The Way that Endures

Introduction

Good to see you. Good to be here this morning. especially like to thank our visitors for joining with us and let you know you’re our special guest. We’re excited you’re here, and we invite you to come back at five o’clock tonight. We have Bible classes for all ages and take advantage of that. And but we’re here, we’re glad you’re here this morning, and we’re here to worship God. we’re here to glorify him. So, if you would please, as we begin our worship service to him, would you bow your head with me in prayer?

Our Heavenly Father, thank you so much for what you’ve done for us, and thank you for this opportunity to be with our brothers and sisters this morning. We come to you this morning glorifying you, recognizing that you are the one and only true God, that you’re the maker of all things, and that you’re sovereign over all. And we’re thankful that you love the likes of us, that you have provided for us and you still provide for us. Thank you for having a plan for us to be redeemed to you from the very beginning. And we praise you for that, and we are thankful for Jesus for the sacrifice he made so that we can have the hope of that, and we’re thankful for the refreshing we get through the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for all that you have done for us and all that you continue to do for us. We pray that what we do here this morning glorifies you, and we pray that you would forgive us of our sins so we can approach you this morning in worship. And we’re so thankful that we can address you in this way because we have an advocate. We know you know we can only do so because of what your son’s done for us, that we could be cleansed from our sins. And Father, be with us this morning as we try to worship you, be with our be with each and every one of us, and we pray that our hearts would glorify you in all that we do.

In your son’s name we pray all these things. Amen.

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man, someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Let’s stand as we sing a beautiful life.

I’ll try to live as you live on time for my today.

I see these sunny low seeking lower days.

I don’t know how to pronounce that, just up there.

My spirit rejoice in God, I say my soul, my skill rejoice in God, my soul, I say my soul, my skin rejoice.

Will you pray with me?

Most wonderful and righteous heavenly Father, we are so dearly thankful to be here this morning. We are thankful for the everyday blessings of life of good health and good health care and clean air and food and water and all the other incredible and wonderful blessings that we have in this country that we have in front of us every day, and we pray that you help all of us to always be good stewards of these and that we might use them to help us to give you glory in everything our hands find to do and to never take them for granted and help us to use them to overcome sin. We’re so thankful for the opportunity to live in this incredible country and take advantage of all these blessings.

And we pray for our political, judicial, financial, law enforcement, first responders, all of our leaders, Lord. We pray that all of them might open their hearts to you and come to know you as Christians and seek your guidance each and every day so someday we might truly be one nation under God. We pray for all of our military men and women that are spread throughout the world, protecting our lives, our way that we live and everything that we do here. You might bless them with strength and courage and confidence and safety and help them to achieve their objectives as peacefully as possible. And pray, Lord, that their efforts might make it possible for your word to be more easily and widely spread throughout the world, and that you’ll watch over and bless those who’ve been wounded physically or mentally or lost loved ones or whatever the case may be, that you’ll watch over and bless and strengthen them in all the things they face.

Most of all, Lord, we pray for the forgiveness of our sins. We pray for all of those in this number that are facing difficult situations, whether it be health, financial, things at work, whatever it may be, that we’ll all always be turning to you for guidance and strength and know that we have better times ahead with you in heaven always, and that we have that to look forward to. We pray that you’ll believe with this church, that you’ll watch over, bless, and strengthen the men that lead this church, bless their families. We especially pray for Brent and Katie and their family that you’ll watch over and bless and strengthen them as he continues to bring your word to us on a continuous basis. Pray that you’ll be with them and strengthen them, especially playing for Xander and his continued recovery.

And again, Lord, we’re so thankful for this opportunity to be here today. We pray that we all listen attentively and we take what we learn here today and we go out into the world and we are better Christians and better examples of Christians always. All these things in Jesus’ name we so humbly pray. Amen.

This is an opportunity for those who are members of this group. If you’re visiting, we’re grateful for your presence, but please understand there is no expectation or obligation to participate. Let’s pray together. Our Father, we come to you at this time, humbled by the blessings that you’ve chosen to give to us. Both the physical, spiritual, the resources of time, the jobs to earn a living, the cars we drive, the food we eat, the homes that we live in. Father, to stop and list all of the things that you have done for us and given to us would test the limits of our human abilities.

Father, at this time, as we consider those innumerable blessings, both the everyday things and those that are incomprehensible, like the sacrifice of your son.

Amen.

Song after Brent’s lesson will be Just As I Am, I Come Broken. It’ll be on the slides only. And then before Brent brings us to lesson, we’ll sing We Are One. And it was convenient, please stand again.

Please receive it. Well, we’ve reached what I intend to be the final sermon in this series in Acts. We are to chapter twenty. We’ve been working through this section for quite some time.

But we’ve gotten to the end of where my intentions were in this study of Acts for now. And to this point, we’ve kind of gone through this. I didn’t always make you aware of this, but as we worked through various sermons, we were kind of introducing the basics. What is it that they believed and taught as the gospel was spreading from place to place? And what are some of the things that they went through, some of the growing pains they dealt with as they went to new areas and they’ve planted new churches. And so we talked through some of that personal investment being made by each individual of the congregation, and that’s how things continue to grow and to expand and do other places. And then we talked a little about some of the conflicts, changing the gospel in chapter 15 and some of the controversies like Ananias and Sapphira or Simon the Sorcerer, and there are others along the way.

But we dealt with all kinds of aspects of how the early Christians, the disciples, managed in their walk with Christ and what that looked like. Chapter 20 is interesting because this is Paul now deciding he it’s time to move on. He tells them even he probably won’t see them ever again. Pretty sorrowful causing statement, as we see at the end of this reading, as we’ll read here in just a moment. And he tells them at some point, he’s been guiding these congregations along the way, the ones that he’s gone to and founded and then returned to and strengthened. And then he makes this statement in verse 32. He says, Now I commend you. That’s not the sort of language we typically use, but maybe something like, I commit your care.

Right now I’ve been guiding you, I’ve been helping you, but now I commit your care to God and to the word of his grace. I’m not going to be here anymore. So what are you going to do now? Right? You have the word of God, you have God Himself, you have His grace. He wants this church to thrive and to grow. And the message He’s going to give these elders that he meets is meant to help them along this path. It’s meant to help strengthen them, help them to endure. And so, in this way, many congregations today, congregations of the Lord today are much like what ended up happening with Ephesus. Paul leaves, he doesn’t come back, he gives them words of wisdom. We can take those words and we can learn from them as well as we are trying to live like Christ and follow in his way.

So I want to spend some time this morning, I want to read through this text at the end of chapter twenty, and then talk about I’m gonna go through kind of in an orderly way the way it comes up, some of the themes I see here within this second part of the chapter, to help a group like us, to help our congregation think about what do we do? How can we continue to endure? How can we continue to be strong in the Lord as we are walking in the way of Jesus? Read with me Acts chapter twenty, beginning in verse seventeen. Acts twenty and verse seventeen. It says, Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.

And when they came to him, he said to them, You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews, how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and affliction waits awaits me.

But I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course in the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease, night or day, to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which are able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. And all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how 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 there was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all, because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again, and they accompanied him to the ship. Big transition taking place here in the text. Paul’s missionary journeys are essentially completed at this point. He’s been collecting money for the needy saints in Jerusalem. Now he’s going to head back there to make sure those saints are taken care of, and he knows good things are not in store. He doesn’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but he knows this phase of his ministry is coming to a close. And whatever comes, he’s committed to continuing in the ways he can to minister to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the grace of God to any he can come into contact with.

But before he goes this direction, he wants to take a few moments. He can’t take long. So he doesn’t go to the church in Ephesus. I’m sure he would have liked to have done that, since he spent three years and he knew those people well. But he had the shepherds meet him. He had a message for him. I’ve got some things to tell you for you to take back. And we get a little inside track here. This is, it is for the shepherds, but it’s also revealed to all of us. And the shepherds, no doubt, went back to the congregation and told them the things that Paul had to say. And I think we can take this and learn a lot from what Paul tells them about what it looks like to be a congregation that endures, a congregation that continues to grow.

1. The Value of Proven Character

The first thing I see in the text, and Paul tends to use himself as an example, even in the letters, is the importance of what I’m going to call here proven character. The value that Paul places on this concept of credibility. He appeals to this in the beginning of his speech. This is kind of like a monologue, you might call it. He’s speaking and they’re just listening. And he’s been with them quite a long time. But even in the midst of that, he’s going to remind them of some things. You know, remember the work I did among you. From the very first day I set my foot in here, you knew what I was about and what I was like. And he mentions as well all the conflicts.

As we’ve read through the book of Acts, this has just continued to pop up, right? That the Jews want to kill him. The Jews are trying to drag him out and stone him. They’re always after him. He said, even in the midst of all that, you knew who I really was. I was with you this whole time. You saw my work in the Lord. And that what he’s essentially doing here, it’s from a rhetorical standpoint, it’s called ethos. As he’s speaking, he’s wanting to build credibility, maintain credibility among them. Before I tell you other things, before I remind you of some of the things I want you to know, just remember, I’ve worked with you a long time and I’ve put my whole self into this.

We’ve worked together in the Lord. And so you know what I would call this is kind of borrowed the phrase of Peter. They know the tested genuineness of his faith. Paul is not here for his own glory. He’s not traveling place to place. He’s not spending all this time in Ephesus to gain a following and to make a bunch of money and to become popular and famous and all of that. That’s not what Paul’s about. And he’s reminding them, you know this. You know I was there among you. I was serving the Lord. I was doing he says with all humility. Tears are mentioned multiple times in this text. But Paul’s talking here about the struggle, the difficulty. He wasn’t in it for his own glory.

He’s doing it with tears. He’s doing it through trials. Just remember, he’s telling the shepherds, all the things we’ve done together, how we worked hard in the Lord, and it was not about us. It was about God’s glory. That’s the position he’s coming from. He says, You know how I lived. I want us to think about the importance of that concept. We even choose deacons based on this, really. So we choose deacons because they are tested. Right? We’ve seen over a consistent amount of time. We talk about a church that’s strong, a church that’s going to endure. This is so critical to all of it. The value of proven character. It’s not that one day I go do something that’s really good, but it’s a consistent life of doing things that show the kind of person that I am.

That’s what Paul’s trying to help them understand and remind them about himself and ultimately tell them they should be doing as well. So this is sort of the beginning and the end of this speech. Right? He’s reminding them of who he is and what he’s been doing among them. But also, you know, he’s going to come back to this at the very end. He says, you know, I’m I wasn’t greedy. I wasn’t coming here to get gold and silver. That’s not what I’m doing. This and just I want us to understand as he’s making these points, the applications here are for them too. It’s like you shouldn’t be that way either. As shepherds, as leaders, as people of a congregation, you’re not doing things for your own self-glory.

He even reminds them a lot of times I worked, I made my own money just to make sure that people weren’t confused that there was a problem in that time, particularly among Gentile areas, of people going around trying to make a name for themselves as orators. You know, they’re they’re going and they’re speaking and they could make money. People still do some of that today, obviously, too. But that’s a big deal in Greek culture. And Paul says, that’s not what I mean. I’m not for that. I’m not trying to make a bunch of money and become popular. I’m speaking the message of the gospel. And so I’m not here to be greedy and to make something off of this. Make sure you’re not that way, too.

This is part of the message when he writes to Timothy about shepherds. That’s one of the qualifications. Right? Someone who’s not greedy, someone who’s not out for their own glory and all of this. And so Paul’s using himself and then conveying this to them about the kind of personality, the kind of character they need to have. They need to be the kind of people who work hard. This is the demonstration. He’s not greedy. He was working hard among them. And the point of this is not only to preach the gospel, we’ll come back to that, but things like helping the weak. It’s more blessed to give than to receive, to be generous. So Paul’s preaching the gospel.

He’s telling these shepherds, again, for the shepherds to take for themselves, but also to share with the congregation. This is the kind of thing that matters. When people look at you, what do they see? And not what do they see just today, but what have they seen over an extended period of time? Paul was there three years. They knew who he was, they knew what he was like. And all the words of the Jews who plotted against him, those things did not matter because they really knew what Paul was. He had been tested. His faith was genuine. They knew he was sincere. And I think in an implication kind of way, he’s trying to help these shepherds understand the importance of that for themselves too. Right?

We’re not going to be perfect. There’s going to be times I say something you don’t like, or you say something I don’t like. But what is the record over time? Who am I really? When you look at me, who do you think I am? And when I look at you, who do I think you am? What do people know about me? What do I know about others? Sometimes it’s really easy to get caught up in the moment. You know, somebody says something, and we think, oh, they meant that in a negative way toward me. Because we tend to think of ourselves a lot. And what’s interesting is I think most of the time, it probably has nothing to do with that. Someone says something and we take it as some kind of slight toward us.

But if we’re just, we operate with some humility and we realize this is not really about us. Maybe we misunderstood the situation. But even more than that, what do we know about them as a person? I mean, some of us have known each other for 20 years, maybe longer in this room. Maybe you’ve known someone five years. Paul was there three years and reminds them of that. Okay, something happens we don’t like, but what do we know? What kind of person is that person really? Even if something happened yesterday that I may not have liked so much. It’s a perspective thing. And character is extremely valuable in terms of a congregation that’s going to endure, that’s going to be strong, not taking offense at every little comment and every action that is made, but thinking the best.

Reminding ourselves of what we know about each other. Despite maybe some of the things that happen here or there that we might actually just be taking the wrong way. Making sure we’re working on our own character, on our own qualities, carefully thinking about the ways others perceive us.

We talk about first impressions a lot. What are people going to think? That you meet someone and you interact with what are they going to take away from that interaction? And yes, we should be careful, and sometimes first impressions are bad, and we can come to bad judgments about somebody because of how that all happens, and so we should all admit that. But on the other side of that, I should be really careful about the kind of character I’m demonstrating to others. What I’m showing them about who I am, particularly over long periods of time. What is it they’re taking away from the kind of person I am? That matters. It makes a difference. Good things happen when a community is built on character, on a desire to love one another, to have the qualities and the characters of Jesus Christ Himself, right?

2. Church Strength Is Relational, Not Just Structural

We just went through the gospel of Matthew before this, and now we’ve gone through Acts, and we’re saying this is the way Jesus was. Here’s how he interacted with people. Here’s what he told us to do and how he told us to live. Am I working on that in my life? Am I developing those qualities and that character so that despite some of the things I may do that you don’t like, over time you’re saying that guy is trying to serve Jesus? Or I’m saying about you, that person is trying to serve Jesus. This makes a difference. The value of our character and who we are deep down. With character also comes the importance of relationships. Church strength is relational, not just structural. What I mean by that is it takes more than just having a plurality of elders, having deacons, worshiping properly to make a strong church.

Those are good. Certainly we should care about that. And we look to scripture to guide us in the right way to do things. But a congregation that’s going to endure and be strong and grow and mature, right? We’re in this last section about seeking maturity, is going to be a congregation that understands the importance of deep relationships with one another. Family language all through scripture means something. The fact that we are called brothers and sisters has significant meaning. It’s all throughout the New Testament. It’s called fictive kinship, right? We’re presented in a way that we are family. And there’s a reason why Jesus is doing this. He wants us to understand the importance of the closeness that we need to have. Yes, we should want to be right, and we want to be accurate about the things that we do, but we also, as it says over and over, need to love one another.

And so strength is not just based on having the answers. It’s not just about doctrinal accuracy. It is also about the care and the love that we have for each other. And Paul clearly is making this point to the shepherds here. Pay careful attention to the flock of God, to the church of God, among whom you are overseers. This is really important. That we’re paying attention to one another, that we care about each other, that we’re looking out for each other. When Paul leaves, he drops to his knees with these people and they pray together. There’s a lot of weeping. They embrace.

I think this is like the double kiss, okay? But it’s a sign of affection. You know, he’s he mean something to each other. They really care. It’s not just showing up and worshiping together and then they go about their lives and they’re not really interacting outside of that. That’s not what this is. It’s that Paul and these brethren really love each other and they care about each other. And when they realize it’s time for him to go, and particularly when they realize from his own words, they’re never going to see him again. That hits them in their heart. And they’re full of sorrow and they’re weeping. The tears come back here in the text for the third time. And they embrace and they send him on his way.

If there is someone in this congregation that you won’t pray with, or that you want to embrace, or that you won’t weep with or rejoice with, or that you avoid. That is a recipe for breaking the strength of a congregation. I want us to see this model of what this looks like and what it should look like the care and the concern, the true love that they have for each other. Now, some of us are different about how we feel about embracing in various ways, and that’s fine. I’m not saying you have to give big hugs or the double kiss or any of that. But the point is, are we showing affection? Do we truly love? Do we care deep down for each other’s condition? So much so that we would there’s other things that come along with this too.

Sometimes it’s hard to rejoice when we’re selfish because we would like those things for ourselves. But are we able to look past that and with humility really rejoice with someone who’s enjoying something really good? Weep with those who are going through difficulty. And to whatever extent I’m not willing to do that with somebody in this congregation, it is a point of weakness that affects the ability for this congregation to endure. Jesus Himself says, leave your gift at the altar and be reconciled. Make it right. Your worship doesn’t really mean anything if you aren’t reconciled to your brother. That’s the point he’s making in Matthew 5. This is the Sermon on the Mount. So if we care about a church that’s going to endure and be strong, all of these matters that relate to in character are extremely important.

Paul had to deal with this in Philippi. There’s two sisters. We don’t know all the reasons, but they’re at odds with each other. They have some kind of problem or complaint with each other. And it’s affecting, Paul points out, it’s affecting their work in the gospel. And he says, hey, someone, you true companion, you come figure this out. Get this worked out so that we can start working together in the gospel, the things that really matter, and get past these petty differences. And so it may be that we just need enough character to deal with the, if there is a significant enough problem to deal with it, or if it’s really not that big of a deal, just to move on and move past it. Understanding the importance of my own character and the way I view others within our congregation.

It’s a testimony to the people around us. I think Decker Prairie has been great with this over the time I’ve been here for the most part. It’s a place that people want to be. They see the love that people have for each other in this congregation. And that is a great testimony. And this is part of what I want us to understand. It’s not just the teaching of the gospel, it’s not just the words that come from here. Those things are really important, but there’s also a testimony being made when people come in and they see the way that we interact with each other and the way we love each other. Those things matter too. And for a church that’s going to be strong and grow and to mature, this idea of character is extremely important.

3. Stay Rooted in Truth

I think by necessity, and probably I don’t even have to tell you, the importance of truth to a congregation that grows. We’ve hit this in various ways along the way, but Paul has too. He keeps bringing it up. And he talks now, so we have the idea of character, the importance of who we are, our credibility. If I say I’m going to walk with Jesus, what does that actually look like in my life? And do people actually see that in me? That’s what Paul’s trying to demonstrate. He says a lot of words and he teaches a lot of messages, but also he says, you know how I lived. So it’s more than just the book, it’s also how he walks and the things he does, right?

But the truth is vitally important. And so he says, be mindful of your character, be mindful of the way you live, but also pay careful attention to what you teach and to what is taught. I love this phrase twice here in the text. He says, I did not shrink. I love the image that gives, right? You’re you’re maybe in a crowd of people and they’re saying things you don’t agree with. How do you react to that? Now, some of you have no problem speaking up and saying what you think. Some of us, maybe we kind of we shrink. We’re a little nervous to say the things that we’re thinking in that moment. And Paul’s saying, when I’m teaching the truth, I don’t shrink. When things are being said or things are happening and I don’t agree with it, I didn’t shrink to say what needed to be said.

I spoke the truth to you clearly, and this is part of the message he’s giving them. He wants them to continue to do this, particularly as leaders. But I think even as a congregation to continue to speak truth. If a congregation is going to endure and be strong, it must stay rooted in truth. Part of this, of course, is Paul, his focus on the importance of testifying to the gospel, speaking the gospel message. This was something specific to his ministry. He points out twice here in verse 21 and in verse 24, he has a unique and specific ministry from the Lord, given to him that’s not like mine or not like yours. He’s an apostle. He was called by God directly, and he needs to do this, and so he’s he’s pointing that out.

But part of the point he’s making as he’s teaching is the importance of all of us living this and speaking this to the people who are around us. He’s going to testify to everyone about the repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, verse 21. He’s going to speak the gospel of the grace of God. And I think this mission continues even today with all of us. The willingness to speak a message of hope and salvation to any who will listen that will bring forgiveness of sins. And we can all do that. But in these two statements in verse 20 and 27, Paul’s message really is going beyond that. It’s going beyond just the basic gospel message, which we’ve talked about in previous sermons.

He says, I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, verse 20. Verse 27, he says, I did not shrink, declaring to you the whole counsel of God. And if you look at his letters, you can see this in some of his other teaching even in Acts, but if you look at his letters, what does he cover? I mean, I just give you a couple examples. We’re talking about Ephesus here, so we go to the letter to the Ephesians. What are the kinds of things he talks about? Well, first of all, it’s pretty much everything. Anything that is profitable, anything that is needed based on your walk in Jesus Christ, Paul’s willing to talk about it. So he talks about anger. Don’t be angry, he tells the Ephesians.

Don’t give place to anger and don’t give place for Satan to enter your heart. He talks about being careful about the way you speak. The right kind of language that we’re using. Don’t use corrupting words. He talks about using our time well. He talks about marriage. He talks about parenting. Go over to the book of 1 Corinthians. He talks about avoiding divisions and how you worship, marriage and singleness. Again, dealing with conflict. Chapter 6 talks about not taking each other to court, lawsuits. I mean, why would we talk about this? Shouldn’t Christians not be doing that? Well, apparently it was a problem. You know, we live in a fallen world and bad things happen. And so all of these things are profitable. Paul sees the need to talk about all kinds of things in life to guide saints in the right direction to live the right way.

These are just two books. We have the Old Testament. How many things in the Old Testament are beneficial and profitable? Profitably, he tells Timothy. All of it’s inspired by God, it’s breathed out by him. And we can use all of that to be helpful in guiding us. The New Testament, 27 books, all kinds of material and helpful things for life. In the Old Testament, we even have the books of wisdom, just helping us with the way to think through daily life and the way to live day to day. I mean, God has given us so much to guide us along the way. And so while on one hand, we talked about here’s the basic gospel message. Jesus died for you because of your sins, and then he was buried, and he was resurrected and he ascended, and then that’s the message of salvation for all of us.

Obviously, it’s scripture. There’s a lot here, and that’s not all it says. So Paul tells these shepherds it’s important we cover it all. It’s important we talk about real life stuff that people face. The things they go through. Things like how you use your money and how you use your time and how you live in your home with your wife and your husband or your kids. All of those things matter. If we’re going to live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.

But also do not shrink to declare anything profitable. To speak the whole counsel of God and how it guides us in our life. And then there’s this little statement he makes that kind of builds on the nature of his teaching. In verse 31, we’re going to jump ahead and then we’re going to come circle back to some of his warnings here in just a moment. But in verse 31, he says, Be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease, night or day, to admonish everyone with tears.

Sometimes it’s rebuke. Sometimes it’s pointing out the path that is not right. That’s what Paul’s saying here. It’s what the term actually is talking about. It’s like you’re going the wrong direction. It’s only used a few times in Scripture. It’s talked about a couple times in 1st and 2 Thessalonians, but this is people who are walking the wrong way and they need to be corrected. And Paul says, for three years I did this. It wasn’t just encouraging messages. You’ve been saved, you’ve been delivered, you have hope, you have the grace of God. He did do all that, but he said, I also admonished you with tears. I told you things you needed to hear that were not easy to say. And that’s not comfortable for anyone, is it?

We don’t like that. We don’t enjoy that. Sometimes our shepherds have to do that. Tell us things that aren’t super comfortable to hear. But they’re needed. When our attitudes are not correct. When we aren’t living the right way. We aren’t treating people right. Sometimes those things are difficult. They lead to tears, as Paul mentions here. But it is part of being rooted in truth. None of us like to be told things about ourselves that are not amazing. You know, don’t you love it when someone tells you how great you’re doing? You know, that was such a great sermon, you know, and people, oh, that’s so great. What about when someone has something they don’t like? Then what? That’s hard. You don’t really like to hear that they didn’t like what you did or that they didn’t enjoy it.

And this is just one example that I’m familiar with because of what I do. For you, it may be something else. You know, maybe someone talks to you about the way you’re raising your kid. That’s not fun. But sometimes we need those admonitions. Life’s hard. We make mistakes, we don’t always do it right. And part of what we have here in a family is people, built in people who love us and care about us to help lead us along the way to make better choices. If I think I make all the right choices all the time, I’m in a bad place. I’m not serving the Lord with humility. This is what Paul’s talking about in the early part of this text. And so if you come to me and I won’t listen, I won’t engage, I won’t hear anything you have to say.

What chances do I have to actually change for the better? To be more like Jesus. And so the encouragement, being uplifted and being built up and all of that’s all wonderful and great, and we definitely need that. But we also need the reproving and the rebuking sometimes too. And we live in a culture that just doesn’t really want to accept that at all. Anytime there’s a rebuke, it’s too mean. Anytime there’s a reproof, there wasn’t enough thought about. But the reality is sometimes we just need it. We need it to better ourselves. I’ve needed it to better myself. All of us, at least who’ve reached a certain age and can understand the words coming out of my mouth right now, have needed this at some point.

4. Be Alert, Not Naive

And Paul says, for three years I did this with tears. So our elders, they’re gonna have to do that. If they’re good leaders, if they care and they’re paying attention, there’s going to be admonition at times. And we have to accept that. We need to obey our leaders, make their job joyful, the Hebrew writer tells us in chapter 13, not something that is difficult and a burden for them. And then the last thing he has to say to them is to be alert. The good times are great, and it’s easy to kind of lose track and to stop paying attention and to enjoy successes. And I just mean this in life in general. And maybe we all have different personalities. Maybe it’s just my personality. I’ve lived for a lot of years.

We’ve had so many good things in our life. And I appreciate that, and I feel very blessed. But and I try to be really optimistic. I’ve learned that I’m not as optimistic as I once thought. But if you ever some of you live with like, you’re like, when’s the other shoe gonna drop, right? Like things are too good right now. Something must be about to happen that’s not good. Now, maybe some of you don’t. Maybe you just cruise through life and you don’t worry about anything. But I will say, he does talk about here paying careful attention, being alert. Being aware we do live in a fallen world. And yes, I should be a good person, and you should be a good person. And we believe in Jesus and we believe in God, and we should always do the right things.

But it’s naive to think that’s the way it’s always gonna go. And that’s what Paul wants them to understand. Be alert, not naive. Paul lived this. I mean, he faced threats everywhere he went. And he’s warning these elders, you’re gonna have the same thing. And I think brethren are great. I’ve lived various places, I’ve been to many churches, and brethren are amazing people. But it doesn’t mean that what Paul talks about here just isn’t gonna happen. It’s just a reality of life. And he’s warning these elders to stay vigilant. Just because things are good doesn’t mean you put your guard down. And as a congregation, just because things are good doesn’t mean you don’t worry about any of this sort of stuff, because the reality is there are people who are greedy.

There are people who abuse the weak instead of help them. There are people who seek their own glory instead of the glory of the Lord. He calls them here fierce wolves. And even worse, he tells these elders, they’re gonna rise up from among you. They’re not even necessarily gonna come from the outside. Some of these may be within. And so you have to be alert. You have to pay attention. We see this through the book of Acts. I mean, almost in the very beginning. You have Ananias and Sapphira who are seeking their own glory. They lie to the Holy Spirit. You have Simon who’s immature, he wants to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t understand, and I think he corrects course because he is rebuked and reproved by Peter.

So something that was very necessary. We have people who are trying to alter the gospel or not accept the message of the truth of the gospel. And so these kinds of things are happening even in the early church. The early church was not perfect. Everything did not go perfectly all the time in the book of Acts. It’s just a reality of life that a church that is going to endure and be strong is going to have to stay rooted in truth, and you’re going to encourage the value of character, but also stay vigilant, be alert. Pay careful attention. A few years later, you know, Paul leaves them. Seems he probably didn’t ever see them again, but he did write them a letter. He wrote them a letter and warned them in that letter about some similar things to make sure you’re equipping all of the saints.

You know, this is again, this is not just something we come to feel good and then go out in the rest of our week and not think about it much anymore. This is an equipping process. So both even in worship and what we’re learning here when we do Bible classes, the time we spend together, the purpose of this is to equip us for ministry, for service. And he’s telling them there’s some reasons for this. Yes, one of those is to be built up and to be unified and to grow and all that, but also it is to avoid the dangers of human doctrines, of human cunning, of craftiness, of deceitful schemes. All of this is in Ephesians 4 and verse 14. He’s warning them, all of these are possibilities.

And so part of what we’re doing here is yes, building up and growing and encouraging each other, but also to hold each other accountable and say, hey, don’t follow every wind and wave of doctrine that comes along. Don’t grab every book off the shelf at Barnes and Noble that claims to be the next hot religious book and start following all the things it says. That’s dangerous. And we can encourage each other in this way and warn. The idea of admonition, it’s not always rebuke, but it is at least warning. It’s what he’s doing here. Be alert, be aware. Just because some popular person says it doesn’t mean it’s good or that it’s right. We have to stay rooted in truth. We have to be true to our character and following Jesus Christ and understand the importance of avoiding the dangers of the human doctrines that surface around us and even the deceitful things.

Conclusion

You know, sometimes I don’t think it’s purposely someone trying to be deceitful, but sometimes it is. And all of that we have to be aware of and be carefully searching scriptures and working through it true to our character and to our desire to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Churches don’t stay strong by accident. We don’t come every Sunday and every Wednesday and we just stay strong just because. There’s a lot more to it than that, and I think that you know that. It involves our relationships and the way we build those together. Congregations stay strong when they are anchored in truth, and they are aware and ready to eliminate threats, the dangers. And they’re shaped individually, each of us personally, committed to being shaped by the character of Jesus Christ Himself.

That’s where we started with all of this. Looking to Jesus, looking at who he was and what he did, and thinking about how we can be more like him. We’ve made our way through the stories of Acts, through the early disciples who are trying to do that. They were trying to follow Jesus. They didn’t always do it right. There were mistakes made along the way. Sometimes there was correction needed. But the bottom line in all of this is every single one of us has to make a choice. We all have to make a choice if we’re going to continue in the ways of the world, going after passions and desires of the flesh, going after things that seem pleasant at the time, or they may seem tempting or alluring, but ultimately in the end will bring no fulfillment.

Or we can take the testimony of Jesus Himself and of His followers and decide He’s the way.

What are you living for? If you don’t accept this, consider the consequences. If you will not accept Jesus Christ, one day, whenever it is for you, 50, 70, 90, 103, it doesn’t matter, you will be on your deathbed. And you will think, what was all of this for? What will your answer be? What will you say about why you’ve lived this life and how you’ve lived this life? I hope that you will say that you lived in Jesus Christ, that you walked in his path, and that this is just a passageway to something much better. And when you lay there one day, you will have peace of mind, knowing that you’ve walked the way of the Lord, the way of holiness, and you will be in the eternal city, the heavenly Jerusalem, where you will worship forever and ever with God’s people and be in his presence and in his glory.

If you haven’t done that this morning, you can do it now. You can give your life to Jesus Christ, just as Acts talks about. You can die with Christ. You can be buried in baptism and you’ll be resurrected to newness of life, making a decision of the heart that you want to follow him. We have water ready for that. We will assist you on the way with this change and the transformation you want to make in your life, as we’re all trying to still do that ourselves. Can we help you this morning? Why don’t you come now as we stand and we sing?

I want to spread to be rescue. I love me to be mad. I come here to be honest by the lace of men, and I will grow with overseas and grace I freed your soul. I come program to be to be spread to be rescued, I to be to be honest by the price of my will. Before we sing beautiful lamb for the Lord’s Supper, is there anyone here that did not pick up the emblems this morning? If you did not, we have a couple of gentlemen in the back that can get them to you. Just raise your hand. Hi.

In Luke 22nd chapter in verse 19, it says, And he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. As we prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Supper today, I want us to focus on a single word Jesus used when he instituted the Lord’s Supper. Remember. He said, Do this in remembrance of me. It’s incredibly easy for this moment to become a routine, something we just do out of habit. But these simple elements, a piece of bread and a cup of juice, are meant to anchor us back to the most profound act of pure love in human history.

This was the pivotal moment when God died for others. No other religion in the world could come close to this story.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Lives trying to hide our own brokenness. We mask our mistakes, our anxieties, and our failures because we want the world to think we have it all together. But at this table, we don’t have to pretend. Jesus allowed his perfect body to be broken on the cross precisely because we are broken. As you hold the bread today, remember that his brokenness is what makes our healing possible. He took on our pain so that we could step into his peace. Our Savior came to serve and suffer and be sacrificed for our sins. In Matthew the 26th chapter, verse 28, it said Jesus says, For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. This cup represents an incredible cost, but it also represents overwhelming grace.

It is a visual, tangible reminder that your sins have been completely washed away. It is God’s ultimate declaration that you are loved, you are forgiven, and you are free.

Let us never forget what a great sacrifice Jesus was and why we’re here. Let us pray. Lord, we ask you now to bless this bread, the body of your beloved Son, your only Son, who you gave to be sacrificed for us. Help us to never forget his sacrifice, that we might have life through him. We pray that all who partake do so in a manner well pleasing unto you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let us pray for the fruit of the vine. And like mine, our father, please bless this fruit of the vine, which represents your son’s precious blood that was willingly spilled for us at your command. In his name we pray. Amen.

How good was it to be here this morning? looking around, watching you guys worship. yeah, it’s I don’t know. Brent, great your lesson. I know you threw that in there, but it was a great lesson. And family. And if you look around here, we are family. some of us are a little crazier than others. a lot of you looked at that one. It was really good to be here this morning. A few announcements. Let’s keep Aaron and Elizabeth Barkov in our prayers always for everything they’re going through. But also, particularly right now, her brother Frank. They’re still pending results from his test. Elena’s aunt Shirley Lafferty passed away on Friday. and she’s from Sugarland. The memorial will be on Friday of this year.

Of this week, sorry. let’s remember I’m not going to go through all the babies that have come and those are coming, but let’s keep all of them in our prayers. Mothers, children expecting. we are growing in that way for sure. Marcy, I’m gonna say Marcy’s father, Harry Rowe, who we all know. he did have a heart attack on Wednesday, and he went that has gone home and he went to church this morning. That’s where we th yeah, of course he did. So that’s good to hear. Robbie Robin’s mother, Caroline, she fractured her femur. she has been moved to a real rehabilitation center. She’s hoping to get into a better one, so let’s keep her and Robbie in our prayers.

Group five, group five will meet tonight at the Harkriters, and that was up earlier, so maybe it’ll go up again. Sorry, Daniel said it will, so my brother Daniel. Okay, elders and deacons, any other announcements for this morning? John said no, so come on. Good job, Dad. Before we’re dismissable, singing, Behold our God. No me, no. Who has in his hand? Who has hung every grain of sand? Kings and nation by his voice. All creation rises to be told.

Who can one who knows all things? Who can have all his wonders?

Nothing can come back.

Behold God seated on his eyes.

You will bring for the rain for Sean is wrong, come let us adopt nothing can come back. Come let us adopt seal on his wrong let us know be hothing can come back. Come let us adopt. Dear Lord God, we thank you for this great day you give us today, and we thank you for the opportunity to come together and worship today. Lord, please help us to take the lesson and everything we’ve learned and apply in our daily lives. And in your name we pray, Amen.