And when they were come to him, he said to them, *Ye* know how I was with you all the time from the first day that I arrived in Asia,
Paul's ship has stopped at Miletus, and he sends to Ephesus for the elders of the assembly there. He does not open with teaching. He points to their own memory of how he lived among them — which raises the question of why a farewell should begin with himself.
This address survived when the rest of Paul's preaching on that journey did not.
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus to summon the elders of the assembly there to meet him. They came at once, though it meant a journey of thirty-six miles for them... It is the only address of Paul's from this third journey that has come down to us... We are familiar with it, and we can see why it was right to preserve it. It shows us the spirit in which Paul worked, and the different lines of teaching he handled.
Paul called one assembly's elders, and he called them with authority.
It is certain that neighbouring towns or churches are completely ignored here. Only the elders of Ephesus were summoned, and only they are addressed... Notice that the apostle summoned the elders with authority, and that they responded to his call without question.
The word Paul uses for their knowing is not guesswork or hearsay.
epistamai means, first of all, to know something with the knowledge that comes from being near it... it is therefore the knowledge gained by experience — like that of an expert.
So he is not asking them to take his word for it. They had watched him themselves.
Talking about his own service did not come naturally to him. Need forced it out of him.
Here the apostle does not hold back from reminding them of his own service among them. This was a habit of his, as we see clearly in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians and elsewhere. Only burning zeal and a good conscience before God account for it. Nothing could be further from his character than liking to speak of himself... They knew very little of what the glory of Christ demands, of what the walk and service and devotedness of a Christian should be... They needed not only teaching, but — what is so much more powerful along with it — a living example to form and fashion the ways of Christ in them.
Paul had authority to command, yet he rests his charge on how he lived among them at every point. The order of these opening verses matters.
Paul could speak to them with apostolic authority, but he bases his instructions on what he had been among them at all seasons... In Acts 20:18 he speaks of his manner of life, and in Acts 20:19 of his service to the Lord. In Acts 20:20 he speaks of his service to the saints, and in Acts 20:21 of his testimony to all men. Is this order not especially important in days of wholesale departure from the truth? Nothing can be right if the manner of life is inconsistent with the word ministered; everything takes its character from this.
What Paul can do here, not every worker can do. Two sets of eyes have been watching.
The work of every servant is under the eye of God. It is also, to some extent, under the eyes of those among whom he works. He is happy when, as in this case, he can remind the saints of its character with a good conscience.
A life and a message must match, or the message loses its force.
Our teaching and our appeals have no more value than our lives give them. Of the scribes and Pharisees of our Lord's day He had to say, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice"... How deeply solemn! The teaching was good, but the teachers did not match the teaching. Happy is the man — Samuel, Paul, or anyone else — who can honestly point those who know him best to his manner of life from first to last, as his service draws to a close.
- Known — Paul's word for their knowing means knowledge gained by nearness and experience, not by report. He rests his case on what they had watched themselves.
- Manner — He speaks of his manner of life first, before his service, his care of the saints, or his preaching. Nothing else can be right if the life contradicts the message.
- Motive — He disliked speaking of himself. He did it only because these believers needed a living example as well as teaching.
- Measure — Every servant's work lies under God's eye, and partly under the eyes of those he serves. Our teaching is worth only what our lives make it worth.
- Moment — Paul reviews a consistent life as his service closes. That order — life first, then work — matters most in days of wholesale departure from the truth.
serving the Lord with all lowliness, and tears, and temptations, which happened to me through the plots of the Jews;
Paul's farewell to the elders of the Ephesian church does not open with a list of results. It opens with the spirit in which he had worked among them — lowliness, tears, and the plots of enemies — and that order is itself part of the lesson.
One writer traces the sequence running through the whole address.
In Acts 20:18 he speaks of his manner of life. In verse 19 he speaks of his service to the Lord. In verse 20 it is his service to the saints, and in verse 21 his testimony to all men. Is this order not of special importance in days of wholesale departure from the truth? Nothing can be right if the way a man lives contradicts the word he preaches. Everything takes its character from this. Then all true service must have the Lord Himself in view. It is from Him and to Him. He must be the source, the motive, and the object of all done in His Name... So that God's order was, first the Lord, then the saints, then the world.
Paul names the One he served, and the choice of words matters. It also rules out a humility that is only skin-deep.
Then he says, "Serving the Lord" — not, strictly speaking, serving the saints. The Lord was before him, not the service of humanity. If we serve according to this pattern, we keep the Lord as the sole Object of our service. And we serve "with all humility" — humility of mind, not of behaviour. A man may be only a hypocrite, humble on the outside but not in mind.
Paul could have pointed to learning or results. He puts forward something else, and the hardships named in the verse help produce it.
It is not learning or success in ministry which he puts before them, but serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind. How often that service puffs up the novice! What dangers surround even the most experienced! Lowliness of mind is of all moment in it, and the Lord helps by the very difficulties and griefs which accompany it.
The tears were not weakness or breakdown. They put Paul in the footsteps of the One he served.
The Lord Himself was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He wept over hardhearted sinners, and wept with broken-hearted saints. Paul, following in His steps, was a man of tears. He watered his service with tears, for he speaks of "serving the Lord with all lowliness and with many tears." Moreover, he wept over the saints as he foresaw the failure and sorrows that would overtake the Church after his death.
Older translations read "with all lowliness of mind" and "with many tears." The ESV has "with all humility and with tears."
The third mark is one no ministry report would list — the trials that came through the plots against him.
A pattern ministry does not mean one that leads from success to success in a continual round of triumph. Because our own circumstances are easy, we must not imagine that Christian service is a triumphal procession of large meetings and eager crowds... He had all kinds of testings and trials, and those very testings proved what he was made of spiritually. If you hear that someone is serving and running into endless difficulties, you need not always shake your head and say he is no good. He may be good in extraordinary measure.
Kelly points out who stood behind those plots, and how Paul spoke of them.
Paul was not ashamed to speak of his tears, any more than of the trials which came upon him through the plots of the Jews. They were the constant opponents of the gospel, filled with special bitterness against Paul.
The small words "all" and "many" carry weight here. And the closing question turns Paul's example into an invitation.
So he served not only humbly but with "all humility of mind"; and not only with tears but with "many" of them. He served with a tender heart and one from which the curse of pride, which ruins so many, was wholly absent. He went out weeping as he scattered the precious seed, and he will come again rejoicing, bringing his golden sheaves. What a pattern servant! And why should we not follow his example?
- Order — Life first, then the Lord, then the saints, then the world. Nothing later in the list can be right if the manner of life contradicts the message.
- Object — He served the Lord, not humanity and not a congregation. The Lord is at once the source, the motive, and the goal of the work.
- Spirit — Humility "of mind," not of behaviour, since a hypocrite can wear outward lowliness. Paul's credential is not learning or success but a lowly mind.
- Cost — Tears mark a servant who feels what he handles. He follows the One who wept over hard hearts and with broken ones.
- Proof — The plots and trials were not signs of failure. They proved what he was made of, and the Lord used them to keep him low.
how I held back nothing of what is profitable, so as not to announce [it] to you, and to teach you publicly and in every house,
Paul is giving the elders of Ephesus a last account of how he worked among them. Two claims stand out: he held back nothing useful, and he taught in two settings — in public and in people's homes.
Holding nothing back has a cost. One writer names what it takes.
Further, he could say that they knew how he kept back nothing that was profitable. This needs faith, and without faith, faithfulness will fail. The apostle was completely above the fear of man. He withheld nothing that was for their good. He announced it to them and taught them publicly and in their houses, testifying to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
So what counts as profitable? One writer says the apostle owed his hearers everything he had received — and that every truth needs its right place.
The apostle knew very well that what he received he had to pass on; he was a steward "of the mysteries of God" (1 Cor. 4:1). He later wrote to this very assembly a letter that unfolds the highest truth, and that subject was no doubt part of his spoken teaching. So he counted it, no less than the other parts of revelation, profitable to his hearers. The fact is, under the Spirit's guidance, it is impossible to turn to any part of revealed truth that is not profitable. "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable," the same writer says in another letter (2 Tim. 3:16). There is need to emphasise that word all. No doubt there are chapters in God's word — as well as doctrines — of special importance, but the point to keep in mind is that all are necessary. We would think a face sadly deformed if any feature were missing. Giving the other features extra prominence would not make up for it; and so not only should every truth find a place, but its right place, and that in proper proportion.
Paul limits his claim to what was profitable. One writer draws out what that implies.
He kept back no ministry that was profitable, which means that he did keep back what was unprofitable. That is a further example to follow honestly. From house to house and publicly, to the few or the many, he had the good and the profit of all at heart.
Two verbs are used, not one, and commentators read the first differently. One takes "showed" as demonstration that then has to be driven home:
He was not content with showing; he explained and enforced what he had shown. A teacher may fully understand a mathematical problem and be able to work it out on the blackboard. Passing that knowledge on to his pupils is another thing. Now this is what the apostle, the "teacher of the Gentiles," sought to do... To this end the apostle, not content with public ministry, went from house to house. He no doubt found on his visits that much he had said in his public address had not been grasped. Are we not often surprised, when we question our hearers, to find how little they have retained?
Another writer takes the showing as the life Paul lived in front of them.
We only teach effectively if our own lives match what we say. The apostle Paul illustrated this well. He referred to it twice when speaking to the elders of Ephesus: "I have showed you, and have taught you," and again, "I have showed you all things" (Acts 20:20, 35). He illustrated in his life what he taught with his mouth. This is the effective way of teaching, in Paul's day or in ours.
The verse names two settings, and one writer sees two kinds of work joined in one man.
The teacher unfolds truth; the pastor applies it. The teacher enlightens the understanding; the pastor looks to the state of the heart. The teacher supplies the spiritual food; the pastor sees what use is made of it. The teacher's work is mostly public; the pastor's work is mostly private. When the two are joined in one person, the teaching gift gives the pastor immense moral power. The pastoral element gives the teacher a tender affection.
The same writer notes which half tends to be dropped, and what is lost with it.
A man may perhaps give us a short address on the Lord's day, or a lecture on a weekday; but where is the "house to house" side of the question? Where is the close, earnest, diligent looking after individual souls day by day? Very often the public teaching shoots completely over the head; it is the house to house teaching that is sure to come home to the heart. How often something said in public is entirely misunderstood and misapplied, until the loving pastoral visit during the week supplies the true meaning and the right application.
For one writer, private visiting is not the lesser half. It is what keeps public ministry sound.
I think the visiting part quite as important, if not the most important part of the work: it is said, "publicly, and from house to house."... The clock strikes the hours, and that serves the passers-by. But the works inside make the good clock, and make the striking and the hands right. I think it should be your main work; indeed, I do not believe anyone can minister well without it. The springs of love, and the use and application of doctrine, are fed there; minds are understood. Otherwise we are apt to get essays, theories or thoughts... I dread much public testimony, and altogether so, if there is no private work.
- Faith first. Holding nothing back takes faith. Without faith, the fear of people wins.
- All is profitable. Every part of revealed truth is useful. Each truth needs its right place and proportion; what a servant holds back is the unprofitable.
- Show, then teach. Showing is not enough. The truth has to be explained, pressed home, and matched by the teacher's own life.
- Two settings, two gifts. Public teaching unfolds the truth; house-to-house work applies it to the individual heart. Much of a public address is not grasped until a visit follows it up.
- Inside the clock. Private work feeds public ministry. Without visiting we get essays and theories; the works inside make the striking right.
testifying to both Jews and Greeks repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul is saying goodbye to the leaders of the church at Ephesus. He sums up everything he preached among them in two words: repentance and faith. What is repentance? Why does it point to God, while faith points to Christ? And does one come before the other?
Paul names two groups. One writer notes how that message would land on the first of them:
The Jew would strongly resent that message. He would say it was obvious that the Greek should be told to repent, but to come and tell them, the people of God, to repent was very objectionable. But Paul calmly and plainly told the truth of God in both directions.
Repentance is not what many people assume. One writer clears away the wrong ideas, then defines it and explains the word "toward":
It is not a mere change of mind on certain points (this would confuse it with faith); for the Lord preached, "Repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). It is not simply a conviction of having done wrong; for when the crowd were cut to the heart, Peter urged them to repentance (Acts 2:38). It is not sorrow for sin, for "godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret" (2 Cor. 7:10)… But it is a change of mind, a judgment of self, of one's ways and sins, shown by a changed life. It is God's gift; the risen and ascended Christ gives it (Acts 5:31)… It gives God His right place in the conscience of His creature, so it is "toward God."
Why is repentance directed one way and faith another? The answer lies in two different needs. The name Paul uses matters too:
It is against God we have sinned, and it is He who has passed judgment on our sins. So when we are convicted of our guilt, it is to Him we turn with confession and self-judgment. In this state our one need is to learn the way of salvation, just as the jailer, conscience-stricken, ran to Paul and Silas and cried, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered by presenting Christ… But they used the full title — the Lord Jesus Christ. That shows they preached a full gospel: the gospel about His person, His death and resurrection, and His present exaltation as Lord at the right hand of God.
The verse names two things. Where God is at work, each one guarantees the other:
Repentance and faith are inseparable where there is reality… As there is no genuine repentance without faith, so there is no faith of God's elect without repentance. Repentance toward God is the soul judging itself and confessing its ways as in His sight. Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ is the soul receiving the good news God sends concerning His Son.
Does the order of the words set an order of events? One writer says repentance cannot come first:
But people badly abuse that sentence (Acts 20:21), putting repentance before faith. If it means faith in the full efficacy of Christ's work, then of course it can and will come after repentance. Repentance cannot go before faith. When a man brings a testimony, it produces no effect unless people believe it.
Two opposite errors twist this verse. Neither one is of God:
The low views which make repentance a human work as a preface to faith are no less objectionable than the so-called high views which merge everything in faith, making repentance no more than a change of mind. Neither legalism nor antinomianism is of God, but the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ.
If both must be present, must they be equally strong? The answer is no. Here is what repentance sounds like when it speaks:
Peter repented when he said, in the presence of the Lord, "I am a sinful man." The tax collector repented when he said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" The prodigal repented when he said in the presence of the father, "I have sinned against heaven and before you." The thief repented when he said, "We are receiving the due reward of our deeds." There may be different measures of repentance, just as there are different measures of faith… but wherever there is a work of God in the soul, these two things will be found.
- Same message. Paul told Jews and Greeks the same two things. The religious hearer needed to repent as much as the Greek did.
- Repentance is Godward. Not regret, not sorrow, not a mere shift of opinion — it is self-judgment that gives God His right place in the conscience.
- Faith is Christward. Once we turn to God in confession, our one need is the way of salvation. The answer is a person: the Lord Jesus Christ, in His death, resurrection and present exaltation.
- Never separated. No genuine repentance exists without faith, and no faith without repentance. Repentance cannot come first, since a message nobody believes does nothing.
- Real, not uniform. The depth varies from soul to soul, yet where God works, both are always there.