5 Things to Watch Out for in Our Spiritual Lives
Acts 20:31-38
What should we be cautious about if we want to serve the Lord effectively? We studied this very thing as we finished up Acts 20. Paul gave five warnings to the church elders in Ephesus, and they are the key areas that we need to pay attention to in our lives to be more usable in our service to the Lord.
Paul exhorts us to watch out for:
- Carelessness
- Callousness
- Covetousness
- Laziness
- Selfishness
Guarding Against Spiritual Carelessness
Scriptural Reference: Acts 20:28-31
Paul’s words to the elders in Ephesus serve as a heartfelt reminder to stay alert against spiritual carelessness. We don’t want to grow apathetic about how we approach the things of the Lord. I have heard testimony after testimony from those who have backslidden that reveals carelessness at its root. Paul warns the elders to watch over themselves and their flock diligently. This is also a call to us to maintain daily practices of reading the Bible and praying to guard against spiritual apathy.
Watch out for Callousness
Spiritual Reference: Acts 20:32
We want to guard against our hearts’ becoming callous or hard. We must learn to take things spiritually rather than personally. When we focus on God’s grace in our own lives, we become less judgmental and more compassionate toward others. This shift in perspective helps us maintain a soft heart while developing a thick skin against offense.
The Dangers of Covetousness
Scriptural Reference: Acts 20:33
Paul’s ministry in Ephesus wasn’t about acquiring wealth but about serving the people. This speaks volumes about what our true heart of ministry should be—giving rather than getting. Covetousness can be a form of idolatry, distracting us from our true purpose. Remember Paul’s message: “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6).
Embracing Hard Work in Ministry
Scriptural Reference: Acts 20:34
Paul worked diligently as a tentmaker to support his ministry and those who served with him. This principle of hard work ensures that we are not burdensome to others. There is a difference between being tired and laziness. God made a provision for being tired, and he called it rest. Laziness, however, hinders our effectiveness in both ministry and our personal growth.
Watch Out for Selflessness
Spiritual Reference: Acts 20:35
Paul addressed the importance of generosity and reminded the elders and us that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” This principle addresses our tithe but extends beyond our financial giving to our time, talents, and resources. Generosity reflects the heart of God, who gave His only Son for us. As we evaluate our own giving, we should strive to be a church that embodies generosity.
As we serve the Lord, we must be vigilant against carelessness, callousness, covetousness, laziness, and selfishness. These dangers can undermine our usefulness in ministry and our personal spiritual growth. By staying close to God, immersing ourselves in His Word, and cultivating a heart of grace and generosity, we can navigate life’s challenges and remain effective witnesses for Christ.
Let’s continue to seek the Lord together, encouraging one another in our spiritual journeys. Remember, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Let us be laborers committed to serving God and reaching the lost with the good news of Jesus Christ.
Full Transcript
Amen. Take your Bibles, open them to Acts 20. We’re going to finish the chapter today – this little mini-series in a pastoral chapter. So you have 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, they’re known as the Pastoral Epistles. Then I added one for you, 2 Corinthians, as Paul writes to the church in Corinth, is very pastoral. And then on top of that, we add a chapter of the Bible that’s extremely pastoral. It’s both for ministry leaders, elders, pastors, leaders, but it’s also for servants. But it’s also very personal and we can take them very personal. These admonitions, it’s one of those Bible series where I’ve got three points here and five points there, but jot them all down, because when you get Bible studies that are broken down into points like that, they’re really answering questions.
And today I want to answer the question, “okay, so I want to serve the Lord, and I want to be effective, and I want to be used greatly – what am I supposed to watch out for, Ed? What are the things you would tell me to watch out for in my life, so that I can pay attention to them and be more effective in serving the Lord?” And we’re going to answer that question today. I’ve titled this message, “Five Things to Watch Out For in Your Spiritual Life.” But you could say also five things to watch out for as you serve the Lord; five things to watch out for as a husband, as a wife; five things to watch out for as a follower of Christ. And we pick up by way of review now in Acts 20. Let’s go back. We’re going to start in verse 31. But for review, let’s go back to Acts 20:28, where we drop in to this time Paul is speaking to the elders of Ephesus there in Miletus, verse 28,
Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking twisted things, to draw away disciples after themselves. Acts 20:28-30
That’s where we left off last time. Remember, Paul is on his way to Jerusalem. He wanted to get there for Passover, but circumstances prevented him, so now he wants to get there by Pentecost and he has a very special gift with him. He has taken up a collection of money from the Gentile churches to take back to the hurting Jerusalem church, which is interesting because you would think where the Holy Spirit poured out first and foremost on the very birthplace of the Church, that they would be the stronger church, sending help and resources around the world, but the exact opposite happened. It was the smaller churches scattered throughout the Gentile world that became the most generous, especially in relation to helping other churches.
So Paul is taking up a collection and he’s going to help the hurting church in Jerusalem. And it makes sense, because the Jerusalem church was in a place where great persecution, great difficulty, a lot of the believers scattered and had to leave. So it does make sense, but that’s where Paul is headed. Before he has his final journey to Jerusalem, though, he stops in Miletus and he asks for the elders of the church of Ephesus to come to him, because he has some final words for them. And that’s what has been the focus of our study for the last few weeks. We’ve been looking at the final words of Paul to a small group of leaders that oversee the church in Ephesus.
We want to pay attention to someone’s, “last words.” They’re almost always passionate, reflective, powerful. But it also got me thinking that we want to pay attention to anybody’s words that’s speaking to us, because we never know if it’s their last words. We want to value the person in front of us. We want to listen carefully. It’s a great skill to develop, to listen to the person in front of you, and to process it, because you don’t know when their last words will be. But there are those times where Paul’s telling them, “Hey, man, I think this is going to be it, I don’t think you’re ever going to see me again, and I just need to tell you these things because I love you.” And we’ve looked at his pastor’s heart here, and it’s a very emotional time. They’re crying. They’re falling on him. It’s an emotional time, as we’ll see in a moment.
But notice, now, point number one, five things to watch out for. In verse 31, point number one, “Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.” Here’s the first thing I want you to watch out for, I believe we gain from Paul’s teaching here, and that is this: watch out for carelessness.
Watch out for carelessness, or another way of saying it is, “Watch out for spiritual apathy in your own personal life.” I mean, really, these are answers to the question back in verse 28 when he says, “Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock,” and you go, “How do I take care to myself?” Here’s number one: watch out for carelessness. Spiritual carelessness in your life will end in spiritual ruin. Sudden destruction. This is no small matter. It’s important that you learn to watch, and to watch out. It’s important that we learn not to let our spiritual guard down; to stay awake.
See, not only did Paul feed them, but he warned them for three years. He warned them. He warned them about all of the weaknesses and difficulties and false teachings and false teachers. But more than anything, he warned them about what would happen on the inside, in their own personal walk. Especially the elders and pastors, like, this is so important for those of you in a position of leadership. And by the way, as Christians, we’re all in some position of leadership. Somebody is following us; somebody is looking to us, let alone those of us that may have a position or a title within the body of Christ, authority, or responsibility. Watch out, church! A careless attitude toward the things of God will not help you grow in Christ. It won’t help you.
And I know…I’m not naive enough to think that there’s some listening to me right now that that’s just how you live your life. You’re just kind of careless towards the things of God. You haven’t put up the guards and the walls and the commitments and the habits that are necessary for you to continue to grow, and as a result, you pay a price for it. I mean, if we were to step back and we have the opportunity maybe to have someone up here and interview them that have backslidden…and I mean, either way, we can catch them while they are still backsliding, and we could talk to them about, “How did you get there?” Or they’ve come back to the Lord and ask them how they got there.
Whatever their story is, whatever their testimony is, whatever sin they got into, whatever gross immorality is a part of, whatever it is, I’ll tell you this – the root of it was carelessness toward the things of God. That’s how it started. And they never I mean, a lot of the testimonies would say, “I never thought it would get that bad. I never thought I would go so far away. I never thought of that I wouldn’t….”
And carelessness, it just put it in different terms here. Listen, “I never thought that I really wouldn’t care.” That’s carelessness. And so what do you have? Week after week, month after month, year after year? You have a pastor that stands in this pulpit and says, “Hey, read your Bible every day.” Pour into your life. Take it in. Have those times of prayer and quiet times. We even looked at that quiet times with the Lord. Maybe it’s on a walk, or a bike ride or a quiet time in your house. But take those times to cultivate your relationship, like any other relationship, so that it might become a guard toward all these temptations. We don’t know what’s going to come against us. We don’t know what’s what we’re going to face when we wake up in the morning.
So, because we don’t know, we stay close to our Lord and Savior. Let me show you a scripture. Turn over to Romans 13. I believe Paul develops this thought a little bit deeper a few years later. Notice with me, Romans chapter 13, he says it a little bit stronger, I would say a lot stronger, when you get there, go to verse 11 with me, Romans 13: 11, Paul’s writing to the Gentile church, the Romans, the Roman believers, and notice what he says. “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”
Can I pause there and have your attention? Listen. You don’t need me to explain to you the world in which we live. I could do it, I could come with a list of 20 things, 25 things that says, “Look at this, look at this, look at this, look at this.” Do you see the world in which we live? Do you understand the spirit of the Antichrist? Do you see the prophetic implications of this? Do you understand that this world and its anti-Christ attitude. Coming against the church. Coming against…I mean, I could do that, but you don’t need that. You see it already. The question is whether you’re awake or not. It’s time to wake up, church, and to be the church. This is a time…just simply, not any other actions, just wake up. You can’t continue the way that you’ve been going and expect to make any kind of significant impact for the Kingdom; unless you wake up. Your sleep and your slumber is not helpful to your church family; it’s not helpful to your home family; it’s not helpful to your workplace; it’s not helpful to this world. Paul says, “It’s time to wake up church.” He said that 2000 years ago.
Do you think it’s we’re any closer to having a “wake up,” today and to be the church? He says, notice as he goes on, he says, “the night,” verse 12, “is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness.” That’s a way to wake up, start to care again, and get rid of the darkness and then “put on the armor of light.” So he’s actually saying, “Hey, look, deal with the darkness, but then get ready to fight.” And remember, we fight spiritual. Our weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they’re mighty in God for the bringing down of strongholds in every high thing that exalts itself against the name of God (2 Cor 10:4-5). Put on the spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:11-17). And then, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness,” which are obvious party…the whole party scene, you know, like that’s not for you, believer (Romans 13:13). That’s not your world.
It might have been your world, but as a believer, it’s not your world anymore. Drunkenness is not going to help you in your relationship with God. It’s going to actually harm you. The whole party scene and all that goes with it, he says, right here, “don’t do it.” But then he also says, “not in licentiousness and lewdness.” These are sexual sins. Sexual sin is not going to help your walk with the Lord. Pornography, I mean outright sexual sin, you know, living with your boyfriend and girlfriend, thinking that that’s real marriage, stepping out on your marriage, adultery, all of that. It’s sin. It wrecks the church. But more than wrecking the church it wrecks you. Paul says, stop it. This is not for you. It’s your past, but it’s not for you.
And then he also says, “Not in strife and envy.” You know, just fighting and arguing about things all the time. If there’s one thing on the top five things that Christians are really good at is arguing about things that don’t matter, and just spending energy, and energy, and energy. Is this really okay? You won the argument. Then what? Now what? “Well, I feel better about myself.” Yeah, but absolutely nobody’s saved, and one more person hates God. Is that what you were going for? Strife. Walk away from it. Carelessness. You want to be effective. Don’t be careless. That’s what Paul’s saying. Come back to Acts. He’s like, “I wasn’t careless with you guys. Three years, night and day. I gave you what I got” (Acts 20:31). He said earlier, “I haven’t shunned to give you the whole counsel of God.”
Number two, verse 32, “Now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Here’s point number two, something to watch out for is callousness. Callousness, or hardness of heart. This is another way of looking at this. “Guard your heart because out of it flow the issues of life,” and you need to guard your heart (Prov 4:23). So what does Paul do? He says, look, I’m leaving. I’m not going to be here anymore. And this is what you need. I’m going to give you to God and to the word of His grace. Do you know that’s what will keep you soft? The grace of God. It will make you less condemning because you’ll remember where you came from. It’ll make you less judgmental because you remember where you came from. It’ll make you less tight-fisted because you remember all that God has done for you.
The Word of His grace, like we read in the Psalm today, it’s a place of safety and refuge. And Paul says, “This is the best place for you. I’m going to give you to God. That’s what you need. You don’t need me. You need him, and I commend you, go to Him. With all the attacks within and without, I’m going to give you to God in His protection, His power, His Majesty.” And I mean, ultimately, at the end of all the warning, all the feeding, all the ministry, three years being there, what does Paul say? Hey, you know what, “God, they’re Yours. They’ve always been yours. And they’ll continue to be yours, the bride of Christ.” And it’s true.
Notice, I love this, because this is the place where you’re built up. It says, I’m giving you to God, and I’m committing you to God in the “Word of his grace, which is able to build you up” (Acts 20:32). That’s what we need – to be built up in the Lord. I mean, you live in the world, you shop in the world, you play in the world. You know something about this world system. All it does is tear us down spiritually. There’s nothing in this world that points us to the Lord. Everything. I mean, you can’t even go shopping in the supermarket without hearing some song that you never asked for playing in the speakers above you. That, for some of us, takes us back to a very sinful life that we want nothing to do…I just wanted a loaf of bread. That’s it. They make you walk all the way to the back and they keep moving it. I don’t know where it is these days like it was here, but now it’s not. And it’s like. So they want you walking around because the more things you see, the more things you buy. I just want some bread. That’s it. And a song pops up and it doesn’t build me up. It takes me right back to a moment, right back to a place, right back to a memory that now I’m in spiritual warfare, looking for a loaf of bread. That happens 20, 30, 50 times a day in your life and mind.
You’re watching a sporting event. You’re watching the Broncos play and you’re enjoying the game, and then boom, an advertisement. You’re like, I didn’t want this! And you’re driving by and you see, I didn’t want this! Because the world has a way of tearing us down. And because we’re in the world, not of the world, you have to have your eyes open for this – it’s going to happen (John 15:19; 17:14-16). And so, notice, Paul says, look, I know it’s going to be tough and hard, but you’ve got to go back to the word because it’s going to build you up.
It’s a place of safety and security for you and for me. Let’s bring it home real quick, before we get into the next point, on a personal level. And you might want to jot this down. I’ve repeated this over and over again, but I want to teach you. I want you to remember it. Don’t forget this. In life, when you’re dealing with people, you need to do this: you need to learn how to take things “spiritual and not personal.” You’re already good at taking things personal, so take things spiritual and not personal. Why? Because when you learn to take things spiritual, you’re going to take them to the Lord and you’re going to protect that soft heart of yours. Remember what happened when you and I were born again? The Bible says he replaced our heart of stone with a heart of flesh, a softness, a care and concern (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26). But as we’re dealing with people, as we’re dealing with situations, it’s very easy to go into self-protective mode, and instead of having a soft heart, we take things all personal, we’re easily offended, then we’re mad at the very people that God has called us to reach, so we have a hard heart.
But here’s another way of looking at it, you want to learn as you’re serving and loving and caring for other people, you want to learn this: how to develop a thick skin while you maintain a soft heart. But the exact opposite happens, doesn’t it? You have soft skin, like, you’re always offended, and your heart is so hard, and then you’re no use to the Kingdom. Because things are going to happen, “Offenses will come,” Jesus said, “but woe to him by which the offense does come” (Matt 18:7, Luke 17:1).
But for you and me, we want to stay soft to the things of God. I know that dealing with people on their worst days in a fallen world…I mean, you’re just watching things happen…the way the world is set up, it’s designed to harden your heart. The way the world is set up…I mean, here we are, we’re entering into a brand new political season, and Christians are flipping out. They’re all upset because they’re taking everything personal, everything personal, everything personal. So you just gotta answer every single thing on Facebook, every single thing on Instagram. Gotta get it out. And then what?
The election cycle, I’ve been around long enough, it’s going to come and go. You vote for someone, they’ll be in office. They’re not in office. It’s going to happen. You’re still going to be going to the supermarket and buying bread. You’re still going to go to work. But have you lost your witness? I’m often misunderstood at this place where you go, “Whoa, pastor, don’t you care about politics?” Of course I do. But remember, I care about politics because of the policies that come from politicians. But I care about the policies because they affect the very same people that we’re wanting to reach. They hurt people in our community, or help, either way. And so I know kingdoms and men come and go, but the people in front of me, they’re the most important people, that we recognize, that we integrate in culture, but the hope of our land is not politics. Did you know that? I didn’t hear any amens for that. But that’s it. That’s actually the truth. I’ll help you along the way. But that’s the truth.
You serve a King, Jesus, and he will help you in every way. It’s much more convenient, I think, at times, to have a hard heart toward the world in which we live, and then and then begin to advocate in ways that are not helpful for the Gospel. The Gospel. Remember the Gospel, the Good News that your sins can be forgiven through the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Remember, they buried our Savior, and three days later, He rose again from the dead. The Gospel, church, it’s the Gospel. Paul said this in Romans 1, “I am not ashamed of,” say with me, “the Gospel!” It has the power of God. “It is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.”
So get involved. Step into those arenas. Don’t lose your witness. Be careful of callousness. It’ll sneak up on you. All of these things really sneak up on you, and you’re just like, oh, man, what has happened to me? I got my eyes off the Lord. I haven’t been in the word. My prayer life is non-existent. And now I look like, sound like, and act like the world. And there’s no progress for the Kingdom in that.
I was praying this recently, thinking about it; became a prayer. You know the problem today, the difficulty today in the world is not a harvest. We don’t have a problem with harvest. There is plenty to harvest. Remember what Jesus said, “the harvest is truly plentiful” (Matt 9:37, Luke 10:2)? You know what the problem is? Laborers – a lack thereof. A real focused group of men and women that love Jesus supremely and are willing to pay the sacrificial price to reach the lost. Sometimes that’s a financial sacrifice. Sometimes that’s a personal sacrifice where I learned to die to myself and “make no provision for the flesh,” so that I can be more usable in the Kingdom (Romans 13:14).
I got to watch out for callousness, because everything in this world wants to tear me down and harden my heart toward others. And it’s a trap, church. Number three, look at verse 33, now this is a great one. I mean, it’s kind of out of place. Like, “I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel.” That’s interesting. So here’s the warning. You ready? A warning against covetousness? Yeah. A warning for elders, for pastors, for parents, for kids, for us as believers. Be careful of covetousness, basically, wanting what someone else has so bad that you will do anything to get it. Wanting what someone else has but you will do anything to get it. It’s a little bit worse than jealousy, because covetousness man puts you in a place where, “I want that so much, I’m going to go get it,” and it doesn’t even have to be someone else’s. It could be just something that you will do anything to go get it. It’s kind of a form of idolatry. Watch out for it. It’s not good for us.
But Paul’s here, this is so good, because this place of Acts 20 is how we were discipled through our Calvary Chapel ministries, what we were taught. And this is the principle here that we were taught, and that is “ministry is giving, not getting.” That’s why we’re here – to give. Jesus put it this way in Mark 10:45, He said that, “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,” Watch out for covetousness. It’s interesting he’s there and he just has this little line. “I know you guys have silver, but I didn’t want it. And I know you guys have an abundance of gold here. Very prosperous city. I don’t want it. You guys got the fancy clothes and everything, but it’s not why God sent me here. God did not send me here so I could want all your stuff. God sent me here so I could love you and serve you.” And we see he was successful. God used him greatly, changed his heart.
And you know, on a personal level, when you think about covetousness, isn’t it true? Haven’t we learned yet all the things that we’ve so desperately wanted come with a price? I mean, everything. With technology, a new car, whatever, whatever it is. And we have an unhealthiness about it. You know, when once we get it, we want so badly to possess it. We want so badly to hold it and to have it. But then once we get them, we’ve got to upgrade them, clean them, polish them, protect them, get an alarm for them, worry about them. They being we think we wanted to own something, but then it starts to own us. And what’s the answer? 1 Timothy 6:6, “Godliness with contentment is great gain,” and whatever the Lord has for us, that’s what we want. And we’ll see in a moment, even what God has for us is to be given away; be used for the Kingdom.
Which brings us to number four. Number four is in verse 34. He says, “Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.” Here’s the fourth warning, the thing to watch out for, and that is, watch out for laziness. I couldn’t find another C word, so we’ve got to change. Watch out for laziness. Paul can take his hands and say, “look at my hands.” Now, if I did that with me, you will see that I have very soft dishwater hands because I don’t work with my hands that way. Just calluses on the tips of my fingers for my computer is basically what I use. God has made me work in a different way. I’m not very good with my hands, but Paul was. Remember what his job was? He was a tent maker. That was the profession that God gave to Paul, and he used it in order to provide for the needs of his family. And we notice not only for his own needs, for, but for those that served with him. God gave him this gift to make money and work hard so that he could fund the ministry and not be a burden to any of the cities that he came to. So that when he took up an offering and said, “Hey, I want you to know we’re taking up this offering for the Jerusalem church,” he could say, “it is all going to Jerusalem. I don’t need any of it.” What do you mean? Paul, how are you? “Hey, I work.”
Once again, this is the principle that we were taught, especially for those of us that felt like maybe God was going to use us to plant a church. We were taught very clearly, if you were going to plant a church, the first thing you do is get a job and work. That way you won’t be a burden to this new church. Fortunately, when I moved to Colorado, I came with a very good job, very good. One that I could have stayed and I would have wanted to stay there for many more years than I did because it was helping us save to get ahead. It was really great. It was wonderful. But God had other plans and I didn’t end up staying there all that very long, but I would have as long as necessary so that we wouldn’t be a burden to this new church. And that’s how all the most of the pastors here and leaders here, how before they come on staff, they had a job. That’s like, you, those of you that work full-time and serve in this church, you work with your hands to provide for the needs of your home, and you serve God faithfully in the life of your local church. It’s the same principle, church planting or not – God takes care of us as we work. That’s the warning. Don’t be lazy. Don’t be lazy.
Now there is a difference between being tired and lazy. And there is a provision, right? We get tired. Life is like when you’re working and you’re serving and you’re raising kids and you got yes, you get tired. Yes. Amen. Yes. But there’s a provision for being tired. You know what it is? Rest! Our other services yelled out, “sleep.” You do whatever you need to do. Nap, sleep. Lay down. But you need to rest. You know, God gave us this principle: six days, you work; one day, you rest. It’s important now, in our culture, they’ve gone even one more than that. And they say five days you work and two days you rest. And in that day of rest, you cease from work. You rest your body. It’s almost like God is saying, because there was a spiritual component to it as well, where you honor the Lord on that rest day in the Old Covenant, it was very precise in the New covenant. Now that rest is found in our Sabbath, Jesus, He is our rest (Hebrews 4). We can rest in His finished work, but the principle still applies – your body needs rest. You can’t keep going seven days a week. You can’t keep going with all these 12-hour days. You need to rest.
Oh, by the way, you know the Bible has a remedy to laziness. You know what the remedy of laziness is? Repentance. Because you’re stealing from God. He has given you gifts and talents and energy and a life to be used. And you’ve responded with laziness. The Bible has a lot to say about laziness, did you know that? One of them is very simple? Proverbs 6:6, it says, go to the ant, you sluggard!” I like that. You sluggard! Go check out the ants! “Consider her ways and be wise.” That tells me that laziness is not wise; it’s foolish. It’s a waste of God’s time in your life. Time you’ll never get back. I know I’m speaking to some today, that, you know, maybe we don’t know, but you know that you’re just plain lazy. And I’m serious. There is a remedy. It’s repentance. It’s godly sorrow for how much time you’ve taken away. You’re here on this Earth as a born-again believer. Not for yourself, but for others.
Not so that you can, you know, work one day and rest the six days and just do your own thing and play video games all night and then not be any good. I mean, there are people at church today. There are kids right now that are not at church right now because they were up all night playing video games. And so, you know, “I’m just so tired.” No, you’re lazy! And you need to repent. It’s a waste of time. That’s not building the Kingdom. Oh, you know, I share the Gospel while I’m playing video games. Sure you do. I’m sure you do, you got the big headset, you know, and like, oh, man, like, this is serious stuff. It’s time to wake up. It’s time to wake up. It’s time for us to see our God-given identity and the destiny that God has for us: it’s to make a difference in people’s lives and not be lazy. And that’s what Paul says. He says it’s like Paul standing there and he’s got these this emotional moment. He’s like, “You guys, I always want you to know…you see this? I don’t want you to forget this: I wasn’t lazy.”
I don’t think he was bragging, you know, because you could take the other way, “Well, look what I’ve done for you.” I don’t think that at all. I think he’s letting him know ahead of time that ministry, service, even living as a believer, right, the right way in the world, is going to lead to temptations of pulling away and temptations of doing nothing. And, you know, I see people do this all the time. Well, “I just need to take a little break.” And I’m like, “Yeah, you take a break, but pick a day when you’re going to be back.” “Oh no, no, I don’t know. I mean, I’ll just take I’ll let you know when I know.” Because if you don’t pick a day when you’ll be back, you’re going to get used to doing nothing. And it’s actually going to be kind of attractive. It’s like, well, I’m not ministering to anybody and I’m not counseling anybody. I’m not going to anybody with coffee because I’m just taking a rest. I’m not teaching the kids anymore. And before you know it, you start to like that provision you made, which you really did need rest. But your rest became laziness. Be careful.
I also see people do this when it comes to church planting, where they stroll into a town and they put such a heavy burden on the brand-new church that they’re pastoring, instead of just going and working like anyone else. There is nothing…you know, sometimes people misinterpret the Bible, like, “work is a part of the curse.” Do you know that work existed before the curse? The part of the curse, though, it’s not work that’s the curse. Work can be very fulfilling. Work can be very helpful. Work can put you in contact with people that you never be in contact before. The problem with work is how tiring it is and how hard it can become. And of course, now you’re in the world where you get tore down and on and on that goes. Watch out for laziness, church, Proverbs 21:25 says, “The desire of the lazy man kills him for his hands refuse to labor.”
Which brings us to our final point, and perhaps one of the most important, in verse 35 it says, “And I have shown you in every way by laboring like this, that you must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he said, ‘It’s more blessed to give than to receive.’” Here’s number five – watch out for selfishness. Watch out for selfishness, because a person that labors and a person that works, and a person that’s faithful and a person that cares is usually entrusted with more, not less. And because you’re entrusted with more, not less. Be careful that you don’t become selfish. So what does he say? He says, hey, make sure you understand – you must support the weak. That that is a part of your life. To be a help to those that are weaker than you, number one. And then number two, he puts it into this broader context, where Jesus is quoted as saying, it is more blessed to give than to receive, and God wants you to experience that. He wants you to know that as much as it is a blessing to receive, it is way better to give.
It’s much more beneficial. Like our pastor used to say, he would talk about, you know, “you can’t out give God,” and then he would add, pastor Chuck would add this, he said, “you can’t outgive God, but I’ve committed to try.” I’m like, oh, that’s so good. And he was known as a very generous man, not only supporting the weak but supporting others. And I mean, he would invest these outreach…like he would do things that would help all the churches in the community. He purchased a piece of property once, and he made it a retreat center where all these churches would come and have their retreats there. We would go there as pastors; and pastors’ wives would go there. And it was a property just dedicated to the fulfilling of his vision of helping the weak, and strengthening the weak, and building up the weak. And then it became the Bible College. So the kids were in, all my kids were able to go to Bible college there, and be instructed in the Word; amazing heritage and example that God has left through our pastor. And these are areas where we want to be generous as a church and we want to continue. Why? Because we learn this not only as a church, but personally, I am on, I know, this side of the scripture. It is…I can say it with Paul, “more blessed to give than to receive.”
There’s just something special about being a giver; by giving and being generous. Not even with the gift…you guys have the “gift of giving,” this is no problem for you, you just like…it’s just amazing the men and women that have been given the gift of giving, it’s beautiful (Romans 12:6-8). But for the rest of us, when we step into this through obedience, it’s just a beautiful thing to see, a smile, to see an encouragement just to know that what you gave was in the name of the Lord. And this is an important principle. Again, the discipleship part of our ministry here, that we have been taught, biblically, that a truly God-honoring ministry must focus on giving, not getting, developing and not draining or taking advantage of people. Jesus said, “You cannot serve two masters. You either hate one or love the other. You’ll be loyal to one or despise the other. You can’t serve God and money” (Matt 6:24, Luke 16:13). And money becomes a measurement of giving. You can give a lot of things. You can be generous with people; you can give of your time; you can give of your talents, your expertise. There’s a lot that you can give, but the measurement that you can look to if you’re looking, “I wonder if I’m a giver or not,” follow the money. Isn’t that what the world says, “follow the money?” Where does your money go? Because wherever your treasure, Jesus said, “there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21; Luke 12:34). And both sides of that equation work wherever your heart is, that’s where you’re going to put your treasures, where you’re going to deposit your treasures.
Look, you’ve got to get a handle on this issue with money and giving. You have to move from that place of getting and taking and taking and taking and taking all the time and get into the realm of God’s blessing, where it’s giving; where you’re just a generous person. Let me tell you a place to start. It’s a simple one. I call this…I say the same thing over and over again. So even a lot in our Bible study is repetition. But let’s start with the tithe, where God’s instructing us to give of our tithes and offerings. The tithe, again, another thing that’s debated, I have taught this in-depth in other studies, but when we were in Genesis, I taught you something when we were studying through Genesis. And that is “the tithe predates the law.” So just to put it in the old covenant is not going to work. Well, you know, “that was old covenant, so I don’t have to give anymore.”
No, that is an indication right there that selfishness is taking root in your heart because that money is not yours. “Well, you know, I worked with my hands.” Who gave you the hands? Where’d you get those from? Life came from the Lord, right? So tithing predates the law. Of course, it was a big part of the old covenant. For sure. The farmers and those that were working would have to bring the firstfruits of their labors, bring them into the storehouses, bring them into the temple. And it was a big part…it was required in the old covenant. So even if I gave you and said, well, you know, that’s old covenant, I’m a new covenant Christian. Well, I’m glad that you admit that you’re a new covenant Christian, because let me fill you in on something. The new covenant requirement of giving is greater than the tithe. Because what does God say? God says, I want you to give me yourself. Lay yourself on the altar.
Give as God as you purpose in your heart, which can’t be measured. But the tithe is a good beginning and I’ll tell you why: it’s so easy to do. It is one of the easiest things that you and I can do. You can set up online giving. You can have your boss do it at the office. You can have your bank write the check for you, like, it is so easy. Then why does most of the church not give regularly? I mean we’re talking all the churches around town, every true church. So many believers do not give faithfully to the local work of the ministry. Why? Selfishness. You have to watch out for this. Because here’s the logic, you ready? If you can’t do the easy part, what makes you think you’re going to have any heart for the harder parts? So God, he does exactly what we do with our kids. We give them something easy to do to train them for the hard things.
That’s what Jesus did, remember, that man that was lame. The man with the withered hand was given a command. He was given a command to “get up,” something he could do. He couldn’t move his hand, but he could get up. So he got up – building his faith. And “Stretch out your hand,” and, boom, you know what he did? Stretched out his hand. God gave him something easy to do, so to prepare him for what was challenging.
Listen, church, you need to learn how to be faithful with your money as unto the Lord. Of course, we don’t have storehouses today. We’re not collecting the firstfruits of your tomatoes or the wool of your sheep or anything. Today, it’s measured in money. That’s the increase. Almost everyone here today has increase. And the question is, are you faithful? Which, you know, people always when we’re talking about money, you don’t need to be afraid of money; the Bible talks a lot about money. But then there’s always that, “Well, you know, pastor, you must be suffering, and now you’re trying to raise money for the church?” No. Not at all.
God has been faithful. We’ve been here 25 years. God has taken care of every single need -every day of every week of every month of every year. I’m only telling you the truth because you need this in your life. I remember walking into a church just like this, way bigger, they just finished the sanctuary, over 3000 seats. There were pews there. I was brand new. I’m a brand new believer. And the first Sunday I was there, they started passing the…they had little bags that they passed for the offering, which is great, no problem. So they’re passing on and I just remember watching it go right by me, watching it go right by me. And in my mind, I didn’t tell anybody this, but in my mind I’m like, “This church don’t need my money!” Look at it. They got…they’re fine! They don’t need my money. And it’s almost like, God, if I was more in tune to His Spirit back then, it’s almost like God, He would be saying this to me, to that Ed sitting in the pew back then. “Ed, this church don’t your money; I don’t need your money; but you need to give; because you’re a taker.”
That’s how I spent my whole life as an unbeliever. Take, take, take, take, take. And it was like God saying, “Ed, I got something so much better for you. I’m going to teach you a lesson. And here’s the lesson: It’s more blessed to give than to receive.” Any day of the week. And over the years, God has shown me, and I was thinking back last night, of all the eight years of faithful giving we had in our home church, that we got to share in all the testimonies. We got to share in all the outreaches, all the people got saved there, all the lives that were changed there, all the new opportunities they were doing, the open doors, the closed doors. Because when we gave, our heart was in that church. Our heart was to support our pastor and the leadership there and all that God was doing. And for us, we just come alongside and serve and give. And this is so important because the tithe has been all twisted today. And I know, because some people have been taken advantage of, you know, the rampant abuses of money by televangelists, and YouTube guys and gals, and just false teachers. Even churches have taken advantage of people surrounding money that a new attitude is, you know, “I don’t tithe. I’m not giving anything to the church. I’m going to keep my money in a bank account, and I’m going to give it to whoever I want, whenever I want.” First of all, I’m sorry that you were hurt and taken advantage of. That is not the heart of God. But I want to let you know something biblically: the tithe does not belong to you. It belongs to the Lord. Whether you choose to give God what is His or not, that’s between you and Him. But the tithe belongs to the Lord, and if you don’t bring it in, you won’t find your heart so set in your church home. You won’t find your heart so set with the people you’re sitting next to, or the community in which your church is in, because your heart’s going to follow your money.
If you want to give to other ministries and you want to give, like, you know, to radio stations to ministries that support the family, you want to do that, there’s a category for that: tithes, and offerings, or love gifts. But the tithe belongs to the Lord. And each time you refuse to give of your tithe, you’re basically telling God, “I do not want to obey you.”
Well, but wait a minute, Pastor, the Bible says that I only give with what I purpose in my heart, and I don’t purpose in my heart to give to God. Then you need to go back to point number one and watch out for callousness. Because a heart in tune with the Lord will be a sacrificial person; a heart in tune with the Lord will look for ways to help others. A heart in tune, what we might say in another way, a person that’s “walking in the Spirit,” bearing the fruits of the Spirit, walking in the wisdom of God, will be looking at how to bless others. That’ll just be your natural…”how can I be a blessing?” So you can start there. It’s an important part to measure.
Also, if you’re one of those guys, you know, “I don’t want to give any more because I was taken advantage of,” I just want you to understand there was a part of that where, like, if you gave to some guy that said, “yeah, if you give to us and sow a seed in our ministry, you’ll get 100-fold increase.” You know, that’s nonsense, right? Absolute bottom-of-the-barrel lies and nonsense.
But, it taps into something: our covetousness. Who wouldn’t want a 100-fold increase? I mean, geez, I’d put my whole 401K into that, for sure, 100-fold increase. But that’s not that’s not how God operates. God’s not interested in giving you 100-fold increase. He’s already given you Jesus. How can He top that? He has forgiven us of our sins. He set us in an eternity, forever and ever with Him. And we’re settling for a 100-fold increase or whatever weird thing?
You know, some of these guys and gals, they’ll find some obscure passage, e.g. “Isaiah 5:34 promise.” And it really doesn’t matter what the scripture says, they just take the numbers. “Now, we got a special, this month only, special from God, 534% increase,” or whatever. And you’re just like, no! But the reason why someone would tap into that is not just vulnerability, it’s also greed. And it’s not from a giving heart, it’s from a taking heart. And over the years, I’ve just learned it’s so much better to give than to receive. And the church needs to be known as a giving…we need to be known in our community as a church that gives and helps and supports; that we leave this place better than when we first came. And that’s Paul here. He’s like, “Guys, don’t forget these words.”
Now you won’t find these words in the Gospels. They’re not recorded for us. But it was a well-known saying that Jesus spoke all throughout his ministry, and we know it was because now it’s in the inspired Word of God in Acts that Luke wrote. But also remember John 21, remember when he said “many other things,” Jesus said and did, that if they were all written, we wouldn’t have enough books (John 21:25). Here’s one of them right here. They weren’t included in the Gospels, but here, they include them here.
And now we close here as we prepare our hearts for the communion table. It says, “When he had said these things, he knelt down,” verse 36, “prayed with them all, and they all wept freely, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they wouldn’t see his face anymore, and they accompanied him to the ship.” These are grown men just a few years away from paganism. So you could say that these are men that, like, these are full-grown men that we would think, man, they would work with their hands, they’re in the community…but here at the end, Paul was used in their life in such an amazing way that they’re brokenhearted that he’s leaving. Only God can take a heart like ours and change it for His glory. I mean, to me, this is pretty amazing: “Paul, we don’t want you to leave. You’re too special to us. You’re too important; God has used you in my life.” And Paul’s like, “No, I gotta go. My ministry here is fulfilled. It’s time to move forward. I’ve got to get to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me there, but I’m going to go.”
And they’re like, “okay.” But they also express their emotion very freely, which tells me that they had soft hearts. They’re not all worried, “well, you know, if I cry, what will so-and-so say, elder so-and-so,” it’s like, no, “We love you so much, Paul,” that the love that they had for this man superseded anything they would think. No fear of man, nothing. They’re just like, “man, we’re going to miss you, bro. I am so grateful to God for you, Paul. You changed my life. You changed my family. You changed this city. And we all know it was God. But your faithfulness and your obedience and your care and concern – you stayed here three years. We’re so grateful for you, Paul. I can’t believe we’re never going to see you again. But we’re going to take you to the ship because we got to get back. You got to get moving.” And ministry continues.
Paul, he basically is living out the truth where he says later, “imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). All of these examples are his life. And this is…going through this again, I’ve taught this a few times in our church family, but going through it again the last couple of weeks, I’m like, this is what I want for my life. I want to be able to say, “you can follow my life.” Paul wasn’t perfect. If they lived with him for three years, they know that. But we don’t want to make excuses. We just want to be the best version of ourselves that we can in Christ. We want to continually improve and continually repent and continually to grow, so you can stand there and go, “Look, guys, I gotta head out, man. But you saw my life. I know you heard my words, but you saw my life and my words matched my life.”
I had a brother recently, and we’ll close with this…if the worship team can come back up right now? Come on up now. I had a brother show up notot too long ago – wanted to talk to me and pray with me after the service. And his basic thought was, “You know what, pastor? I feel like such a hypocrite.” And some things happened in his life that were difficult for him and some things that he thought needed to be in place. He just had this feeling and I looked him in the eye and I say, “Well, are you?” And I try to stunt him out of the feeling, right? I sometimes I’ll do that – I’ll just say something just to get your attention. So I look him in the eye and I know him. I look him in the eye and I go, “Well, are you a liar?” And he’s like, “no.” “Are you pretending before the people are serving?” “No.” “Well, then there’s no need to feel like a hypocrite right now, you’re just in a tough time.” That’s it. It’s just a tough time. The Lord will get you through it. It’ll be hard, but you’re going to learn from it because your eyes are on Him.
And sometimes our feelings, it can be so overwhelming. And we can feel something that’s actually not true, where you interpret your circumstances through your feelings. And today, the Lord would just remind you that you interpret your circumstances by faith and not feelings, that you can trust Him. Things might be hard right now. Things may not be everything that you want them to be, but don’t think Paul’s standing there going, “Hey, I got the perfect life. One day, if you’re a good Christian, you’ll be like me.” That’s not what he’s saying. He’s saying, “Look, these are the things that help me, and these are the things are going to help you. So let’s go together. I’m heading to Jerusalem. You go back to Ephesus. And we will do what God has called us to do.” Amen?
So, Lord, we just thank You for the privilege of coming to Your table today. You know, life can be so hard. This world tears us down. But we want to be built up, Lord. We were built up today even though it was challenging. We’re talking about money today. And so that’s very challenging. But You’re going to free people today. They’re going to be free and released. They’re just going to have a new perspective of every time they give, they’re going to give a little bit of their selfishness away. Every time they give – a little bit of their covetous away; every time they give – they’re going to be sowing seeds into people’s lives. And not expecting anything in return, but rather, just giving because of all that You’ve done for us. And we come to the table to celebrate all that You’ve done for us, to help us remember. And so, God, begin to minister to our memories right now, as we prepare our hearts and minds to take of the body and blood of Christ, symbolically, this morning, in Jesus name, Amen.
