus sooner than Thursday at midday. The work of collecting the elders and making known to them the apostolic summons would take up the afternoon at least, and then the journey to Ephesus, either by land or water, must have occupied the whole of Friday. It is very possible that the sermon recorded in this twentieth of Acts was delivered, on the Sabbath, which, as we have noted above, was as yet kept sacred by Christians as well as by Jews, or else upon the Lords Day, when, as upon that day week at Troas, the elders of Ephesus had assembled with the Christians of Miletus in order to commemorate the Lords resurrection.

We have already pointed out that we know not the subject of St. Pauls sermon at Troas, but we do know the topics upon which he enlarged at Miletus, and we may conclude that, considering the circumstances of the time, they must have been much the same as those upon which he dwelt at Troas. Some critics have found fault with St. Pauls sermon as being quite too much taken up with himself and his own vindication. But they forget the peculiar position in which St. Paul was placed, and the manner in which the truth of the gospel was then associated in the closest manner with St. Pauls own personal character and teaching. The Apostle was just then assailed all over the Christian world wherever he had laboured, and even sometimes where he was only known by name, with the most frightful charges; ambition, pride, covetousness, deceit, lying, all these things and much more were imputed to him by his opponents, who wished to seduce the Gentiles from that simplicity and liberty in Christ into which he had led them. Corinth had been desolated by such teachers; Galatia had succumbed to them; Asia was in great peril. St. Paul therefore, foreseeing future dangers, warned the shepherds of the flock at Ephesus against the machinations of his enemies, who always began their preliminary operations by making attacks upon St. Pauls character. This sufficiently explains the apologetic tone of St. Pauls address, of which we have doubtless merely a brief and condensed abstract indicating the subjects of a prolonged conversation with the elders of Ephesus, Miletus, and such neighbouring churches as could be gathered together. We conclude that St. Pauls conference on this occasion must have been a long one for this reason. If St. Paul could find matter sufficient to engage his attention for a whole night, from sundown till sunrise, in a place like Troas, where he had laboured but a very short time, how much more must he have found to say to the presbyters of the numerous congregations which must have been flourishing at Ephesus, where he had laboured for years with such success as to make Christianity a prominent feature in the social and religious life of that idolatrous city!

Let us now notice some of the topics of this address. It may be divided into four portions. The first part is retrospective, and autobiographical; the second is prospective, and sets forth his conception of his future course; the third is hortatory, expounding the dangers threatening the Ephesian Church; and the fourth is valedictory.

I We have the biographical portion. He begins his discourse by recalling to the minds of his hearers his own manner of life, -“Ye yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, after what manner I was with you all the time, serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind, and with tears, and with trials which befell me by the plots of the Jews”; words which show us that from the earliest portion of his ministry at Ephesus, and as soon as they realised the meaning of his message, the Jews had become as hostile to the Apostle at Ephesus as they had repeatedly shown themselves at Corinth, again and again making attempts upon his life. The foundations indeed of the Ephesian Church were laid in the synagogue during the first three months of his work, as we are expressly told in Act 19:8; but the Ephesian Church must have been predominantly Gentile in its composition, or else the language of Demetrius must have been exaggerated and the riot raised by him meaningless. How could Demetrius have said, “Ye see that at Ephesus this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods which are made with hands,” unless the vast majority of his converts were drawn from the ranks of those pagans who worshipped Diana? These words also show us that during his extended ministry at Ephesus he was left at peace by the heathen. St. Paul here makes no mention of trials experienced from pagan plots. He speaks of the Jews alone as making assaults upon his work or his person, incidentally confirming the statement of Act 19:23, that it was only when he was purposing to retire from Ephesus, and during the celebration of the Artemisian games which marked his last days there, that the opposition of the pagans developed itself in a violent shape.

St. Paul begins his address by fixing upon Jewish opposition outside the Church as his great trial at Ephesus, just as the same kind of opposition inside the Church had been his great trial at Corinth, and was yet destined to be a source of trial to him in the Ephesian Church itself, as we can see from the Pastoral Epistles. He then proceeds to speak of the doctrines he had taught and how he had taught them; reminding them “how that I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” St. Paul sets forth his manner of teaching. He taught publicly, and public teaching was most effective in his case, because he came armed with a double power, the powers of spiritual and of intellectual preparation. St. Paul was not a man who thought that prayer and spiritual life could dispense with thought and mental culture. Or again, he would be the last to tolerate the idea that diligent visitation from house to house would make up for the neglect of that public teaching which he so constantly and so profitably practised. Public preaching and teaching, pastoral visitation and work, are two distinct branches of labour, which at various periods of the Churchs history have been regarded in very different lights. St. Paul evidently viewed them as equally important; the tendency in the present age is, however, to decry and neglect preaching and to exalt pastoral work-including under that head Church services-out of its due position. This is, indeed, a great and lamentable mistake. The “teaching publicly” to which St. Paul refers is the only opportunity which the majority of men possess of hearing the authorised ministers of religion, and if the latter neglect the office of public preaching, and think the fag end of a week devoted to external and secular labours and devoid of any mental study and preparation stirring the soul and refreshing the spirit, to be quite sufficient for pulpit preparation, they cannot be surprised if men come to despise the religion that is presented in such a miserable light and by such inefficient ambassadors.

St. Paul insists in this passage on the publicity and boldness of his teaching. There was no secrecy about him, no hypocrisy; he did not come pretending one view or one line of doctrine, and then, having stolen in secretly, teaching a distinct system. In this passage, which may seem laudatory of his own methods, St. Paul is, in fact, warning against the underhand and hypocritical methods adopted by the Judaising party, whether at Antioch, Galatia, or Corinth. In this division of his sermon St. Paul then sets forth the doctrines which were the sum and substance of the teaching which he had given both publicly and from house to house. They were repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, and that not only in the case of the Jews, but also of the Greeks. Now here we shall miss the implied reference of St. Paul unless we emphasise the words “I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable.” His Judaising opponents thought there were many other things profitable for men besides these two points round which St. Pauls teaching turned. They regarded circumcision and Jewish festivals, washings and sacrifices, as very necessary and very profitable for the Gentiles; while, as far as the Jews were concerned, they thought that the doctrines on which St. Paul insisted might possibly be profitable, but were not at all necessary. St. Paul impresses by his words the great characteristic differences between the Ebionite view of Christ and of Christianity and that catholic view which has regenerated society and become a source of life and light to the human race.

II. We have, then, the prospective portion of his discourse. St. Paul announces his journey to Jerusalem, and professes his ignorance of his fate there. He was warned merely by the testimony of the Holy Spirit that bonds and afflictions were his portion in every city. He was prepared for them, however, and for death itself, so that he might accomplish the ministry with which the Lord Jesus Christ had put him in trust. He concluded this part of his address by expressing his belief that he would never see them again. His work among them was done, and he called them to witness that he was pure from the blood of all men, seeing that he had declared unto them the whole counsel of God. This passage has given rise to much debate, because of St. Pauls statement that he knew that he should never see them again, while the Epistles to Timothy and that to Titus prove that after St. Pauls first imprisonment, with the notice of which this book of the Acts ends, he laboured for several years in the neighbourhood of Asia Minor, and paid lengthened visits to Ephesus.

We cannot now bestow space in proving this point, which will be found fully discussed in the various Lives of St. Paul which we have so often quoted: as, for instance, in Lewin, vol. 2; Pg 94, and in Conybeare and Howson, vol. 2. P. 547. We shall now merely indicate the line of proof for this. In the Epistle to Phm 1:22, written during his first Roman imprisonment, and therefore years subsequent to this address, he indicates his expectation of a speedy deliverance from his bonds, and his determination to travel eastward to Colossae, where Philemon lived. {cf. Php 1:25; Php 2:24} He then visited Ephesus, where he left Timothy, who had been his companion in the latter portion of his Roman imprisonment, {cf. Phm 1:1 and 1Ti 1:3} expecting soon to return to him in the same city; {1Ti 3:14} while again in 2Ti 1:18 he speaks of Onesiphorus having ministered to himself in Ephesus, and then in the same Epistle, {Eph 4:26} written during his second Roman imprisonment, he speaks of having just left Trophimus at Miletus sick. This brief outline, which can be followed up in the volumes to which we have referred, and especially in Appendix II in Conybeare and Howson on the date of the Pastoral Epistles, must suffice to prove that St. Paul was expressing a mere human expectation when he told the Ephesian elders that he should see their faces no more. St. Luke, in fact, thus shows us that St. Paul was not omniscient in his knowledge, and that the inspiration which he possessed did not remove him, as some persons think, out of the category of ordinary men or free him from their infirmities. The Apostle was, in fact, supernaturally inspired upon occasions. The Holy Ghost now and again illuminated the darkness of the future when such illumination was necessary for the Churchs guidance; but on other occasions St; Paul and his brother apostles were left to the guidance of their own understandings and to the conclusions and expectations of common sense, else why did not St. Peter and St. John read the character of Ananias and Sapphira or of Simon Magus before their sins were committed? why did St. Peter know nothing of his deliverance from Herods prison-house before the angel appeared, when his undissembled surprise is sufficient evidence that he had no expectation of any such rescue? These instances, which might be multiplied abundantly out of St. Pauls career and writings, show us that St. Pauls confident statement in this passage was a mere human anticipation which was disappointed by the course of events. The supernatural knowledge of the apostles ran on precisely the same lines as their supernatural power. God bestowed them both for use according as He saw fit and beneficial, but not for common ordinary everyday purposes, else why did St. Paul leave Trophimus at Miletus sick, or endure the tortures of his own ophthalmia, or exhort Timothy to take a little wine on account of his bodily weakness, if he could have healed them all by his miraculous power? Before we leave this point we may notice that here we have an incidental proof of the early date of the composition of the Acts. St. Luke, as we have often maintained, wrote this book about the close of St. Pauls first imprisonment. Assuredly if he had written it at a later period, and above all, if he wrote it twenty years later, he would have either modified the words of his synopsis of St. Pauls speech, or else given us a hint that subsequent events had shown that the Apostle was mistaken in his expectations, a thing which he could easily have done, because he cherished none of these extreme notions about St. Pauls office and dignity which have led some to assume that it was impossible for him ever to make a mistake about the smallest matters.

III. This discourse, again, is hortatory, and its exhortations contain very important doctrinal statements. St. Paul begins this third division with an exhortation like that which our Lord gave to His Apostles under the same circumstances, “Take heed unto yourselves.” The Apostle never forgot that an effective ministry of souls must be based on deep personal knowledge of the things of God. He knew, too, from his own experience that it is very easy to be so completely taken up with the care of other mens souls and the external work of the Church, as to forget that inner life which can only be kept alive by close communion with God. Then, having based his exhortations on their own spiritual life, he exhorts the elders to diligence in the pastoral office: “Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops, to feed the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.” St. Paul in these words shows us his estimate of the ministerial office. The elders of Ephesus had been all ordained by St. Paul himself with the imposition of hands, a rite that has ever been esteemed essential to ordination. It was derived from the Jewish Church, and was perpetuated into the Christian Church by that same spirit of conservatism, that law of continuity which in every department of life enacts that everything shall continue as it was unless there be some circumstance to cause an alteration. Now there was no cause for alteration in this case; nay, rather, there was every reason to bring about a continuance of this custom, because imposition of hands indicates for the people the persons ordained, and assures the ordained themselves that they have been individually chosen and set apart. But St.. Paul by these words teaches us a higher and nobler view of the ministry. He teaches us that he was himself but the instrument of a higher power, and that the imposition of hands was the sign and symbol to the ordained that the Holy Ghost had chosen them and appointed them to feed the flock of God. St. Paul here shows that in ordination, as in the sacraments, we should by faith look away beyond and behind the human instrument, and view the actions of the Church of Christ as the very operations and manifestations in the world of time and sense of the Holy Ghost Himself, the Lord and Giver of life. He teaches the Ephesian elders, in fact, exactly what he taught the Corinthian Church some few months earlier, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves”; {2Co 4:7} the treasure and the power were everything, the only things, in fact, worth naming, the earthen vessels which contained them for a little time were nothing at all. How awful, solemn, heart-searching a view of the ministerial office this was! How sustaining a view when its holders are called upon to discharge functions for which they feel themselves all inadequate in their natural strength! Is it any wonder that the Church, taking the same view as St. Paul did, has ever held and taught that the ministerial office thus conferred by supernatural power is no mere human function to be taken up or laid down at mans pleasure, but is a life-long office to be discharged at the holders peril, -a savour of life unto life for the worthy recipient, a savour of death unto death for the unworthy and the careless.

In connection with this statement made by St. Paul concerning the source of the ministry we find a title given to the Ephesian presbyters round which much controversy has centred. St. Paul says, “Take heed unto the flock, over which the Holy Ghost has made you Bishops.” I do not, however, propose to spend much time over this topic, as all parties are now agreed that in the New Testament the term presbyter and bishop are interchangeable and applied to the same persons. The question to be decided is not about a name, but an office, whether, in fact, any persons succeeded in apostolic times to the office of rule and government exercised by St. Paul and the rest of the apostles, as Well as by Timothy, Titus, and the other delegates of the Apostle, and whether the term bishop, as used in the second century, was applied to such successors of the apostles. This, however, is not a question which comes directly within the purview of an expositor of the Acts of the Apostles, as the appointment of Timothy and Titus to manage the affairs of the Church in Ephesus and in Crete lies beyond the period covered by the text of the Acts, and properly belongs to the commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. St. Pauls words in this connection have, however, an important bearing on fundamental doctrinal questions connected with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. St. Paul speaks of the presbyters as called “to feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.” These words are very strong, so strong indeed that various readings have been put forward to mitigate their force. Some have read “Lord” instead of “God,” others have substituted Christ for it; but the Revised Version, following the text of Westcott and Hort, have accepted the strongest form of the verse on purely critical ground, and translates it as “the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.” This passage, then, is decisive as to the Christological views of St. Luke and the Pauline circle generally. They believed so strongly in the deity of Jesus Christ and His essential unity with the Father that they hesitated not to speak of His sacrifice on Calvary as a shedding of the blood of God, an expression which some fifty years afterwards we find in the Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians, where St. Ignatius speaks of them as “kindled into living fire by the blood of God,” and a hundred years later still, in Tertullian, “Ad Uxor.,” 2:3. This passage has been used in scientific theology as the basis of a principle or theory called the “Communicatio Idiomatum,” a theory which finds an illustration in two other notable passages of Scripture, Joh 3:13 and 1Co 2:8. In the former passage our Lord says of Himself, “No man hath ascended into heaven, but He that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven,” where the Son of man is spoken of as in heaven as well as upon earth at the same time, though the Son of man, according to His humanity, could only be in one place at a time. In the second passage St. Paul says, “Which none of the rulers of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory,” where crucifixion is attributed to the Lord of Glory, a title derived from His Divine nature. Now the term “Communicatio Idiomature,” or “transference of peculiar properties,” is given to this usage because in all these texts the properties of the nature pertaining either to God or to man are spoken of as if they belonged to the other; or, to put it far better in the stately language of Hooker, 5, 53., where he speaks of “those cross and circulatory speeches wherein there are attributed to God such things as belong to manhood, and to man such as properly concern the deity of Jesus Christ, the cause whereof is the association of natures in one subject. A kind of mutual commutation there is, whereby those concrete names, God and man, when we speak of Christ, do take interchangeably one anothers room, so that for truth of speech it skilleth not whether we say that the Son of God hath created the world and the Son of man by His death hath saved it, or else that the Son of man did create and the Son of God did die to save the world.” This is a subject of profound speculative and doctrinal interest, not only in connection with the apostolic view of our Lords Person, but also in reference to the whole round of methodised and scientific theology. We cannot, however, afford further space for this subject. We must be content to have pointed it out as an interesting topic of inquiry, and, merely referring the reader to Hooker and to Liddons Bampton Lectures (Lect. 5.) for more information, must hurry on to a conclusion. St. Paul terminates this part of his discourse with expressing his belief in the rapid development of false doctrines and false guides as soon as his repressive influence shall have been removed; a belief which the devout student of the New Testament will find to have been realised when 1Ti 1:20, in 2Ti 1:15, and 2Ti 2:17-18 he finds the Apostle warning the youthful Bishop of Ephesus against Phygelus and Hermogenes, who had turned all Asia away from St. Paul, and against Hymenaeus, Philetus, and Alexander, who had imbibed the Gnostic error concerning matter, which had already led the Corinthians to deny the future character of the Resurrection. St. Paul then terminates his discourse with a solemn commendation of the Ephesian elders to that Divine grace which is as necessary for an apostle as for the humblest Christian. He exhorts them to self-sacrifice and self-denial, reminding them of his own example, having supported himself and his companions by his labour as a tentmaker at Ephesus, and above all of the words of the Lord Jesus, which they apparently knew from some source which has not come down to us, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

When the Apostle had thus terminated his address, which doubtless was a very lengthened one, he knelt down, probably on the shore, as we shall find him kneeling in the next chapter {Act 21:5-6} on the shore at Tyre. He then commended them in solemn prayer to God, and they all parted in deep sorrow on account of the final separation which St. Pauls words indicated as imminent; for though the primitive Christians believed in the reality of the next life with an intensity of faith of which we have no conception, and longed for its peace and rest, yet they gave free scope to those natural affections which bind men one to another according to the flesh and were sanctified by the Master Himself when He wept by the grave of Lazarus. Christianity is not a religion of stoical apathy, but of sanctified human affections.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary