But I make no account of [my] life [as] dear to myself, so that I finish my course, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the glad tidings of the grace of God.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom [of God], shall see my face no more.
Paul is saying goodbye to the elders of the church at Ephesus. In one sentence he tells them they will never see him again, and names the one theme of all his years with them: the kingdom.
One commentator notes that the manuscripts differ over how this verse names what Paul preached.
It is his farewell. His work, as far as being present among them, was ended. The best and oldest manuscripts and versions, apart from the Vulgate and others, read simply "the kingdom." Others add "of God," which is meant even if not expressed; others "of Jesus," and "of the Lord Jesus."
One writer reads this parting as the close of Paul's public work, with lasting effects on the church he left behind.
Solemn departure, the end of the apostle's public work. He speaks of it as a finished work. He announces that from now on, because he is gone, evil would prevail in the outward assembly of God on the earth. But he assures the faithful that God and the word of His grace would be enough to build them up and give them an inheritance among those who are sanctified.
Paul preached grace, and one writer notes he pressed the Lord's authority just as firmly.
Though Paul emphasised the gospel of the grace of God, he insisted just as much on the authority of the Lord Jesus. That authority belongs to the kingdom of God. And that kingdom has an important present aspect that we cannot ignore. Now he tells the Ephesian elders that he knows they will not see his face again. That fact gives more solemn weight to his message for them.
Paul names one theme for all his work among them. One writer argues that this theme has dropped out of much preaching since.
Here we have another and distinct topic, one that modern preaching easily overlooks — "the kingdom." Anyone who examines the Acts of the Apostles will find how large a place it holds in the preaching, not of Peter only but of Paul. We may be sure it filled the preaching of all the other servants of the Lord in those early days. It is a grave blank where the kingdom is left out as it is now. Unfaithful preachers today rob the saints of the future as God has planned it. And the gospel of God's grace suffers by it too.
Commentators differ on which kingdom Paul was announcing. One writer, asked which he meant, ruled out the options put to him and pointed to what is still to come.
Neither, as I believe. It is that coming intervention of God to change the heavens and the earth. The Lord will start and establish it when He comes in visible power and glory, to the joy of all the earth, of Israel and all the nations… Neither the gospel nor the church wiped out the apostle's value for this grand truth. That truth has faded from the testimony of many who were once zealous.
Another writer holds that Paul was not pointing only to the future.
This clearly has a present bearing. When he spoke of the things to come, no doubt he spoke of the kingdom that will one day be set up for all to see. But he also kept before them that in receiving Christ as Lord they had already come under the authority of God. He showed them what it meant in practice to be subject to God's holy will.
The kingdom is not the starting point. It follows what he has just said about the gospel of the grace of God.
If we are to learn the truth of God, we must first receive the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24). Grace having met our deep need, our souls are then helped on by the preaching of the kingdom of God (Acts 20:25). We learn that God has marked out our course down here under the authority of His dear Son. As we live in subjection to the Lord Jesus, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit mark all our ways.
- Farewell. Paul's work among them was finished. His absence would let evil spread, yet God and the word of His grace would still build them up.
- Weight. He will never speak to them again, so every word of this charge carries added weight.
- Kingdom. Paul sums up his whole ministry among them in one word: the kingdom. It fills the book of Acts. One writer warns that dropping it leaves "a grave blank."
- Two readings. Commentators differ. One takes the kingdom here as God's coming intervention in visible glory. Another sees the present authority of Christ over His people.
- Order. Grace first meets our need; the kingdom then teaches us to live under the authority of God's Son.