 Let's get into the word, and we'll begin here in Acts 20, at verse 1. We'll read to verse 6, get into our study as we continue our series here in the book of Acts. Beginning at verse 1, Acts chapter 20, after the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia. Now, when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece and stayed three months. And when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia, also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians and Gaius of Derby and Timothy and Tychicus and Trafimus of Asia and Bill of Orange County and Marvin of Alla. These men going ahead waited for us at Troas. But we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and in five days joined them in Troas where we stayed seven days. So as we begin, let me give you some context to enroll into chapter 20. We know that Paul had just gone through a very stressful situation in the city of Ephesus, which is located in modern Turkey. There was a man there by the name of Demetrius, and he was a silversmith, and Demetrius had fomented a near riot in opposition to the message of the gospel. And so as this is taking place, the city clerk had intervened, and the people were dismissed, and peace was able to be restored. So Paul now is leaving Ephesus, and he's going into Macedonia. When you look at a map of the region during that day, Macedonia would be what we would call Northern Greece. And so he's on his way to Macedonia. And that was in keeping with the plans that he had already made. Here in chapter 19, verse 21, Paul had purpose to go to Jerusalem, and he hoped to move on to Rome. Now he's an evangelist. He's a missionary. He's a church planner, and Paul's great desire was to preach the gospel. He said to the Romans in chapter 15, verses 20 and 21, my ambition has always been to preach the good news where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else. I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures where it says, those who have never been told about him will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand. So Paul's great desire, as we go through the book of Acts you've seen this, is to preach the gospel where the name of Christ has never been mentioned. He's an evangelist. He's a church planner. He's a missionary. He is also a shepherd. And as a shepherd, he desires to make sure that the people that are receiving the gospel are healthy in their spiritual life. So he would go to churches with a desire to teach and encourage the people. So he would go from place to place, plant churches, and then very often return to that area in order to continue ministering to them. And so in verse 2 it says, when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece. And so as we've seen, that's the pattern that is developed early in his ministry, is to encourage people to strengthen them, to teach them. We saw this in chapter 15, verse 41, as he went through Syria and Selecia, he was strengthening the churches. We saw this in chapter 16, verses 4 and 5, where it says, as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily. And so they're strengthening the church, encouraging them with many words. This moving from place to place, going to church and strengthening the disciples continues to this very day. That's one of the ministries that the Lord has given to me. I've had opportunity this year to go many places with this exact purpose. You see, when you read the Bible, you think sometimes, well, that's what took place 2,000 years ago. No, these things like this, these things continue to this day. And I was asking my secretary, can you just give me a list of some of the places we've been just this year alone so I could use this as an illustration? And so she gave me where we've been this year. And some of you may remember this and all. But this year alone, I taught a pastor's conference in Cuba, taught a regional pastor's and servants conference in Diamond Bar, ministered in Hudson Valley, New York, taught a pastor's servants conference in Georgia, taught a pastor's conference in Indiana, a men's conference here in June, one in Fontana in July. On the 26th, we have a men's breakfast where I want to strengthen, encourage you men. In September alone, I'm going to teach at a conference in South LA, a pastor's conference in New York. I'm going to meet with New York pastors to teach them. I'm going to teach a men's conference in New Jersey. I'm going to teach at Harvest, New York. In October, I'm going to teach a pastor's conference in Mexico about building a wall. And then, just plain, I'm just kidding. I can't resist it, man. I'm sorry. And then in November, I'm going to be teaching at the Calvary Chapel International Pastors Conference in Diamond Bar. We do that. That's what we do. We go from place to place. And that's what Paul did. Paul would plant churches. He was an evangelist. He was a missionary. He was a Bible teacher. He was a shepherd. And what he wanted to do is he wanted to encourage them. And how do you encourage somebody? You encourage them by teaching them the doctrines of Jesus Christ. That's what he did. He didn't go there to give them pep talks. He went there to strengthen them with many words. He went there to teach them about God. We'll see this more in a few minutes as we continue through the chapter. But that's what he was doing. And so in verse three, we know that he had come to Greece. He stayed there for three months. But he left for safety reasons, if you will. The Jews, he says here, plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria. So he decided to return through Macedonia. In verse four, we have his ministry team. Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia. Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timothy, Tachikus, Trophimus. This was what you would call a ministry team that had been assimilated. And you see these been in other places sometimes in scripture, you have Sopater mentioned here. He may also be known by another name, Sosapater. And you see him in Romans 16. You have Aristarchus, who's mentioned also in Acts 27 too, as well as Philemon. You have Secundus, he's only mentioned here. You have Gaius of Derby, he was mentioned in chapter 19. He lived in a place called Derby, which is Derby Turkey. You see Timothy, we see him in the epistles as well as he was first mentioned in chapter 16. You have Tachikus, who is mentioned in Ephesians 621, a very close companion of Paul. You have Trophimus, he was an Ephesian traveling companion. You see him in 2 Timothy 420. So he had a traveling team. And again, we've had traveling teams assembled and with several Calvary Chapel pastors, we've traveled the world and we've had amazing times, serving the Lord together as a team. Raul Rees and Bob Grenier and Randy Walls and Panchoares and several of us have had team ministries for many years. We've had opportunities to go to South America, go to Spain, go to Israel together and to minister. And that's what you find in the New Testament. You see these kinds of things. And these teams, I'll say this very briefly, but these teams, something you might want to know about a ministry team is you get very, very close. You become very, very good friends. You know, we have been, Raul and several of us, I can remember, we were in Colombia and while we were there, we had a time of prayer and the Holy Spirit moved on us and we were weeping together, praying for each other, praying for each other's children. And you become very, very close and very, very tight as friends in all. And you have great, great experiences. A friend of mine named Gary Ruff and I were on our way back from a ministry trip to South America with Raul and this team I mentioned and we were seated, we were in Chile and we're in the plane waiting to leave and right next to me, right across the aisle is a mama with two small children traveling to the United States. And it's a few hours of flight time and these kids were really loud and they were crying really loudly and I turned to Gary and I said, Gary man, I said, we're going to have, this is going to be fun for the next five hours. These kids are really making lots of noise and you know, okay, here we go. Well, here comes the flight attendant and she approaches me and she says, sir, she says this mama is traveling with her two children but her husband is seated in another portion of the plane. Would it be okay if you take his seats and he and his son come and take yours? Well, yes. Who's going to argue? So Bob Grenier is two rows in front of me and so we get up and we start following the flight attendant to our seat and Bob turns as I go by and Bob says, where are you going? And I said, I don't know. You know, we were just going up a few rows. No, she keeps walking us all the way from the back of the plane all the way to business class. And the father and the son had actually business class seats and he came back towards us to sit and coach and he was not happy and I still remember the scowl in his face as he's taken the seats as we're going forward and we just keep going forward until they have that magical curtain and we go in and we sit down in these big old seats and they walk up and they say, would you like some orange juice? I said, yeah. So she brings me a glass of orange juice and then another flight attendant walks up and says, sir, there's a gentleman back there who says he's traveling with you. Do you know him? And I have a glass of orange juice and I look back and there's Bob hanging out of his seat waving like maybe I can get up there with you guys. He's waving at me and I look at the flight attendant and I say, I've never seen him in my life. True story, I realized I lied. I said, no, I've never seen him in my life. Oh, okay. She turns a walk away and I lean out of my seat with my orange juice and I, so we've had great times at his expense. But you know what, when you say that, keep that in mind. Keep that in mind that when you see the names that these are just names, we don't know them. We'll meet them in heaven. You know, Soapeter and Erisarkis, the Kundis guys. We don't know these men, but I know one thing about them. They were very tight because they went through a lot of things together. They experienced a lot of things together. They ministered together and that's called a ministry team. And so that's what he has. And it's given to us insight into their travels together here. And it said in verse five, these men going ahead waited for us at Troas. But we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread and in five days joined them at Troas where we stayed seven days. So we're just getting their itinerary now for seven. On the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. And in a window, sat a certain young man named Uticus who was sinking into a deep sleep. I have many Uticuses in our church. And I could tell you stories. But he overcame, he was overcome by sleep. And as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead, serves him right. But Paul went down, fell on him. That must have made him feel good. And embracing him said, do not trouble yourselves for his life is in him. Now, when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed. And they brought the young man in alive and they were not a little comforted. And so basically what we have here is a couple of things I'll touch on. One, I want you to notice this. How it says in verse seven on the first day of the week. Let me answer a question that I've been asked many times here in our congregation. And it relates to meeting on Sundays and all. I want you to notice in verse seven that they met on the first day of the week. It says on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread. So the meeting of the first day of the week became the regular practice of the early church. The first day of the week is Sunday. And that's why the church meets on Sunday. Because the early church met habitually on Sunday. Why? Because that's when Jesus was resurrected. In John 20 verse one it says on the first day of the week Mary Madeline went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. The church celebrates the resurrection of Christ and Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday. And that became the practice of the church. In first Corinthians 16, one and two Paul said concerning the collection for the saints as I've given orders to the churches of Galatia even so do you. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God has prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come. So the church very early was meeting in its history on the first day and that's why we meet on Sunday. Again we meet on Sunday to commemorate the resurrection. Now people will ask about the Sabbath. Sabbath observance is an ordinance but it was established for Israel and not for the church. In Exodus 31 16 it says therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generation as a perpetual covenant. That's why when you go to Israel to this day they have Shabbat, they have Sabbath days. So people who say well the church is supposed to keep the Sabbath are missing some very basic points. There is an organization in its doctrinal statement that states that those who meet on Sundays are actually those who bear the mark of the beast. Perhaps you've heard of that, the seven day Adventists the most, the strong seven day Adventists will say that you have the mark of the beast because you meet on the first day of the week and not Shabbat or the Sabbath. Well they're missing the point. In Colossians two 16 and 17 Paul said let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths which are a shadow of things to come but the substance is of Christ. So they don't realize that Sabbath is fulfilled in Jesus. In Romans 14 five and six it says one person esteems one day above another another esteems every day alike let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day observes it to the Lord and he who does not observe the day to the Lord he does not observe it. God didn't give to us a specific day but the church has been traditionally and for its history meeting on the first day of the week to commemorate the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Sabbath has been handed over as a perpetual covenant to the nation of Israel. And so in this passage here we have Paul ready to depart but he's speaking and giving a message and continues for a long time in the giving of this message and as it stated the room that he was teaching in was lit by torches. So it was warm, it was smoke filled and there's Utikus and he's tired and Paul is continuing to speak and before you know it the boy falls asleep or the young man and drops three stories and hits the ground. And so Paul goes and ministers a miracle and as it says they in verse 12 they brought the young man in alive and they weren't a little comforted. And the interesting thing about it is Paul saw that as an interruption went and was used by God to bring this young man back and when finished his message. Years ago we were meeting in Ontario at a location we had on Maple Street. And just like this I was teaching but it was a Sunday morning and off to my left three or four rows back on the end was an older gentleman and while I was teaching he fainted. He fell right out of the chair and landed on the ground and hit with a hard, oh he hit hard and I was teaching when he fell out of the chair, boom. Now everybody around him naturally gets, whoa, you know what's going on. And I walked down, I grabbed one of the ushers, I grabbed the man by the legs, the usher picked him up the arms, we carried him out, put him in the hallway, called the paramedics, I went back, finished the message. I get that from Paul. I said he's fine. Everybody was with, let's pray he's fine and he was, he was. You know, that is something that you may think, well that kind of thing. No, no, this man did not die. But this man did interrupt, but what do you do? Well, you minister and then you continue because Paul had things to say. He was about to leave. Today we think human need is more important in the word of God, but the fact is Paul said no, human need is met by the word of God. And that's why he ministered, God moved, he continued and as it says, even until daybreak, he continued teaching, until daybreak. Hmm, anyway. Verse 13, then we went ahead to the ship and sailed to Ossus there, intending to take Paul on board. For so he had given orders, intending himself to go on foot. And when he had met us at Ossus, we took him on board and came to Medellin. We sailed from there and the next day came opposite Chino, I mean Chios, and the following day we arrived in Somus, stayed in Trigillium. The next day we came to Miletus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia before he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem if possible on the day of Pentecost. And so basically we're just getting some geographical markers. He's sailing down the southern coast of Turkey moving towards Israel. He ends up in a port city, a port city called Miletus. If you were looking at a map and you saw Ephesus there in Turkey and went south 35 miles, you would come to Miletus and that's the geographical location that we have here. And so verse 17 from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus, called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, you know from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility and many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. How I kept back nothing that was helpful but proclaimed to you and taught you publicly and from house to house. Testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem not knowing the things that will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me. So I'm changing my plans. No, he didn't say that. It says here that he summons the elders of the Ephesian church because he's about to give them final instructions. And this is one of those passages, I'll be honest with you. I've taught this passage to pastors on several occasions, different places over the years. They're Paul's final words to elders but there are things that we the church in general that we can benefit from and I'm gonna teach it from that perspective today. You see, he wants them to know how to minister and he begins, notice with me, verse 18, he begins by pointing to his personal life as a pattern. He says in verse 18, you know from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I always lived among you. And so he begins by pointing to his personal life. You see, this is something that the church once again needs to learn. We need to understand that we are the only Bible that people will read. Even evangelical Christians, believers who teach that in order for someone to enter the kingdom of God, you need to be born again. That's the general definition for evangelical, that you need to be born again. Even evangelical believers are not faithfully reading the word. And so those who are not believers are not necessarily gonna ever pick up a Bible and read it, right? And so what they do is they watch those who claim to be Christian. And we need to understand that we are the only Bible that most people will ever, ever read. In Proverbs 20, verse 11, it reads, even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right. And people will watch your life. And that's why Paul says, you know what manner of life I consistently lived amongst you. He was saying, I'm a living letter. I'm a living epistle. I'm a demonstration of the gospel. And because I am a demonstration of the gospel, I can use myself as an example. First Corinthians 11, verse one, he says, imitate me just as I also imitate Christ. To the Philippians in chapter four, verse nine, he said, the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do. And the God of peace will be with you. And so they knew that the God of peace was with Paul. And so Paul says, use me as an example. That ought to be a goal every believer in this room has is to be a living letter for people to know and to read. So when you say, this is what a Christian is, you don't have to point to somebody else. You can say, I live as a Christian. I'm an example. In Hebrews 13, verse seven, the writer said, remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you, consider the outcome of their way of life, imitate their faith. And that's what Paul was saying. You see, people learn to express faith by watching Christians as the Christians serve the Lord. So the church is to be filled with servants, not spectators. Godly lives are modeled. And sincere Christians learn how to live. In James 313, the question is asked, who is wise and understanding among you? The question as it relates, who is wise and understanding? Remembering the context of James, James was a book written to Jewish readers. And by using the phrase, who is the wise and understanding when among you, wise and understanding is another way of saying who is a teacher or who is a rabbi. And that's what he is saying there. And then he goes on to say, let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in this humility that comes from wisdom. So he was saying, if you wanna have an impact and if you're wise and understanding, if you're gonna be a mentor, if you're gonna be a rabbi, if you're gonna teach, then live the message that you give. See, Paul had a living faith and he encouraged others to have the same. You see, as you live for the Lord Jesus, you establish something called credibility and you become a model of a Christian. People really don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And when they see a life of care for Christ and others, it gives you credibility. When you have longevity, when you can say, look at the life that I live and use that as an example, then you're developing ministry where people will actually respect and listen to you. So his credibility was fortified. It was established by his consistency. In 2 Corinthians chapter six, verse three, he said this, he said, we give no offense in anything that our ministry may not be blamed. In 1 Corinthians 10, 24, he said, let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being. See, so these are being models and all, and that's why he said, you know what manner of life I consistently lived amongst you? The lifestyle I always had. He wasn't, in other words, a periodic Christian. He wasn't what we today used to refer to as once a year, you know, or twice a year. You know, we go on Easter, we go on Christmas. That's not Paul's style. Paul was an everyday believer in Jesus Christ. And that's why he could say that, use me as your model. Notice in verses 19 through 21, how he says, serving the Lord with all humility, many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. How I kept back nothing that was helpful but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And so he makes it very clear that he served the Lord with all of his heart. And he reminds them, notice in verse 19, he said, serving the Lord. He reminds them that service is not simply to man, but it actually begins with the Lord because Christian service isn't primarily man centered. It really originates in our worship of God. He says that he served the Lord with all humility, many tears and trials. The opposition that he was encountering, instead of causing him to quiet down, actually drove him to his knees on behalf of all whom he was trying to reach. He was a humble man. He served with humility. And it says in Proverbs 29, 23, that a man's pride will bring him low, but the humble spirit will retain honor. So he served the Lord with all humility. Notice in verses 20 and 21, how he said, I kept back nothing that was helpful but proclaimed it to you and taught you. I kept back nothing helpful. My life has been an open book. What is the most helpful thing that he shared with them? Repentance, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody said, much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as he is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify him and bring him nearer to our own image. And that's true. We worship God of our own creation very often. I was on the Facebook, I do go on Facebook every day to see how I'm doing. Now I go on Facebook and excuse me, I minister through Facebook. It's a good medium to do that. I have a friend of mine who also posts and things. And I was sharing this on Sunday how my friend had posted something concerning the way that the Lord uses afflictions in a person's life. And he does. God uses afflictions. In many other afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers them out of them all. When you look in the book of Job, if that isn't a book of affliction, I don't know what the book is. It's affliction. And it shows how God worked through all of that. And so my friend just posted something on how God uses afflictions. And it really, it's amazing to me, the armchair theologians that come out of the woodwork when they read something pertaining to the Lord and something especially as it pertains to affliction. And he got rebuked by an individual who was saying to him, my God, and it's always interesting as if his God is different than my God. My God doesn't afflict people. And then now that starts a firestorm. Those of you on Facebook know how that is. When a person puts something down before you know it, every armchair theologians out there say, why you don't know it and this and that. And I read it. I read a few of the comments. And so what I did is that I usually do, some of you are Facebook friends and all, and you'll see this on occasion if you ever read my post. And I don't think you do. It hurts me terribly. But anyway, I will write the word, hmm, like I'll put an H in like five or six M's. Hmm. And so after this guy was posting his nonsense, I went, hmm, looks like somebody's not reading their Bible. Because he's not. I mean, you get into Genesis and go to Revelation and affliction is part of what the Lord Jesus Christ delivers us from, but also allows us to be in. Why? It refines our faith and strengthens our walks with the Lord, purifies us, gives us an ability to know what, no matter how low I go, no matter what I go through, there's a God who's there with me every step of the way. And my faith is deepened through those things. If you want to swirl somebody's faith, prosper them constantly. It'll swirl their faith. You want to pure faith, let them go through the ringer. And the things that shouldn't be there are removed. How do I know that? Well, Jesus says to the apostle Peter, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to obtain you that he may sift you even as sweet as sifted. But I have prayed for you. And after that, you have been strengthened. After you've been converted, strengthen your brethren. Peter, you're going to go through a sifting. Satan is going to work you over one way and down the other. But you'll be strengthened through this and you're going to learn how to strengthen those who go through the same kinds of things. We comfort people with the comfort we've received from the Lord ourselves. And so the thing I'm saying is, a lot of times people don't understand that it's the afflictions, it's the tribulations, the trials, the pains that actually are removing from you the rough edges and smooth you into that kind of person you want to be. You want to be gentle. You want to be patient. You want to be loving. You will be going through things that are going to try everyone for those areas. That's why I don't pray for any of that anymore. Because I know that the Lord is faithful to my prayers. When I say this is according to the will of the Lord, may I be more loving than I encounter people that are very difficult to be loving to. When I say I'd like to be patient eventually, I'm going to be encountering somebody who's going to try that patience because that's what happens, right? And so these are the things that we go through that strengthen us. And he was able to point that he had proclaimed to them the things that really matter. And he's sharing with them those things so that they can be strengthened and grow. In verses 22 and 23, he says in C, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me. They're except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me. The Holy Spirit is making that very clear. These things are awaiting me. In 1st Thessalonians 3, verse four, Paul said, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation just as it happened and you know. In John 16, 33, Jesus said, these things I've spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. Be a good share. I have overcome the world. So how do you respond to that promise? Well, verse 24, none of these things move me nor do I count my life dear to myself. This is the heart of one who desires people to be saved. This is the heart of somebody who says I will not be moved even though I know that what is awaiting me is not what I would prefer for myself. I will move in that direction because I wanna see God move. Now, as he's saying that, and again, remember who he's speaking to. He's speaking to the elders. He says in verse 25, indeed now I know that you all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole council of God. My greatest concern, Paul is saying, was to declare the full council of God. I have not shunned. That word shunned means to avoid. I have not avoided the difficult issues. You see, I have declared to you the whole council of God. I don't know about you. I don't know what your religious tradition or your history is. I came out of a church that did not require a Bible. I never brought a Bible to church. I didn't need it because we didn't read it. So I wasn't trained in the Bible at all even though I went to church because we didn't have to bring Bibles. And yet, as I got saved, I began to discover some things. And one of those things I discovered is that Paul said, I haven't shunned to declare to you the entire council of God. And that's the reason why we go through the whole council of God. That's why we do that, is to go through the word of God. A.W. Tozer said this, religion today is not transforming people. Rather, it is being transformed by the people. It is not raising the moral level of society. It is descending to society's own level and congratulating itself that it has scored a victory because society is smilingly accepting its surrender. That was back in the 60s. Look what's happening now. And so that's true. There are those who will not teach the whole council of God. But notice in verse 26, he said, I testify to you this day I'm innocent of the blood of all men. This is called blood guilt. In Ezekiel 3.17 through 19, in the Old Testament, God was speaking to the prophet. Ezekiel, and he said, Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore, hear a word from my mouth and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, you shall surely die and you give him no warning nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life. That same wicked man shall die in his iniquity but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity but you have delivered your soul. You're a watchman. I give you the responsibility. I gave you a message. You give it to them. If they resist it, blood is on their head. But it's not on yours because you obeyed me. You see, God's word gives a way of holiness and it provides light in this sin-darkened world. When you give the whole counsel of God, you're giving the word of God. When you read Psalm 119, all of you know this. Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm and longest chapter in the Bible. Psalm 119 has 176 verses and 168 of those verses give praise to God's word. Listen to some of the things that it says. Psalm 119, verse nine, how can a young man cleanse his way by taking heed there to according to thy word? Psalm 119, 111, your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119, 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119, 130, the entrance of your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple. Psalm 119, verse 41, let your mercies come also to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your word. Why do you give the whole counsel of God because it provides people with direction and salvation? That's why. One of the things, and I'll say this briefly that I get greatly concerned about is because we, the church today, we seemingly have forgotten how powerful God's word is to transform. We've started to transform the word to make it more palatable to man rather than just teaching it the way it is. Because the word of God it's been said is like a lion and all you need to do is let it out of its cage and it has its way. Teach the word of God and that's what he did. And listen, there are eternal benefits to that. Many years ago, many years ago, back in the early 80s, I got a phone call, there was a member of our fellowship who was in the hospital. And I took Randy, Randy Walls, who is now the pastor of Calvary Chapel upland. He was my assistant at that time. And he and I went to Pomona Valley Hospital to visit one of the members of our church. And I went up into the critical care area of this particular hospital. And when I was standing there outside of this this unit, they had us standing outside and when you looked inside, the patient was alone. Well, actually, there was no other patients with him as him and his wife. And as I was looking through the glass at this person, the nurse came and spoke to me and said, you can't go in there unless you're gowned. You have to put on gloves and you need to put a mask on. Because he had AIDS. And we did not know at that time in the early 80s how AIDS was transmitted. There were so many things being said at that time. We did not know. It was new. It was a new disease at that time in the early 80s. And I was standing there looking in and I see this man and he has tubes in his body and he's emaciated. His wife is standing there. She's not gowned and she was a nurse. And I'm looking at her and I say to the nurse, I won't gown, I don't need to gown. And I turned to Randy and I said, you need to stay out here. We don't know how this disease is transmitted yet. We don't know. There were so many things being said. So I said, Randy, you stay out. I'm going in. And Randy said, no, I'm going in with you. So he and I both went in and I have to be honest with you. It's so right now for you, it's 2017. We know so much more now, but then we didn't know. And I recited Psalm 23, though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Thou art with me. Because I did not know if I was walking into getting into disease, I didn't know. We walked in and I stood there next to him in his bed and he opened his eyes and he saw me. And he made a motion with his hand to his wife for a piece of paper and a pen. And he took the pen and she held the pad and he wrote. And she read what he wrote and then she turned in and let me read it. And what it said was, I am eternally grateful to you because he had come to faith in Christ through the preaching of the gospel here. And a few days later, that man was dead. And the words eternally grateful stood out then and they still stand out now. What would have happened if I was one who just wanted to entertain the goats and not teach the sheep? What would have happened to him if I was somebody who wanted to emphasize less word and more worship? What would have happened to his eternal soul? It's the gospel of Jesus Christ that set you free. When I went to see my dear friend, Connie Marie and I went and saw Connie on Thursday and then we went and saw our friend Connie again Sunday after church this last Sunday. On Thursday, we went in and saw her and she was just a shelf to be honest with you. Her little body was so emaciated and I walked in with Marie and we sat down next to her and she reached and held my hand for two hours. She wouldn't let go. And I began to look at her and talk to her and share with her and loved her and prayed with her. And then we came back a couple of days later on Sunday and walked in once again. And she was now curled up on her side and while she'd be home the next day, she was that close. And I sat on the bed next to her and the second she opened her eyes, she reached over and took my hand again and wouldn't let it go. And I held on to her and I shared with her about the study on Sunday and ministered to her and Marie and we kissed her goodbye and she just kept kissing my face and she knew it was goodbye. We went in the kitchen and David who is so dear to me, he said, you know, pastor, she's ready to go to heaven. He said, she has sat in your ministry for 36 years and she is prepared. Thank you. That's what ministry is. That's what ministry is. It's not entertaining people. It's not making the place a jolly old place to be. You know, the latest this and the latest that. Those things are good, well and good. I'm not knocking. You know, we do what we do but may the center be the word of God. I have not shunned to declare to you the entire council of God. I am free from the blood of all men, Paul said, because I gave you the truth. That is the most important thing. You see today some churches are built on pastors, pet doctrine, you have your prophecy, your healing service, you have your gifts, the prosperity doctrine, politics, family, you have so many things that go on and the church can revolve around the pet doctrine but the sheep become starved. And there are believers who have lived their entire Christian lives without being taught. Somebody said, today if you say you believe God's word provides you with all the spiritual insight necessary for a healthy and satisfied life, even Christians will consider you simplistic and simple minded. And that shows you how deeply Satan has confused the church and has substituted man's wisdom for God. He says in verse 28, he says, take heed unto yourselves and all flock among whom the Holy Spirit has made you overseers the shepherd of the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So now brother and I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I've coveted no one silver or gold or apparel. Yes you yourselves know that with these hands that these hands are provided for my necessities and for those who are with me. I've shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he said it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had said these things he knelt down and prayed with them all. They all wept freely, fell and Paul's neck kissed him sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke that they would see his face no more and they accompanied him to the ship. He stirs the hearts of the elders for concern for the flock. He says take heed to yourself because if you're lax in your own walk you cannot be on fire for those in your charge. So take heed to the flock. As a shepherd you need to pastor them to feed them. You need to minister to them. And it's the Holy Spirit who has made you the overseer. The Episcopos is what it is the superintendent or elder the overseer of the church. It's the Holy Spirit you were not elected by men chosen by men you were called by God because ordination is from above. And the church doesn't belong to men. The church was purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ. When Jesus gave up his life on the cross he purchased the body of Christ. And because that is true and because it is so important he said you need to know this in verses 29 and 30 that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you. They're gonna be violent, they're gonna be cruel. They're not gonna spare you. You see when God is moving the enemy begins to move too to destroy. And sometimes he comes in the form we'll say of a wolf he comes from outside and joins the church. He says they'll come in amongst you, they're outsiders. But if you ignore their presence they're gonna gain a foothold. And so you need to be careful. But not only will there be outsiders but notice verse 30 from among yourselves there will be men rising. Even amongst you they're gonna distort and twist they're gonna turn you aside from the right path. These are gonna be people who at one time were serving alongside of you and they're gonna twist the gospel. And because of this verse 31 watch and remember that I never ceased to warn you. Watch be on the alert and two I warned you and I gave warning to the sheep and you need to keep the sheep warned also. And as this takes place that's ministry. He's saying I haven't coveted in verse 33 anyone silver or gold I didn't do this for money. You yourselves know these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who were with me. I've shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he said it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he said these things he knelt down he prayed with them wept freely they fell on him and kissed him. And here you say this is this to me it removes me about the apostle Paul sawing most of all for the words which he spoke they'd see him no more. There are a couple of ways you can say goodbye to a pastor. One is oh boy he's gone. And another is to love him so much that you actually cry when he says I won't see you again. When my pastor Chuck went to be with the Lord and Mary and I went to church on a Sunday the Sunday that he was teaching which turned out to be the last Sunday he ever taught. And we were seated what three or four rows back from the front I sat on the center aisle just so I could see him so he could see me and know that I was there supporting him one last time. One last time. And when he went home I got a text message and you got a phone call and you walked up I still remember my wife tapping me on the shoulder and you said Chuck is in heaven, Chuck is in heaven. That's the love a sheep has for a shepherd. The tears, this touches me because you look at the apostle Paul and he was a rough and tumble courageous confident man. But when he told his sheep these elders you're not gonna see me again they couldn't hear anything else. Just that he says we won't see him again and they wept and they held him and he left. One day when I leave I hope one person says I'll miss you that would be nice because that's an evidence that you touch them deeply and Paul touched them. Deep.