How To Measure A Man
Dr. James O. Davis
Acts 20
What is the measure of a real man? Let this message grip your heart forever. The apostle Paul is revisiting a strategic mission field. And he comes to Miletus and there he gathers with him the Ephesian elders. And he has a time walking with them down memory lane. They talk about the good times that they had together. How God had blessed and poured out his blessing. Paul rehearsed it all. And then here's what happened in Acts 20:36, "And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words that he spoke that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship."
Now use your imagination. They were one in the bonds of love. They had been through so many prayer meetings and evangelistic crusades together. They had so many victories in Jesus. Their hearts were melted together and now they are having a prayer meeting. They are all on their knees. And God moves into that prayer meeting. And there is such a sweet spirit.
And then as they are praying they realize this is the last prayer meeting on earth they will ever have with Paul the Apostle. And they begin to weep. There are not just a few tears. They are convulsing. The Bible says, "They wept sore." And then they begin to hug Paul's neck. The Bible says they just fell on his neck. And they are weeping and squeezing him, and just hugging him because they know never again on this earth will they see Paul. And then they walk down to the wharf, where the ship is there. And Paul gets on that ship. And as it begins to sail they are just standing there, just weeping because Paul is leaving, never to return.
When you are gone are you going to be missed? I mean other than by your family. Are you going to be missed? Will it make any difference? We are going. I mean, you may move out of your city but you are going either by rapture, or you are going by death, but we're all going. And the question is when you go, what difference will it make? Is your life going to have any kind of an impact?
I heard of a man who had surgery and he woke up in the recovery room and all of the windows were covered with curtains. The
blinds were drawn. He called the nurse. He said, "Nurse, open the windows, I want to see outside. Who closed the blinds anyway?" She said, "Just calm down." She said, "I closed them." She said, "There's a big fire across the street and I didn't want you to wake up and think the operation was not a success."
Some of us are going to wake up and find out that our entire life was not a success. We wasted our life. And we're going to go out into eternity with a wasted life. And by the way, when you go, you're going to leave behind you all that you have and you're going to take with you all that you are.
When the world measures a man, the world measures a man by brains, or by brawn, or by bucks. How do you measure a man? In the Guinness Book of World Records, is Michael Letito. Do you know what his claim to fame is? Eating glass and eating metal. He grinds it up and eats it. Mixes it in with his Wheaties, or whatever he eats. And that's what he eats. And since 1966, he's eaten 10 bicycles. That's true. He ate a supermarket cart in four and a half days. He ate six chandeliers. He ate a Cessna Light Aircraft. Now can you imagine this fellow reporting into Jesus? "My son, what did you do when you were down there on earth?" "Lord, I ate an airplane." What a claim to fame. I mean what really counts? What really matters? How do you measure a life?
In this 20th chapter of the book of Acts you're going to find three characteristics that measure a man. How do you measure a man?
THE MANNER Of MAN’S LIFE
We measure a man by the manner of his life. "And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him he said unto them, You know from the first day that I came into Asia after what manner I have been with you in all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying of wait of the Jews (v.19)."
What was the manner of his life? His life was a life of humility. "Serving the Lord with all humility." I believe it with all of my heart that nobody has a life worth living, nobody has a life that can be called a great life, there is no true greatness without true humility, without true humility. Humility is not putting yourself down. It is not saying that you are no good because that is not true about you.
Don't get the idea that humility is not loving yourself. For the Bible says that we're to love others as we love ourselves. And if you don't love you, I'm afraid of you because you don't know how to love me. We're to love others as we love ourselves.
What is humility? Humility is an honest estimation of yourself that says about you what God says about you and it results primarily in serving. Notice in that verse he says, "Serving the Lord with all humility." The word serving is the verb form of the noun "doulos" which means bond slave. Do you know what the mark of humility is? Serving others. A humble person is a person who serves other people.
When God measures a man's life he does not measure the man's life by how many servants the man has, but by how many men the man serves. There are a lot of men whose lives are going to amount to little more than a zero with the edges trimmed off and I'll tell you why. They have never learned to serve. They come to church on Sunday morning and soak but they do not serve. We need to find a place of service in our churches, or communities, or in our homes and we need to say, "Lord God, make me a servant." Unless you're a servant you're not going to be truly missed when you are gone.
Not only was there a life of humility, but there was also a life of heartache. Paul says, “Serving the Lord with all humility and tears." The apostle Paul had a broken heart. Paul knew how to weep. He knew how to enter into the sorrows and the hurts of other people. That's the way to be missed.
If you live for self and self alone and you try to insulate yourself from the cares and the toils and the problems of this world. You're not going to be missed. We need to be a person who knows how to sympathize, a person who knows how to empathize, a person who has the compassion of the Lord Jesus in his heart and in his life.
I want to ask you a question. Do the things that break the heart of Jesus break your heart? Do you know how to weep? When is the last time you shed a tear over some soul that is mortgaged to the devil? Now when you read about the ministry of Paul you don't read about him weeping. The only way you know about it here is because he told you here. I believe most of the time he wept in private. I can say
for my own life I shed far more tears in my study than I do in my pulpit.
And I'm writing out of deep conviction, that Jesus was a man of tears, and Paul was a man of tears, and Jeremiah was a man of tears, and we ought men of tears.
The apostle Paul said, "I serve the Lord with humility. I serve the Lord with heartache." And then he says, "I serve the Lord with hardship." He speaks there in verse 19 of the many trials that befell him. Paul faced and fought many trials. It literally means that there were people who disliked him. There were people who opposed him. There were people who literally bodily, physically harmed him because of the stand that he took for the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is no way, no way, that you can have a life that will count and make an impression on this world without making some enemies. No way. Unless you are willing for those three things to be in your life--humility, heartache, add hardship--you're not going to have the kind of a life that Paul had. And it's not going to be the kind of a life that
counts.
Oh, you may say, "I don't want that kind of a life." Well maybe you don't. Maybe you just want to be all wrapped up in yourself. But I'm going to tell you when you're gone, it's not going to make much difference. Nobody in this world will say, "That's the way to have a great life."
THE MESSAGE OF A MAN’S LIFE
Not only do we live a certain way, but we say a certain thing. We are going to leave behind a message. Every one of us will be known for something when we are gone. They will think about us. Do you know what I want them to think about when they think about me? The gospel of Christ. I want them to say, "That man's life was centered in the only message that really matters." Paul says in verse 20, "And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but have shown you and taught you publicly and from house to house," (that is in every place), "testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks," (every person), "repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ."
That was the content of his message that encapsulates his life: Repentance and faith. Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was known primarily as a gospel preacher. It was a narrow message. He kept on preaching that message. That was the content of it.
I want you to notice the conviction of it. In verse 22, “And now behold I go bound in the Spirit into Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there except that the Holy Ghost witnesses that in every city saying, Bonds and afflictions abide me." Paul says, "I'm going back to Jerusalem. The Spirit of God wants me to go. I'm bound in the Spirit." That is, I know it's God's will for me to go. And I know when I get there I'm going to have heartache and trouble.
In verse 24, Paul says, "But none of these things move me." That is, I don't get stampeded by any of these things. "Neither count I my life dear unto myself so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus Christ to testify the gospel of the grace of God." You want a life that counts? You're going to have to have a message that has the right content and
the right conviction. Paul said, "I'm bound in the spirit." He said, "None of these things move me. You're not going to stop me."
Paul had a bulldog grip on certain things. Are you that way? Do you know what's wrong with the average man? He has opinions and not convictions. He said, "I am bound in the Spirit. I am going to finish my course with joy. I will do it." Now he said, "I know what I'm going to." It eventually led to his death. But Paul had rather die with a conviction than live with a compromise. How about you?
Most of us had far rather live with a compromise than to die with a conviction. But you can understand why Paul was the man that he was. And how this shames me as I think of the content of his message.
Yet, hold on; we need to understand the confidence of his message. Paul died confidently. In verse 25, Paul said, "And now behold,
I know that all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more, wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God."
Wow! Did you hear that? Paul said, "You're not going to see me anymore. I'm going on to heaven." He said, "I'm going to tell you one thing, I'm pure from the blood of all men."
He is moved for the souls of men. He is talking about soul winning. If we don't tell our friends, our neighbors, our brothers, our sisters about the Lord Jesus Christ and they die and go to hell, their blood is on our hands.
The apostle Paul knew that before long he was going to have to meet the Lord. And he said, "I am pure. I am free from the blood of all men. I am not going to face my Lord with bloody hands." I know many men who know their favorite team’s stats but know the names of the lost souls live next door to them. They are going to face the Lord
with blood on their hands.
I see the apostle Paul. He's in his cell. Tired and aware for his execution is come. The burley guard comes to the cell door. "Paul, come!" "Where we going?" "You're going to the chopping block Paul. We're going to execute you Paul." And he comes with a chain to bind Paul. Paul says, "You don't need to put that chain on me. I can walk. It's alright. Don't worry. Let's go." And so the guard takes Paul and they begin to walk down toward the Tiber River. That river that will soon drink the blood of the great apostle.
There he goes, the greatest Christian who ever lived. Can you see the little humped backed Jew? Hobbling along, his body bent, broken, scarred from the whippings, the stonings, the imprisonments, being pickled in the Mediterranean Sea. Little gray head, squinty eyes, he
is walking along.
The guard says, "Do I hear music? Are you humming?" He says, "oh yea, I didn't know you were listening to me. Just a little song that we love to sing: 'It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.'" And the guard says, "You're a, you're a strange one." And they bring him down there and the executioner says, "Well tie him to the chopping block." He says, "You don't need to tie me. It's alright." And he kneels down and puts his neck on the chopping block.
They say, "Aren't you afraid, Paul?" "Oh," he said, "I've done this before." "You can't." "Oh," he said, "I die daily." And so, they, they put his head on the chopping block.
"Any last words Paul?" "Oh yes, I'm glad you asked. Here are my last words: Jesus Christ is Lord! Jesus died and was risen for you!" And the ax falls and the head rolls over into the basket.
The next scene is heaven. He is looking into the face of the King of the Universe, Jesus Christ. And he says, "Lord Jesus, you know I wasn't strong. I was not handsome. I didn't have a good voice. I did not have much money. But Lord, I kept the faith. I finished my job. Lord, I fought a good fight. The race is over. Lord, these hands are pure from the blood of all men." How would you like to meet the Lord like that? And I believe the Lord Jesus would say to him, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Thank you, Paul, for being true to me." Many men are going to meet the Lord with bloody hands. They may make heaven; but they will hold in their bloody hands the ashes of a wasted life!
THE MOTTO OF HIS LIFE
We then measure a man by the motto of his life. Every man has a motto for his life. Maybe he's put it into words, maybe he hasn't. But there is something that impels him, there is something that motivates him, there is something that drives him, there is something that constrains him. Paul's constraint is "I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. You know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and unto them that were with me. And I have showed you all things how that so laboring you ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
The apostle Paul was a great man because he spent life not primarily as a receiver, but as a giver. Therefore his life was blessed. Life is divided; the people in life are divided into two categories. There are the takers and the givers. The takers eat better, the givers sleep better. Listen, it is more blessed to give than to receive. When you die all you're going to take with you is what you've given away.
What you've spent is gone forever. What you did not spend will be left for others. But what you gave away is yours forever. It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Now I want you to see what that motto did for Paul. This motto freed him from covetousness. His testimony is “I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel “(v.33). His philosophy also freed him idleness (v.34). Paul held up his hands and said, "I have ministered unto my necessities. I worked for my needs.”
Paul said there are people who are weak, there are people who can't work, there are people who have needs, and Paul said, "I worked so that I might help the needy." Now the Bible says that if a man won't work, neither should he eat. But there are some people who can't work and those of us who can work need to work to help those who are weak.
What was the motto of Paul's life? "It is more blessed to give than to receive." It saved him from covetousness. It saved him from idleness. And it saved him from selfishness. Nobody has a great life that lives a selfish life. The apostle Paul lived a life of giving, not taking. Of helping, not hurting, of loving and lifting and caring.
I encourage you to let this story move you; to challenge you to evaluate the essence of who you are in this life. Remember: It is more blessed to give than to receive. During World War II in a Polish village, the Nazis came into that village, accused all of the Jews in that village of crimes against the state. Brought them out of their houses, brought them out into a particular field, and made them dig a ditch that would later become their grave. Then they stripped them of all of their clothes. They lined those Polish Jews up against a wall. They got their machine guns and began to mow them down. And the people fell like cordwood, head over heels into the grave. A little ten year-old boy was standing there naked with his mother and daddy. The bullets just ripped their bodies open and the blood splattered everywhere.
And as they fell the little boy just fell with them also, but he was not touched by one bullet. He fell in the grave and lay still. They assumed he was dead because he was splattered with blood and they began to push the dirt over these people and buried that little ten year old boy alive. His face was in such a position that he caught a pocket of air. And there the ground was not packed that hard. And he could actually breathe under the ground, lying on the mutilated bodies of his loved ones. After several hours, it was now dark; he began to dig out his own grave. And he clawed and dug his way to the surface.
This young boy dug his way out of his grave. He was naked, clotted with blood, clotted with dirt. He went to the house of a neighbor and knocked on the door and the woman came, she saw that little boy there covered with blood and dirt, caked with the remains of his grave. She recognized him as one of the Jewish boys and knew that he'd been marked for death.
She screamed at him, "Go away!" and slammed the door in his face. The little boy dragged himself to another door and knocked on the door and begged for help. And the same thing happened. The woman in terror said, "No, I cannot help you. Go away." He went to one third door and knocked on the door. And when the woman opened the door she looked at him and her face froze. But before she could say anything, he said to her, "Don't you recognize me. I am the Jesus that you say you love." She broke and said, "Come in. Come in." At
the risk of her own life she sheltered that ten year old child. Jesus said, "In as much as you have done it unto the least of one of these my brethren you have done it unto me."
There is no easy way to have a great life. It is more blessed to give than it is to receive. And there are millions of men, when they are gone, will not be missed. But there are other who when they are gone people will weep sorely. These are the men who know the things that count. How do we measure a man’s life? We measure the man by the manner of his life, the message of his life and the motto of his life.
