Atos 20:31

DISCOURSE: 1801
WATCHFULNESS RECOMMENDED

Atos 20:31. Therefore watch, and remember, that, by the space of three years, I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

IT is, for the most part, a blessing to mankind that they cannot look into futurity: for, on the one hand, they would have their present enjoyments almost entirely destroyed by the prospect of future ills, while, on the other hand, a prospect of remote good would prove but a small alleviation of their present troubles. Nevertheless, from a wise foresight of probable and contingent events, the most incalculable benefits arise. St. Paul knew, by immediate revelation from God, that, after his departure, some would be found amongst the leading members of the Ephesian Church, who would labour to introduce divisions and dissensions among them: and the probability was, that, unless extraordinary watchfulness were maintained by the elders of that Church, the restless sectaries would succeed in their efforts: he therefore, in the farewell discourse which he delivered to the elders at Miletus, put them on their guard; and thus, by forewarning them of their danger, contributed in a very high degree to the preservation of that Church in peace and purity.
From the caution contained in the words before us, we observe,

I. That to warn men of their danger is the kindest office of love—

[Will any one doubt whether it was an act of love in St. Paul to warn the Ephesians: to warn them individually as well as collectively; to warn them “by night and by day,” as often as he could gain access to them; to warn them with such earnestness as scarcely ever to address them without floods of “tears;” to do this incessantly, for three years together, when there was perhaps no other Church with whom he made so long an abode? However his fidelity might have been represented there, we have no doubt of the source from whence it sprang. Shall it be thought harsh then and unkind in us to warn our hearers? Who would impute it to harshness, if a parent warned his child, when walking on the brink of an unseen precipice, or playing on the hole of an asp, or cockatrice den? “We know the terrors of the Lord; and therefore we persuade men.” We know, that the soul that dies in an unregenerate state can never be admitted into the kingdom of heaven [Note: João 3:3.]: we know, that no person can be saved, who does not truly believe in Christ, and rely upon him alone for salvation [Note: João 3:18; João 3:36; Filipenses 3:9.]: we know, that “without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” On these accounts we warn the unholy, the unbelieving, the unregenerate; and intreat them to flee from the wrath to come. If we appear earnest at any time, ought we to be blamed as too zealous, or needlessly severe? No: you have infinitely more reason to complain on account of our coldness and treachery, than on account of any excess in our fidelity and earnestness. What little zeal we do shew, should be esteemed the fruit of love. And, if we could follow you from the public ordinances to your respective houses, and there renew to you separately, and with tears, the warnings we have given you in public, we should perform to you the kindest office; and most approve ourselves the servants of Him, who wept over the murderous Jerusalem, and died for the salvation of a ruined world.]

To evince that such fidelity cannot under any circumstances be dispensed with, we observe,

II.

That there are none so established, but they need to be put upon their guard—

[The persons warned by St. Paul, were not the low, the ignorant, the obscure, but the most distinguished persons in the Ephesian Church: they were the elders, who superintended and governed the Church, and had doubtless been appointed to their high office because of their superior attainments in piety and virtue. Who then are they that can claim an exemption from pastoral admonitions? Shall the rich? they perhaps, of all people in the world, most need to be put upon their guard, because their dangers are increased far beyond those of any other class [Note: Marcos 10:25.]. Are those whose proficiency in. knowledge or grace has raised them to eminence in the Church, exempt from danger? Look on David, or Solomon, or Peter, or Hymeneus and Philetus, or Demas, and then say whether any qualifications or attainments can place us beyond the reach of temptation; or whether there be a man in the universe to whom the exhortation in the text may not with great propriety be addressed? Be it known to you, that even St. Paul himself found it necessary to “keep under his body, and bring it into subjection, lest he should at last become a cast-away:” and therefore “what I say unto one I say unto all, Watch.”]

It is of importance too to remember,

III.

That the oftener we are warned, the more our responsibility is increased—

[The guilt contracted by the inhabitants of Bethsaida and Chorazin, far exceeded that of the idolatrous Tyrians or Sidonians, because they had disregarded the warnings given them by our blessed Lord: and the people of Capernaum, who had been exalted to heaven in their privileges, were cast down to hell for their abuse of them, and were doomed to a more awful condemnation than even Sodom or Gomorrha [Note: Mateus 11:21.]. Our Lord told the Jews, that “if he had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin (comparatively): but that, after the warnings he had given them, they had no cloak for their sin.” Precisely to the same effect is St. Paul’s admonition in the text: he reminds the Ephesians how long and earnestly he had warned them; and from thence insinuates, that, if they he unwatchful, their guilt will be proportionably increased. And is not this rule of judging universally admitted and approved? Is it not in this way that we estimate the criminality of our fellow-creatures? Do we not always consider, that, the more earnestly the necessity of obedience has been pressed upon them, the more aggravated is their disobedience or neglect? Surely then we should “remember how many years we have been warned;” and expect, that “to whom much has been committed, of them will God require the more.”]

Application—

[Let believers watch, “lest being led astray by the error of the wicked, or by their own deceitful lusts, they fall from their own steadfastness [Note: 2 Pedro 3:17.]” — — — Let backsliders also watch “lest being hardened through the deceitfulness of sin,” they abandon themselves to wickedness or despair — — — Let all watch, lest being blinded by the god of this world, they become slaves to his dominion, and partakers of his misery — — —]