A Farewell Address
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A Farewell Address

 (ID: 2458)

When Paul said farewell to the leaders of the Ephesian church, he reminded them of how he strove to live a life free of temptation and accusation so that he could present the Gospel freely. He exhorted them to be similarly vigilant so that they would be quick to recognize false believers and avoid the discord they can sow. Alistair Begg echoes Paul’s encouragement that God’s continual presence, provision, and grace are our ultimate source of confidence.

Series Containing This Sermon

For the Sake of the Gospel, Volume 1

Acts 19:1–41, Acts 20:1–38, Acts 21:1–40, Acts 22:1–30 Series ID: 25204


25And now, behold, fI know that none of you among whom I have gone about gproclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26Therefore hI testify to you this day that iI am innocent of the blood of all, 27for jI did not shrink from declaring to you kthe whole counsel of God. 28lPay careful attention to yourselves and to all mthe flock, in which nthe Holy Spirit has made you ooverseers, pto care for qthe church of God,5 which he robtained swith his own blood.6 29I rknow that after my departure tfierce wolves will come in among you, unot sparing the flock; 30and vfrom among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31Therefore wbe alert, remembering that xfor three years I did not cease night or day yto admonish every one zwith tears. 32And now aI commend you to God and to bthe word of his grace, which is able to cbuild you up and to give you dthe inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33eI coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. 34fYou yourselves know that gthese hands ministered to my necessities and hto those who were with me. 35In all things iI have shown you that jby working hard in this way we must khelp the weak and lremember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed mto give than to receive.’

36And when he had said these things, nhe knelt down and prayed with them all. 37And othere was much weeping on the part of all; pthey embraced Paul and pkissed him, 38being sorrowful most of all because of qthe word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And rthey accompanied him to the ship.

Copyright © 2024, Alistair Begg. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.

Alistair Begg
Alistair Begg is Senior Pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Bible teacher on Truth For Life, which is heard on the radio and online around the world.