45.1 PAUL'S FAREWELL TO THE ELDERS OF EPHESUS

- As Paul sails from Macedonia for Palestine, he by-passes Ephesus, but calls in at Miletus. From there he summons the elders of Ephesus. On their arrival, Paul talks about his mission to both the Jews and Greeks in the province of Asia. He knows that if he continues on to Jerusalem, he will be persecuted, but must finish the ministry given to him by Jesus Christ. He warns them against the rise of false teachers:

Acts 20:18b-35 - "I am sure you know how I have lived among you ever since I first set foot in Asia (in Asia Minor). You know how I served the Lord most humbly and what tears I have shed over the trials that have come to me through the plots of the Jews. You know I have never shrunk from telling you anything that was for your good, nor from teaching you in public or in your own homes. On the contrary I have most emphatically urged upon both Jews and Greeks repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus. And now here I am, compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I do not know what may happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and persecution await me in every city that I visit. But frankly I do not consider my own life valuable to me so long as I can finish my course and complete the ministry which the Lord Jesus has given me in declaring the good news of the grace of God. Now I know well enough that not one of you among whom I have moved as I preached the kingdom of God will ever see my face again

... according to the "Pastoral Letters", Paul probably did revisit Ephesus, c AD66. Possibly referred to in his First Letter to Timothy 3:14 ....

That is why I must tell you solemnly today that my conscience is clear as far as any of you is concerned, for I have never shrunk from declaring to you the complete will of God. Now be on your guard for yourselves and for every flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you guardians - you are to be shepherds to the Church of God, which he won at the cost of his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves (false teachers) will come in among you without mercy for the flock. Yes, and even among you men will arise speaking perversions of the truth, trying to draw away the disciples and make them followers of themselves. This is why I tell you to keep on the alert, remembering that for three years (during Paul's stay in Ephesus and Asia earlier in his Third Journey, Acts 19:1-20:1) I never failed night and day to warn every one of you, even with tears in my eyes. Now I commend you to the Lord and to the message of his grace which can build you up and give you your place among all those who are consecrated to God. I have never coveted anybody's gold or silver or clothing. You know well enough that these hands of mine have provided for my own needs and for those of my companions. In everything I have shown you that by such hard work, we must help the weak and must remember the words of the Lord Jesus when he said, 'To give is happier than to receive'."

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continuing preaching the "Gospel of Jesus", on to Part 46, Acts 21-26 OR back to Harmony of Jesus & Early Church