Insight into the Gospel

Encounter The Word

Examine Acts 20:25-38! Pay particular attention to 20:25 and 20:32-38. The key verse for this week is Acts 20:35 - "It is more blessed to give than to receive!"

Encounter The Gospel

This section of Acts reveals the Apostle Paul's farewell address to the elders of Ephesus. These men were his friends, his fellow leaders, his mentors, and his dearest brothers-in-Christ. He expressed to them that he would not see their faces again. In point of fact, he did not. He soon was put to death by the Emperor of the Roman Empire. So this conversation was the last that he would have with them in this lifetime. If you were leaving dear friends and spiritual partners for the very last time, what would be your final words to them? If you could choose anything to say, what would you leave for them to process? Whatever you might say, I think we can agree that these final words would carry great import for you and those who received them.

With that in mind, what were Paul's final words to these Ephesian elders?

1. He reminded them of a statement of Jesus that is contained nowhere else but here in Acts - "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
2. He committed them to GOD and to the Word of His Grace, which will build a believer up and affirm the inheritance that the believer has.
3. He reminded them of the call to help the weak.

So, in summary, what were the final "core values" that Paul left for these great leaders of the Ephesian church, and for all disciples after them? He shared two very significant values with them and us, which are inextricably tied together:

1. Live lives according to the Gospel. Live your life by the Good News standard. The Good News is this: Jesus did anything and everything for us ... to get us ... from the clutches of Satan. We are Jesus' real treasure. He left His home, gave up His glory, gave up His relationship with His Father for a season (from the Cross to the Resurrection), and sacrificed His own physical life for us! We are His treasure! What do you treasure?
2. Live lives of Radical Generosity. If we are a people who truly believe, accept and are motivated by the Grace of GOD, which saves us, then we will be a people who, like Jesus, live lives of Radical Generosity. Are you radically generous like Jesus?

Satan would have us treasure anything but Jesus. That is the definition of idolatry! Whether I treasure approval from others, the need for power, the desire for control, the drive to be secure, the possessions I own or want, or whatever else, it is idolatry.

Do you realize that none of us thinks we are greedy? We look at others and convince ourselves that we are okay. But we are all greedy in one sense or another, if we treasure anything but Jesus Christ like He treasures us.
When I see Jesus making me His ultimate treasure, I am moved to make Him the ultimate treasure of my heart. I am moved to live a life according to the Gospel, which is one-and-the-same as living a life of radical generosity.

• Does your value and identity rest in what Jesus values, or in what you most value and want?
• Is Jesus your treasure, or is it something else?
• Will we live lives according to the Gospel? Will we live lives of radical generosity?
• I wonder what those Ephesian elders did with Paul's final charge to them. What will we do?