Albert N. Martin
Turn with me, in the Word of God, to the 20th chapter of the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Follow, please, as I read from verses 17 through 27.
Speaking of the activity of the Apostle Paul in one of his missionary journeys, Luke—by the guidance of the Holy Spirit—writes, “And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to him the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, ‘Ye yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, after what manner I was with you all the time, serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind, and with tears, and with trials which befell me by the plots of the Jews; how I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there; save that the Holy Spirit testifieth unto me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I testify unto you this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God.’”
Using the term ‘Celestial City,’ as it is found in John Bunyan’s immortal Pilgrim’s Progress, as a synonym for ‘Heaven,’ we have been examining some of those texts in the Bible in which the central issues of the way of life and salvation are both clearly and simply declared. As Paul is reviewing his three plus years of ministry at Ephesus, he constructs one of the most clear and one of the most helpful of these simple signposts to the Celestial City to be found anywhere in the Word of God.
I want you to imagine with me that we are approaching the place where Paul—having constructed this signpost by the guidance of the Holy Spirit—has driven its support into the ground, and there the signpost stands, pointing all who will consider what it says to the way of life and salvation, even to the Celestial City. As we gaze upon this signpost from afar, it seems to have two lines written upon it. As we make our way closer to it we do, indeed, discern that it has two lines upon it, but rather than the lines being filled with words, each line, one over the other, has both words and a symbol. Fascinated by this unusual signpost that is not all words but words plus symbols, we draw closer until standing before it, we see that there is very clearly stamped upon this signpost to the Celestial City these two lines with words and with symbols. On the top is the word ‘repentance’ and the symbol of an arrow pointing to the word ‘God.’ Just beneath it is the word ‘faith’ and an arrow that points to the words ‘the Lord Jesus Christ.’
So, as we stand and gaze at this simple signpost to the Celestial City, we behold a signpost inscribed upon it: ‘repentance,’ with an arrow that points to God, and ‘faith,’ with an arrow that points to our Lord Jesus Christ. Surely, this captures the very heart of the Apostle’s words in verses 20 and 21, where he says, “I did not shrink from declaring unto you anything that was profitable, but I taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Now, I want you to notice with me, first of all, from this portion of the Word of God under the imagery of the signpost: the crucial importance of this signpost. How important was it in the mind of the Apostle Paul?
Well, first of all, we see its crucial importance because it was essential to the profit of men’s souls. Notice he says in verse 20, “I did not shrink [I did not draw back] from declaring unto you anything that was profitable, but I taught you both publicly, and from house to house, testifying repentance and faith.” In other words, the things inscribed upon this signpost the Apostle Paul regarded as made of the stuff of primary importance.
As he came to Ephesus and contemplated that vast city with its impressive pagan temple, the very heartland of the worship of the goddess Diana, with all that went with pagan worship and pagan culture and pagan morals; and as he thought of what it was that would profit these people steeped in all of the morass of paganism, and also many Jews of the dispersion steeped in their Judaistic traditions and in the rules and laws and all of the accouterments of Pharisaic religion with its externalism, he was convinced that the issues that he etched upon this signpost were the things which alone would be profitable to the souls of men.
When we read Acts chapter 19 and discover something of the moral and religious and superstitious climate of the city of Ephesus, and when we read from secular history something of the moral and secular state of that city, surely anyone going into that city might come away with many conclusions as to what was necessary to clean up that very sinkhole of iniquity and pagan superstition. But the Apostle Paul was convinced that the one thing profitable for that city was that which he etched upon that signpost; and so, the crucial importance of the signpost is underscored by his own statement: that he did not withhold anything that was profitable unto them.
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