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his doctrine. In the New Testament preacher and teacher alike are given the title `witness'. John the Baptist
was sent to `bear witness' of the Light (John 1:7), and in Acts 1:8 we read that the apostles were appointed at
Jerusalem as `witnesses', the resurrection being specially stressed as the object of their witness (Acts 1:22). The
whole of Paul's ministry is summed up by the Lord himself as a `witness', for in Acts 23 we read:
`Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome'
(Acts 23:11).
The apostle himself sums up his ministry in similar terms when speaking before Agrippa:
`Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none
other things than those which the Prophets and Moses did say should come' (Acts 26:22).
It was because Paul was a witness that he served with humility, for he could take no personal credit for his
message. As a witness (or martyr), he was not deflected from the path of faithfulness by either tears or temptations.
As a witness, he kept back nothing that was profitable. As a witness he `testified' to both Jews and Greeks. Even
though at Jerusalem bonds and afflictions awaited him, these things could not hinder his witness, though they might
completely prevent other forms of service.
Resuming the description of his ministry, the apostle continues, in verse 25:
`And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my
face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men' (Acts
20:25,26).
We must defer consideration of the phrase `the kingdom of God' until we reach the end of the Acts. It is
obvious, however, from the passage quoted above, taken in conjunction with verses 19-21, that the preaching of `the
kingdom of God' included `repentance' and `faith'.
With the words `ye all shall see my face no more', the apostle reaches the particular part of his address that was
personal both to himself and to the Ephesian Church. This is evident in verse 38 where we read: `Sorrowing most of
all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more'. Because of certain obscure references in
the Epistles to Timothy, it has been assumed by some that Paul did in fact see the Ephesian Church again. In 1
Timothy 1:3 we read: `As I besought thee to abide still in Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia'. These words have
been construed into meaning that Paul himself had been in Ephesus. The passage is an example of an `interrupted
structure' in a sentence, a feature that finds many illustrations in the apostle's vivid writing. As examples that are
fairly obvious to the English reader we may quote Galatians 2:4 and 2:6. The words kathos paraklesa (`As I
*
besought' 1 Tim. 1:3) are without an apodosis . The thought seems to be: `As I besought thee then, so I beseech
thee now'. Paul does not say that he `left Timothy' at Ephesus, although he does say that he `left Titus' at Crete.
There is no evidence that Paul visited Ephesus again. The passage is explained sufficiently if we understand that on
some particular occasion, when sailing by Asia, Paul made this request to Timothy.
Again, in 1 Timothy 3:14, the apostle writes: `These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly'.
Inasmuch as Paul sailed by Ephesus, and arranged to meet the elders of that church at Miletus on one occasion, there
is every probability that he would make the same arrangement when he wished to see Timothy. Moreover, it is
suggestive that, whereas the apostle, writing from prison expresses a confident hope that he would revisit the
Philippian Church (Phil. 1:25; 2:24), and in the epistle to Philemon he asks him to prepare him a lodging (Phile.
22), there is no such suggestion in the epistle to the Ephesians, or in regard to the neighbouring church at Colosse,
though he writes in Colossians 2:1: `For them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh'.
We have no need, therefore, to defend the apostle in any way. We believe that his words were true to fact, and that
the Ephesian Church saw his face no more.
It is clear from Scripture that the apostle realized, as perhaps few have done since, the solemn responsibility that
attached to his position as minister. In Acts 18:6 we read:
*
The apodosis is the concluding clause of a sentence, usually conditional, e.g., îIf thine enemy hunger, feed himØ.