Forgiveness

In our study of the Heidelberg Catechism (The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism) when we reached the fifth request of the Lord’s Prayer "forgive us our debts" (Lord's Day 51), I mentioned my recent understanding of forgiveness that came from our  lengthy study of Matthew where the binding exercised by a priest's "finger"( Matthew 23:4) was contrasted with the power granted to us by which we loose what is bound both on earth and in heaven (Matthew 16:19; Matthew 18:18).

Summary

When on the cross our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, asked the Father to forgive those participating in His crucifixion.  In that way, He exemplified the last beatitude where the lack of retaliation and the willingness to forgive in response to such persecution, blesses one with citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.  He then used the keys of that kingdom to loose those participating despite their actions and gave us an example that we must daily follow.  That is to forgive others.

In the Lord’s Prayer, we are taught to request our own forgiveness consistent with how we forgive others.  Only within the church and only after the multistep process outlined in Matthew 18, are we told to withhold forgiveness.   In all other circumstances, with or without the offender’s repentance, we are instructed to forgive.  Unlike the unforgiving servant, we are to cancel the debt.  Better said, we are to loose them from it as we ask the Father to forgive them.  

Binding and loosing were exercised by the priest to determine if atonement was necessary.  Unlike the church, which can bind, we are commanded to forgive and, within God’s sovereign decree, the Father will also have loosed them as promised in Matthew 16:19.

This does not do violence to the Reformed Faith, where it is understood that salvation is only by faith, only by personal repentance, and only through the work of Christ to atone, where our debt is not cancelled but rather paid and our filthy record is replaced by the righteousness of Christ.  Neither of which is done or can be done when we forgive others. We have no righteousness to offer and there is, in fact, no debt to be paid.  

In our study of Matthew (From the Mountain to the World) the binding exercised by a priest's "finger"( Matthew 23:4) was contrasted with the power granted to us by which we may loose what is bound both on earth and in heaven (Matthew 16:19; Matthew 18:18).

For when a priest bound a person, that person had to make atonement for their actions.  When we forgive someone personally, we loose them and cancel the debt.  They need not make atonement to us.  They are forgiven.

Let’s watch this in action in Matthew 12:1-8, when Jesus and the disciples took advantage of the law that permitted personal consumption of a neighbor's grain (Deuteronomy 23:25).  Hunger mercifully overrides the eighth commandment (Exodus 20:15), which prohibits theft.

Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

However, the Pharisees held that it did not override the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8), which prohibited work on the Sabbath.  They attempted to bind Him and require atonement.

In response, Jesus repeats for them a second time Hosea 6:6 (Matthew 9:13; Matthew 12:17), which instructs us to add mercy to judgement.  And in Matthew 12:9-14, Jesus demonstrated this by working on a Sabbath to be merciful to a man.  This infuriated the Pharisees.

But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

Then in Matthew 12:22-32, the Pharisees attempted once again to bind Him.  Without denying any of the miracles, they challenged the source of Jesus’ power as He continued to cast out demons.  This would have been a violation of the laws having to do with sorcery (Deuteronomy 18:9-14).  This is the second time (Matthew 9:33-34) that this blasphemous charge was spoken:

 “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

In response to this blasphemy (blasphēmia) of Himself and in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:12), He forgives them!  But He warns them, that similar actions against the Holy Spirit could not be similarly forgiven.  Instead, such sin must always be punished (Matthew 12:32).

And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

This is a tough passage. What happens if I make an off-handed comment?  What if I say something during a temporary period of deep lamentation?

Many attempt to comfort the repentant by explaining that if they are repentant of this unpardonable sin, they cannot possibly have committed the sin, because the repentant are always forgiven (1 John 1:9).  They identify this sin as the high-handed ongoing rejection of the Holy Spirit, which would indeed lead the unrepentant to damnation (Matthew 25:31-46).  

However, the brevity of the action (“a word”) and the tense of the verb (constative (punctiliar) aorist), do not support this.  In fact, in Matthew 12:33-37, it explains that every word will be judged and must be accounted for, even the careless ones.

“ . . . I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

So, this shocking statement must be understood from within the proclaimed Gospel.  For the repentant, this grievous sin like all others, are propitiated by the work of Christ on the cross, where He is punished instead of them.  There is no sin, where the work of Christ on the cross is not sufficient!

So, what then, is the difference between our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit?  Why is blasphemy against one forgivable and not the other.   We are taught in WSC #6 that "these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory".  

While they are not substantively different, they are positionally different.  Jesus temporally relinquished His authority to become the sacrifice.  But not so with the Holy Spirit.  He has remained in glory.  He is not the sacrifice. He cannot similarly forgive such evil.  He must require atonement.

Praise be to God that our Lord Jesus Christ is willing to be the propitiation for our sin and protect us from God’s wrath, for any sin against the Holy Spirit must be punished.  While, giving us the example to follow, that we too should forgive others.

Regularly we pray as we have been taught by our Lord.  When it was originally taught it was followed by a stern warning:

Matthew 6:9-15

Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

   on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from evil.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Jesus became the ultimate example of this on the cross, when Jesus said "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34).  

Now, with that request were all those who were scourging, mocking, and killing Jesus ushered down the Ordo Salutis from regeneration, through justification, to adoption?  No, they were simply forgiven for those particular actions, just as he had done in our previously example of blasphemy directed against Jesus.

But what does that mean?  What takes place?  Let’s read it again.  

Luke 23:34

"Father, forgive them"

Two participated: the Father and the Son.  Jesus asked the Father to loose them from that sin.  And it was struck from the "books" (Revelation 20:12) by which they will be judged.  

It does not, however, add their name to the "book of life" (Revelation 20:15).  For that is immutable, having been written before the foundation of the world (Revelation 17:8).  

While we will be judged by the “books”, God has already chosen those in the “book” to be saved (Revelation 20:11-15).  And they will be saved only through the substitutionary work of Christ, in response to faith and repentance, where He is punished for their all their sin and they are credited instead with His righteousness. 

So, when we forgive someone, terrestrially, we also become a sacrifice of sorts, one that has been made “holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12).

Matthew 16:19

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

But unlike Christ, we have no righteousness.  We can forgive (or better said, ask the Father to forgive), but we cannot save.  In this way, this does not do violence to the Westminter Larger Catechism question 194 which says in part:

·       “that we and all others are guilty both of original and actual sin”

·       “that neither we, nor any other creature, can make the least satisfaction for that debt”

·       “when we have this testimony in ourselves, that we from the heart forgive others their offenses.”

Say, for example, your spouse does something that disrupts your morning routine, you miss the bus, arrive 30 minutes late for work, and must work through lunch to make up for it.  If you go to our Father and ask Him to forgive them, if you commit neither to retaliate nor resent them, if you erase it from your terrestrial ledger, God will have erased it from His celestial books as well.  This is forgiveness. 

This is not, however, the ability to direct God's actions, which would be sorcery.  In some translations of Matthew 16:19 (See for example NET, or the footnotes of NIV or ESV) the Greek tenses of esomai lyō survive into English as "will have been loosed".  This preserves God's sovereignty, and it preferred over "shall be loosed" which makes it appear that in some way we are the cause.   This is not an issue with the text.  All manuscripts tense the verbs the same.  We are neither the cause nor the mediator that would do violence to Westminster Confession of Faith 8.1, we are simply obedient.

This is so central to the Eastern Orthodox Church liturgy that before Great Lent, there is Forgiveness Vespers, during which members of the congregation turn each to the other and say “Forgive me, a sinner”, to which the response comes “God forgives, and I forgive”.

These keys were given not just to Peter, nor are they given just to the church as described in Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 30.2 (which dangerously conflates the Kingdom of God with the visible church), but rather they are given to all who would enter with Peter into the Kingdom of God.  Yes, the officers following Matthew 18, can bind an individual and remove them from the visible church, but their power does not reach to authoring the Book of Life. Had that been true, our Lord would have been bound repeatedly as we saw in Matthew 12 and not been the perfect sacrifice.

Said a different way, as we use these keys, that is when we forgive someone, it does not grant them entrance to the Kingdom, it demonstrates that we are citizens of the Kingdom through our personal sacrifice.  Should the church bind them, yes they are removed from fellowship, but the status of their citizenship that must be left to the King.

So, at this point we must return to the warning of Matthew 6:15:

“. . . but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

That is another tough passage.  In essence, it warns that those that fail to practice forgiveness should question their salvation.  

Jesus was asked by Peter how many times one should forgive.  The Pharisees held that it was three times based on God’s pattern (Amos 1-2).  Peter thought it might be seven.  Jesus responded with a ridiculous number (Matthew 18:21-22) and then goes on to explain in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:23-35).

To see this in action, let’s look at still another tough passage:

Colossians 1:24-26

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

Paul did not say here that Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, was in some way insufficient, just that there was more sacrificing to be done (Romans 8:16-18).  Each time Paul was stoned, imprisoned unjustly, or falsely accused, he forgave them!  He did not require atonement.  He loosed them.  As a citizen of the Kingdom, he used the keys of the Kingdom.  He asked the Father to forgive them, and it was removed from the books both on earth and in heaven!  While Jesus is the supreme example, and Peter was told he would receive these keys, we see from the Stoning of Steven (Acts 7:60) and the many examples from Paul, that the keys were shared with all the citizens of the Kingdom.

Let’s return for a moment to the question of what happens when God “looses” something.  Binding or loosing is the declaration of guilt, not the atonement for guilt.  It would then mean that when loosed by God, their actions are declared to not be a sin, and thus is not a debt to be repaid.

I had previously held that when I forgive, God would still eventually punish my offender for that sin.  That is not true, for what I forgive (or better said, what I ask God to forgive), they will not be punished.  Never.  Ever.   

This can also be understood from the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21–35), where if the Servant had been merciful and forgave his fellow servant, that debt would have disappeared rather than becoming a debt owed to the master.

Romans 12:19

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

This is an unfortunate use of the English idiom “leave it” which inaccurately ties the wrath to the present offence, permitting the thought that God would punish them for “it”.  Better said, we are to step aside and literally “give place” (didōmi topos) for divine wrath.  We are to live a life where we are not the judge, but rather the sacrifice!

Is there a time not to forgive?  Yes.  The protocol is clearly laid out again in Matthew 18:

Matthew 18:15-18  

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.  Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The only time we are commanded not to forgive is for an unrepentant “brother”, and only after this three-step protocol has been followed and their unrepentant sin has been recognized by the church.  For, then they are no brother at all.  Rather than repenting and receiving the forgiveness from a true brother who is willing to be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), they are now presuming upon Christ’s sacrifice, essentially attempting to crucify Him a second time (Hebrews 6:4-6).  As a result, they should be removed from the visible church.  They should be bound.

At risk of making this section too long, one more tough verse must be addressed:

Romans 12:20

To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Reading this verse by itself, or worse yet combined only with its prior verse, we can jump to the conclusion that the effect of our good works would in some way bring about the "vengeance" of God (Romans 12:19).  But when taken in the full context of the chapter (Romans 12) a different picture is formed, that of an altar, its consuming fire, and a living sacrifice.  

For we are that sacrifice, the offense that we terrestrially forgive is the wood, and our enemy is the altar.  Yes, indeed their conscience may burn as our small sacrifice brings about the sweet aroma of the Holy Place (Leviticus 16:12), but they may also repent, and receive the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ and joy inexpressible (which is what we should want for even our worst enemy)!  So, we are called to love in this way:

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

And with this understanding (that we participate as the terrestrial sacrifice) we can now understand:

1 Peter 2:2
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation . . .

This “spiritual” (logikos) milk is identical in nature as to the also difficult to translate “spiritual worship” of Romans 12:1.  During spiritual worship the sacrifice is now done with the mind (forgiveness), without the need for the physical sacrifice of atonement.  Previously, the proscribed sacrifice for sin was a lamb (Leviticus 4:32-35).  Now, we are the new sacrifice, and so we too drink . . . milk.

Acts 27-28 - On to Rome

Here the travel narrative ends.  Luke recorded it just as he did any other stop on their journey (Acts 18:11;Acts 18:18; Acts 20:6; Acts 21:4; Acts 25:6; Acts 25:14; Acts 28:12).

Acts 28:30-31

He lived there two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

So, it feels unfinished.  It feels like there is more to come.  You want to turn the page.  There is no valediction or other close to the book, which is much like the way Luke closed his gospel account.

Luke 24:50-53

And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Luke does not avoid martyrdom having recorded that of John the Baptist (Luke 3:19–20, 9:9), Steven (Acts 7:54-60), and James the brother of John (Acts 12:1-5).  But Luke does not record the final acts of either Peter, Paul, John, or James.  

The temptation for us would be to piece together Paul’s fourth missionary journey to Spain and eventual martyrdom from the evidence within his copious epistles, but that would be a disservice to the ending of this book.

Luke is not documenting the end but rather the beginning of the Church.  With each event, each visit, each conversation, being one more stone in its construction.

James also closes his epistle in this unfinished style (James 5) with a series of admonitions but without any valediction.  One of the last concerns prayer for an ill believer.

James 5:13-15

 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

James encourages us to commit the sick to the will of God in prayer.  Then, God may heal them miraculously in the moment, or over time using the God-designed self-healing mechanisms of the body, or in God’s providence the believer may, in fact, die.  It would be a misreading to understand that this verse guarantees healing.

But regardless of the outcome, the Lord will raise them up.  The Lord will forgive.  James is not pointing us to the surety of healing but rather to the surety of resurrection.  

Why then the oil?  Anointing with oil sets someone or something apart as holy and for a purpose.  The reader is encouraged to search the 25 other occurrences in scripture to confirm this.  We do a disservice then to connect it here with healing.  

But in our humanity, we want something magical and under our power to heal our loved-one, when in fact we simply are being told to set them apart for God’s holy purpose.  That purpose may be present and temporary or future and eternal, but it does not end.

So, then it is fitting that the Acts of the Apostles is left unfinished!

Acts 25-26 - Before Festus and Agrippa

In Acts 26:12-23, Paul relates his conversion experience to King Agrippa.  He includes a phrase that was not recorded previously (though it is found in some manuscripts added to Acts 9:5 KJV) :

. . . in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

A goad was a strong sharpened stick used to drive an ox.  It was strong enough for Shamgar the Judge to have used as a weapon to single handedly kill 600 Philistines (Judges 3:31).  Typically, 6-8 feet in length, fire hardened, and metal tipped.

The image here is that when being driven, if the ox kicked back against the prodding, it would injure itself.  This is a common proverb.

Gamaliel, under whom Paul had studied (Acts 22:3) also warned against this when in council (Acts 5:33-40).  One should not fight against God.

It was an extra message Paul wanted to share with King Agrippa.  Don’t fight against the fact that the prophets, whom the king himself believed, their prophecies have indeed been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Acts 26:27-28
[Paul speaking] “. . . King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” 

The Apostles and the evangelists used goads in their conversations to drive individuals to decision.  

•      Peter often pointed to undeniable miracles (Acts 3:14-20).
•      To his own martyrdom, Steven pointed to scripture (Acts 7:48-53).
•      Phillip used scripture and pointed to nearby water (Acts 8:34-36).
•      Peter argued from fulfilled prophecy (Acts 13:16-43).
•      Paul used compassion and personal sacrifice (Acts 16:27-31).
•      Paul used the words of local poets about Zeus (Acts 17:28-32).
•      Paul used his own testimony (Acts 22:3-23).

We have strong goads and permission to use them.

 

Acts 23-24 - Before Felix

Imprisoned for two years by Felix, the journeys of Paul paused.  Additionally, no letter exists from this period and no miracles are recorded.  Paul’s only ministry was to his visitors and to Felix.  

But Paul had written his magnum opus, the Epistle to the Romans, while in Corinth, during the Third Missionary Journey (See Pauline Epistles).  He concludes Romans with his plans to visit Rome (and Spain) after his trip to Jerusalem (Romans 15:22-29).

While a pause does not fit with the modern first-world lifestyle, it fit God’s plan:

1 Corinthians 3:5-7
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

So, like a farmer, Paul’s efforts paused while the seed in Rome germinated.

But something else was also germinating.  

Impatient after two years, prominent Jews of Caesarea went to Emperor Nero in Rome to complain about Felix (See Josephus “The Antiquities of the Jews” Book XX Chapter 8 Section 9).  It was a complaint for which Felix was almost punished but instead was simply replaced.  The content of the complaint was not recorded, but it can be presumed that it concerned Paul and could be the reason Paul was left in prison.

Acts 24:27
When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

For those that want to follow the drama of Herod the Great’s Family Tree, should take note that Felix was married to Drusilla, the great-grand-daughter of Herod the Great. 

Acts 21-23:11- Paul's Final Visit to Jerusalem

Acts documents three missionary journeys by Paul:

• The first missionary journey started in Antioch, looped through Asia-Minor, and back to Antioch, before finishing in Jerusalem.
• The second started in Jerusalem, went through Antioch, Asia-Minor, went on to Macedonia and Greece, visited Jerusalem, and finished in Antioch.
• The third would start in Antioch and finish in Jerusalem but focused on Ephesus.

As we just read last week, Paul quickly left the elders of Ephesus at Miletus and sailed quickly to Caesarea and on to Jerusalem.  Paul was driven to get there despite being told multiple times not to go.

• The disciples at Tyre tell him "through the Spirit" that he should not go to Jerusalem (Acts 21:3-4).
• The prophet Agebus at Caesarea acts out prophetically how Paul would be bound and led away in Jerusalem (Acts 21:8-12).

Paul pressed on anyway saying "For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13b).  While the Spirit was accurately communicating what would occur, Paul was not being commanded through them not to go.

Paul already had his marching orders.

After coming under the protection of the Roman authorities, while he addressed a riotous crowd, he related his conversion experience and the prophetic word from Ananias, who had restored Paul's sight.

Acts 22:14-15

And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.

Acts records three additional times when Paul would receive a direct word from our Lord Jesus Christ.

• Immediately following his conversion, Paul fell into a trance while praying in the temple and was commanded "Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles."(Acts 22:17-21).  This he did with three missionary journeys.
• On the second missionary journey, having reached Greece, he was told in Corinth “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” (Acts 18:9-10).  This he did as he came under the providential protection of the Romans.
• And after he had testified before the Jewish council in Jerusalem, he was commanded “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” (Acts 23:11).

With these marching orders, Paul ignored the warnings of the Christians at Tyre and Caesarea, and used every possible strategy to achieve that goal:

• He used a plan hatched by James to show people that Paul was still an observant Jew (Acts 21:17-30)
• He used the protection of the Roman cohort as an opportunity to speak and give his testimony (Acts 21:37-22:23).
• He used his Roman citizenship into a second opportunity to speak and demonstrate his love for the Jewish Law (Acts 23:1-5).
• He split the Jewish council down the middle, confounding their efforts to present a unified front against Paul to the Romans (Acts 23:6-10).
• He began to use the command and control structures of the Roman authorities to start his way to Rome under their protection (Acts 23:31-35).

He did not simply wait for the door to be opened, he opened them.

Acts 19-20 - Paul in Ephesus/Third Missionary Journey

In Acts 19:1-10, the narrative now catches back up to Paul, who had left Ephesus, leaving behind Priscilla and Aquilla, but now returned to Ephesus after Apollos had moved on to Corinth.  Apollos was described as "eloquent", "fervent in spirit", and that he "taught accurately", but only what he knew (Acts 18:24-25).  So that when Paul arrived he found that key stones were left out of the fledgling church's foundation.

Acts 19:2-3  
And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.”

Paul quickly remedies the situation by baptizing them in the name of the Lord Jesus and gives them the evangelistic gifts of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands.  This is the last recorded time this had occurred.  Paul understood they needed to be properly grounded and fully equipped.

In Acts 19:11-20, Paul then addresses the sorcery being practiced by "itinerant Jewish exorcists" that included the seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva.  They turn to Christ and hold a book burning to end the practices.

At this point, Paul, through the Holy Spirit receives his marching-orders:

Acts 19:21-22

Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

Then, in Acts 19:21-41, Paul and his companions are once again protected by the rule of law, when a riot occurs led by those making a living from the manufacturing of idols.  This was quelled by the town clerk with admonitions that hinted at how Caesar had quelled the riots in Rome (Acts 18:1-3).

Spoiler alert: In subsequent chapters, Paul would use this rule of law (Lex Rex) to reach Rome.

Leaving Ephesus, Paul travels west to Macedonia and then on to Greece, where he spent three months until there was further opposition from the Jews.  At which point he made a key decision:

Acts 20:3

There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

Like the first missionary journey, he chose to return to the churches he planted along the way, rather than simply sailing home.  With his marching order, he understands this will be his last visit.  There would not be a fourth missionary journey.

Acts 20:16-17

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.

Strangely though, he did not want to go to Ephesus personally.  He did not want himself to be their sole witness.  Instead, traveling nearby he called for the elders to come to him, so that he could instruct them and they would become the next generation of leadership for Ephesus.  What he said to them is recorded in Acts 20:18-35 (which the reader should pause and read in its entirety), but the core of which is:

Acts 20:28

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Once, I had a heated discussion with an anti-gun person.  We spoke of gun-free zones for schools.  But when I spoke of how valuable the children were, the absurdity of their position became obvious even to them.  The children have to be protected with guns.  They are that valuable.

Those in our church were bought with the blood of Christ.  There is nothing more valuable.  We who shepherd and care for the flock need to understand that.