Holy Scriptures and Israel

Gideon Levytam: Could you please open your Bibles today to the book of Acts? We are going to seek to finish with Acts 20 today, since we have covered in our last ministry meeting Acts chapter 20 verses 1 to 16. I would like today to read Acts chapter 20 verse 17 to verse 38. And will you please follow with me in this chapter.

Acts chapter 20, verse 17. And from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, you know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the laying in wait of the Jews.

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, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And now behold I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Spirit witness in every city, saying that bonds and affliction abide me.

But none of these things moved me, neither count I my life dear unto myself so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Yeshua to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold I know that you all among whom I have gone preaching the Kingdom of God shall see my face no more.

Wherefore, I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declared unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to feed the Church of God which He has purchased with His own blood, for I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock.

Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Therefore, watch, and remember that by the space of three years, I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears. And now brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

I have coveted no men's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, you yourself know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye are to support the weak, and to remember the word of our Lord Yeshua, how He said it is more blessed to give than to received.

And when he had thus spoken, He kneeled down and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship. And this is the end of Acts chapter 20. The verses that I read is verses 17 to verse 38.

Reading this passage, beloved brothers and sisters, is a very moving passage that is found in the book of Acts because you can see the heart of the Apostle Paul, of Shaul, towards the believers that God had used him to minister, to serve them, to share with them the message of the gospel of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And you can see really a heart of a shepherd.

A heart of a minister of the gospel, a heart of a one that was truly seeking to minister the word of God to the world around, both to his own brethren, the Jewish people, as well as to the Gentile world. He had a heart that we can say the heart of God, the heart of the Messiah. He had love towards the saints, whether they were Jewish or non-Jewish, but he loved the ministry and he loved the people to whom he ministered.

And how often time, I must say that we by the fact that our hearts are not always the way it should be, we often find ourselves in ministry so hard-hearted and so weak in the sense of our responsibility to the Lord and to the Lord's people that we often minister the word of God without that which is supposed to come along. Yearning heart, conscience that is desiring to please the Lord and to be a blessing to the people of God.

And here is the Apostle Paul, who is now on his third missionary journey. He's really towards the end of his ministry because he's going to be captured soon, a bit later on in the city of Jerusalem. He's going to be taken by the Romans, and he's going to be ultimately taken to Rome where he's going to be in prison. He's no longer going to be able to minister in the freedom that he had before.

And here just before he's heading on towards Jerusalem, towards the city of Jerusalem, which he's going to get there by chapter 21 and verse 17. This is his last half, if you will, his last portion of his third missionary journey. He's now gathering the elders of the city of Ephesus, and he's appealing to them before he's continuing on towards the city of Jerusalem.

If you remember in our previous ministry meeting, when we talked about Acts chapter 20, verses 1 to 16, he visited Macedonia, he visited Greece, and in those last verses before verse 17, we find him moving on from Assos to Mytilene, from Mytilene to Chios, from Chios to Samos, and from Samos to Trogyllium, and from Trogyllium to Miletus.

Miletus is about 28 miles from Ephesus. It is present-day Turkey. And from there, I want you to notice, brothers and sisters, that in verses 17 to 21, from Miletus he is now calling the elders of the church of Ephesus to come to him. You notice it says in verse 17, "And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and he called the elders of the church, the elders of the assembly."

Now, that was about 57, 58 AD, when the Apostle Paul is calling them to come. This is just towards the end of his third missionary journey, which started about 54 AD and ended about 58, 57 AD, and he's now calling from Miletus for the elders of the church of the Ephesians. Now, notice, brothers and sisters, he's calling the elders.

The elders, the Greek word for elders is 'presbyteries', which means those that are older and those who are overseeing the condition that existed in the church of Ephesus. And you know today we have many elders in various local assemblies, local church groups, and their responsibility is the welfare of the flock of God.

God had raised men, God had raised brothers, and he had gifted them and had given to them their spiritual responsibility to oversee the welfare of the flock, on which God had placed them as responsible. You notice it called there in verse 17, "the elders of the church." Many time, we emphasize the word 'church'. The church is not the building. The word for church is 'ecclesia', called out individuals.

And whether it is from Israel, from among our Jewish people, or whether it is from among the Gentile believers, the church is the body of Messiah, it is the living stones, the believers, and those are the elders over this local assembly at Ephesus. Now, what he does here, beloved brothers and sisters, in the rest of the chapter, he's reminding the elders of his past dealing with them, first of all.

Then he's telling them of his present feeling and what's going to happen to him. And then he is telling them about the future of the things that will happen in the local assembly at Ephesus. And what we really see here, that the Apostle Paul speaking about the past, the present, and the future. The way he acted in the past, the way the things are headed up to happen for him in the present, and the things that will happen in the future to the church of Ephesus.

And ultimately it will be among all believers elsewhere around the world in the body of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. So, let's look it over here in our verses, how the Apostle Paul first of all remind the elders of Ephesus of his past ministry among them. Notice there, first of all, he is telling them in verse 18, and I want you to see, brothers and sisters, what kind of a man was Shaul, Paul.

This Hebrew servant of the Lord among the Gentile believers. Look at the kind of servant he was. In verse 18, Paul pointed out to the elders the manner in which he behaved among them. He says in verse 18, "And when they were come to him, he said unto them, you know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons."

He's first of all pointing out to the manner in which he conducted himself. We know very well from many, many passages in the Bible, the mannerisms of the Apostle Paul. He was a gracious man. He was a man that spoke the truth of the word of God. He stood firm for the word of God, for the person and the work of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And the manner in which he conducted himself.

His mannerism had been such a consistent mannerism. He was faithful. He was consistent. You know, many times the manner of our behavior as believers is not always pleasing to the Lord. But the Apostle Paul, apparently, in his mannerism, in a way that he conducted himself, in such a way that it was a blessing to those that were around him, and especially in connection with the believers at the city of Ephesus.

He says, "Look, from the day, from the first day that I came, you know, until and all along what manner I have been with you." And notice, "at all seasons." From the beginning, till the time that he have left them. Apparently, he was there for three years. You can find the word 'three years' found in verse 31, that for three years spent at the city of Ephesus, he conducted himself in a manner that was pleasing to the Lord and a blessing to the others.

You know, this is so important for us in the manner in which we are also conduct ourselves. You know how it is for us, sometimes we are quickly to get angry. We are quickly to behave in a manner that is not right and not pleasing to the Lord. And we can mention all kind of things that sometime in our behavior is not pleasing to the Lord. But the Apostle Paul behaved in a manner, "in what manner I have been with you at every season."

You know, when they had a hard time, he was with them dealing with the issues. The problems that occurred there in a hard time, in an easy time, his mannerism was consistent with the need of the local assembly at Ephesus. What an encouragement you and I can receive from the manner in which the Apostle Paul was. And then look at this, he developed this in a next verse, in verse 19.

And he's saying to them, "Listen, I was really serving the Lord by my manner, in my behavior." Verse 19, he says, "Listen, I was serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations which befell upon me by the laying in wait of the Jewish people." He's saying to them, "Look at that, beloved elders of the Ephesians, look at the manner in which I was actually serving the Lord."

You know, he served the Ephesians, but really when he conducted himself in such a godly way, he was looking to Yeshua the Messiah, the glorified Messiah. And he said, "In my service, in my ministry, really, even though I served you, but actually I was serving the Lord. I was looking to the one that have called me for this purpose, for this service." And look at this, brothers and sisters, in verse 19.

He says, "With all humility." Now, if we are going to serve our blessed Lord Yeshua the Messiah, it is necessary to have humility in all our service. There is no room for pride. Pride comes before a fall. God resists the proud, but He gives grace unto the humble. We read in scripture, "Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and He will exalt you in due time."

You know, brothers and sisters, if we are going to serve the Lord, if we are going to be used in a ministry of the gospel, it must be done in humility. It must be done as we are looking at our blessed Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who humbled himself. We read in the book of Philippians, made himself of no reputation. He humbled himself, he came down from heaven.

He became a man just like you and I. And he humbled himself, and he took a form of a servant. And as a servant, we read about our Lord Yeshua the Messiah that he humbled himself, when he went down even unto death, and death is the death of the cross, when he paid for our sin on the tree, when he died for us. This is the ministry in humility the Apostle Paul served the Ephesians.

And that's why he used this expression in verse 19, "I serve the Lord, number one, with all humility of mind." In other words, he put a check on his mind. Sometimes, you know, in ministry we get to be kind of thinking of ourself a little bit more than we ought to think. And we think that the whole world depend upon me, as if God could not do anything without me or without this servant that he used.

But let me tell you that when there is pride in our ministry, the Lord will have to put it down. He will have to remove it from his presence, because that is not the characteristics of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. And every one of us that participate in ministry have to put a watch on his own heart and his own conscience when he began to lift himself in pride, because God resists the proud.

But then, secondly, brothers and sisters, it was not only in humility that you find here the Apostle Paul in verse 19. He says, "with many tears." Now, why do we cry? Why do we weep sometime? You know, tears coming because of disappointments, because of concern. You know, the Apostle Paul was so concerned for the believers wherever he served, that many times you find him weeping before the Lord, weeping for the people of God.

Remember yesterday, in our Bible study, when we studied in First Corinthians in chapter one, how the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthian that he was praying and mentioning the Corinthians consistently before God, before the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Why? Because he loved the brothers and sisters of Corinth, and he cared for them, and he wanted them to grow spiritually.

So, in his ministry he find himself many times weeping in ministry. You notice in this same chapter, at least another two times that the word 'tears' or 'weeping' is mentioned. If you look at verse 31, he says, "I want everyone night and day with tears." Notice in verse 37, "And they all wept sore." The weeping, the tears that the Apostle shed was the tears that he's concerned for the welfare of the people of God.

And you know, he was not different than our Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. One of the shortest verse is found in John chapter 11, where we read of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, "and Jesus wept." And Yeshua 'bakha' in Hebrew. Yeshua wept. Why did he weep? He was at Lazarus' graveside, and he's looking at the Jewish community there when Lazarus is in the grave, and he saw the condition of his own people, Israel, the Jewish community, the Jewish people.

And they were mourning, and they were weeping of the loss of Lazarus. And here in the midst of them was the one who is called the resurrection and the life, the Messiah Yeshua himself. And he's looking at the people, and he saw them they're all mourning and weeping of the loss of Lazarus because they did not recognize there is a hope beyond the grave, there is a resurrection from among the dead.

And Yeshua wept when he looked at the people, and that's where he says, "Lazarus, come forth!" And Lazarus, the one who was dead, came alive, and he rose. But this is the shortest verse in the scripture, "Yeshua wept" for the care and the concern for the people of God. Elsewhere, you read about him in the Gospel of Luke where he saw the city of Jerusalem, and he wept over the city of Jerusalem because of his love for his own people, Israel, and the concern for the nation.

And here the Apostle Paul, in a very same way, he was weeping. We never read that earlier when we studied chapter 18 and 19 of the book of Acts. But apparently in those three years when he served at the city of Ephesus, according to verse 19, not only that he had been there in humility, but he also shed many tears. And I can tell you, beloved brothers and sisters, in ministry of the work of the Lord, many servants many times spending in weeping before the Lord because of the condition of the believers.

Because of the friction among the believers, because of the needs of the people of God. And I have seen it many years ago. I went to a meeting, my own meeting of Holy Scriptures and Israel meeting, and I came a little bit earlier to the meeting. And there's another group that was meeting in the same hall, but they were meeting earlier than us. And I went to the hall, and I was alone in that hall. I thought I was alone.

And then I was going further down to the basement, and I was watching another brother who was on his knees, weeping before the Lord. And I heard him as praying aloud. He was praying for the people of God, for those to whom he was ministering. He was on his knees, alone. He thought he was alone, just as I thought that I was alone, but he was weeping.

Nobody knew that he was weeping. Nobody knew that he was cared so much for his people. Maybe he did show it in his life, and I'm sure he did. But when he was alone, he went in the presence of the Lord, and he was weeping on behalf of the local assembly, upon whom the Lord gave him the responsibility to minister the word of God. The care for the flock of the people of God bring those leaders into the time where they have to weep before the Lord for the sake of the flock.

So, you can see the mannerism in which the Apostle Paul, Shaul was serving. Then, notice, thirdly, brothers and sisters, in the very same verse 19, we see the third thing that the Apostle Paul had to experience in his manner and his behavior. Notice it says, "and temptations." This word for temptation is really need to be the word for 'trials'. How many trials this man have experienced.

On the way to Damascus, when Yeshua have called him to serve him, and then later on he told Ananias that he will go, and he will touch his eyes, and he will give him sight. He said to Ananias, "You go, for he's a chosen vessel unto me, this is Shaul, Paul, to bear my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the children of Israel, for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake."

Shaul, Paul, have suffered for the name of the Lord so many things in his life. He have experienced a lot of suffering in his life. He have experienced suffering by his own Jewish brethren. He had experienced suffering by their own Gentile brethren. He had experienced by the unbelieving world, by the Romans, by strangers. He had experienced all sort of persecutions and suffering that we can read that in many passages in the scriptures, in the word of God.

And so the Apostle Paul reminding the believers of the fact that he was faithful in the manner in which he behaved when he served the Ephesians, and he reminding this to the elders in verses 17, 18 and 19. And now, let's move on in verse 20 and 21. Paul pointing out to the message that he presented the Ephesians with. Look at the message when he have arrived to the city of Ephesus.

It says here in verse 20 and verse 21, "And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but I have showed you and I have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and to the Greeks, repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah." Notice the message now, he's pointing out to the message. When it's come to the message, I want you to notice a few things. First of all, Paul taught publicly and from house to house.