Paul tells the Ephesian elders they will never see him again. He warns them to be on guard for themselves and the people in their church, because false teachers will come in to corrupt the truth, like wolves attacking a flock of sheep. The elders’ job is to protect the flock and trust in Christ. Paul reminds them to remember his example, and to faithfully live out God’s word in their lives so that they might receive the inheritance of Christ. Lastly, he reminds them to give generously and bless those who are needy. The elders weep and embrace Paul, and see him off to his ship.
Acts 20:25-38 records the Apostle Paul’s warning to the Ephesian elders to guard their church from false teachers, as well as his final farewell to them.
Along his return journey to Jerusalem at the close of his third missionary trip, Paul has called a meeting with the elders of the Ephesian church. Rather than go to them in Ephesus, Paul summoned the elders to the city of Miletus, about a day’s journey from Ephesus by sea. It seems that, since Paul had spent years in Ephesus, he feared that if he stopped there he would be compelled to stay overlong. His goal was to reach Jerusalem in time to celebrate the Jewish holy day of Pentecost, so time was a major factor.
His message to the Ephesian elders thus far (Acts 20:18-24) is somber, but hopeful. The Holy Spirit has been repeatedly telling Paul that he will suffer in Jerusalem. He will also be arrested. “Bonds and afflictions await” him (Acts 20:23). But Paul is not afraid of the pain in his future. His goal is to finish the job Jesus gave him, to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the world.
Paul tells the Ephesian elders a sad reality, which they have probably suspected by now:
“And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face (v. 25).
Again, Paul uses the transitional phrase And now, behold to pivot to a related but new subject. Paul is confident that these Ephesian elders willno longer see his face again while living on earth. Whether due to imprisonment or death, Paul is sure that this is the last time he will see these men. It is not completely clear if Paul’s declaration, I know that all of you...will no longer see my face is based on something the Spirit has solemnly testified to him (Acts 20:23) or if Paul is inferring it based on the danger waiting for him in Jerusalem.
It is with obvious sadness Paul tells them this is goodbye forever. These are men whom he ministered among and beside, men among whom he went about preaching the kingdom. He had lived in Ephesus for two to three years and had presumably formed deep relationships with them while preaching about the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ (Acts 19:8-10). The Ephesian elders were believers in Jesus because of Paul’s preaching. They would get to live in forever in Jesus’s kingdom because of Paul’s preaching (Colossians 1:13-14). They had also become fellow ministers with Paul, serving as leaders in the church.
Therefore, Paul says, because he had preached the kingdom to them, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God (v. 26-27).
Paul is expressing that his conscience is clear and his work among the Ephesians is complete. He is innocent of the blood of all men because he is obedient to God in preaching the gospel to them. He fulfilled his work in Ephesus, rather than following his own way in opposition to God’s will. Paul did not shrink or avoid declaring to the Ephesians the whole purpose of God.
Paul used multiple, distinct phrases that together speak of the whole purpose of God (v. 27).
He “did not shrink from declaring...anything that was profitable” (Acts 20:20). The purpose of God is to lead us to life and benefit and away from death and destruction.
He was “solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). The path that leads to life is to follow the teachings of Jesus; it is the opposite of the path of the world (Matthew 7:13-14, Romans 12:2).
He also said he was committed to “finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Paul taught that all believers would stand before Christ’s judgment seat, and he was now proving that he was living his life to that end (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).
Paul also says I went about preaching the kingdom (v. 25). Jesus’s earthly ministry was to preach the good news of His kingdom (Matthew 4:17) although He testified that His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). Jesus’s kingdom began on the inside and flowed to the outside. That is why Paul is preaching the kingdom. To receive and live in the kingdom of God is a matter of faith, and faith begins with hearing (Romans 10:17).
Paul will now proceed to give the Ephesians advice on how to carry out their responsibilities as elders over the Ephesian church. Up until this point in his speech to them, he has largely summarized his history with the Ephesian church. He has also spoken in a somewhat defensive manner, and will continue to defend himself in verses 33-35. The Ephesian elders loved and admired Paul, as seen by their reaction at the end of this chapter when saying goodbye, that they wept and kissed him (Acts 20:37-38). We can presume his defense is due to attacks against him and his gospel that he had endured, and would continue to endure.
It seems Paul is reminding them of his faithful ministry and godly example to them to prepare them for the future, since they will no longer see his face ever again (v. 25). Paul knows trouble awaits him in Jerusalem, and seems to expect to die. He also knows, based on past experience and perhaps from foreknowledge from the Spirit, that false teachers will attempt to deceive the Ephesians, as he will tell them in the following verses.
It would then seem that Paul is appealing to the Ephesians to remember the example he set for them and the truth he taught them, so that they will be ready to withstand and dispel any false teachers who come into their midst. Throughout his ministry, Paul has had to deal with many kinds of enemies that came against him and the gospel he preached.
Some such enemies have been legalistic Jewish teachers trying to convert new Greek believers into becoming circumcised and following the Law of Moses in order to be justified in God’s sight (Galatians 3:1, 4, 4:21, 6:12-13, Romans 2:17-29). Others had tried to allow permissiveness toward sinful behavior among believers (1 Corinthians 5:1-2). In his eventual letter to the Ephesians, Paul will warn about deceivers who teach “empty words” while practicing and promoting “shameful” “works of darkness” done “in secret” (Ephesians 5:6-14).
In essentially all cases of false teaching and corruptive influence, these rivals of Paul attempted to slander him. In some cases, they have belittled his public speaking abilities, smeared his character, and tried to discredit him as a legitimate apostle of God (2 Corinthians 10:10, 11:6, 13, Romans 3:8, 1 Corinthians 9:1, Galatians 1:1).
Paul has seen it all before. Since he is sure he will never see the Ephesians again, he reminds the Ephesian elders of how they came to faith in Jesus because of him, and he has always dealt with them honestly. He will not be able to guide them in the future, however, so he gives them this warning:
Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock (vs. 28-29).
Paul charges the elders foremost to Be on guard. Something bad is coming to Ephesus. He illustrates to the men listening to him what their job is as elders and overseers. The church of God here specifically concerns the Ephesian church, of which these men have been made overseers by the Holy Spirit Himself. This is a serious responsibility they have been assigned directly by God’s Spirit. This is a high calling. It is not a job of prestige or gain.
These overseers are not expected to serve alone. Paul addresses them together, and expects them to be overseers together. They are to work together to identify savage wolves and protect the flock from being consumed. Paul places great emphasis on their job to protect the flock of God from false teaching, just as he had done.
In Acts 14:23, we see Paul and Barnabas establish elders/overseers to lead every church they planted in Galatia. We can safely assume that this was something Paul did with every church he planted, if possible. In two different church letters, Paul writes thorough, detailed lists of qualifications for men who might become elders in a church (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9).
Indeed, here in Acts 20, Paul uses sobering language to stress the gravity of the Ephesian elders’ role to shepherd the church. The church was purchased by God Himself with His own blood. The overseers have not been given charge of something unimportant. The church was something Jesus the Son of God bought through His death.
In other scripture, the church is compared to a bride to be married to Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 5:25-27, Revelation 19:7-8). The health of the church is the responsibility of these overseers. God will hold them accountable for how well they executed their duty as overseers on Judgment Day, whether by rewarding or taking away rewards (James 3:1-12, 1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
Earlier in verse 17, Luke, the author of Acts, described these men as elders from Ephesus. The Greek word translated “elder” is “presbyteros.” Here the word overseers (“episkopos”) is used to refer to the elders. Both words describe the same role in church leadership. In general, Jewish believers leading churches were called “presbyteros,” and Gentile leaders were called “episkipos,” but the office is the same.
Their job is to shepherd the church. It is also interesting to note that the English word “pastor” comes from the Latin word for “shepherd.” It is reasonable to say that Paul here is setting forth that these overseers had the job description to shepherd or pastor the church of God.
These men were those in the community who had been chosen to lead the Ephesian believers, to teach them the truth, to give counsel, and so on. Traditionally and generally speaking, the leaders of a Jewish community would be the “elders,” the older men who had lived long enough to gain wisdom and perspective and good judgment (Deuteronomy 1:13, 15, 27:1, Ezra 10:14). This structure was adopted by the church. Here the leaders are also called overseers because their task is to oversee their community’s safety and growth.
Paul seems to know that dangerous teachers will come soon after the end of this meeting: I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you (v. 29). Perhaps this imminent danger was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. Paul assures the Ephesian elders that this problem is on its way, and that they had better prepare for it immediately.
The illustration Paul gives them is that they are each a shepherd over the church of God. The people in the church are like a flock of sheep (v. 29). And savage wolves will come in among the sheep. It is the shepherd’s job to Be on guard against predatory animals like wolves.
Paul underscores the danger of these wolves by depicting them as savage wolves, vicious and bent on destruction, not sparing the flock. The image is of wild animals tearing defenseless livestock to pieces, so that not one lamb is left alive. Which is why the flock needs overseers to shepherd them and be on guard of these approaching wolves.
One of the most iconic examples in the Bible of a good shepherd is King David before he was king. When persuading King Saul to make him Israel’s champion to battle Goliath the Philistine, David described his victory over bears and lions when protecting his flock as a shepherd in the Judean hills (1 Samuel 17:34-36). Even more iconic is Jesus Christ Himself, who called Himself the Good Shepherd who is willing to die for His sheep (John 10:14-16).
The Apostle Peter uses this same shepherd/flock illustration in one of his church letters, where he charges elders to shepherd their flocks well, noting that they will give an account of their leadership to the Chief Shepherd, who is Jesus (1 Peter 5:1-4).
It would appear that this danger in Ephesus will emerge from both outside and inside of the church. Paul’s earlier illustration is of predatory teachers who will come in among the church, like wild, savage wolves coming from the woods to hunt a flock of sheep in a pasture. However, Paul also warns the Ephesian overseers that false teachers will come from within the church as well:
and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them (v. 30).
From the among the Ephesian church body, men with bad motivations will arise. They will start speaking perverse things; their teachings and claims will be false, corrupted, incorrect. Their goal will be to draw away the disciples, the believers in Jesus, after them. Their objective will be to lure people away from following after Jesus and instead to follow after them.
Like a good shepherd, the Ephesian overseers are to Be on guard, not only for all the flock of believers in their church, but, Paul notes, for yourselves as well (v. 28). This is likely part of the reason Paul speaks to the overseers as a group or team. They are to hold each other accountable as well as work together to protect the church from being misled.
As leaders and protectors, they cannot do their job effectively if they do not look out for their own discernment and knowledge of the truth. They need to be wary. The coming false teachers will try to mislead them in order to assert influence over the church. They will be tempted to lead the people to follow and serve them. As shepherds, their job is to serve the believers by guiding them to follow Jesus, not to serve other men.
The overseers must also be aware that some of the false teachers might arise among your own selves. They must avoid prioritizing personal loyalty to one another over seeking what is true. Otherwise, the overseers could be led astray. They would then fail to protect other believers. They must avoid being people-pleasers, either among themselves or toward others. They should avoid being deceived through flattery. There are many ways a cunning wolf might try to draw away a sheep to its death. A shepherd must be watchful in all directions.
The Ephesian elders are charged to protect the believers from deception. The best way to spot falsehood is to know the truth. For example, counterfeit detectives are able to spot false dollar bills primarily by knowing what a true dollar bill looks like. In knowing the truth, the elders will be able to detect perverse things spoken by wolves and drive them away from their flock. This includes keeping watch among your own selves.
The imagery of savage wolves implies the destruction of the sheep, death and loss. The second image is of the men/wolvesspeaking perverse things leading away the sheep/disciples, taking them away from truth. For those who believe the perverse things and are led astray, it will result in the loss of their opportunity to live out the truth and follow God’s good design for their lives (Ephesians 5:15-16).
Paul paints this vivid, grim picture to prepare the elders:
Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears (v. 31).
With false teachers fast approaching, the elders need to watch for these enemies. Like a shepherd watching the trees for wolves coming out to attack the flock, the Ephesian leaders ought to Therefore be on alert. They do not need to be taken by surprise or wait for conflict to occur. They need to be on the alert and anticipate it, so that they can shut it down and preserve the health of the flock over whom they’ve been given charge. This means that the elders are to be combative in their resistance against false teaching.
Paul again exhorts them to listen to him by appealing to their shared history together, specifically his role as their teacher. He reminds them of the length of time he spent with them—night and day (all the time, without pause) for a period of three years—he did not cease to admonish each one with tears.
Based on Luke’s account in Acts 19, Paul taught in the synagogue for three months and in the school of Tyrannus for two years (Acts 19:8-10). Paul may have stopped teaching in the school of Tyrannus after two years, but spent another nine months or so in Ephesus, bringing the entire length of his time in Ephesus to three years. Or he may be rounding up.
Paul is displaying how devoted he was to the elders’ walk with God. He did not cease toadmonish or teach them how to live out faithful obedience toward God as believers in Jesus. More specifically, to admonish means to warn or advise. Paul’s preparation of the elders for this day has been three years in the making.
Paul mentions that it was with tears that he has cautioned them, warned them, counselled them in the truth, showing the sincerity and affection he has for the elders. Paul is personally invested in their success as believers and leaders, readying them for the false teachers who will try to lead the Ephesians astray.
Paul is not merely saying, “I taught you the truth,” but he is contextualizing his ministry as being based on his personal love for the Ephesians. There is an emotional component to his relationship with the Ephesians. He is like a father to them (1 Corinthians 4:15).
In appealing to their friendship, Paul hopes they will teach others as he taught them, rather than succumbing to the new, perverse teachings which will soon invade their church. It is one thing to listen to and agree with someone when they are with you, but, as the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind.” Paul will not be there to defend his teachings. It is up to the elders to remember how much he loves them, how he cares for their wellbeing. The false teachers who are on their way to Ephesus want to harm and mislead.
We can see Paul’s battle against false teachers in his various epistles. For example, in Romans 3:8, Paul confronts a group of competing Jewish “authorities” for slandering his gospel of grace. His letter to the Romans is addressed to the Gentile believers in Rome (Romans 1:8, 13). But in Romans 2, Paul confronts a group of Jews who call themselves authorities. He notes their hypocrisy (Romans 2:24).
We can discern from Romans 2:25-29 that these Jews were teaching the Gentile believers in Rome that they must be circumcised and obey the Jewish laws in order to be saved. This was the same dispute that was brought before the Apostles and Elders at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. Peter agreed with Paul that being circumcised and following Jewish laws was not necessary to be saved, asserting: “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are” (Acts 15:11).
In spite of this finding at the Jerusalem Council, it appears that there was a group of Jews who did not agree with this ruling that the Gentiles are under grace, and actively sought to follow behind Paul on his missionary journeys to overthrow his teaching of the grace of the Lord Jesus. In Galatians 3:1, Paul asks those whom he brought to faith through the grace of the Lord Jesus “who has bewitched you?” Paul challenges the Galatians because they have fallen into a false teaching that they need to seek to be justified by following laws, when they have been fully justified by grace, through faith, in the finished work of Jesus who died for the sins of the world (Galatians 2:17, Colossians 2:14).
When speaking of the coming wolves, it is likely that Paul had particularly in mind this group of false teachers who asserted that Jesus was not sufficient, that adherence to the Jewish law was also necessary. In his later letter to the Ephesians, he reminded them that they are saved by grace, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This reminder of God’s grace being the means of being justified in His sight is likely a continuation of the warning against false teachers he gave them at this final in-person meeting in Acts 20. In his letter, Paul also warned the Ephesian believers against falling into licentiousness, which was their former way of living (Ephesians 4:22).
Both legalism and licentiousness are of the world and the flesh rather than of the Spirit. Paul ends his letter to Ephesus by admonishing all the believers to approach each day as a spiritual battle against Satan. Believers should daily put on the “armor of God” and resist Satan’s “flaming arrows” of untruth (Ephesians 6:11, 16). Paul has likened false teachers to ravenous wolves. The Apostle Peter likens Satan to a lion, seeking prey to devour (1 Peter 5:8). It requires constant vigilance to avoid his schemes. But we are promised that if we resist him, he will flee (James 4:7).
Time is pressing, so Paul begins to wrap up his farewell address:
And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified (v. 32).
The word commend is a translation of the Greek word “paratithēmi,” and can also be translated “set before or “entrust.” Since Paul believes he won’t see the Ephesian elders again, he tells them I commend you to God and to the word of His grace. He is entrusting them, giving them over to God. Of course this is just a figure of speech; the Ephesians (and all believers) are already in God’s care, and Paul cannot give them over to God as if they initially belonged to Paul. The word “paratithēmi” can also be used in the sense of serving up a plate of food. Paul is setting the Ephesians before God.
He has taught them and prepared them as best he can, he has no guilt in his ministry, since he tried to preach to all who would listen, and now he is “giving them over to God.” He simply means he will never see them again, and he is hopeful that God will guide them in their walk of faith, especially in light of the coming false teachers. He is also directing them to God, turning their attention to Him, as well as the word of His grace.
This word of His grace is probably the primary teaching Paul expects to be challenged. As previously noted, competing Jewish “authorities” slandered his teaching of grace, and contended that Gentiles were required to be circumcised and obey the Jewish laws in order to be saved (Acts 15:5, Romans 3:8). The Greek word translated grace is “charis.” It means “favor,” as can be observed in Luke 2:52, where Jesus grew in “favor [‘charis’] with God and men.”
The word or teaching of God’s grace is the teaching that God has favored humans by sending His Son to die for our sins (John 3:16). We can receive this amazing favor though faith. In John 3:14-15, Jesus explained that the faith needed was sufficient faith to look at Him on the cross, hoping to be delivered from the poisonous venom of death.
The word of God’s grace is freely given. We are justified in His sight solely because of His free gift of being justified through faith. But this word is only profitable in our daily experience if it is obeyed. And it is only profitable to gain rewards in the age that it to come if it is listened to and followed.
Paul explains that the word of His grace is able to build the Ephesians up. That there is building involved would indicate that Paul has in mind the Ephesians growing in their faith, becoming conformed to Christ’s image through obedience (Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18). This is the topic he most focuses on in his epistles.
The word of His grace likely includes the scriptures. As Paul told Timothy, all scripture is profitable to build us up, for “training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Believers are declared righteous in God’s sight solely through faith, but to be built up we must learn to walk in righteousness through following the Spirit by faith. This walk of faith leads to great rewards. Walking in obedience to Christ’s commands leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). It also leads to great rewards in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Theword of His grace is also able to give the Ephesians the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. All those who are sanctified can refer to all those who are set apart, who are made holy because of their faith in Christ—which applies to all believers. All believers are set apart as holy because they are made new creations in Christ through the free gift of salvation (2 Corinthians 5:17). These are those who are born by faith.
But the phrase among all those who are sanctified can also refer to believers who are set apart by their obedience—these are those who walk by faith. This is likely the intended meaning since this is paired with the idea of God’s word being able to build you up.
The word can equip believers to overcome false teaching and the lust of the world. It can show us how to live in obedience to Christ, that we might possess the inheritance. All believers are granted the inheritance, but only those who live as faithful witnesses will possess the reward of their inheritance. A few passages that confirm this follow:
In Colossians 3:23-24, believers are told they will receive the “reward of the inheritance” by doing all they do heartily as unto the Lord.
In Romans 8:17b, believers are told they will be “fellow heirs with Christ” if they suffer as He suffered.
In Revelation 3:21, believers are promised that they will share Jesus’s throne if they overcome as He overcame.
This phrase—the inheritance among all those who are sanctified—also provides insight into an opportunity all believers in Jesus have to gain the great rewards that come from being set apart from the world and become conformed to His image (Romans 12:1-2).
In Acts, the “word of the Lord” or “the word of His grace” largely refers to the Gospel, the good news about how we can be a) born anew and be saved from sin and death and b) restored to fulfillment of our design through conforming to His image through a walk of obedience.
The first part of the Gospel is to have enough faith to look upon Jesus, to believe His death and resurrection will save us from the deadly venom of sin (John 3:14-15). New birth is a gift that cannot be earned nor lost. The remainder of the Gospel is about growing up. We learn to become mature in the faith through the word of His grace walking in the power of God’s Spirit. Paul uses conditional language here to refer to this growing-up process, sometimes referred to as “sanctification”: the word is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
The word is able to build us up to reach our full potential, restoring our design. The question is whether we will take advantage of this capacity. God’s grace is limitless. Its power is unfathomable. And it is able to build us up. But those who are born to new life through God’s grace must walk in theword of His grace to gain the fullest benefit.
We must walk in obedience tothe word in order to be built up. It is our choice to choose sin or the grace God has given us to walk in His word (Romans 6:12-14, 23, 1 John 3:4-11, 2 Thessalonians 3:6, James 4:5-9). If we who have believed, who are born anew by God’s Spirit, live lives of faithful obedience, we can receive the inheritance mentioned here. It is also possible to fall short and fail to receive the full inheritance (2 John 1:8).
What inheritance is Paul talking about? Again, our salvation from the eternal penalty of sin and death is a sure thing that we receive as a gift through faith in Jesus’s death and resurrection (1 John 4:10, 5:11, John 10:28-29). We are totally accepted as His children when we believe. God will never reject His children. As Paul wrote to his disciple Timothy, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). Since we are in Christ, for God to reject us would be to reject Himself. That won’t happen. It is impossible. God is always our inheritance, without condition (Romans 8:17a).
But there is a conditional inheritance which Paul is routinely urging other believers to strive to receive. In Romans 8:17b, he tells the Roman believers they can be “fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” Every believer in Jesus is unconditionally an heir of God (Romans 8:17a). But the inheritance of being heirs with Christ is a reward we receive only if we suffer with Jesus.
The unconditional inheritance of being God’s child ensures that all who believe have eternal life and will spend eternity with God (John 3:16). It ensures that we are heirs of God (Romans 8:17a). The conditional inheritance that is a reward for faithful service requires that we suffer as Jesus suffered. We might ask, “How did Jesus suffer, and what does it mean to suffer with Jesus?”
Q: What did Jesus Christ suffer? A: He suffered the rejection of men, and unjust death (Isaiah 53:3, Hebrews 12:2, 1 Peter 3:18).
Q: What did Jesus Christ inherit? A: All authority over heaven and earth (Mathew 28:18; Philippians 2:9-11). He sat down on His Father's throne, having defeated death, and was given the glory and honor as a human to be restored to reigning over the world (Hebrews 2:5-9)
Jesus offers to reward those who learn the obedience He learned by sharing with them the same incredible reward He received (Revelation 3:21). To suffer with Christ is to endure rejection, loss, and even death from the world (2 Timothy 3:12). The world rejects those who do not love what it loves, which is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life (1 John 2:15-17).
If we live a life that is dead to this world but alive to Christ, obedient to God, abiding in Him, we are living a crucified life. We are overcoming sin and temptation, just as Jesus overcame, and are qualifying to receive the reward of an overcomer (Revelation 3:21).
Thus, Paul is reminding the Ephesians what he has doubtless taught them many times throughout the years. We are likely hearing here the primary points of Paul’s years of teaching, the things he most cares that the Ephesians remember. Now that he will never see them again, he leaves them with this final commendation to God and to God’s message of grace to them, that if they live as Christ lives, it will build them up (grow them, strengthen them) and will give them the inheritance among all those who are sanctified, that is, all believers.
But the reward of the inheritance will be possessed by believers who overcome the world as Christ did:
Those who run the race of life so as to win the prize (1 Corinthians 9:24).
Those who are good and faithful servants who are ready when their master returns and who are granted to rule over many things (Matthew 25:23).
Those who endure hardship as a good soldier (2 Timothy 2:3).
Those who follow Jesus in the “suffering of death” and are rewarded the inheritance as “sons” to share His glory (Hebrews 2:9-10).
Those who overcome as Jesus overcame and share the reward of sitting down with Him on His throne (Revelation 3:21).
Paul once again cites his personal conduct to the elders as evidence to bolster his teaching, so as to act as a bulwark against anyone who might try to discredit him. This is likely because throughout Paul’s ministry, a constant point of attack by the false teachers Paul is warning them against is to attempt to discredit Paul’s authority as an apostle and to question his motives. Here Paul appeals to the elders’ personal experience with him relative to his motives:
I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes.You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me (v. 33-34).
Throughout his ministry, Paul was careful to pay for his own needs. He and his co-ministers—the men who were with me—would work to pay for their food and lodging for multiple reasons, primarily to set an example to others and to extinguish any accusations of taking advantage of those to whom he preached (1 Corinthians 9:1-8, 15-18; 2 Thessalonians 8).
While it is right for ministers to be paid to help support themselves, Paul in particular did not want to be paid by the people he ministered to (1 Corinthians 9:3-18). He did not want it said of him that he preached for profit. He removed this possible slander by working, or by having his mission partners like Timothy and Silas work to support their basic needs (Acts 18:5). When he did ask people to donate funds to help the Jerusalem believers in need, he provided a credible third-party to administer the gift in order to be above reproach (2 Corinthians 8:18-21).
In the rare cases where Paul accepted financial support, it was from churches far away, to help him while he ministered to a new area. He tried not to impose himself upon the people he was ministering to in person. The church in Philippi gave him financial aid (perhaps specifically from Lydia, who was a merchant who sold costly fabrics—Acts 16:14), but Paul accepted support from the Philippians when he was away from Philippi, and was therefore not taking money for teaching them directly. It was a gift from people he had previously taught, the Philippians, to help support him while he taught the gospel to new audiences in Thessalonica and Corinth (Philippians 4:15-18, 2 Corinthians 11:8-9).
While in Ephesus, he coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. He took no payment for teaching the gospel, he accepted no gifts. Paul did not shake a cup to receive anyone’s silver or gold after giving a sermon. He reminds the elders that they themselves know his hands ministered to his own needs and to the men who were with him; they saw him labor probably as a tentmaker in Ephesus, just as he had in Corinth and Thessalonica (Acts 18:1-3, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10).
He did this primarily to cast a pure light on the message he taught, to remove the hint of a shadow of doubt that he was only teaching for money. In doing this, Paul set himself apart from some preachers who did have bad motives (2 Corinthians 2:17, Philippians 1:15-16).
Paul’s pursuit of transparency and financial integrity was an effort to help validate the gospel, since it was taught freely, just as salvation is given freely as a gift from God (Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8). Paul was certainly a proponent of giving willingly to those who needed help, those who were in the midst of unfortunate life situations (Galatians 2:10, Acts 11:29-30, 2 Corinthians 9:7, Romans 15:26). He considered he and his ministry team’s work to provide for their own financial needs to be an example of giving:
In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (v. 35).
Another reason Paul showed new believers the example that by working hard to pay for our own needs, is that when we work to be self-sufficient, we are then enabled to bless those who need our help. Specifically here Paul names the weak as needing the help of those who work hard. The inference is that some are physically unable to work, and need help.
Paul showed the Ephesians this example in everything he did, because he was himself following the example of the Son of God. In everything the Ephesians do, Paul wants them to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, who Himself had said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
This quote from the Lord Jesus comes as a bonus for those who have read the gospels, since neither Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John record this saying. Paul must have been taught this quote by one of the Apostles or disciples who knew Jesus during His life (Acts 9:27, 15:4, Galatians 1:18-20, 2:9).
We know Jesus performed many miracles that the gospels do not attempt to document, given the sheer volume of deeds Christ did in His ministry (John 20:30, 21:25). Likewise, Jesus must have said many things that were not written down in the gospels. Fortunately, Paul (and Luke, the author of Acts) is able to preserve this teaching from the Son of God here in the Book of Acts.
The notion that It is more blessed to give than to receive is contrary to our base human nature. We are by instinct self-interested (Jeremiah 6:13, Philippians 2:3-4). The second greatest commandment to love others as we love ourselves presumes that self-love is inherent (Matthew 22:37-39).
It would seem more blessed to receive than to give something away. To have naturally seems better than not having. But this perspective takes a short-term, this-world-is-all-there-is perspective. With an eternal perspective, the inverse, as stated by Jesus, proves true. We invest in heavenly rewards when we serve one another here on earth (1 Timothy 6:18-19, Proverbs 19:17). Those rewards create outsized benefits, and accordingly lead to great blessings (Mark 10:30).
In addition to eternal rewards, we are also promised current benefits in giving rather than receiving. In Mark 10:30, Jesus promises a return “now in the present age” for giving up anything in His name. One inference is that we gain deepened relationships with others who suffer with us, and that these relationships are, in and of themselves, a great reward.
Giving also frees us from greed and fear (Ecclesiastes 5:10). Jesus said that each person must make a binary choice between serving God or money (Luke 16:13). Generosity is one way to free ourselves from being slaves to money. Jesus’s instruction to the rich young ruler to give everything he had to the poor and follow Him was in answer to a question of how to seek the very best benefit from life (Matthew 19:21).
We can approach life in this manner by considering all we have to be God’s (which is actually the case) and view ourselves as stewards. Jesus taught His disciples that it was shrewd to act as a steward and use His money to benefit others, because of the rewards that will flow back to us from them in eternity (Luke 16:9).
We do not find ultimate or even much temporary satisfaction in chasing what we can receive. If we chase happiness by seeking “more” material possessions, we are chasing a ghost. “More” is actually something we can never have; once we gain “more,” that is, the thing we sought, then it is no longer “more.” Since happiness is defined by seeking “more,” we now conclude that the things we have are insufficient, so we have a need for “more.” This creates an endless cycle of futility. The chase for “more” controls our time and attention but delivers no benefit.
True bounty comes when we generously sow seeds of financial giving that we might reap a bountiful harvest from God (2 Corinthians 9:6, Galatians 6:7).
Because of the example Paul lived out in Ephesus, he also proved himself not to be a grifter. And he reminds these Ephesian elders of his integrity. Paul is not trying to boost his image in the eyes of the Ephesians; he is making a simple, factual case that he lived what he taught. He is validating his teaching, because others, “savage wolves,” will soon come along to contradict these facts.
He is defending the message he taught the elders, so that they will continue to trust it and be ready to sift out and resist false teachers. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
“All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and all for your upbuilding, beloved.” (2 Corinthians 12:19)
Paul ends his speech to the Ephesian overseers. His final exhortation is a quote from Jesus Christ Himself about giving to the needy: It is more blessed to give than to receive. Even in this quote Paul strives to lead his disciples to see the path that leads to actual benefit. The benefits offered by the world have the appearance of life, but actually lead to death.
The primary theme of his parting message is that the elders need to defend their flock from wolves and serve the needs of their congregation. The elders need to watch out for those who will exploit, and should instead serve one another in love.
Now Paul has nothing left to say other than goodbye, and a prayer for their leadership over the Ephesian church:
When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all (v. 36).
Paul knelt down in a posture of respect to God, as though kneeling before a king, the King of everything. He prayed with them all—the Ephesian elders and his traveling companions (Acts 20:4, 17). The elders probably prayed for safe travels for Paul and his team, those who were going with him to Jerusalem. They may have prayed over the Ephesian believers, to be prepared for the coming wolves and false teachers so that they would withstand them and follow the truth Paul had taught them.
Lastly, they likely prayed for Paul personally, since he was knowingly entering a situation where afflictions and bonds awaited him (Acts 20:23). Paul would suffer a great deal in the coming months to an unknown fate. Paul was prepared for suffering and had the perspective that in the end God would grow him and reward him for suffering as Christ had. But that did not mean he did not need help and strength. Throughout His suffering, Jesus prayed for help and strength to endure it all (Matthew 26:36-46).
The Ephesian elders are deeply grieved for their friend:
And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him
grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship (v. 37-38).
They did not hide their sadness, but began to weep aloud. They embraced Paul and repeatedly kissed him to show their affection for the man who had led them to faith in Jesus Christ and had taught them to live rightly before God. Paul had helped lead them away from sin and death and toward life and peace (Romans 8:6). He was their mentor, a father figure, and their example for how to obey God through faithful living.
Luke specifies the most central reason they wept, that they were grieving especially over the word or message he had spoken, specifically that they would not see his face again. Come what may of Paul’s future suffering and final years on earth, it was like a death from their perspective. They would not see Paul again. This was their final farewell, and brought out all the feelings of a funeral.
We can see from this deep emotional connection why Paul avoided stopping in Ephesus, only meeting the elders nearby in Miletus to say farewell. With the level of attachment shown, it would have been extremely difficult for Paul to tear himself away and reach Jerusalem in time for the festival of Pentecost (Acts 20:16).
To savor the remaining time they had with Paul, the elders were accompanying him to the ship. They walked with him and his companions from their meeting place in the city of Miletus to the docks on the Aegean Sea. They had their own traveling to consider—the return voyage to Ephesus—but this was the last time they would ever see Paul. They embraced him a last time and watched him board his ship, perhaps waiting until it set sail and exited the harbor, before they tearfully turned to begin their journey home.
Though the Ephesians would never see Paul again, he was faithful to write to them during his imprisonment in Rome, where he wrote the letter to their church (Ephesians 1:1). In that letter, Paul will again emphasize how knowing the truth overcomes false teaching (Ephesians 4:14-15).
Neither were the Ephesian believers forgotten by the other Apostles. Church tradition says that the Apostle John eventually went to Ephesus to serve as its lead pastor. We know that John was exiled by the Roman government to the isle of Patmos, a small island in the Aegean Sea about 60 miles southwest from Ephesus. It was on Patmos that Jesus revealed to John the events of the end times and His return, which John recorded in the book of Revelation.
Part of Jesus’s message to John was to write a letter to the church of Ephesus. It would seem that Paul’s warning against false teachers echoed through the years in the hearts of the Ephesians. In His message to the Ephesians, Jesus praises them for how ardently they have stood against wicked men and liars who pretend to be messengers from God,
“‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary.” (Revelation 2:1-3)
This farewell between Paul and the elders took place somewhere around 58 AD, while the book of Revelation was written in 90-100 AD, 30 to 40 years later, a full generation after these elders served. They had taken Paul’s warning seriously, and alongside the Apostle John had trained the successive generation of church leaders to stand in the truth and drive away false teaching.
Set to dark mode
Acts 20:25-38 meaning
Acts 20:25-38 records the Apostle Paul’s warning to the Ephesian elders to guard their church from false teachers, as well as his final farewell to them.
Along his return journey to Jerusalem at the close of his third missionary trip, Paul has called a meeting with the elders of the Ephesian church. Rather than go to them in Ephesus, Paul summoned the elders to the city of Miletus, about a day’s journey from Ephesus by sea. It seems that, since Paul had spent years in Ephesus, he feared that if he stopped there he would be compelled to stay overlong. His goal was to reach Jerusalem in time to celebrate the Jewish holy day of Pentecost, so time was a major factor.
His message to the Ephesian elders thus far (Acts 20:18-24) is somber, but hopeful. The Holy Spirit has been repeatedly telling Paul that he will suffer in Jerusalem. He will also be arrested. “Bonds and afflictions await” him (Acts 20:23). But Paul is not afraid of the pain in his future. His goal is to finish the job Jesus gave him, to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the world.
Paul tells the Ephesian elders a sad reality, which they have probably suspected by now:
“And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face (v. 25).
Again, Paul uses the transitional phrase And now, behold to pivot to a related but new subject. Paul is confident that these Ephesian elders will no longer see his face again while living on earth. Whether due to imprisonment or death, Paul is sure that this is the last time he will see these men. It is not completely clear if Paul’s declaration, I know that all of you...will no longer see my face is based on something the Spirit has solemnly testified to him (Acts 20:23) or if Paul is inferring it based on the danger waiting for him in Jerusalem.
It is with obvious sadness Paul tells them this is goodbye forever. These are men whom he ministered among and beside, men among whom he went about preaching the kingdom. He had lived in Ephesus for two to three years and had presumably formed deep relationships with them while preaching about the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ (Acts 19:8-10). The Ephesian elders were believers in Jesus because of Paul’s preaching. They would get to live in forever in Jesus’s kingdom because of Paul’s preaching (Colossians 1:13-14). They had also become fellow ministers with Paul, serving as leaders in the church.
Therefore, Paul says, because he had preached the kingdom to them, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God (v. 26-27).
Paul is expressing that his conscience is clear and his work among the Ephesians is complete. He is innocent of the blood of all men because he is obedient to God in preaching the gospel to them. He fulfilled his work in Ephesus, rather than following his own way in opposition to God’s will. Paul did not shrink or avoid declaring to the Ephesians the whole purpose of God.
Paul used multiple, distinct phrases that together speak of the whole purpose of God (v. 27).
Paul also says I went about preaching the kingdom (v. 25). Jesus’s earthly ministry was to preach the good news of His kingdom (Matthew 4:17) although He testified that His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). Jesus’s kingdom began on the inside and flowed to the outside. That is why Paul is preaching the kingdom. To receive and live in the kingdom of God is a matter of faith, and faith begins with hearing (Romans 10:17).
Paul will now proceed to give the Ephesians advice on how to carry out their responsibilities as elders over the Ephesian church. Up until this point in his speech to them, he has largely summarized his history with the Ephesian church. He has also spoken in a somewhat defensive manner, and will continue to defend himself in verses 33-35. The Ephesian elders loved and admired Paul, as seen by their reaction at the end of this chapter when saying goodbye, that they wept and kissed him (Acts 20:37-38). We can presume his defense is due to attacks against him and his gospel that he had endured, and would continue to endure.
It seems Paul is reminding them of his faithful ministry and godly example to them to prepare them for the future, since they will no longer see his face ever again (v. 25). Paul knows trouble awaits him in Jerusalem, and seems to expect to die. He also knows, based on past experience and perhaps from foreknowledge from the Spirit, that false teachers will attempt to deceive the Ephesians, as he will tell them in the following verses.
It would then seem that Paul is appealing to the Ephesians to remember the example he set for them and the truth he taught them, so that they will be ready to withstand and dispel any false teachers who come into their midst. Throughout his ministry, Paul has had to deal with many kinds of enemies that came against him and the gospel he preached.
Some such enemies have been legalistic Jewish teachers trying to convert new Greek believers into becoming circumcised and following the Law of Moses in order to be justified in God’s sight (Galatians 3:1, 4, 4:21, 6:12-13, Romans 2:17-29). Others had tried to allow permissiveness toward sinful behavior among believers (1 Corinthians 5:1-2). In his eventual letter to the Ephesians, Paul will warn about deceivers who teach “empty words” while practicing and promoting “shameful” “works of darkness” done “in secret” (Ephesians 5:6-14).
In essentially all cases of false teaching and corruptive influence, these rivals of Paul attempted to slander him. In some cases, they have belittled his public speaking abilities, smeared his character, and tried to discredit him as a legitimate apostle of God (2 Corinthians 10:10, 11:6, 13, Romans 3:8, 1 Corinthians 9:1, Galatians 1:1).
Paul has seen it all before. Since he is sure he will never see the Ephesians again, he reminds the Ephesian elders of how they came to faith in Jesus because of him, and he has always dealt with them honestly. He will not be able to guide them in the future, however, so he gives them this warning:
Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock (vs. 28-29).
Paul charges the elders foremost to Be on guard. Something bad is coming to Ephesus. He illustrates to the men listening to him what their job is as elders and overseers. The church of God here specifically concerns the Ephesian church, of which these men have been made overseers by the Holy Spirit Himself. This is a serious responsibility they have been assigned directly by God’s Spirit. This is a high calling. It is not a job of prestige or gain.
These overseers are not expected to serve alone. Paul addresses them together, and expects them to be overseers together. They are to work together to identify savage wolves and protect the flock from being consumed. Paul places great emphasis on their job to protect the flock of God from false teaching, just as he had done.
In Acts 14:23, we see Paul and Barnabas establish elders/overseers to lead every church they planted in Galatia. We can safely assume that this was something Paul did with every church he planted, if possible. In two different church letters, Paul writes thorough, detailed lists of qualifications for men who might become elders in a church (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9).
Indeed, here in Acts 20, Paul uses sobering language to stress the gravity of the Ephesian elders’ role to shepherd the church. The church was purchased by God Himself with His own blood. The overseers have not been given charge of something unimportant. The church was something Jesus the Son of God bought through His death.
In other scripture, the church is compared to a bride to be married to Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 5:25-27, Revelation 19:7-8). The health of the church is the responsibility of these overseers. God will hold them accountable for how well they executed their duty as overseers on Judgment Day, whether by rewarding or taking away rewards (James 3:1-12, 1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
Earlier in verse 17, Luke, the author of Acts, described these men as elders from Ephesus. The Greek word translated “elder” is “presbyteros.” Here the word overseers (“episkopos”) is used to refer to the elders. Both words describe the same role in church leadership. In general, Jewish believers leading churches were called “presbyteros,” and Gentile leaders were called “episkipos,” but the office is the same.
Their job is to shepherd the church. It is also interesting to note that the English word “pastor” comes from the Latin word for “shepherd.” It is reasonable to say that Paul here is setting forth that these overseers had the job description to shepherd or pastor the church of God.
These men were those in the community who had been chosen to lead the Ephesian believers, to teach them the truth, to give counsel, and so on. Traditionally and generally speaking, the leaders of a Jewish community would be the “elders,” the older men who had lived long enough to gain wisdom and perspective and good judgment (Deuteronomy 1:13, 15, 27:1, Ezra 10:14). This structure was adopted by the church. Here the leaders are also called overseers because their task is to oversee their community’s safety and growth.
Paul seems to know that dangerous teachers will come soon after the end of this meeting: I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you (v. 29). Perhaps this imminent danger was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. Paul assures the Ephesian elders that this problem is on its way, and that they had better prepare for it immediately.
The illustration Paul gives them is that they are each a shepherd over the church of God. The people in the church are like a flock of sheep (v. 29). And savage wolves will come in among the sheep. It is the shepherd’s job to Be on guard against predatory animals like wolves.
Paul underscores the danger of these wolves by depicting them as savage wolves, vicious and bent on destruction, not sparing the flock. The image is of wild animals tearing defenseless livestock to pieces, so that not one lamb is left alive. Which is why the flock needs overseers to shepherd them and be on guard of these approaching wolves.
One of the most iconic examples in the Bible of a good shepherd is King David before he was king. When persuading King Saul to make him Israel’s champion to battle Goliath the Philistine, David described his victory over bears and lions when protecting his flock as a shepherd in the Judean hills (1 Samuel 17:34-36). Even more iconic is Jesus Christ Himself, who called Himself the Good Shepherd who is willing to die for His sheep (John 10:14-16).
The Apostle Peter uses this same shepherd/flock illustration in one of his church letters, where he charges elders to shepherd their flocks well, noting that they will give an account of their leadership to the Chief Shepherd, who is Jesus (1 Peter 5:1-4).
It would appear that this danger in Ephesus will emerge from both outside and inside of the church. Paul’s earlier illustration is of predatory teachers who will come in among the church, like wild, savage wolves coming from the woods to hunt a flock of sheep in a pasture. However, Paul also warns the Ephesian overseers that false teachers will come from within the church as well:
and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them (v. 30).
From the among the Ephesian church body, men with bad motivations will arise. They will start speaking perverse things; their teachings and claims will be false, corrupted, incorrect. Their goal will be to draw away the disciples, the believers in Jesus, after them. Their objective will be to lure people away from following after Jesus and instead to follow after them.
Like a good shepherd, the Ephesian overseers are to Be on guard, not only for all the flock of believers in their church, but, Paul notes, for yourselves as well (v. 28). This is likely part of the reason Paul speaks to the overseers as a group or team. They are to hold each other accountable as well as work together to protect the church from being misled.
As leaders and protectors, they cannot do their job effectively if they do not look out for their own discernment and knowledge of the truth. They need to be wary. The coming false teachers will try to mislead them in order to assert influence over the church. They will be tempted to lead the people to follow and serve them. As shepherds, their job is to serve the believers by guiding them to follow Jesus, not to serve other men.
The overseers must also be aware that some of the false teachers might arise among your own selves. They must avoid prioritizing personal loyalty to one another over seeking what is true. Otherwise, the overseers could be led astray. They would then fail to protect other believers. They must avoid being people-pleasers, either among themselves or toward others. They should avoid being deceived through flattery. There are many ways a cunning wolf might try to draw away a sheep to its death. A shepherd must be watchful in all directions.
The Ephesian elders are charged to protect the believers from deception. The best way to spot falsehood is to know the truth. For example, counterfeit detectives are able to spot false dollar bills primarily by knowing what a true dollar bill looks like. In knowing the truth, the elders will be able to detect perverse things spoken by wolves and drive them away from their flock. This includes keeping watch among your own selves.
The imagery of savage wolves implies the destruction of the sheep, death and loss. The second image is of the men/wolves speaking perverse things leading away the sheep/disciples, taking them away from truth. For those who believe the perverse things and are led astray, it will result in the loss of their opportunity to live out the truth and follow God’s good design for their lives (Ephesians 5:15-16).
Paul paints this vivid, grim picture to prepare the elders:
Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears (v. 31).
With false teachers fast approaching, the elders need to watch for these enemies. Like a shepherd watching the trees for wolves coming out to attack the flock, the Ephesian leaders ought to Therefore be on alert. They do not need to be taken by surprise or wait for conflict to occur. They need to be on the alert and anticipate it, so that they can shut it down and preserve the health of the flock over whom they’ve been given charge. This means that the elders are to be combative in their resistance against false teaching.
Paul again exhorts them to listen to him by appealing to their shared history together, specifically his role as their teacher. He reminds them of the length of time he spent with them—night and day (all the time, without pause) for a period of three years—he did not cease to admonish each one with tears.
Based on Luke’s account in Acts 19, Paul taught in the synagogue for three months and in the school of Tyrannus for two years (Acts 19:8-10). Paul may have stopped teaching in the school of Tyrannus after two years, but spent another nine months or so in Ephesus, bringing the entire length of his time in Ephesus to three years. Or he may be rounding up.
Paul is displaying how devoted he was to the elders’ walk with God. He did not cease to admonish or teach them how to live out faithful obedience toward God as believers in Jesus. More specifically, to admonish means to warn or advise. Paul’s preparation of the elders for this day has been three years in the making.
Paul mentions that it was with tears that he has cautioned them, warned them, counselled them in the truth, showing the sincerity and affection he has for the elders. Paul is personally invested in their success as believers and leaders, readying them for the false teachers who will try to lead the Ephesians astray.
Paul is not merely saying, “I taught you the truth,” but he is contextualizing his ministry as being based on his personal love for the Ephesians. There is an emotional component to his relationship with the Ephesians. He is like a father to them (1 Corinthians 4:15).
In appealing to their friendship, Paul hopes they will teach others as he taught them, rather than succumbing to the new, perverse teachings which will soon invade their church. It is one thing to listen to and agree with someone when they are with you, but, as the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind.” Paul will not be there to defend his teachings. It is up to the elders to remember how much he loves them, how he cares for their wellbeing. The false teachers who are on their way to Ephesus want to harm and mislead.
We can see Paul’s battle against false teachers in his various epistles. For example, in Romans 3:8, Paul confronts a group of competing Jewish “authorities” for slandering his gospel of grace. His letter to the Romans is addressed to the Gentile believers in Rome (Romans 1:8, 13). But in Romans 2, Paul confronts a group of Jews who call themselves authorities. He notes their hypocrisy (Romans 2:24).
We can discern from Romans 2:25-29 that these Jews were teaching the Gentile believers in Rome that they must be circumcised and obey the Jewish laws in order to be saved. This was the same dispute that was brought before the Apostles and Elders at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. Peter agreed with Paul that being circumcised and following Jewish laws was not necessary to be saved, asserting: “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are” (Acts 15:11).
In spite of this finding at the Jerusalem Council, it appears that there was a group of Jews who did not agree with this ruling that the Gentiles are under grace, and actively sought to follow behind Paul on his missionary journeys to overthrow his teaching of the grace of the Lord Jesus. In Galatians 3:1, Paul asks those whom he brought to faith through the grace of the Lord Jesus “who has bewitched you?” Paul challenges the Galatians because they have fallen into a false teaching that they need to seek to be justified by following laws, when they have been fully justified by grace, through faith, in the finished work of Jesus who died for the sins of the world (Galatians 2:17, Colossians 2:14).
When speaking of the coming wolves, it is likely that Paul had particularly in mind this group of false teachers who asserted that Jesus was not sufficient, that adherence to the Jewish law was also necessary. In his later letter to the Ephesians, he reminded them that they are saved by grace, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This reminder of God’s grace being the means of being justified in His sight is likely a continuation of the warning against false teachers he gave them at this final in-person meeting in Acts 20. In his letter, Paul also warned the Ephesian believers against falling into licentiousness, which was their former way of living (Ephesians 4:22).
Both legalism and licentiousness are of the world and the flesh rather than of the Spirit. Paul ends his letter to Ephesus by admonishing all the believers to approach each day as a spiritual battle against Satan. Believers should daily put on the “armor of God” and resist Satan’s “flaming arrows” of untruth (Ephesians 6:11, 16). Paul has likened false teachers to ravenous wolves. The Apostle Peter likens Satan to a lion, seeking prey to devour (1 Peter 5:8). It requires constant vigilance to avoid his schemes. But we are promised that if we resist him, he will flee (James 4:7).
Time is pressing, so Paul begins to wrap up his farewell address:
And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified (v. 32).
The word commend is a translation of the Greek word “paratithēmi,” and can also be translated “set before or “entrust.” Since Paul believes he won’t see the Ephesian elders again, he tells them I commend you to God and to the word of His grace. He is entrusting them, giving them over to God. Of course this is just a figure of speech; the Ephesians (and all believers) are already in God’s care, and Paul cannot give them over to God as if they initially belonged to Paul. The word “paratithēmi” can also be used in the sense of serving up a plate of food. Paul is setting the Ephesians before God.
He has taught them and prepared them as best he can, he has no guilt in his ministry, since he tried to preach to all who would listen, and now he is “giving them over to God.” He simply means he will never see them again, and he is hopeful that God will guide them in their walk of faith, especially in light of the coming false teachers. He is also directing them to God, turning their attention to Him, as well as the word of His grace.
This word of His grace is probably the primary teaching Paul expects to be challenged. As previously noted, competing Jewish “authorities” slandered his teaching of grace, and contended that Gentiles were required to be circumcised and obey the Jewish laws in order to be saved (Acts 15:5, Romans 3:8). The Greek word translated grace is “charis.” It means “favor,” as can be observed in Luke 2:52, where Jesus grew in “favor [‘charis’] with God and men.”
The word or teaching of God’s grace is the teaching that God has favored humans by sending His Son to die for our sins (John 3:16). We can receive this amazing favor though faith. In John 3:14-15, Jesus explained that the faith needed was sufficient faith to look at Him on the cross, hoping to be delivered from the poisonous venom of death.
The word of God’s grace is freely given. We are justified in His sight solely because of His free gift of being justified through faith. But this word is only profitable in our daily experience if it is obeyed. And it is only profitable to gain rewards in the age that it to come if it is listened to and followed.
Paul explains that the word of His grace is able to build the Ephesians up. That there is building involved would indicate that Paul has in mind the Ephesians growing in their faith, becoming conformed to Christ’s image through obedience (Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18). This is the topic he most focuses on in his epistles.
The word of His grace likely includes the scriptures. As Paul told Timothy, all scripture is profitable to build us up, for “training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Believers are declared righteous in God’s sight solely through faith, but to be built up we must learn to walk in righteousness through following the Spirit by faith. This walk of faith leads to great rewards. Walking in obedience to Christ’s commands leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). It also leads to great rewards in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:10).
The word of His grace is also able to give the Ephesians the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. All those who are sanctified can refer to all those who are set apart, who are made holy because of their faith in Christ—which applies to all believers. All believers are set apart as holy because they are made new creations in Christ through the free gift of salvation (2 Corinthians 5:17). These are those who are born by faith.
But the phrase among all those who are sanctified can also refer to believers who are set apart by their obedience—these are those who walk by faith. This is likely the intended meaning since this is paired with the idea of God’s word being able to build you up.
The word can equip believers to overcome false teaching and the lust of the world. It can show us how to live in obedience to Christ, that we might possess the inheritance. All believers are granted the inheritance, but only those who live as faithful witnesses will possess the reward of their inheritance. A few passages that confirm this follow:
For more, read our article, “Eternal Life: Receiving the Gift vs Inheriting the Prize.”
This phrase—the inheritance among all those who are sanctified—also provides insight into an opportunity all believers in Jesus have to gain the great rewards that come from being set apart from the world and become conformed to His image (Romans 12:1-2).
In Acts, the “word of the Lord” or “the word of His grace” largely refers to the Gospel, the good news about how we can be a) born anew and be saved from sin and death and b) restored to fulfillment of our design through conforming to His image through a walk of obedience.
The first part of the Gospel is to have enough faith to look upon Jesus, to believe His death and resurrection will save us from the deadly venom of sin (John 3:14-15). New birth is a gift that cannot be earned nor lost. The remainder of the Gospel is about growing up. We learn to become mature in the faith through the word of His grace walking in the power of God’s Spirit. Paul uses conditional language here to refer to this growing-up process, sometimes referred to as “sanctification”: the word is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
The word is able to build us up to reach our full potential, restoring our design. The question is whether we will take advantage of this capacity. God’s grace is limitless. Its power is unfathomable. And it is able to build us up. But those who are born to new life through God’s grace must walk in the word of His grace to gain the fullest benefit.
We must walk in obedience to the word in order to be built up. It is our choice to choose sin or the grace God has given us to walk in His word (Romans 6:12-14, 23, 1 John 3:4-11, 2 Thessalonians 3:6, James 4:5-9). If we who have believed, who are born anew by God’s Spirit, live lives of faithful obedience, we can receive the inheritance mentioned here. It is also possible to fall short and fail to receive the full inheritance (2 John 1:8).
What inheritance is Paul talking about? Again, our salvation from the eternal penalty of sin and death is a sure thing that we receive as a gift through faith in Jesus’s death and resurrection (1 John 4:10, 5:11, John 10:28-29). We are totally accepted as His children when we believe. God will never reject His children. As Paul wrote to his disciple Timothy, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). Since we are in Christ, for God to reject us would be to reject Himself. That won’t happen. It is impossible. God is always our inheritance, without condition (Romans 8:17a).
But there is a conditional inheritance which Paul is routinely urging other believers to strive to receive. In Romans 8:17b, he tells the Roman believers they can be “fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” Every believer in Jesus is unconditionally an heir of God (Romans 8:17a). But the inheritance of being heirs with Christ is a reward we receive only if we suffer with Jesus.
The unconditional inheritance of being God’s child ensures that all who believe have eternal life and will spend eternity with God (John 3:16). It ensures that we are heirs of God (Romans 8:17a). The conditional inheritance that is a reward for faithful service requires that we suffer as Jesus suffered. We might ask, “How did Jesus suffer, and what does it mean to suffer with Jesus?”
A: He suffered the rejection of men, and unjust death (Isaiah 53:3, Hebrews 12:2, 1 Peter 3:18).
A: All authority over heaven and earth (Mathew 28:18; Philippians 2:9-11). He sat down on His Father's throne, having defeated death, and was given the glory and honor as a human to be restored to reigning over the world (Hebrews 2:5-9)
Jesus offers to reward those who learn the obedience He learned by sharing with them the same incredible reward He received (Revelation 3:21). To suffer with Christ is to endure rejection, loss, and even death from the world (2 Timothy 3:12). The world rejects those who do not love what it loves, which is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life (1 John 2:15-17).
If we live a life that is dead to this world but alive to Christ, obedient to God, abiding in Him, we are living a crucified life. We are overcoming sin and temptation, just as Jesus overcame, and are qualifying to receive the reward of an overcomer (Revelation 3:21).
Thus, Paul is reminding the Ephesians what he has doubtless taught them many times throughout the years. We are likely hearing here the primary points of Paul’s years of teaching, the things he most cares that the Ephesians remember. Now that he will never see them again, he leaves them with this final commendation to God and to God’s message of grace to them, that if they live as Christ lives, it will build them up (grow them, strengthen them) and will give them the inheritance among all those who are sanctified, that is, all believers.
But the reward of the inheritance will be possessed by believers who overcome the world as Christ did:
Paul once again cites his personal conduct to the elders as evidence to bolster his teaching, so as to act as a bulwark against anyone who might try to discredit him. This is likely because throughout Paul’s ministry, a constant point of attack by the false teachers Paul is warning them against is to attempt to discredit Paul’s authority as an apostle and to question his motives. Here Paul appeals to the elders’ personal experience with him relative to his motives:
I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me (v. 33-34).
Throughout his ministry, Paul was careful to pay for his own needs. He and his co-ministers—the men who were with me—would work to pay for their food and lodging for multiple reasons, primarily to set an example to others and to extinguish any accusations of taking advantage of those to whom he preached (1 Corinthians 9:1-8, 15-18; 2 Thessalonians 8).
While it is right for ministers to be paid to help support themselves, Paul in particular did not want to be paid by the people he ministered to (1 Corinthians 9:3-18). He did not want it said of him that he preached for profit. He removed this possible slander by working, or by having his mission partners like Timothy and Silas work to support their basic needs (Acts 18:5). When he did ask people to donate funds to help the Jerusalem believers in need, he provided a credible third-party to administer the gift in order to be above reproach (2 Corinthians 8:18-21).
In the rare cases where Paul accepted financial support, it was from churches far away, to help him while he ministered to a new area. He tried not to impose himself upon the people he was ministering to in person. The church in Philippi gave him financial aid (perhaps specifically from Lydia, who was a merchant who sold costly fabrics—Acts 16:14), but Paul accepted support from the Philippians when he was away from Philippi, and was therefore not taking money for teaching them directly. It was a gift from people he had previously taught, the Philippians, to help support him while he taught the gospel to new audiences in Thessalonica and Corinth (Philippians 4:15-18, 2 Corinthians 11:8-9).
While in Ephesus, he coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. He took no payment for teaching the gospel, he accepted no gifts. Paul did not shake a cup to receive anyone’s silver or gold after giving a sermon. He reminds the elders that they themselves know his hands ministered to his own needs and to the men who were with him; they saw him labor probably as a tentmaker in Ephesus, just as he had in Corinth and Thessalonica (Acts 18:1-3, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10).
He did this primarily to cast a pure light on the message he taught, to remove the hint of a shadow of doubt that he was only teaching for money. In doing this, Paul set himself apart from some preachers who did have bad motives (2 Corinthians 2:17, Philippians 1:15-16).
Paul’s pursuit of transparency and financial integrity was an effort to help validate the gospel, since it was taught freely, just as salvation is given freely as a gift from God (Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8). Paul was certainly a proponent of giving willingly to those who needed help, those who were in the midst of unfortunate life situations (Galatians 2:10, Acts 11:29-30, 2 Corinthians 9:7, Romans 15:26). He considered he and his ministry team’s work to provide for their own financial needs to be an example of giving:
In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (v. 35).
Another reason Paul showed new believers the example that by working hard to pay for our own needs, is that when we work to be self-sufficient, we are then enabled to bless those who need our help. Specifically here Paul names the weak as needing the help of those who work hard. The inference is that some are physically unable to work, and need help.
Paul showed the Ephesians this example in everything he did, because he was himself following the example of the Son of God. In everything the Ephesians do, Paul wants them to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, who Himself had said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
This quote from the Lord Jesus comes as a bonus for those who have read the gospels, since neither Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John record this saying. Paul must have been taught this quote by one of the Apostles or disciples who knew Jesus during His life (Acts 9:27, 15:4, Galatians 1:18-20, 2:9).
We know Jesus performed many miracles that the gospels do not attempt to document, given the sheer volume of deeds Christ did in His ministry (John 20:30, 21:25). Likewise, Jesus must have said many things that were not written down in the gospels. Fortunately, Paul (and Luke, the author of Acts) is able to preserve this teaching from the Son of God here in the Book of Acts.
The notion that It is more blessed to give than to receive is contrary to our base human nature. We are by instinct self-interested (Jeremiah 6:13, Philippians 2:3-4). The second greatest commandment to love others as we love ourselves presumes that self-love is inherent (Matthew 22:37-39).
It would seem more blessed to receive than to give something away. To have naturally seems better than not having. But this perspective takes a short-term, this-world-is-all-there-is perspective. With an eternal perspective, the inverse, as stated by Jesus, proves true. We invest in heavenly rewards when we serve one another here on earth (1 Timothy 6:18-19, Proverbs 19:17). Those rewards create outsized benefits, and accordingly lead to great blessings (Mark 10:30).
In addition to eternal rewards, we are also promised current benefits in giving rather than receiving. In Mark 10:30, Jesus promises a return “now in the present age” for giving up anything in His name. One inference is that we gain deepened relationships with others who suffer with us, and that these relationships are, in and of themselves, a great reward.
Giving also frees us from greed and fear (Ecclesiastes 5:10). Jesus said that each person must make a binary choice between serving God or money (Luke 16:13). Generosity is one way to free ourselves from being slaves to money. Jesus’s instruction to the rich young ruler to give everything he had to the poor and follow Him was in answer to a question of how to seek the very best benefit from life (Matthew 19:21).
We can approach life in this manner by considering all we have to be God’s (which is actually the case) and view ourselves as stewards. Jesus taught His disciples that it was shrewd to act as a steward and use His money to benefit others, because of the rewards that will flow back to us from them in eternity (Luke 16:9).
We do not find ultimate or even much temporary satisfaction in chasing what we can receive. If we chase happiness by seeking “more” material possessions, we are chasing a ghost. “More” is actually something we can never have; once we gain “more,” that is, the thing we sought, then it is no longer “more.” Since happiness is defined by seeking “more,” we now conclude that the things we have are insufficient, so we have a need for “more.” This creates an endless cycle of futility. The chase for “more” controls our time and attention but delivers no benefit.
True bounty comes when we generously sow seeds of financial giving that we might reap a bountiful harvest from God (2 Corinthians 9:6, Galatians 6:7).
Because of the example Paul lived out in Ephesus, he also proved himself not to be a grifter. And he reminds these Ephesian elders of his integrity. Paul is not trying to boost his image in the eyes of the Ephesians; he is making a simple, factual case that he lived what he taught. He is validating his teaching, because others, “savage wolves,” will soon come along to contradict these facts.
He is defending the message he taught the elders, so that they will continue to trust it and be ready to sift out and resist false teachers. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
“All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and all for your upbuilding, beloved.”
(2 Corinthians 12:19)
Paul ends his speech to the Ephesian overseers. His final exhortation is a quote from Jesus Christ Himself about giving to the needy: It is more blessed to give than to receive. Even in this quote Paul strives to lead his disciples to see the path that leads to actual benefit. The benefits offered by the world have the appearance of life, but actually lead to death.
The primary theme of his parting message is that the elders need to defend their flock from wolves and serve the needs of their congregation. The elders need to watch out for those who will exploit, and should instead serve one another in love.
Now Paul has nothing left to say other than goodbye, and a prayer for their leadership over the Ephesian church:
When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all (v. 36).
Paul knelt down in a posture of respect to God, as though kneeling before a king, the King of everything. He prayed with them all—the Ephesian elders and his traveling companions (Acts 20:4, 17). The elders probably prayed for safe travels for Paul and his team, those who were going with him to Jerusalem. They may have prayed over the Ephesian believers, to be prepared for the coming wolves and false teachers so that they would withstand them and follow the truth Paul had taught them.
Lastly, they likely prayed for Paul personally, since he was knowingly entering a situation where afflictions and bonds awaited him (Acts 20:23). Paul would suffer a great deal in the coming months to an unknown fate. Paul was prepared for suffering and had the perspective that in the end God would grow him and reward him for suffering as Christ had. But that did not mean he did not need help and strength. Throughout His suffering, Jesus prayed for help and strength to endure it all (Matthew 26:36-46).
The Ephesian elders are deeply grieved for their friend:
And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him
grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship (v. 37-38).
They did not hide their sadness, but began to weep aloud. They embraced Paul and repeatedly kissed him to show their affection for the man who had led them to faith in Jesus Christ and had taught them to live rightly before God. Paul had helped lead them away from sin and death and toward life and peace (Romans 8:6). He was their mentor, a father figure, and their example for how to obey God through faithful living.
Luke specifies the most central reason they wept, that they were grieving especially over the word or message he had spoken, specifically that they would not see his face again. Come what may of Paul’s future suffering and final years on earth, it was like a death from their perspective. They would not see Paul again. This was their final farewell, and brought out all the feelings of a funeral.
We can see from this deep emotional connection why Paul avoided stopping in Ephesus, only meeting the elders nearby in Miletus to say farewell. With the level of attachment shown, it would have been extremely difficult for Paul to tear himself away and reach Jerusalem in time for the festival of Pentecost (Acts 20:16).
To savor the remaining time they had with Paul, the elders were accompanying him to the ship. They walked with him and his companions from their meeting place in the city of Miletus to the docks on the Aegean Sea. They had their own traveling to consider—the return voyage to Ephesus—but this was the last time they would ever see Paul. They embraced him a last time and watched him board his ship, perhaps waiting until it set sail and exited the harbor, before they tearfully turned to begin their journey home.
Though the Ephesians would never see Paul again, he was faithful to write to them during his imprisonment in Rome, where he wrote the letter to their church (Ephesians 1:1). In that letter, Paul will again emphasize how knowing the truth overcomes false teaching (Ephesians 4:14-15).
Neither were the Ephesian believers forgotten by the other Apostles. Church tradition says that the Apostle John eventually went to Ephesus to serve as its lead pastor. We know that John was exiled by the Roman government to the isle of Patmos, a small island in the Aegean Sea about 60 miles southwest from Ephesus. It was on Patmos that Jesus revealed to John the events of the end times and His return, which John recorded in the book of Revelation.
Part of Jesus’s message to John was to write a letter to the church of Ephesus. It would seem that Paul’s warning against false teachers echoed through the years in the hearts of the Ephesians. In His message to the Ephesians, Jesus praises them for how ardently they have stood against wicked men and liars who pretend to be messengers from God,
“‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary.”
(Revelation 2:1-3)
This farewell between Paul and the elders took place somewhere around 58 AD, while the book of Revelation was written in 90-100 AD, 30 to 40 years later, a full generation after these elders served. They had taken Paul’s warning seriously, and alongside the Apostle John had trained the successive generation of church leaders to stand in the truth and drive away false teaching.