seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Acts 20:13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. 14 When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. 15 The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Chios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus. 16 Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.
17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
36 When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
And with that.... the long-winded guy was off to Jerusalem. OK then.Now... This is the kind of thing I was reading when I decided I didn't [still don't] like Paul.
When Jesus was talking... it was rarely [if at all] about himself. He made it about His Father and the Kingdom and the Spirit.
Moses never lamented that he was put through so much stuff.... and he had a couple million people barking at his heels. He made it all about God.
Noah never made long winded speeches that caused people to fall out of windows fatigued.... and he had people laughing at him every day... building a big boat in the middle of the dry desert, as God asked him to do. He was too busy to lament... he was building a boat for God.
But Paul went through the whole horror of the mission and how he was the central character. He might be arrested. Well, when you're big headed and long winded, people notice. When people get so bored listening to you talk about yourself, what you've done, and what you plan to do that they fall out of windows, people notice. When you are preaching the direct opposite of what people have been hearing for centuries, you get noticed.
Sure... I understand, he got thrown off a cliff and stoned. OK then. He knew it was going to happen again.
Luke wrote the whole Gospel of Luke, and this Book of Acts.... and he was an Apostle as well as a Disciple of Jesus of Nazareth. He walked with Jesus. He leaned at the table with the Messiah at the last supper. Jesus washed his feet. He was there.... and yet we don't even realize Luke was there. He wrote about the Mission. It was not all about him. I'm sure he had strong feelings about all this... He was inspired to write two books about it. But He didn't make it about himself.
How can we call him a "saint" when he was still stuck inside himself? What a horrible example for our children?!?!
So.... to sum up what the long-winded big-headed preacher Paul thought was so important....
Watch out for long-winded-big-headed people who will distort the Gospel to be about them instead of The Father.
It's not about you! Is it?
