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Amen. Finishing up Acts chapter 20. So Paul is getting ready to leave. He's getting ready to finish up what's known as his third missionary journey, really his last missionary journey before he heads to Jerusalem and then to Rome. But Paul, it's an interesting story at the end of Acts chapter 20 because Paul gives kind of a unique speech to a unique group of people and that's what I want to look at this evening. Let's look at the first couple verses here and then we'll look at the the main point of the sermon this evening. Look at verse number 13 of Acts chapter 20. Of course he's already raised the the young man from the dead. We talked about that so we'll pick it up at verse 13. It says, and he went before to ship and sailed unto Assos and they're intending to take in Paul for so he had appointed mining himself to go afoot. So they separate here and I don't really want to get into the details of who went where but they kind of went all around again. And in verse 14 it says, and he met with us at Assos and we took him in and came to Mytilene and we sailed thence and came the next day over to Chios and the next day we arrived at Samos and tarried at Tragalium and the next day we came to Miletus. So the point is they're going all around and they're getting ready to head out of Asia. Look at verse number 16. The Bible says, for Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus because he knew he would not spend the time in Asia for he hasted if it were possible to him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. So Paul knew that he was heading to Jerusalem. He couldn't hang out for a long time at Ephesus. Ephesus, of course, if you look at verse number 31 just skip ahead and just take a peek at verse number 31 and we already know this from studying through the last couple of chapters but Ephesus is near and dear to Paul's heart simply because he has spent a lot of time there. He spent, you know, three years, he says, in verse number 31. The space of three years, you know, and what did he say he was doing? Warning them. So he's spending three years with these people. He's got a very tight connection with this group at Ephesus and he wants to make sure that he gets a message across to them before he goes to Jerusalem. Nobody wants him to go to Jerusalem but he's called by the Spirit to go. He's being led by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. So and in Miletus he sent to Ephesus, verse 17, and from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, meaning he sent a message and called the elders of the church. So what we're gonna see this evening in the last part of Acts chapter 20 is Paul's final words to the leaders of the church at Ephesus. Now of course we know that he wrote letters but this is his final face-to-face and look here's the thing. He knows it. He knows that this is the final time he's going to see these people. They know it and, you know, so think about just think about the last time, you know, I mean how many stories or, you know, stupid movies have there been like okay you have one day left on earth or whatever, you know, you have one day left. What would you do? So this is a really unique situation here because Paul is meeting these men, these leaders of this church that he's very close to, that he built. He's meeting with them for the final time. What is he going to say? You know, what's he going to say to them? So tonight I want to go through Paul's final words to the leaders of the church at Ephesus and I want to give you six points or six things from this speech that will help you understand Holdfast Baptist Church. That will help you understand, you know, the things you say what can I expect from Holdfast Baptist Church. Well Paul, Paul's final words, I'm going to point out six things in Paul's final words to the Ephesians that the Ephesian leaders here that will show you what you can expect at a church like this. You know, I mean look, I mean this is a, we need to pay attention to these things that he's saying. He's not just like having small talk here. It's look, this speech to these leaders will show us the difference between, you know, our church and other churches that we've all been to. Other churches that you've been to, other churches that we've all been to. Maybe you come to this church and you say this church is different. You know, maybe you think I like this church. Maybe you think, you know, I like this church, but you can't really maybe put your finger on it, on what exactly it is. I'm going to give you six specific things tonight and look, because of these six specific things, you may say you like the church, but because of these six specific things, a lot of people won't like this church. That's another thing you need to understand about these six points that I'm going to give you from Paul's words. You say well, you know, I just, I like the church. I like coming here. I'm just not really sure why it's different. Well, I'm going to just narrow it down for you out of Paul's words this evening. Look back down at Acts chapter 20 and look at verse 18. Acts chapter 20 and verse number 18. So Paul is bringing these elders to him, these leaders, the elders meaning the pastors, elders, bishops, pastor, they're all used interchangeably in the New Testament. Look at verse number 18. It says that when they were come to him, he said unto them, you know that from the first day I came into Asia, which is where Ephesus is, it's down on the coast of Asia, after what manner I've been with you at all seasons. He's been there a long time. He's been there years. Serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations with befell me by the lying and weight of the Jews and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house. Look at verse 21. Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. So just before we even get into the six points, turn to Jonah chapter 3. Let's talk about repentance just real quickly before we even get into the six points of his speech. Remember, Ephesus is in Asia, which is, you know, typically would be a Gentile area. Even though these Jews are all over and they're just chasing them all over the place, you know, this is a mainly Gentile area that he's at. But look at Jonah chapter 3. Jonah would be in the end of the Old Testament after Obadiah, which is hard to find too because it's like a page long, and before, I believe, Micah. So look at Jonah chapter 3 and look at verse number 10. Let's talk about repentance because a lot is made falsely about this word repentance today in the Bible. You know, everyone says today people that twist the gospel and add works to the gospel say you need to repent of your sins to be saved. Repenting of your sins, you know, and what does that even mean? Well, it depends on who you talk to. Repent to your sins means you need to turn from your sins. Like you need to stop sinning in order to be saved. First of all, you know, that's our works to stop sinning, all right? Repentance simply means to change one's mind. Repentance simply means to turn from one thing to another thing. You could repent about anything. You could repent about, you know, I was gonna wear a blue shirt today but I decided to wear, I repented and I wore a red shirt. I just changed my mind about that. You say, show me from the Bible. Look at Jonah chapter 3 and verse number 10. Jonah, the story of Jonah is one of the unique stories in the Bible where people actually listen to the prophet. The man of God went and preached to a city that God was going to destroy and for once they listened. I mean, it's like, what in the world? You know, it's a really unique story in the Bible and, you know, the prophet was like kind of upset about that. He's like, ah, I wanted God to destroy people. But anyway, that's beside the point. But look at Jonah chapter 3 and verse number 10. If you actually look at who repented the most in the Bible, it's God himself. So if you say, oh, repent means repent of your sins or turn from your sins, this thing that is not in the Bible anywhere, repent of your sins to be saved is nowhere in the Bible. You don't see repent of your sins in the Bible. God repented more than anyone. So if the word repent means repent from your sins, God's a sinner. That can't be what it means, folks. If you actually look up repent in a, in like a modern dictionary, it will literally say repent of your sins in a modern dictionary. Repent just means to change your mind. Look at Jonah chapter 3 verse number 10. Look at verse number 10. It says, let's talk about Nineveh. They actually got right. They listened to the prophet. They listened to the man of God and look what it says. It said, and God saw their works. So first of all, what were their works? God saw what they did, their works. We know that salvation is not of works. And God saw their works that they turned from their evil way. So he defines what their works were. So God saw that they turned from their evil. God saw that they turned from their sin. God saw this. So that shows you right there that turning from your sin is a work. That's the first thing that you need to understand. Look, it's good to turn from your sin, but it's a work. It's a work that we do. And now look at the next part of the verse. And God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not. So here it says God repented. Can God sin? We say, well God repented of the evil. In the Old Testament especially, evil means hurt or harm. That God was going to bring evil upon them, meaning God was going to punish them. He was going to bring pain and suffering and judgment upon Nineveh. But God saw that they turned from their sins. Look, nations are judged by their works. That's what you need to understand. That's what should scare you about the nation that you live in. Because we're not, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're saved by grace through faith, by trusting on Jesus. We are not saved by our works, but nations are judged by their works. And God saw their works in Nineveh and he, he repented, meaning he changed his mind. I've preached whole sermons on God changing his mind. But this proves, you say, well was it a mistake? Was it a mistake that God was going to bring judgment upon them? No. God reacts to our free will decisions. He wants us to do the right thing. God didn't create a bunch of robots down here. We have free will to turn towards God or turn away from God. Whether you're saved or not, you have that free will. So God saw their works and he repented of the judgment he was going to bring upon them. And he said that he would, that he said he would do unto them and he did it not. So all this to say this, go back to Acts chapter 20 in verse number 21. Now this will make more sense to you. Verse number 21 will make more sense. So you have these Gentiles, they don't even believe in God. The Gentiles, they don't even believe in God. So what do they, you know, they got all, they got a, they got a bridge to cross here. In order to get saved, these Gentiles need a bridge to cross. It's one thing if I believe in God and I just don't know who the Messiah is. Then I just need to trust on Jesus. I just don't know that the Messiah came. I just don't know about that. And then Jesus came and I just need to trust on him. But look what he says. He said also to the Greeks, repentance towards God. So first of all, they need to like throw away all their Diana statues and turn towards the one true capital G-O-D. The one true God. They need to turn from their fake idols that aren't even gods and turn towards the real God. But then what else do they need to do? Look at this. And faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. So look, they need to repentance. Look, they need to turn from all that garbage to these things is what Paul is saying. That's what he was doing. He was just testifying to the Jews and to the Greeks. All that to say is repentance just means to change your mind. It means to turn from one thing to the other. You say oh what about where you know Peter said you know repent and you know but it says repent ye and be converted in Acts chapter 3. It says repent ye and be converted meaning change your mind about what you think who you think Jesus was and be converted by believing on him is what it's talking about. You know it says repent and be baptized. Yeah change your mind and believe and then be baptized after you've believed. There's nothing that says like you know turn from your sins and you'll be saved. There's nothing like that in the Bible. It's just it's made up. It's made up. It's false gospel. It's people adding works to salvation. Look Christians have been dying for thousands of years because they wouldn't add works to salvation. So we need to hold our ground on all these things and like oh it's just gray area. It's not gray area. If you're adding any works to salvation it is a false gospel and that person that's teaching that is a curse the Bible says. It's very simple okay. Repentance is simply from to. It's very easy okay. It could be anything. Look back at Acts chapter 20 verse number 22. Look at our six things tonight from Paul's speech to his last conversation with the leaders at Ephesus. Look at verse number 22. It says and now so he's saying look I've been testifying all these things that have been profitable to you. He's like I've showed you everything. I've held nothing back. He says and now behold I go into the Spirit unto Jerusalem not knowing the things that shall befall me there. This is why everyone was so upset. He's being chased around and persecuted by all these Jews and he's like going into the heart of the beast and like of course people that love Paul don't want him to go there. He's like I'm being led by the Spirit. This is where I'm going. Verse 23 save that the Holy Ghost witnesses in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide me but none of these things move me. So he's literally saying these Jews have been chasing me around and look we've been studying through Acts. It's just the story's getting old. They're just they're building up gangs. They're coming after them. They're trying to kill them in every city. It's crazy and like they're just chasing him down. Now he's gonna go to Jerusalem where where the the heart of them the heart of their religion is but look what he says in verse 24. He says but none of these things move me. He says neither do I count my life dear unto myself so that I he's like I don't care about my physical life on this earth so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. So you say what about these six things? Here's the first one. Here's the first one that you need to understand that will help you understand coming to a church like Hold Fast Baptist Church there will be persecution. It's not that there might be. There will be. There will be persecution. You say why? Because all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. The Bible guarantees it. You say why? Because the world doesn't want to hear this. That's why. As a matter of fact it's not only does the world not want to hear the Bible. The world hates the Bible. The world hates the Lord. And look it's just it's just becoming more and more and more obvious. They're not even hiding it anymore. I saw I saw a headline this week that you know there was this I don't even I'm not even gonna mention the guy's name but there was the the Music Awards or whatever they are and there was some famous artist or musician that's you know is homo and he comes out dressed as Satan comes out dressed as Satan with a bunch of satanic don't look it up it's not appropriate to look at but CBS News put a tweet out and said oh you know I guess he's pretty popular I I guess you know and CBS News tweeted after his performance we're ready to worship they said look they're all in it together I've been pointing out this this alphabet people and Satan worship connection for years but here's the point I'm trying to make they're not even trying to hide it anymore that's how bold it is now they're not even trying to hide it they're not even trying to say like hey you know we're just like you we don't know like they just hate the Lord they hate everything about the Bible they hate the Lord they hate everything about Christians they hate it they're not even hiding it anymore you say so you know and here's the thing you need to understand turn to Genesis chapter 6 this isn't anything new this isn't anything new you're like oh this is the worst it's nothing new look at Genesis chapter 6 in verse number 11 you look at our society today and all our moron leader politicians they don't know what's going on the Republicans they don't know what's going on the Democrats like oh let's take away all the guns this is getting bad out there and the Republicans are no well give us our guns and all this kind of stuff and look you guys all know where I'm at on that but the point is like things are just getting more violent today and they're going to continue to get more violent I don't like to report that to you but it has nothing to do with guns and knives and cars and all this stuff it has to do with you know turning on the Lord that's what it has to do with the more a nation turns on the Lord the more violent it will be read the Old Testament read the Old Testament what's going on in these cities with the minor prophets what's going on in Nineveh you know what's going on in Nineveh the streets are filled with blood they're just killing innocent people left and right in Nineveh just everywhere you see just bloody city bloody city bloody city sacrificing children just violence violence violence violence why because they turned on the Lord it's the same thing every time are you in Genesis chapter 6 I better let me turn there myself look at verse number 11 why did God destroy the entire world he flooded the world why the earth was corrupt before God they hated the Lord they took the Bible and it's sickened them they hated the Bible they hated God they hated who God was they hated what God said they were corrupt before the Lord they were the opposite of what God wanted and what was the result of that look at the next part of the verse the earth was filled with violence so look there's gonna be more violence I that doesn't make me happy to say that it's just gonna get worse and worse and worse because why because we just we keep turning on the Lord more and more and more and it's always the innocent people it's always the children it's always the more most innocent that are that are you know that's you know part of the best violence violating that's what the word means so the point is there's gonna be persecution there's gonna be persecution you know and when you know here's the thing it's kind of a good thing you say how could that be a good thing what are you talking about pastor because here's the thing when they come to persecute you you know you're over the target when they come to persecute you you know you're following the truth you're like oh this is what they did to Paul oh they hunted Paul they just they wouldn't let him go they just they were just relentless look folks we are never going to be the majority we are never going to be the mega church it's it's that's even amongst churches we're not going to be the majority so that's the first thing you need to understand is the world hates what the Bible says because they hate who God is and from that will come persecution it's a guarantee so just look I tell you these things so you won't be offended when that happens go back to Acts chapter 20 there will be persecution that's point number one let's continue with Paul's message to the Ephesians Acts chapter 20 verse 25 and now behold I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men that's a strong statement right there Paul says why is he pure from the blood of all men why look at the very next verse he kind of references you know the same thing that we see in Ezekiel chapter 33 with the watchman blowing the trumpet why how is he pure from the blood of all men you know Ezekiel chapter 33 we see the same reference with with a watchman a watchman if a watchman sees you know the enemy coming and he doesn't warn the people then the watchman is to blame but if the watchman seeds and he blows the trumpet then the he's the watchman is free from the blood of all men just what Paul said here you say why is Paul specifically free from the blood of all men because you say the blood of all men what's the danger because look if you're not saved you know what abides on you if you are not saved wrath of God abideth on you and Paul is saying I am free from that is he saying that I've gotten everybody saved everybody saved now know what he's saying look at verse 27 what Paul is saying is for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God that is our responsibility and that is why this man of God is free from the blood of all men he can't force people to accept the message that he's preaching but his duty was to not shun anything his duty was to declare everything to those people that he preached to look in order for the man of God to be free from the blood of all men he must declare everything that's point number two all will be declared here that's a difference here versus all other places that you've been is all will be declared here you say what will be declared everything anything in the pages of this book will be declared all the sin all the things you shouldn't be doing all the things that you should be separating from you know just you name it you're not kind of categorize it as a pastor I categorize it in like two categories you know I I categorize it as as declaring all the outside stuff which is the easy that's the easy sermons I preach a lot of those sermons on Sunday mornings you know I call them kind of that the gummy bear sermons the jellybean sermons where where I preach against the wickedness of this world the things that you're seeing every day in the world and how you should deal with those things what the Bible says about those things those are the sermons where you hear them preaching you're like yeah preach it right nobody's saying this stuff anymore those are the outside sermons those are the easy ones to take but then there's the inside sermons those are the hard ones but the Bible says all must be declared for the man of God to be free from the blood of all men those are the inside sermons the ones that maybe the pastor hits on something that that you got going on and you're like oh feel like I kind of got my face torn off in that sermon but look I'm telling you those are the those are the hard sermons to preach those are those aren't I mean it's easy it's easy when when I preach the sermons you know against the wickedness of this world and devil worshippers and sodomites and all this stuff and everybody's like it was like yeah you know and and you all want to hear that but then when I preach on things that you know our struggles for the Christian or struggles for you and a lot of times I don't even know that what people are struggling with but it that those are the hard ones to preach those are the hard ones to preach this is why this is why like you know I've said this before a pastor can't really be your friend you say what do you mean that hurts my feelings that has really hurt some people's feelings when I've said that before but what do I mean by that I mean a pastor can't really be you know your buddy you really need to understand this and look I don't like this fact either because I mean like I like to have friends this means that like I'm kind of by myself but it's a duty of a pastor it's just that it's just the nature of the position meaning I can't just I can't just you know you need to really understand this what I'm saying though because if you don't understand it you put me the pastor at a real disadvantage in your life you say what do you mean what I mean is you have somebody that comes along and and the pastor gets up and preaches something and you're like oh man that really like punched me in the face you know maybe even we're a little offended or something you know and then you go to your buddy and your buddy's like oh yeah it's fine whatever your buddy's just kind of like hey you're great you're the greatest no matter what you do but see we have to understand is this your buddy doesn't have the same responsibility as your pastor as a matter of fact some people in this church nobody here but some people in this church have had the type of buddies that are like hey come on they walk them right up to a cliff let's walk up to this cliff at the end at the bottom of the cliff is the death of your Christian life and they walk with them like hey everything's fine and just keep going and then instead they take a step back and they watch him walk right off the cliff so maybe your buddy is not your buddy in cases like that but when I say like look I want to I want to be close to all of you and look I'm better than your friend I'm better than your friend because I am literally charged by God to tell you the truth and what I take that seriously because you know what I fear God I fear God that's one of the things that I really thought about before I even went into the ministry is like am I going to be willing to stand up and declare it all no matter what because I was not going to go into something where I was gonna go 80% on God why for your sake no because I'm afraid of God personally personally so look your your buddy your friend look your friends should sharpen you your friends should sharpen you a true friend will sharpen you just like a pastor will maybe not as as hard as a pastor will sometimes but a lot of friends maybe aren't your friends if you know they're leading you down the wrong path but you're they're not your friends just remember your friends aren't held to the same level of responsibility of declaring everything to you so don't put your pastor at a disadvantage is all I'm trying to say it can happen ok it probably will happen alright turn to Acts chapter 20 again so that's the second one all will be declared here whether it's pleasant or not all will be declared because that is the charge of the man of God that's that's his duty and Paul you say you say why why is that his duty he continues he explains it even further look at verse number 28 so that's the second one that's the second difference about whole fast Baptist Church and look churches like ours any pastor that you see come here any place that you me go guest preach they're just like this too and that's why you know we fellowship with the we're not any denomination or anything like that it's just we have like-minded friends that are like this to look at verse 28 so why why is that why declare everything why not just tell you what you want to hear take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock now he'd not remember he's speaking to the leaders here he's saying you are going to need to take care of these people now you're going to need to watch over this flock he's saying take heat he's like be careful therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the Church of God turn to Hebrews chapter 5 which he had purchased with his own blood you think he takes this seriously you think Jesus Christ takes what happens in this church seriously you know I had better follow these rules Jesus Christ purchased this or this organization this what's happening in this building tonight he purchased with his own blood he's the head of it turn to Hebrews chapter 5 but he tells these men he's like you need to feed the flock that feed the Church of God but feeding you know what feeding leads to you all know this that have kids feeding leads to growth feeding leads to strength more feeding more growth that's why everyone's constantly measuring like how healthy a baby is and all these types of things by how much they're eating you know and how much they're able to eat you know they get older they can eat more they get older they can take more milk look at Hebrews chapter 5 verse number 12 this is an analogy used talking about people's spiritual growth look at verse number 12 of Hebrews chapter 5 he tells these leaders in Ephesus to feed the Church of God for when for the time he ought to be teachers you have need that one teach you again he's kind of chewing these people out here which be the first principles of the oracles of God he's like you're supposed to be the teachers he's saying in Hebrews chapter 5 and I got to go back and somebody's got to teach you the basics he's like you're supposed to be the algebra teacher and we're we got to go back and teach you you know the the multiplication tables what in the world that's what he's saying here and I become such as need of milk and not of strong meat notice that difference they need milk again not meet you heard me say many times this is a simple thing in the Bible this was not so what there's some simple doctrines in the Bible the gospel being the most simple you know hey you're saved by by trucking on Jesus not nothing of yourself you then get much simpler than that you know like an eight-year-old you know many kids even younger that have been in church will get saved you know but because it's very simple a child can understand it but then there's very complicated things in the Bible talking about strong meat for everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness for he is a babe talking about somebody who's a baby spiritual babe we're not talking about somebody physically being a baby we're talking about the spiritual state of people but look at 14 verse 14 but strong meat belong it to them that are a full age again we're talking spiritually here people that are full age even those who by the use by reason of use of that meat have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil I just love that so much you know what that is you ever heard people say don't judge you ever heard people say that you know what people are saying that say don't judge you go to churches now they say that all the time don't judge I don't want to judge you'll hear that out soul winning I would never judge what people are saying is here's what they're really saying according to the Bible they're saying I'm a fool like they're saying I'm an idiot people are saying to you don't judge they're saying you should be a fool too you know what judgment is judgment is the ability to discern good and evil you know what will happen to you you know what will happen to you when you start listening to the Word of God preached when you start coming to church and getting the milk and understanding the milk and you're like I'm ready for some solid food now you start getting some solid food you start getting some you're gonna you're gonna see the world differently I'm telling you it's gonna open your eyes but you know what's happening what's happening is Hebrews chapter 5 that's what's happening what's happening is your discernment is getting sharpened you're getting sharper and pretty soon you're gonna get that meat you're gonna walk out in the world you're gonna have your kids and you'll be out there and you bet oh man don't go near there don't look at that this stuff is gonna this stuff is gonna punch you in the face why because your discernment is growing stronger that's why and you know what that you know what discernment means it's a synonym you know what synonyms are the words mean the same thing it's judgment what did the Solomon asked for a discerning heart to what to judge the people good and evil who here wants to raise kids I want to raise kids that don't judge I want you're saying I want to raise fools you're saying I want to raise kids that don't recognize evil when evil comes after my kids because it's evil coming after kids today when evil comes after my kids I don't want to recognize it and I don't want them to recognize it the more you get into this meat you are gonna look at what they're trying to teach you in the world and it is gonna blow your mind you're gonna look at the people that are even maybe even closest to you that are persecuting you because of your beliefs that don't have this meat that don't have this discernment and you're gonna look at them even like you're nuts they're like you're crazy like no you're crazy it's like you're feeding your family and your children into a meat grinder and you don't even understand it why because you have no discernment don't judge oh no judge judge righteous judgment judge righteous judgment that's what the Bible says it says it right there first Corinthians chapter 3 just read for you Paul uses this reference again he says and brethren I should speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal even as to babes in Christ he calls them babes he said I fed you with milk and not meat for hitherto he's saying up to this point you were not able to bear it neither yet now are you able he's kind of chewing them out for not you know for not getting in their Bibles and not figuring this stuff out not coming to church not learning these things look he's saying I'm still feeding you with milk you're not growing it's like you're not growing you ever ask yourself the question why is the church like this why do we have church services three times a week many people when they start the church common question is it three different services a week of course it is I'm like man I could just preach one sermon three times a week it's brilliant no but the reason is is because that wouldn't feed anybody and guess what you say why why come to church three times a week I don't know because if you eat three times as much you grow faster that's why that's why and once you start growing you're gonna start to like it you're gonna start to see that discernment sharpening up starting to figure it out and you're like you know I grow faster and that's how you do it that's how you do it folks that's why we have Church three times a week and so we can feed look I'm feeding the flock of God up here I'm feeding the Church of God up here and that is what Paul is telling these pastors that they need to do is feed the Church of God go back to Acts chapter 20 Acts chapter 20 look I don't preach I'm not like a known for preaching over an hour but you know it might take some time tonight all right Acts chapter 20 I think we're at verse we're at point number three so he declares that they must feed the Church of God what does that mean they must declare they must be preaching the Word of God constantly to these people starting with milk and you know even the meat the whole thing all right because look at any point look and here's another thing you need to understand throughout throughout the this church's life there's going to be people that are drinking milk and there's going to be people that are eating the meat it's just it's just the way it is and that's okay we're all growing we all started at different places it has nothing to do with age either we all started at different places and you know we're all maybe one person's coming to church once a week and another person is coming to church three times a week and they're reading their Bible every single day look that person is going to grow much much faster than somebody who's not doing those things but what is the point of all that you say okay discernment judgment but here's really what Paul's getting at here look at verse number 29 my third point is this because he declare he must declare everything he's declared everything Paul said he's free from the blood of all men then he tells them feed the Church of God here's the third point strength must be achieved look not everybody's going to be strong just like I said there's going to be people you know at different stages of growth in their Christian life in a church always but strength must be achieved and guess what the more strength the more individual strength the more people in the church that are eating meat the stronger the church will be I mean it just makes it it makes sense right it makes sense from any perspective of any kind of team philosophy right the more people that you have that can you know I used to be like baseball so you know I used to play big more people you have that could bat over 400 better your baseball team's gonna be pretty simple right so strength must be achieved why look at verse 29 what does it what does it matter why can't we just all be drinking milk for the rest of our lives why can't I just preach the simplest things all the time we can just all sit here with the bottle and just drink milk and sip milk the whole time the problem is is that you know a church like this wouldn't survive because a church like this must have strength that's why I'll get to that at the end but strength must be achieved as point number three look at verse 29 for that means you know because he's like here's why here's why you need meat for I know this did he say I think this might happen he said I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flocks which brings me right to point number four people will try to destroy this church what yes that will happen he's talking about like literally outsiders will kind of will come in and try to destroy the church in Matthew chapter 7 verse 15 Jesus even says this he says beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing but they don't say like hey I'm a false prophet they come in they sneak in but inwardly they're ravening wolves people will come in here teaching false things I've already had that here all these things that I'm talking about tonight have all happened here already people will come in here perverts will come in here and they will try to come in here why to damage the church to destroy the church but God said but Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against this church but only if you do it my way it's why we follow the Bible we're family integrated Church there's no opportunity for anything here we're not gonna send the kids to some other building with with Sunday school teacher or something here it's never gonna happen here why well for obvious pragmatic reasons but mainly because the Bible and if we follow the Bible I mean if bad things happened in churches before hello look around we have found out that bad people were in this church and within 15 minutes they were kicked out of here and that will continue to be the case and look God will show these things as long as we are that the type of church that is gonna follow the Bible and follow Jesus commands God will reveal these things to us and God will protect us and he it's a promise the gates of hell will not prevail against this church people will come in they'll pretend to be part of us and they're only here to damage you're like that is shocking look evil exists folks I hate to tell you that evil exists look at verse 30 you say that's bad it's worse it gets worse there's good news at the end okay verse number 30 it says also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things say meaning twisting things saying things that aren't true to draw away why would they do that to draw away disciples after them after them people you would consider brothers will try to take people from the church is what the Bible is saying here this will happen this will happen here look the more meat eaters we have here the less likely this will affect anything this is the idea of getting strong because like you listen to this you're like this is crazy look it is crazy I agree with you I agree with you it is crazy look at 3rd John chapter 1 look at 3rd John chapter 1 you say why would people do that it says trying to draw disciples away from themselves that's why Paul if you've noticed anything about Paul he is I mean he says I humbly I came up humble mind to you but Paul was taught by Jesus Christ himself if anybody had the ability to be prideful it would be him if anybody had the ability to be like hey I have more knowledge than everybody here you know it would have been Paul but Paul kept his humility Paul kept his humility God helped keep Paul's humility as we looked at last week look at 3rd John chapter 1 but people will come in trying to be the Paul they want to outdo Paul they want to come in and they want to they want to have people following them you know they want to stand at the gates like Absalom did against David look at 3rd John chapter 1 verse number 9 Paul ran into this or a John ran into this I wrote of the church but diatrophes who loveth to have the preeminence among them receiveth us not but here's a guy that just he wanted he wanted to be the one everyone was following you know and he wouldn't even receive the disciples why because he was trying to draw disciples after himself these are these are type of people that like this is where personality cults come from this is where personality cults come from you say what's a personality cult we were talking about this just the other day a personality cult is where oh we were talking about because there's a church like that in town here I won't mention the name but it's basically you know it's a it's where people are following the man look I want you to like me and think I'm a good preacher and all this stuff and and and you know be be happy with your pastor but look I mean we're following the Bible here we're not following me I mean I'm the under Shepherd of Jesus Christ here okay I'm not trying to form some you know personality cult where you'll follow me no matter what the Bible says no no no you read the Bible you study the Bible for yourself right these are the type of churches that they're not gonna like want you to you know the ultimate personality cult is the Catholic Church really is why they don't want you they don't want you to read the Bible so I throughout history the Catholics are like we have a village over here that has the Bible we need to burn that they're literally killing people thousands of people millions of people have been killed by that organization and one of the reasons why the main reasons why is because they're reading the Bible they had the Bible they were translating the Bible translating the Bible into English into a into a tongue that people could understand we must kill these people that's a personality cult that's somebody who's trying to get you to follow the man right there no no you listen to the preaching here and then you go and study and find those things to be so and then you'll get stronger you will get stronger and then this church will get stronger and then when things like this happen it just be like it'd be like a bird hitting the windshield of a semi you know so that's number five is people you consider brothers will try to take people from the church these things are gonna happen I hope they don't happen they happen in other churches like ours it just it's just it's what the Bible says is gonna happen you say why in the world would all these things happen here this brings me to point number six look at verse 31 he says therefore he says therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I seized not to warn everyone night and day with tears so this isn't the first time that they're hearing this message from Paul he's warning them once again and that brings me to point number six that you need to understand about hold fast Baptist Church there is a spiritual war it is real it is real you say why here I've never dealt with this before at any other church a church that I've gone to maybe that's the case with you first of all like I said any church like ours will deal with these same things because there is a spiritual war that is point number six and you must never forget that you must never forget that you say why here and not other places and the reason is very simple because other places are one they're not in the fight you only attack an enemy you attack an army that's attacking you you don't you don't go and attack you attack the part of the army that is engaged with you if you're in a battle so Satan will attack places like this you say why so other churches are dealing with that because most are not in the fight actually as a matter of fact most are on the wrong side altogether most are run by false prophets teaching a false gospel they're working for Satan the others are just they're just you got a church that's preaching the right gospel but they're doing nothing they're just not in the fight they're just not a threat it's very simple if you're fighting a battle against an army you are gonna fight the soldiers that are in front of you fighting you you are not gonna fight the reserves in some other country and some other it no you're gonna fight the ones in front of you it's because of the gospel that's why that is why Paul has to warn all this all this will come here because of the gospel not just the gospel though what we are doing with the gospel that is why going into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature that's milk did you know that that's milk is that hard to understand you kids understand that go preach the gospel to every creature the kids understand that because it's milk but that is why it's the gospel and what we're doing with it that's why we are on the front line of the spiritual war and that's why Paul's message is reflecting directly upon this church look at verse 32 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 I've coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel you yourselves know that these hands he's talking about his hands had ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me saying I have credibility I didn't come to take anything from you he's like please listen to me I have showed you all things how that so laboring we ought to support the week and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said it is more blessed to give than receive he's telling them their charge and look he is just he is imploring these elders to protect these people Paul loves this church he has a really strong connection to this church and when he had thus spoken he kneeled down and prayed with them all approve it to you look at this and they all wept sore all these men these tough grown men are crying they fell on Paul's neck and kissed him sorrowing for most of the words which he spake that they should see his face no more and they accompanied him unto the ship but look this speech is so important that Paul gave because it will reflect directly on him now go back to verse number 24 you say pastor this is all very depressing thank you for this sermon tonight you know this is depressing and all these bad things are gonna happen but let me just let me just cap it off with this look at verse number 24 and I skipped over this on purpose look at this statement that Paul makes in verse number 24 this speech he gives this incredible warning of these six points that I gave you and it shows us how things will be different at this church how things will be different at a church is actually carrying the gospel to the lost in our communities carrying the gospel to the lost all around this world South America across the world in the Philippines wherever we may go you know he's warning us so we can be strong to continue this battle but look what he says will come from this he's like after all he's talking about all this persecution these Jews chasing him and then he's going into the heart of this beast in Jerusalem look what he says he's like I want to finish my course with joy he says they're like how could that be joyful because when he says joy you know we don't even know what that word means you know we know what happiness means you know people in America they're like oh you know I'm gonna go and get high or I'm gonna go and get drunk and that's gonna make me happy or whatever no he's talking about true godly joy here you know what he's talking about he's talking about knowing his course in life is what God wanted him to do you know what that's extreme joy right there knowing that what I am supposed to do in my life people are wandering around in this world in their life they don't know what they're doing they don't know why they're here they don't know what they're what their purpose is we know we know what we're supposed to be doing we know what we are called to do and guess what when you go do it that will give you extreme joy because you will know you will know that you are doing what God put you on this earth to do that's a joyful thing everybody's all these PhDs and these these morons and universities are going around looking for the meaning of life we know what it is that's joyful it's not always easy it's not always going to be the easiest thing in the world it's very simple though it's very milk like and once you know that and look in order to actually pursue that and be successful at that you know what you got to get a lot of junk out of your life you get a lot of sin out of your life you got to know you got to have some what was that word that we just learned you got to have some discernment or what's that synonym you got to have some judgment in your life and then you'll be able to execute through your works what God wants you to do with this flesh that he's given his spirit into in your life and look that's that's a I'll testify to you tonight it's a very joyful thing there's pain that comes with that there's persecution that comes with that but being able to preach the gospel to somebody and watching them get saved watching them receive the milk of the gospel somebody that if you weren't there would spend an eternity in hell hell is real hell is real that's another thing you won't hear in other churches today if hell is not real why am I here why are you here why would we carry the gospel if hell is plastic or made up every word in this book is true and once you understand that and follow this and learn it and grow strong and are able to carry that gospel to people and pass them from death to life you will never experience joy like that anywhere else in your life so that's why that's why you do it it will be different here guaranteed let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer