S. S. Times Acts 20:28-31 Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers… I. FAITHFUL COUNSELLING. Lessons: Take heed — 1. Unto yourselves, for you can do little for others until your own heart is set right. 2. To all the flock, for you cannot be a faithful shepherd of the Lord's sheep unless you value their safety as your own. 3. To feed the Church of God. Christ was glad to purchase the sheep at the cost of His own life; ought you not willingly to make the slight sacrifice of caring for those whom He purchased at such a price. 4. Against the wolves. The bark of materialism and spiritualism and destructive criticism is a good deal worse than their bite, still you need to be watchful lest it drive some of the more timid souls out of the fold. 5. For from among yourselves men will arise with all sorts of perverse religious notions, and you will have to combat them. Do it discreetly. 6. And take courage, remembering how much easier is your testifying than was Paul's, and that your helping words and deeds, as well as his, all receive God's approval. II. TRUSTFUL COMMENDING. Lessons: 1. Paul commended the Ephesians unto God, and God commended Paul for the zeal with which he laboured for the welfare of the Ephesians. 2. Paul did not covet gold or silver, but he did long for something vastly more precious. What could have exceeded his eagerness to save souls. 3. Paul laboured for the necessities, not for the luxuries of life. 4. Paul laboured not only for himself, but also for those who were with him. "Every one for himself" is a motto of the devil. "Bear ye one another's burdens" is the law of Christ. 5. Paul gave to the Ephesians an active living example of what a Christian worker should be. So doing, he gave to his words a tremendous vital force. 6. Paul worked with his hands, and was rather proud than ashamed of the fact. Hands hardened by honest toil are a much nobler possession than a soft head, or a heart hardened by an empty pride of birth. III. PRAYERFUL PARTING. Lessons: Parting — 1. Loses half its bitterness when those who are about to be separated feel that they will remain united in love for the same Saviour. 2. With a beloved pastor is a sad trial, but it is one to be borne as cheerfully as possible, if Providence is evidently calling him elsewhere. 3. Becomes easier to those who approach the hour of separation on their knees. 4. Is greatly saddened if we feel that the bodily separation is to be forever, but there may be something bitterer than that. 5. Becomes well nigh despairing to those who must harbour the fear that it is final, bodily and spiritually. But such separations were very scarce among those with whom such as Paul have been labouring. (S. S. Times.) Parallel Verses KJV: Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. |
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