32 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.
Giving praise to the Father who has given us a part in the heritage of the saints in light;
And for this cause it is through him that a new agreement has come into being, so that after the errors under the first agreement had been taken away by his death, the word of God might have effect for those who were marked out for an eternal heritage.
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.
Rooted and based together in him, strong in the faith which the teaching gave you, giving praise to God at all times.
And that having the eyes of your heart full of light, you may have knowledge of what is the hope of his purpose, what is the wealth of the glory of his heritage in the saints,
Which is the first-fruit of our heritage, till God gets back that which is his, to the praise of his glory.
But I said, How am I to put you among the children, and give you a desired land, a heritage of glory among the armies of the nations? and I said, You are to say to me, My father; and not be turned away from me.
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to give you a place in his glory, free from all evil, with great joy, To the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, let us give glory and honour and authority and power, before all time and now and for ever. So be it.
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 so the church through all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was made strong; and, living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was increased greatly.
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, to those of God's selection who have been made holy by God the Father and are kept safe for Jesus Christ:
Then Joseph said to his brothers, The time of my death has come; but God will keep you in mind and take you out of this land into the land which he gave by his oath to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
Because by one offering he has made complete for ever those who are made holy.
For he who makes holy and those who are made holy are all of one family; and for this reason it is no shame for him to give them the name of brothers,
Through whom all the body, being rightly formed and united together, by the full working of every part, is increased to the building up of itself in love.
For the training of the saints as servants in the church, for the building up of the body of Christ:
Resting on the base of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief keystone, In whom all the building, rightly joined together, comes to be a holy house of God in the Lord; In whom you, with the rest, are united together as a living-place of God in the Spirit.
And such were some of you; but you have been washed, you have been made holy, you have been given righteousness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
For we are workers with God: you are God's planting, God's building. In the measure of the grace given to me, I, as a wise master-builder, have put the base in position, and another goes on building on it. But let every man take care what he puts on it.
But Paul took Silas and went away with the blessing of the brothers.
And from there they went by ship to Antioch, where they had been handed over to the grace of God for the work which they had not done.
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.