<p>20:28 <em>Take heed to yourselves</em>- &quot;Take heed unto yourselves&quot; is repeated so many times in Deuteronomy (e.g. Dt. 2:4; 4:9,15,23; 11:16; 12:13,19,30; 24:8; 27:9)- further evidence Paul is being presented as some kind of Moses of the New Covenant without denying that the Lord Jesus fits this role pre-eminently. &quot;Take heed to yourselves; if thy brother trespass... forgive him&quot; (Lk. 17:3) is being alluded to here, where Paul says we should <em>take heed</em> of the likelihood of false teachers. Surely what he's saying is 'Yes, take heed to forgive your brother personal offences, take heed because you'll be tempted <em>not </em>to forgive him; but have the same level of watchfulness for false teaching'.</p><p><em>And to all the flock</em>- All pastoral work for others must begin with us personally first of all. The same word is used in Mt. 7:15: &quot;Take heed of false prophets&quot;, especially Jewish ones: &quot;Take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees&quot; (Mt. 16:6,12; Lk. 12:1; 20:46 s.w.). Paul uses the phrase again about wariness about Jewish teachers (1 Tim. 1:4). Paul wrote to Timothy in Ephesus, from where these assembled elders were from, that some would give heed to false teachings (1 Tim. 4:1). And this is the further context here (:29). &quot;Take heed to yourselves&quot; is word for word what Luke alone twice records the Lord saying to the disciples in Lk. 17:3; 21:34. Again we see how the disciples in first century Palestine were not to be seen as historical icons, far away in space and time; but as living examples to be emulated.</p><p>Put two passages from Paul together in your minds. He tells the Ephesian elders to &ldquo;take heed to yourselves&rdquo; before adding &ldquo;and to all the flock&rdquo;. To Timothy likewise: &ldquo;Take heed to yourself, and to your teaching of others&rdquo; (1 Tim. 4:16). Clearly enough, Paul saw that who we are is related to the effectiveness of our preaching. The preacher is some sort of reproduction of the Truth in a personal form; the word made flesh. The Truth must exist in us as a living experience, a glorious enthusiasm, an intense reality. For it is primarily <em>people</em> who communicate, not words or ideas. Personal authenticity is undoubtedly the strongest credential in our work of communicating the message.</p><p><em>In which</em>- The elders are themselves part of the flock and not separate from it.</p><p><em>The Holy Spirit has made you bishops</em>- It was Paul who ordained these elders in Ephesus, straight after their conversion. His choice of the men must have been simply on the basis of what appeared to him; for it's hard to really know the hearts of men and their ultimate suitability for eldership. Yet the Spirit apparently confirmed Paul's spirit, his own judgment. The fact they were &quot;made&quot; or given <em>tithemi</em> to be bishops didn't mean they were to make no human effort. They had to &quot;take heed&quot; to themselves and the flock, and feed the flock. Again we see how God's Spirit works with the human spirit. They were not turned into mere puppets. In this case, what they fed the flock, and how they fed them, was their choice and down to their initiative and effort, which they needed to be encouraged in.</p><p><em>To feed the church of God</em>- Feeding is also a metaphor for ruling; eldership in the church was not simply on account of having been given an office, but in practice it is demonstrated and actualized through teaching / feeding the flock.</p><p><em>Which he purchased with his own blood- </em>The motivation to care for others is because the Lord died for His flock. Our attitude to others is therefore to be an extension of His abiding and saving care for them. We aren't motivated simply by what He did for us, but by the fact He did so much for others and thereby seeks their salvation; and we are to play our part in achieving the work intended by His death. &quot;Purchased&quot; translates a word which means to literally go around doing; the idea is of a purchaser going around looking at items before buying one. Here we see the Lord in search of man, just as God in Jeremiah likens Himself to Jeremiah running around the streets of a city looking for men who would hear His word. God is in search of man, through His Son; and men, some men, are in search of God. This explains the sense of spark and mutuality when we meet, with all the Angels rejoicing over one found person.</p><p>Whose blood is in view in &quot;His blood&quot;? There are several NT passages which make an explicit link between God and Jesus in the context of the salvation of men. Phrases such as &ldquo;God our Saviour, Jesus...&quot; are relatively common in the pastorals (1 Tim. 1:1; 2:3; Tit. 1:3,4; 2:10 cp. 13 and see also Jude 24; 2 Pet. 1:1). Acts 20:28 even speaks in some versions as if God&rsquo;s blood was shed on the cross; through &lsquo;His&rsquo; blood the church was purchased; and yet Paul told the very same Ephesian audience that it was through the blood of Jesus that the church was purchased (Eph. 1:6,7); such was the extent of God manifestation on the cross. These and many other passages quoted by Trinitarians evidently don&rsquo;t mean that &lsquo;Jesus = God&rsquo; in the way they take them to mean. But what they <em>are</em> saying is that there was an intense unity between the Father and Son in the work of salvation achieved on the cross. The High Priest on the day of Atonement sprinkled the blood eastwards, on the mercy seat. He would therefore have had to walk around to God's side of the mercy seat and sprinkle the blood back the way he had come. This would have given the picture of the blood coming out from the presence of God Himself; as if <em>He</em> was the sacrifice.</p><p>This passage records Paul predicting the apostasy that was to come upon Ephesus; but he pleads with the elders to take heed and watch, so that his inspired words needn&rsquo;t come true. Here we again see the openness of God.</p>