Paul's third missionary journey, and actually, he's making his way, it's concluding that ministry, or that trip, that mission trip, his third journey, he's making his way back to Jerusalem now. He's been at Troas, and we looked at that, and thought about simple church, and the things that we learned about the ministry of the early church from Paul's ministry at Troas, but after that, Paul finds his way to Miletus, And there he meets with the elders of the church at Ephesus. And that's what we want to focus on tonight, beginning tonight. We'll take at least a couple weeks, maybe three weeks to look at this. But I've entitled the message tonight, A Model for Ministry, and let's just begin reading at verse 13 of Acts chapter 20, and then we will read down through verse 21, and we'll stop there for the moment. It says there, Luke is writing, he says, we went before to ship and sailed unto Assos. there intending to take Paul in, for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in and came to Mytilene, and we sailed from Thense, and came the next day over against Chios, and the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trigillium, and the next day we came to Miletus. For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus because he would not spend the time in Asia, for he hasted if it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. And from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, you know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait 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, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And so Paul rehearses his ministry when he was at Ephesus. We know that he was there for three years and he kind of goes over with these elders what he had done during that three year period. In 1 Corinthians 11.1, Paul made this statement. He said, be followers of me even as I also am of Christ. Paul is a model for the Christian life. He was telling them as I live for Christ, you live as I do. And everywhere that Paul went, he not only taught the believers, the new converts, how to live the Christian life, he modeled it as well. But he's also a model for the Christian ministry. There are a few times in Scripture that the Holy Spirit gives us a glimpse into Paul's ministry. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, you get a glimpse, you get a characterization, a description of Paul's ministry at Thessalonica. In 2 Corinthians, really the whole book is given over to Paul's ministry, and throughout that letter that he wrote to the Corinthian church, he refers to his ministry among them. In 2 Timothy, as he's challenging Timothy, preparing him, Paul's getting ready to depart this life. He knows his time is short, and he's encouraging Timothy and preparing him for what he will have to do once Paul is gone. And he also then makes reference to things about his ministry in 2 Timothy. And there are other places in the Word of God, but those are some places where you have maybe some focused attention to Paul's ministry. But you also have it here in Acts 20, as he meets with the elders from the church at Ephesus. One writer said this of what Paul says to these elders. He says, Paul's address to the Ephesian elders, as much as anything he said or wrote lets us into his heart and constitutes the greatest statement ever made on the duties, responsibilities, privileges, and joys of the Christian ministry. And when we think about this tonight, as we begin to look at this idea of a model for ministry, Understand that, yes, on the one hand, this certainly applies to those of us who are called into full-time ministry. that Paul's ministry is a pattern for us to follow. But we're all called to serve the Lord. We're all called to be involved in ministry. Ministry is not just the vocational aspect, but we all are ministers. We all serve the Lord and serve others in one way or another as believers. So everything that we say can be applied to not only the ministry as we refer to it, but ministry in general. And certainly as I go through this and I look at this, I make application to my life as a vocational minister. But as we go through it and you think about it, you need to make application to your life. As a lay minister, and I don't like the terminology, but you understand, it helps us understand that some people are full-time in ministry, other people minister in addition to what other things that they do. So I use the terminology that way. There's no difference between pastors and church members except our calling from God. We're all involved in ministry, we're all equally, we have an equal standing before the Lord. The pastor doesn't have greater access to God than any other Christian. There are times when I've had people say, preacher, pray for me, as if somehow my prayers were more effective than their prayers. Well, it's their right with God, and if I'm right with God, their prayer is just as much of an impact as mine. If I'm not right with God and they are, their prayer's gonna have more impact with God than mine will. So there's not this differentiation, except in calling and sometimes the day-to-day work that we do. Paul's on his last leg of his journey. He's been three years in Ephesus, he spent a year in Europe, he spent a week in Troas, and now he stops at Miletus. And so as we look at Paul's remarks to the Ephesian elders, I have seven characteristics of ministry, or seven things that should characterize the minister, and I doubt we'll get through all seven of these tonight, but we'll go as far as we can. We'll pick it up again next Wednesday night. But the first is this, as we look at what Luke writes to us about this part of Paul's ministry, that the minister must have times of solitude. We base that on the fact that as they are sailing, we went before to ship and sailed unto Asos, verse 13, and there intended to take Paul because he had appointed this, minding himself to go afoot. Paul had made up his mind he was going to walk to Asos while they all sailed to Esau. It's about a 20-mile walk, we're told, and about a 30-mile journey by ship. Why does Paul do this? And the Holy Spirit doesn't tell us specifically why Paul made this journey on foot by himself, but the natural thought would be that Paul needs some time alone. You see, the Holy Spirit has been telling him He says in verse 22, in speaking to these elders, he says, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, except that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. Now, when we go further in the Book of Acts, we're gonna see where there are specific statements made to Paul that bonds and afflictions await him, but the Holy Spirit has already been indicating that to him, perhaps before he ever left Ephesus, perhaps in Macedonia or at Corinth, perhaps at Troas, but somewhere along the way, even when Paul comes to Miletus, before the Spirit actually reveals to us some specific instances of this, the Holy Ghost is already telling Paul through various people as he makes this journey that bonds and afflictions are awaiting him in Jerusalem. And so, you know, Paul is kind of mentally and spiritually preparing for that. And so he's probably using this time alone to prepare, to be alone with the Lord, have his heart ready to face what awaits him in Jerusalem. Paul, like every faithful minister, understood the necessity of times alone with God. I mean, Jesus, though He was busy in ministry, spent time alone with His Father. In Mark 1.35 it says, And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. He got up early in the morning. He got alone with His Father. before he began another busy day of ministry. And Mark's gospel is the gospel of Christ as the servant, and Mark is constantly telling us about the things that Jesus was doing, but in spite of his busy schedule and ministry to people, he didn't neglect his time with his father. If Jesus needed that, how much more do we need? I was reminded as I was thinking about this, D.L. Moody got up early every morning. He wanted to spend at least two hours with the Lord before he began his day. And Moody was, I think today if we could be around D.L. Moody, he was one of those guys that, you know, when he's awake, he's busy. you know, hyperactive. I mean, I think that's the way Moody was. He just, he was constantly, his mind was constantly going, he was constantly going, but he understood that even though that was his nature, his makeup, and God used that, and he was a man of high energy. and vision and full of ideas and God bless and use that, but at the same time Moody came to, and he didn't early in his ministry understand this, but he came to understand the necessity that if he was going to have an effective ministry, he was going to have to spend time with the Lord. I think a lot of that was a result of his His interaction with Harry Morehouse, who taught him to preach from the Bible, who taught him the necessity of reading and studying the Bible, and he come to understand the necessity of that, and so he gave himself to that. Jonathan Goforth, missionary to China. I don't know what his personality was, his makeup was, but nonetheless, he was a man who was committed to working hard in the ministry, and was busy every day in ministry, but he would get up at five o'clock in the summertime and six o'clock in the wintertime and spend at least an hour with the Lord before he began his day of mission work in China. The reason for the difference in time between winter and summer was the fact that there was no electricity in those days. It's light earlier in the summertime than in the wintertime. Alexander McLaren. was a Scottish preacher, though he was best known for his ministry in Manchester, England. He spent 45 years preaching at the Union Chapel in Manchester, England, a Baptist church there. He became known as the McLaren of Manchester. His sermons were printed in a multi-volume set entitled Exposition of the Holy Scriptures. One Christian writer said of McLaren's sermons, a man who reads one of his sermons must either take his outline or take another text. He was known to spend as much as 60 or 70 hours preparing one message. But he began his ministry in a little rundown church that was heavily in debt and faced an uncertain future. And he later said to a group of ministerial students, he says, I thank God that I was stuck down in a quiet little obscure place to begin my ministry, for that is what spoils half of you young fellows. You get pitchforked into prominent positions at once and then fritter yourselves away in all manner of little engagements that you call duties, instead of stopping at home and reading your Bibles and getting near to God. He said, I thank God for the early years of struggle and obscurity. It was in that small place where McLaren learned to read the Bible and get near to God, a pattern that was developed in his life early in his ministry and carried throughout his ministry and why God could use him in the way that he did there in Manchester. Even the Apostle Paul. when he was a new believer. First of all, the Bible says he spent three years in Arabia with the Lord. I don't know exactly how that worked, but there was three years when he was kind of alone. He wasn't actively engaged in public ministry like he is during his missionary journeys and he's learning from the Lord, he spends time with the Lord, and then he ends up, after going to Jerusalem, he goes back to Tarsus, and we don't hear about him for like 10 years. And Paul's there in Tarsus, and he's getting established in his Christian life and his walk with God, until the time that God brings him to Antioch, and then about a year later calls him to begin his missionary journeys. Paul began his life as a Christian understanding and learning about solitude and getting alone with the Lord and developing his relationship with the Lord and it was a pattern that he continued throughout his ministry. But certainly Paul was very busy in ministry and accomplished great things for God and he's gonna tell us about how busy he was in ministry but Paul still understood the necessity of spending time with God An effective ministry, whether it's being an Awana leader, a Sunday school teacher, just taking meals to people, certainly preaching the Word of God, any kind of ministry that we do, if it's going to be effective, it's got to grow out of our own personal walk with God. We must be Spirit-filled people, Word-filled people, people who are walking with God. if our ministry is going to make a difference, because it is not us, it is God. And we cannot neglect our quiet times with God, no matter what our ministry is, if we want God to bless it and use us. It doesn't mean, again, that we never do anything, but we've got to have those times with the Lord, those times of solitude when we get alone and we shut out the world. You know, thinking about Jonathan Goforth, I don't know how he did it because all he could do is, you know, his wife and his kids, they're all living in a small place there in China, and he didn't even have a separate room at times to go to. He just had like a corner of a room. And eventually, you know, the family's getting up and beginning their day while he's still trying to spend his time with the Lord. But he managed to do it somehow or another and make it effective. But there's got to be that solitude. the minister should model consistency. I don't have all these alliterated, but I decided to use the word sameness there, because in verse 18, as he called the Ephesian elders to come to Miletus to meet with him, when they were come, he said unto them, you know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons. Paul said, you guys know that I was always the same. that I was not a phony and that I wasn't one thing on Sunday and something else throughout the week. He said, you know that there was a consistency to my life. I was the same day in, day out, week after week, month after month, in an emphasis even for a period of time, year after year. Paul said, I was the same person from the very beginning to the very end. And you know that. He would write to the Thessalonian church, our exhortation was not of deceit. nor of uncleanness, nor in guile. We were, when we came to you and we preached the word of God to you, there was no hypocrisy, there was no manipulation in what we did. What you saw is what you got. You saw the genuine article. And he said, neither at any time were we usually flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness. God is witness. We weren't trying to capture you. We weren't trying to flatter you so that we could get something from you. He said we were genuine. We were real in our ministry. All we cared about was giving you the unadulterated word of God that would help you grow in the Lord. Oswald Chambers notes in his book, My Utmost for His Highest, that it's easy to be a Christian when you're having your devotions. It's easy to be a Christian when you're in church on Sunday. It's easy to be a Christian when people are expecting you to be a Christian, or everybody else is trying to be a Christian. But we have been called to live out the Christian life in the day-to-day routine of life, as we rub shoulders with believers and unbelievers alike. And I would challenge you to think about your life, because it is easy when we come to church on Sunday and we are one person, and we put on our Christianity as we come into the Lord's house and we gather with the Lord's people, but do you have that same Christianity when you go out to work on Monday? or go out to the grocery store on Monday or whatever. Are you the same person during the week that you are on Sunday? That's where we really know what we have when we get out there, not when we're in here. It's so easy to come in here and we listen to the message and we agree with the truth and we sing the praises of God. And if we really engage our mind, we get involved in that, we can rejoice and it's truth and we sing it as true. But what about when we leave here? and throughout the week. Is it still the same? Is our heart the same as we go out of here, as we go out and live in the world? And granted, it's a battle. We don't always win that battle. We understand that. But the point is that it's not just enough to be a Christian when we're with other Christians. when the word is just there with us, but to be the same day in and day out, that people know what to expect of you, and it's not just that you're consistent, but you're consistently a Christian. Not that you're perfect, not that you never fail, but you're consistently a Christian, and you're genuine, and people know that. You know when somebody's a phony. I don't know, I've been in the pastorate for over 30 years, and I meet people, that are phony. You know, you don't want to say to their face, you're a phony, but you understand that. You meet them, and boy, man, they just talk the talk like they were the greatest Christians that ever lived. But you know that it's all talk. You just know it is. And other people, maybe they don't even talk the talk so much, but yet there's a genuineness. You don't have to, because there's a genuineness there. You just see it in their life. Thankfully, those who put on the show are few and far between, but there are people like that. We certainly don't want to be that kind of a Christian that simply puts on a good show and talks a good talk, but has no life to back it up. But we want to strive to be the same day in and day out. There's a danger for preachers to become actors in the pulpit or when among our people, and we put on a show. I've known preachers that when they get in the pulpit, they have this pulpit voice, and it's irritating to hear them preach, because it's not them. And why they do that, I don't know. When they get in the pulpit, all of a sudden, they get this different voice, and it's like they're a different person. Just be yourself. You know, Phillips Brooks was, he was a pastor. He's a man who wrote O Little Town of Bethlehem, among other things. But he wrote a book on the ministry entitled The Joy of Preaching, but he said preaching is the communication of truth through personality. Basically what he's saying is, you know, every preacher is different because we are all different. We all have different styles of preaching, different ways that we preach. But the point that he's saying is just be yourself, basically. You communicate truth through personality. And, you know, sometimes the illustrations are because of who you are and what you read and what interests you. And those will make up your illustrations or your life experiences or your personality goes into that. And the truth doesn't change. But the way it's presented is going to be a little different with every preacher because every preacher is different. But the point is, be yourself. Just be who you are. It's a danger, especially for young preachers. And even as we get older, we battle this, that you have a favorite preacher that you like to listen to. And if you're not careful and you listen to him enough, you can end up trying to, you don't even consciously imitate him, just unconsciously you imitate him. There are certain preachers I won't listen to. There's one preacher that I used to really enjoy listening to on the radio. I don't listen to him anymore because I'm afraid if I listen to him I may unconsciously become like him or I may unconsciously imitate, even repeat things he says and I won't even realize I'm doing it because I enjoy his preaching so much and he's an effective communicator but I can't listen to him. And if I told you who it was, you would know who I'm talking about, and if you listened to him, and I listened to him, you'd be able to pick out the times where, yep, there he is. That's not Pastor Allen, that's, yeah, because it's a danger that we face. We just need to be ourselves. Be who God made you to be. Minister in genuineness. One writer said that preaching is dynamic because God uses different personalities to herald his word to his people. Some are master communicators. Most of us struggle to put our thoughts in order. Some are reserved. Others are loud. Some can stand and preach for an hour with nothing but a Bible in front of them. Others need an outline or even a full manuscript to make sure they're faithful to their assignment. On and on the differences go. As no two people have the same fingerprints, no two preachers are alike. Yet God graciously condescends to take our individual strengths and weaknesses and use them for his glory. What a mighty God we serve. By the way, that's why Paul said, you know, why do you want to follow Paul or Apollos or Peter? We're all, servants, we're all God's gifts to you. Get the blessing from all of us. We're all different. We have different personalities. We have different ways of presenting the truth, but it's the truth that matters. Enjoy every preacher because if he's preaching the truth, get the blessing from the truth. Don't get hung up on who he is. This writer went on to say the fact that God uses different personalities not only makes preaching dynamic, it also makes preaching difficult. It's difficult for the preacher. evidenced in how often we struggle with the temptation to be something that we are not. And the younger we are, the more prone we are to wrestle with this temptation. It's also difficult for the hearer, who most often unconsciously compares one preacher to another. By the way, that is also a danger for preachers. The danger for us as preachers when we hear other people preach is to sit there and critique the sermon. I wouldn't have said it that way. I would have said it this way. I would have organized it differently instead of sitting there and getting the blessing of the message. So we need to be who we are, whether you're preaching, whether you're teaching, whether you're leading a Juana or whatever. Whatever it is you're doing, be yourself. Be genuine and be the same, be consistent as a Christian. Thirdly, we need to minister out of a spirit of humility. Paul said, you know what manner of man I was with you at all seasons, verse 19, serving the Lord with all humility of mind. Humility of mind, Paul is a mighty man. I mean, there's no question, again, Paul was the model of the Christian life and of Christian ministry. He was the, really, the chief of the apostles. I mean, he even eclipsed Peter, who, before Paul, was the leader among the apostles. And Paul comes along, and Paul is more gifted than Peter. Paul has more education than Peter. God used Peter, but he used Paul in special ways. Peter could have never written the Book of Romans. Paul did. St. Peter couldn't have in himself. Obviously, the Holy Spirit could have enabled him to do whatever he wanted to do. But God used everything that Paul had experienced and all of the education he had gotten. God used all of that. Paul was a mighty man of God. There's no question. I mean, today, if Paul were living among us and preaching today, he would have been one of those guys that had a radio program and a TV program that was going all over the world. I mean, that would have been Paul. And yet Paul is the one who said, in Romans 12 and verse three, I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. Recognize that your gifts are from God. He would write to the Philippian church, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought I not, Robert, to be equal with God, but made himself with no reputation and took upon himself the form of a servant. and was made in the likeness of men and being found in a fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Paul would write to the Corinthian church, now thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place for we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved and to them that perish. To the one we are the savor of death and to death the other the savor of life and to life. And who is sufficient for these things? Paul said I'm not sufficient for the ministry God has given to me. Paul didn't think that he was somebody. Paul said, whatever I am, I am by the grace of God. As a matter of fact, he uses a word here in verse 19, he says, serving the Lord, and the word that he uses for serve is the word that he uses to refer to himself many times as he opens his letters to the churches, he calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ. It's the word for bond slave. The bond slave was owned by his master, and the master gave him direction. He did whatever the master told him to do. He was simply at the beck and call of his master. And Paul says, that's where I am. I'm just a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm nobody. Hudson Taylor said, all of God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on God being with them. In August of 1890, Taylor was invited to Australia to encourage Christians there about being involved in evangelizing China. He spoke at a large Presbyterian church in Melbourne, and he was introduced as our illustrious guest. Well, when Taylor got up to speak, it was said that he stood silently for a moment before beginning, and then he said simply this, dear friends, I am a little servant of an illustrious master. I'm nobody, it's God. I remember one time we had the privilege of having a well-known pastor come and preach a revival meeting for us in our little country church in Georgia. He had been my pastor as a child, and so I was able to get him to come preach for us. And I have to confess that, you know, I held him in high esteem. I mean, he was a man who had been used of God, pastored large churches, did some great things for God, wrote some books. And so, as I was introducing him, I made the comment to the church. I said, it's not often that we would get this caliber of a man to come preach in our church. When he got up to preach, he said, I'm reminded that the caliber is simply the size of the boar. Yeah. But Jonathan Goforth was introduced in glowing terms, and God had used him mightily in China. And of course, he preached great revival meetings in China and Manchuria, and God blessed, and thousands have been saved, and people got right with God. The church was revived. But he was speaking one time, and the introduction was just really building him up. And so when he got up to speak, he said this. He said, folks, when I hear an introduction like that, he said, I remember the woodpecker story. He said, there was a certain woodpecker that flew to the top of a high pine tree and gave three hard pecks with his beak. And at that instant, a bolt of lightning struck the tree, leaving it on the ground, a heap of splinters. And the woodpecker had flown to a tree nearby where it clung in terror and amazement at what had taken place. There it hung, expecting more to follow, but as all remained quiet, it began to chuckle to itself, saying, well, well, well, who would have imagined that just three pecks of my beak could have such power as that? Go forth understood, you know, it's not me. Everything that has happened has been God. And he went on to say, you know, if you or I take glory to ourselves, which only belongs to Almighty God, we're not only as foolish as that woodpecker, but we commit a very grievous sin, for the Lord has said, and my glory will not give to another. And by the way, there were times when he would be out speaking After he became well-known, he'd come home and he would say to his wife, well, I had to remember the woodpecker story tonight, because somebody had introduced him as if he were somebody. All of God's giants have been servants, have been little men who understood that it was a great God that was with them, and Paul is no exception. Paul is not puffed up with pride or full of himself. He understands that whatever good is accomplished through his ministry is the work of God. Well, let's stop there tonight and we'll pick it up again next Wednesday night and try to get through the rest of this. But, you know, let me just ask you tonight, do you have times when you get alone with the Lord regularly? And you get alone with the Lord, Not just that there are times when you read his word, but you have a real walk with God. There's a genuine fellowship with God, and you know that, and you do know that. You know whether you do or not. You know whether you just are reading your Bible or whether you really are walking with God. There is a difference. And you know whether it's just formality or whether there really is something going on in your heart between you and God. But you'll never be effective in ministry if you don't have that walk with God, and that walk with God grows out of those times we spend alone with him. Are you genuine? Are you humble? Do you recognize that it's not you? It is God. By the way, when we're humble, not only do we not take credit for what we do, but we don't hesitate to do what we are called upon to do because we're not trusting in ourself. That's also a part of humility, where I can minister, where I don't feel that I am worthy or qualified, but this is what God has called me to do, but I understand it's not me. And if God wants me to do it, I can do it, and it'll be effective because it's not me, it's him. I have to remember that sometimes when I walk out of this pulpit, and I don't feel like I've done a good job. And I have to remember, and my wife helps me remember, that it's not about me, it's about the truth that I present. And sometimes, all of us as preachers, you as ministers as well, sometimes we do better than other times. But if we're giving the word, that's what matters. And if we're giving the word and you want to hear from God, no matter how poorly we might do at presenting it, the word will be effective because it's the word that matters. not the way it is presented. Granted, it helps if the pastor's prepared and he does a good job of presenting it, that helps, but ultimately it's the truth that makes the difference and not necessarily the presentation of that truth, we understand that. Well, let's stand for prayer and then we'll sing again together. Our Father, we pray that you'll continue to teach us and to guide us into your truth, challenge us. Lord, thank you for allowing us to serve you in ministry. Thank you for the variety of ministry that there is for us to do. Thank you, Lord, for making us all different so that we can do the different works of ministry. Lord, help us to take to heart the truths that we're considering about the Apostle Paul as a model of ministry. Lord, you have given us this. It is your desire for our ministries. And so help us to take it to heart and allow these truths to guide us as we serve you. And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.