Study of Acts, Chapter 20, Message 55, Week 25, Saturday

DAILY STUDY OF ACTS

MESSAGE FIFTY-FIVE

THE SPREAD IN ASIA MINOR AND EUROPE THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF PAUL AND HIS COMPANIONS (21)

WEEK 25 – SATURDAY

Bible Reading: Acts 20:13-38

Read and pray: "Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one of you with tears." (Acts 20:31)

In this message, we will continue to consider Paul’s exhortation to the elders of Ephesus, recorded in Acts 20:13-38.

WOLVES AND PERVERTED PEOPLE

Verse 29 says: “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.” Here, Paul shows that wolves would come from outside to harm the flock, the church of God. In verse 29, he was not concerned about his own life, but was very concerned about the future of the church, which was a treasure to him and to God.

In verse 30, he continues: “And from among your own selves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” The perverted ones among the believers in the church are always used by the devil, who hates the church, to draw the sheep away in order to form another “flock”.

In our many years of church life, we have had experiences with both wolves and perverted people. The wolves come from outside the church, and the perverted ones rise up from within. When perverted ones rise up in the church, we might think that this shows we were not careful in our work and brought seeds that produced the perverted people. Many of us would think like this when we see them arise. However, it is possible that we had nothing to do with their appearance.

Consider Paul’s work in Ephesus. The church there was raised up, established, and carried forward by his ministry for three years. Certainly, he did his work with great care. However, he himself foresaw that some would rise up to speak perverse things in order to draw the brothers away after them to form another “flock”.

One of the Lord’s parables in Matthew 13 speaks of sowing tares among the wheat (vs. 24-30, 36-43). I studied this parable for years trying to understand where the tares came from. Some say the seeds of the tares are carried by the wind. Although I do not know where the tares come from, I know that where there is wheat, there will also be tares. This indicates that wherever there are true believers, there will also be false believers. This is inevitable. It was inevitable in Paul’s work, and it will be in our work today.

After working in Ephesus for three years, Paul warned the elders of the church there that wolves would enter among them, and some would rise up to speak perverse things. We have seen this happen both in the East and the West. We should not expect there to be wheat without tares. It is possible for perverted ones to rise up in a church. When some hear this, they might say, “Oh! Please don’t predict such a thing. Among the brothers in our city, there will never be any perverted ones.” However, we need to receive Paul’s word. Although he did not know who they would be, he predicted that perverted ones would arise.

According to Paul’s word in verse 30, the goal of the perverted ones is to draw the disciples after them. Their intention is to draw the saints to form another “flock.” We have observed this over the years. We have seen that their intention is to separate a group of believers so that they can be their followers. Thus, we should pay attention to Paul’s word about wolves coming from outside and perverted ones rising up within the flock.

THE WORD OF GOD'S GRACE

In verses 31-32, Paul continues: “Therefore, watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. Now, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

Here, he commends the believers to God and to the word of His grace. Grace is the Triune God received and enjoyed by the believers. I believe that during the three years he was in Ephesus, he spoke God’s word of grace to the saints daily.

We can testify that, by the Lord’s mercy, the word of God’s grace can be found in the messages of Life-Studies. Recently, a young man urged the young people in the Lord’s recovery to have all the riches of the Life-Studies constituted into them. I agree with the word of this brother. If the young people have such a constitution, there will be a great transfer of dispensation in the recovery.

I encourage the young people to use the time in the coming years to have all the messages of the Life-Studies constituted into them. If in the coming years they are saturated with them, full of the word regarding the New Testament economy of God, many will be useful to serve the Lord full-time. They will be able to go to other cities and countries and pass on to others the New Testament economy of God. This will transform the situation among Christians. In this way, the riches of the Life-Studies will become known to the entire Christian community.

But the main thing is that among us, many living vessels arise and have the New Testament economy of God constituted into them. We should not think that only the young people need to have the messages of the Life-Studies constituted into them. Even the older ones still have time for this and then will have years to serve the Lord, carrying the New Testament economy of God throughout the earth.

Enjoy more: Hymn 474