The Commendation – Acts 20:32

The noun “commendation” is heard from time to time in newscasts.

A commendation is the act of commending someone.

It is to praise someone for something outstanding that he has done.

When policemen or firemen have risked their lives in special situations and saved the life of another person, they are given “commendations.”

The first definition of the word “commend” is to represent someone as worthy, qualified or desirable.

The second definition is to express approval or praise.

But it’s the third definition which is at work here in Acts 20:32:

To commend is also to “commit to the care of another; to entrust.”

This is not uncommon language in the New Testament,

But here in this verse, we have a little more of its meaning and intent given to us.

What does Paul tell us about “The Commendation?”

Notice, first, who were the RECIPIENTS of this commendation: BRETHREN.

This is so common that it’s almost silly to bring it to your attention,

But since it IS so common, as we casually read the Bible, we might tend to skip over it.

Paul was arguably the greatest of the Apostles of Christ.

I suppose that there would be people who would argue that Peter was by far the greatest Apostle,

And others might try to defend the name of John.

But I suppose that if we had the chance to talk to any of these three brethren, they might individually argue that they were NOT worthy of the title “greatest.”

PETER denied the Lord on one occasion three times.

He was constantly getting his foot in his mouth.

He lacked the faith that he should have had when the ladies testified that Jesus had arisen.

In some ways Peter wasn’t a better a saint of God than any other.

And JOHN, although of a different temperament, proved his sinful humanity a time or two as well.

For example, he wanted to call down fire from heaven on men with whom he disagreed.

And he was ready to fight the rest of the apostles to be able to sit in the chief seats next to the Lord.

I think that both those men matured to the point of realizing that they were nothing with Christ.

And some of the most pointed comments in the Bible on the subjects of pride and humility come from the pen of the Apostle Peter.

Then when it came to Paul, he called himself the least of all the Apostles.

Despite their later opinions about themselves, these men were the greatest of the Lord’s ambassadors.

But Paul was not so great as not to call these local pastors “brethren.”

Yes, we have not all been given the same office, but we are brothers and sisters in Christ.

We don’t all have the same notoriety and fame, but we all have the same Heavenly Father.

We may not bring the same number of nieces and nephews into the family but we have the same Elder Brother.

We have been made to drink of the same water of life, and we’ve tasted the same spiritual manna.

We sit at the same table and we shall all dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

They were “brethren” whom the Apostle Paul commended to God.

And we shouldn’t think that he was just referring to the few elders who had traveled from Ephesus to Miletus.

He was speaking to these men as representatives of the entire church.

What he did was to COMMIT them to the Lord; he ENTRUSTED them to God.

But this kind of language creates just a little bit of confusion.

It leaves the impression that Paul was JUST NOW committing them to the Lord.

I’m sure that he had, from the very first day of the first conversion in Ephesus, been praying for the Lord’s blessing and protection for these people.

It was through PRAYER that he was commending them to God.

He knew that he was helpless in keeping them away from their former sins.

He could preach against and expose the evils of idolatry, fornication, deceit and theft,

but he had no ability to make them hear or obey.

And he certainly couldn’t give them victory over their sins.

So he prayed for the Lord’s blessings and commended them Him Who could give them victory.

And Paul knew that there was no way for him to protect them against the hatred of Satan or his children,

So he prayed for the Lord’s blessings and commended them to the One who holds the heart of the King in his hand, and who can turn it withersoever He might choose.

It was by prayer that Paul commended these Christians to the Lord.

When Paul and the others are carried to Rome to stand before Caesar, they will be caught in a terrible storm.

As we shall see, the people on board that ship – sailors, soldiers, passengers and prisoners – will fight that storm and fight to save their lives with every ounce of their strength.

But after days of struggle, they will be forced to admit that they have no power against the storm.

At that point Luke uses a word very similar to “commit” to describe what they did next.

“And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore.”

What they did was to throw themselves on the mercy of the winds, cooperating with them as much as they could as they headed towards shore.

Just like those castaways, Paul hoisted up the sail of prayer, raised his anchor and committed his brethren to the will of the Lord.

Those of you who are parents will find that there really isn’t much more that you can do for your children,

especially when they leave home, marry and take their lives in a different direction from yours,

than to commend those children to the Lord.

And is that really so bad?

Do any of us know better what others need than the Lord?

We can do nothing better for those whom we love than to commend them to the Lord.

And notice to whom Paul made that commendation: it was to the Lord.

“Now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up.”

First, Paul was putting his friends into the hands of the Almighty.

“He divideth the sea with his power,” and “by his strength setteth fast the mountains.”

Job testified, “I know that thou canst do everything thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.”

“Our God is in the heavens, He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.”

And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Yea, before the day was I am he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?”

How wise is it to trust the power of the One who created everything out of nothing?

Will these saints ever get hungry and thirsty?

The One to whom they were commended fed a nation in the wilderness & brought water out of a rock.

He multiplied bread and fish; and commanded quail land on Israel’s dinner tables.

Will these saints ever need protection?

The One to Whom they were commended sent fire down from heaven to protect the prophet of God and his untrusting servant.

He defeated Goliath, his brothers, and people who had hired them.

Will these saints ever have doors shut against them?

The One to Whom they were commended brought down the walls of Jericho.

He dried up the Red Sea and the muddy river.

This God changed water into wine and healed sick children, healed disabled adults and dying old people.

This God walked on water and calmed storms.

This God brought Israel out of Egypt and again out of Babylon.

We can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us.

I have noticed that the scholars are divided on how to understand Pau’s words “the word of his grace.”

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace.”

There are some who think that this most clearly applies to the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the Bible justifies this opinion, because Christ is called “the Word,” the “Logos.”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

But obviously, our translators didn’t agree with that interpretation, because they didn’t capitalize “word.”

Also, if I understand my reference material correctly, the word “which” is either feminine or neuter, but not masculine.

The “word of his grace” is speaking about the Scriptures.

Paul was commending his brethren to the ministry of the Word of God.

He wasn’t commending them to the ministry, or to the ministration of the Word;

He was commending them to the Lord to be ministered to by the Word of God.

Think about what this means:

Paul was personifying the written word as though it was a living thing – a powerful living thing.

He was implying that when the Word of God was used by the Holy Spirit, it had power to accomplish mighty things in them.

Later he said, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

In the pages of the Word of God we find the Lord; we learn about His will and His character.

In the Bible we learn about our inheritance, and where we are headed and why.

In days of affliction and loss, the Word of God has power to explain why.

And it contains comfort and strength to see us through those things.

The Bible gives us all the revelation that we need to have.

Paul didn’t commend his friends to the philosophies of the thinkers, or to medical journals or theologies.

He didn’t even commend them to the great Bible commentaries.

He commended them to the word of God’s grace, just as he had earlier commended the Word to them.

And should we assume that since Paul called it “the word of his grace” that he would have said that the primary characteristic of the Scriptures is grace?

For those of you who are parents, can you remember back to when you were holding your first child?

Of course, at first there was probably either one or both of your mothers to lend a hand,

But do you remember the first time that you handed over your precious little baby to a baby-sitter?

Doesn’t it take a great deal of courage to give your most prized possession to someone who is little more than a child themselves?

As we have said several times, Paul loved the people of Ephesus and of each of the other churches which he had started.

When he commended those precious souls to God and to the Word of His grace, it means that he had utmost confidence both in the Word and in them.

Confidence in God? Duh!

But think about the rest of the thought: confidence in turning these people over to the Word of God.

These people had been taught sufficiently, that Paul could trust them with the Word in their hands.

They knew how to read and they knew how to think.

He was confident that they weren’t going to be twisting and manipulating, mutilating and twirling the Bible until no one could understand its clearly declared precepts.

Furthermore, it doesn’t take a genius with a library of commentaries to understand what it says.

For the most part, it says what it says, and any adolescent can understand what it says.

Paul was not afraid to commend the saints unto the Word of God’s grace.

And WHY would he be making that commendation?

First, but least, he was leaving them, and he wouldn’t be there to mother them any longer.

But as I have said, this was not the first moment that he had made this commendation.

He had from the earliest days of the mission in Ephesus been commending the converts to the Lord.

But now that they would see his face no more, and this takes on a different intensity.

Secondly, he commended them to God and His Word, because only they are able to build-up the saints.

Doesn’t the word “able” sound like an understatement?

Why would someone say that God is “able” to do such and such, when we know that God is able to anything he chooses.

Actually, the word “able” in Greek is “dunamai” (doo’-nam-ahee) and speaks about God’s omnipotence and power.

And what does God have the ability to do?

In this case Paul referred to only two things.

God and His Word have power to build us up.

The Lord wants and intends for us to grow.

James Strong says that this word means:

“to finish the structure of which the foundation has already been laid,

to give constant increase in Christian knowledge and in a life conformed thereto.”

Besides these, Paul commended these converts to God for their final glorification and the completion of their salvation in Christ,

Paul’s hope, joy and expectation for them was that they would continue to grow and mature in the things of the Lord.

This is what the earthly aspects of our Christian life are all about – spiritual progress – maturity.

This the pastor’s desire – your growth in the Lord, and ultimately, the completion of your salvation.