Acts 20:35

_ _ I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. I have showed you all things, how that so labouring - that labouring, as I myself have done, for others as well as myself, Ye ought to support the weak (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:14) and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he, [hoti Ye ought to support the weak (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:14) and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he, [hoti (G3754) autos (G846), ('how Himself') said, It is more blessed to give than to receive....

28-38 If the Holy Ghost has made ministers overseers of the flock, that is, shepherds, they must be true to their trust. Let them consider their Master's concern for the flock committed to their charge. It is the church He has purchased with his own blood. The blood was his as Man; yet so close is the union between the Divine and human nature, that it is there called the blood of God, for it was the blood of Him who is God. This put such dignity and worth into it, as to ransom believers from all evil, and purchase all good. Paul spake about their souls with affection and concern. They were full of care what would become of them. Paul directs them to look up to God with faith, and commends them to the word of God's grace, not only as the foundation of their hope and the fountain of their joy, but as the rule of their walking. The most advanced Christians are capable of growing, and will...

Verse 35. _I HAVE SHOWED YOU ALL THINGS_] The preposition κατα is to be understood before παντα; and the clause should be read thus-_I have showed you IN all things_, c. _IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE._] That is, the giver is more _happy_ than the _receiver_. _Where_, or on _what occasion_, our Lord spake these words we know not, as they do not exist in any of the four evangelists. But that our Lord did speak them, St. Paul's evidence is quite sufficient to prove. The sentiment is worthy of Christ. A truly generous mind, in affluence, rejoices in opportunities to do good, and feels _happy_ in having such opportunities. A man of an independent spirit, when reduced to poverty, finds it a severe trial to be obliged to live on the bounty of another, and feels pain in receiving what the other feels a happiness in communicating. Let, therefore, the man who is able to give feel h...

I HAVE SHOWED YOU - I have taught you by instruction and example. I have not merely discoursed about it, but have showed you how to do it. ALL THINGS - Or, in respect to all things. In everything that respects preaching and the proper mode of life, I have for three years set you an example, illustrating the design, nature, and duties of the office by my own self-denials and toil. HOW THAT - Or, that - ὅτι hoti. I have showed you that ye should by so laboring support the weak. SO LABOURING - Laboring as I have done. Setting this example, and ministering in this way to the needs of others. TO SUPPORT THE WEAK - To provide for the needs of the sick and feeble members of the flock, who are unable to labor for themselves.

EXPOSITION ACTS 20:1 _Having sent for_ …_ and exhorted _for _called unto him, _A.V. and T.R.; _took leave of them, and departed _for _and embraced them, and departed, _A.V. DEPARTED FOR TO GO INTO MACEDONIA. This was St. Paul's purpose, as he had written to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 16:5) from Ephesus. He judged it wise, not only with a view to his own safety and that of his companions, but also for the rest and quiet of the Ephesian Church, to take advantage of the lull in the popular storm, and withdraw into quiet waters before any fresh outbreak occurred. Aquila and Priscilla seem to have left Ephesus about the same time, or soon after, since the Epistle to the Romans found them again at Rome ...

I HAVE SHOWED YOU ALL THINGS,.... Both as to doctrine and practice, and had set them an example how to behave in every point, and particularly in this: HOW THAT SO LABOURING YE OUGHT TO SUPPORT THE WEAK; the sense of which is, that they should labour with their hands as he did, and so support the weak; either such who were weak in body, and unable to work and help themselves, and therefore should be helped, assisted, relieved, and supported by the labours of others, that were able; or the weak in faith, and take nothing of them, lest they should think the preachers of the word sought only their own worldly advantage, and so they should be stumbled and fall from the truth: AND TO REMEMBER THE WORDS OF THE LORD JESUS; which the apostle had either collected as the sense of some passages of his, such as Luke 6:30, c. or which though not recorded in any of the Gos

IT IS MORE See (Luke 14:12)....

CHAPTER 20 __ 1. Paul in Macedonia (Acts 20:1). 2. His abode in Greece, the visit to Troas and what transpired there (Acts 20:3). 3. The journey from Troas to Miletus (Acts 20:13). 4. The farewell to the Ephesian Elders (Acts 20:17). The record before us is very brief. Some have thought the reason is the fact that the Apostle had turned aside from His given ministry, and therefore the Holy Spirit had nothing to report. We believe that this is correct. The object of the Spirit of God is now to lead us rapidly forward to the last visit of the Apostle to Jerusalem, therefore much is passed over in the untiring s

PAUL'S SPEECH TO THE ELDERS OF EPHESUS AT MILETUS. See Ramsay, art. Miletus in HDB, as to the difficulties of the journey at that period from Miletus to Ephesus; one had to sail to Priene and make from there a journey of 25 miles across the mountains to Ephesus. The elders or presbyters (_mg.),_ afterwards called bishops or overseers (Acts 20:28), make the toilsome journey, and Paul addresses them. We have had Paul addressing Jews (ch. 13) and Gentiles (ch. 17); here he addresses Christian office-bearers at a solemn point of his life. This speech hardly stood as we have it in the source; still there are things in it which do belong to this situation and to no other; some heads of it might be in the source, which have been worked up later with hints from Paul's epistles and other writings, and with reference, as we shall see, to later circumstances in the Church. The whole is in a fine st...

SETTING OUT FOR JERUSALEM (Acts 20:1-6)...