Series - Paul's Third Missionary Journey - Sermon 3 - The Providential, Protective, & Powerful Hand of God

Introduction

Good morning Church!

It’s good to see each and every one who has made it out this morning.

Today, we are going to be picking back up where we left off a few weeks ago in the Book of Acts Chapter 20.

And today, we will be looking at the first 12 Verses.

If you will remember, we left off a few weeks ago with Paul spending a great deal of time in Ephesus and doing a mighty work of the Lord there.

So much so, that many people who performed witchcraft got rid of their black magic books and stop practicing what the Bible called curious arts.

A mighty move of God had taken place in Asia and the evidence of that was in what followed.

After God moved in such a mighty way and people began turning to the true God and turning from their false gods, a man by the name of Demetrius, a silversmith, took a big hit financially from the fallout of people turning to Christianity.

They stopped buying the little silver trinkets he was selling of Diana their false goddess.

Because it was affecting his livelihood, Demetrius decided something needed to happen and so he incited an uproar in the city.

So much so, that once they all gathered at the amphitheatre there in Ephesus, many of those rioting didn’t even know what they were there for!

After a good scolding and threatening basically by the mayor of the city, the riot disbursed.

Paul seen this riot as a sign that his work for the time being in Ephesus was finished.

He knew it was coming to an end and had already made prior plans to return to Jerusalem via the way of Macedonia.

If you look back in...

Acts 19:21–22 KJV 1900

21 After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. 22 So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.

Paul knew his time in Ephesus was coming to an end and that the Holy Spirit was calling him back to Jerusalem so he had already sent Brothers Timothy and Erastus before him into Macedonia to get things ready.

Now, after the uproar of Demetrius, he decided his time in Ephesus had come to an end for the time being and it was time to move on.

And that’s where we’re going to pick up this morning. With Paul retracing his steps through Macedonia with the ultimate goal in mind of making it back to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.

What we are going to see this morning though is this…the Bible says in...

Proverbs 16:9 KJV 1900

9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: But the Lord directeth his steps.

Paul thought he had his trip home planned out but what he didn’t know is that Satan was going to try and thwart that plan!

And what’s more is this…Satan’s plan will fail because the providential hand of God will prevail and it always will!

So, if you have your Bible’s with you and turned to Acts Chapter 20, would you say, Amen.

The Plot to Kill Paul and The Providential Hand of God — (Vs. 1-3)

The Partners on Paul’s Journey — (Vs. 4-5)

The Providential Plan Unfolds — (Vs. 6)

The Preaching of Paul — (Vs. 7-12)

The Day of Paul’s Preaching — (Vs. 7a)

Colossians 2:16–17 KJV 1900

16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

John MacArthur — This passage is the earliest recorded description of a Christian worship service, and several features are noteworthy. First, the believers gathered together for worship not on the Sabbath (Saturday) but on the first day of the week (Sunday). Despite the claims of some, Christians are not required to observe the Sabbath, as the following considerations reveal.

First, although a day of rest and worship is demonstrated by God in the creation, the Saturday Sabbath was given to Israel as the sign of the Mosaic Covenant (Ex. 31:16–17; Ezek. 20:12; Neh. 9:14). Since Christians are under the New Covenant (2 Cor. 3:6ff.; Heb. 8), they are not required to observe the sign associated with the Mosaic Covenant.

Second, there is no command in the New Testament for Christians to observe the Sabbath.

Third, even during the Mosaic economy, the Old Testament neither commanded the Gentile nations to observe the Sabbath nor condemned them for failing to do so. That offers further proof that the Sabbath was given to Israel only.

Fourth, there is no record in the Bible of anyone’s observing the Sabbath before the time of Moses. Similarly, the first command to keep the Sabbath appears in the law given to Moses at Sinai (Ex. 20:8).

Fifth, the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) did not impose Sabbath-keeping on the Gentile believers.

Sixth, the apostle Paul warned the Gentiles about many different sins in his epistles but never about breaking the Sabbath.

Seventh, Colossians 2:16–17 describes the Sabbath as a shadow of Christ; the shadow is no longer binding on us since the substance (Christ) has come.

Eighth, in Galatians 4:10–11, Paul rebukes the Galatians for thinking that God expected them to observe special days, such as the Sabbath.

Ninth, Romans 14:5 declares observing the Sabbath to be a matter of personal preference among converted Jews. It was to be tolerated until they became more mature in the understanding of their Christian liberty. Therefore it could not be something God requires believers to do.

Tenth, the book of Acts and the subsequent writings of the early church Fathers make clear that the church from earliest times met for worship on Sunday. For example, the Epistle of Barnabas, written at the close of the first century, says:

Your present Sabbaths are not acceptable to Me, but that is which I have made, [namely this,] when, giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead. (XV; The Ante-Nicene Fathers [reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973], 1:147)

Early in the second century, Ignatius wrote, “Let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days” (Epistle to the Magnesians, IX; The Ante-Nicene Fathers [reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973], 1:63). Later in the second century, Justin Martyr described how Christians of his day worshiped:

On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits.… Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because … Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. (First Apology, LXVII; [reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973], 1:186)

Tertullian, who lived in the late second and early third centuries, referred to Christians as those “to whom Sabbaths are strange” (On Idolatry, XIV [reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973], 3:70).

The Duration of Paul’s Preaching — (Vs. 7b)

The Dwelling Place of Paul’s Preaching — (Vs. 8)

The Distraction During Paul’s Preaching — (Vs. 9)

Eutychus — name means “fortunate”

Chuck Swindoll — The Greek term rendered “young man” indicates a boy of about ten to seventeen years of age. Writers frequently use the word to describe those who exhibit behavior characteristic of a teenager: impetuous, active, spirited, willful.

The Reaction to the Distraction — (Vs. 10)

The Recovery & Restoration from the Distraction — (Vs. 11a-12)

The Departure after the Preaching — (Vs. 11b)

Closing

A. Proverbs 16:9

Proverbs 16:9 KJV 1900

9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: But the Lord directeth his steps.

Psalm 37:23 KJV 1900

23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: And he delighteth in his way.