Sometimes God places a man in a field of service for life to preach the gospel and rule the church of God in a given place permanently. The man who is truly the servant of God will be faithful in the place of his calling. He cannot be driven away by hardships, trials, or opposition; and he cannot be drawn away by the allurements of personal gain, worldly comfort, or greater recognition. Preachers who use churches as stepping stones on the road to ministerial success are not God's servants. They are hirelings who sell their services to the highest bidder.

However, the Lord sometimes sends a man to a place to do a specific work. When his work has been accomplished, the Lord sends him to another place to accomplish other things. Faithful men move from place to place to preach the gospel as they are led by the Spirit of God. Their place of service is not determined by anything except their desire to serve the interests of Christ's kingdom according to the will of God. Every God sent preacher is a spokesman for God, and is to be received and honored as such (I Thess. 5:12-13; Heb. 13:7, 17). However, he is only a temporary spokesman, a voice crying in the wilderness (John 1:23). No matter how useful, influential, and beneficial a man's ministry is in a given place, it is only temporary. It will, either by death or by the direction of God the Holy Spirit, come to an end. Yet, the cause of Christ, the church of God, and the gospel of God's free grace in Christ continues. Thus it becomes the duty of God's servants to prepare the people they serve for a continued, uninterrupted, vibrant ministry when they are removed.

That is what Paul is doing in Acts 20:17-38. He had faithfully preached the gospel of Christ at Ephesus for three years. The Lord had greatly blessed his labors to the conversion of many. But the time had come for him to move elsewhere. His work at Ephesus was done. The Spirit of God led him to Jerusalem. Paul was leaving behind a large congregation, one that required the labors of several preachers (elders) to oversee it. Probably, the church at Ephesus met in several congregations throughout the city, with each one having its own pastor/teacher. The Apostle Paul called for all the elders at Ephesus to meet him at Miletus, where he gave them the solemn farewell message contained in these verses.

PAUL WAS AN EXEMPLARY GOSPEL PREACHER (vv. 17-27). Here he sets himself before the elders at Ephesus as an example of what every gospel preacher ought to be, both in life and in doctrine. He did not speak with arrogance, but with honest confidence (II Tim. 4:6-8). He had conscientiously done what God sent him to do. He had been an example to these men of what he expected from them, and they all knew it. They knew him to be a gracious, sober minded faithful man. He was not a self-seeking, self-promoting, self-serving religious charlatan (I Cor. 4:1-5). Both the tenor of his life and the doctrine of his lips demonstrated his devotion to the gospel and the glory of Christ (Phil. 4:9).

In his daily life, as in the pulpit, Paul was the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ (vv. 18-19). He made no pretense of perfection, but he did live blamelessly before men, as one whose manner of life was above reproach. That simply means that in the tenor of his life Paul was evidently a man consecrated to Christ. That is what God requires of every gospel preacher (I Tim. 3:2-7). Paul served the Lord with humility, knowing his own insufficiency in the flesh (II Cor. 2:16), and the sufficiency of God's grace (II Cor. 3:5; 12:9). He served the people of God with sincerity and great concern. He was faithful to God and to men in the midst of many trials and temptations (II Cor. 4:7-14). He was consistent in his devotion to Christ, not spasmodic. For three years the men to whom he was speaking had watched him day and night. They found him to be steadfast, never wavering. In the pulpit and out, he was the servant of God. He was not pretentious and hypocritical. He was a preacher whose doctrine was demonstrated in a life of devotion.

Paul's preaching, like his life, exemplified what the servant of God must be and do (vv. 20-27). He came to Ephesus to preach the gospel of Christ to the people of that city; and he had been faithful to his calling. His message was constant. In public and in private, he preached Jesus Christ crucified, teaching "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (vv. 20-21). Paul never deviated from the message God sent him to preach (I Cor. 2:1-2; 9:16). His motive was pure (vv. 22-25). Knowing by divine revelation the troubles that awaited him, Paul would not be deterred from the work to which he was called (Acts 21:4, 11). Read verse 24, and pray for the grace and commitment to the gospel that Paul demonstrated! His hands were clean (vv. 26-27). As God's appointed watchman he had faithfully proclaimed the word of life and grace God gave him (Ezek. 3:15-21; 33:1-16). No one perished because Paul kept back the Word of God! Two things must characterize every gospel preacher: (1) He must live by the gospel. The man who preaches the gospel must live by gospel principles as one who is dedicated to the glory of God. (2) He must preach the gospel. He must, with honesty, plainness, and boldness, preach the gospel to all who will hear him, never hedging, never trimming his message.

In verses 28-31, PAUL LAYS A GREAT BURDEN OF RESPONSIBILITY UPON ALL WHO ARE ORDAINED OF GOD TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. This charge is specifically addressed to pastors, but its implications extend to all who are in positions of leadership in local churches (elders, teachers, deacons, missionaries, and evangelists).

It is the responsibility of every pastor to be an overseer, a spiritual shepherd and ruler in the church of God (v. 28). The church belongs to Christ. He bought it with his precious, sin-atoning blood. It does not belong to the pastor or the people. It belongs to Christ, and must ever be regarded as his peculiar possession. Pastors are under-shepherds to Christ, placed in the church by the gifts and graces of God (Eph. 4:8-16). God raises up chosen men, gives them the gifts necessary for the work he has for them to do, and places them where he wants them in his vineyard (Jer. 3:15). Yet, the work of the gospel ministry is a laborious responsibility that demands the preacher to be diligent in prayer, study, and preaching, and watchful over his own soul (I Tim. 4:12-16; II Tim. 4:1-5). As Christ's under-shepherd, it is the pastor's responsibility to watch over, protect, feed, and rule the church of God. He must watch over men's souls, protect them from danger, feed them with knowledge and understanding by the gospel, and rule the house of God by the preaching of the gospel and personal example (Heb. 13:7, 17; I Pet. 5:1-3).

The pastor's work is necessary because the people of God in this world, like sheep in the wilderness, face many dangers (vv. 29-31). Many wolves rise up within the walls of professed christianity that would devour the flock (freewillism, legalism, ritualism, etc.). It is the pastor's responsibility, by sound instruction in gospel doctrine, to protect Christ's sheep from the wolves of false religion.

ONLY GOD HIMSELF CAN PRESERVE HIS CHURCH IN THE GOSPEL (vv. 32-38). Paul knew that. Though he had faithfully labored among the Ephesians, preaching the gospel for three years to them, though he left the church in the hands of capable men, he knew that only God himself and the gospel of his grace could effectually preserve the church in the faith of Christ. So he commended the church to God and to the word of his grace. He told them to look to God and to the word of his grace (his gospel) for direction (v. 32). He taught them to measure all who claimed to be gospel preachers by his own example of faithfulness and generosity (vv. 33-35). As he left Ephesus, he prayed with his brethren and for them (vv. 36-38; Eph. 1:15-23; 3:14-21).

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