Keeping On Keeping On

Overview

Keeping On Keeping On

The Christian life is often pictured as a race—and like any race, there are miles when the legs grow heavy and the mind begins to argue for quitting. Paul knew this well. As he sailed past Ephesus, eager to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost, he sent for the elders of the Ephesian church to give them parting words Acts 20:13–18. This is the only recorded address in Acts where Paul speaks exclusively to Christians, and it carries the weight of a man determined to finish his course no matter the cost.

A Ministry Marked by Endurance and Truth

Paul reminds the elders how he served the Lord "with all humility and with tears" through trial after trial Acts 20:19. He preached publicly and house to house, testifying to "both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ" Acts 20:20–21. He never softened the message, never traded the gospel for flattery or current events, never shrank back from reproof. The whole of Scripture, he would later write, is profitable "for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" 2 Timothy 3:16, and Paul lived into that conviction. He did it all "for the sake of the gospel" 1 Corinthians 9:23, even when it meant being "so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself" 2 Corinthians 1:8.

Repentance and Faith—the Message We Still Carry

The call to repent unsettles us. We want to defend ourselves, excuse our actions, and let the world's permissiveness silence the conviction of the Spirit. But Scripture is clear that by nature we are children of wrath, and no self-defense will stand before the Father. Our defense is Jesus, who entered our humanity to receive God's wrath in our place and now stands before the Father naming us blameless and righteous. This is the same message Paul refused to compromise, and the same message the church is still called to deliver: repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus.

Captive to the Spirit, Pressing On

"And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there" Acts 20:22–23. Paul knew imprisonment and persecution awaited him in every city, yet he counted his life of no value compared to finishing the course and the ministry he received from the Lord Jesus Acts 20:24. At the end of his life he could say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" 2 Timothy 4:7.

Pastoral Application

Running—whether on pavement or in faith—is, as one marathoner put it, "a series of arguments between the part of your brain that wants to stop and the part that wants to keep going." We will be tempted to quit. We will manufacture excuses about our age, our temperament, our circumstances. But we are not called to stop. We are called to testify to the good news of God's grace, to keep proclaiming repentance and faith, and to trust that the Spirit who called us also empowers us. By the strength of God, we can keep on keeping on.

Transcript

When I was in my 30s, way back when, when I was in my 30s, I thought it would be a great 0s

thing for me to be a runner. And I signed up for a race, a 10k, and I was very gung-ho 8s

and I trained Umpoguito just a little bit. And I got to the race and I ran and 16s

I was right about mile four or five a 10k is just over six miles, right about four 24s

or five in mile four or five. I kind of started thinking to myself, what am I doing? 30s

This is not a good idea. This is hard. This is not an easy thing for me to do. I should 35s

quit. I should give up. But then I started thinking, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You committed 43s

to this. You can do this. You only have a couple more miles. You can get through this. 48s

And I prayed a lot. I prayed a lot during those last couple of miles. But I did it. 54s

I made it through and it was so exciting to finish that race. And so I signed up for another 62s

one. And right about mile four or five, I said to myself, what are you thinking? So I'm not 68s

running anymore. But the lesson that I learned in running of keeping at it, keep on keeping 77s

on really stuck. There are some things that we come to in life that are just really hard. 88s

And we want to quit. And we want to give up. And it doesn't feel like we're getting anywhere. 95s

But we have that little voice in our mind. And we have that argument. And we end up praying 100s

a lot. And we know that we need to keep on keeping on. Paul refers to his journey of faith 105s

often as a race. And he is always needing to keep on keeping on. He goes through all sorts of 115s

trials and tribulations. And yet he presses forward because he knows that that is where he has 125s

been called by Christ to serve. We pick up with Paul here as he's journeying again. He's 134s

going toward Jerusalem. And he's going to meet with some elders of the church of Ephesus. 144s

Let us turn to verse 13. We went ahead to the ship and set sail for Asus, 152s

intending to take Paul on board there for he had made this arrangement, intending to go by land 159s

himself. When he met Asus, we took him on board and went to Middeline. We sailed from there, 164s

and on the following day we arrived opposite Kios. The next day we touched at Samos. And the day 171s

after that, we came to Maletus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he might not 177s

have to spend time in Asia. He was eager to be in Jerusalem if possible on the day of Pentecost. 184s

There's no reason given as to why Paul would choose to go by land and send his traveling group 192s

by sea. He may have needed some time alone. He was setting his sights on Jerusalem. And he knew 199s

that at every turn he would face trials and persecution. So he was alone for a short time. But when 206s

he met up with them, they continued to journey at sea. He didn't want to stop in Ephesus 213s

because he knew that if he stopped in Ephesus, if he was in Asia, he would spend a long time 221s

there. And he had only five weeks to get to Jerusalem. He wanted to make it to Jerusalem by Pentecost. 228s

In the Christian church, we celebrate Pentecost. It's the time where the Holy Spirit 237s

descended upon the apostles and gave them the gift of tongue and they were able to preach 243s

to all in Jerusalem, the good news of Jesus Christ and everyone understood in his or her own language. 249s

And we celebrate that because that was the start and the spark of the mission of the church. 258s

But the Pentecost or Pentecost itself has significance in the Jewish faith. That was actually 266s

when the Jewish people would celebrate the festival of weeks. That was when they would celebrate and 274s

bring a first fruit offering to Jerusalem to the temple. And so that was one of the pilgrimages 281s

where the Jewish people from all over all parts would all come to Jerusalem. And this was 288s

quite an opportunity for Paul as a preacher and as a Christian leader to not only get the word out 296s

to more people but also to come with the Jewish and Gentile Christians alike and hopefully heal 304s

some of the of the brokenness between those Christian relationships. 311s

From Militus going on in verse 17, he sent a message to Ephesus asking the elders of the church 319s

to meet him. Although he didn't stop in Ephesus, he wanted to see the church leaders. He wanted 326s

to speak with them. And so he sent for them. He was about 30 miles south of where they were. He sent 334s

for them and they all gathered to meet him. It's very interesting this speech that we have and 340s

we're going to begin the speech today and continue in the next couple of weeks. This is the only 347s

recorded speech that we have in the book of Acts where Paul is speaking to Christians only. 353s

The other speeches that we have recorded are him preaching in the synagogue to the Jewish people 362s

or preaching in Athens to the Gentiles or giving a defense before the religious or political 367s

leaders. But here he's speaking only to a group of church leaders of the church of Ephesus. 376s

He wants to give them his parting words. He's not going to see them again and he wants to see them 385s

give them his parting words of counsel, of exhortation, of warning. His thought was always with the 392s

church and he wanted the church to be healthy. He wanted the church to go on. He wanted the church 400s

to be successful and to continue even without further leadership from him. We continue with 409s

verse 18. When they came to him, he said to them, you yourselves know how I lived among you. The 416s

entire time, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and 423s

tears, enduring the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. Paul began with a word 430s

that reminds those leaders exactly of who he is, of the sincerity of the motives of his service 440s

that he would do anything appealing to them, the memory of the lengths that he would go to for the 451s

gospel. The entire time, meaning day and night, throughout all hours of the day, what he would do 460s

preaching both in public and from house to house, just to share the good news of Jesus Christ. 469s

From the first day, he set foot in Asia. His entire purpose was to serve the Lord and in order to 477s

serve the Lord in his ministry, he underwent trials of every kind. In first Corinthians, he wrote, 487s

why are we putting ourselves in danger every hour? I die every day. In second Corinthians, 494s

he said, we were so utterly unbearably crushed that we dispared of life itself. 503s

Throughout our study of the book of Acts, whenever we read of Paul, we see the plots that were 510s

or imprisoned or mocked or ridiculed or beaten and yet Paul continued to serve the Lord, not 524s

for the sake of his own glory, but for the sake of the gospel. In first Corinthians, he wrote, 535s

I do it all for the sake of the gospel so that I may share in its blessings, continuing 543s

anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you in teaching you publicly and from house to house, 554s

and as I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and in faith, 560s

toward our Lord Jesus, regardless of what Paul would experience. Indeed, knowing that preaching 567s

gods were to people would bring about hardship, Paul nonetheless preached. He still brought the word. 573s

He preached so that the word would be understood. He did not shy away from the truth. 583s

He didn't speak with flowery language just so he could hear himself sound eloquent. 590s

He was driven by one purpose. He didn't hold back when reproof was necessary and he certainly 597s

didn't hold back from preaching the cross. In second Timothy, he had written all scriptures inspired 606s

by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. 614s

And he lived into that. He never compromised the truth. Whether it was something that was 622s

difficult for one to hear or whether it was that beautiful sweet word of grace, he did not stop 632s

and he did not hold back. If you'll notice, Paul didn't ever take the time to preach about the 640s

government or preach about current affairs, he didn't preach the words that people necessarily 648s

wanted to hear, but he preached repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus. It didn't matter 657s

who Paul was speaking to. The repentance and faith in Christ was necessary for all. There's 668s

no distinction when it comes to sin, all our sinners and all our in need of salvation. 678s

And the same goes for us. This isn't just a message for the ancient people or the early church. 689s

In our own stubbornness, we hear that call to repent and we want to defend ourselves. We want 697s

to defend our actions or our inactions. We want to defend our thoughts and our words. 707s

And we look around in our world certainly wants to let us slide. They want us to let things slide. 717s

And we want to excuse ourselves and we want to excuse the people that we love. 729s

Because we don't want to have to repent. We don't want to be those people in need of repentance. 737s

But we are because we're human. And by nature, we are children of wrath. 753s

There's no defense that we have in our own or on our own, that we can stand boldly before the 764s

father proclaiming ourselves to be excused. There's no defense that we have, but we do have a defense. 775s

We have a defense through Jesus. Jesus knowing full well that we cannot stand before the Lord. 788s

He entered into humanity with us and for us in order to be the truth in this world. 797s

He didn't come with the wrath of the Lord, smiting people everywhere he went with the purpose 806s

of smiting, though he certainly could have. He had the authority or right to. 813s

But instead, he came to receive God's wrath for us. Out of love and grace for you, Jesus stands 821s

before the father to name you blameless and righteous. So we can stand before the father because 833s

we stand with the blood of Christ before us and speaking for us. This was the message 842s

that Paul would not relent in proclaiming this was the message that he was called to deliver. 854s

And my brothers and sisters, this is the very same message that we are called to deliver 864s

the message of repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus. Paul's role in ministry was not easy, 870s

but he followed the Holy Spirit and he went wherever and whenever the Spirit led. 882s

Let us look at verse 22. And now as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, 890s

not knowing what will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every 896s

city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me. Talk about a rough race. 902s

That is nothing like mile four or five. He knows every mile of his race is going to be torturous, 913s

every mile of his race is going to be difficult and yet he keeps on keeping on. 923s

He was so aware of the Spirit leading him. In Acts 16, we read that when they had traveled 935s

through the region of Fragil and Galatia, they had been forbidden to enter into Asia at that time 942s

by the Holy Spirit. And when they attempted to go to in Bethanyia, the Spirit of Jesus didn't allow 948s

them to go. He also knew and was fully aware that everywhere he went persecution and imprisonment 955s

were waiting him. But he knew that that was his lot, that that was what he would undergo all 964s

the sake of the gospel. In Acts 9, the Lord had told Ananias regarding Paul, 972s

I myself will show him that his Paul, how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. 979s

But suffering never stopped Paul. He endured for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of bringing 988s

to the world, the word of repentance and faith and he never let up with every breath he had. 995s

He would proclaim that word. It was never about him. It was always about Jesus and it was always 1004s

about salvation through Jesus. As we see in our final verse for today, but I do not count my life 1013s

of any value to myself. If only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from 1022s

the Lord Jesus to testify to the good news of God's grace. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy, 1028s

I have thought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Running is not easy, 1037s

whether we are literally running or running this race of faith. I have a quotation from a 1049s

marathon runner, we don't know which one it was, but he or she said running is nothing more 1056s

than a series of arguments between the part of your brain that wants to stop and the part that 1061s

wants to keep going. We're not called to stop in this race. We're not called to 1067s

quit. There are times where fatigue may set in. We may be tired. We may give ourselves all sorts 1078s

of excuses. I can't run this race because I'm too old. I can't run this race because I'm too young. 1088s

I can't run as an introvert. I can't run because I'm too extroverted. We can make excuses all we want 1098s

I am the queen of excuses. I will try to get out of running anytime I can, 1108s

but that's not where we're called to live and that's not how we're called to run the race. 1117s

We don't know how much arguing was going on in Paul's mind as he went from town to town. 1124s

We don't know the depth of the prayers that he uttered to the Lord as he knew he would be 1131s

suffering for the sake of the gospel. But what he was giving to these elders at the church of 1138s

Ephesus was the word to keep going. As we'll see in the coming weeks, he gave warnings 1146s

that there would be false teachers. He gave warnings that there would be temptations 1156s

but he said, keep going. It's worth it. This is what we're called to do. With testifying to 1162s

God's grace, we are never to stop. It doesn't matter what our situation is, we're called to run 1171s

this race. We are called to proclaim repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus. 1181s

And by the strength of God, by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, 1191s

indeed, we can keep on keeping on. 1202s