This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of “The History of Salvation” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, February 10, 1991.
About this sermon
Paul’s third missionary journey carries him through Ephesus, Macedonia, Greece, and Troas, following Christ’s own pattern in setting his face toward Jerusalem. That journey reveals the real focus of the whole book of Acts.
Sermon transcript
Tonight we are reading from Acts 20, beginning at verse 17. Hear the word of God. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews, how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, am teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
And now, behold, bound in spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions awaken. But I do not consider my life on any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that you all, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.
Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.
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. I have coveted no man’s silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said is more blessed to give than to receive. When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. They began to weep aloud, and he embraced Paul and repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they should see his face no more, and they were accompanying him to the ship.
Now as is noted, we are dealing with Paul’s third missionary journey. We’ll be taking this in parts tonight. We’ll be dealing with part one, and that will concern something of the travel for Paul. This will be your travel log. And when we return to this matter a couple of weeks from tonight, We will take up the content of the letters that Paul writes to the various churches during this journey. According to my count, I have four letters that were written during this third missionary journey. Galatians, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and Romans.
We’ll study them, we’ll look at them at a later time. You may want to consult the map in the back of your Bible. If you have a Bible that has a map in it, it might help you to trace out what we’re saying with that map, or you may want to follow along as we move through the material in Acts 18 through Acts 21. If you can do both at the same time, you have two Bibles.
Paul’s third missionary journey. It is the most complicated of his journeys and it is one that covered a very long period of time. Some have calculated that it covered as many as four years. Four years as he went out from Antioch of Syria and then returned, not to Antioch, This third missionary journey took place in the middle period, in the 6th decade in the 1st century. I would put it in the mid-50s. As I have suggested to you, the account of this journey starts up in the 18th chapter of Acts, verse 23. and it continues through the 15th verse of the 21st chapter.
Now we are told that at the beginning Paul makes his way from Antioch in Syria through the regions of Galatia and Phrygia. He moves up into Asia Minor and then from the eastern regions of Asia Minor he moves to the west through Asia Minor into the regions of Galatia and Phrygia. He’s moving by land westward and most likely he is making contact with churches that have been established in that region already, churches that he has visited. And he is probably also making contact with other regions, if not other churches, that have grown up, possibly in the northern Galatian era as well as in Phrygia.
Now it is at this point that Luke interjects for us and comments, an interlude if you will, concerning Apollos. Running on there towards the end of the 18th chapter, Acts have Apollos, this figure of Apollos, introduced to you. Apollos comes from Africa. He comes from Alexandria, northern Africa. He is a man who is mighty in the scriptures. He is definitely blessed and gifted. He’s eloquent. He is a convert to the baptism of John.
When he comes to Ephesus, he encounters Priscilla and Aquila. You may recall they have come to Ephesus. Now, Apollos arrives at Ephesus and he meets up with Priscilla and Aquila and they take him aside and they explain to him the way of truth more completely. He is convinced by their argument and their presentation that he moves, as it were, from the baptism of John to the baptism of the Spirit in Jesus Christ. From here, Apollos moves on to Corinth, and now we note that as Paul makes his own progress in this journey, he will make similar progress from Ephesus to Corinth. But at any rate, now we are back to Paul. as we start up the nineteenth chapter of Acts, and Paul himself arrives in Ephesus coming from the east. He finds there a number of people who are of the opinion that Apollos had held formerly. There are many apologists, it seems, at Ephesus at this time.
There is a party of folk that have held to the baptism of John, and Paul instructs these, and they then receive the Holy Spirit. Interestingly, we are told that there are twelve men in number who receive this blessing through the ministry of Paul, and this is reminding us of the twelve tribes of Israel. The ministry intended for Israel is complete as things transpire here in Ephesus, and these twelve men receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit. They’re sort of men who are walking out of time, and now they are brought up to date by the ministry of Paul as they are blessed by the Holy Spirit. Holdovers from Israel, and now blessed as they become part of the Church of Christ as it is meeting in Ephesus.
As well, we might note that the new Israel continues to take shape, and that out of the background of the old Israel. You might recall that all the practice has been to go to the synagogues addressing the old Israel, and now these people, even though they are of the baptism of John looking for the Messiah, is still held, as it were, in a time warp, and is still part of the old administration, and they now are brought into the new administration by this marvelous work of the Spirit through the Apostle Paul. As we’ve noted then, Paul preaching in synagogues, and that’s what he does here at Ephesus.
The things become difficult for him in that setting, and he is driven out crudiform, and he ends up in the school of Tyrenus. The site proves to be quite advantageous for his ministry, for his preaching, for his instruction. There is tremendous growth for the church, and Paul ends up staying in this setting for over two years. But his ministry, you will notice as we move through this nineteenth chapter of Acts, his ministry is more than just one of instruction, teaching and preaching.
We are told here about the remarkable ministry of healing, the remarkable ministry of power that is evidenced in Paul as he carries on his ministry in the city of Ephesus. Now there were some who vainly sought to profit from this ministry. We are told about the seven sons of Sceva, for instance, and how they are dealt with by the Spirit of God. But there are others, of course, who are wonderfully profited in their spirit by this ministry.
We are told of the great number of magicians in the city of Ephesus who renounced their craft and then bring their books to be burned. Indeed, we have the price of those books calculated for us there in the 19th verse, 19th chapter, 50,000 pieces of silver worth of books burned.
Well, Paul’s ministry in Ephesus is coming to a close now, and he is making plans to visit Macedonia and Achaia. these regions that lay to the west. So he sends Timothy and Erastus ahead of him into Macedonia. In the meantime, we are told things begin to heat up for him in Ephesus.
You may recall a fellow by the name of Demetrius. No, not the gladiator, this is Demetrius the silversmith. And he seems to be one who is the head of a guild of silversmiths, and this particular guild has made an incredible amount of money because they have been forming little shrines that they sell, shrines honoring Diana, or Artemis, the goddess whose temple sits in Ephesus, whose grand temple is situated there, her temple being one of the great and wonderful splendors of the ancient world. Well, as you know, Paul and his message were ruining the trade for Demetrius and the silversmiths.
The riots break out, and by the time things calm down, Paul has decided that it’s time to leave and make his way to Macedonia, which is what he does. Now, he works hard in Macedonia, and we assume that he, again, there, as he was an Asian minor, there visiting established churches. You have a number of them situated in Macedonia, Philippi, Correa, and others. And we might assume that he breaks new ground as well. He’s there laboring in Macedonia with established churches and very likely seeing the churches established.
He then subsequently labors in Greece or in Achaia. And as he is about to set sail from Corinth, one of the chief cities of Achaia, As he is about to set sail from Corinth for Antioch, a Jewish plot against his life is on earth. It seems that the Jews there are intent upon killing him. So he retraces his steps, he doesn’t set sail, instead he retraces his steps, he moves then backward towards the north, back into Macedonia.
He arrives at Philippi, and there he picks up Luke, most likely, because at this point we have, again, the wee passage introduced, the writer of Acts introducing himself into the narrative. We’re into the 20th chapter, of course, now. Paul and his party leave before Philippi after the Passover, after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They travel five days by boat to Troas, across the straits there where they spend a week, seven days altogether. Now I think that he knows something about what takes place here At Troas, it’s one of the interesting passages from the Book of Acts, on the first day of the week, for instance, that the church is gathering together, and they are gathering together for fellowship, for worship, to hear the Apostle.
Paul’s intending to leave the next day, but he preaches well into the night. In fact, he preaches until midnight. We all remember the tale about Eutychus, the young lad who is sitting in the windowsill and goes off and falls out of the windowsill to the ground and is presumed to be dead. Paul goes out and ministers to him and Eutychus is raised up.
I, of course, again, enjoy this passage because it seems that the saints were getting together And this is only one of those instances in the Book of Acts where it’s obvious to us that the saints were, in fact, gathering, yes, on the first day of the week, but they were gathering seemingly in the evening.
Now that doesn’t mean they weren’t gathering in the morning, too. They were, of course. marked the resurrection of Christ in the morning. They marked the appearances of Christ in the evening. That’s how it was on the first resurrection day. So the saints got together morning and evening.
And you might know, of course, that in that society they didn’t give you Sunday off. It was a pagan environment. Now the Jews might take Saturday off. They wouldn’t work on their Sabbath. But there was nothing in the society that permitted the Christians to have their Sunday bus. So what did they do? Well, I had to work. I didn’t make it to worship.
No, what they did is they got up before they went to work, and they went to worship. And then, that not being enough for them, strange people that they were, they seemed to have an incredible appetite for worship. for getting together and hearing about the mighty works of God. They came back at night after they had worked, after they had put in a full day.
Now, is it any wonder that the Church was progressing and being blessed? How the Spirit moved in the hearts of these people, that the Spirit could move again. And I’m not talking about extraordinary things, I’m just talking about the ordinary means of grace that become so precious to the people of God that they seemingly cannot live without them. They want the Word, they want the sacraments, they want prayer, and each one of those elements are focused in the corporate experience of the people of God. All you need do is consider the sacraments, do you not?
Do we? Do we discharge our responsibility towards the sacraments by ourselves privately? Do we have a little private baptism in our bathroom, in the bathtub, as we baptize our kids? No, it’s a corporate act. It’s an act by the assembly. Do we have communion by ourselves? Do we sit ourselves down at the kitchen table and take out a bottle of wine, a loaf of bread, and have a private communion service? No, it’s a corporate act.
The means of grace pertain to corporate acts, the Word, the hearing and the preaching of the Word. That’s where the emphasis is placed throughout the Scriptures in their entirety. And with regard to prayer, not so much to minimize our private responsibility and duty when it comes to prayer, but the emphasis is on corporate prayer, people of God coming together to pray. All right. Not for my harangue on that, but that you might know the focus in the Word upon the people of God getting together, coming together, and being blessed in that corporate experience through the means of grace, which are God’s ordinary means.
And it’s verses on an evening in Troas. I’ll write a poem on that someday. Well, now, Paul then makes his way down the western shore of Asia Minor. He moves from Athos to Mycolene, to Chios, to Samos, to Miletus. That’s where we were tonight as we read from Acts 20. He was at Miletus. He wished to make good time towards Jerusalem, so he wasn’t going to stop in Ephesus, he wasn’t going to go to Ephesus. He wanted to be in Jerusalem for the feast at Pentecost, but he didn’t want to bypass Ephesus altogether, so he called for the elders to come to him from Ephesus, and they meet him here at Miletus.
In this context we have Paul delivering his most moving and eloquent message to the church leaders. It’s magnificent stuff. He not only speaks about how he has conducted himself in their midst, but also how they are to conduct themselves. Strong, strong words. Very powerful. There is that sense, too, if you read through this section, there is that sense, too, that this will in fact be Paul’s last visit amongst these folks, and for that reason they are extremely saddened.
They go home, and Paul continues on his journey back to Israel, on his way to Jerusalem. He and his party move past coast, Rhodes and Patera, and then past Cyprus to Tyre, where they spend a week with the saints. They’ve now landed on the shore, and all along the way we have these testimonies coming to Paul. He is told of the dangers that are awaiting him in Jerusalem. His party then moves south to Ptolemaeus, they spend the day there with some of the saints, and then on to Caesarea.
Interestingly here, we are introduced again to the personage of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven. He has four daughters who are prophetesses. It’s in this context that Paul encounters the prophet Agabus, who tells him that there are chains awaiting him in Jerusalem, and he will be delivered over to the Gentiles. The language itself sort of jars us, delivered over, bound to the Gentiles, as if there’s some sort of Christ-like form and shape to this whole experience that awaits the Apostle Paul.
And he is going to fulfill his ministry. He’s going to complete his course. And in that, there is going to be a number of striking similarities between him and his Savior. He will be conformed to the image of his Lord, going up to Jerusalem, just as Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He will be bound there. He will be handed over to Gentiles, just as his Lord was.
And he is ready for this, because he has studied the life of his Lord, and he even yearns to be conformed to the image of his Lord. Thou, Jesus, even die in Jerusalem, if need be. So in fact, as we see the third missionary journey come to an end, we are witnessing the progress of a man in his ministry who is progressively being conformed to the image of his Savior, And that includes death. He does not shy away from it, that he even walks towards it.
Now throughout this section, in conclusion this evening, we will note again those themes that we have already articulated for the Book of Acts. There is that continual emphasis upon the Gentile mission, the realization of that mystery which has been held secret from ages past, which is now manifest and revealed, that God’s intention is to bless the nations, and they are now in fact being blessed at the same time. And secondly, we have an emphasis falling upon the unity of the Church.
Yes, Disciples of John the Baptist move, move out of that context into the environment of the blessing of the Spirit, as differences are drawn between them and the Christian assembly, and they become full participants in the assembly that is ruled by Jesus Christ and His Spirit. There’s the unity of the Spirit, and not just that, Jews who are transformed, converted, more still coming. not holding on to their Jewishness, but in fact becoming something other than what they were as they are blended with Gentiles, and they become one new body in Christ Jesus. There is the authority of the Word as Paul preaches and as he ministers, as he deals with those who are beset with problems, those who are overcome with idolatry, those who are possessed with all kinds of things. difficulties and spirits, He, working His ministry through the Word, the authority of His ministry as it exerts itself, and not only that, His office as His office is related to the Word. We do not walk away from the structure of the Church and the authority forms that our Savior has set up for the government of His body.
So yes, the Gentiles brought in the unity of the Church, the authority of the Word, the binding of the Word to office and structure these things being asserted. But there are new things as well. We’ve already hinted at those new things. There is this pressure which exerts itself in the life of the Apostle as he is compelled along the road to pursue a course that conforms him to his Savior in a literal fashion.
The unity that exists, not just between Jew and Gentile, not just for disciples of John and those who profess Christ, but the unity that exists between Christ and His own. What prospect is there for us? What direction is there for us in our lives? For me, says Paul, for me to live is Christ. To die is giving. Here is one who rejoices in Christ, even though conformity to Christ may mean literally that he give up his life for his sake. just as Christ has given up his life for us.
Even the church found Paul’s attitude inexplicable. They tried to keep him from it, almost as if they were Peter-like. Remember Peter laying stumbling blocks in the road of Christ? And Jesus has to say, get me behind me, Satan. Even the church hesitates.
We can’t take this thing literally now. We can’t take this thing literally. But Paul says, yes, we can. And I was. as I am conformed to Christ, even in His death. We spend a great deal of time trying to save our lives. Self-preservation is a natural instinct. The call is giving up the call. How it manifests itself not just in that he pursues a course that leads him to Jerusalem where he may die, but he extends himself for Ephesian Christians and others in a way that testifies to the fact that he really is not counting his life dear, he’s not concentrating on himself, he’s giving himself away. Day and night I labored among you, giving myself away. I even worked at two jobs. One, I worked as an apostle. Secondly, I worked as a tent maker, in order that you might be spared.”
Well, he conducts his ministry in a way that accents his message. His ministry is underscored by The very message, his ministry is underscored by the very message that he proclaims. The message is lived out in the ministry performed. There is a consistency in the man that is glorious. The work of the Spirit. Oh, that we were consistent. that our lives match our words, and our words our lives. We can learn much, indeed, from Paul, here in his third missionary journey. Amen.
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