A Dangerous Drowsiness on the Lord’s Day

Start Timer

INTRODUCTION

Remember the importance of Ephesus in the ministry of Paul and the history of the church.

Paul writes 1 Corinthians during his time in Ephesus.

Two NT letters are written to Timothy as he leads the Ephesian church after being trained by Paul, and contain some of the best instructions we have in the Bible on how the church should operate.

The school that Paul started in Tyrannus’ building likely continued to train believers, possibly with Timothy and the Apostle John as teachers in addition to others.

The Apostle John lived in Ephesus later in life and wrote his Gospel and three epistles (1,2,3 John) there. He outlived all of the other Apostles and died of natural causes instead of being martyred around 98 AD (Trajan’s Reign). He may have had Mary, the mother of Jesus, with him in Ephesus as he cared for her after Jesus’ ascension.

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Read Text and Pray

The Mission

Acts 20:1–6 NASB95

After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia. When he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece. And there he spent three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days.

An Enduring Commitment

Paul leaves Ephesus after “the uproar had ceased.” He stayed even when things were hard, and the believers there supported him.

Paul returns to the churches that he started to make sure they are still being faithful to the Gospel they had heard from him and to continue teaching them about the scriptures.

Like Paul’s missionary journey, your journey in following Jesus will not be easy. If Paul gave up, we might not have this book in our hands this morning. If you give up, how will God’s Kingdom suffer?

An Important Offering

The men who accompanied Paul were representatives from the different churches he had started. They each carried an offering from their church to bring to the first church in Jerusalem, and to witness the money being collected and used appropriately. The funds would help believers in prison, believers in need, and to support the Apostles in Jerusalem. Most importantly, the offerings personally delivered to the predominantly Jewish congregation in Jerusalem by Gentile believers representing predominantly Gentile churches was a display of unity and fellowship in the Gospel.

Some of your offering each week goes locally and around the world to support other churches, missionaries, and education for ministry leaders. Like the member who used their upper room for the church to meet in, part of your weekly offering provides a space for us to worship, study, eat, and serve together. Some of your weekly offering is also an investment in your spiritual health as it provides you with a pastor who can offer counsel, prayer, encouragement, and teaching to you individually and as a group.

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The Miracle

Acts 20:9–12 NASB95

And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, “Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.” When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.

There Was A Horrible Accident

Luke, a physician, notes the many lamps in the room as his reasoning for why Eutychus became drowsy and fell out of the window. Luke suspected something like what we know as Carbon Monoxide poisoning. A child would be more susceptible to this than the adults who were present.

There Was A Healing Apostle

Paul has already demonstrated earlier in Acts that he had special healing gifts from the Holy Spirit. Paul copied other instances where the OT prophets Elijah and Elisha laid on someone and prayed for them so they would be resurrected.

Some might wonder if this was akin to modern CPR, but that is unlikely since Luke would have been able to accurately assess whether the boy was actually dead or just unconscious.

Eutychus means “lucky,” which is humorous considering that this accident happened when an Apostle with healing powers was there.

God heard Paul’s prayer for Eutychus, and answered it by raising him from the dead as a testimony to Paul’s Gospel message and for the strengthening of the Church’s faith.

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The Meeting

Acts 20:7–8 NASB95

On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together.

Acts 20:11 NASB95

When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left.

The Day

This passage is the most explicit example in scripture of Christian worship on Sundays.

The Purpose

The Church gathered on the first day of the week to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection in a time of singing, studying, thanksgiving, and feasting.

The Teaching

Paul would be teaching the Church mostly from memory or copies of Old Testament scrolls. The Church may have had one of the Gospels or a letter from an Apostle to read out loud. Paul would preach Jesus out of the Old Testament. Christians set aside as much of the day as possible for worship, and stayed out all night for the chance to hear God’s Word.

The Time

The meeting took place in the evening since most people worked during the daytime hours.

The Location

Christians met in the upper room, a large open area on the top floors of houses. The member with the most space would often host the gathering.

The Air

The room was crowded and only had a few small windows for ventilation. The burning of many lamps would make the air full of smoke and fumes, but light was needed to study the scriptures.

The People

All ages gathered together to worship, study, and eat on Sundays. Eutychus was likely 7-14 years old, indicating that children and teens were with their parents.

The Meal

After their worship, the Church would share a meal together. Everyone would bring whatever they were able to so that all of the believers would have enough to eat. “Breaking bread” was how they referred to Communion or “The Lord’s Supper.” They did this every Sunday at the beginning of their meal.

The famous pastor, John Bunyan, said that we should make the Lord’s Day a “market for our souls.” We need to spend a lot of time in prayer and study to find out what that means for our church. If you are leaving church every Sunday more tired, discouraged, or frustrated than when you came in, something is wrong and needs to change.

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CONCLUSION

To the Church:

Brothers and sisters, the Jewish week ended with rest because hard work was required to satisfy God, but the Christian week begins with rest because God is already satisfied. Just like our giving, God wants us to start with Him in everything and draw on His power for all that we do.

We are tired, defeated, and frustrated because we are trying to do things that we don’t have the strength for. As your pastor, I have sinned against God by starting with work instead of rest. Don’t follow my example in this!

Church family, we need to ask God to forgive us for trying to do His work for Him. We need to start resting today, and we need to wait on the Lord to give us the strength for what He has for us to do.

I’m not just saying this to be spiritual. I’m dead serious. Every one of us needs to learn to “be still and know that [He] is God.”

I don’t have all of the answers, but God told me to care for His sheep and I want them to be healthy and strong when the Good Shepherd comes to see how they are doing.

Pause

To the Lost:

I have fallen asleep in church many times over the years, but it never killed me. You do not have a healing Apostle in the church today, so the only resurrection we look to is the one we will receive when Christ returns.

If you are here this morning and you’ve been asleep to the message of God’s salvation, WAKE UP! Eutychus fell out of a window, but apart from Christ you will fall into an eternal Hell when you die!

Because I love you and don’t want that for you, I have put you in a difficult position. From this moment forward in your life, you won’t be able to tell God one day that you never knew how to be saved.

Right now in your heart admit that God is good and you aren’t.

Trust that the only thing that will take away your punishment for sin was done by Jesus on the cross and can’t be done by you.

Tell someone that you are getting off the throne of your life and giving Jesus the seat He deserves.

Prove that you’re serious about following Him by being baptized.

Show your love for Him by keeping His commandments as you commit to this church family and find your place here.