Cross Unto Glory

An Apostolic Church: Toward God

(Acts 20:17-21, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, April 7, 2013)

[17] Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. [18] And when they came to him, he said to them:

We return now to the book of Acts. But in returning to Paul we do not forget about Jesus. And in remembering Jesus, we remember His death and resurrection.

Paul had determined that he should not make a lengthy visit again to Ephesus. Yet he wanted another opportunity to say some final words to the Ephesian elders. We want to take a very careful look at these words over the next several weeks.

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, [19] serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews;

Paul was very consciously speaking to men to whom he had given himself during his prior time in Ephesus. He was calling them to a life of service. Where did this idea come from? We follow the ultimate Suffering Servant, Jesus Christ. His pathway to glory went through the cross. He calls us to follow Him. There are many reasons why we cannot afford to forget about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. One of the less obvious reasons why we hold to these truths is that they have become for the church not only doctrines, but a way of life.

We, like Paul, are disciples of Jesus Christ. Paul displayed the Christian life before these men. And these men were to display this life in front of many in the church. They in turn would live the life of cross unto glory before thousands. Cross unto glory is the Christian way of life.

In order for us to live out the life of the cross, we need to face up to the fact that we are not in charge, and that our innate gifts and abilities will not carry us where we need to go in order to see God's purposes fruitfully established through us. One biographer who wrote of a Christian woman who served the Lord with astounding fruitfulness in the last century wrote about the necessity of a humbling experience in this way:

Looking over her years of Christian work and reviewing the thousands of lives she has witnessed in Christian service, Miss Mears has concluded that every Christian who is really going to accomplish anything in the work of the Kingdom must have a "crisis" experience, over and apart from accepting Christ as personal Saviour. She has never seen really effective Christian leaders who are truly accomplishing work for the Lord who have not, at some time, come to the complete end of self, overwhelmed with personal inadequacy, aware of how little they have and of their tremendous limitations in trying to serve the Lord and live the Christian life. Then, in the crisis of this experience, they allow the Holy Spirit to take over complete possession of their lives. There is a terrible sense of inadequacy of self, even after one is a Christian, a complete end of self, a complete emptying of self, a deadness to self and aliveness to God, as the Apostle Paul stated it. Christians become aware that there is no personal virtue in themselves, no personal ability, no personal strength except as the Holy Spirit controls and empowers and uses their lives.

[20] how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, [21] testifying both to Jews and to Greeks

When we have come to the end of our own strength, God the Holy Spirit can use us. This does not mean that we have no natural abilities, or that the Lord does not use our natural abilities. I recently read of the conversion of another woman that God is using in astounding ways in our century. Before she was converted she was a very intelligent and articulate woman, a recognized leader in a major research university in the Northeast United States. After her conversion, she was still very intelligent and articulate, but she used those gifts in a new way.

But I am referring to something beyond conversion. A person can be converted and still have a self-reliance that is not helpful for serving the Lord. Suffering, such as Paul faced everywhere, and which he testifies to here concerning his time in Ephesus, may be necessary in order for a person to yield to the Lord's way of accomplishing what may be well beyond our own abilities.

Paul, after referring to his suffering in the province of Asia, speaks of his unusual dedication to what the Lord had called him to do: declaring to those who would hear the way of the Lord wherever God provided an open door. The apostle Paul faced the kind of experience that forces a person to trust in God more boldly still. He writes about it in another place, saying “We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.” This experience of running out of strength in the Lord's service was not a surprise to the Father, but a part of the Lord's mercy. Paul goes on to speak of these sufferings this way:

[9] Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. [10] He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. [11] You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. (2 Corinthians 1:9-11)

of repentance toward God

Paul saw the sufferings of His apostolic team as a living display of cross unto glory that every Christian church needs to see and learn. God's method is well suited to His message. Paul was calling people to repent toward God. What could that mean?

If Paul were talking about turning away from violations of specific commandments, he might have found an easier way to say that than the words “repentance toward God.” We do need to repent of specific sin, but there is a deeper underlying issue that must be addressed. For instance, the second woman I mentioned earlier, the university professor who is living in our century, came to see that she needed to repent of certain sexual sin. But much more than that, she needed to repent of the prideful self-focus that insisted that she would do what she wanted to with her body. She needed to repent toward God.

This repentance toward God is an ongoing battle for the Christian. We need an ever-fuller yielding to the truth of who God is and to what His authority over our entire life rightly is in Jesus. Changing some specific behavior will not solve the problem if we still imagine that we have the strength, ability, and right to do what we determine to be just and good according to our own thoughts. A deeper yielding to the Word and Spirit of God is the Lord's kind plan for us. For this result He may ordain providences that cause us even to despair of our lives.

and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hand in hand with repentance toward God is the necessity of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Here we are not speaking of merely assenting to the truths that 1. Jesus is Lord, 2. That He is God's salvation to us, and 3. That He alone is the Anointed One, the Christ, that God promised to His people so long ago. These truths are wonderful, but God will cause us to both assent to the doctrines and to trust in the God/Man about whom these doctrines testify.

People who are brought to despair of their own ability and desire to bring in the kingdom of God, once they begin losing their inclination to trust in themselves, need someone far more able and reliable in whom they can trust. Jesus is that One. We lead others to repent toward God and to have faith in Jesus Christ, not only by speaking of the cross and the resurrection, but by living cross unto glory as the Lord brings us to the end of ourselves. This too is the love of God for us.

Old Testament Passage: Jeremiah 31:1-6, 31-34 – I have loved you with an everlasting love; New covenant obedience

Gospel Passage: Matthew 23:37-39 – O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ... Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord!

Sermon Text: Acts 20:17-21 – Paul's opening summary of his method and message in Ephesus

Sermon Point: An apostolic church is committed to the courageous declaration of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.