Acts 20

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia …” (v18).  Paul had spent years in Ephesus, “proclaiming the kingdom” (v25) and “testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (v21).  His life and message were entwined; believers were exposed both to Paul’s gospel teaching and to his Jesus-centered habits. He worked hard with his own hands so that he could “help the weak” (v35). 

“For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (v27).  Paul’s gospel message was effective because his life – his visible, daily behavior - backed it up.