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Acts 20:13-24  THE KIND OF CHRISTIAN AND PREACHER THAT PAUL WAS

 Introduction:

	The Apostle Paul and several preachers who help him have gathered 
offerings from several of the Gentile churches which Paul had organized.  The 
offerings were intended to help the families of the church at Jerusalem who had 
been hit hard by a severe drought.  	  	In our text today he and his 
helpers are on their way to Jerusalem to carry those offerings.  As he travels 
Paul stops at the churches which were on his route to receive additional 
offerings to encourage and strengthen the brethren in those churches.  Our text 
gives a very clear-cut picture of the kind of Christian that Paul was.  

I.  Paul’s journey from Troas to Miletus

 	V. 13, “And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos...,”  The word 
“we” in this verse refers to Luke, the writer, and the other missionaries who 
were with him.  They went before the Apostle Paul.  That is, they left Troas 
before Paul did.  They left by ship and sailed to Assos.  (V. 13), “...there 
intending to take in Paul...”  There intentions were to have Paul join them 
aboard the ship while the ship was still in port at Assos.
	(V. 13), “...for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.”   This 
was as the Apostle Paul, himself, had instructed.  Instead of taking the 40 mile 
trip by boat from Troas to Assos with the others, Paul chose to make the shorter 
20 mile trip by land alone.  It is likely that Paul felt in need of being alone 
with God and making this trip would offer him that opportunity.  There are times 
that we need to be with other people, especially good Christian brethren as Luke 
and his companions were.  But there are times that we just need to spend some 
time alone with God to think and pray.     
	V. 14, “And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to 
Mitylene.”  I assume that Luke and those with him arrived at Assos before Paul 
did.  But whoever arrived first, they all met together and Paul boarded the ship 
with the others and they sailed to Mitylene.  Mitylene was the capital city of 
the Island of Lesbos and Lesbos was the largest island in the Aegean Sea.  
Mitylene was noted for its scenic beauty.  
	V. 15, “And we sailed thence, and came the next [day] over against Chios; 
and the next [day] we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogyllium; and the next 
[day] we came to Miletus.”  These were all islands in the Aegean Sea.  “Against 
Chios” means “near Chios.”  They did not stop there, but they did sail near that 
island.  Chios lay between the Island of Lesbos, where Mitylene was located, and 
the Island of Samos.  Samos was another island in the Aegean and lay just of the 
coast of the mainland.  Trogyllium was a city on the mainland which was built at 
the mouth of a river and located just across the water from the Island of Samos.  
The next day they came to Miletus.  Miletus was a seaport city just south of 
Ephesus. 
	Ephesus was a city where Paul had organized a church.  It was to be 
expected that Paul would surely visit that city and that church.  I am sure that 
Paul wanted to go to Ephesus, but he chose not to because he was in a hurry to 
get to Jerusalem.  V. 16, “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.”  Pentecost was not only a Jewish holy 
day with Paul, as a Jew, would make every effort to attend, but it was a day 
which would offer him great opportunities to witness to Jews from all parts of 
the known world who were gathered in Jerusalem at that time.  Paul wanted to 
visit the churches in Asia and move on quickly to Jerusalem to be there at 
Pentecost.   
	V. 17, “And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the 
church.”  Yet Paul desired to see the brethren of the church at Ephesus.  
Therefore, while he was at the nearby city of Miletus, he sent messengers to 
call for the brethren of the church at Ephesus to come to Miletus and visit with 
him.   

II.  Paul’s speech to the Ephesian brethren who gathered with him at Miletus

	It is Paul’s speech to the Ephesian brethren who gathered at Miletus which 
gives us such great insight to his ministry and to the kind of Christian and 
preacher that Paul was.  I want us to take a careful look at what Paul said to 
the Ephesian brethren.  
	V. 18, “And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from 
the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at 
all seasons.”  Paul reminded the Ephesian brethren what kind of Christian and 
what kind of preacher he had been among them.  
	Paul was a Christian who sought to serve the Lord.  V. 19, “ Serving the 
Lord...”  Paul’s number one goal in life was to serve the Lord who had saved him 
and who had called him to the ministry.  This is the kind of Christian that 
every Christian should be.  The Lord Jesus loved us enough to suffer and die for 
us.  We ought to love Him enough to sacrifice and to serve Him who died for us.  
It is good for one who is saved to make a public profession of faith.  That is 
what he ought to do.  But that is not enough.  After one has publicly given 
profession of faith in Jesus, he ought to publicly serve the Lord.  This is how 
Jesus can get the most glory out of saving his life.  
	Paul was an humble Christian.  (V. 19), “...with all humility of mind...”  
Paul was an apostle of Jesus.  This was an office of which he could be proud.  
But Paul never used that office to bring glory and honor to himself.  Rather he 
sought to use his office to bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ.  He sought to 
humble himself and to exalt the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  
	Paul was a compassionate Christian.  (V. 19), “...and with many tears...”  
Here Paul did not speak of tears which resulted from his own personal 
sufferings.  Although Paul did suffer.  But the tears that he spoke of here were 
the tears that he shed on behalf of those who were lost in sin.  Paul shed many 
a tear on behalf of those who were unsaved.  He loved them and wanted to see 
them saved.    
	Paul was a Christian who was willing to suffer for Jesus.  (V. 19, “... 
and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews.”  The word 
“temptations” as it is used here means “trials.”  The Apostle Paul had suffered 
many trials in his Christian life and in his ministry.  I will not try to 
enumerate all of his trials here in this message, but I do want to remind you 
that he had been arrested, imprisoned and stoned all for the Lord’s sake.  The 
stoning was so severe that those who stoned him thought he was dead.  But his 
suffering did not cause him to stop serving the Lord Jesus.  He kept on 
preaching the word and kept on suffering for Jesus.  
	Paul was a Christian who loved people.  All of Paul’s teaching was done in 
an effort to be of benefit to those whom he taught.  V. 20, “[And] how I kept 
back nothing that was profitable [unto you]...”  When he preached the gospel it 
was with a desire that he would help someone to stay out of the fires of hell 
and to go to heaven.  When he taught the truths of God to people who were 
already saved, it was in order to help them to be a better Christian life and to 
live a better Christian life.  When he did reprove and rebuke someone it was not 
for the purpose of venting his feelings and getting them told off.  It was for 
their own good.  It was with a desire to correct them and help them to live a 
better Christian life.  
	Paul was a very busy Christian.  He was busy in his public ministry 
preaching and teaching in the Jewish synagogues, in the public market places, in 
privately owned schools and going from door to door and house to house.  (V. 
20), “...but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to 
house.”   
	Paul was a Christian who presented the gospel message to the different 
races of people.  V. 21, “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, 
repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Paul was born 
into the Jewish race of people, and he had a special love for his own race of 
people.  In every place where Paul did mission work, Paul’s first objective was 
to preach the gospel to his own people, the Jews.  In every instance when Paul 
turned from them it was because they had first rejected Paul and his message 
about Jesus Christ.  
	But Paul was equally as faithful to preach the gospel to people of the 
Gentile races.  Paul did not let the fact that they were of a different 
nationality hinder him from preaching the gospel message to anybody.  
	Paul was a Christian who did not let persecution or the threat of 
persecution hinder him from presenting the gospel message and its Bible related 
truths.  V. 22-24, “And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, 
not knowing the things that shall befall me there:  Save that the Holy Ghost 
witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.  But none 
of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, 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.”  Paul did not know the 
details of what awaited him in Jerusalem.  But he did know that if he went on to 
Jerusalem he would suffer many things for the Lord.  But Paul was willing to go.  
He was willing to suffer whatever might come and even to die for the cause of 
Jesus Christ.  Jesus had loved him enough to die for him.  Now, Paul was ready, 
if need be, to die for Jesus Christ.  

III.  Some lessons for us today

 	Every Christian can take some lessons from the Apostle Paul.   We are 
living in a day when it is not popular to live the Christian life.  We are 
living in a day when one must suffer persecution if he lives the Christian life.
	We are living in a day when there are so many fun things to do that it is 
difficult to dedicate one’s time and effort to worship and serve Jesus.  But if 
we would be faithful to Jesus we must be willing to give up some of the nicities 
of life and dedicate ourselves to the service of Christ.  
	We are living in a day when the doctrinal truths of God are not at all 
welcome in many congregations nor in many homes.  But as best we can, we need to 
earnestly contend for the doctrinal truths of God;  We must declare the whole 
council of God.  We must stand and having done all --- to stand.  
     	We are living in a day when not many people seek to live a godly.  But 
Paul in his day sought to live right before all and so should we.  We should not 
let Hollywood and television set the moral standards by which we live.  Those of 
us who are Christians should seek to live our lives according to the teachings 
of the word of God.  
	We are living in a day when not everybody is willing to help other people.  
But in Paul’s day he lived to help other people and so should we.  All people 
should help one another.  Especially Christian people need to help other people.  
We should help our fellow Christians.  We should help those who are not 
Christians.  We should help those who good moral people.  We should help those 
who are not good moral people.  Paul, himself, wrote in the New Testament that 
the Christian should do good unto all people, especially those of the household 
of the faith.