How Could Paul Be Pure Of The Blood Of Men?

This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment, we are in the Book of Acts chapter 20, and Dave, we’re going to pick up with 28, but we did have a question about verse 26, which maybe we can cover very quickly:Verse 26, “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.”Now the question that came about from some of our staff members who are listening, Well wait a minute!Didn’t Paul have the blood of those he persecuted?How can he say that he’s pure of the blood of all men?

Dave:

Well, number one, he had been forgiven from that or whatever part he had had in their martyrdom.But what he is referring to, going to verse 27, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”So, on the one hand, he is not pure from the blood of every person, obviously in the world, or whoever lived or ever will live, but those to whom he has the opportunity to present the truth of God.So he says, I have held back nothing from anyone.Wherever I preach I give them the whole counsel of God.I don’t try to soften the message to make it more palatable to people, I just give it to you.So, I think that’s what he’s saying, that he has been true to the Lord, and we said it in our last segment, Tom, anyone ends up in hell, it’s not because Paul didn’t tell them the truth.Now that doesn’t mean that he’s going out there and trying to grab everybody that’s walking by, so we have to use some common sense in this.I think of this often when I’m preaching, I’m speaking to a group, I’ve got to be honest with them.I can’t just give them a “positive” message that’s going to leave their blood on my hands when they say, Well, that’s what Dave said, he didn’t warn us about that.So I think that’s what Paul is talking about.It doesn’t mean that he prayed for everybody, that that’s why he’s pure from the blood of all men, as we dealt with that already, but he’s been faithful.

Tom:

Dave, coming off of this verse 27, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” then he lays it out:“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.”

Dave:

Well, Tom, that, of course, emphasizes what he said, Look, I’m pure of the blood of all men. What about you?You had better take heed to yourselves and to the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.You’re going to have to feed them.You’re supposed to feed this flock, you’re supposed to give them the truth.

Tom:

Protect them by God’s Word.

Dave:

Right, and don’t compromise, don’t hold anything back so that you will be popular.Tom, that’s a problem today.How is the pastor going to be true to the Lord and also remain popular with the flock?

Tom:
Thought well of, Dave.Sometimes we slide into that.We say, Well, I don’t know if they could really handle this.How many times have I heard, over the years, Dave, that, well, sometimes there needs to be a halfway house, we can’t give them the whole truth, we just got to kind of move them along.

Dave:

I don’t remember hearing that, Tom.

Tom:

A lot of this I have, and the idea being that they are not ready for this.Dave, when we did, The Seduction of Christianity, I say “we” I got to help you with it, and that was my privilege, but people say, Oh, this is too much, young Christians will never be able to handle all this.

Dave:

Well, I’ve heard that one, Tom, but now we have another question coming up: The church of God, which He, that is, God hath purchased with His own blood.Now, does God have blood?Did God die for our sins?Yes, God did die for our sins, “I and my Father are One.”The babe born in Bethlehem, as we often said, is the Father.

Tom:

Isaiah:9:6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
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Dave:’

Yeah, the eternal God, Wow!The eternal God, everlasting God is our refuge, He’s the everlasting Father.So, the blood of Christ—well, Christ is God, He died for our sins, He paid the penalty for our sins.

Tom:

There’s only one Savior, Dave.The scripture says, Isaiah:9:6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
See All... again.

Dave:

Yeah, so that’s a really very solemn point.Look, this isn’t just some—“Wow, I started a church, Wow, I really started in a Bible study in our home, and you should see how it has grown, thousands of people now.”No, you didn’t start the church. Jesus said, I will build my church.Now if these people are really Christians, then they are part of the body of Christ, He purchased them with His own blood.You had better be very careful how you handle this responsibility that God has given you.

Tom:

Dave, that brings up an important point, and we’ve made it over the years, especially as we’ve seen the whole church growth movement take over, in effect.This market driven approach and believers, they are not even believers but potential believers or consumers, and we are in that mode, and so on.But if a church is going to be made up of the lost to try and bring them to Christ, then it’s not the church that you’re talking about right here that the scriptures are laying out for us.

Dave:

It doesn’t fit—“For I know this” Wow!See, Paul knew what was going to happen and it grieved him, and we won’t get into that until next week, God willing.“But I know this, after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock.”Now I don’t think we understand, I certainly don’t understand the extend to which Paul cared for the churches.Remember in 2 Corinthians he says, “I’ve been beaten with rods, I’ve been in prison, I’ve been ship wrecked, and a night and a day I have been in the deep, everywhere I’ve been stoned, they left me for dead.”Then he says, “Besides all that what comes upon me daily is the care of all the churches.”You know, I read that and I don’t understand quite what that means, but Paul seems to give us a hint here.“After my departing shall grievous wolves enter in not sparing the flock.”We had better leave the next week because that really gets into something.But it seems that, I mean, most of Paul’s epistles are written for correction.We’ve been faulted for bringing correction.Why are you so concerned about Paul’s doctrine, and so forth?Well, that’s what the Bible’s concerned about.Christ rebuked the Rabbis, He said follow me, and Paul says, follow me like I follow Christ.So, Paul—

Tom:

Dave, I have to throw this in, we don’t delight in that, this is a calling I know the Lord has placed on your heart, and I believe He’s called me to help you do what God’s called you to do, but we don’t delight in this.

Dave:

It’s a biblical calling, right, we’re following the Word of God.Now, Paul was an amazing man, amazing man.We mentioned last week that Paul knows he is going to be martyred.He tells Timothy in 2 Timothy Chapter 4, “I’ve fought a good fight, I’ve finished my course.”It’s over for Paul, and he’s not just leaving town, they are not going to see him again, and he says that later.So, he is very concerned and very grieved about what is going to happen when he leaves, and he’s trying to impress it upon them.And I think we will see, eventually here that they don’t quite get it, sadly.