Acts 20:17

"And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to him the elders of the church": Ephesus was 30 miles distance from Miletus, so assuming that it took one day for the messenger to arrive and one day for the elders to travel to Paul, he probably only had one day with them before the ship sailed. "As the crow flies, Ephesus was only thirty miles north of Miletus, but the rather circuitous road was longer" (Stott p. 323). "Elders of the church": The office or work of "elders" did not evolve in the early church, because we find elders early in the history of Christianity (Acts 11:30; Acts 14:23). Each congregation did not choose it's own method of governing itself or its own organizational structure, rather the pattern for congregational leadership and organization is clear (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1 ff; Titus 1:5 ff; 1 Peter 5:1). The titles, "elders", "bishops" or "overseers", and "shepherds" or "pastors", all refer to the same office. Compare Acts 20:17 with Acts 20:28; Titus 1:5 with Acts 1:6; and 1 Peter 5:1.

PAUL'S SPEECH TO THE ELDERS

Stott reminds us that this is the only speech in the book of Acts that is addressed solely to Christians.