24 But I put no value on my life, if only at the end of it I may see the work complete which was given to me by the Lord Jesus, to be a witness of the good news of the grace of God.
Then Paul said, What are you doing, weeping and wounding my heart? for I am ready, not only to be a prisoner, but to be put to death at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
Who, in his time, made clear his word in the good news, of which, by the order of God our Saviour, I became a preacher;
For this reason, because we have been made servants of this new order, through the mercy given to us, we are strong:
Preaching to Jews and to Greeks the need for a turning of the heart to God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And now, I give you into the care of God and the word of his grace, which is able to make you strong and to give you your heritage among all the saints.
But the Lord said, Go without fear: for he is a special vessel for me, to give to the Gentiles and kings and to the children of Israel the knowledge of my name:
So they kept there for a long time, taking heart in the Lord, who gave witness to the word of his grace by causing signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
And he said to me, Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.
And I will keep you safe from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, To make their eyes open, turning them from the dark to the light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may have forgiveness of sins and a heritage among those who are made holy by faith in me.
And they may have righteousness put to their credit, freely, by his grace, through the salvation which is in Christ Jesus: Whom God has put forward as the sign of his mercy, through faith, by his blood, to make clear his righteousness when, in his pity, God let the sins of earlier times go without punishment; And to make clear his righteousness now, so that he might himself be upright, and give righteousness to him who has faith in Jesus.
For I am even now being offered, and my end is near. I have made a good fight, I have come to the end of my journey, I have kept the faith: From now on, the crown of righteousness is made ready for me, which the Lord, the upright judge, Will give to me at that day: and not only to me, but to all those who have had love for his revelation.
And for which I undergo these things: but I have no feeling of shame. For I have knowledge of him in whom I have faith, and I am certain that he is able to keep that which I have given into his care till that day.
And they overcame him through the blood of the Lamb and the word of their witness; and loving not their lives they freely gave themselves up to death.
For this reason, as we are circled by so great a cloud of witnesses, putting off every weight, and the sin into which we come so readily, let us keep on running in the way which is marked out for us, Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith, who went through the pains of the cross, not caring for the shame, because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his place at the right hand of God's seat of power. Give thought to him who has undergone so much of the hate of sinners against himself, so that you may not be tired and feeble of purpose.
For you had pity on those who were in prison, and had joy in the loss of your property, in the knowledge that you still had a better property and one which you would keep for ever.
What will come on us, if we do not give our minds to such a great salvation? a salvation of which our fathers first had knowledge through the words of the Lord, and which was made certain to us by those to whom his words came; And God was a witness with them, by signs and wonders, and by more than natural powers, and by his distribution of the Holy Spirit at his pleasure.
But when the mercy of God our Saviour, and his love to man was seen, Not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but in the measure of his mercy, he gave us salvation, through the washing of the new birth and the giving of new life in the Holy Spirit, Which he gave us freely through Jesus Christ our Saviour; So that, having been given righteousness through grace, we might have a part in the heritage, the hope of eternal life.
For the grace of God has come, giving salvation to all men,
My punishments and pain; the things which came to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; the cruel attacks made on me: and the Lord made me free from them all.
But in everything making it clear that we are the servants of God, in quiet strength, in troubles, in need, in sorrow, In blows, in prisons, in attacks, in hard work, in watchings, in going without food; In a clean heart, in knowledge, in long waiting, in being kind, in the Holy Spirit, in true love, In the true word, in the power of God; with the arms of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, By glory and by shame, by an evil name and a good name; as untrue, and still true; Unnoted, but still kept fully in mind; as near to death, but still living; as undergoing punishment, but not put to death; As full of sorrow, but ever glad; as poor, but giving wealth to others; as having nothing, but still having all things.
I have given you glory on the earth, having done all the work which you gave me to do.
Now, the reward is credited to him who does works, not as of grace but as a debt.
Who will come between us and the love of Christ? Will trouble, or pain, or cruel acts, or the need of food or of clothing, or danger, or the sword? As it is said in the holy Writings, Because of you we are put to death every day; we are like sheep ready for destruction. But we are able to overcome all these things and more through his love. For I am certain that not death, or life, or angels, or rulers, or things present, or things to come, or powers, Or things on high, or things under the earth, or anything which is made, will be able to come between us and the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But if it is of grace, then it is no longer of works: or grace would not be grace.
Do you not see that in a running competition all take part, but only one gets the reward? So let your minds be fixed on the reward. And every man who takes part in the sports has self-control in all things. Now they do it to get a crown which is of this world, but we for an eternal crown. So then I am running, not uncertainly; so I am fighting, not as one who gives blows in the air: But I give blows to my body, and keep it under control, for fear that, after having given the good news to others, I myself might not have God's approval.
For this cause, my dear brothers, be strong in purpose and unmoved, ever giving yourselves to the work of the Lord, because you are certain that your work is not without effect in the Lord.
For which cause we do not give way to weariness; but though our outer man is getting feebler, our inner man is made new day by day. For our present trouble, which is only for a short time, is working out for us a much greater weight of glory; While our minds are not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are for a time; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
We are without fear, desiring to be free from the body, and to be with the Lord.
My words to you are without fear, I am full of pride on account of you: I have great comfort and joy in all our troubles.
So I take pleasure in being feeble, in unkind words, in needs, in cruel attacks, in troubles, on account of Christ: for when I am feeble, then am I strong.
But God, being full of mercy, through the great love which he had for us, Even when we were dead through our sins, gave us life together with Christ (by grace you have salvation), So that we came back from death with him, and are seated with him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus; That in the time to come he might make clear the full wealth of his grace in his mercy to us in Christ Jesus: Because by grace you have salvation through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is given by God: Not by works, so that no man may take glory to himself. For by his act we were given existence in Christ Jesus to do those good works which God before made ready for us so that we might do them.
For this reason it is my prayer that you may not become feeble because of my troubles for you, which are your glory.
In the measure of my strong hope and belief that in nothing will I be put to shame, but that without fear, as at all times, so now will Christ have glory in my body, by life or by death. For to me life is Christ and death is profit. But if I go on living in the flesh--if this is the fruit of my work--then I do not see what decision to make. I am in a hard position between the two, having a desire to go away and be with Christ, which is very much better:
And even if I am offered like a drink offering, giving myself for the cause and work of your faith, I am glad and have joy with you all:
Brothers, it is clear to me that I have not come to that knowledge; but one thing I do, letting go those things which are past, and stretching out to the things which are before, I go forward to the mark, even the reward of the high purpose of God in Christ Jesus. Then let us all, who have come to full growth, be of this mind: and if in anything you are of a different mind, even this will God make clear to you:
But after we had first undergone much pain and been cruelly attacked as you saw, at Philippi, by the help of God we gave you the good news without fear, though everything was against us.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 20
Commentary on Acts 20 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 20
In this chapter we have,
And in all these we find Paul very busy to serve Christ, and to do good to the souls of men, not only in the conversion of heathen, but in the edification of Christians.
Act 20:1-6
These travels of Paul which are thus briefly related, if all in them had been recorded that was memorable and worthy to be written in letters of gold, the world would not contain the books that would have been written; and therefore we have only some general hints of occurrences, which therefore ought to be the more precious. Here is,
Act 20:7-12
We have here an account of what passed at Troas the last of the seven days that Paul staid there.
Act 20:13-16
Paul is hastening towards Jerusalem, but strives to do all the good he can by the way, oµs en parodoµ, "as it were by the by.' He had called at Troas, and done good there; and now he makes a sort of coasting voyage, the merchants would call it a trading voyage, going from place to place, and no doubt endeavouring to make every place he came to the better for him, as every good man should do.
Act 20:17-35
It should seem the ship Paul and his companions were embarked in for Jerusalem attended him on purpose, and staid or moved as he pleased; for when he came to Miletus, he went ashore, and tarried thee so long as to send for the elders of Ephesus to come to him thither; for if he had gone up to Ephesus, he could never have got away from them. These elders, or presbyters, some think, were those twelve who received the Holy Ghost by Paul's hands, ch. 19:6. But, besides these, it is probable that Timothy had ordained other elders there for the service of that church, and the country about; these Paul sent for, that he might instruct and encourage them to go on in the work to which they had laid their hands. And what instructions he gave to them they would give to the people under their charge.
It is a very pathetic and practical discourse with Paul here takes leave of these elders, and has in it much of the excellent spirit of this good man.
Act 20:36-38
After the parting sermon that Paul preached to the elders of Ephesus, which was very affecting, we have here the parting prayer and tears, which were yet more affecting; we can scarcely read the account here given of them, and meditate upon them with dry eyes.