In each article of this four-part series,1 we have set forth a reality that Paul passed along to the Ephesian elders to whom he was passing the baton of leadership in Acts 20. In some ways, the term “pass along” is too gentle. He urged these realities upon these elders as absolutely critical for themselves and for the flock entrusted to their care.
Someone has said, “Great leaders pass the torch.” (Interestingly, the identity of who first said this is unknown.) Too many spiritually thriving ministries have crashed and burned because the torch got dropped in the passing. In this final article, I want to address a fourth reality that I see in Paul’s parting words to the Ephesian elders, a reality that must be urged on those who follow us in ministry: You will find God and His Word to be more than enough. I base this truth on verse 32: “So 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.”
If we read this verse superficially, we may think it is reminding us of the power of God and His Word in the lives of the sheep to whom we minister. But look at the verse more carefully: verse 32 is addressed to the men to whom Paul is passing the baton of leadership. He commends them to God and to the word of His grace that is able to build them up and to give them an inheritance among those who are sanctified. Paul’s focus is on them! In the midst of their labors as shepherds, what they need is God and the word of His grace. God and His Word are enough.
From the response of these elders to the news that Paul would no longer be available, it seems they thought they needed the Apostle Paul (vv. 37-38). How can we effectively shepherd without him? Those to whom we pass the baton may sometimes feel the same way: I can’t do this unless my missionary mentor drops in now and then. Truly, we are thankful for those who continue to mentor us after they have passed the baton, but do we technically need them?
What these men needed was not Paul. The umbilical cord could be cut. Like a child who goes from his mother’s womb to being entrusted to his mother’s care outside of the womb, these men were being entrusted (the idea behind the word “commended,” v. 32) to God. Can you think of a more reliable Person to whom to entrust these men? To entrust them to the God Who purchased the church with His blood, Who owns the church, Who called these men to shepherd His church? Will this God then abandon those entrusted to His care and into whose care He has entrusted a possession of such great value?
In fact, this God had revealed to them His grace in His Word, and it is this Word that is able to build them up so that they can then build up God’s church. Paul knew personally the help that God’s words of grace provided as he testifies in 2 Corinthians 12 when he asked God to remove his thorn in the flesh. God’s response was to lift up His grace to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9). On the basis of God’s “word of grace,” Paul changes his tune about his thorn in the flesh: “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (v. 9). The thorn in the flesh was still there but so was God’s grace—and the latter made all the difference!
Paul is not the only one for whom God’s words of grace met a need during physical suffering. John Newton’s wife, Mary, suffered terribly with cancer at the end of her life. Newton testified, however, that “the good Word of God was her medicine and her food.” He comments that “almost every principal text” in her Bible, “from beginning to the end of the book, is marked in the margin with a pencil, by her own dear hand."2
God’s words reveal His grace, and they minister His grace. They reveal Him to be the God of all grace. His grace saves. His grace strengthens. His grace enables. His grace comforts. His grace teaches. The list could go on.
Truly, God and His words of grace are enough. A missionary church planter recently shared with me the challenge he faced when his church plant of about 90 members suffered a devastating church split, decimating the attendance. Amid these discouraging circumstances, God gave him 2 Corinthians 4:17: “our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” [KJV, my emphasis]. The Holy Spirit highlighted in his mind the two words for us. He thought to himself, “Why should I be discouraged or quit if through this affliction God is working for me an exceeding, eternal weight of glory.” The Lord then enabled him to rebuild the church; in fact, he commented on how much sweeter the church business meetings were after the split.
God and His words were enough for the missionary church planter mentioned above. God and His words of grace were enough for John Newton’s wife. They were enough for Paul. They were enough, Paul knew, for the elders at Ephesus to whom he was passing the baton. They are enough for you and me. And they will be enough—count on it—for those to whom you and I pass the baton. Don’t let go of that baton until those to whom you are passing it are convinced of and revel in this truth: God and His Word are more than enough!