Acts 20:17-38

Well, please do turn in your Bibles back to the book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 20, where our reading was earlier on.

For the Lord to speak to us in his word.

Our Heavenly Father, we ask that the same Holy Spirit who caused these words to be written for our learning,

the same Holy Spirit by whom the Lord Jesus himself was conceived in the womb of the Virgin,

that he would be at work in us to bring your word to life in our hearts,

to make us willing listeners and believers.

And we ask it in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Amen.

I'm going to focus on verse 28 of Acts, chapter 20.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

So do find verse 28.

Andrew, sitting over on the side, over there.

Andrew, as of today, you have a new duty.

It is a duty to care for, to shepherd the Church of God and to pay careful attention to them and to yourself, as this verse says.

Now, we're going to come to that and to what your duty is.

But we, that is Andrew, you, but all the rest of us too, need to see what that is founded upon.

Because this verse in the centre of Paul's speech to the Ephesian elders says something truly remarkable,

which is this, that today, what we have witnessed happening right here, just a few minutes ago,

is an act of the same God for the same purpose and for the same people as the great day of Christ's crucifixion at Calvary.

Now, that is a remarkable thing.

Today, Andrew, the Holy Spirit has made you an overseer.

That is what this verse describes ordination as.

Now, strictly speaking, today, in fact, has been the outward recognition and affirmation,

solemnisation, to use the old word, by the Church, by prayer and the laying on of hands,

of the Spirit's work in making you an overseer, which stretches back over years,

all through Andrew's life, and it includes his upbringing and his conversion, his growth in the faith,

all those who discipled him, his training at this church and others, his assessment by the presbytery,

and including his examination just three weeks ago.

But today is the day when the Holy Spirit has publicly set you aside to be an overseer,

as it's translated in this verse.

It's the same word where we get the word bishop from.

But the astonishing thing about what Paul said in Miletus to the Ephesian elders

is that this action of the Spirit setting aside men to be overseers of the church, of the flock,

is inseparably joined in God's action and plan to what he did at Calvary.

Indeed, in one sense, they are two parts of the same work.

So, Andrew, your ordination today as an elder and overseer in Christ's church

is part of how God is carrying into effect the work that he accomplished at Jesus' cross.

Now, that is a big thing for Paul to say.

It's a big thing for us to think about.

So, I want us to make sure that we've sort of followed what Paul is saying and understood it.

So, here is the first big thing that I'm going to try and convince us of,

that God ordains ministers by his Spirit to shepherd the flock bought by his Son.

God ordains ministers by his Spirit to shepherd the flock bought by his Son.

Let's give a bit of a backstory.

So, we're in a town called Miletus.

It's a port town on the coast of what's now Turkey.

It was Asia Minor, it was called then.

It's a few miles away from Ephesus.

Ephesus was also a port city then.

But Paul is sailing to Jerusalem, but he's deliberately bypassed Ephesus

because I think he just knows he knows too many people there,

and it'll take too long if he stops.

And so, he's gone past there.

He's stopped a few miles further down the coast at Miletus.

But he sends a message to the elders of the church in Ephesus

to travel the few miles to Miletus to meet with him

because he wants to speak to them.

And the reason he wants to speak to them is because

he knows he's never going to see them again.

And this is his chance to give them a final charge,

a final explanation,

and an exhortation for them to understand

the task that they have been given as elders in Christ's church

and to carry it out diligently.

And the result is this wonderful chapter, Acts 20,

with probably the most important description

of the work of an elder that the Bible has.

There are others that are important too.

But this one is particularly significant.

And it's a long description.

We read all of it earlier on.

But there's actually only one command,

which is in one verse right in the middle, verse 28,

which is, it's sort of like,

if ever you had one of those pinwheel windmills as a child,

you know, which you blow and it spins around.

This is the pin in the middle that the whole thing rotates around.

Verse 28,

Now, look carefully at what is said here.

The Holy Spirit,

the Father,

God,

and the Son,

Jesus Christ,

though he's not mentioned by name,

the blood of Christ is there at the end.

They're all present in this verse.

The Father,

Son,

and Spirit

are all active and present,

working together to achieve the single work of the salvation of the flock,

as they're described here.

This is how the church of Jesus is pictured.

The sheep for whom he cares.

Indeed, actually, that image is here twice.

It's hidden in our translation,

where it says to care for the church of God.

That is a word that means shepherd.

Both that, care for, and flock both come from the same Greek word for sheep.

And so the church is the sheep whom God has intended,

planned from eternity,

and put into action his work to gather them,

to care for them,

and to bring them to the full enjoyment for eternity

of all the things that God has intended for them.

It is one grand plan,

a single purpose that God,

that the one God has.

And how is he achieving that?

Well, in this one verse,

you can see there are two parts to it.

The first is at the very end of the verse,

that he obtained them with his own blood.

And the second is that the Holy Spirit has made certain men overseers,

shepherds, pastors, and elders.

Those are all the same people.

This is addressed to the elders of the church.

This is the,

well, it's either the session of the church in Ephesus,

or it could possibly be the presbytery,

depending on whether by now they've got more than one congregation.

We don't know that.

But they are all the ordained elders of the church

who have been gathered together,

and they're described with all of these words.

And so you see that Paul here presents it as being a two-part,

if you like, work of salvation.

There is the accomplishment,

the purchasing,

the buying of the people of God

by the blood of Christ.

And then there is the application of that,

the bringing it to reality,

the gathering and the caring of people

so that they may benefit from what Christ did at the cross.

And that is achieved by the Holy Spirit appointing overseers.

God intends both.

They're part of the one plan of salvation of the one God.

My first ever car was a Vauxhall Chevette.

I bought it for 400 pounds.

I went halves with a friend, 200 pounds each.

It had a magnificent engine.

As I discovered, two days after I bought it,

it had an absolutely terrible clutch.

The result being that you tried to move off,

and the engine went vroom,

and the car didn't move anywhere.

Because the power was being generated,

but there was no transmission of power to the wheels,

and therefore to the roads.

And therefore it cost me rather more than 400 pounds,

as you can imagine, to get that fixed.

Now, Mr. Vauxhall, when he designed the Vauxhall Chevette,

no doubt intended both.

There should be an engine,

and there should be a clutch

that would transmit the power to the road.

Now, that's kind of the same picture here.

God intended and achieved,

at the cross of Christ,

the full salvation of his people.

But he always intended

that his people would receive that salvation,

that the power of what was achieved at the cross

would be transmitted to his flock

by the men appointed as overseers.

The Spirit of God would apply

the work that the Son of God had achieved.

Now, this should strike us,

well, it should strike the elders in Ephesus,

it should especially strike those men who are ordained,

and Andrew, that now includes you,

as being an extraordinarily high requirement

for an elder.

What an incredible privilege

to have something bought

with something so expensive.

Now, I asked the children beforehand

whether any of them had ever saved up

for something,

kept your pocket money

for a number of weeks or months

to buy something you really wanted.

When I was about 10,

Nintendo released the first Donkey Kong game.

And those of you who are young

won't even believe what it looked like.

It was about the size of two iPhones,

sort of hinged together,

but it did nothing other than the Donkey Kong game.

Couldn't do anything else on it.

But I wanted one so much

that it cost £20.

I saved up for months and months and months.

And I can still remember the feeling

of going to the bank

and getting the first ever £20 note

that I'd ever owned

and walking to the shop.

I don't know what it was,

but what shop sold that kind of thing.

But anyway,

and handing it over

and buying this thing.

I treasured my Donkey Kong game.

In fact, I treasured it so much

that I still have it

in a drawer

in my study today.

It doesn't work anymore,

but nevertheless,

I still have it.

Now,

something that costs lots of money

will be something

that you value enormously.

Even more

if someone else

paid the price

and entrusts it to you.

I remember my very elderly grandmother

in her 90s

showing me the ring

that my grandfather had bought her.

She'd worn it,

obviously when they were married,

but for more than 50 years as a widow.

It was worn so thin

that it almost had fallen off her finger.

And yet she valued it

because it had been bought for her

by one who loved her so much.

We even talk sometimes

of things being bought in blood,

don't we?

Our freedom

in this country

with the blood of the soldiers

of the Second World War.

Nothing's more valuable,

I think,

than that.

Any Star Wars fans will know

that's the whole idea

of the film Rogue One.

I know I'm a little bit retro here,

but maybe you're into this,

that the plans for the Death Star,

so essential

in order to defeat the Empire,

had to be bought

at the cost of the blood

of all of

the people who went

in the Rogue One ship

to go and steal them.

And the film ends

with them finally,

by Princess Leia,

entrusting them to R2-D2.

Protect these.

They are so valuable.

Well,

that's a silly image.

But what we are told here

about the value

of Jesus' flock

is beyond price.

They were bought

with God's own blood.

Now,

that's a phrase

that has really puzzled

people who have read this.

How can Paul speak

of God's own blood?

I mean,

God doesn't have a body.

How can God

have blood?

But actually,

that is exactly

the point

of

the Son of God

becoming man

and living with us.

The Eternal Son

became one of us

and took flesh

and blood

so that

when he went

to the cross,

the blood he bled

for us

would be

God's blood.

For Jesus

is God himself

in human flesh

and the value

of the blood

that ran down

his face,

that stained

the cross,

that was drunk

by the ground

beneath his cross,

the value

of that blood

is beyond

price

and that

is the currency

with which

you,

as a Christian,

have been bought.

it's the currency

with which

the flock

of Christ

has been bought.

There is

nothing on

earth

so valuable

as the church

of Jesus Christ

for nothing

has been bought

with such

a high

price.

but Jesus

did not

bleed

God's

own

blood

for the

salvation

of his

sheep

at Calvary

with the

intention

that

they should

then be

just left

defenseless

to be

destroyed.

Even

less did

he bleed

God's

own

blood

with the

intention

that

he then

wouldn't

do

anything

in order

to go

and gather

these

sheep

together

into a

flock.

He didn't

bleed

God's

own

blood

and

then

kind

of

just

think

well

let's

just

kind

of

leave

it

to

!

has

in

every

age

of

the

church

appointed

that

there

will

be

overseers

who

are

also

elders

who

are

also

shepherds

who

will

care

for

this

flock.

That

is what

we have

witnessed

today

with

Andrew's

ordination.

We

have

witnessed

God

here

today

in

2025

putting

into

practice

his

plan

to

gather

nurture

and

save

his

flock.

Not

just

today

but for

many years

into the

future.

Now

therefore I

need to

say to

you

I can

say this

to you

because I'm

not a

member of

this

congregation

so to

you who

are the

congregation

of this

church

Andrew's

ordination

is an

act of

love of

the same

God to

you

and it

is an

act out

of the

same

love

which he

exerted

at the

cross of

Christ.

Now it

is not

only to

you

also

part of

the

intention

is that

overseers

shepherds

pastors

elders

should

bring in

more

sheep

that's

all part

of it

isn't

it

part of

the

work

of

a

shepherd

in

Christ

church

is to

go and

gather

the

flock

to

keep

on

growing

it

and

that's

a

vital

thing

for

them

to

do

and

Paul

we

haven't

referred

to

the

rest

of

the

speech

yet

but

the

whole

of

the

rest

of

Paul's

speech

here

is

about

him

describing

his

ministry

so

that

the

Ephesian

elders

know

what

their

ministry

should

look

like

they're

called

to

be

shepherds

now

Paul

was

their

shepherd

first

and

they're

supposed

to

imitate

him

and

one

of

the

things

he

did

was

that

he

first

came

to

them

and

told

them

about

the

gospel

of

Christ

when

they

had

never

heard

it

before

verse

21

he

testified

to

Jews

and

Greeks

of

repentance

to

all

God

and

faith

in

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

now

that

will

undoubtedly

be

a

major

part

of

Andrew's

ministry

and

we

have

already

prayed

and

we

will

go

on

praying

that

the

Lord

will

use

him

to

bring

many

people

who

today

do

not

know

of

Christ

to

membership

in

this

flock

those

whom

God

has

bought

but

as

yet

do

not

know

it

to

understand

what

they

have

been

bought

for

but

in

the

first

instance

it

is

you

in

this

church

for

whom

God

has

sent

his

spirit

in

order

to

set

Andrew

aside

to

be

your

shepherd

it's

an

indication

of

his

care

for

you

to

feed

you

and

care

for

you

therefore

it is

essential

that you

must pray

for him

you must

receive

him

as from

the hand

of the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

you must

honour

him

thank

God

for

him

hear

his

teaching

gladly

encourage

him

submit

to

him

out

of

thankfulness

to

Christ

all of

those

things

are

part

of

the

duty

the

glad

and

happy

duty

that

is

yours

as a

result

of

today

but now

I need

to turn

to you

Andrew

and to

say

some

things

more

directly

to

you

and this

is

the second

part of

what I

have to

say

you

must

as Paul

says

here

pay

attention

to

yourself

and

to

all

the

flock

pay

careful

attention

to

yourself

and

to

all

the

flock

this

is

the

reason

why

you

must

do

so

because

you

have

been

set

aside

to

shepherd

those

bought

with

nothing

less

than

the

blood

of

Christ

the

oversight

the

shepherding

must

be

what

your

life

is

all

about

if

you

look

back

to

verse

24

this

in a

sense

must

now

be

your

watch

word

as

Paul

says

but

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

Christ

so

you

must

pay

attention

to

yourself

and

to

the

flock

let's

do

those

two

things

one

at

a

time

you

must

pay

attention

to

yourself

it

is

your

duty

to

maintain

yourself

as

a

fit

instrument

for

the

Holy

Spirit

to

do

this

great

work

through

Paul

describes

in

verse

33

his

own

purity

of

heart

I

coveted

no

one's

silver

or

gold

or

apparel

that

means

clothing

I

didn't

allow

myself

to

get

into

this

for

the

money

or

for

other

benefits

that

come

from

it

you

too

must

watch

yourself

you

must

cultivate

and

preserve

your

holiness

and

the

godliness

of

your

life

Andrew

you

must

be

rigorous

in

putting

your

sinful

flesh

to

death

don't

allow

sinful

habits

to

rise

up

in

you

and

when

they

do

because

they

will

you

must

not

allow

them

to

remain

don't

let

yourself

grow

fond

or

tolerant

of

the

weeds

that

grow

in

the

garden

of

your

soul

it

must

be

your

daily

duty

to

examine

yourself

and

to

put

those

things

to

death

positively

you

must

cultivate

patterns

of

worship

and

of

prayer

of

repentance

and

praise

of

reading

of

scripture

and

the

praying

of

the

psalms

for

yourself

one

of the

greatest

temptations

and

the

easiest

adjustments

to

make

in

a

life

of

a

minister

is

to

cut

down

on

private

prayer

and

devotion

to

make

space

for

all

the

multitude

of

other

things

that

you

need

to

do

but

you

must

not

do

so

paying

careful

attention

to

yourself

means

you

must

develop

your

abilities

your

knowledge

your

skills

in

teaching

you

must

identify

your

weaknesses

and

work

hard

to

overcome

them

you

must

strive

to

live

the

kind

of

life

which

is

an

example

to

all

Paul

speaks

about

that

as

well

verse

35

in

that

by

working

hard

in

this

way

we

must

help

the

weak

hypocrisy

is the

easiest

thing

for a

minister

of

the

gospel

to

achieve

all

you

have

to

do

is

do

nothing

to

oppose

it

and

you

will

become

a

hypocrite

to

teach

one

thing

while

your

life

starts

to

look

like

something

else

it's

terrifyingly

easy

ask

yourself

with

every

sermon

you

prepare

am

I

myself

doing

the

things

which

I'm

calling

God's

people

to

do

practice

your

discipline

make

sure

your

life

is

well

ordered

organize

and plan

what

you

will

do

when

fight

the

wasting

of

time

fight

the

lusts

of

your

heart

the

moment

they

arise

be

ready

for

reflection

all

these

things

you

are

called

to

do

pay

careful

attention

to

yourself

but

alongside

that

you

must

pay

careful

attention

to

the

flock

pay

careful

attention

to

the

flock

now

it's

obvious

why

isn't

it

now

it is

as if

you

have

been

given

an

incredibly

precious

heirloom

bought

by

someone

you

love

and

said

!

remember

this

there

is

nothing

more

valuable

in

the

world

than

the

flock

over

whom

you

have

been

placed

therefore

pay

careful

attention

to

them

be

diligent

in

your

preparation

you'll

soon

learn

that it's

impossible

to

prepare

as

well

as

you

would

like

to

that's

always

true

but

never

let

that

be

an

excuse

for

preparing

less

well

than

you

could

or

should

be

diligent

in

considering

what

you

should

teach

Paul

says

in

verse

27

he

didn't

shrink

from

declaring

the

whole

counsel

of

God

everything

that

the

flock

needs

here

you

have

the

privilege

of

having

Paul

tell

you

what

to

do

sometimes

and

but

you

won't

always

and

you

must

be

careful

and

prayerful

am

I

covering

all

that

the

Lord's

people

need

to

hear

am

I

giving

the

sheep

the

full

diet

that

they

need

for

them

to

be

healthy

you

must

pay

careful

attention

to

their

protection

verse

29

I

know

that

after

my

departure

fierce

wolves

will

come

in

among

you

not

sparing

the

flock

from

among

your

own

cells

will

arise

men

speaking

twisted

things

to

draw

away

the

disciples

after

them

it's

your

task

to

protect

the

church

it

can

be

an

unpleasant

task

you'll

have

to

read

about

things

that

you

would

much

rather

not

think

about

listen

to

speakers

who

are

awful

and

teachers

who

speak

of

wickedness

but

don't

shirk

the

task

for

you

must

do

it

for

the

protection

of

the

people

the

flock

for

whom

Christ

shed

the

blood

of

God

you

must

be

ready

to

do

all

of

these

things

and

it

is

an

enormous

task

today

you

have

been

set

aside

so

that

your

life

no

longer

is

about

yourself

your

life

from

today

is

about

shepherding

the

flock

of

God

pay

careful

attention

to

yourself

and

to

all

the

flock

which

well

I don't

know how

we're all

feeling

about

all

of

that

perhaps

some

of

you

are

feeling

a bit

sorry

for

Andrew

now

I've

said

all

of

those

things

Andrew

maybe

you

yourself

are

a little

overawed

by it

and rightly

so

who is

equal

to a

task

like

this

how can

Andrew

or Paul

or Reuben

or any

of the

elders

who've

been

gathered

here

how can

any

man

do

what

has

been

set

aside

here

how can

how can

God

put

into

the

hands

of

people

like

us

something

so

valuable

it was

bought

with

God's

own

blood

how can

any of

us

imagine

that we

are

fit

for

such

a

charge

well the

answer is

we are

not

but

remember

Andrew

the rest

of the

elders

of this

church

and I

say this

to myself

as well

we are

instruments

in God's

hands

appointed

by the

Holy

Spirit

and

equipped

by

him

the

Spirit

calls

us

to

the

task

Andrew

the

Spirit

has

called

you

to

this

task

and he

will

equip

you

for

it

and so

what

does this

mean

what do

we do

with the

enormity

of this

task

the answer

is

we

must

pray

that's

the last

and very

simple

thing

to see

and I

think

this

beautiful

scene

at the

end

of it

verse

36

when he

had said

all these

things

he knelt

down

and prayed

with

them

all

and that

they're

all

weeping

and that

they weep

with sorrow

because they're

not going to

see Paul

again

Paul knows

by the

Spirit

that he's

never going

to be a

free man

again

he's going

to Jerusalem

he doesn't

know exactly

what will

happen

but he

knows he

will be

arrested

and indeed

Paul is

never free

again

from that

point

onwards

they're

not going

to see

him

again

so they're

deeply

grieved

out of

their love

for Paul

but I

think a

big part

of this

is also

this sense

of

they are

now the

ones

holding

the baby

up till

now it's

always been

possible to

say

well when

Paul comes

we can

ask him

what to

do

we can

go to

Paul

years ago

I used