Acts 20: 20-21: Paul the teaching leader

“20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.”NIV

We have already seen that Paul ‘walked the walk’; but he also ‘talked the talk.’ That’s a powerful combination. Someone said about Ronald Dunn, a great Bible teacher, that the tongue in his mouth and the tongue in his show were always going in the same direction. The same was true of Paul. Note a number of things:
➢ He was not governed by what was popular, but what was ‘’helpful’’ (20a);
➢ He was flexible in his approach (20b). He could readily adjust to the setting he found himself in. He was able to teach in public, like in the ‘’lecture hall of Tyrannus’’ (19:9) but also comfortable with discipling people in a home;
➢ He had no favourites – he preached the same gospel to all (21). He didn’t make the terms easier for fellow-Jews;
➢ Preaching Jesus was a greater priority to Paul than staying alive (24). Life was about Christ and death would be ‘’gain’’ (Philippians 1: 21);
➢ He held nothing back (26, 27). He had a clear conscience. He knew he had not omitted the more unpalatable truths – unpalatable to the natural mind that is (although even believers can be resistant to some Biblical teachings);
➢ He warned with clarity (29-31);
➢ He preached with passion (31b) – and he gave himself wholeheartedly to the task
➢ He believed in the power of the Word to do its own work (32). Even after Paul left them (25), and although they would never see him again, that Word would stay with them; it would be in them, doing its own mighty work: ‘’Now I’m turning you over to God, our marvellous God whose gracious Word can make you into what he wants you to be and give you everything you could possibly need in this community of holy friends.’’ The Message.