Acts 20:32-38

32"Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. 34You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "

36When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

The heart breaking grief

of never seeing Paul again

Paul continues to speak to the Ephesian Elders, instructing them with his final teaching. , Perhaps his last words, will be the ones they will always remember. It is a basic instruction from our Lord Jesus, 'it is more blessed to give than to receive.'

Paul's life was a living example of GIVING and sharing the message the Holy Spirit instructed him to say. His message was for everyone, everywhere, and Paul could not stop spreading the Good News about Jesus Christ.

To respect the message, people generally respect the messenger. Paul was not trying to make a name for himself or make a living off of other's support. He supplied his own needs what ever they were so that he could always look back and know that he depended on God to provide, not wealthy supporters.

This man Paul was a genuine Christian. Weeping, embacing, kissing, these were men who truely loved one another and weren't afraid to show it They had all suffered for the sake of Christ and shared a deep love for their God as well as the important mission that now was entrusted to them.

We must all take it seriously about carrying the message to the next generation.