Sermon For Pastors Meeting

Guard Yourselves and the Flock: A Word for Those Who Lead

Acts 20:17-38 gives us one of the most searching and honest conversations about ministry leadership found anywhere in the New Testament. Paul has called the elders of the church at Ephesus to meet him at Miletus. He knows he will not see them again. He is not writing a letter. He is not giving a lecture. He is standing face to face with men he has labored alongside, men he loves, and he is telling them the truth about what this work costs and what it demands. If you are a pastor, a ministry leader, a deacon, a volunteer who serves this congregation, or a member who prays for those who lead, this passage is for you.

The central claim of this text is simple and serious. Those who lead the church must watch over themselves and the flock with humility, courage, and grace, because the work is costly, the dangers are real, and only Christ can sustain it.

Let us work through this passage carefully and honestly.

Lesson One: Ministry Is Defined by How You Serve, Not by How You Are Seen

Paul begins his address in verse 18 by appealing to what the Ephesian elders already know. He says, "You know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day I set foot in Asia." That is a remarkable statement. He does not ask them to take his word for it. He points to a life they have witnessed.

He describes his ministry in verse 19 as serving the Lord "with all humility, with tears, and with the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews." Three things stand out in that single verse. Humility. Tears. Trials. Not prestige. Not platform. Not numbers. Paul's ministry was defined by lowliness of heart, genuine sorrow for people, and the willingness to endure suffering for the sake of the gospel.

This is where the text challenges every leader in the room. Ministry is not a career path. It is not a brand. It is not a stage. It is a life poured out in service to God and to people. Paul says in verse 20 that he did not hold back anything that was profitable. He taught publicly and from house to house. He declared repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to both Jews and Greeks.

Here is the lesson: the measure of faithful ministry is not visibility. It is faithfulness. The preacher who serves a small congregation in a rural county and the pastor who leads a large church in a city are both called to the same standard. Humility. Tears. Consistency. Truth.

Ask yourself honestly: Is the way I serve shaped more by the desire to be seen or by the desire to be faithful? Paul's answer to that question was written in the daily texture of his life among the Ephesians.

Lesson Two: Faithful Leaders Declare The Whole Counsel Of God

In verse 26, Paul makes a striking claim. He says, "I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole counsel of God." That phrase, the whole counsel of God, is the anchor of this section.

Paul is using the language of the watchman from the Hebrew prophets. If the watchman warns the people and they do not listen, their blood is on their own hands. But if the watchman fails to warn, the blood is on the watchman. Paul is saying that he has been faithful to warn, to teach, to proclaim everything God has given him to say. He has not edited the gospel for comfort. He has not skipped the hard texts. He has not avoided the doctrines that make people uncomfortable.

This is one of the most practical and most neglected callings in pastoral ministry. It is far easier to preach the texts people enjoy and quietly set aside the ones that create tension. It is easier to stay in the familiar passages and avoid the ones that require courage. But Paul says that faithful leadership means declaring the whole counsel of God.

For the congregation that supports its pastor, this is also a word for you. Support your pastor when he preaches what is true even when it is difficult. The preacher who only tells you what you want to hear is not serving you. He is flattering you. The preacher who loves you enough to tell you the truth is the one worth praying for and standing behind.

The whole counsel of God includes the grace of the gospel, the call to repentance, the reality of judgment, the promise of resurrection, the demands of discipleship, and the hope of Christ's return. No faithful pastor can afford to specialize only in the comfortable parts.

Lesson Three: Leaders Must Watch Over Themselves Before They Watch Over Others

Verse 28 is the theological center of this passage. Paul says, "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood."

Notice the order. Guard yourselves first, then the flock. This is not selfishness. This is wisdom. A leader who neglects his own soul will eventually have nothing to give the people he serves. A pastor who does not tend his own walk with God, his own marriage, his own integrity, his own prayer life, will find that the well runs dry. You cannot pour from an empty vessel.

Paul also reminds these elders of something they must never forget. It is the Holy Spirit who has made them overseers. Not a vote. Not a credential. Not a title. The Spirit of God places people in positions of spiritual responsibility, and that means those positions carry accountability before God, not just before the congregation.

And then Paul says something that should stop every leader cold. This is the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. The church does not belong to the pastor. It does not belong to the denomination. It does not belong to the founding family or the largest givers. The church belongs to Jesus Christ, who gave his life for it. Every leader is a steward, not an owner. Every elder is an undershepherd, not the Chief Shepherd. That title belongs to Christ alone.

This truth is a safeguard against the kind of leadership that becomes controlling, self-serving, or abusive. When a leader remembers that the flock belongs to Christ and that he will answer to Christ for how he has cared for it, it changes everything about how he leads.

Lesson Four: The Dangers Are Real, and Grace Is the Only Sufficient Resource

Paul does not end on a comfortable note. In verses 29 and 30, he warns that after his departure, fierce wolves will come in among them, not sparing the flock. And even more sobering, he says that from among their own number, men will rise up speaking distorted things to draw away disciples after themselves.

The threats to the church are not only external. Some of the most damaging things that happen to congregations come from within. False teaching, self-promotion, division, the pursuit of a personal following rather than the glory of Christ. Paul names it plainly because the elders need to be prepared.

But then look at what Paul does in verse 32. After all the warning, after all the weight of what he has laid on these men, he says, "And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified."

He does not commit them to a strategy. He does not commit them to a program. He commits them to God and to the word of his grace. The resource for faithful ministry is not human cleverness or organizational skill. It is the living God and the word that reveals him. The same gospel that saves sinners is the gospel that sustains shepherds.

Paul then models something in verses 33 through 35 that is worth pausing on. He reminds them that he coveted no one's silver or gold or clothing. He worked with his own hands to meet his needs and the needs of those with him. He quotes the Lord Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." The leader who serves for what he can get from the people will always be a danger to the flock. The leader who gives himself for the people, as Christ gave himself for the church, is the one who reflects the gospel he preaches.

A Closing Charge

The passage ends in verses 36 through 38 with Paul kneeling and praying with all of them. They weep. They embrace him. They grieve that they will not see his face again. This is not the farewell of a professional. This is the farewell of a father, a brother, a fellow laborer. Ministry done faithfully creates bonds that go deeper than programs and titles.

If you are a pastor or a ministry leader, hear this text as a gift and a charge. Guard your own soul. Preach the whole counsel of God. Remember that the flock belongs to Christ. Watch for the dangers that come from within and without. And commit yourself to God and to the word of his grace, because that word is able to build you up and carry you through everything this work will ask of you.

If you are a member of this congregation, hear this text as a call to pray for those who lead you, to hold them accountable with love, to support their faithful preaching, and to remember that every leader in this church is a servant of the same Lord you serve.

Christ purchased this church with his own blood. He is its head. He is its hope. And he is faithful to sustain everyone who leads and everyone who follows in his name.

Sources Consulted

The Holy Bible, Christian Standard Bible. Holman Bible Publishers, 2017.

Polhill, John B. Acts. The New American Commentary, Vol. 26. Broadman and Holman, 1992.

Stott, John R. W. The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church and the World. The Bible Speaks Today. InterVarsity Press, 1990.

Longenecker, Richard N. Acts. The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. 9. Zondervan, 1981.

Schreiner, Thomas R. Paul, Apostle of God's Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology. InterVarsity Press, 2001.