Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 20:20
[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,
20. and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you ] The Rev. Ver. makes of these clauses, in which there is nothing for “and” or “but,” only one, rendering “ How that I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable.” The form of the sentence corresponds with Act 20:27 below. The word “how” takes up the “after what manner” of Act 20:18. The first verb implies the wrapping up of something to keep it out of sight, or out of the way, and is used of “furling” sails. Hence the metaphorical sense of “wrapping up” or “cloaking” what ought to be spoken out. The Apostle declares that he had never from any fear or under any circumstances done this. What he means by “that which was profitable,” we may learn from his own expression (1Co 10:33) “the profit of many, that they may be saved.” This would call for rebuke as well as encouragement, and would not always be a congenial work, however necessary.
and have taught you publickly, and from house to house ] To connect with what has gone before, read “ and teaching you, &c.” Here we are afforded another glimpse into the zealous character of St Paul’s work. It was not only in the school of Tyrannus that he waited for and taught those who came to hear, but he also went about among the people, seeking to impress any who would listen.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I kept back nothing … – No doctrine, no admonition, no labor. Whatever he judged would promote their salvation, he faithfully and fearlessly delivered. A minister of the gospel must be the judge of what will be profitable to the people of his charge. His aim should be to promote their real welfare to preach what will be profitable. His object will not be to please their fancy, to gratify their taste, to flatter their pride, or to promote his own popularity. All Scripture is profitable 2Ti 3:16; and it will be his aim to declare that only which will tend to promote their real welfare. Even if it be unpalatable; if it be the language of reproof and admonition; if it be doctrine to which the heart is by nature opposed; if it run counter to the native prejudices and passions of people; yet, by the grace of God, it should be, and will be delivered. No doctrine that will be profitable should be kept back; no labor that may promote the welfare of the flock should be withheld.
But have showed you – Have announced or declared to you. The word here used anangeilai is most commonly applied to preaching in public assemblies, or in a public manner.
Have taught you publicly – In the public assembly; by public preaching.
And from house to house – Though Paul preached in public, and though his time was much occupied in manual labor for his own support Act 20:34, yet he did not esteem his public preaching to be all that was required of him, nor his daily occupation to be an excuse for not visiting from house to house. We may observe here:
(1) That Pauls example is a warrant and an implied injunction for family visitation by a pastor. If proper in Ephesus, it is proper still. If practicable in that city, it is in other cities. If it was useful there, it will be elsewhere. If it furnished to him consolation in the retrospect when he came to look over his ministry, and if it was one of the things which enabled him to say, I am pure from the blood of all men, it will be so in other cases.
(2) The design for which ministers should visit should be a religious design. Paul did not visit for mere ceremony; for idle gossip, or chit-chat; or to converse on the news or politics of the day. His aim was to show the way of salvation, and to teach in private what he taught in public.
(3) How much of this is to be done is, of course, to be left to the discretion of every minister. Paul, in private visiting, did not neglect public instruction. The latter he evidently considered to be his main or chief business. His high views of preaching are evinced in his life, and in his letters to Timothy and Titus. Yet, while public preaching is the main, the prime, the leading business of a minister, and while his first efforts should be directed to preparation for that, he may and should find time to enforce his public instructions by going from house to house; and often he will find that his most immediate and apparent success will result from such family instructions.
(4) If it is his duty to visit, it is the duty of is people to receive him as becomes an ambassador of Christ. They should be willing to listen to his instructions; to treat him with kindness, and to aid his endeavours in bringing a family under the influence of religion.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Act 20:20-21
And how I kept back nothing that was profitable.
Reticence avoided
The verb is one which belongs to the vocabulary of sailors, and was used for taking in or reefing sails. He, St. Paul seems to say of himself, had used no such reticence or reserve, but had gone on his course, as it were, before the wind, with all his canvas spread. (Dean Plumptre.)
St. Pauls ministry
I. Its nature–Testimony. He laid no claim to originality: he was simply a witness to tell just what he knew, no more, no less, and in such a way as to create conviction.
1. This testimony was–
(1) Complete–I kept back nothing: I shunned not to declare all, etc.
(2) Profitable. It is worth mans while to listen to it. Godliness is profitable, etc.
(3) Clear–Showed you.
(4) Educational–Sought you.
2. This testimony was delivered–
(1) Publicly.
(2) Privately.
II. Its objects–Jews and Greeks.
1. To all men as generally typified by those two great races. The gospel is an universal remedy for an universal need.
2. To those whom Jews and Greeks specially represent.
(1) The Jews as representing the Pharisaism, Sadduceeism–the formalism and religious freethinking of all time.
(2) The Greeks as representing the culture, science, art and worldliness of every age.
III. Its themes.
1. Repentance–the afterthought which is the result of the discovery and sense of sin. Hence it is–
(1) Self-knowledge–coming to ones self.
(2) Self-abhorrence.
(3) Hatred of that which has made self what it is.
(4) Penitential sorrow before God.
(5) Change of life.
2. Faith. Repentance is of no value in itself and cannot atone for sin nor avert sins consequences. The object of faith is Christ who has borne our sins. The penitent sinner trusts Him and is saved. (J. W. Burn.)
The man and the doctrine
1. Paul considered his hearers; he acted as a wise physician; he studied each individual case and gave to each a portion of meat in due season. There are great public utterances to be made, and private individual messages to be attended to. The gospel is not to be delivered with want of discrimination; but is to speak to every soul as if it were the solitary occupant of the universe–the one creature in the presence of the Creator.
2. In recounting his ministry, Paul said, I have taught you publicly, and from house to house. One would like a record of his house-to-house talk. To have heard Paul speak on great themes in a little sphere would have been an education. What child has not been fascinated by seeing what appeared to be the whole sun inside a frail dewdrop? And what traveller has not paused a moment to see some kind star condescending enough to hide itself in the depth of a crystal well, as if it were shining in two heavens at once? To have seen Paul at the fireside, or to have heard him talking to some little child, or to have watched him at some bedside near the dying sufferer–to have heard his voice when it was attuned to the hearing of one listener alone! Men are seen in little things, on small occasions. This great gospel will go anywhere, and be just the same whether drawn on a large scale or a little one. Do not be discouraged because you can only discharge a public ministry; and do not you be discouraged because you can only discharge the house-to-house ministry. Each man has his own gift of God. Happy he who works his own gift and not another mans, and wise the people who, recognising the one gift, do not bemoan the absence of other accomplishments.
3. What did the apostle say both publicly and from house to house? (Act 20:21). The one thing that cannot be changed is the message which the gospel has to deliver to the human heart, and that message cannot be expressed in more significant terms than repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. If your religion rested upon other foundations, I wonder not that it has been much troubled by contemporary assault, but if your religion finds its foundations in Act 20:21, it cannot be touched. Where is there a heart that can say in its most serious moments that it has no need of repentance? What man is there that does not feel, under the pressure of his own guilty memories, that he needs a help other than his own? If that man has to be delivered, he must be delivered by another hand than his own, and that action is best represented by the words faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. Having laid down some outline of his manner of life and doctrine, the apostle comes to a point of departure (Act 20:22-23). It was a dark outlook; how is the darkness relieved? In this case as in all others: by an immediate and definite reference to Divine providence. I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem. When a man lives in this doctrine, he may go forward into darkness, but he goes forward with a solid and solemn step. Not one ray of hope in all the outlook! In every city–bonds–afflictions. What a tribute to the sustaining power of the doctrine he had taught! The bonds were many, the afflictions were heavy; what outweighed them all? The sense of Gods presence and Gods favour. If one thing above another has been demonstrated by Christian history, it is that the Christian spirit may be so vital in a man as to make him forget all care and pain and labour and sorrow, and make him triumph and glory in tribulation also. What comforted Paul will comfort us. This is the eternal quantity of the gospel–never changing, never lessening. There are amongst us men who can rise in the Church today and say, But for the grace of God, I would not have been a living man this day. The men who would render such testimonies are men whose intellectual sagacity has been tested and proved in the market place, in the realm of politics, along the lines of ordinary social life. I have buried the child of a man who had no consciousness of God, and I have seen that man reel back from his childs open grave mad with hopeless grief. I have also buried the child of parents who have lived in God, and as the little coffin has been let down, they have been enabled to say, It is well with the child. In such extremities we find out the value of mans religion. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Testifying to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.—
The apostles testimony
From the nature of this testimony we see–
I. The genuineness of Pauls conversion.
II. The impartiality of his ministry. Jews and also the Greeks.
III. The purely evangelical nature of his doctrine. Repentance and faith.
IV. The objects and two-fold exercise of the sinners salvation.
1. Repentance toward God. Thus admitting that the law has been broken, and thereby expressing the need of a Saviour.
2. Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus accepting Him as a sufficient Redeemer from the curse of the broken law. (T. Colclough.)
Repentance and faith
Here are mentioned two qualities, repentance and faith, which are requisite to the profitable entrance upon Christian life. We are not mere pieces of machinery, but responsible creatures, with a mind to think, a soul to feel, a heart to be susceptible, and a will to determine.
I. Repentance toward God. Take a glance, with your minds eye, at the bearing of God toward us, and see whether it correspond with our bearing toward Him. Creation, preservation, redemption–these mark His mind and dealings: forgetfulness, neglect, sin–these things mark ours. What concord is there between his goodness and repulsive ingratitude? What agreement between acts of love, kindnesses promised; and, on the other hand, a distant dislike of that Gods presence, an anxiety to keep away from Him, and an almost studied absence from His worship and service? Were it, then, on account of ingratitude alone, we have ample motive for repentance. Now, repentance is something more than a passing feeling. Unless we are doing our best to shake off the power of iniquity, it is useless to say that we repent. Our repentance needs to be repented of. Our sorrow is but skin deep.
II. The second element of the apostolic preaching remains to be considered, viz., faith. Repentance towards God was a feature of Old Testament holiness; but faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ is the eminent characteristic of the new. In the gospel the two are combined, and the due exercise of repentance gathers force and stimulus from its union with the process of faith. The Son of God is the object of faith. Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid; but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. Let us, therefore, cultivate such a faith as we believe in our hearts to be prescribed and enforced in holy writ–faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Reconciler and Author of peace. (E. Jacox, B. A.)
Pauls method of preaching
Let us consider–
I. How the apostle preached the gospel.
1. He always made a point of explaining the gospel. He knew that it would be preposterous to call upon men to embrace it before it had been made clear.
2. After he had explained the gospel, he taught them what it was to embrace it. In repentance, the sinner fixes his eye and his heart upon God, whose law he has broken, and whose displeasure he has incurred. In faith he fixes his eye and his heart upon Christ, and loves Him for doing that which renders it consistent with all the perfections of God to pardon and save the penitent.
3. He urged them to repent and believe immediately. As soon as he had taught sinners the nature, design, and terms of the gospel, he exhorted them to embrace it without delay.
II. The propriety of the apostles urging sinners to embrace the gospel immediately.
1. Because sinners are capable of embracing the gospel as soon as they understand it. Though the moral depravity of sinners has weakened their intellectual powers, yet it has by no means destroyed them. All men act upon this principle in their common conduct. The legislator, the officer, the parent, the master first instructs, and then commands. After any person has instructed another in duty, there is a propriety in his exhorting him to an immediate compliance. This holds in regard to religious instruction as well as to any other.
2. Because it was agreeable to the directions which Christ had given to His ministers.
3. Because it was in conformity with the example of all the sacred instructors who went before him. He addressed sinners in the same manner in which the ancient prophets addressed them. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
Two necessary things for all
I. Repentance. A ladder of sorrow, by which we descend into the depths of our own hearts: it has three steps.
1. Knowledge of sin.
2. Sorrow for it.
3. Desire of salvation from it.
II. Faith. A heavenly ladder, on which we mount to God and eternity; it has also three steps.
1. Knowledge that the Redeemer has come.
2. Holy joy that He has taken up His abode with us.
3. Unshaken confidence in His saving grace. (Lisco.)
Repentance and faith
The gospel of Jesus Christ began with the Baptist preaching repentance along with faith (Mat 3:2). Jesus began His preaching with the same themes; and here we find them the staple doctrines of Pauls ministry (Mat 4:17). These two are not the highest of the graces. Repentance was not required of man in paradise, nor is it enjoined upon angels and saints in heaven. There is a higher grace than faith, viz., charity. Repentance and faith are the lowest steps of the ladder by which we must ascend; the two-leaved gates by which we enter the temple. The teacher does not begin with science but with rudiments. The physician does not say to his patients, Be healthy; he requires them to submit to a course of medicine. It is after this manner that our Lord deals with man, and this in thorough accordance with our nature. As sinners we have to start from the low ground of repentance and faith, that we may rise to love, obedience, holiness, and heaven.
I. Repentance towards God.
1. If men have sinned, it needs no argument to prove the necessity of repentance. Should some proud formalist or self-righteous Pharisee demur, I affirm that such have the greatest need to have their hearts melted.
2. As to the nature of repentance it is–
(1) A true sense of sin; not a mere fear of the consequences of sin, as when a man gets himself into trouble by a wrong act, and is vexed with himself for being so foolish. One may do all this, and yet love the sin as much as ever. Cain was not a penitent when he said, My punishment is greater than I can bear. The true penitent regards sin as disobedience to the law of love, and grieves over it as giving offence to God who has shown him such kindness. He sees it to be injurious to his own best interests and those of his fellow men. Sometimes the repentance begins in a sense of some particular sin; but it does not stop there. Show the physician an outward symptom, and he may have to follow it to its source in a deeply seated distemper. In other cases, penitence begins in a deep sense of the evil of sin generally, and the depravity of our nature.
(2) An apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ. Despondency, or despair, is not repentance. The showers are always lightened by sunshine from heaven, and the tears run down the furrows made by smiles. The proper attitude of the penitent is that of the woman who was a sinner–not mourning in empty solitude, but seeking out Christ, coming to Him in holy boldness, pouring out his sorrows to Him, and laying his sins upon Him.
(3) Earnest and determined purpose to give up sin. This is –the change of mind in which true penitence is consummated. There are other and lower kinds of repentance, such as Pharaohs, when the plagues were upon him; but when they passed away, his repentance also passed away. Such as Judass, who returned the thirty pieces, but who went out and hanged himself. Genuine repentance always carries with it reformation. At this point faith joins on to penitence. We turn to God through faith, and obtain strength to accomplish our end.
II. Faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. There is an idea that faith is a very mysterious exercise–visionary, unreal, inexpressible, and inexplicable. But there is no operation of mind more simple in itself, or which man is called on more frequently to employ. The boy believes in the love of his father, the pupil in the knowledge of his teacher, the youth in the trustworthiness of his friend, the farmer in the seasons, the patient in his physician, the merchant in the correspondence between demand and supply, and the scholar in the value of research. Now change the object: let it be a faith, not in an earthly but a heavenly Father; not in an erring human teacher, but a Divine and infallible one, etc., and it becomes the faith that saves.
2. What is faith as an exercise of the soul? Is it an act of the head, or the heart, or of both? I answer that these phrases need to be explained. With the heart man believeth (Rom 8:10), but in Scripture the word stands for inward thought and feeling of every kind, and includes all the purposing and sentiment which pass through the mind prior to action. The Old Testament word for faith is trust or confide. The faith that saves is more than a mere intellectual judgment–it is trust, it is confidence, i.e., an exercise of the will, choice. So then faith consists of a consent of the will to the assent of the understanding–the two in combination raising feeling according to the nature of the truths apprehended and believed in.
3. It is the fundamental truth of the gospel and of all Scripture that the sinner is justified by faith. It is belief in Christ that brings relief to the soul of the sinner. The condemnation is felt to be lying upon it; the curse of God, revealed against all disobedience. But here in Christ is obedience, to meet our case as having no righteousness; here is suffering, to stand for the suffering which we have deserved: There is therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. But it does more than deliver us from condemnation. What a power there is even in our earthly faiths–as when men sow in the assurance that they will reap after a long season, and labour in the confidence of a distant reward! What an efficacy in the trust which the child reposes in the parent, which the scholar puts in his teacher, which the soldier places in his general! As it walks on courageously, faith discovers an outlet where sense feared that the way was shut in and closed. To it we owe the greatest achievements which mankind have effected in art, in travel, in conquest. But how much more powerful is faith in God! It is no doubt weak, in that it leans; but it is strong, in that it leans on the arm of the Omnipotent. It is a creature impotency, which lays hold of the Creators power. We are justified by faith (Rom 5:1); It purifies the heart (Act 15:19); It worketh by love (Gal 5:6); It overcometh the world (1Jn 5:4). It is by it we are lifted above the trials of this world and prepared for death and heaven.
III. The relation of repentance and faith to each other. Theologians have disputed as to whether faith or repentance comes first. It is urged that there can be no repentance till the soul has turned to God by faith, and, on the other hand, that there cannot be forgiveness, which implies faith, without repentance. Really the two come together; there is never faith without repentance, nor repentance without faith. Each tends to produce, and in fact implies, the other. The sinner will not be apt to have faith till he sees his sins; and, on the other hand, faith in the holy God will constrain him to repent. Sometimes the one of these is the stronger, and sometimes the other. There are cases in which the sense of sin is so deep that the person has difficulty in appropriating by faith the mercy of God–has only, as it were, a glimpse of the sun through a thick cloud. In other cases faith looks so intently on the light that it does not notice the darkness.
2. The difference between them is indicated in the text. Repentance is toward God; faith is toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Both are toward God; but the one looks more toward God, whose law has been broken; the other toward God in Christ, who is reconciling the world unto Himself. Repentance looks primarily and mainly to the sin; faith to the salvation provided. The one looks down to the sins in the soul, like as Israel, when bitten by serpents, may have looked to the wounds in their prostrated bodies; the other looks to the Saviour lifted up, as Israel looked to the serpent of brass. The one looks back upon the past, mourns over it, and turns away from it; the other gazes forward into the future, and prompts us to go on in the path which leads to purity and to heaven.
3. Each serves a purpose. Faith brings us to the mercy seat; but it is to confess our sins and to find relief in consequence. Repentance acknowledges the guilt, and would break the hardness of the heart, which, however bruised, will not be melted except under the beams of the Sun of Righteousness. Repentance is the ploughing of the ground which needs to be torn up, while faith sows the living seed which strikes out roots and grows in the pulverised soil. If either were alone, it would not accomplish its intended end. Repentance by itself would be despair, and would prostrate the energies. Faith, if alone, might be tempted into vainglory, and land us in difficulties and inconsistencies, and we should fall into the mistake of the person mentioned in ancient fable, who in looking up to the stars fell into the ditch. Faith is the sail that catches the breath of heaven, while repentance is the ballast which gives us stability in the voyage; and by the two we are made to pursue the steady course. The Christian character is the strongest when the two are happily combined–when the firm and the flexible are united; when the bones are clothed with muscle and flesh. It is the most lovely when the darker hues of penitence run through the brighter colours of faith. (J. MCosh, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 20. I kept back nothing] Notwithstanding the dangers to which he was exposed, and the temptations he must have had to suppress those truths that were less acceptable to the unrenewed nature of man, or to the particular prejudices of the Jews and the Gentiles, he fully and faithfully, at all hazards, declared what he terms, Ac 20:27, the whole counsel of God. “Behold here,” says the judicious and pious Calmet, “the model of a good shepherd-full of doctrine and zeal: he communicates with profusion, and yet with discretion, without jealousy and without fear, what God had put in his heart, and what charity inspires. A good shepherd, says St. Bernard, should always have abundance of bread in his scrip, and his dog under command. His dog is his zeal, which he must lead, order, and moderate; his scrip full of bread is his mind full of useful knowledge; and he should ever be in readiness to give nourishment to his flock.” He who will quarrel with this sentiment, because of the uncouthness of the simile, needs pity, and deserves censure.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you; useful in order to eternal life to be known or hoped for, or to be done; shunning no labour or danger; concealing nothing out of fear or hope of advantage.
Taught you publicly; in the public synagogues and schools.
And from house to house; privately, as Act 2:46; not only speaking publicly and in general, but secretly and particularly, as everyones condition did require, exhorting some, reproving others. And indeed a good shepherd will labour to understand the state of his flock, and to supply them with what is necessary and suitable for them. Jacob says, Gen 31:39, that he bare the loss, and was fain to answer for all the sheep unto Laban. And of how much more value are the souls of men, to be sure, in Gods sight, who will require an account of them!
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. kept backtimidly withheldfrom fear of consequences.
nothing that wasprofitableedification directing all.
have taught you publicly, andfrom house to houseDid an apostle, whose functions wereof so wide a range, not feel satisfied without private as wellas public ministrations? How then must pastors feel? [BENGEL].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,…. The Syriac version supplies, “to your souls”; to lead them into a true knowledge of the doctrines of the Gospel, and to confirm them in the same, and to preserve them from errors in principle, and immoralities in practice, and to encourage the exercise of every grace, and to instruct them in every branch of duty; nothing of this kind, or which had this tendency, did the apostle dissemble, conceal, or drop, either through sloth and indolence, or through fear of men, or for the sake of reputation, wealth, and friends. The things the apostle may have chiefly in view are the truths of the Gospel, which are very profitable to the souls of men; such as relate to the knowledge of God, his being, perfections, and persons; as that there are three persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit, which is profitable to be known, in order to understand the economy of salvation, in which each person has his distinct concern; and that both the Son and Spirit are equally God with the Father, which accounts for the virtue and efficacy of the blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of Christ, and how safely he may be depended upon for salvation, and how equal the Holy Spirit is to his work and office; likewise such doctrines as relate to the sin of Adam and his posterity in him, to the imputation of the guilt of that sin unto them, and the derivation of a corrupt nature from him, and which respect the impurity and impotence of human nature; all which is profitable, since it accounts for the origin of moral evil, and many of the dispensations of providence in involving those that do not know the right hand from their left in public calamities; and since it shows the necessity of regenerating grace, tends to the humiliation of men, and makes for the magnifying the riches of God’s grace: also such doctrines as express the grace of God in man’s salvation as the doctrines of God’s everlasting love, of election, redemption, justification, pardon, reconciliation, union to Christ, and final perseverance; all which are exceeding profitable, for the peace, comfort, and refreshment of the souls of God’s people. Moreover, the ordinances of the Gospel, baptism, and the Lord’s supper, which are the privileges of believers, and the means of their spiritual profit, may be included, together with all the duties of religion; which though not profitable by way of merit, yet contribute to the peace and pleasure of the mind; and none of these things did the apostle withhold from the elders and church at Ephesus, as his epistle to that church does abundantly show, in which, doctrines, ordinances, and duties are taken notice of: now to keep back these, is either to keep them back wholly, to say nothing of any of them, but in the room of them to deliver out morality and legal righteousness; or in part, to mix the truths of the Gospel with the doctrines of men, and not give out the sincere milk of the word; or to draw and fetch back what has been delivered through the fear of men, and in order to gain reputation and applause: but so did not the apostle, nor should any minister of the Gospel; and that for the reason in the words, because they are profitable; as also because they are the counsel of God; and because it is the will of Christ that nothing should be hid, but everything should be published, which he has signified to his servants; and this is enforced by his own example, who whatever he heard of his Father, he made known to his disciples; and for the ministers of Christ to do otherwise, would argue unfaithfulness in them both to Christ and to the souls of men:
but have showed you; all the doctrines of the Gospel, and pointed to every path of duty, and declared, as he says hereafter, the whole counsel of God:
and have taught you publicly; first in the Jewish synagogue, then in the school of Tyrannus, Ac 19:8 and in whatsoever place the church, when formed, might meet together for public worship; there the apostle taught them the truths of the Gospel openly, and without any reserve, before all the people, as Christ ordered his apostles to do, and as he himself did, Mt 10:27
and from house to house: as he visited the saints at their own houses, to know their personal cases, and the state of their souls, he instructed them privately and personally one by one; he taught the same publicly as privately, and privately as publicly: and took every opportunity of instilling Gospel truths into them, and of enriching them with a larger knowledge of them; which shows his affection and zeal, his laboriousness, industry, and indefatigableness in the ministry.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
How that I shrank not ( ). Still indirect discourse (question) after (ye know) with like in verse 18. First aorist middle of , old verb to draw under or back. It was so used of drawing back or down sails on a ship and, as Paul had so recently been on the sea, that may be the metaphor here. But it is not necessarily so as the direct middle here makes good sense and is frequent, to withdraw oneself, to cower, to shrink, to conceal, to dissemble as in Hab 2:4 (Heb 10:38). Demosthenes so used it to shrink from declaring out of fear for others. This open candour of Paul is supported by his Epistles (1Thess 2:4; 1Thess 2:11; 2Cor 4:2; Gal 1:10).
From declaring unto you ( ). Ablative case of the articular first aorist active infinitive of with the redundant negative after verbs of hindering, etc. (Robertson, Grammar, p. 1094).
Anything that was profitable ( ). Partitive genitive after of the articular present active participle of , to bear together, be profitable.
Publicly (, adverb)
and from house to house ( ‘ ). By (according to) houses. It is worth noting that this greatest of preachers preached from house to house and did not make his visits merely social calls. He was doing kingdom business all the while as in the house of Aquila and Priscilla (1Co 16:19).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Kept back [] . A picturesque word. Originally, to draw in or contract. Used of furling sails, and of closing the fingers; of drawing back for shelter; of keeping back one’s real thoughts; by physicians, of withholding food from patients. It is rather straining a point to say, as Canon Farrar, that Paul is using a nautical metaphor suggested by his constantly hearing the word for furling sail used during his voyage. Paul ‘s metaphors lie mainly on the lines of military life, architecture, agriculture, and the Grecian games. The statement of Canon Farrar, that he “constantly draws his metaphors from the sights and circumstances immediately around him,” is rather at variance with his remark that, with one exception, he “cannot find a single word which shows that Paul had even the smallest susceptibility for the works of nature” (” Paul, ” 1, 19). Nautical metaphors are, to say the least, not common in Paul ‘s writings. I believe there are but three instances : Eph 4:14; 1Ti 1:19; 1Ti 6:9. Paul means here that he suppressed nothing of the truth through fear of giving offense. Compare Gal 2:12; Heb 10:38.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And how I kept back nothing,” (hos ouden hupesteilamen) “As I kept or held back not one thing,” did not shrink because of fear, from delivering to or sharing even one thing, even as he did to the Corinthian brethren, 1Co 15:14; 1Co 15:58.
2) “That was profitable unto you,” (ton sumpheronton tou me) “Of the things beneficial to you, not at all,” did I hold back, or withhold profitable to the salvation of their souls from hell, or salvation of their lives to sanctified, separated service to the Lord, Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:10; Jas 1:22.
3) “But have shewed you, and have taught you publickly,” (anangeilai humin kai didaksai humas demosia) “Declare to you all and to teach you publicly,” before the public, in the synagogue at Ephesus, for three months, and in the school of Tyrannus for two years, Act 19:8-10. In the synagogues he preached, wherever he went in any country, on any continent, Act 17:4; Act 17:17; Act 18:4; Act 19:8.
4) “And from house to house,” (kai kat’ oidous) “And from residence to residence,” house to house, in homes as specifically recounted in Corinth, 1Co 16:19, when he taught in a church in the home, residence) of Aquila and Priscilla, Act 18:1-3. Such teaching indicates both a vision of, and zeal for, the salvation of souls and lives of men, Pro 19:18; Amo 8:11-12; Isa 6:1-8.
See also Act 16:14-15; Act 16:34 – Here Paul was taken into the homes of two new converts, to help them become established, oriented, in their new walk of faith in Christ, Eph 2:10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
−
20. I have kept back nothing. He commendeth his faithfulness and diligence in teaching in three respects, that he instructed his scholars thoroughly and perfectly, so that he omitted nothing which might make for their salvation; that being not content with general preaching, he did also endeavor to do every man good. Thirdly, he reciteth a brief sum of all his whole doctrine, that he exhorted them unto faith in Christ and repentance. Now, forasmuch as he depainteth out unto us a pattern of a faithful and good teacher, whosoever they be who are desirous to prove their industry to the Lord, they must set before their eyes the edifying of the Church, as he commandeth Timotheus in another place, to consider what things be profitable, that he may be instant in delivering those things ( 1Ti 4:7). And surely the Scripture (according to whose rule all manner of teaching must be examined, yea, which is the only method of teaching aright) doth not contain profound − (417) speculations, to delight men when they have nothing else to do; − (418) but as the same Paul doth testify, it is all profitable to make the man of God perfect. −
But Paul prescribeth such a desire to edify, that the pastor must omit nothing, so much as in him lieth, which is profitable to be known. For they be bad masters who do so keep their scholars in the first principles, that they do never come unto the knowledge of the truth ( Tit 3:7). And surely the Lord doth not teach us in his word only to [by] halves, (as they say) but he delivereth perfect wisdom, and such as is in all points absolute. Whereby it appeareth how impudently those men boast themselves to be ministers of the word, who do not only cloak and foster the ignorance of the people with their silence, but do also wink at gross errors and wicked superstitions; as at this day in Papistry, many send out some sparks of sound doctrine, but they − (419) dare not drive away the darkness of ignorance, and whereas the wicked fear of the flesh doth hinder them, they pretend that the people is not capable of sound − (420) doctrine. −
Indeed, I confess that all things cannot be taught at one time, and that we must imitate Paul’s wisdom, who did apply himself unto the capacity of the ignorant. But what moderation is this when they suffer the blind to fall into the ditch, when they leave miserable souls under the tyranny of antichrist, and whereas they see idolatry rage, the worship of God corrupt, his law broken, and, finally, all holy things profaned, they do either with silence pass over such filthy confusion, or else they show it underhand, sparingly and obscurely, like men that be afraid? Therefore, we must note Paul’s word, when as he saith that he kept back nothing, but did show whatsoever things were profitable for the people; for by this we gather that the pure and free − (421) profession of sound doctrine is required at the hands of the servants of Christ, wherein there must be no boughts nor crooks, and that nothing is more unseemly in them than oblique insinuations, and such as are inwrapped in crafty dissimulation. −
Publicly, and throughout every house. This is the second point, that he did not only teach all men in the congregation, but also every one privately, as every man’s necessity did require. For Christ hath not appointed pastors upon this condition, that they may only teach the Church in general in the open pulpit; but that they may take charge of every particular sheep, that they may bring back to the sheepfold those which wander and go astray, that they may strengthen those which are discouraged and weak, that they may cure the sick, that they may lift up and set on foot the feeble, − (422) ( Eze 34:4) for common doctrine will oftentimes wax cold, unless it be holpen with private admonitions. −
Wherefore, the negligence of those men is inexcusable, who, having made one sermon, as if they had done their task, live all the rest of their time idly; as if their voice were shut up within the church walls, seeing that so soon as they be departed, thence they be dumb. Also, disciples and scholars are taught, that if they will be numbered in Christ’s flock, they must give place to their pastors, so often as they come unto them; and that they must not refuse private admonitions. For they be rather bears than sheep, who do not vouchsafe to hear the voice of their pastor, unless he be in the pulpit; and cannot abide to be admonished and reproved at home, yea, do furiously refuse − (423) that necessary duty. −
(417) −
“
Argutas,” subtle,
(418) −
“
Sub umbra et in otio,” when at ease under the shade.
(419) −
“
Plerique,” the greater part.
(420) −
“
Solidioris,” more solid.
(421) −
“
Ingenuam,” candid.
(422) −
“
Debiles et infirmas,” the feeble and infirm.
(423) −
“
Ferociter repellunt,” fiercely repel.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) How I kept back nothing that was profitable.The verb is one which belongs to the vocabulary of sailors, and was used for taking in or reefing sails. He, St. Paul seems to say of himself, had used no such reticence or reserve, but had gone on his course, as it were, before the wind, with all his canvas spread. It must be noted, however, that even here, as in the more limited range of teaching imparted to the Corinthians (1Co. 3:1-2), he confines his statement to the things that were profitable. In each case he considered what was required by the capacity of his disciples. That of Ephesus was wider than that of Corinth, and there, accordingly, he was able to set forth the whole counsel of God (Act. 20:27).
Publicly, and from house to house.The first word points probably to the teaching in the synagogue and the lecture-room of Tyrannus (Act. 19:9), the second to the meetings of disciples which were held in private houses, such as that of Aquila and Priscilla (1Co. 16:19). It may, however, include even more personal and individual counsel.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Act 20:20-21 . . . .] sets forth more precisely the .
.] contains the design which would have been present in the .: how I have held back (dissimulavi) nothing of what was profitable, in order not to preach and to teach it to you, etc. So also Act 20:27 : for I have not been holding back, in order not , etc. The extends to both infinitives. That dissimulare might have taken place from the fear of men, or in order to please men. But see Gal 2:14 ; Gal 1:10 ; Rom 1:16 ; 1Co 4:3 , al .
On , comp. Dem. 54, ult.: , , and 980. 22 : , also 415. 2 : (according to Becker). Isocr. p. 134 C; Diod. Sic. xiii. 70; also Plat. Ap. Socr . p. 24 A; and Stallb. in loc ; Krebs, Obss . p. 241.
] “Haec docenda sunt; reliqua praecidenda,” Bengel. Comp. 1Co 7:35 ; 1Co 12:7 .
. .] the repentance, by which we turn to God. Comp. Act 3:19 , Act 8:22 , Act 26:20 . It is not, with Beza, Bengel, Heinrichs, Kuinoel, to be referred only to the Gentiles (and . . . to the Jews); for the call to this was addressed also to the Jews, inasmuch as they were unfaithful to God, not indeed by idolatry, but by immorality and hypocrisy (Rom 2:3 ). Comp. Mar 1:15 . Bengel, moreover, aptly remarks: Repentance and faith are the “summa eorum quae utilia sunt.”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Chapter 77
Prayer
Almighty God, we would be swallowed up of love; we would be lifted up far beyond the earth and sense of time, and begin already to know somewhat of the tender mystery of eternal peace. Why this longing of the heart? Why this discontent with time and sense? This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. Thou dost make us miracles unto ourselves. Thou dost write strange writing upon our heart and mind, and cause us to be sorely puzzled by its great meaning. Thou hast made man a revelation of God. Surely we may say, This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven, when we feel this sacred pressure after things not seen and eternal. This desire is no invention of ours; this longing after immortality is no earth-born inspiration. This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, wondrous in counsel and excellent in working. We know that we are made after the image and likeness of God when we thirst for the Living God as the hart panteth after the waterbrooks. We bless thee that all our questionings are answered by Jesus Christ, and that the gracious replies are written in his own blood as he dies upon the tree. Jesus Christ thou hast made our Saviour. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross, that we might know release from sin, the pardon of guilt, and enter into the joy of our Lord. This mystery of love is our delight: we feel its sublimity; we respond to its infinite grandeur; we see the heavenly wisdom and the heavenly righteousness in the sacred Cross, and, being enabled to exercise faith in Christ Jesus, we now feel upon our awakening souls the tender, morning light of a land in which there is no death. Thou dost love us every one. Thy heart stands open like a great door night and day, and into it we may run and find love and safety, and assurance of adoption into thy family. This is the salvation that cometh down from above; there is no strain in its overflowing strength; there is no effort in its omnipotence; there is no endeavour simply to cover the extremity of our guilt; it is an abounding salvation, an overflowing grace, a redundant and infinite compassion and love. Where sin abounds grace doth much more abound. Who can overtake thy love? What sin can equal thy grace? Is not the great hell itself but a tiny spark in the infinite amplitude of thy radiant kingdom? Thou, O Christ, shalt reign over all hearts. The universe is thine in every light and shadow, and surely thou wilt have it all by right of ownership, or by right of redemption. Thy sceptre is an everlasting sceptre, and thy throne is for ever and ever. Every week we grow downwards and away from the light, because of the continual action of time upon us; but on the Lord’s Day are we not lifted up into newness of life, taken away to the tops of exceeding high mountains, whence we can see what lies beyond of beauty and life and comfort? May we thus from week to week make steady advance in upward paths, until dying shall be living, until the farewell to one world shall be the salutation of the next. We lay our sins before the Cross and see them melting away. We speak our contrite speech into the ear of Christ, and whilst we are talking to him in heart-brokenness and penitence, all the old light returns, and the assurance of adopting love is given again, so that we, who but yesterday were the bondsmen of our own guilt, are today the freemen of Christ’s love. We give one another to thee friend prays for friend. Some have been surprised by great goodness; they have suddenly seen the angel of the Lord, and are glad; they knew not what to do with the chain until the angel touched it and the iron melted away. Some have seen light springing up in darkness. There was to them no earth, no sky, no beyond only an all-enclosing and all-burdening darkness; and lo, suddenly, as the midnight hour paled, there struck through the darkness a gleam of light from heaven, and there was daylight in the very centre of the cloud. And some are still dejected of heart; their eyes are red with crying, and their limbs fail for want of strength. They are alway with us; we commend them to the great Friend and Healer of men the honest worker, who is baffled at every turn; the heroic woman-heart that wants to do so much, but has no chance to do it; the brave soul that wants to be free and yet must live in servitude; the perplexed; the disappointed; the secretly sorrowing; those who are praying in whispers because they would be ashamed to be overheard, so halting and poor their prayer we commend to thee for recognition, deliverance, and comfort, and pray that they may receive, according to their necessity and their pain, the great gift of the grace of God. Let this morning be a time of gladness to us; may hearts melt; may stubborn wills yield; may those who have hitherto been deaf hear for the first time Gospel music, and may all the appeals of heaven, made through the Cross of Christ, through the blood and priesthood of Christ, be answered by the whole congregation in dedicated hearts, in lives laid on the altar, with the only regret that the oblation is not complete. Amen.
Act 20:20-23
20. How that I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable [cause of above tears and trials], and teaching you publicly and from house to house,
21. Testifying both to Jews, and to 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 testifieth unto me in every city [Act 13:2 ; Act 21:4-11 ], saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
The Man and the Doctrine
Paul considered his hearers; he acted as a wise physician; so far as was possible he studied each individual case and gave to each a portion of meat in due season. There are great public utterances to be made, and there are private interpretations, or secret comforts, or individual messages to be attended to. Paul considered the hearer: he seemed to say about every one, “What does this particular man most need? what is his peculiar temperament? what are his peculiar temptations? I must study every man as if he were the only man, and thus minister the word of grace according to the singular characteristic and special necessity of each living soul.” We know that to be impossible in detail; yet are we charmed by the loving and helpful spirit that would so study each case if it could. This Gospel is not to be roughly delivered, with want of discrimination as to particular soul-conditions and soul-developments. What the Gospel would do is to speak to every soul as if it were the solitary occupant of the universe the one creature in the presence of the Creator. This kind of secret ministry, concentrated upon the one soul, comes out of continuous and devout reading of the Holy Book in the solitude of our own companionship. It is then we see the brightest gleams of heavenly light; it is then we feel the nearness to a Spirit that has no name adequate to the mystery of its operation, but which we signalize by temporary names for the purpose of assisting our recollection and fixing in our hearts great spiritual occurrences. Each preacher can consider his own congregation where he cannot consider each member of it. All congregations are not alike; what would be suitable to one congregation might be unsuitable to another. Where the congregation is composed of all classes and conditions of men, and in no small degree of men who are inquiring, of men who are religiously numbered with nobody, who are wondering, speculating, often sinning, often curiously praying saying words unfamiliar to Christian atmospheres; rugged mem; daring men; men who are better often than they seem; men who try to laugh off their religion when they are feeling it most poignantly then we must have a ministry adapted to such peculiarities, and overspreading them all with something like infinite sympathy and compassionateness, so that every soul may feel as if the preacher had no acquaintance but himself. This is the gift of God. The ruthless preacher who treats every soul alike will have no souls deeply attached to him. He who makes great allowances, who enlarges the church door to admit those for whom it would otherwise be too strait, may seem to be liberal, but his liberality is only in seeming, for no liberality can equal the love which has made all the firmament a great shining door that swings back at the penitential touch to allow the penitent to enter into his Father’s house. If there is not room for man in the Church of God, there is room for him nowhere. The largest house in the universe is God’s house; he never adds to the building, but he continually points out the mansions we, ourselves, had not yet discovered. There is no human case that is not considered by the Gospel, and provided for by the Gospel. I care not how strange the case, how vivid its peculiarities, how repellant some of its features, how crying and bitter its moral agony there is provision for it in the great Gospel scheme, the sweet Gospel thought that cares as much for the little as for the great, for the poor as for the rich; nay, before it there can be no littleness, no greatness, no poverty, no wealth all these distinctions are lost in the infiniteness of its own sublimity. So let no man stand outside the gate of heaven and say that he was not foreseen when the boundaries of heaven were established.
In recounting his ministry, Paul said, “I have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house.” One would like a record of his house-to house talk, but the scribes have done little for us beyond tracing the main, broad outline of the Apostolic ministry. To have heard Paul speak on great themes in a little sphere would have been an education. What child has not been fascinated by seeing what appeared to be the whole sun inside a frail dewdrop? And what traveller has not paused a moment to see some kind star condescending enough to hide itself in the depth of a crystal well, as if it were shining in two heavens at once? To have seen Paul at the fireside, or to have heard him talking to some little child, or to have watched him at some bedside near the dying sufferer to have heard his voice when it was attuned to the hearing of one listener alone! These opportunities we can never enjoy. We do not always get the full man even in the elaborate biography which has been written of him. When we have read all the biographer can say, perhaps in some stray letter which was never intended to be published we may find one little sentence which will throw more light upon the man’s character than the whole biography has thrown. Men are seen in little things, on small occasions; in one stoop to the ground we may get a better gauge of the condescension of the spirit than in more elaborate humility. So the Paul that is before us is only treading great broad lines we want the house-to-house-preaching Apostle. Blessed be God, this great Gospel will go anywhere, and be just the same whether drawn on a large scale or a little one; it does not hide itself until an adequate theatre is prepared for its display; it is not a scenic Gospel; it is not part of some grand thing that has to be done by a large number of persons. It will preach under great roofs with modulated thunder which fills the house and makes every ear glad with its tunefulness, and it will be just as fascinating and thrilling when it drops its voice into a whispered prayer gently insinuating doctrine to the listener as well as enlarging into copious prayer, special intercession for his comfort and illumination. The Apostle Paul could discharge both ministries. There is only one Apostle Paul. Do not be discouraged because you can only discharge a public ministry; and do not you be discouraged, rural pastor, or city shepherd, because you can only discharge the house-to-house ministry. The one ministry may be as important as the other, but do not expect that, taking ministers as a body, every one can be the same in public as in private, in private as in public. Each man has his own gift of God. Happy he who works his own gift and not another man’s, and wise the people who, recognizing the one gift, do not bemoan the absence of other accomplishments.
What did the Apostle say both “publicly and from house to house”? The same great doctrine he preached in both cases. This you find in the 21st verse: “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” That was the grand substantial doc trine; of how many modifications it admits only those who have gone carefully into its study and application can tell. This doctrine never changes; this holy substance can never be taken out of the volume. Why should we be unwilling if scholars rearrange the order of the Biblical books? Why should we moan if they correct our notions as to the chronology of the succession of the prophets? Why should we feel that the foundations are out of course because a complete and intelligent scholarship brings new light to bear upon old constructions? The one thing that cannot be changed is the message which the Gospel has to deliver to the human heart, and that message cannot be expressed in more symbolic and significant terms than “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Who has ventured to change the terms? If your religion rested upon other foundations, I wonder not that it has been much troubled by modern scholarship and by contemporary challenge and assault, but if your religion finds its foundations in the 21st verse “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” it cannot be touched. Where is there a heart that can say in its most serious moments that it has no need of repentance? Do not let us appeal to the flippant man upon this subject, but to the man who knows life, who has felt its temptations and its pressures of every kind. No such man will ever say that he lives beyond the necessity of repentance. He could detain you all day by a recital of his shortcomings and his sins. That he is dumb about them shows not the littleness of the list, but its endlessness. Why begin what can never be finished? Why not express by a bowed head what never can be uttered in the most elaborate confession? What man is there that does not feel, under the pressure of his own guilty memories, that he needs a help other than his own? He has no hand with which he can help himself, for his hand, as well as his head, is involved in the terrific and fatal paralysis. He cannot open an eye to see his way, for on his eyelids rests the accumulated darkness of self-accusation. If that man has to be delivered, he must be delivered by another hand than his own, and that action is best represented by the words “faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Yet the faith is not in the man, but in the Christ; but Christ works so mysteriously as to make us creditors in the matter of the faith, and says in the end, when the soul is delivered, and whitened with the purity of heaven, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” Yet faith is the gift of God; faith is the communication of God; faith is no merely human faculty, yet it pleases God, who wants to make more of us than we are if he can, to say that our faith hath made us whole. “Repentance” is a word which may be broken up according to the sinfulness of the individual sinner. Some men can never know the agony of repentance without great demonstration of feeling. Other souls pass through the same agony, but the observer is not allowed to trace the sacred pain. The repentance does not consist in the public demonstration, but in the inward and spiritual feeling. God must judge whether my repentance is sincere.
Having laid down some outline of his manner of life and doctrine, the Apostle comes to a point of departure. “And now,” said he, “behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.” It was a dark outlook; how is the darkness relieved? In this case as in all others: by an immediate and definite reference to Divine providence. “I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem.” This is destiny; some men would call it Fate. “I move because I cannot help it, except in a sense which would involve positive and profane disobedience. To turn the other way would be to turn from myself, from my convictions, from a distinct and solemn conception of personal destiny.” When a man lives in this doctrine, he may go forward into darkness, but he goes forward with a solid and solemn step. If you think that the cloud that is before you is of your own creation, you may well be dejected as you look upon its magnitude and density; but if you can say, “This also is part of the school discipline of God; this great breadth of darkness must be traversed inch by inch; this land of graves must be travelled over mile by mile; this wilderness of sand is the creation of a Providence that means by it my spiritual culture and noblest education,” you will advance without laughter, but with a solemn joy, a grand, deep joy, full of melancholy, full of expectation: not a discipline undergone because the imposer of it is stronger than you are, but undergone with solemn cheerfulness because of the conscious assurance of your own heart that every stroke is meant for your good, and every loss is a contribution to your gain.
Not one ray of hope in all the outlook! “In every city bonds afflictions.” No friend in any city; bound when I have done nothing worthy of bonds; afflictions heaped upon a man who ought to be hailed with hallelujahs and acclaims of thankfulness. Yes. What a tribute to the sustaining power of the doctrine he had taught! No man can “go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem” to face “bonds and afflictions in every city” merely for the sake of bearing such accumulated griefs and distresses. That were but a temporary bravado. That were an unremunerative sentiment that would soon be chastised and scourged out of a man. The bonds were many, the afflictions were heavy; what outweighed them all? The sense of God’s presence and God’s favor. The spiritual can outweigh the material. You can be in such a state of soul-wealth as to forget the poverty of earth and time; you can be so fed in the very soul as to be forty days and forty nights without food or lodging, and not to know that you have not been all the time in heaven. If one thing above another has been demonstrated by Christian history, it is that the Christian spirit may be so vital in a man as to make him forget all care and pain and labour and sorrow, and make him triumph and glory in tribulation also. Such feelings are not to be dismissed by being ascribed to fanaticism. We have had ample opportunity of judging the character of a man like the Apostle Paul, and we have always been bound to admit, however great his excellency, however high above us his spiritual ecstasy, he has shown an intellectual capacity, a mental sternness, a grip and force of mind that have compelled the admiration of those who have sometimes wondered about, if not questioned, his divine inspiration. What comforted Paul will comfort us. This is the eternal quantity of the Gospel never changing, never lessening. There are amongst us men who can rise in the Church today and say, “But for the grace of God, I would not have been a living man this day”; “But for the grace of God, I should have been the victim or the dupe of temporary, but uncontrollable, insanity”; “But for the grace of God, this day my life would have been sunk in despair.” The men who would render such testimonies are men whose intellectual sagacity has been tested and proved in the marketplace, in the realm of politics, along the lines of ordinary social life. There is no dispute about their mental soundness, and yet, with ardour and emphasis and gratitude, they can make this testimony about the sustaining and comforting power of the grace of God. I have buried the child of a man who had no consciousness of God, no realization of the presence of Christ in his life, and I have seen that man reel back from his child’s open grave mad with hopeless grief. I have also buried the child of parents who have lived in God, who have loved the Saviour, and humbly endeavoured to serve him, and as the little coffin has been let down and the farewell words have been spoken, they have been enabled to say, “It is well with the child.” Be that religion mine! Let me live the life of the Christian; let me die the death of the righteous; let me, when pressed into close quarters, thrust upon by every spear in the armoury of the enemy, be able to say, “Into thy hands, Lord Jesus, I commend my spirit.” In such extremities we find out the value of man’s religion. In cloud, in storm, in rough wind, in bare upland, in hot wilderness, in death’s own black night we find out what men’s faith really is; and tested by those tremendous tests, the faith of our Lord Jesus stands up this day the only faith that has sustained intelligent men, reason-loving men, all kinds and conditions of men the faith that took them to the one end of the valley of the shadow of death, and never left them till it introduced them into the light at the other end, and received them from the waving hand of the delivered one a tribute to a constancy that never failed, and to a grace that was always more than equal to the agony of the occasion.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
20 And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you , but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
Ver. 20. With many tears ] He went weeping from house to house, beseeching them to be reconciled to God, persuading them, as knowing the terror of the Lord, 2Co 5:10 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20. ] So again Act 20:27 . The sense in Gal 2:12 is similar, though not exactly identical ‘ reserved himself,’ withdrew himself from any open declaration of sentiments. In Heb 10:38 it is different.
.] See reff.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 20:20 . : “how that I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable,” R.V., cf. Act 20:27 , where follows the same verb , here followed by ; on the construction see Page’s note, in loco. The verb means to draw or shrink back from, out of fear or regard for another. In the same sense in classical Greek with or : “locutio Demosthenica.” Blass and Wendt, cf. also Jos., B. J. , i., 20, 21; Vita , 54; in LXX, Deu 1:17 , Exo 23:21 , Job 13:8 , Wis 6:7 , Hab 2:4 ; see Westcott on Heb 10:38 . It is used once in Gal 2:12 by Paul himself. It is possible that the verb may have been used metaphorically by St. Paul from its use in the active voice as a nautical term to reef or lower sail, and there would be perhaps a special appropriateness in the metaphor, as St. Paul had just landed, and the sails of the ship may have been before his eyes in speaking, to say nothing of the fact that the word would become familiar to him day by day on the voyage (see Humphry, Plumptre, Farrar); but it is not well to press this special metaphorical usage too far here, especially as the word is frequently used elsewhere of military rather than nautical matters (see Lightfoot’s note on Gal 2:12 , and the use of the verb in Polybius). ., cf. 1Co 7:35 ; 1Co 10:33 ; Pauline: “the things profitable for their salvation,” a message not always agreeable, but which nevertheless the Apostle spoke with the same ( is the opposite of , Page) which characterised him. Blass compares also the whole phrase , Dem., i., 16. . : publice et privatim , another and a further glimpse of the Apostle’s work at Ephesus: publicly in the synagogue and in the school of Tyrannus, privately as in the Church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla, 1Co 16:19 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
kept back. Greek. hupostello. Only here, Act 20:27. Gal 1:2, Gal 1:12. Heb 10:38. A medical word, used of withholding food from patients.
nothing. Greek. oudeis.
that was profitable = of the things profitable.
but have, &c. Literally so as not (Greek. me) to shew and teach.
publickly. Greek. demosia. See note on Act 5:18.
from bouse to house = in your houses. Greek. kat’ oikon, as in Act 2:46.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
20. ] So again Act 20:27. The sense in Gal 2:12 is similar, though not exactly identical-reserved himself, withdrew himself from any open declaration of sentiments. In Heb 10:38 it is different.
.] See reff.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 20:20. , I have withheld or kept back) Act 20:27. There were considerations, which might have induced others to keep back many things, or at least some things; fear, the favour of men, etc.- , of things profitable) These are to be taught: the other things are to be avoided (cut off).-, but have announced or showed) To this refer the , publicly.-, have taught you) To this refer the [from house to house], throughout your houses, privately. Not even the apostolical office, widely extended as it was in its sphere of operations, had its duties fully discharged by merely public preaching. What then ought pastors to do?
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
I kept: Act 20:27, Act 20:31, Act 5:2, Deu 4:5, Psa 40:9, Psa 40:10, Eze 33:7-9, 1Co 15:3, Col 1:28
profitable: 1Co 12:7, 1Co 14:6, Phi 3:1, 2Ti 3:16, 2Ti 3:17
and have: Act 20:31, Act 2:46, Act 5:42, Mar 4:34, 2Ti 4:2
Reciprocal: Deu 1:18 – General Jos 11:15 – he left nothing 1Sa 12:23 – I will teach 2Sa 7:17 – General Job 6:10 – have not concealed Job 26:3 – plentifully Job 27:11 – that which Jer 1:17 – and speak Jer 17:16 – that Jer 26:2 – all the words Jer 42:4 – I will keep Jer 42:21 – I have Mat 28:20 – them Act 19:10 – both Act 20:35 – showed Act 26:22 – witnessing Rom 12:7 – ministry Rom 15:19 – fully 2Co 2:17 – but as of sincerity 1Ti 5:13 – wandering
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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Act 20:20. That was profitable. The apostle never imposed any obligations or information upon the elders of the churches that would not be of assistance to them in their great work for the Lord. There are no “nonessentials” in the things the inspired writers have left to the world. Paul’s teaching was done in the synagogue (publicly) and in the homes (from house to house).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 20:20. Have taught you publicly. Three months, we read, he taught openly in the synagogue, and two years in the school (an open and no doubt well-known lecture hall) of Tyrannus.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Act 20:20-21. How I kept back nothing that was profitable Nothing that was calculated to instruct, renew, or comfort you to render you wise and good, holy and happy; Greek, , , I have withheld nothing, or none, of the things advantageous to you; that is, which could be of any service to your edification; so as not to declare to you the whole gospel of Christ, and teach you all its truths, duties, privileges, and blessings; publicly In worshipping assemblies; and from house to house As God gave me opportunity; inculcating, in visits and in private meetings, the same great doctrines which I declared in the synagogue and other places of concourse and resort. Testifying In the most serious and solemn manner, and with the greatest earnestness and affection; both to the Jews and also to the Greeks To all descriptions of persons, the great importance and absolute necessity of repentance toward God To be evidenced by fruits worthy of repentance, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ As the only Saviour of lost sinners, the infallible Teacher, prevalent Mediator, and righteous Governor of his church and people, and the final Judge of all mankind; a faith living, cordial, and powerful. Observe, reader, if the apostle had neglected thus to act, if he had not taught from house to house, as well as publicly, he would not have been pure from the blood of these people. Even he, though an apostle, could not discharge his duty by public preaching only; how much less can an ordinary pastor!
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
See notes on verse 18
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
20, 21. Preaching and teaching publicly and from house to house, the whole counsel of God, i. e., repentance toward God, as all violation of law is high treason against the divine government. Hence repentance is purely Godward. The sinner sees that God Almighty has a quarrel against him. Therefore he trembles and quakes in view of impending doom, weeps, falls and cries for mercy. The proper attitude of faith is toward our Lord Jesus Christ, since He is our only Mediator and atoning Substitute. When the sinner in utter desperation casts himself on the mercy of God in Christ then and there he receives a free pardon.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
20:20 [And] how I kept {d} back nothing that was profitable [unto you], but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
(d) I did not refrain form speaking, neither did I conceal my motives in any way at all, either for fear or for wicked gain.