3. Sad news - v. 25-31
Paul spoke outright to those whom he loved who had come to see him, he told them they would never see him again. Can you imagine the shock that they felt? Such sorrow must have come to their hearts!
Paul said to them also that he was innocent of the blood of all men! What did he mean by that? He declared that he was innocent of the blood of men because he had been faithful to preach and proclaim the whole will of God. Those who had heard and believed were safe in the arms of Jesus from the judgment that would come, but those who chose to refuse the truth of the Gospel would then be responsible for the sin of their own soul. Even though he had tears for them his heart was clear because he had been faithful to his call and to the work of preaching to the lost.
Paul then goes on to say to his brothers that there was need for them to be careful for their own lives and watch out over the flock of the Lord Jesus when he left. Paul told them that the Holy Spirit had made them overseers and shepherds of the Church of God. Paul reminds them that it was of the Ephesian church that they would be overseers and shepherds; that church was “bought with His own blood,” the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Remember church, the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ here at NABC, that you too were bought with His own blood! There are overseers and shepherds of this flock as well that need to be careful and continuously watch out over this congregation on behalf of the Savior, whose blood was shed for His church.
Everyone here and listening to my voice/watching on their devices, you also have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to reveal the love of God and show His character to all mankind. He did this by living a perfect life and then dying for everyone and shedding His blood upon the cross to forgive all people everywhere their sin. He was buried because He was dead! But on the third day He arose from the grave to live again and tooffer each of us eternal life, now and forever more.
Jesus personally bought you with His own blood!
The question is will you receive that gift He is offering you?
Will you who have accepted that gift, testify to others here today that you were in fact a sinner in need of forgiveness and you, by faith, accepted Christ’s free gift of eternal life and now know you possess eternal life? (Romans 6:23, “...the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”)
Now Paul declares that there will be reasons for this watching out and being careful, it is that there will be savage wolves come among them after he leaves. These wolves will not do good but as wolves, they will harm and destroy the flock of God. Shockingly there will be those among them Paul says, that will rise and distort the truth of God’s Word in order to pull away people from the flock to follow them. Be on guard Paul says, he has tried to warn them over the years that he was there with them. You see Paul really loved the congregation of Ephesus, so much that he shed tears over them often. Be careful Church!