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Tag Archives: Acts 20

Some quick notes on Acts 20

09 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by memoirandremains in Acts, Ministry, Uncategorized

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Acts, Acts 20, Discourse Grammar, Genre, Ministry, Narative, Pastoral Ministry, Salary

I was asked whether I thought Paul’s discourse in Acts 20 contain anything normative for the church — in particular, does Paul’s closing require a pastor to not take a salary. These are very brief notes for use and development later.

18 And when they came to him, he said to them:

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

This initial discourse feature is Paul giving the ground for his appeal. He will close with a very similar discourse feature. He is establishing (1) his ethical standing to make demands upon the men present: I am not asking you to do something I would not do; (2) the importance of the work: his life was wholly consistent with this appeal. This is such an important charge, that I took every effort to do. By giving his own example in the concrete: public and house to house, night and day, one would abstract – especially in light of the emphatic imperative in the center of the text – the principle that this work entails constant dedication.

22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

 Paul counts his life as of value only insofar as it supports the ministry given to him. Particulars:

Finish well

Finish ministry

Testify to the gospel.

These are elements being held up as exemplary.  These continue the ethical emphasis: I am going to make a demand upon you which I have made upon myself.

25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.

This is a biographical statement with temporal and person markers which no one else can replicate: none of us can possibly be Paul prior to the discourse (“whom I have gone about”), nor can we be those who will not again see these men who are now dead. Thus, we know that cannot be normative.

There is an exemplary, repeatable behavior: “proclaiming the kingdom”. This will become part of the core of Paul’s emphasis.

 

26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

This is exemplary – but also contains an implicit warning: If I did not proclaim the whole counsel of God, then I would be guilty of blood.

The example coupled with the warning makes this an emphatic imperative for those in ministry. This is followed by a second related demand: protect the flock. Proclaiming the Gospel and driving off wolves.

 

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

Second person imperative, couple with emphatic clauses & warnings – followed by a warning and imperative.

This is unquestionably a normative imperative for the church, even though spoken in a particular locale. The basis for the normative duty is that the basis for the duty: it is to care for the church purchased by the blood of Christ. The entire church is in view.

The biographical flourish “three years” and “night or day” are not imperatives. However, they are exemplary. The detail drives home the importance of the normative imperative.  Again, this closing is consistent with Paul’s ethical standing to make the demand, and his personal example consistent with the demand.

32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

This final example merely demonstrates that Paul was doing the work not for some temporal gain. Paul shows himself ethically proper by referencing the 10th Commandment (cf. Rom. 7). Paul makes a personal application which is presented as evidence of the prior point: I did not covet. I can prove it: I didn’t even take a salary.

No pastor may do the work for sinful motivation (coveting another’s property). The question you are concerned about is whether Paul’s personal proof of not coveting, i.e., working to support himself in ministry, is normative (mandatory in all circumstances at all times for all pastors): Of course not. Paul isn’t saying that – and the structure of the discourse makes that plain.

However, not coveting is necessary for all Christians (not just all pastors). That is easily provable from Paul’s corpus alone. The actions which are necessary to prove that one is not covetous will be context-dependent (we know this because in other biographical instances, we know that Paul took a salary. Paul also instructed Timothy that is not wrong to take a salary).

This is made emphatic by the imperative to help the weak and the aphorism from Jesus.

The only normative command we can take from this passage concerning ministry and salary is that a pastor could be in a circumstance where he should not take a salary – if that salary would hinder the work by making the pastor appear to be covetous.

But there is nothing in this brief passage which in by means indicates that Paul is prohibiting a pastor’s salary – he doesn’t say that. In fact, the argument only works if taking a salary is permissible. (Saying I didn’t do something I wasn’t allowed to do, or was unable to do, proves very little. I cannot prove my selflessness by pointing to the fact that I allowed the President to live in the Whitehouse.)

And finally, this has nothing to do with the normative determinations one would take from a narrative passage.

A Teaching Outline of 1 Peter 5:1-4

03 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Peter, Elders, Humility, Ministry

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1 Peter, 1 Peter 5, 1 Peter 5:1-4, Acts 20, elders, example, Hosea 4, humility, Instruction, Leadership, Leviticus 10:11, Malachi 2, Pastor, Savage Wolves

Peter’s instruction to the elders of the churches.

A. An exhortation, v. 1.

1. Peter calls himself a “fellow elder” — even though he is the apostle Peter.

2. His qualifications: (a) he has witnessed the sufferings of Christ; (b) he hopes for glory.

B. The instruction to the elders, vv. 2-4

1. The general rule: Shepherd

a. It is God’s flock, not yours (cf. Acts 20:28).

b. He gives three pairs of contrasts which demonstrate the nature of the work

i. not compulsion, rather willingly

ii. not for gain (extracted from the flock), but eagerly

iii. not domineering (lording over), but rather by providing an example.

2. Look for a reward from Christ. (The elder’s orientation must be toward the return of Christ. 1 Peter 1:13).

C. Application and development

1. The danger for the elder is pride

a. It is God’s flock: implication, don’t think of it as your flock.

b. Jesus is the Chief Shepherd; elders are just undershepherds.

i. Example: One time someone called CBC and spoke to Jack. The caller insisted on speaking to The Pastor. Jack kept saying, “I’m a shepherd. If you want to speak to The Pastor, you’ll need to speak with Jesus.”

ii. Example: Mike P told him of his life as a shepherd growing up in Greece. His father was the shepherd of a flock which he loved and cared for. His father was the shepherd. But to help him in his work he had dogs who also took care of the sheep. The elder is in the end, a dog to help the shepherd.

c. The shepherd is warned to not lord over the flock. It is a butcher who drives the sheep about and demands from them. It is a shepherd who leads the sheep through dangerous places, walking ahead, driving off wolves, finding a place to rest. The example of the shepherd must thus be an example of humility.

2. The elder must shepherd God’s flock through suffering to glory.

a. That has been the theme of this letter.

b. Peter grounds his eldership in his witness of suffering and his hope for glory.

3. The elder must be remarkable for his humility.

a. Note that Peter warns the elder against

i. Thinking of the flock as the elder’s flock. The sheep belong to Jesus.

ii. His three warnings against exercising power over the flock. A three-fold warning means that this must not be overlooked. It also speaks to the constant danger of leadership.

b. 1 Peter 5:5, “all of you” are instructed to humble. Thus, the example of the elder must be in accord with the command.

c. 1 Peter 5:6, there is a universal command to humility.

d. The previous commands of entrusting oneself to God’s design, not taking personal revenge or control, blessing in the face of trials all flow from and require humility.

e. Accordingly, humility — a patient hope for the Lord’s rescue from present trials — is the great strength of elder’s shepherding. Implication: if an elder is not example of humility, then he is a usurper and enemy of the flock.

4. Consider the matter more broadly.

a. Jesus on leadership. Mark 9:33-37; 10:42-45.

b. The elder’s authority is one of instructing in the Scripture. 1 Tim. 1:3-2 Tim.4:2. The elder is a steward of Christ’s authority. 1 Cor. 4:1.

c. The distinguishing mark of an overseer is not merely a godly character, it is in particular, the use of Scripture in instruction. 1 Tim. 3:2 “able to teach”; Titus 1:9.

d. The respect due an elder is dependent wholly upon their example of a godly character & their ability to instruct others in Scripture. Hebrews 13:;7 & 17.

e. Elders who fail to make disciples after Christ [by (a) providing a example of godliness and humility; (b) instructing faithfully in the Scripture] after called savage wolves. They are not blessings but dangers to the flock. Acts 20:29-31a. Note that merely holding an office does not mean the man is rightly an elder. (See, e.g., Hosea 8:4a, “they made kings, but not through me”.) You are nowhere commanded to be subject to ungodly men. Consider the example of a wife’s submission. The husband has no plenary control of a wife, but only a charge to care for her. A wife is to submit only “as is fitting in the Lord” (Col. 4:18).

f. The OT example of the priest. The priest had the duty of instructing the people in God’s law. Leviticus 10:11. In Hosea 4:4-6 & Malachi 2:1-9 God condemns priests for failing to provide instruction to the people. See, ESV study Bible notes on Hosea 4: The priests had the responsibility of teaching the people God’s laws (cf. Lev. 10:11; Mal. 2:6–7), but they had failed miserably, and as a result, the people lacked knowledge of God’s laws and his ways. Therefore God says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. But he puts the blame squarely on the priests: because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. On “knowledge,” see notes on Hos. 2:8 and 4:1–2. The statements have the air of a judicial decision and sentence. The kind of knowledge the priests had rejected is further specified: since you have forgotten the law of your God. The consequences of this neglect of God’s Word would be seen in the lives of what was most precious to the priests: I also will forget your children (cf. 2:4). The future tense still may indicate a warning, hinting that repentance might avert this judgment. But the great privilege of knowing God was in danger of being forfeited, even for the next generation.

g. There is a special warning for those who are teachers. James 3:1

The Need for Mercy: Ecclesiastes 7:20

23 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Charles Bridges, Ecclesiastes, Humility, Ministry, Uncategorized

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Acts 20, Acts 20:28-30, Beveridge, Charles Bridges, Christian Ministry, Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Elder, humility, mercy, overseer, Pastor, Sin

Ecclesiastes 7:20:

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

‘

I cannot pray’—is the oft-quoted confession of Bp. Beveridge—‘but I sin. I cannot hear or give an alms, or receive the sacrament, but I sin. I cannot so much as confess my sins, but my very confessions are still aggravations of them. My repentance needs to be repented of; my tears want washing; and the very washing of my tears needs still to be washed over again with the blood of my Redeemer!.’

Child of God! is there no response from your heart? Does not every defect in your fellow-sinner read a fresh lesson of your own helplessness? Can you anticipate the time on earth, when, “if you say that you have no sin, you” will not “deceive yourself?” (1 John, 1:8.) “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” (Ps. 130:3.) Only he, whose eye is upon the High Priest “bearing the iniquities of the holy things.” (Exod. 28:38. Comp. Rev. 8:3, 4.) There is no peace—no security—against deeper sin, but an instant and continued application to him. ‘Always a sinner’—is the Christian’s name to the end, and therefore with godly Nehemiah we will combine with the consciousness of sincerity the cry for sparing mercy (Chap. 13:22)—with the reverend Hooker in deep prostration we will ‘plead—not our righteousness, but the forgiveness of our unrighteousness.’ With holy Leighton—‘instead of all fine notions, we fly to—Lord, have mercy on me—Christ, have mercy on me.’ The publican’s prayer will suit to the very last breath—nothing better—contrition for sin—confidence in the propitiation.

Charles Bridges, Ecclesiastes.

If anyone must know this truth, it is must be a pastor. No man can care for others if does not know as a bitter matter his own weakness. He must know more than others the need for mercy. Only humility will sue for mercy. A pastor must be one who leads others to seek grace, to seek mercy; thus, he must be humble. It is the High Priest how knows weakness and yet brings mercy (Hebrews 2:17; 4:15-16). The undershepherd’s task is to merely bring others to the Lord — only a man who knows the need for mercy will be not cease until he brings others to seek mercy.

4. Establish limping leaders

From elders on down, don’t establish any leader who has no record of or reputation for humility. You will want to know if the leader has ever been broken, ever had his legs knocked out from under him. Don’t establish leaders who don’t walk with limps, because they often have no empathy for the broken, the hurting, the abused, or the penitent. Don’t empower any leader who has not confronted and wrestled with his own sin, who doesn’t demonstrate an ongoing humility about his sin and a grief over it. Leaders who do not personally know the scandal of grace set a climate in a church of gracelessness.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/gospeldrivenchurch/2013/03/07/cultivating-a-gracious-climate-in-your-church/

Here is a strand of Paul’s warning: (1) to watch yourself: there is no protection but in humility; (2) a man without humility will not lead others to seek mercy — and thus, he will leads others after himself:

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

Acts 20:28-30

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