ONE MESSAGE
Text: Acts 20:13-21
Introduction
1. Illustration: Brennan Manning wrote: “If Jesus would appear at your dining table tonight with knowledge of everything you are and are not, total comprehension of your life story and every skeleton hidden in your closet; if he laid out the real state of your present discipleship with the hidden agenda, the mixed motives, and the dark desires buried in your psyche, you would feel his acceptance and forgiveness.”
2. The message of the Gospel is very simple: repent and believe! Repent of your sins, turn to God, and believe in Jesus Christ.
3. This was the message of the early Church, it was the message of the Apostle Paul, and it needs to be our message today.
4. Read Acts 20:13-21
Transition: The first thing we notice in our text is…
I. The Urgency of Helping Others (13-16).
A. Hurrying to Get to Jerusalem
1. In the previous section, Paul spent a time of worship and preaching with the church in Troas. His preaching there was rather extensive, probably because he knew it would be his last time with them.
2. As the journey continues, Luke tells us in vv. 13-15, “Paul went by land to Assos, where he had arranged for us to join him, while we traveled by ship. 14 He joined us there, and we sailed together to Mitylene. 15 The next day we sailed past the island of Kios. The following day we crossed to the island of Samos, and a day later we arrived at Miletus.”
a. Paul sent the rest of the group by ship to Mitylene, while he went across land through Assos.
b. In reality, Paul’s trip on foot was much shorter than the trip the others took by boat.
c. Paul’s journey was only about twenty miles, while the others boat trip was farther because they had to travel around a peninsula which took longer.
d. Luke does not tell us why Paul decided to walk instead of going with the rest of his group. However, I think it makes sense that Paul needed some alone time with the Lord.
e. He knew, as we will learn later, that the Holy Spirit had warned him in advance what was coming for him, and it was going to very difficult for him.
f. Just like Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane, Paul was going to need all of the strength and encouragement he could get, and the only way to get that is to spend time alone with God.
3. If we are facing difficulty in life, we usually go to a spouse, relative, or friend. But what we ought to do is go to God with our concerns.
a. He is the only one who can change our situation or give us the strength to endure what we are going through.
b. “What a friend we have in Jesus All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer. O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer.”
4. Eventually, Paul meets up with the rest of his team, and they sailed together to Mitylene and eventually ending up in Miletus. Then in v. 16, Luke tells us, “Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus, for he didn’t want to spend any more time in the province of Asia. He was hurrying to get to Jerusalem, if possible, in time for the Festival of Pentecost.”
a. This verse says that Paul didn’t want to go to Ephesus because he didn’t want to spend any more time in the province of Asia.
b. Now it wasn’t because he was mad at them, on the contrary, as we will see, he had great love and compassion for them.
c. But I think one of the things that the Holy Spirit revealed to him was the Church in Jerusalem was in desperate need for the offering that they were carrying with them.
d. He wanted to be in Jerusalem by Pentecost because it was one of the major pilgrim festivals, and since so many people would be there, it would be a great time to deliver the offering from the churches in Greece and Macedonia.
e. The Holy Spirit must have shown him how dire the need was, and he wanted to see that the need was met.
5. What a timely message this is for us right now. With all of the need for those decimated by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.
a. It is a time for us and other churches to be the Church.
b. It is so encouraging that churches and Christian organizations have stepped up to help those who are hurting and in desperate need.
c. It’s times like this where we answer the question are we the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan?
B. Meet the Urgent Needs of Others
1. Illustration: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” (John Wesley).
2. As Christians, we are called to look out for those in need.
a. “Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive.” (Titus 3:14).
b. As Americans, we are taught to be independent and self-sufficient. We believe that we’ve earned our money and if others are in need they should go out and work for it the way we did.
c. However, as Christians, we are called to help those in need.
d. Paul told Titus that “our people need to learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others.” We need to learn that not everyone that is in need are that way because it’s their fault.
e. Some people are in need because of unfortunate circumstances, like those who are in need because of hurricanes and other acts of nature.
f. Some people are in need because they are sick or disabled.
g. But the point is we are not called to judge people’s worthiness, but rather we are called to meet people’s needs.
Transition: Paul also teaches us…
II. The Necessity to Repent and Believe (17-21).
A. One Message
1. Even though Paul didn’t want to go back to Ephesus, he was concerned about the church there. In v. 17 Luke tells us, “But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.”
a. Paul asked for the elders of the church in Ephesus to come to Miletus and meet with him.
b. His message to them is typical of an address by Paul to spiritual leaders of churches he had planted.
c. In these messages Paul encourages, teaches, and reminds them of the ministry he had done when he was with them as an example to follow.
2. When the elders arrived, this is what Paul had to say to them. In vv. 18-19 it says, “When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now 19 I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews.”
a. Notice that the first thing that Paul says to them is that when he was with them, he did “the Lords work humbly.”
b. Paul is clear that the work done was the Lord’s work, and Paul was humble about what was done in the name of the Lord.
c. He was always clear that what was done was the work of the Lord and not him. Paul regularly refers to himself as the “servant or slave of the Lord.”
d. Now, I am excited about what God is doing here. I’m very encouraged that our church has quadrupled over the last three years. And I am thankful for the encouraging words that I have gotten from many of you. However, I always try to be clear that it is the Lord who is doing it and not me. Let’s be clear, this is a God thing!
3. Paul also says that his work was done with tears.
a. In other words, Paul did his ministry among them with passion and compassion.
b. It was not a coldhearted teaching ministry; it was done with heartfelt love and concern for the people with whom he ministered.
c. He truly cared about them and their spiritual as well as physical needs.
4. Paul also ministered among them with great endurance.
a. He talks about all of the trials and threats from the Jews who despised him, because once he persecuted the Christians, but now, not only was he one of them, but he was also creating more of them.
b. There were constant plots against his life, but he did not let any of this stop him.
c. He continued to do the Lord’s work. He kept pressing on! “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Phil. 3:14).
5. Another thing, perhaps the most important thing, is that he spoke the truth to them. In vv. 20-21 he says, “I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. 21 I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.”
a. Paul’s preaching and teaching ministry among them was done with great boldness.
b. He never held back from telling them what they needed to hear.
c. The phrase “shrank back,” means “to hold oneself back from doing something, with the implication of some fearful concern (Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 165).
d. In other words, he never held back for fear of what they might do or think about him.
e. If an offense comes out of the truth, it is better that the offense come than that the truth be concealed. Jerome
f. Christian, let me tell you something, if you are more afraid of people than you are of God, I feel sorry for you!
g. “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28).
h. We must always speak the truth in love, but if we shrink back from the truth is it really love?
6. Paul makes it clear he had one message: turning from sin to God, repenting of your sin, and having faith in Jesus.
a. Now, some of you may be thinking, “wait a minute preacher, that’s two things, repentance and faith!”
b. In actuality, they are one thing, because you can’t have one without the other. You cannot repent without faith, and you cannot have faith unless you repent.
c. And that is the message that we preach, turn from your sin and turn towards God (that’s what the word repentance means: walk away from your sin and walk towards God), and have faith in the Lord Jesus.
d. This what is necessary for eternal life. In Jesus first sermon, he didn’t just say believe, he said, “repent and believe!”
B. Repent and Believe
1. Illustration: “A Christian is not one who never goes wrong, but one who is enabled to repent and begin over again after each stumble—because of the inner working of Christ.” (C.S. Lewis).
2. The Gospel has one point; repent and believe!
a. “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” (Mk. 1:15).
b. In order to have eternal life you have to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
c. “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9).
d. You have to believe in Jesus. He said, “I am the way the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.”
e. But believing is not the whole story. We also have to change; we have to repent.
f. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that we could stay the same; he died so that we could be transformed.
g. We can say we believe in Jesus, but if our life doesn’t show it then it’s not true belief.
h. That is the one message of the Gospel – repent and believe!
Conclusion
1. As Christians we are called to…
a. Meet the urgent needs of others
b. Repent and believe
2. What’s the point preacher? If we have believed in the Lord Jesus, it will show by the way we live.
