Come Day 5 Come To Receive: Digging Deeper
February 14, 2025
Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Acts 20:32-38
35 In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
36 After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them. 37 There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.
The Original Intent
1) What is the “inheritance” given by the “word” of God’s “grace”? (verse 32)
When Paul left Ephesus, he told the believers, “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.” (Acts 20:32) Paul asserted that the Word of God’s grace, which is the gospel of Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9, John 1:1-5) gave all believers an inheritance.
Joseph Benson describes the “word of His grace” as “That word which is the grand channel of His grace to believers as well as unbelievers.” It is through His Word (John 1:14) that God shares His grace with us. The inheritance given by His Word of grace is from the Greek word kleronomia, which “refers to the inheritance related to our salvation, an inheritance that is the lot of all who have been sanctified by God’s grace and are true servants of Jesus Christ” (Preceptaustin.org ).
The gift of eternal life in Heaven is the inheritance of every believer. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges explains, “The figure is taken from the apportionment of the promised land among the Israelites. The part of each of God’s servants in the heavenly Canaan is to be regarded as definitely as were the possessions of the chosen people in the earthly Canaan.”
Everyone who believes and trusts in Jesus becomes a co-heir with Him (Romans 8:17), enjoying the gift of salvation and eternal life in heaven with God as their inheritance.
The Everyday Application
1) What is the “inheritance” given by the “word” of God’s “grace”? (verse 32)
When I was a little girl, I often visited my great-grandma’s home. She had lots of knick-knacks, costume jewelry, and figurines that all of the grandkids enjoyed playing with. Whenever one of us would say how much we liked something, she would declare, “Well, then you can have that when I’m gone.” Then she would write the grandchild’s name on a little slip of paper and place it inside of the admired vase or on the back of the coveted picture.
It was so sweet to visit her years later as an adult and find those weathered slips of paper still clinging to the treasures. It was touching that she wanted to leave each of her 9 great grandchildren a memento of their visits to her home as a sentimental inheritance.
When Paul left Ephesus, he wanted those believers to know for certain that they also had an inheritance, one given by the assuring Word of God’s grace. (Acts 20:32) The inheritance Paul described is heaven and eternal life with God. (Matthew 19:29) It is through Jesus, the Word of God (John 1:14), that we receive the inheritance of life with God forever.
David Platt suggests that when you see the Word of God, “see it as leading you to an inheritance . . . of eternal life, of a kingdom to come among all those who are sanctified, meaning all those who are set apart by God in His grace and mercy. . .”
While it is true that God loves everyone (John 3:16) and desires their rescue from sin, He only gives an inheritance to His children, those who willfully choose to trust in His Son as their own personal Savior. (Ephesians 1:18) He invites all to become children of God, but only those who accept Jesus become heirs of the King and partakers of His blessings, including the inheritance of life eternal. (John 1:12)
The Original Intent
2) Why did Paul want the Ephesian believers (verse 17) to remember that he supported himself and his team without relying on them? (verse 34)
In a farewell message to the church at Ephesus, Paul declared, “You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.” (Acts 20:34) Paul referenced his work as a tentmaker to earn money for himself and his fellow missionaries. (Acts 18:3) This wasn’t about independence, rather, it was important to Paul that people knew he was trustworthy. He wanted them to realize and acknowledge that he wasn’t out for personal or financial gain through his ministry to them and other churches. (2 Corinthians 2:17)
Paul was certainly not against having believers support him and his team when they worked in a community; in fact, he heartily encouraged it! (Philippians 4:14-16) He recognized those partnerships as the Lord’s provision and praised God for them! His focus here is wanting to make sure people knew that his first and highest intent was to know God and make Him known amongst the congregations he established and visited, not prey upon others’ generosity.
Paul supported himself so he could proclaim the Gospel without being accused of trying to profit from his ministry. Ben Witherington notes, “The Greco-Roman world was honeycombed by social networks grounded in the principle of reciprocity, of ’giving and receiving.’ Paul’s exhortation here is to break that cycle and serve and help those who can give nothing in return. This is the practical expression of what being gracious means-freely they had received the good news, and they should freely give with no thought of return.”
Paul’s mission in life was to share the Gospel, and he worked to support his ministry so nothing would impede that mission.
The Everyday Application
2) Why did Paul want the Ephesian believers (verse 17) to remember that he supported himself and his team without relying on them? (verse 34)
Many of the pastors I know are, or have been at one point, bi-vocational, serving as the pastor of a church while also working another job. My own father sold carpet while pastoring a church for a time, and other pastor friends have been bus drivers, insurance salesmen, and teachers while leading their congregations.
Oftentimes smaller churches find that having a bi-vocational pastor is a financial necessity. Several Bible Colleges even offer a bi-vocational ministry degree, since it is a practical way of providing financial stability for ministry and also prepares bi-vocational ministers for reaching the unchurched in their workplace.
The apostle Paul was, at times, a bi-vocational minister himself, working with his hands to support himself and those ministering alongside him (verse 34) For Paul, being a tentmaker was practical for bringing in money (1 Thessalonians 2:9) and useful for showing the churches he served that he was intent on giving to them, not profiting from them. (1 Corinthians 9:12)
Michelle Myers asserts, “I’m sure Paul made tents well so he’d have enough money to provide for his missionary journeys. I’m sure he found satisfaction in the work because that’s what God’s image-bearers do . . . But tent making wasn’t Paul’s identity. . . Making money as a tent maker got only the attention that was absolutely necessary, so the gospel could get his main attention.”
Paul had much work to do with teaching, writing, and traveling, yet he made it a priority to provide for himself when possible by working another job because it was vitally important to him to ensure his presentation of the Gospel was untainted by any suspicion of avarice.
The Original Intent
3) Why did Jesus say, “It is more blessed to give than receive”? (verse 35)
The apostle Paul admonished his readers to help the weak by reminding them of the words of Jesus, who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) This teaching was one in a long list of Jesus’ words and actions that seem culturally counter intuitive and unexpected. After all, Jesus was the King who came as a helpless infant (Luke 1:31), was surrounded by 12 humble men for disciples rather than a powerful army (Matthew 10:2-4), and slept under the stars rather than a palace (Matthew 8:20). He turned the conventional wisdom upside down, teaching it was the last who would be first (Matthew 20:16) and the only way to gain your life is to lose it (Matthew 16:25).
In the same way, Jesus taught that it was a bigger blessing to give than to get. Mark Batterson describes it by saying, “When you flip the blessing, it opens the floodgates of blessing! . . . That’s how we shift the atmosphere. That’s how we stand in the gap as peace makers, grace givers, and tone setters.”
Jesus teaches us that we receive so we can give away. We don’t obtain so we can keep; we get to give! With our focus on others rather than ourselves, we can see how God wants us to use our time, talents and finances to bless others and glorify Him. When we give sacrificially, we become more like Jesus, the One who gave everything to bring us into relationship with God. (2 Corinthians 5:18)
The Everyday Application
3) Why did Jesus say, “It is more blessed to give than receive”? (verse 35)
One of my favorite books is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I particularly like the Christmas morning scene when the four March sisters wake up to celebrate, only to be asked by their mother to give their lovely breakfast to a nearby poor widow and her starving children. The girls hesitate briefly, and then hurriedly pack up the bountiful feast to share with the suffering family.
The March girls leave the widow’s house with merry hearts, happy to have helped the poor family and content with having milk and toast at home. They are surprised that evening to receive the gift of a sumptuous supper, provided by a wealthy neighbor as a gift for their generosity which he witnessed from his window.
This scene reminds me of Jesus’ words that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) The March sisters found that caring for the family in need was more satisfying and rewarding than having a bountiful breakfast, and their giving was twice blessed by the gift of a delectable supper from their admiring neighbor as well as the reward found simply by being authentically generous.
Alexander Maclaren declares, “To be delivered from making myself my great object, and to be delivered from the undue value set upon having and keeping our possessions, are the twin factors of true blessedness. It is heaven on earth to love and to give oneself away.”
The idea that giving is better than getting goes against Western culture and our practice of accumulation and individualism, but it is found throughout the Scriptures, exemplified by Jesus Himself becoming poor so we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). Christ left the glories of His Heavenly throne to come to Earth as a humble servant so we might be saved from our sinful state. (Philippians 2:7) May we learn to see the blessings we have received as opportunities to bless those around us!
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