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Paul warned of coming affliction:
v. 22. And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there;
v. 23. save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
v. 24. But none. of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God.
v. 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.
v. 26. Wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men.
v. 27. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
There is a strain of ineffable sadness in the entire address of Paul, and the reason for the sorrowful note is here given. Although Paul himself had not received an express revelation, others had prophesied concerning the outcome of the present journey. He felt urged, compelled in the Spirit, who directed his steps on more than one occasion; it would have been an act of direct disobedience for him not to travel up to Jerusalem. He had no definite information as to the things that would happen to him in that city, that would come upon him to harm him, only that the Holy Spirit, in every city through which he had recently passed, had plainly testified that fetters, chains, and therefore also affliction, awaited him. The nearer he came to Jerusalem, the more explicit became the prophecies, chap. 21:11. From step to step on his journey, Paul was warned and guided, and incidentally his spirit was filled with consolation and courage from above. He did not esteem his life worthy of mention, as a life that was precious to himself. As he had always subordinated his life, his abilities, his talents, his ambitions under the will of the Lord, so here also he had but one thought, namely, to finish his course, the service which he had received from the Lord Jesus, to be untiring in his testimony, to witness to the Gospel of the grace of God. This service, this ministry, had been entrusted to Paul by Jesus Himself, chap. 9:6-15; Gal_1:1; Tit_1:3. Grace presupposes guilt, and therefore Paul had not weakened the proclamation of the Law, but his greatest joy had ever been to attest the Gospel of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, to lead poor sinners to the mercy of their Savior. The same spirit of joyful and willing service must be the driving power in every true servant of the Lord, whether engaged in the work of the formal ministry or not. All this Paul had emphasized once more, because it was his personal conviction, based upon the prophecies which he had heard recently, that they all who were now assembled before him, through whose midst he had journeyed with the proclamation of the kingdom of God, would see his face no more. All indications pointed in that direction and caused him to be very anxious and apprehensive. And this being the case, Paul called upon those present as witnesses before God on that day and in that solemn hour, that he was pure from their blood, that not a single one of them could demand his soul at the hand of the apostle from want of pastoral care; for he had not held back, he had not shrunk from proclaiming to them the entire counsel of God, the counsel of redemption and grace. "No epistle excels that to the Ephesians in the richness of its thoughts, and in its conception of a divine purpose running through the ages; no epistle dwells more fully upon the conception of the Church as the body of Christ, or exhorts more touchingly to diligence in keeping the unity of the spirit, or insists more practically upon the sanctifying power of the one Spirit and the sense of a divine membership in every sphere of human life. The rich and full teaching of the epistle is addressed to men who are able to understand the apostle's knowledge of the mystery of Christ; in other words, to those to whom he had announced more fully than to others the counsel of God."