Bible Studies In The Word of God

The Book of Acts ~ Chapter Twenty
Acts of the Apostles and History of the Early Church

ACTS 20

 

Verse 1. The uproar refers to the disturbances recorded in the preceding chapter. After some parting words, Paul left for Macedonia which was his previous purpose according to chapter 19: 21.    

Verse 2. Paul spent some time with
the churches in Macedonia, such as
Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea.
Greece was the province immediately
south of Macedonia.

Verse 3. Syria was a part of Asia,
and it contained such important places
as Troas and Ephesus. After spending
some time in Greece, Paul intended
crossing by water over' to Asia. Hear-
ing of a plot of some kind being formed
by the Jews, he changed his plans and
retraced his journey through Mace-
donia.

Verses 4, 5. These persons were as-
sociated with Paul in the good work,
but were evidently not involved in the
plot of the Jews. They went on ahead
across the sea and stopped at Troas
where they awaited the coming of
Paul and Luke, he being with Paul
as the first personal pronoun ns
denotes, and as he is the author of
this book (chapter 1:1).

Verse 6. Having been in Philippi
some time (verse 3) on this return
journey, he and Luke went aboard a
ship bound for Troas, where the group
of the preceding paragraph was wait-
ing for them. Days of nnleavened bread
is mentioned only by way of indicating
the date or time of year that had
arrived.

Verse 7. Break is from the same
Greek word as it is in other places,
regardless of whether a common meal
is meant or that of the Lord’s Supper.
The connection must determine in
each case as to what sense is used.
In the present passage it could not
mean a common meal, for the disciples
would not come together for that pur-
pose; they went “from house to house”
(chapter 2: 46). Likewise, they would
not have done so especially on the
Lord’s day any more than on some
other day. The conclusion, then, is
that it means the Lord’s Supper. An-
other unavoidable conclusion is that
the Lord’s Supper is to be observed by
disciples who come together, and not
done as a private performance in some
convenient place suitable to the per-
sonal program of temporal entertain-
ment. The preaching of Paul was inci-
dental because he chanced to be pres-
ent, not that they came together
for that purpose. However, the inci-
dent gives us an apostolic precedent
for having preaching at the time of
the regular Lord’s day assembly if a
preacher is present. The long sermon
was occasioned by the plans of Paul
who intended continuing his journey
the next day, and the interest in Such
a rare opportunity of hearing this
great apostle held the services to the
late hour.

Verse 8. Lights is from the Greek
word LAMPAS, which was a device used
as a torch and was fed with olive oil.
The writer hadjust stated that Paul
continued his speech until midnight,
and his mention of the many lights
was to explainhow an assembly could
conveniently extend its services that
far into the night.

Verse 9. This verse is a simple state-
ment of an event not especially impor-
tant in itself, but furnishing an oppor-
tunity for Paul to work a miracle. The
inspired writer is the one who says
that the young man was taken up
dead, so that it was not just the im-
gination of an excited crowd.

Verse 10. It should be observed that
Paul said his life is in him after he
had embraced him. The act of em-
bracing the young man was when the
miracle was performed that brought
the life back into his dead body. (See
similar acts in 1 Kings 17 : 21; 2 Kings
4: 34.)  

Verse 11. Broken bread. This was
not the act for which the disciples had
come together, for they did not know
that such a lengthy service would be
had when they assembled. But having
been awake most of the night, and as
Paul was soon to leave on a journey,
it was courteous for them to set re-
freshments before him for his support.

Verse 12. This verse is an after-
thought upon the event of the miracle
of verse 10, showing the joyful effect
of the apostle’s performance for the
young man and friends.

Verse 13. The entire group was
making its way in the return from
this third missionary journey, but
Paul went on foot as far as Assos
where the party was to join him.

Verse 14. At Assos the boat landed and took in Paul, then proceeded and came to Mitylene, a town on the island of Lesbos.

Verse 15. Three days after leaving Mitylene the group reached Miletus.

Verse 16. Miletus was 36 miles south of Ephesus, and in the time of Paul it was on the coast. He did not wish to spend much time iri Asia (a small district in Asia Minor), because the feast of Pentecost was near at hand, and he was eager to be in Jerusalem at that time. For information about observing Jewish customs and days, see the comments at chapter 16:3 and 18:21.

Verse 17. Paul knew he would lose
less time by calling these elders to
him while waiting for the ship to re-
sume its journey, than for him to make
this “detour” to Ephesus to see them.
chapter 14323 states that Paul or-
dained elders in every church, and evi-
dently that included those at Ephesus.
Verse 18. The Ephesian elders com-
plied with the request,_of Paul by com-
ing to Miletus to meet him. This was
to be a very important occasion, for
Paul was to have a heart-to-heart talk
with these rulers of the church, in
which there will be some outstanding
information that will be useful for all
of us.  

Verse 19. These elders knew about
the severe trials the apostles had suf-
fered, for many of them had taken
place in their city (chapter 19).

Verse 20. That was profitable. The
apostle never imposed any obligations
or information upon the elders of the
churches that would not be of assist-
ance to them in their great work for
the Lord. There are no “nonessentials”
in the things the inspired writers have
left to the world. Paul’s teaching was
done in the synagogue (publicly) and
in the homes (from house to house).

Verse 21. Repentance here seems t-o
be required before faith, which is
really not the order of the items per-
taining to the Gospel. (See the com-
ments at Mark 1:15.)

Verse 22. The original word for
bound is defined “To put under obliga-
tion” by Thayer. Paul was always
guided in his teaching and conduct of
his office as an apostle, by the Holy
Spirit that was sent to “guide him
into all truth” (John 16:13).

Verse 23. The Spirit did not give
Paul the details of what was to come
upon him, but he was told that he was
to have a hard time. This “blanket”
information really made a severer, test
of his faith than a minute statement
might have been.

Verse 24. None of these things move
me means that Paul was not disturbed
by the prospect of persecutions, nor
did he let it change his purpose to
serve Christ faithfully to the end.
Finish my course with joy. The true
servant of God expects to receive his
reward at the end of the race, not
while the conflict of this life is going
on. The ministry refers to the charge
delivered to Paul to “fight the good
fight” (2 Timothy 4:7) by testifying
for the Gospel.

Verse 25. Paul did not make this
sad prediction by inspiration. He did
not know what particular experiences
were awaiting him, but he knew that
he would not be permitted to labor
among the churches as extensively as
before.

Verse 26. Take you to record means
he was testifying to these elders with
regard to his work among them. Pure
from the blood denotes that he would
not be held responsible for any un-
favorable lot that might come upon
them in the future.

Verse 27. This verse explains the
statement in the preceding one. A
preacher of the Gospel may not have
the ability or opportunity to declare
everything that pertains to the plan of
salvation, and if so he will not be held
accountable for such lack. But if he
shuns or evades to proclaim-~ a single
requirement of the counsel of God that
he could have made known, he will be
charged with the full results of such
evasion -of duty.

Verse 28. Overseers is from EPIS-
Koros and is the same word that is
translated “bishop” in other passages.
The word is defined by Thayer, “An
overseer, any curator, guardian or su-
perintendent.” There is but one class
of ruling officers in the church of the
New Testament, and they are called
by the three words, elders, overseers
and bishops. The exception is the case
of evangelists who have charge of
churches not having elders (Titus 1:5). God is the family name of the
Deity, of which Christ is a member,
making that word his own name as
well as that of his Father. Hence the
name church of God is equivalent to
“church of Christ.” It is his church
because he purchased it with his own
blood. The elders are commanded to
feed this church which is likened to a
flock, and the word in the original is
POIMAINO, which is also defined, “To
rule, govern.” The Holy Ghost makes
men overseers by revealing the quali-
fications and manner of appointment
of such officers (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9).

Verse 29. Thewarning of this verse refers to false teachers from the outside, who would creep into the congregation and corrupt the members.

 

Verse 30. Of your own selves means that false teachers would arise among the elders. It is a fact borne out by history, that the great apostasy known as the “Dark Ages,” was started within the eldership of the church, but this is not the most appropriate place to go into the details of that subject.

Verse 31. The three main duties of the elders are to feed, rule and watch.  The first two are commanded in verse 28, and the third is stated here. Hebrews 13:17 states for what or why the rulers are to watch, namely, for the souls of the flock, because the elders will have to 'give an account of their work with the members of the flock. The warning of three years included that recorded in chapter 19:8, 10.

Verse 32. Commend you to God denotes that he advised them to look to God and to his word. That word is able to build them up or edify them in their work for Him. Such a life would make them heirs of the reward that is prepared for all who are sanctified or set apart for the service of the Lord.

Verse 33. Paul was not preaching the Gospel with the motive of obtaining the personal possessions of the brethren.

Verse 34. As proof of the preceding statement, Paul reminded them of his manual labor for the temporal support of himself and his traveling companions. (See chapter 18:3.) Not that it would not have been right for him to receive financial support in his work, for he taught elsewhere that such support would have been right (1 Corinthians 9:4, 14). But he refers to his own secular work as proof that temporal support was not his purpose in preaching the Gospel.

Verse 35. Another purpose Paul had in his manual labor was to set an example of working to supply the needs of those who cannot work. The words of Jesus quoted are not recorded elsewhere in the New Testament, but Paul could repeat them by inspiration.

Verses 36-38. This paragraph does not require any particular explanation.  It is a word picture of a very pathetic leave-taking between Paul and the elders. His conviction that they would never meet again was the saddest item in the circumstance. The labors in the midst of many trials and persecutions for the cause of Christ, had a tendency to bind the followers of the Lord close together. The manner of embracing upon the neck was a custom of those times. The elders went with Paul as far as they could, then parted from him as he entered the ship.