SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/14/2018
9:45 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 Intro to Acts 20:25-38
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
20:25-38
Message of the
verses: “25 “And now, behold, I know
that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer
see my face. 26 “Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the
blood of all men. 27 “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.
28 “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. 29 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come
in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will
arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 “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. 32 “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. 33 “I have coveted no one’s
silver or gold or clothes. 34 “You yourselves know that these hands ministered
to my own needs and to the men who were with me. 35 "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.’" 36 When he had said these things, he knelt down
and prayed with them all. 37 And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul,
and repeatedly kissed him, 38 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.”
We are talking about how the New Testament should work as
Paul gives an account of what he did while in Ephesus for three years. Paul thoroughly fulfilled his obligation to
teach these people at Ephesus for the three years that he was there, there he
could “testify” to these leaders that he was “innocent of the blood of all men”
meaning both Jews and Gentiles as he put forth the word of life to all who
would listen to him. Paul evangelized the
unbelievers and taught those in the church that he began; therefore he was not
unfaithful in any aspect of his ministry while in Ephesus.
John MacArthur writes:
“Paul’s declaration that he was ‘innocent of the blood of all men’ is
reminiscent of God’s words to Ezekiel:
‘7 “Now as
for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel;
so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. 8 “When
I say to the wicked, ’O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak
to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but
his blood I will require from your hand. 9 “But if you on your part warn a
wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die
in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.’
“That is a sobering
reminder of the serious responsibility that all believers, but especially
leaders, have to speak God’s truth (cf. James 3:1). Paul declared himself innocent because he ‘did
not shrink from declaring to’ them ‘the whole purpose of God.’ The implication is that those elders must
follow Paul’s example of preaching a complete gospel of God’s redemption of
sinners or face God’s chastisement. That
is still true for all pastors.
“After that personal note, Paul charged the church
leaders to maintain five priorities; be right with God, shepherd the flock,
guard the flock, study and pray, and be free from self-interest.”
We will begin looking at these five priorities that Paul
charged the church leaders with before he got onto the boat to make his way to
Jerusalem.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: One of the
reasons that I take time most everyday to study the Word of God is to put what
I learn onto my blogs so that the Holy Spirit can use what I write to give an
effectual call to those that God chose in eternity past, to cause believers to
grow in their faith, to bring about revival in the lives of believers who are
in need of revival, and as the Spirit of God sends these Spiritual Diaries
around the world my prayers are always that these things will be accomplished.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to accomplish these things
each and every day that I wrote about above.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “The sword” (Romans 13:4).
Today’s Bible
question: “According to Matthew 24:41,
what will happen to the two women when Christ returns?”
Answer in our next SD.
7/14/2018 10:10 AM
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