Acts 20:28-38 Under-Shepherds - July 26, 2026

 Acts 20:28-38 Under-Shepherds

Good morning! Turn with me once again to Acts chapter 20, verses 28-38, page 930 in the pew Bibles.

Last time we looked at this farewell address from the Apostle Paul to the elders of the Ephesian church. In the first half of this farewell sermon to them he focused on his own work among them, and now he turns his attention to their work and gives his final charge to them.

And while these were some final instructions to a group of elders and pastors, there is still a great deal we can learn from this sermon and be encouraged by its instructions.

So, let’s look at the text and dive in.

28 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. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 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. 33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In 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.’ ” 

36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 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.

Let’s pray.

So as we consider this text, we can see that this was a sort of farewell address from an upper shepherd to some under-shepherds. And as we examine this we might also use it as a bit of a report card for our own family here at CrossRoads.

So there is one thing that we have to make clear right off the bat, and that is the term “overseer” used in verse 28.

There are a few terms used in the New Testament to describe this role within the church family, one of which is “overseer.” I’ve already used the other two this morning, they are “elder” and “pastor.” The New Testament authors, inspired by the Holy Spirit, use these terms interchangeably. And they do so because they all mean the same thing, they describe the same office, the office of shepherd.

The Bibles uses the picture of the shepherd repeatedly in both Old and New Testaments. Don’t we love to recite Psalm 23, the Shepherd’s Psalm? And who is the Shepherd? The Lord!

1 Peter 5:4 calls Jesus the Chief Shepherd. Jesus said in John 10:14 that He is the Good Shepherd. Ezekiel 34:24 says that David, who was a type of Christ, was a shepherd over the people of Israel, given to watch over them and feed them.

The Greek word for shepherd is poimen, the Latin word for poimen is pastor. 

The role is the same as an overseer, sometimes translated bishop, and it’s the same as the word we use here, elder. The roles are all the same. I serve as an elder, just as Joel and Will do, and they are pastors just like I am. The only difference is that my primary responsibility is for preaching.

The definitions and qualifications for this role is clearly spelled out in Titus 1:5-7 and 1 Timothy 3:2-7. You can look that up as homework.

All this to say, that this is the group that Paul is talking to and reminding them of their responsibilities. And what are the responsibilities? There are three, pay attention to yourselves, pay attention to the flock, pay attention to the wolves. This is the job of shepherds.

First, in verse 28, Paul tells the elders to pay careful attention to themselves.

Seems kind of backwards doesn’t it? Aren’t they supposed to put others first? Isn’t that what we are all supposed to do? Sure, in a general sense we are, but when it comes to the role of shepherd their level of spiritual health and depth will be reflected in the entire church family.

When I was a kid and my grandfather was teaching me to do woodturning, the first thing he made sure of was that I was using a sharp tool. A dull tool is far more dangerous than a sharp one. A sharp tool cuts easy but a dull tool has to be pushed harder and forced to cut. This puts the operator in a dangerous situation and one slip can be disastrous. The same is true when it comes to spiritual shepherding. If the tool isn’t sharp, shepherds put themselves in a dangerous situation and in step of shepherding by the Spirit they use worldly wisdom or potentially selfish motivation or pride to direct people.

Paul made clear that his doctrine had been pure and so theirs should be too. Without pure, biblical doctrine, biblical teaching, you cannot have biblical shepherding. And when you try to have a church apart from biblical doctrine, you don’t have a church at all.

Don’t forget, those who are appointed to this task, to this role will have to give an account for what they taught and how they lead according to Hebrews 13:17.

The elders were not only to pay careful attention to themselves, but obviously to the flock, the church. 

If those appointed to oversee the church were referred to as shepherds, what does that make those in their charge? Sheep.

Nowadays this gets thrown around as an insult, as if people don’t think for themselves, just follow the crowd, are generally unintelligent, and stubborn… and smelly. Doesn’t sound like us at all, does it?

Unfortunately, the Bible refers to us all as sheep because they do so closely resemble us. Jesus left the 99 sheep to go find the one lost sheep. Why? Because he wandered off. Isaiah 53 says that all we, like sheep, have gone astray, everyone turned to our own way. Jesus described sheep falling into pits on the Sabbath day because it was a common occurrence.

Maybe we are not that dissimilar after all. 

If you ever have some time and want a good laugh, look up “Super Sheep” by Ken Davis on YouTube. It’s hilarious, and powerful.

1 Peter 5:1-4 says, So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

So how do the elders shepherd the flock? First of all, by feeding them the wholesome and nourishing food of the Word of God. This does include sermons and Bible studies, but also doctrinally sound and appropriate songs for worship in singing. A person may never remember any sermon points but we all get songs stuck in our heads, we remember lyrics easy! 

But it’s not just the formal, or semi-formal, I guess “official” meetings of the church but also the examples that they set just living life. Living lives that honor God, not being greedy, or proud, or covetous. Giving wise counsel and practical guidance and watch-care for the church family.

The beautiful thing about this whole picture is that the shepherds, the elders, were sheep too, they had just grown into sheep shepherding sheep. And the work of shepherding isn’t just to make the sheep feel warm and fuzzy all the time but also to train the sheep to work.

Ephesians 4 says, 11 And [Jesus] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…

The work of the ministry is not reserved just for those who are called to be shepherds but for everybody in the church family. Growth and development into works of service is part of the program. We need to be investing in others, especially the next generation of potential shepherds so that our church family doesn’t just grow old and die.

Verse 29 and 30 say, 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

Guarding the flock against fake sheep, false teachers, and false teaching is a primary task of the shepherds. Warning against authors and speakers that do not faithfully teach the Word of God but only teach what itching ears want to hear is a big part of the job because there is so much out there that sounds good at first but when you get down to it is false and just plain bad.

There are authors that we should not read. There are preachers that we should not listen to. There are songs we should not sing because they do not accurately reflect the Word of God and the gospel. This is a less fun, but very necessary part of shepherding the flock, watching out for wolves in sheep’s clothing.

John Calvin outlined four reasons Paul gives for elders to do their duty diligently. These are paraphrased.

First, they should do their duty diligently because they were bound to the flock that they have been appointed to oversee. They were a part of that family so they were to watch over themselves as they watched over the church family. You can’t look after the salvation and sanctification of others if you neglect your own, you are part of the flock too and also need shepherding.

Second, they should do their duty diligently because they were called to this work, not by man but by the Holy Spirit. 

The elders will have to give an account to the One who appointed them the work so be diligent and faithful.

Thirdly, they should do their duty diligently because it is no small honor to oversee the church of Christ. Jesus is the Chief Shepherd and Author of the incomparable riches of our salvation. It is a privilege to be His under-shepherd.

And lastly, they should do their duty diligently because the Lord declared His high view of the church by redeeming it with His own blood. The preciousness of the church in the Lord’s sight ought to urge the elders to do the work joyfully when we consider the great price that Christ paid for us.

Verse 32 says, and we’ll end with this, 32 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.

Paul recognized that the church belongs to Jesus and so he was able to commend them to God and to the word of His grace because he knew that God is able to build them up and give them their inheritance in His eternal kingdom along with all the saints, those who are sanctified.

No matter how long I’ve been preaching here, this is not my church, this family does not belong to the elders, we belong to Jesus. The elders, overseers, pastors, shepherds, whatever you want to call us, are His servants and stewards of His most prized possession.

So if you are left wondering, so what, what does any of this have to do with me? 

I would encourage you to do two things: first, pray for the elders, this is not work that anybody can do without the Lord’s help. 

Second, let us know how we’re doing. If there are gaps we don’t see let us know, if we’re knocking it out of the park, let us know. It’s a work that is bigger than any of us and those serving in this role need encouragement and watch-care ourselves.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. 

Amen.

Acts 20:13-27 A Fine Example - July 19, 2026

 Acts 20:13-27 A Fine Example

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 20, verses 13-27, page 929 in the pew Bibles.

As you are turning there, I’d like to ask you a question. Has there ever been somebody in your life that you looked up to and wanted to be like? A mentor, or teacher, or friend, somebody that, in your mind, got things right and you wanted to be like them?

I know that nobody is perfect except Jesus, and He may have been your answer to the question, especially if you are trying to impress the pastor! Other than Jesus, there are no perfect examples, but there are, and have been in the past, people worth imitating.

Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”

2 Thessalonians 3:7-9, 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate.

1 Corinthians 4:15-16, 15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

And lastly, 1 Corinthians 11:1, Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Let’s pray.

As we consider Acts chapter 20 this morning, we are going to focus on the example set by the Apostle Paul. After all, he wrote three of the four quotes I just read, and I believe he was one of the leaders who spoke the Word of God mentioned in Hebrews 13.

So let’s read our text for this morning and see if we can discover any of the patterns that we are to follow.

13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. 

Again, this is kind of just a travel log. Really the only thing of interest here is the fact that Paul walked to Assos while the rest of his team went by boat. Maybe he just wanted some time alone with the Lord. We don’t know. He also didn’t want to stop in Ephesus because it would most likely seriously delay him in reaching Jerusalem. Again, we don’t know for sure.

17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18 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, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

Can you see attributes of a servant of God worth imitating there in that paragraph?

Humble, patient, faithful, courageous, diligent, trusting, loving, confident, persevering, content, self-sacrificing…

There is another list very similar to that one that Paul wrote about in Galatians 5:22-25, 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

That was how Paul lived his life after coming to faith in Christ, that was the fruit that the Spirit of God cultivated in Him, and by exercising them he lived by the Spirit and kept in step with the Spirit. This really had to do with his heart attitude and how it was reflected in his behavior and lifestyle.

This was really a farewell sermon from Paul to the Elders of the Ephesian church. He was on his way to Jerusalem not knowing what would happen to him there, but you can tell, he thought it was going to be bad. Regardless, he felt compelled to go.

I think that his statement at the end there in verses 26-27 should be what we all aspire to be able to say with a clear conscience: 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

He could confidently say that he had done all the good he could among them, and preached the gospel to everyone that he could there, both Jew and Gentile. If anyone rejected the gospel, their blood was on their own heads, he did all that he could.

No regrets, he left it all out there. That’s an example that we should follow.

Paul was just a guy, saved by grace through faith in Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, and called to preach the gospel, just like us.

And right in the middle of this passage, there is a short but beautiful summary of the gospel with one remarkable detail that we would do well to not ignore.

20 …I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Repentance and faith, two sides of the same coin, and you can’t have one without the other.

Preaching faith without repentance is superficial at best, deadly at worst. Jesus said Himself that He came to call sinners to repentance.

At the same time, repentance without faith is devoid of any comfort or hope. It only results in despair or self-righteousness in an effort to make the redemption in Jesus unnecessary.

You simply cannot have one without the other and be saved.

So let’s define our terms so we don’t get, or stay, confused.

What is repentance? A complete change of mind. Literally turning 180 degrees from sin to God.

And what is faith? It’s not simply believing historical facts, it’s trusting in the person and work of Jesus. Trusting that He is who said He is, and did what He said He would do.

And what is necessary to have both?

As far as repentance is concerned, we must first recognize our sin and sinfulness.

David wrote in Psalm 51,

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

The second part you can almost hear in David’s words, along with acknowledging our sin comes sorrow for our sin.

If we continue to sin and it doesn’t prick our conscience at all, it is evidence that we may never have really repented of our sin in the first place.

And if we say we have no sin, 1 John 1:8-10 says,

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

We must recognize our sin, feel sorrow for our sin, and, the third step toward repentance, the desire to be forgiven of our sin.

But if we stop here it doesn’t mean that we are saved. We cannot simply turn away from the acts of sinning and just try not to sin anymore. We will never be a good enough person to earn forgiveness. After all, when a person is saved, what are they saved from? The righteous wrath of God, justice for our crimes, the eternal penalty that we deserve.

It’s not enough to just tell God, “sorry,” and move on with our lives and hope for the best. When we repent, when we turn away from our sin, we must turn in faith to Jesus Christ.

Just like repentance, faith has three pieces.

First, it begins with the knowledge that Jesus, the Redeemer has come. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but would have everlasting life. (That’s John 3:16 in case you’ve never heard it before.)

Along with the knowledge that Jesus really did live comes joy that he lived among us, that God took on flesh and dwelt among us.

And thirdly, confidence in Jesus’ reconciling, sanctifying, saving death on the cross and His resurrection. In His grace, He took our place.

Matthew Henry wrote, “We must by repentance look towards God as our end; and by faith towards Christ as our way to God. Sin must by repentance be abandoned and forsaken, and then Christ must by faith be relied on for the pardon of sin. Our repentance towards God is not sufficient, we must have the true faith in Christ as our Redeemer and Savior, consenting to Him as our Lord and God. For there is no coming to God, as penitent prodigals to a father, but in the strength and righteousness of Jesus Christ as Mediator.”

This was all wrapped up in Paul’s simple summary, that is what he, and we, were called to proclaim. As Alistair Begg said, “Letting everyone I meet know all about the Good News of God’s amazing grace.”

And that grace is available through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Acts 20:1-12 Travels and Tragedies - July 12, 2026

 Acts 20:1-12 Travels and Tragedies

Good morning! Believe it or not we are nearing the fourth quarter in our study of the book of Acts. Today we are going to look at Acts 20, verses 1-12, page 929 in the pew Bibles.

Things are beginning to accelerate in the ministry of the Apostle Paul. We begin with Paul and his companions in Ephesus right after the riot and move from there to his plan to travel to Jerusalem.

There are two sections that we are going to look at today, verses 1-6 and then verses 7-12. So let’s pray first and read one section at a time and examine them together.

Let’s pray.

After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Let’s pause there. 

I think it’s important to see that Paul did not run away during the riot that we read about last week. He may not have been in the theater since the disciples kept him from going in there, but he wanted to be. He wanted to state his case no matter the danger to him personally. This wasn’t a pride issue, it was a gospel issue. It was so important to Paul that people hear about the saving work of Jesus, that he counted his life worth nothing in comparison.

Paul’s example of loving his neighbors went a whole lot further than just being nice or not offending anybody or hurting their feelings. He spoke the truth in love no matter the consequences.

But he didn’t run away from the conflict in Ephesus. It wasn’t until after the battle was fought and peace was restored that he left. After things quieted down he gathered the disciples to say goodbye and headed for Macedonia.

I really wanted to find something in these first few verses but even John Calvin said that there was no need for a lengthy exposition of this text!

You can actually learn more about this trip from 2 Corinthians chapters 2 and 7 than from these verses we read. Something worth noting however, is that during the three month stay at Corinth in Greece from verse 3, Paul wrote the letter to the Romans before he even met them.

Instead of sailing back to Antioch in Syria because of a plot from the Jews to kill him aboard ship or throw him overboard, he headed inland, north through Macedonia and sailed from Philippi to Troas where he met up with the rest of the group.

Did you notice who was unnamed but we can see joined Paul in Phillipi on the way to Troas? Luke! In verse 5 Luke starts using “us,” and, “we,” again!

So that’s kind of the quick hit of the first section, really just a travel log. But I want to spend a little more time on the second section that takes place during the seven days that they spent in Troas, also known as Troy.

7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.

There’s a couple of things to notice here in this section. The first is the pattern, the pattern of the early church.

You remember that the book of Acts is not just a description of event but a prescription for the church to follow? Here is some of that prescription.

They gathered on the first day of the week, that’s Sunday. Why do we meet on Sunday? Because the early church met on Sunday. Why did the early church meet on Sunday? To remember the resurrection of the Lord Jesus that also happened on a Sunday.

And when they were gathered together what did they do? First of all, they broke bread. See it wasn’t the Baptists that invented the idea of, “if you feed them they will come!”

This expression, “Breaking bread,” means, not just a communal meal, but also, the meal we call Communion. The sacred and sacramental meal of brotherly fellowship and remembrance of the Lord’s sacrifice for us, the Lord’s supper. They shared this holy meal in the context of an actual meal together. That’s why we do it that way on the first Sunday of every month here at CrossRoads.

Acts 2:42-47 describes church life this way:

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42 describes the church in Jerusalem, long before this meeting in Troas with the Apostle Paul and his team but here they were still following the pattern.

The meeting of the church in Troas had the added benefit of getting the Apostles’ teaching straight from an Apostle!

Paul’s mission was not just to proclaim the gospel to Gentiles and then leave them with nothing for teaching. That’s why he returned to visit the churches to encourage them in their faith and trust in Jesus, and that’s what he was doing here.

And amid all this peace and happiness and wonderfulness, something terrible happens. 

Paul, like so many preachers after him lost one. Somebody fell asleep during his sermon. Only instead of the embarrassment of waking up with a snort or getting elbowed by his wife, this kid fell out the window.

Look, if you’re going to fall asleep in church at least don’t sit in the window! That’s excitement we don’t need!

As funny as we might think it is now, 2000 years later, for the church that night it was awful, at least at first.

And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.”

By the power of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul Eutychus was brought back to life.

But I’m still forced to wonder, why did he die? Why did God allow that? Truthfully, why did God preordain that to happen?

This is often what we ask when things don’t make sense to us, or when awful things happen. When my sister was killed, the first person that greeted me at the door for the funeral asked me that question, why did this happen?

In the thick of it, it’s often a difficult, if not impossible question to answer. But in truth, the answer is always the same even if it is difficult to reconcile in our minds. 

The answer is, for the glory of God.

This tragic event as well as its miraculous outcome stirred up the faith of the people who witnessed it. The boy was raised up and they all went back upstairs and kept eating and talking and glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ.

Just like in Acts 2, awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

Often, we think that these difficult situations that we experience are evidence of God’s curse upon us, of even His absence from us, but that is never, ever the case! This event, the death of this kid was an example of God’s blessing to the church and has stood as a testament of that blessing for as long as we have been able to read the story.

And just because nobody got brought back to life in the story of our struggles doesn’t mean that the outcome isn’t for God’s glory and our good. In the case of my sister, over three hundred people gathered for her memorial service got to hear the gospel and the hope and forgiveness that comes through faith in Jesus.

That day in Troas, the people listening joyfully accepted the teaching of Paul and it was rooted in their minds and hearts.

Don’t ever waste a hurt or a hard time, they are all given to point people to Jesus.

Amen.

Acts 19:21-20:1 – Ephesians 1:15-23 Praying for the Saints - July 5, 2026

 Acts 19:21-20:1 – Ephesians 1:15-23 Praying for the Saints

Good morning, turn with me to Acts 19:21-20:1, page 928 in the pew Bibles.

I am very grateful for Will and his willingness to step in and deliver the sermon last week. I was watching it live online and really missing all of you. Thank you all for your prayers.

Let’s pray.

21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. 

23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.” 

28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. 30 But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31 And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 

35 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly. 

20 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia.

I’m not actually going to preach on this text. I’m not really going to say anything about it at all other than to say these events described here took place in Ephesus, which you could have just read for yourself.

What I would like to talk with you about is something from the letter that the Apostle Paul would later write to the church there in Ephesus when he was in prison.

Turn to Ephesians chapter one, verse one, page 976 in the pew Bibles.

This is another one of those times when the Lord put something on my heart, kind of convicted me a little bit, and you all get to hear about it and hopefully be challenged and encouraged by it as well.

Ephesians 1:1.

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, 

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

 11In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

 15For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Though I read all of that, I would like to focus on just verses 15-23.

Verses 15-23 are like one long run-on sentence. Paul doesn’t pause to take a breath or insert punctuation because he is so passionate about what he is sharing. There’s only two periods in the whole paragraph!

And what is it that he is so passionate about? In the first half of chapter one it’s praise of who God is and what he has done and in the second half of Ephesians one it’s prayer, and prayer is what we are going to focus on today.

Paul praises God as a loving Father who chose us before time began to be holy and blameless in his sight, He adopted us as his children, He bought us back from destruction with Jesus’ life on the cross, He set us free to worship him, He forgave our sins, He revealed to us the mystery that is the church and included us in it through the gospel and faith in Jesus Christ, and He gave us the Holy Spirit as a seal and deposit guaranteeing our place in His eternal kingdom. 

Now that is a loving Father!

And because of all this Paul says in verse 15:  15For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

There are few things I find more encouraging than to hear someone whom I value say that they are praying for me. I don’t take that for granted.

But can you imagine how encouraging it must have been to receive a letter from Paul telling you that he has been praying for you regularly? 

Here was a guy living out the mission of Christ writing a letter to the church to motivate them to live lives consistent with that mission from prison, and oh by the way, just know I am praying for you. I believe he meant it too, this was not just a throw away statement for Paul, he was serious.

So, what did Paul pray for and how does it affect us today?

First of all, it is important to remember that Paul instructed the church, in 1 Corinthians 11:1, to imitate him just as he imitated Jesus, and by praying for the church he is doing just that. 

So how does this affect us today? What is the principle for us to put into practice?

Paul prayed for the church because Jesus prayed for the church, and so, we should pray for the church. 

Piece of cake, right? If it’s so simple, then why is it so hard to do?!

Maybe we just need some guidelines to help us do it. Let’s look at the text and see if we can draw out some guidelines that might make praying for the church easier for us. 

15For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

Ray Stedman, a pastor and author of the book, Body Life, said: 

“If your faith in Jesus Christ is genuine, it always results in love.”

Love proves that our faith is real. Paul knew that the faith of the Ephesians was real because it was evidenced in their love for the saints, that is, the church. 

If your faith is real it will be evidenced by a genuine love for people, and people who love people pray for them!

Paul prayed powerful prayers, they were not weak petitions to just “be” with so-and-so or “be” with this situation or that situation. 

Here is how Paul prayed:

16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe,

First, notice that Paul prays to the Father of glory. 

I have always wondered about who I should be directing my prayers to, is it the Father or is it Jesus? This may not be a big deal to some of you, God is God so what does it matter? 

I think it’s important to be specific and Paul prays to the “Father of glory” the maker of all things glorious.

Second, he gives thanks to the Father of glory, for them, that’s simple enough. 

He then asks God, the Father of glory, to give them the spirit of wisdom. 

Some of your translations will have “a spirit of wisdom” not meaning the Holy Spirit Himself. This is a better translation as we understand from earlier in the chapter that God has already given the Holy Spirit to the church sealing each believer. 

Paul asks that God the Father would give wisdom to the church- 

How does that translate in your mind? What does a wise person look like? In order to be wise you must be smart and old, right? And in order to be old and smart, you have to start out as young and dumb, right?

Wrong. God’s wisdom is available to every believer regardless of their age. When I was young and dumb I was much wiser than I am now because back then I spent a lot more time reading the books of wisdom that God has given us.

God gave us in his Word several books dedicated to the subject of wisdom.

The book of Job is about how to deal with loss and adversity in a way that pleases God. Seems like the place I ought to have spent the last two years and didn’t.

The book of Proverbs is about how to live and grow and use our talents and abilities born out of a proper understanding of our relationship to God translated as “The fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom.” 

Song of Solomon is about how to live in a godly way within the covenant of marriage. 

Ecclesiastes is all about the vanity of ambition apart from pleasing the Lord and the futility of acquiring stuff. 

In the New Testament we have James, the New Testament version of Proverbs, it’s full of instructions about how to live with our faith on the outside not just the inside.

So when Paul prays for wisdom for the church, what is he actually asking for?

He is asking the Father to help the church live as Christians, ones who belong to Christ, true, maturing, disciples living to please God the Father. The church still needs that don’t you agree?

Next Paul asks for a “spirit of revelation in the knowledge of him.”

Again, some of your translations may read simply “to know him better” but the truth is, that Paul is asking for is really knowledge as opposed to ignorance, complete knowledge. 

Paul wants the church family to know the Father, to be totally engaged with Him. Not just knowing about who He is in an impersonal way like Abraham Lincoln of something, but to know and accept and be totally engaged with God’s character. 

Everything in this letter to the Ephesians is based on who God is, and knowing Him is the key to understanding the letter.

Jesus even prayed in John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Paul wants the church to truly know God. We still need that don’t we?

The next statement Paul makes is one of the most interesting ones in this passage: 18having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe,

Paul is not dealing with the intellect here, he doesn’t ask God to open the minds of the church so that they could understand, he asks that the eyes of their hearts be opened, so that the truth that they are learning about who God is and what He has done for them would really grab hold of them and that their entire being would be engaged by it and changed by it. 

The hope that God has called us to, the riches of his glorious inheritance, the immeasurably great power toward us who believe… Allowing these truths to grab hold of our being will chase off any feelings of doubt, fear, shame and guilt! 

That hope, those riches, that power, are all available to us through Jesus. 

“We don’t need to be powerful people, we need Jesus.” 

You have heard of the power of prayer, that prayer changes things? 

The truth is that it’s not the prayer that has the power, it’s the One to whom we pray. 

God is not offering a magic formula for prayer through the text this morning, but I believe that he is calling us as a church family to a renewed commitment to love each other through prayer. 

It is time to truly thank God for each other, to ask the Father to give the church family wisdom and fuller knowledge of Him and that we would allow that wisdom and knowledge to grip our hearts, renew our minds, and transform our lives.

Prayer involves us in one another’s lives; prayer knits us together in love. 

People who love each other pray for each other.

Amen?

So what I would like to do now is, to spend a few moments loving each other through prayer. 

Find someone nearby and pray for them, thank God for them, ask Him to give them wisdom to live as a Christian, ask Him to allow them to truly know Him, ask Him to open the eyes of their hearts that the hope, and the riches, and the power that are available to them in Jesus would grip them and transform their lives.

This isn’t about getting all the words right, the Bible says that even when we don’t know how to pray the Spirit will pray for us. 

So find somebody right now and pray for them and I’ll close our time of prayer in a few minutes and the worship team can come up.