How To Get Ready For Our Hard Goodbyes (Part 3) Series

How to Get Ready for Our Hard Goodbyes (Part 3)

The Book of Acts - Part 74

Acts 20:32-38

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - Feb. 15, 2015

BACKGROUND:

*Remember that Acts 20 was a pivotal time in the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. In these verses Paul reflected on the past. He also tried to prepare the church leaders of Ephesus for life without him. Our main focus tonight is vs. 32-38, but to put it in context, let's start reading at vs. 17.

MESSAGE:

*There are some hard goodbyes in life: sending our little ones off to school for the first time, taking our young adults off to college, sending our loved one off to war, saying our last goodbye to our mom, our daddy, or anyone else we love.

*In vs. 25 Paul told the church leaders of Ephesus that they would never see his face again in this world. But Paul was ready for that hard goodbye. In tonight's Scripture, he shows us how to get ready. And as we saw last week, it all goes back to the Word of God.

1. First: God's Word has the power to give us Christian growth.

*We must rely on the power of God's Word like Paul did in vs. 32. There he said: "And now, brethren, I commend you (or commit you or entrust you) to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified."

*That word "commend" has the idea of placing something on or near something else. And there Paul was saying, "I am not going to be here to take care of you, but I know someone who can take good care of you: God Almighty. And I know something that can take good care of you: The word of God's grace, the word of God's grace that came through the cross of Jesus Christ.

*Paul knew that God's Word is able to build us up and give us an inheritance among God's holy people. God's Word is able! That's why 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says:

16. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

17. that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

*God's Word has the power to change our lives! In Jeremiah 23:29 the Lord put it as a question: "Is not My word like a fire, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" John Gill explained that God's Word "is like fire, because of the light it gives to sinners, by which they see their own impurity, impotence, the insufficiency of their own righteousness, and the way of life and salvation by Christ. Also, by the light of this fire Christians are directed in their walk and conversation. By it immoralities, errors, and superstition are detected."

*Also, the heat of the fire "is warming and comforting to saints, and causes their hearts to burn within them. It inflames them with love to God, Christ, and one another, and with zeal for truth and the interest of our Redeemer."

*God also said His Word is "like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces." John Gill explained that the rock is "the heart of man, being hardened by sin, destitute of spiritual life; stupid and senseless; stubborn and inflexible; on which no impressions are made. But God's Word in the mighty hand of God's Spirit can break such hard hearts and bring them to contrition. God's Word can break the stony heart, and melt it into true repentance for sin, through the discoveries of the Savior who was bruised and broken for our sin." (1)

*So, in Jeremiah 23:29 God's Word is profitable as a fire and a hammer to break our stony hearts. In James 1:22-25, God's Word is profitable as a mirror to examine our hearts and minds. In Ephesians 6:17 and Hebrews 4:12, it is profitable as a sharp sword to fight our spiritual battles. In Psalm 119:105, God's Word is profitable as a lamp to guide and direct.

*In John 6, it is profitable as bread to strengthen and nourish. In 1 Peter 2:2, it is profitable as milk for growth and development. And in 1 Peter 1:23, the Word of God is profitable as seed to give us both new spiritual birth, and a fruitful life. God's Word is able to build us up into the people God wants us to be. (2)

*Dr. Clyde Turner told about a little boy in Sunday School when Clyde was the pastor at FBC in Greensboro, KY. This little boy was an unholy terror, and nobody knew what to do with him. Finally, he stopped coming to Sunday School. Dr. Turner later admitted, "I am ashamed to say it, but I think we were all glad of it."