20:30
Paul was also perfectly honest, even brutally so, about where some of the attacks would come: from within the church itself. Anyone who has been involved in church life for any length of time will have to sadly acknowledge that this is all too true. In the case of Ephesus this would be men seeking to draw disciples to follow them. They would be self-seeking instead of Christ-seeking. Indeed, this could be said to be the root of an awful lot of trouble within churches. People become seekers of self instead of seekers of Christ. They will usually dress it up as though they are seeking to serve Christ, but this will be a lie.
20:31
Three years could mean parts of three years, but Paul certainly spent a significant amount of time with the Ephesians. We also see quite clearly that his teaching was not focused on the “nice bits”, on “what a wonderful time in Christ you will have”. He gave them the whole package, warning of the dangers ahead where necessary.
20:32
Serious warnings have been given, warnings of unpleasant times, but they are not given without hope. Paul commends them to God. When Jesus told Peter that he would deny him three times, He also said that He had prayed for Peter (Luke 22:32). We should commend ourselves to God, and those whom we are looking after. He also commended them to the “word of His grace”. God’s grace is active, and it is able to see us through testing times. The ability to get through does not depend upon us getting everything right, if it did we would be without hope, rather it depends upon God’s kindness towards us. His word of grace is able to build us up. We are dependent upon God’s grace, but that does not mean that we remain unchanged or uninvolved. His grace builds us up, and it gives us an inheritance among those who are sanctified. We are set apart for God’s purposes.
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