APRIL 4, 2023
“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)
In our text, we have the Apostle Paul’s final words to the elders of the church of Ephesus. These words did not belong to the whole church of Ephesus; and also, to the church eternal. While they are addressed to the church, they are for anyone who will believe in Christ and Him Crucified. In other words, these words are given to all of humanity, both believing and unbelieving. But the context shows that Paul is speaking to the church. He is speaking to his beloved. He is speaking to born-again, spirit-filled believers. This is important to grasp, especially for our day. We live in a day that denounces sound teaching and exalts spiritual “promptings,” which thinks little of being disciplined students because we can be led by “inward feelings.” We live in a day in which people no longer believe that we are guided by the sound instruction of the Lord, but rather by how we feel. Today, the feelings of men are equated with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
But notice the Apostle Paul’s last words to those who are to lead the church. He has been teaching the church of Ephesus for 3 years and now he is giving his final words of the men who will be entrusted with this work. His final words to them are: “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 of those who are sanctified.” The Apostle Paul, who taught these men with the Word of God, knows that it is God and His Word alone that can build them up and give them the inheritance of the saints. While the Spirit of God is included in this text because our God is one, Paul does not divide the Trinity and declare, “I commend you to the Spirit of God.” He does not leave the elders with such words as, “I commend you to the Spirit of God, Who will build you up with inward promptings.” No! He commends the church to the whole Godhead and to His Word because he knows that the Spirit of God never works apart from the Word of God.
The church of Jesus Christ is built up by a sound understanding of the sound doctrines of God. The church is built by God and His Word. The Spirit of God enlightens the individual and gives the individual sound understanding of the Doctrines of God. But the Spirit does not stop there. The Spirit of God works within the individual by changing his heart and conforming him to the image of Christ through sound understanding of the sound doctrines of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The saints receive wisdom and understanding that instructs the mind and changes the heart.
When the Apostle Paul commended the saints of Ephesus to God and the Word of His grace, he declared God’s eternal means of building up His church. While God never changes, His means never change, and the church must stand firm upon God and His Word!
If you want to know God and His ways, study the Word of God prayerfully and be taught by men who actually teach the sound doctrines of God prayerfully! But do not stop there; seek to be conformed to the Word of His grace. Do not be content with having an intellectual understanding of such glorious truths, because that will only lead you to pride and hypocrisy, and its end will be your destruction. Seek God that He may change your heart by His Word and conform you to the image of your Creator. It is nothearers only that are saved, but those who are doers of God’s Word.
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