Dr. Robert Martin
Paul says several things to the Ephesian elders which indicate that he exercised great courage in the course of his ministry generally and in his preaching particularly. At 20:22-24, e.g., we read,
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 await 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.
Paul is on his way once more to Jerusalem, to a city where once he had needed to flee for his life. Under ordinary circumstances, the prospect of coming again to the place where his enemies were most numerous would have occasioned a certain level of anxiety. On this occasion, however, Paul not only suspects trouble in Jerusalem, but at every stop along the way the Spirit has conveyed to him the message that “bonds and afflictions” await him there. There is no doubt in his mind, whatever else may happen, that prison and “pressures” (qli,yeij) will be his portion if he continues to Jerusalem. And yet he goes forward. Not even fear for his life stops him. “I hold not my life,” he says, “as dear to myself.” This is but the latest example of the courage that Paul exhibited in the course of his ministry. Everywhere that he has gone, he has been opposed. Stonings, prison, perils of every kind have been his regular fare. And yet always he pressed forward, courageously serving his Master, preaching the message that his King commanded him to take to the nations.
We must not think, of course, that Paul’s courage came from a lack of fear, for he tells us differently. We know, e.g., that his presence in Corinth was “in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3), so much so that the Lord has to tell him to “stop fearing” (Acts 18:9). The key to his courage was not a lack of fear. In this aspect of serving Christ in a hostile world, Paul was a man of like passions with us.
To what then do we credit his bravery? Surely, in answer to prayer, his courage was the fruit of the Spirit’s gracious working in his soul. In the beginning of the work in Jerusalem, when the Sanhedrin ordered Peter and John “not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18), they prayed: “And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, while thou stretchest forth thy hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of thy holy Servant Jesus” (4:29-30). Luke continues, “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (4:31). This doubtless was Paul’s experience also, in all those places where he was opposed by the world, the flesh, and the devil. He would have prayed often, “And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings: and grant unto thy servant to speak thy word with all boldness.”
In our text, however, Paul tells us of something else that moved him courageously forward in the face of every obstacle. He speaks of being “bound in the spirit” (20:22). There are various suggestions as to what these words mean; but I think that Paul is describing the compulsion that he felt in his soul to do what he later describes as “accomplishing his course, and the ministry which he received from the Lord Jesus” (20:24). Elsewhere he says, “If I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; for woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16). Paul was compelled in his spirit by a holy passion, by a conviction firmly rooted in his conscience that his Master’s business was more important than his own safety. And with that persuasion fixed deep in his soul, he pressed forward bravely, not regarding the fear of man as a thing which could be permitted to halt him in his course. His Master had given him a task, a ministry to accomplish—and no fear, no obstacle of any kind, must turn him from his duty.
And what was true of his ministry generally was particularly true of his preaching. Again, he says, “I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable . . . . I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God.” In both of these statements, he uses a word that reveals his state of mind as a preacher. Again, u`poste,llw was used of soldiers who “shrank” (drew back) from their duty from fear of personal suffering. By using this word, Paul is saying that from the first day he set foot in Asia, all the time that he went in and out among the Ephesians, at no time had he been a coward in his preaching. At no time had he retreated from his duty to God and his hearers out of fear of what would happen to him if he preached the whole counsel of God, i.e., everything needed for the profit of their souls. In other words, the fear of man did not determine the limits of what he said or the manner in which he said it. He did not determine the content or manner of his preaching by consulting the faces of his hearers, or by weighing the potential cost to himself. Instead, his only consideration was, “What is the business and will of my Master? What may I do for the good of men’s souls? How may I accomplish my course, and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God?”
Read more: The Courageous Manner of Paul’s Preaching