A Study of Acts: Paul Says Farewell to the Ephesian Church Elders
Acts 20:17-38; Matthew 22:36-40 - Lessons from Paul to the Elders: Have Humility, Preach the Whole Counsel of God, Obey the Greatest Commandment
“From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.
“And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.”
Acts 20:17-38 NASB1995
This wonderful sermon to the elders of the church in Ephesus is the only speech that Luke records that Paul gave to fellow Christians and it mirrors his epistles in tone. When they arrived in Miletus, Paul sent for the elders (about 36 miles away) and spent this short time with them. The Holy Spirit is solemnly telling Paul that bonds and afflictions await him in Jerusalem and he does not know if he will ever be back in Ephesus.
In looking at commentary about this sermon, I felt that the best commentary was from Enduring Word so I will excerpt that commentary and discuss it by sections. Here’s the first part; David Guzik uses the New King James translation, so this will not necessarily track word-for-word with the NASB1995 that I use, but it is fairly close:
And when they had come to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And when they had come to him, he said to them: Most of the time in Acts, we see Paul the evangelist; but here in Acts 20, we get a unique picture of Paul the pastor – what was important to him as a leader and shepherd of God’s people.
“It is the only Pauline speech delivered to Christians which Luke has recorded, and it is not surprising to discover how rich it is in parallels to the Pauline letters (especially, in fact, to the later ones).” (F.F. Bruce)
You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you: Paul first calls attention to himself as an example. Not an example instead of Jesus, but an example as he followed Jesus. Paul didn’t act like a religious celebrity and expect people to serve and honor him; he just wanted to be serving the Lord with all humility.
In a similar pattern, we can each be good examples of how to live the Christian life. There is no reason for us to not be so. Even the young, new Christian can be a good example of how a new Christian should follow Jesus.
I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you: Paul could solemnly say before these elders of the Ephesian church that he kept back nothing that was helpful. He didn’t only teach the topics that pleased him. He proclaimed it all.
Testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks: If Paul didn’t limit his message, he didn’t limit his audience either. He wanted to preach all the word of God to all people.
From house to house: This implies that the Ephesian church, lacking any central building, was organized logically in house-churches. Probably, each elder had charge over a particular house-church. These were much more like house-church pastors than what we think of today as a board of elders who presided over one large congregation.
Paul models true humility in his words to these elders. Interestingly, according to John Wesley as quoted in Precept Austin, the Greeks and Romans did not have a word for humility because the concept of being humble was abhorrent to them and, in fact, unthinkable. The humility spoken of by Paul in this passage comes from a compound word in the Greek. Let’s look at the lexicon in the Blue Letter Bible:
Humility comes from the Greek compound noun ταπεινοφροσύνη or tapeinophrosýnē. This word combines Strong’s G5011 (base or low) and G5424 (of the mind). It has the following Biblical usages:
the having a humble opinion of one's self
a deep sense of one's (moral) littleness
modesty, humility, lowliness of mind
Just as in the days of the Greeks and Romans, true humility is an extraordinarily rare virtue in our times. I have personally struggled with being humble all of my life and have thought highly of myself in the past for academic and work accomplishments. But those days of striving for grades, raises, rewards and compliments are behind me (I think). Everyone likes to pretend to be humble to slyly garner praise from someone else (I played this game quite well and still enjoy positive feedback). Humility is a virtue that the Holy Spirit needs to instill in me every day.
Paul continues in his speech to the elders admitting that he is going to Jerusalem knowing that the Holy Spirit has shown him that there will be bonds and afflictions that await him. He does not consider this troubling, as he does not consider his life to be of any account to him. He hopes to joyfully finish the course that has been laid out before him, to testify solemnly to the Gospel of the Grace of God. Here is what Enduring Word says about this passage:
I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there: Paul didn’t know what was ahead of him; he even had reason to believe it was bad. But that didn’t trouble him. He could give it all over to God even when he didn’t know what would happen. There should always be more Christians who will say, “none of these things move me.”
Uncertainty did not move Paul. Even though he was “not knowing the things that will happen to me there,” he would not be moved from his cause. Paul could sing this Psalm from his heart: I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. (Psalm 16:8)
Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me: Paul recognized the dangerous road ahead of him; apparently he had received many words of prophecy telling him of this danger already. Yet he was not set off the track by danger, but was willing to lay down his life for the gospel of the grace of God.
Nor do I count my life dear to myself: Paul thought of himself as an accountant, weighing carefully the credits and the expenses; and in the end, he does not count his own life dear to him, compared to his God and how he can serve him.
So that I may finish my race with joy: Paul thought of himself as a runner who had a race to finish, and nothing would keep Paul from finishing the race with joy. Additionally, Paul speaks of my race – he had his race to run, we have our own – but God calls us to finish it with joy.
This shows that even at this point, Paul had his death in mind. It would be many years until he actually died, but he considered that what he did with his life now was worth dying for. In the words of Spurgeon, he preached a gospel worth dying for. It is a worthy challenge to any preacher: Is the gospel you preach worth dying for?
The gospel of moral reform? Not worth dying for.
The gospel of save yourself through good works? Not worth dying for.
The gospel of social action and improvement? Not worth dying for.
The gospel of religious traditions? Not worth dying for.
The gospel of merely having spiritual conversations? Not worth dying for.
The gospel of mystical mumbo-jumbo? Not worth dying for.
The gospel seeking the church of true hipness? Not worth dying for.
The gospel of self-esteem? Not worth dying for.
The gospel of ecological salvation? Not worth dying for.
The gospel of political correctness? Not worth dying for.
The gospel of emergent church feel-goodism? Not worth dying for.
“Yet there used to be a gospel in the world which consisted of facts which Christians never questioned. There was once in the church a gospel which believers hugged to their hearts as if it were their soul’s life. There used to be a gospel in the world, which provoked enthusiasm and commanded sacrifice. Tens of thousands have met together to hear this gospel at peril of their lives. Men, to the teeth of tyrants, have proclaimed it, and have suffered the loss of all things, and gone to prison and to death for it, singing psalms all the while. Is there not such a gospel remaining?” (Charles Spurgeon)
Are you hearing the Gospel preached in a way that it convinces you that it would be worth dying for? In our self-centered culture (the anti-humble modern world) and even in most of our churches, we can’t be bothered to put that precious promise of the Gospel above everything else in our lives. It must be carried in our hearts above all other distractions and worldly things. It must be supreme over the busywork that churches like to do to show that they are accomplishing something (not that those things are wrong, but they should not be pursued instead of or above the Gospel).
Paul tells the group that they will likely not see his face again. Enduring Word focuses on this verse with amazing commentary:
You all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God: Paul did a lot in Ephesus. In that city God used him to work some amazing miracles.
Acts 19:11 says that in Ephesus, the hands of Paul did unusual miracles.
Acts 19:12 says that in Ephesus, handkerchiefs or aprons from Paul’s body were brought to sick people and they were healed and delivered from demonic spirits.
Acts 19:15 says that in Ephesus, demonic spirits said they knew Paul and his ministry.
With all that, Paul didn’t say to the Ephesian elders here, “You all, among whom I did some awesome miracles.” Or, “You all, among whom even the demons said they knew me.” Instead Paul was always focused on the life-transforming power of the word of God, and he said “You all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God.”
It’s as if Paul said, “This is what I do. Sure, I do a lot of other things, but at the core I’m a preacher, and I preach the kingdom of God.”
You all… will see my face no more: Paul here showed great sadness, great compassion, and great courage. He told them something he hadn’t told them before: that this would probably be the last time they saw him, and he saw them. This would be like a bombshell to these church leaders.
Don’t forget the great bond Paul had with these Ephesian leaders. He was in Ephesus for two years, and the ministry was so effective that Acts 19:10 says, all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
That amount of time and that kind of effective ministry builds bonds of fellowship and friendship that last.
It was hard for them to believe it. Maybe at first they thought he was joking. But they quickly understood that he wasn’t and they understood why he asked them to walk 36 miles to meet with him.
Will see my face no more: In all of this, Paul’s great love and concern for the leaders and the congregation in Ephesus was simply a reflection of Jesus’ great love and concern for them. Paul followed Jesus in every way he could; since Jesus loved these believers so much, so did Paul.
It’s fascinating to think of how much this segment of Paul’s life mirrored the life of Jesus.
Like Jesus, Paul traveled to Jerusalem with a group of his disciples.
Like Jesus, Paul was opposed by hostile Jews who plotted against his life.
Like Jesus, Paul made or received three successive predictions of his coming sufferings in Jerusalem, including being handed over to the Gentiles.
Like Jesus, Paul declared his readiness to lay down his life.
Like Jesus, he was determined to complete his ministry and not be deflected from it.
Like Jesus, he expressed his abandonment to the will of God.
Would we expect any different? Is the servant greater than his Master? We too should expect to know the fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 3:10).
The servant should expect to know the fellowship of His sufferings and should preach the kingdom of God.
Paul then makes an intriguing statement that he is innocent of the blood of all men. The old Saul was certainly not innocent of the blood of men because of his persecution of Christians before his conversion. But Paul also know that the blood of Christ on the Cross covers those sins and also keeps him innocent of the blood of men at this moment in time because he did everything he could in Ephesus to make them hear the message of salvation. Again, from Enduring Word:
Therefore: There is much wrapped up in this simple word. It has the sense of, Because I probably won’t see you again… because I love you so much…because I have invested so much of my heart and life among you all… you therefore need to know that.
I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men: As if he were giving witness in a court of law, Paul declared that his heart was clear. He could leave these Christians to God’s care with a good conscience, knowing that he had not shunned to declare to [them] the whole counsel of God.
We should have a greater appreciation of the value of a clear conscience. God helping us, we can have one – at least as clear as possible from this point forward.
The whole counsel of God: Paul could leave them with a clear conscience because he knew that he taught them the whole counsel of God.
Acts 19:9-10 tells us that Paul taught the Ephesians and those in the region for more than two years, using a rented room from the school of Tyrannus. There are some indications that Paul taught for several hours a day, and some six days a week. This means hundreds of hours of teaching time (probably well more than 1,500 hours).
He had plenty of time to take them verse-by-verse through the books of the Hebrew Scriptures. They may have also studied the life of Jesus from some of the accounts of His life being written in that same period.
Today, there should be more and more who will present the whole counsel of God. Paul later warned that in the last days, people would not endure sound doctrine, but would look for teachers who would tell them what they want to hear – teachers who would scratch their itching ears (2 Timothy 4:3).
Many preachers today simply use a Bible text as a launching pad, and then go on to say what they want – what the people want to hear. Others throw in Bible quotations to illustrate their points, or to illustrate their stories. Yet the real calling of a preacher is to simply let the Bible speak for itself and let it declare its own power.
Taking Paul’s testimony at full strength, we must say that those preachers who deliberately fail to declare… the whole counsel of God are guilty of the blood of all men. The preacher who preaches what his audience wants to hear, and not the whole counsel of God, hurts both his audience and himself!
The Whole Counsel of God must be declared by those who preach His word! Pastor Steven Cole is quoted in Precept Austin making this statement:
Not everyone is called to be a preacher or missionary, as Paul was. But with whatever gifts God has entrusted to us, the bottom line is the same: we must be faithful by our lives and words to the gospel of the grace of God. If our lives and words betray the gospel of God’s grace, we are in some sense guilty of the blood of those who were tainted by our failure (Acts 20:26). If our lives and our words bear witness to the gospel of God’s grace, we are innocent of the blood of those who came in contact with our witness. (Finishing the Course Acts 20:22-27)
Paul admonishes the elders that they must be on guard and be shepherds who protect their flock from wolves that will come in and twist their words and the Word of God. These wolves may come from their own men and speak things that are perverse and will draw the disciples away from God. Paul reminds them of how he wept over them during those three years because of how precarious human nature is and how it rejects God’s word. Paul’s motives were not for personal enrichment and he reminds them that it is better to give than to receive. He prayed with them and everyone wept aloud, fell on him and kissed him and accompanied the group to the ship.
So one last commentary excerpt from Enduring Word is a must because of the conclusions that David Guzik draws from this:
And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.
He knelt down and prayed with them all. Then they all wept freely: This reminds us that Paul was not a cold dispenser of doctrine, but a warm, pastoral man who loved his people greatly and won great love from them.
That they would see his face no more: They part with prayer, tears, and a sending-off party, believing they would only meet again in eternity.
Given the strength of Paul’s warning to these leaders, it is fair to wonder how the Christian community in Ephesus fared after this. Some 30 to 40 years later, Jesus sent a letter to this church in Ephesus, found in Revelation 2. He complimented them on many things:
Their hard work for the kingdom of God.
Their endurance through difficult times.
Their dealing with those who are evil, and with false apostles.
Not giving up when they were weary.
Yet despite it all, Jesus gave them a severe warning: they had left their first love (Revelation 2:4). Unless things changed in a hurry, Jesus wouldn’t even be present among them anymore.
It may well be that in their zeal to fight against false doctrine – which they seemed to do well – they left their love for Jesus and their love for one another behind. It’s a great illustration of the principle that the devil doesn’t care which side of the boat we fall out of, just as long as we’re in the water and not in the boat.
By devoting themselves to guarding the flock, hard work and working avidly against those who were false apostles, the church of Ephesus stepped away from their first love, which is full devotion to Jesus and love for one another. I love that last example from this commentary that it doesn’t matter which side of the boat we fall out of, the devil doesn’t care as long as we are in the water and not in His fold. We must obey the most important commandment as given by Jesus:
““Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.””
Matthew 22:36-40 NASB1995
My next devotional examines Acts 21:1-6 - The group voyages to Tyre and they meet some disciples.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Thank you for the commentary from David Guzik in Enduring Work that is so useful with this passage in Acts 20. Help me to be humble, to preach the whole counsel of God and to obey the greatest commandment. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 1/1/2025 to review the lexicon for humility.
Precept Austin was accessed on 1/1/2025 to review commentary for Acts 20:17-38.