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| Volume 25 Number 2 February 2023 |
Page 16 |
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| Volume 25 Number 2 February 2023 |
Page 16 |
Louis Rushmore, Editor
Acts 20:30 presents a sad commentary but ever so true regarding the children of God. It reads, “Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:30 NKJV). From God’s placement of the first pair in the Garden of Eden through the present, certainly it’s a great challenge to keep the safe (i.e., initially Adam and Eve, as well as every babe) and the saved in a holy relationship with their Creator.
Throughout human history, mankind has excelled in wickedness, and just when one imagines that violence, crime and unrest can’t possibly get any worse or become any more prevalent – it does! Almighty God did a reset regarding His creation when He expelled Adam and Eve from paradise and also during the Noahic deluge. Planet Earth was never the same as it was when it was created.
Even praiseworthy Bible heroes faltered in sin. Among that number are Noah (Genesis 6:8, 22; 7:5; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5; cf., Genesis 9:21), Moses (Numbers 20:7-12), David (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22; cf., 2 Samuel 11:1-12:15) and the apostle Peter (Matthew 26:74-75; Galatians 2:11-13). Beyond the consideration of individuals, the children of God as a unit repeatedly sinned against God (Hosea 4:1-10). Especially notice Hosea 4:7, which says, “The more they increased, The more they sinned against Me [God]; I will change their glory into shame.”
Now, let’s consider Acts 20:30 in its context. The apostle Paul was traveling to Jerusalem, and on his way, he paused in Miletus (Acts 20:15-16) – then, a city in Asia Minor (today, western Turkey). From Miletus, Paul sent word to the elders of the church in Ephesus, requesting them to meet him in Miletus, which they did (Acts 20:17-18). Some striking statements populate Paul’s address to those elders. “How I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks [non-Jews, hence everyone without exception], repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:20-21). “…The gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). “…Preaching the kingdom of God…” (Acts 20:25). “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).
In a sense, the apostle Paul spoke to the cream of the crop – among the godliest Christians assembling and living in the city of Ephesus. The Holy Spirit Himself had appointed those men to be elders (Acts 20:28). We know from the inspired New Testament Scriptures that each of those men possessed godly attributes and exhibited saintly virtues. Each man must desire to work for the cause of Christ in his community (1 Timothy 3:1; 1 Peter 5:2). He must be irreproachable (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6). An elder must be a family man whose house is in order before our Lord (1 Timothy 3:2, 4; Titus 1:6). He is a steward of God regarding the souls he helps shepherd (Titus 1:7; Hebrews 13:7, 17). He controls his temperament, exercises self-control and exhibits good behavior (1 Timothy 3:2). An elder demonstrates hospitality (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8). He teaches God’s Word, conscious of sound doctrine (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:9). The elder does not imbibe intoxicants (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:8), is not quarrelsome or violent (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7) but is gentle and patient (1 Timothy 3:3). He neither prioritizes seeking wealth (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7) nor covets what others have (1 Timothy 3:3). An elder is experienced in service to the cause of Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 3:6). Even people outside the Lord’s church view him as respectable (1 Timothy 3:7). (Though most of the qualifications of elders ought to be the goals for every Christian to achieve, elders absolutely must have all the qualifications enumerated in the New Testament.)
Despite the elders to whom the apostle Paul spoke being the best possible specimens of Christian men at that time in first century Ephesus, he told them, “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 perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:29-30). First, the eldership would receive into its number two or more men who would not turn out to be what they appeared to be. Our Lord had said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). That’s what was going to happen to the eldership in the church at Ephesus. Second, some of the very men, who at that time were godly and holy men, to whom Paul was speaking would renounce “sound doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:10; 2 Timothy 4:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1), “speaking perverse things.” Paul warned the church at Rome about the same sort of speakers. “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17-18).
Irreparable harm would follow the introduction of “savage wolves” into the eldership at Ephesus, as well as when once godly elders would rise above the rest of the eldership, “speaking perverse things.” The “savage wolves” would ravenously act out, “not sparing the flock,” and certain of the elders would elevate themselves above the eldership “to draw away the disciples after themselves.”
We read in Acts 19 that Paul entered Ephesus (v. 1), whereupon he spoke in the synagogue for three months (v. 8) and afterward continued for another two years (v. 10) “reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus” (v. 9). At that time, there were no legal challenges to Christianity in Ephesus (v. 37-39), likely because Christianity was early on thought to merely be one of the two dozen sects of Judaism in the first century (Flusser). Tiberius Claudius Caesar reiterated the policy of Augustus Caesar, the first Emperor, to permit countries and cultures that were assimilated into the Roman Empire to continue practicing their own religions and cultures. Specifically, Claudius permitted Jews throughout the Roman Empire to practice their religion and customs, as long as they did not interfere with or vilify the religions of others, and of course, did not resist Roman rule (John Gill’s).
However, later, a riot against the Christian faith had all of Ephesus stirred into “a great commotion” (vs. 23-41) or in an “uproar” (Acts 20:1). At some point, either figuratively and spiritually or literally and physically, the apostle Paul wrote that he “fought with beasts at Ephesus” (1 Corinthians 15:32). Whereas opposition to Christianity by Jews and by Gentiles resulted in persecution for religious reasons, Acts 19 reveals also an underlying business concern by craftsmen whose livelihood was sustained by making silver idols (vs. 24-27, 38). Eventually, Christians were persecuted by governments – local and throughout the Roman Empire. Hence, the apostle John penned the words of Jesus regarding persecution unto death. “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). The apostle Peter also wrote by inspiration, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy… Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter” (1 Peter 4:12-13, 16).
To make matters worse, the apostle prophesied that the ungodly assaults upon the church at Ephesus would come from within, too – from within the eldership itself. Sadly, with little or apparently no acknowledgment that the church belongs to Jesus Christ, carnality abundantly raises its ugly and ungodly head, from the first century to the twenty-first century, even among the churches of Christ – from within or from outside of local elderships. Carnality condemned in first century Corinth is no less sinful today than it was then. “For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3). “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church” (3 John 9-10). Yes, unfortunately, it still happens.
Works Cited
Flusser, David. The Spiritual History of the Dead Sea Sect. Tel-Aviv: MOD Books, 1989, p. 15 – as quoted in Randall A. Weiss. Jewish Sects of the New Testament Era. Cedar Hill, TX: Cross Talk, 1994.
John Gill’s Exposition of the Old and New Testaments. Electronic Database. Seattle: Biblesoft, 2011.
