Page 88 - acts_study_book3

Pastors should not covet the riches of those in their congregation. No matter how much you
may own, there is always someone who will possess more.

Act 20:34 Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for
those who were with me.

The money Paul made in ministry and during the time of tent making went toward supporting
him and his team.

Act 20:35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak.
And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to
receive.' "

I have shewed (revealed) you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak
(astheneo: spiritually and physically impotent, sick, weak [James 5:14]), and to remember the
words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Paul has given everything he knows to these pastors. Paul makes an issue of the Word, not
money. He is telling the ministers that if the church does not bring in enough financially to
support them as pastors, they should go to work. Even if you are a pastor just beginning in the
ministry, it is not wrong to work with your hands to give to the poor. The last phrase about
being more blessed to give was not recorded in the four Gospels but handed down by Paul’s
followers (John 21:25).
20:35 give, didomi (did-oh-mee); Granting, allowing, bestowing, imparting, permitting,
placing, offering, presenting, yielding, and paying. Didomi implies giving an object of
value. It gives freely and is unforced. Acts 20:35 indicates that the giver takes on the
character of Christ, whose nature is to give. Jesus did not say it would be more natural
or easier to give than to receive, but that it would be more blessed.

Act 20:36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

This is Paul’s final prayer with these pastors, many of whom he has personally instructed and
watched move into spiritual maturity. They feel close to Paul like he is their own earthly father.

Act 20:37 Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him,

This is the weeping of gratitude, love, and respect. They know they will not see him again. He
has been close to them for three years and will now go on to Jerusalem.

Act 20:38 sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no
more. And they accompanied him to the ship.