Looking Back, Looking Ahead Series

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Acts 20:17-25

We arrive at Acts 20 in our ongoing series through the book of Acts this morning. My goal has been complete this series by Christmas. We have 10 Sundays, including today, until Christmas - and we have 9 chapters remaining in the book of Acts. We're going to spend two of those 10 Sundays on this one chapter.

In chapter 20 Paul on his 3rd missionary journey. Now throughout Paul’s 3 missionary journeys, the process in each city has been pretty consistent. He shows up, goes to the synagogue, preaches there, a few converts are made until he gets kicked out. He then turns his attention to Gentiles in the city, a few more get converted until finally for one reason or another, violence breaks out against him and he has to get out of Dodge. He’s usually in a new city for a few weeks to as long as a few months. But in each city he sees God grant salvation to many through his preaching, but that always came at a high price – a hostile reaction from those who rejected the message.

But when Paul arrived in Ephesus, it was different. He didn’t minister there for a few weeks or months, but for nearly three years - his longest stay in any city. This obviously resulted in tremendous fruit and some very meaningful relationships being built. But eventually, like virtually all the other cities before, there was an uproar that effectively forced Paul to leave. That's where we left off last week.

At the beginning of chapter 20 we find Paul departing Ephesus, embarking on his long-anticipated return to Jerusalem. His desire was to arrive at Jerusalem for Pentecost. Now the year is about 56 AD - some 25 years since Christ's death and resurrection and that first outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. I wonder if Pentecost - a Jewish holiday - was also now a thoroughly Christian holiday and Paul desired to celebrate it in Jerusalem. Regardless, Paul was hastening, verse 16 says, to be in Jerusalem by Pentecost.

Now, the first 16 verses of chapter 20 focus on Paul traveling as a passenger on a merchant ship, making its way on the Aegean Sea, heading toward the Mediterranean Sea. The ship made stops at various port cities throughout Macedonia and Greece - cities where Paul had already been and had established churches. Paul used those stops as an opportunity to encourage and instruct the believers there.

At one stop, they were in the city of Troas for 7 days, and that's where Paul preached until midnight and a young man named Eutychus, sitting in the 3rd floor window, fell asleep during Paul's sermons, fell out of the window and died. Let that be a warning to you about falling asleep in church! Now Eutychus was miraculously brought back to life, but I can't guarantee the same outcome here - so it's best to just stay awake while I preach.

Paul apparently had some influence on the ports of call because verse 16 says HE decided to sail past Ephesus and stop at the port of Miletus. The reason Luke gives for Paul wanting to sail past Ephesus is because time was of the essence. We can read into that Paul's reasoning: by stopping in Ephesus where he ministered for 3 years, no doubt there would have been significant time spent saying goodbye to all the believers there.

So instead of stopping in Ephesus, they stop in Miletus, and Paul sends for the elders of the church in Ephesus to make the 14 mile journey by land. That's where we pick up the account in our reading this morning - look at verse 17: 17Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18And 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, 19serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24But 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. 25And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.