Act 20:28 | KingComments | STEP | Thus he has accounted for his motives and his ministry. Now he turns to the elders. He calls upon them to be attentive to their own spiritual mindset in the first place. Only when this is in order can they also be on guard for the flock to provide it with what is needed (cf. ). As said, Paul speaks to this group of elders as overseers. He also reminds them of the origin of their service. No one less than the Holy Spirit has given them that place in the church in Ephesus. There is no mention of any appointment of elders by the church or by any human institution. The Holy Spirit appoints them. If there is a human being involved, it is an apostle or his envoy. This is evident from the few times that there is talk about the appointment of elders ( ; ). Since there are no more apostles, the appointment by man ceases. As mentioned before, elders and bishops are names for the same person. In the church this has been handled differently. The Greek word for elder is presbuteros . That has been corrupted to our word ‘priest’. The Greek word for ‘bishop’ is episkopos . That is corrupted to our word ‘bishop’. Soon in the Christian church a distinction was made between the priest and the bishop. That distinction does not exist in the New Testament. It indicates the same person, but with a different accent. With the elder it is more about age, wisdom and life experience; with the overseer it is more about the task, the supervision of the flock. Elders or overseers perform their task in the local church. The local church is a miniature of the worldwide church. That whole church is the church of God. He has “purchased it with the blood of his own” ( , Darby Translation). It is the blood of Him Who is of Himself, i.e. of His Son. “The blood of his own” or “his own blood” is not the blood of God. That goes too far, Scripture does not speak that way anywhere. The blood is connected to the Lord Jesus, the Son of God Who became Man, to be able to give His blood as purchase price for the church. It is the church of God and not that of the elders or any other human being. It will happen unconsciously by some, but every pastor who speaks of ‘my church’ speaks pretentiously and steps into the rights of God. Only the Lord Jesus has the right to speak of “My church” ( ). No one has purchased that church; the Lord Jesus has done so. Therefore, it is wrong for a person to speak of ‘my church’ after all. Then Paul speaks about the very near future. He speaks about ‘after my departure’. In the first place he foresees that savage wolves (cf. ; ) will come in from outside to do their destructive work in the church. They can come in because the shepherds have not remained vigilant. We have an example of such people in John’s second letter, in which we also have the indication that such savage wolves should be denied entry ( ). Second, people will arise from among the church who distort the truth. They do this to make themselves the center instead of Christ. False teachers not only bring false doctrine, but also seek followers. They set themselves up as sect leaders. They are often more difficult to recognize than the savage wolves. In the third letter of John we have in the person of Diotrephes a telling and cautionary example of these dangers from within ( ). In connection with what is about to happen, Paul warns to be on the alert. He binds their own responsibility upon them. They must always remember what he has told them to keep them on the right path and also how he has done it. Incessantly, night and day (cf. ; ), he has been doing this, for three years. Each time tears appeared; thus he was moved by the fate of his beloved Ephesians. His message is soaked with tears. Such words do need to hit home in hearts in which true concern for the church is present.

‏ Acts 20:28

Warnings

Thus he has accounted for his motives and his ministry. Now he turns to the elders. He calls upon them to be attentive to their own spiritual mindset in the first place. Only when this is in order can they also be on guard for the flock to provide it with what is needed (cf. 1Tim 4:16). As said, Paul speaks to this group of elders as overseers. He also reminds them of the origin of their service. No one less than the Holy Spirit has given them that place in the church in Ephesus.

There is no mention of any appointment of elders by the church or by any human institution. The Holy Spirit appoints them. If there is a human being involved, it is an apostle or his envoy. This is evident from the few times that there is talk about the appointment of elders (Acts 14:23; Tit 1:5). Since there are no more apostles, the appointment by man ceases.

As mentioned before, elders and bishops are names for the same person. In the church this has been handled differently. The Greek word for elder is presbuteros. That has been corrupted to our word ‘priest’. The Greek word for ‘bishop’ is episkopos. That is corrupted to our word ‘bishop’. Soon in the Christian church a distinction was made between the priest and the bishop. That distinction does not exist in the New Testament. It indicates the same person, but with a different accent. With the elder it is more about age, wisdom and life experience; with the overseer it is more about the task, the supervision of the flock.

Elders or overseers perform their task in the local church. The local church is a miniature of the worldwide church. That whole church is the church of God. He has “purchased it with the blood of his own” (Acts 20:28, Darby Translation). It is the blood of Him Who is of Himself, i.e. of His Son. “The blood of his own” or “his own blood” is not the blood of God. That goes too far, Scripture does not speak that way anywhere. The blood is connected to the Lord Jesus, the Son of God Who became Man, to be able to give His blood as purchase price for the church.

It is the church of God and not that of the elders or any other human being. It will happen unconsciously by some, but every pastor who speaks of ‘my church’ speaks pretentiously and steps into the rights of God. Only the Lord Jesus has the right to speak of “My church” (Mt 16:18). No one has purchased that church; the Lord Jesus has done so. Therefore, it is wrong for a person to speak of ‘my church’ after all.

Then Paul speaks about the very near future. He speaks about ‘after my departure’. In the first place he foresees that savage wolves (cf. Mt 7:15; Jn 10:12) will come in from outside to do their destructive work in the church. They can come in because the shepherds have not remained vigilant. We have an example of such people in John’s second letter, in which we also have the indication that such savage wolves should be denied entry (2Jn 1:10-11).

Second, people will arise from among the church who distort the truth. They do this to make themselves the center instead of Christ. False teachers not only bring false doctrine, but also seek followers. They set themselves up as sect leaders. They are often more difficult to recognize than the savage wolves. In the third letter of John we have in the person of Diotrephes a telling and cautionary example of these dangers from within (3Jn 1:9-10).

In connection with what is about to happen, Paul warns to be on the alert. He binds their own responsibility upon them. They must always remember what he has told them to keep them on the right path and also how he has done it. Incessantly, night and day (cf. Gen 31:38-40; 1Sam 25:16), he has been doing this, for three years. Each time tears appeared; thus he was moved by the fate of his beloved Ephesians. His message is soaked with tears. Such words do need to hit home in hearts in which true concern for the church is present.