Act 20:25-31 | KingComments | STEP | Paul announces his farewell. It will be a definitive farewell. He knows that they will not see each other again. Against the background of this announcement, he reminds the elders that he went around among all of them to preach the kingdom. The kingdom is mentioned here for the fifth time out of a total of seven times mentioned in Acts ( ). Paul did not only speak about the kingdom in its future glorious form, as it will be when the Lord Jesus reigns on earth. He also proclaimed the meaning of the kingdom that it has in this day and age, in which it is not yet visible, but is present ( ; ). The believers are subjects of the Lord Jesus in that kingdom. Linked to the kingdom is the idea of dominion and service. Believers acknowledge the Lord Jesus as their Lord and serve Him. The kingdom has to do with our acknowledgment of the reign of the Lord Jesus in daily life and in every area of it. Because they will no longer see his face, “therefore”, he declares on this day that he is innocent of the blood of all men. Earlier he said to unbelievers that he was clean of their blood ( ), here he says that to believers. He knows that he is not in debt to them. After all, he told them everything he had to tell them. The word “for” indicates the reason for his being innocent of the blood of all men, not just the elders: he has not withheld anything from the whole purpose of God. The proclamation of the purpose or counsel of God is the fourth part of his ministry. Later on he will record this counsel, especially in the letter to the Colossians and the letter to the Ephesians. It is the counsel of God that extends from eternity to eternity. His ministry concerning the counsel of God has come to an end, because he has communicated everything he had to communicate. No new things will be revealed after what has been entrusted to him ( ).

‏ Acts 20:25-31

The Kingdom and Purpose of God

Paul announces his farewell. It will be a definitive farewell. He knows that they will not see each other again. Against the background of this announcement, he reminds the elders that he went around among all of them to preach the kingdom. The kingdom is mentioned here for the fifth time out of a total of seven times mentioned in Acts (Acts 1:3 ; Acts 8:12 ; Acts 14:22 ; Acts 19:8 ; Acts 20:25 ; Acts 28:23 ; 31).

Paul did not only speak about the kingdom in its future glorious form, as it will be when the Lord Jesus reigns on earth. He also proclaimed the meaning of the kingdom that it has in this day and age, in which it is not yet visible, but is present (Col 1:13; Rom 14:17). The believers are subjects of the Lord Jesus in that kingdom. Linked to the kingdom is the idea of dominion and service. Believers acknowledge the Lord Jesus as their Lord and serve Him. The kingdom has to do with our acknowledgment of the reign of the Lord Jesus in daily life and in every area of it.

Because they will no longer see his face, “therefore”, he declares on this day that he is innocent of the blood of all men. Earlier he said to unbelievers that he was clean of their blood (Acts 18:6), here he says that to believers. He knows that he is not in debt to them. After all, he told them everything he had to tell them. The word “for” indicates the reason for his being innocent of the blood of all men, not just the elders: he has not withheld anything from the whole purpose of God.

The proclamation of the purpose or counsel of God is the fourth part of his ministry. Later on he will record this counsel, especially in the letter to the Colossians and the letter to the Ephesians. It is the counsel of God that extends from eternity to eternity. His ministry concerning the counsel of God has come to an end, because he has communicated everything he had to communicate. No new things will be revealed after what has been entrusted to him (Col 1:25).

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.