Acts: To The Ends Of The EarthSample

Of all the ministries in Acts, only one is reviewed—that at Ephesus. What Paul did at Ephesus is recorded in Acts 19:8–12. His review of what he did is given in today’s reading.

Paul calls together the elders of the church at Ephesus to remind them of what they already know. He tells them what he did whilst he was with them, so that they can continue in like manner.

Paul’s ministry was Word-based. He speaks of preaching and proclaiming (vv. 20, 27), teaching (v. 20), declaring, testifying (vv. 21, 24) and preaching (v. 25).

The content of his ministry is "anything…helpful," "the gospel of God’s grace," "the kingdom," and "the whole will of God." The goal of this work is to encourage all people to "turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus" (v. 21).

In verses 26 to 28, Paul uses two pictures to describe his ministry. They are:

• the watchman, who sounds a warning and is therefore innocent of the blood of those who fail to heed it;
• the shepherd, who must watch himself if he is to effectively guard others.

C.H. Spurgeon said in his lectures to his students, "we shall be likely to accomplish most when we are in the best spiritual condition."* According to Augustine, this type of self-watch consisted of "praying, reading the word and weeping."**

Remember, these verses are Paul’s "upper room discourse," his last word to his elders. The elders are to be diligent overseers, with ultimate confidence in God and His word of grace (v. 32), for ultimately, the flock is His, bought by Him, and is under His protection.

In the twenty-first-century world, that which is weighty is often trivialized, and that which is trivial, exalted. We must never allow the ministry of shepherding to be trivialized.

Reflection

Think about Paul’s apostolic model of shepherding. Think about each element of this ministry—the Word; personal integrity; accountability. Think about the church in Ephesus—its beginning, recorded here; what it was like a little later, when Paul wrote his letter, and a generation later, when another letter arrives (see Rev. 2:1–7).

* C.H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1980), p. 7.

** Augustine, Epistle 21:4