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Unlike the Lord, however, his ministry was not confined to public speaking. He
trained and taught the believer in things pertaining to faith, life and godliness, and so the
Apostle says, "publicly and from house to house". Saul the persecutor was thorough:
"As for Saul he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men
and women committed them to prison" (Acts 8: 3).
and the same zeal that he manifested as a zealot for the religion of his fathers now
characterized him as a champion of the cross. In the Apostle's days the church was often
accommodated in the house of a believer (Rom. 16: 5; Col. 4: 15; Philemon 2).
Aquila and Priscilla knew the value of this homely ministry (Acts 18: 26), and alas, the
propagandists of the last few days will be aware of it too (II Tim. 3: 6), and will find a
ready ear in those who "wander from house to house" (I Tim. 5: 13).
Having defined his ministry as "serving the Lord", and its true presentation as "with
all humility of mind"; its accompaniments of "tears, temptations and lying in wait of the
Jews"; its unreserved exposition, "I kept back nothing"; its wisdom and consideration,
"that was profitable" not for his own profit but "unto you", and having further
particularized this ministry as one of both "public" and "private' teaching, the Apostle
proceeds to summarize its substance.
"Testifying (diamarturomai) both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance
toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20: 21).
His ministry was a testimony. In verse 24 we shall meet the word again, "to testify the
gospel of the grace of God". Diamarturomai.--Dia, "through" is emphatic, and akin to
our "thorough". It should never be forgotten that the Greek word for "witness" (martur)
is the word translated "martyr" in Rev. 2: 13 and 17: 6, and that our word "martyr" is
but the Greek word "witness" in English letters. Paul's testimony was always at the risk
of life and limb, and while it is not necessary for a true witness to be martyred, yet He
Who reads the thoughts and intents of the heart, knows whether we hold His truth so dear
that Smithfield itself could not turn us back. We boast not. We realize only too keenly
our frailty, but we pray that such may be the character of our "testimony" in His sight.
Paul's testimony was to both "Jew and Greek". Were we unprepared by this
reference, we would probably slip into the error of thinking that "Jew and Gentile" is
the common phrase in the N.T., whereas it is not so. It is true, that the A.V. reads in
I Cor. 10: 32:
"Neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God."
and this has been made the foundation of a special attempt at "right division", but the fact
remains that Hellen (Greek) and not Ethnos (Gentile) is used here. Again, in Rom. 1: 16
we read "To the Jew first, and also to the Greek", but in Rom. 2: 9, 10 the identical
phrase is translated, "to the Jew, first and also the Gentile", but this is without warrant.
The same correction is needed in John 7: 35, Rom. 3: 9 and I Cor. 12: 13.