INNOCENT

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.”

Acts 20:25-26

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Paul wasn’t returning to Ephesus. He knew that it wasn’t in the Lord’s plans for him to do so as he arrived in Miletus before heading onto Jerusalem.

And so Paul, not wanting to leave his beloved church in Ephesus without some final words, sent for the elders and asked them to join him in Miletus. Upon their arrival, Paul launched into a message for them to go back and share with the people.

In yesterday’s message, we saw Paul comfortable and confident, even facing an unknown future past his time in Miletus. He made sure to confess that his life meant nothing to him when compared to the work he knew he was called to do in the name of Christ Jesus. Paul was motivated to finish the race the Lord had placed him in while testifying to the good news of God’s grace through His Son.

Paul knew his purpose and what really mattered in life. It was all about being about His Father’s business, just like His Savior Jesus.

And so that was what Paul did when he went from place to place. He was all in for the cause of Christ and his drive for sharing the Gospel reflected it. Paul didn’t ever leave anything on the table because he knew that the very eternal lives of the people he encountered depended on him sharing the good news of God’s salvation through Jesus with them.

This leads us to the two verses at the center of our message today as we continue to march through the twentieth chapter of Acts. There we find Paul continuing to address the Ephesian elders with these words:

“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” Acts 20:25-26

Again, Paul knew he would never set foot in Ephesus again and he was comfortable with that.

Why?

Because he had worked hard while he was with the church there to make sure “the whole will of God” was proclaimed and that whole will obviously included the sharing of the Gospel.

He had done his work and therefore he knew he couldn’t be blamed if someone happened to perish into hell and the eternal damnation found there. The blood of anyone in Ephesus would not be on Paul’s hands because the people had been exposed to the opportunity for salvation through Jesus. If they rejected that opportunity, then it was their fault, not Paul’s. He was innocent of any spiritual charges because he exhausted his efforts when in Ephesus to make sure everyone had at least heard the Gospel.

Friends, the same remains true today as we go where the Lord sends us to carry out the Great Commission. Like Paul, all we can do is labor as hard as we can to do what really matters and that is to ensure everyone we minister to at least hears the Gospel. What they do with it after it’s shared is on them. We on the other hand can follow Paul’s lead and proclaim our innocence for we have done as much as we can do to help a person find eternal life.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com