(On the occasion of my retirement from First Baptist Church, Angleton, TX, Sunday, January 26, 2025)

So what do you say to someone when you’re seeing them for the last time? It’s very difficult. Quite honestly, a lot of times when we see someone for the last time, we don’t know that it is the last time, right? They have an accident, or an illness takes them, and before we know it they are gone, and we don’t have the opportunity to say any “last words.” But sometimes we do. And although this may not be the last time I SEE some of you, for some it may be. And this is the last message I will preach to you as your full-time pastor. So what do you say? The best thing is always to go to the word of God. I’ve always said, I don’t have anything “spectacular” to say on my own, but God’s word is so rich, that the best thing I can do is just share what it says.

And it so happens that there is an occasion in scripture — the passage we read a few moments ago from Acts 20 — where the Apostle Paul is saying “goodbye” to a group of men he knew he would not see again, and I believe his message to them is very appropriate for us today — that’s why God put it here for us.

In Acts 20, the Apostle Paul is on his way back to Jerusalem from his 3rd Missionary Journey, and he’s had indications from the Holy Spirit that his life was nearing an end. So he sent for the elders (pastors) of the church at Ephesus, to meet him on his trip back so that he could share with them some parting words. So they’re good words for a church to hear from a pastor who is saying “farewell.” It would take weeks for us to delve through everything Paul shared with these Ephesians pastors, but let me share just 3-4 highlights this morning, things he told them to remember, that we would do well to remember today too:

I. Remember the Gospel That Saves You (:21)
Verse 18 says that when the pastors came to him, Paul said:
“You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul said there, I didn’t “shrink” or hold back anything that was profitable in my message. And what was the message he shared with them? “Repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I believe this verse should receive much more attention from us as God’s people, than it typically does. The Apostle Paul is likely the single greatest minister of Christ in history, and he says, “HERE is my message.” Here is the gospel I proclaim. So what he says his message is, should be very important to us. And he says his gospel message consists of two things: “Repentance towards God,” and “faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

A. Repentance towards God.
We’ve talked about this numerous times over the past 6 years: salvation is not just a matter of saying you somehow “believe in Jesus.” Our problem is that although God designed us to have a relationship with Him, we sinned against Him. Our sin is the source of all our difficulties here on earth. Thankfully God still loved us, even after we’d sinned, and He provided the way for us to be saved through the death of Jesus on the cross. But we must still deal with our sin. And what God requires of us is that we “repent” of our sin. The Bible word “repent” literally means, “after/to think.” To think better of/to think differently of our sin, afterwards. It means that you used to think that sin was good, and you wanted to have control over your own life, so you could sin whenever and however you wanted. But when you “repent,” you think better of this, afterwards. You look back on your sin and you go, “This was not good on my part.” I shouldn’t have been doing that. Now I am going to turn around and start doing what God wants me to do. That is repentance. It is “a change of mind that leads to a change in direction” in your life.

To me the Prodigal Son is the great Biblical example of repentance. He decided to leave his father, go spend his inheritance on “loose living,” and it literally brought him to the pig pen. And from that pig pen, the Bible says “he came to his senses” and decided to get up and go back to his father. That is repentance. He changed his mind, and it changed the direction of his life.

So it’s significant that the Apostle Paul says here that a key part of the Gospel message he shared, was “repentance towards God.” He’s saying, You must repent if you want to be saved. If you’re telling someone how to be saved, you need to include repentance in what you share. Now, someone may say, “Well, if JESUS said it, that would be different!” Jesus DID say it: in Luke 13:3, He said, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” The gospels tell us that when Jesus came preaching, His message was “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” SO Paul preached repentance, Jesus preached repentance — in fact we could spend all morning looking at how repentance is taught all through the word of God.

So hear God’s word this morning: repentance is a vital part of the Gospel message. It is not enough for you to say, “I believe in Jesus and I am going to go to church.” NO! You must realize that it was YOUR SIN that separated you from God; that your sin is the root of your problem. And you need to be willing to TURN AWAY from your sin with God’s help, and repent towards God.

Why was this so important to Paul that he would share it in his last message, and why should it be so important to us today? Because there are so many people nowadays who want to feel like they are “religious,” and “love God” — but they don’t want to give up their sin.
— They want to be party like pagans on Friday night, but still feel good that they worshiped God on Sunday morning.
— They want to give free reign to their homosexual temptations, but still call themselves Christians.
— They want to be the boss of their own life, and live however they choose, but still have the comfort of believing that they have a home in heaven.

These kinds of attitudes are rampant today. Many people today want the benefits of being “religious,” but they don’t want to give up their sin. This is nothing new. They tried this in the first century too. That’s why Paul was so emphatic here: repentance towards God is an integral part of the Gospel message.
— If you have not repented, and admitted that your sin was wrong, and asked God’s help to turn away from it, then you have not entered the Kingdom of God. Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” It’s as simple as that. You must repent, in order to be saved.
— And if you are not sharing with others their need to repent, you are not sharing the full gospel message with them. I don’t watch or listen to a lot of other pastor’s messages, but I have read that repentance is a missing element in many pulpits and in many gospel presentations today. Don’t let it be missing from this church! And as you seek a pastor, make sure he is a man who will proclaim Biblical repentance. And especially make sure that you yourself have repented (and continue to repent) of your sin; and that you share that vital message of repentance with those you love. Paul’s gospel included “repentance towards God,” and ours should too.

B. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ
But his gospel didn’t end there. His vital gospel message included “faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” We aren’t saved merely by our own personal repentance — for one, none of us can repent perfectly. Who can confess all his sins? And who doesn’t sometimes fall back into sin? We all do!
But thank God our salvation doesn’t depend upon how perfectly we practice repentance, but upon something far more certain: the perfect life, the atoning death, and the victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is faith in what JESUS did that saves us, not any good thing that we can do.

Many of us have heard some form of the old evangelism question: “If you were to stand before God and He were to ask you, ‘Why should I let you into My heaven?,’ what would you say?”
I love the answer my favorite preacher, Mark Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist in Washington D.C., gives to that question. He said “If God were to ask why He should let me into His heaven I’d tell Him HE SHOULDN’T! I’ve sinned against You and owe a debt I can never pay back.” But he said, “I wouldn’t stop there. I’d say: But because of YOUR mercy, I trust that JESUS’ death on the cross paid the debt I could not pay; and that HE gives me the righteousness I need to make me right with You.”

I’m going to be right behind him in line, saying virtually the same thing!
I don’t deserve to be in heaven — but I will be there, because of what JESUS did, not anything I did. JESUS IS THE ANSWER to that famous question! Jesus is the answer! The scripture tells us:
— “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,” I Corinthians 15 proclaims. Jesus is the answer!
— Isaiah 53 famously says: “All we like sheep have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way — but the Lord had laid on HIM the iniquity of us all”! Jesus is the answer!
— “HE HIMSELF bore our sins in His body on the cross” I Peter 2 says. Jesus is the answer!

Make sure that your hope of salvation isn’t built upon the flimsy excuses of your own personal righteousness. Make sure it’s built on Jesus alone!
Be sure you can say with those great songs:
— “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”
— “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.”
— “In Christ Alone my hope is found,” I have “No guilt in life, no fear in death — this is the power of Christ in me”! Make sure JESUS is your answer!

THIS is the Biblical gospel Paul said: repentance towards God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
— Make sure that you have repented of your own personal sins and put your trust in Jesus only for your salvation — and if you haven’t, do it today.
— Make sure that this is the message you share with those you care about. Lead them to repent of their sins and put their faith in Christ.
— And church, as you call your next pastor, make sure the gospel he proclaims is the same gospel Paul taught: the full gospel of repentance towards God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

II. Remember the God Who Upholds You
“And now I commend you to God” (:32)

Paul had done his best to re-iterate all the important things he wanted to tell the Ephesian elders, things like salvation by grace through faith, and the importance of both repentance and faith. But then he came near the end of his exhortations and he just said to them, “And now I commend you to God …”. That’s a good word — and it’s a good example for a lot of us today.

It’s a good example for me, first of all. As your pastor for these last six years, I love this church, and so many of you personally. I hate to leave you without a pastor during these next days. But I can’t continue serving you half-time, with both my own health, as well as Cheryl’s health compromised. You need a full-time pastor, who can give this church the attention it needs. So I am absolutely certain that my stepping aside is God’s will right now. But what so I do with my concern for you? Just what Paul said in Acts 20: “Now I commit you to God.” That’s all I can do. “Now I commit you to God.”

But … it’s not like that’s some desperate, hopeless thing to do, right? “Now I commit you to God” is the very BEST thing I can do with you. Because being in the hands of God is the very best place for anyone or anything to be!
— Psalm 138 says “The LORD (is the One who) will accomplish what concerns me.” So when I commit you to God, I am committing you to the One who will do in you all that needs to be done; who will give you all that you really need. “I commit you to God” is the best thing I can do for you, because
— God is the One David said would walk with you through the valley of the shadow of death!
— God is the One Jesus said no one can snatch you out of His hands!
— God is the One Paul said is able to do exceeding, abundantly, beyond, all, that you can ask, or even think!

So committing someone to God, is the very best thing you can do for them. Because He is absolutely trustworthy.

I love this illustration, so I’m going to share it one more time before I leave you. When my sisters and I were little, someone gave us each silver dollar. Of course we were very excited about it. But I didn’t trust myself. I knew I might lose it, or misspend it. So I took it to Dad, and said, “Dad, would you keep this for me?” And he did. Years went by. Honestly, I had forgotten all about that silver dollar. But one day, after I was grown and had a family, I received a little package in the mail. It was from my Dad. That wasn’t too surprising; he often sent us little things. But I was surprised when I opened it: because inside that little package, was a silver dollar, with a note from my dad: you gave this to me years ago to keep for you, and I think it’s time to give it back! I’d forgotten all about it— but Dad didn’t!

And I love that story not only because it’s fond memory of my dad, but also because that’s such a great picture of what GOD does for us! “I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to KEEP what I have committed unto Him until that day”! He’s more reliable than the most reliable father; He’s more trustworthy than the most trustworthy dad. When we entrust something to God, He KEEPS it!

So now church, today is my last Sunday with you. And I tell you now, I commit you to God. And His are the very best hands I can place you in!
“I commit you to God”!

But this word is not only for me. Many of us have loved that ones we need to do this very same thing with: commit them to God. Say of them: “Now I commit you to God, and to the word of His grace …”
— Maybe you’ve got a troubled child, of whom you need to kneel before God and say, like Paul did to these Ephesian elders: “And now I commit you to God, and to the word of His grace.” Committing your child to God is the best thing you can do for them! If you haven’t done that, purposefully and specifically do it today!
— Maybe you have a spouse today, of whom you need to say, “Now I commit you to God, and to the word of His grace.”
— Maybe it’s a grandchild, and your next prayer to God for them needs to be “And now I commit you to God, and to the word of His grace.”
— Maybe you’re concerned about our church; I understand that. So pray fervently for our church, and in your prayer, include this word: “Now I commit my church to God, and to the word of His grace.”
God is the best place for us to commit anyone or anything we are concerned with.

In Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” England’s King Henry’s sick, decimated army of about 6000 men was about to be attacked by a huge French army of 20,000-30,000. That morning as they prepared for battle, Henry’s Duke of Gloucester says to him, “I wish they would not come upon us now,” but King Henry tells him: “We’re in God’s hands, brother, not theirs!”

That should be our attitude, too. We’re in God’s hands, brother! Some of us may need to remember these words in the days ahead. If things get difficult, or the valley looks dark, just look at each other and say “We’re in God’s hands, brother!” “We’re in God’s hands, sister!”

“And now I commit you to God.” GOD’S HANDS ARE THE BEST PLACE YOU CAN PUT ANYTHING! His hands are the best place you can put anyone, or anything. You know the person, or the issue in your life, that you most need to apply this to today. Commit them to God. Commit that thing to God. Say of that person or that issue, “And now I commit you to God”!

III. Remember the Scripture That Guides You
“… and to the word of His grace” (:32)

One of God’s greatest graces to us, as His agent of blessing, is His word. He will uphold us and sustain us through His word. Psalm 138 says, “For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.”

Church, don’t forget God’s word. Commit yourself to the word of His grace.

I’m going to tell a story on myself (before Cheryl does!). Last Sunday, when we were expecting that freezing winter front, I had ordered some heat tape for the water pipes in our attic. Back in February 2021 one of the pipes along the edge of our roof froze, and burst, and we had to totally remodel two of the bedrooms. That’s the last thing we need right now, so I ordered this heat tape you can plug in and wrap around your water pipe to keep it warm during the freeze. So last Sunday afternoon I climbed up in the attic, and laid some boards across the insulation, and crawled into the corner and tried to wrap that cord around the pipe — but it wasn’t as easy as the package made it look! The cord was so springy it wouldn’t stay up against the pipe; it would just briefly touch it once every 8-10 inches or so, and I wondered how effective that would be — but that was the best I could do. So I climbed back downstairs, all defeated. I sat down and told Cheryl how it just wasn’t working very well. She said, “Well, what did the directions say?” I was like, “the directions?” I hadn’t read the directions. I thought, well maybe I SHOULD go look at them! Well, in the box there were some directions, which said you’ll probably need to use some zip ties to tie this tape along your water line — and if I’d looked, I’d have seen that it included zip ties in the package! So now, armed with the directions this time, I went up and tied that tape right to the water line, where it stayed and did its job throughout that freezing storm.

This whole episode was a good reminder — one that a lot of us guys especially really need, right? “When all else fails, read the directions …”!
Just read the directions! How much easier would it be? How much grief we would avoid? How much trouble would be alleviated? If we would Just. Read. The. Directions!

The lesson here’s pretty clear, right? Do we as God’s people have some directions? We absolutely do! Church, BEFORE all else fails, let’s read the directions. Continually refer to this book. “All scripture is inspired of God, and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished for every good work.” (II TImothy 3:16) God’s saying to us through that verse: “Read the directions!”

I hope if there’s one thing I’ve built into your lives these past 6 years, it’s been that you need to spend time with God, in His word, for yourself, every day. Read the directions! And when you’re faced with a teaching or a question or some issue to be decided, be like Martin Luther and say “Show me scripture.” Not personal opinions or traditions of men. Show me scripture.

So I commend you to God — and to His WORD!
— Go to the word Church member!
— Go to the word Church body!
— Go to the word Church Council!
— Go to the word, Church pastor search committee.

I have neither the time nor the wisdom to give you detailed, specific, advice for every possible situation you might face as a church or as individuals in the months ahead. But I CAN tell you where to find the best advice there is: go to the word. Ask: “What does the scripture say?” Say: “Show me scripture.” As :32 says, His word will build you up, and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
“And now I commend you to God, AND to the word of His grace.”

I believe these parting words of the Apostle Paul’s are the very best a person could share:
— Remember the true gospel of repentance and faith
— Remember the God who will uphold you
— And remember the scripture that will guide you.

And verse 36 says: “And when he had said these things, he knelt down, and prayed with them all.”