THE GOSPEL   |   QUESTIONS   |   ARTICLES   |   SERMONS   |   SUBSCRIPTIONS   |   ABOUT

biblestudy: Acts (Part Twenty-One)

Acts 20 Paul's Final Admonitory Instructions to the Ephesian Elders
John W. Ritenbaugh
Given 14-Feb-89; Sermon #BS-AC21; 83 minutes

Description: (show)

---

We're going to be going through something here before we get back into the book of Acts, something that Impacts on Acts 21st chapter which we are going to be going into today, and that's in regard to the number of statements that it makes in the Bible regarding the first day of the week as a possibility for its being a day of worship. This is something that most of us have proved before we ever came into the church, and in a way that's one reason why I decided to go through this is because for most of us it's something that we went through many years ago and maybe we have not done any reading on it. It's something that we believe, it's something we accept, but it's something that's good to go over every once in a while and be refreshed. Now, we are all well aware that the Christian world out there celebrates on Sunday. And they use some of these scriptures as a basis for the authority for keeping the day. But it's good to begin to Uh, had a very Basic place, and that is that first of all, the word Sunday never appears in the Bible. That's because it just was not called Sunday then, at least by those people who were writing the Bible. So, the days according to those people were simply called the 1st day, the 2nd day, the 3rd day, and so forth, and then finally Sabbath. The first day of the week does appear 8 times in the New Testament. So we are going to go through each one of them, say a little bit about each one, and give you at least some sort of an idea of why these verses do not establish a day of worship. So the first one. Both in terms of apparently when the book was written and also in terms of where it is placed, it's in Matthew 28. And in verse one, it says, now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. Now, it's interesting to note. That the first day of the week is established by this verse as being after the Sabbath. Oh, that's, that's pretty clear. By the Bible's own record, it's something that is in a sense silently stated, but it's something that is nonetheless reasonably important. Now it was almost done when this occasion took place and Sabbath is still the first day of the week, pardon me. The day before the first day of the week, at the time, the book of Matthew is written. Now there is, of course, disagreement among those who look into these things as to when the book of Matthew was written and whether it was the first one written you know, I do not know for sure. But there are those who say that the book of Matthew was written as few as 6 years after the crucifixion, resurrection of Jesus Christ. So even if we take that very low figure, why 6 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of the of Christ, and you know, by, by their reasoning this was the time when everything was supposedly nailed to the cross. That is the law of God. So when this book was inspired by God's Holy Spirit, the first day of the week was still the day after the Sabbath. OK, the next one is in Mark. And this is in the 16th chapter. And it is very similar in In content to what Matthew wrote. It says in verse 2. Mark 16 and 2. Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. Again, the first day of the week was not the Sabbath, but it was after the Sabbath. And when the book of Mark was written, again, there is some confusion as to when it was written, but most of the people who look into these things say that it was written, after the book of Matthew was. How long after? I do not know, but let's say somewhere at least after 6 years after the resurrection of Christ, and still, they aren't calling it Sunday and still, the first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath. One might begin to ask the question is and that is if the Sabbath was done away, why they did not they use some other designation? Why continually remind people that the Sabbath is a day or an occasion by which time is marked? Why not move it to something else? Why did not they say that he was raised on the day that celebrates Christ's resurrection or some other designation like that. OK, the 3rd 1 is also in March 16. And it's in verse 9. Now when he rose early on the 1st day of the week, he appeared first to marry Magdalene, out of whom he had cast 7 demons. Now there is nothing here that that designates Sunday as the Lord's Day. It doesn't call it the Lord's Sabbath. There is nothing about being it being hallowed, nothing about being, being observed. Nothing here says that it is a memorial of the resurrection. There is no command to rest. There is no authority given. It is simply given as a designation of when something occurred. And in this case, It occurred on the day after the Sabbath. OK, the next one is in Luke, the 24th chapter. And again this is Luke's version. But this one has a couple of other factors that are added in the context. OK, Luke 24 and 1. Now early on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them came to the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared. Well, it's interesting that these ladies were going to use the first day of the week to work on. I think that all of you understand. The, the Jews had uh, let's say, an attitude, an understanding regarding the Sabbath and burials. Something that was not to take place on that day. You can recall when Christ died, was on a Passover. It was the day before a Sabbath, and they hurried to get his body off the cross and into the tomb in order that it not be there on the Sabbath day. So that they were going to get it in the tomb and, and there would be no, no burial on the Sabbath day, no work at preparing the body on the Sabbath day, nothing. Now let's go back to one verse, chapter 23 and verse 56. Then they returned and prepared spices. These are the women who are mentioned in verse 55. That day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew near, and the women who had come with him from Galilee followed after and they observed the tomb and how his body was laid, and they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils, and they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. Now that's very interesting. Now what commandment Tells you to rest on the Sabbath. It's the 4th commandment. So what we are talking about in verse 56 is a weekly Sabbath. So then the day that follows, chapter 24 and verse, verse women. Verse 1. OK, now shall we say that these women did not know that the Sabbath was abolished? Now again, according to the commentaries, they say that Luke was probably written about 30 years after Christ's resurrection. So here it is, 30 years after everything was nailed to the cross. And Sunday, or the first day of the week, is still the day after the weekly Sabbath. Now God, God knew and he inspired it by His Holy Spirit. And so this text right here, beginning in verse 53 of chapter 23 and going through chapter 24, verse 1, establishes Sunday as a common workday. John 20. John 20 And in verse one. Now, this is John's version. On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. The only thing that I want to add here Is that John was written probably about 95 AD. After, after the others had all gotten in there say, Paul John puts the cap on top of everything, and still, the first day of the week, the day after the Sabbath, it's not called sunny. Sunday, boy, I'm really having trouble here. It's not called Sunday. It's not called a day of worship. Uh, there is nothing to designate it as being holy. Uh, he is still confirming what the other three authors have already said. I done in verse 19, same chapter. Then the same day, the same day as chapter 2, verse 1, the same day at evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, Peace be with you. Ah, now here, maybe we have authority for a religious assembly. Sunday night services. Anybody that's been in any kind of a halfway decent religious organization, even if they do not attend on Sunday evening. The church has services on Sunday evening, and maybe they use this as kind of an authority that they should get together on Sunday evening. So here they are, they are all together and they are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They finally got it through their noggins, you see that that he was alive. No, I'm afraid not. First of all, if you follow the story all the way through, you find that. This is the first real opportunity that Jesus has had to get together with his disciples, because after seeing Mary Magdalene sometime after that, why he ascended to the Father in heaven, and I'm sure that they had a good talk for a while, got everything all cleaned up and back he comes to the earth. And now he's here. His disciples have all been gathered together. I believe all were there except Thomas, and they were going to hold a service. No, no, not at all. The verse says they were there because of fear of the Jews. Now we have something else to add to that. So just hold your finger. Go back to Luke Chapter 24. And in verse 37. Luke 24 and in verse 37. Mhm. Now here is the same occasion. Now as they said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and he said to them, peace to you, but they were terrified. And frightened and supposed that they had seen a spirit. Uh, you would, you would think that they were. Celebrating the resurrection? Well, I'll tell you if they were celebrating it. They had a wrong idea about it. Now they were terrified. They did not believe in the resurrection. They did not. What I mean is they did not believe that he was resurrected. If they really believed he was resurrected, why be frightened? Verse, let's see, where do I want to go now? Verse 39. He said to them, Why are you troubled? And why do, why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself. Sounds like they really believe, doesn't it? Handle me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see, I have in verse 42. But while they still did not believe for joy and marveled, he said to them, have you any food here? Turn back to Mark 16 and verse 14. And afterward, He appeared to the 11 as they sat at the table, and he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen him after the resurrection, after he had risen. Now that that meeting there in John 2019 was held because they were frightened and they came together to give one another support. There was no idea in their mind about having any kind of a religious service and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and thus beginning to establish authority for having a service on Sunday. Now to Acts 20. And in verse 7 This is the series of verses that instigated. Uh, this particular little study on these phrases here. Now on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. Now here we finally have a meeting on Sunday, do not we? No, I'm afraid not. It was the first day of the week. But notice It says the last verse, last word in that verse. He said that he continued his message until midnight. Now if we went to verse 8, it says that there were many lamps in the upper room, which shows, of course, that it was dark outside, just confirming that Paul was speaking at night. Well, The answer to this is that Days in biblical time did not begin as we begin days at midnight. But rather days were begun and ended by sunset. So the first day of the week began on Saturday evening for you and me by our reckoning. So just picking out an arbitrary time. This was about was the spring of the year. It was around the Days of Unleavened Bread. We'll just say that it was April, maybe early to mid April, that this was. As far as we know, there is no record that they had daylight savings time, so it is very likely that this was probably the service began. Somewhere around 6:30, 7 o'clock. Saturday night. Or In the next minute or two, it would be Sunday. Sunday evening, by their reckoning, because the days begin at even. So the evening was more was before the morning by biblical records, so at the beginning of the first day of the week, it was night. So this service was actually on Saturday night. OK, maybe now maybe by some strange Twist of reasoning, we could say, well, they were having a service on Sunday and by that we can establish. That here is Bible authority for services on a Sunday. No, I'm afraid not. You know, the Bible does not prohibit services on Sunday. You have services on Sunday at least one day out of the year. Every year on Pentecost, a holy day falls on a Sunday. But God does not command that we keep Sunday as a regular day of worship. It doesn't fit into the pattern that he established in the types all through the Bible. The day that we are memorializing is the 7th day of creation. And that is the one that the commandment says that we are to keep, not Sunday. So though it is not wrong for an occasional service to be held on a Sunday, and I can remember when we came into the church we kept the Days of Unleavened Bread, all 7 days. And so there was always a a service on a Sunday. Almost every feast of Tabernacles, we have a service on a Sunday. And I am sure that if it was a special occasion, maybe back in the days when Mr. Armstrong was alive. And he was stopping through an area or now that Mr. T is in that position, if he had traveled all the way to Africa and his time was limited and maybe he was hopscotching around Africa and a service here and a service there and a service there, you know, flying from place to place, there would be absolutely nothing. I'll say unscriptural or unholy about him holding a service on a Sunday. We do not have to be, let's say, concerned about that very much here because the churches are so close together and transportation is so rapid, but in this kind of a situation or in areas where the brethren are really scattered over a whole continent, it would not be wrong to hold a service on a Sunday. Now that was, that's what happened here. Paul was leaving the area. And it was going to be well, as we find later on, it was going to be the last time that he was ever together with these people. And so he held a service then. You know, I wanted to read this, brought this Bible with me just so that I could read it to you. This is the New English Bible. And It's an interpretation. It's not a direct translation. So if you have one, just be a little bit careful about it. But I thought I'd read this verse to you out of this interpretation. In modern English. So verse 6 says that that these went ahead and waited for us at Trola, and we ourselves set sail from Philippi after the Passover season and in 5 days reached them at Treos, where we spent a week. And on Saturday night in our assembly for the breaking of bread, Paul, who was to leave the next day, did you see that? Saturday night, I think they caught it. That's what it was. It was Saturday night. OK. Uh, let's see, where do I wanna go now? Let's not leave there yet. Couple more things to add to this that confirms very clearly that this was not a holy day as the Sabbath is. So In verse 13, Acts 2013. And then we went ahead to the ship and sailed to Asos, where they are attending to take Paul on board so he had given orders, intending himself to go on foot. And when he met us at Asos, we took him on board and came to. You know, what happened was this. Troos was on one corner. Of a peninsula. If you can imagine a triangle, like, like so. And Troos is up here. And Ashos is down here. And all around here is water. Now from here, around here, from from Choo to Asos. It's about 60 miles by water. From here to here, roos to Asos by land is 20 miles. So what all of Paul's companions did is they got in the boat. OK. And this was Right after sunset, While Paul was beginning preaching, they got in the boat and at night, they went around this way. And at some time the next day, They had covered the 60 miles and met Paul here. Now Paul did not leave until the following morning, Sunday morning. It's now daylight, and he walked the 20 miles across this end of the peninsula. OK, now look at what they did. If Sunday was a holy day. Paul did very strenuous work. How many times have you walked 20 miles in one day? Maybe some of you did it in the army. But hardly anybody does it willingly. And especially if you believe that a day is a holy day, you're not going to do it. Well, obviously Paul did not believe it was a holy day. It was a common workday, Sunday. Now you might also look at his companions. I do not know what they were doing in the boat. I do not know whether they were passengers or whether they were actually manning the thing. If they were manning it. Then I am sure there was a lot of work sailing that thing, manning the sails, doing some rowing, whatever is necessary to cover 60 miles of territory. From one place to another. Even if they were just passengers on the boat. I'm not so sure that that's a good idea to be doing something like that. On a holy day. When they could have just as easily waited until the next day. They did not wait. There was no problem because it simply was not holy time. So there is no authority here at all for a day of worship. Yes, they had a service, but it was not a regular practice and it was not something done by the command of God. OK, the next one. is in I Corinthians 16. And in verse one, Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also. Now here comes a collection for the saints, verse 2 on the first day of the week. Now I have seen collection envelopes when I was in the Methodist Church. Later on when I was in the Presbyterian Church, that they would quote this verse, these two verses, you know, little envelopes of little yellow or white things they give you and Little flap on it, put your money in your buck, or maybe 50 cents or whatever, seal it up, and then you drop it in the collection plate when it comes around. has a number on it. I remember in the Methodist Church, it had a little number 592, that was your family number or something. So they know who to, who to receipt the thing to. Well, is there really authority for taking up an offering on a Sunday morning here? And if it is, does that involve worship on the on Sunday? No, no, look what the verse says. You have to live by every word of God. Now concerning the collection for the saintsoh. A little sand here. Whenever you take an offering up in church, It's to support the church. It's to support the church's activities, you know, it's to support the missions. It supports the evangelistic campaigns. It supports the distribution of literature, Bibles, all kinds of things like that. It pays the minister's salary. But this is a collection for the saints. Now, If you look down in verse 3, It says, when I come, whomever you approve by your letters, I will, I will send to bear your gifts to Jerusalem. OK, now this was going to be given. This collection for the saints was going to be carried to Jerusalem. So it was for saints in Jerusalem. Now what we find is That there was a drought. In the Mideast People in Jerusalem were affected. And what they needed Was food and not money. Now, in Romans 15, hold your place there and let's go to Romans 15. And in verse 25, Remember Paul was writing. To the Romans And he says, for it please those from Macedonia and Achaea, the two large divisions of Greece. To make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, that is the Jews or the saints in Jerusalem, spiritual things, their duty, the Gentiles' duty in Macedonia and Greek and Achaea. Their responsibility is also to minister, to serve, to help them in material things, them being the saints in Jerusalem. Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit. I shall go by way of you to Spain. Now that's very clear. What was being collected in I Corinthians 16 was not money, it was foodstuffs. It was fruit. And it was taken because of the close feeling of concern and the feeling of responsibility for those of those people in Macedonia and in Greece for the plight of those people who were around Jerusalem and suffering from a drought. OK, now back to I Corinthians 16. I add a little bit more to this. On the first day of the week, verse 2, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections where when I come. So this fruit is something that is stored up aside by the individual who is doing this the story. Now when money is collected at a church service, it is not taken back to the saint's home and stored in their home. It's taken to the church's bank account or stored in the church or something. So he says that to see that there will be no gatherings, fruit is gathered and stored. The subject is consistent. An offering taken to church is not a gathering. Nobody uses that kind of terminology. verse 3, and when I come, whomever you approve by your letters, I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me. Now this fruit was going to require several men to take the collection to Jerusalem, and so those instructions then are given to to them so that they will understand. What they are to do with it. So they hang on, they collect it, they hang on to it, they store it. When Paul comes, the collections will be picked up, and those in the congregation who have been appointed to carry it will go with Paul. If he goes, they will go with Paul to Jerusalem. OK, one more very briefly. That incidentally was #8. Now this is just an added one in Revelation 1 and in verse 10. In verse 10, he says, I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet saying, and then it goes on. Now some use this as authority. Because it is the habit of these people to call Sunday the Lord's Day. But the day that the apostle John is referring to here is not speaking of any day of the week, but rather it is speaking of the day of the Lord. That's that extended period of time. Of God's intervention in world affairs. Now that's the theme. It is the story that is covered by the entire book of Revelation and covers that period of time that certainly includes the tribulation and the literal day of the Lord, that period of about 3.5 years prior to the return of Jesus Christ. So Revelation 1:10 is not talking about. A single day that an extended period of time called in the Bible the day of the Lord. OK, let's go back to the book of Acts. OK, Acts the 19th chapter concerned itself with Paul's activities in Ephesus. I am sure that it was a very exciting and rewarding time for the apostle Paul. He had one of the most successful periods of time, covered in the Book of Acts. I believe that he stayed there pretty close to around 3 years, which was a very long time for him, and he did not stay at other places very long, usually because he was ushered out of town through some kind of or as a result of some kind of a disturbance. And again, That occurred here. There was a disturbance, and then it was after this disturbance was over that Paul then purposed to go into Macedonia and that gets into the tail end of Chapter 19. Now it's pretty evident though that he was not given the bum's rush out of emphasis that even though there was a disturbance there. He very clearly left, not so much because of the disturbance, but simply because the pressures of continuing the work, being concerned about what was going on in other places, he felt moved to go somewhere else and so we find then. At the end of the chapter that The confusion that reigned as a result of that occurrence there where all the people were stirred up about losing money because people were turning away from idols and I guess the tourist industry there was being cut into as a result of less people buying the goods there that the silversmiths had to sell and so Paul then left. So we find in chapter 20. And in verse one. That after the uproar had ceased. Paul called his disciples to him, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia. Now Paul's plan was to go to Macedonia, which if you can remember is north, almost directly north of the area that he was in, that is in Ephesus. I was going to go up into Macedonia and there go to Philippi from Philippi probably to Thessalonica and Berea once again, and then he was going to go down to Achaea, which was the district or area in which Corinth was located, and then he was going to come back through Asia, which was the west part of of uh. Of Turkey And then from Asia, he was going to go on into Jerusalem. Now it was during this period of time. That Paul wrote Uh, 2 Corinthians. Mm. And in II Corinthians he looks forward to the visit. In Corinth, he mentions it. I'll get to that in just a little bit. And then it was while he was in Corinth that he wrote the book of Romans. OK, verse one, then he, he departed to go into Macedonia. Now let me let's go back to 2 Corinthians. Hold your finger there and And in chapter 2, We're going to see as we go through that. But Paul made a change or two in his plans and eventually decided not to go back to Ephesus, but to avoid it. It's very likely that that Couple of pretty good reasons why he decided not to go back there. And if we get that far, why we will cover them at least just briefly. But in II Corinthians 2 and in verse 12. Furthermore, when I came to Troos to preach Christ's gospel and a door was opened to me by the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find Titus my brother. But taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia. Now if you might just stop to think of this as a group of people who are receiving letters from a good friend. And he is informing them of Let's say the things that are taking place as they take place. So, now it You almost have to understand where Ephesus is, you know, down on the southwestern corner there of Turkey, and Troos was on the way to Macedonia. So he went up to Troos heading directly north, and when he got there, it was apparently his desire to do some evangelizing while he was there and he was going to wait for Titus. To come from Corinth. Meet him there at Troos and then the two of them would go on up to Macedonia. But what occurred is this as we begin to fill the story in, when he got the roos. He apparently waited around a few days, and Titus never showed up. I do not know what, nobody knows exactly what happened, whether there was a misfiring, whether the messages did not get through right or Tim Titus was delayed in some way, but anyway, Paul got antsy, as we would say today. Uh, it says here that, that he had no rest in his spirit. That's a fancy way of saying that he got antsy. And finally, he could not bear it any longer because he knew. That there were some troubles in the congregation. He knew for sure there was a lot of trouble in Corinth, and he had also heard things about You know there being some unrest. In the areas of of Macedonia, Philippi and Thessalonica. Apparently it was not that the churches were all in an uproar, but rather that there was trouble in the neighborhood, you know, persecution, that kind of thing. So he was so concerned. That he decided to go to Macedonia and and find out about their welfare there and then get that thing settled. OK, now back to 20, Acts 20. And verse 2. Now when he had gone over that region, see that region there is Macedonia. And encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece. Now that means that he left Macedonia and he went down into, into Achaea. OK, is the, the southern Peninsula of Greece. Apparently what happened was that when he got to Macedonia. Titus met him there. And he gave a great deal of encouragement to the apostle Paul regarding the situation in Corinth. The things had settled down. That the congregation was not in such a turmoil. There was not so much division, so Paul was comforted by it, but he still felt that it was necessary for him to get down to Corinth as quickly as he could because things were were in pretty good shape up in up in Philippi and Thessalonica. You will find that the letters to Philippi and Thessalonica are probably among the most encouraging that Paul ever wrote. The congregations were apparently good, solid ones, especially the congregation in Philippi. They probably did about as much for the apostle Paul in funding his evangelistic campaigns and giving him a sense of security and encouragement as any other congregation that he ever associated with. I mean you can tell there is a real emotional attachment to that congregation. And Thessalonica, you can tell the letters they had questions, questions about the return of Jesus Christ, but there did not seem to be a large number of problems there either. But Corinth was another matter, but he was encouraged by what Titus told him. And so then he came down to Corinth, and it says in verse 3 that he stayed 3 months, and when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. Now here comes a change in his plans. Now let's see, turn to Romans 15. In Romans 15, And in verse 17, Now when Paul wrote this, he had not been to Rome. The church had been begun by someone else who had evangelized in that area. But Paul wanted to go there. And in fact we are going to find at the end of Acts 20. That Paul had no intention of ever returning to the churches that he had started in Turkey and in Greece. And that he was going to shift his operations from the Greek world into the Latin world and in a way this letter to the Romans was like paving the way for Rome hopefully to become kind of a headquarters area for him to branch out from there, go into France and into Spain, into those areas. Now we know for sure that the. He wanted to go into Spain. It's very likely that he wanted to go into other areas, especially other areas of Italy, and maybe, who knows, even in North Africa, whether he ever got there, I do not know. It does not seem likely that he ever did. But here in Romans 15 and in verse 17, He says, Therefore, I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God, for I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me in word and deed to make the Gentiles obedient in mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God so that from Jerusale. The gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's foundation. You see what he's telling them is that he had never been there and that he was not going to preach in that area, but he wanted it to be kind of a headquarters. Somebody else by preach I mean not to a congregation, he would do that. I'm talking about evangelizing. Right And Let's say verse 23. But now no longer having a place in these parts. And having a great desire these many years to come to you. Now these parts are the eastern part of the Mediterranean. And now he wants to shift his operations to the west. Whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you, for I hope to see you on my journey and be helped on my way there by you. Now that could be emotional support, spiritual support, it could be financial support. Your first I might enjoy your company for a while. But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints, where it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaea to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem and so on. It's really interesting to see how these letters begin to fit together. And now you can see that he wrote this from Corinth. On this trip in which he went from Ephesus to Troos to Macedonia down to Corinth. Then he was going to go from Corinth over to Jerusalem, but the Jews had a plot going on, so he made a change in his plans and he instead went north out of Achaea back to Thessalonica and Philippi and into Macedonia and then over to Cholos, and that's where that thing that we just read in chapter 20. OK, let's go back there again, chapter 20. So he stayed 3 months there in Corinth, and when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. And so Peter of Berea accompanied him to Asia and also Aristarchus and Segundus of the Thessalonians and Gaius of Derby and Timothy Tycheus and Trophyot of Asia. These men going ahead waited for us at Troo. Now the thought on verse 4 is this where did he suddenly pick up this tremendous entourage? Formerly it was just Paul and Silas, or Paul and Silas and Timothy, or Paul and Silas and Titus, or Paul and Silas and Luke. Now he's got this. Entourage like an oriental potentate. OK. Well, these are probably the men who are carrying the fruit. And in the meantime, you see, they are going to take advantage. Of going back to Jerusalem. And probably going back there and preaching and reporting on the work that is being done in these areas and confirming what the apostle Paul is doing. Now some of these men we have already met, Gaius of Derby and Timothy Tickus, their names have come up before. Uh, these men were from the southern area of what is today Turkey. And So Paul went up into Macedonia and then these men went ahead, sailed across the Aegean and came into Troos. But we, here we are a we statement. Luke was with Paul. We sailed away from Philippi. Remember the port city for Philippi was Neopolis. After the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in 5 days it took them 5 days to sail across that part of the Aegean at Troos, where we stayed 7 days. Now we get to that section again in verse 7. Now on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul break bread here simply as a meal. Paul ready to depart the next day. He is in in the 7th day. Of his stay there, so I think you can understand that he arrived on what, on a Sunday or Monday. Stayed 7 days. And then on the Sabbath he preached to the people. And then taking advantage of as much time as he possibly could. After Sabbath was over and they had had a meal together, then he starts to speak again. And then continued his message until midnight. Boy, you think Gerald Waterhouse is long-winded. Or Dean Blackwell. They come from good stock. The apostle Paul before them talked for hours and hours. I think our men in those early days were pikers compared to this. I get the impression of probably at least somewhere near a 4 hour sermon. Let's say he spoke from 8 to midnight. Oh boy, I'll tell you they were hardy people. And there were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together in a certain in a window sat a certain young man named Uticus, who was sinking into a deep sleep, I dare say, yeah. Incidentally the Greek indicates young man as being a lad somewhere between the ages of about 8, 1415 years old. Probably will be there with his mother or dad or both. They told him, Sonny, you just go over there where it's nice and cool and sit in the window. He was overcome by sleep and as Paul, incidentally it says Paul continued speaking. The Greek says Paul went on and on. Luke did not mince any words, that these people euphemized it and Paul went on and on. And he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. If their stories were as tall as ours, why he was up there at least 20-30 feet and out the window he went. Of all the ways to fall, you might have thought, well, he had a fifty-fifty chance of falling inside, but he fell outside and down he went. I'll tell you that would have been. A sudden and shocking way to end the meeting. You to have a death like that occurOf a young person. for anyone to die that way is, is bad enough, but when it's a, a young person, you know, full of life and looking forward to life, and boy, you know, you just feel so terribly about something like that. Paul went down and fell on him. And embracing him apparently something very similar to what Elijah and Elisha did with the, with the widows in their day back there in 1st and 2nd Kings. And he says, Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him. Now when he had come up and broken bread and eaten, now they had a snack. Oh, And talked a long while. I do not know how long the break was. Maybe we will give them an hour. And At daybreak, he departed, so Paul went on and on again. Probably for another 4 or 5 hours. I wonder how many other people fell asleep. On the graveyard shift there are 12 to 8. And so they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted. Now I'm sure that the apostle Paul certainly wanted to hang around until daylight, make sure the young fellow was all right, and be able to take his journey. Uh, with his mind at peace regarding that. Uh, there is no hint from verses 11 and 12 that Paul took that that event as a rebuke for talking on too long. It did not stop him at all. OK, verse 13. And then he went ahead to the ship and sailed to Asos, and they are intending to take then we went ahead to the ship and sailed to Ashos there intending to take Paul on board for so he had given orders intending himself to go on foot. So we know the story there and when he met us at Asos, we took him on board and came to Mitilele. Another small port, a little bit further south of of Troos and working his way toward Ephesus. Now we sailed from there and then the next day came opposite Chaos. Chaos is a small island. Of the western coast of, of of Turkey. In the following day we arrived at Samos. The Samos is another small island. Off the western coast of Turkey. And apparently what he is marking here is one day at a time. Uh, a day's journey, 50, 60 miles by sailing ship. And they stayed at Tregilliam. And the next day we came to my leaders. Now Myitti is about 30 miles south of Ephesus, so Paul has purposely gone around Ephesus. He went to Myitti without stopping at Ephesus. He did not want to stop there for some reason and exactly why nobody knows. There are a couple of guess guesses. Number one, he was undoubtedly hurrying. His journey was made longer because he originally intended to go from Corinth to Syria to Jerusalem. That would have been direct sailing all the way, but instead he left Macedonia or left Achaa because of the trouble, went up into Macedonia, down through Troos, and now he has finally gotten himself after several months' time. Around to the southwestern corner of Turkey, working his way eastward towards Syria. So he was hurrying. Another reason might be that it was dangerous. In another place, I believe it's in 2 Corinthians. That he mentions that I fought beasts at Ephesus. Now nobody knows exactly what he means. Did he mean That He did battle with demons. Possibility Was he using beasts in terms of men who were not acting normally. Or was he using it in terms of something like took place in the Roman Colosseum? Where he was actually up against an animal. I, I do not know. Nobody knows. He just mentions it like that and it just hangs there with nothing to fill in the detail. Now, the third reason Uh, I personally feel is probably the one that is most likely. And that is that He knew that if he went to Ephesus he would stay there too long. And it would be emotional. Too hard on emotionally to go back to a congregation that he had been with for 3 years, had very strong emotional ties. We're going to see this a little bit later because he did call the elders of the church of Ephesus to him and my leaders. He stayed there long enough to have them go there, but he did not want to go back to Ephesus and have to say goodbye to the whole congregation again. Because he knew that he was never going to come back. And he just did not want to face it. I think that that is the one that is most likely. Because he had a hard enough time saying goodbye to the elders, as we are going to see here in just a bit. Verse 16, for Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus. So that he would not have to spend time in Asia, where he is hurrying to be at Jerusalem if possible on the day of Pentecost. See, there is another time that one of the holy days is used to mark time and uh. Again, just by implication, if it was done away, why use it? Why not use a Christian term? To mark time, well, they did. They used the Christian term, the day of Pentecost. OK, verse 17 from my leaders. He sent to the Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. Now what we are going to see here is Paul's farewell address. To these men Incidentally there are those who say that that this word elders. Which can be translated bishop or overseer or guardians. Uh, of the church. It's interesting to, to see the light that it can be, or the angle or the context that it can be put into. And you can see from the context of what was a part of his farewell address here. That he actually I think had the had the. The usage of the term guardian or overseer in mind more than simply being somebody who was older. Because he is going to entrust the responsibility for these people, the spiritual responsibility for these people in these people's hands. Paul was relinquish it, relinquishing it, and he was in a sense saying, I am no longer their guardian, it's now up to you for the thing. Now this address is very similar to Several of Paul's letters. It's much briefer, of course, but it has the same sense of of feeling, the same basic kind of instruction. And He is really taking advantage here of A bit of time. The boat is docking. He has 3 or 4 days, and he wants to make as much use of it as he possibly can. OK, now if he has 3 or 4 days, Mylitis is 30 miles from Ephesus. Where those people lived in relation to Ephesus, nobody knows. It takes 1 day for a messenger to get up there. How long it took to locate each one of them, you know, certainly part of another day or part of the same day. Then those people had to arrange their schedules and then get back on to my leaders. So it very likely took 3 days for the messenger to go up, get everybody into the position, then back down to my leaders, and so Paul has has to squeeze everything together here probably in 1 day. So we have the essence of what he said to these men. Verse 18, and when they had come to him, he said to them, you know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you. This is very similar to Uh, the beginning. Of his letter to not the beginning but the second chapter of his letter to Thessalonians. Uh, Let's go there just a bit. I Thessalonians 2. And it's likely that Paul wrote First Thessalonians before this time. In fact, not likely he did. Uh, Paul wrote I Thessalonians probably about 52, somewhere in that neighborhood, 50 to 52 AD and we are much later than that here, we are in the neighborhood of 5658 AD. In verse 1 in chapter 2, it says, For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you is not in vain. But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict, for our exhortation did not come from deceit or uncleanness, nor was it guile. But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. Even so we speak not as pleasing men, but God who tests our heart, for neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness. God is witness, nor did we seek glory for men, neither from you or from others that we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we as gentle among you, but we were gentle among you just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. Verse 9, for you remember, brethren, our labor and toil for laboring night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preach to you the gospel of God, and you are our witnesses and God also how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe. As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children, that you would have a walk worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. Now back in Acts 21, he has changed the words Iran that is essentially the same thing. OK, now in verse 18 we've already seen. That He is drawing attention to the way that he lived, his example. And it's very likely that he started this way because the accusations that were made against him were very similar. That the problems that he faced in Thessalonica and the problems that he faced in Ephesus were were very similar, that the accusations were that Paul was draining people with their money, you know, that kind of thing, or that he was not giving to them all of the truth, that he was withholding things. And I am sure that the accusations came from those who were outside the church and were doing their best to upset things so that they could maybe get these people back to their congregations. So verse 19, said serving the Lord with all humility. You know what, what's he doing here? He's drawing attention to his example. Notice what he claims humility. which shows the attitude in which he served. He's describing the way he served the Lord. OK, with many tears. Indicating personal concern. And by let's see and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews and how I kept back nothing that was helpful to you, helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly from house to house, so he's showing that. That he taught them with a great deal of patience and with fortitude he persevered. He worked despite all of the temptations and maybe even the desires within him to quit and just throw in the tile and leave off this thing, but he did not. He just kept right on going. And he taught them publicly in evangelistic campaigns and privately in Bible studies, in church services, in counseling. And he taught it to them, even though it might be unwelcome to them as well. He gave them God's truth. Verse 21. Here is the essence of his message. Testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that encompasses All of the things that have have to do with the with the kingdom of God. Now repentance, of course, means turning to God. And what it indicates is Turning away from something and turning toward something else. Turning away something that has been the source, the authority. Or Your decision making processes, your standards, that is turning away from the world and turning toward God and making Him and His way of life and His word the source from which we reach conclusions, make decisions about what we are going to do with our lives. So repentance then turning is toward God. From one thing to another and then faith. Faith, you see, in who Christ is, what he is. What his message was, what his sacrifice means, forgiveness through and so forth, all those kind of things. And so both of them go hand in glove and provide a pattern for salvation. So that is the essence of the message that the apostle Paul preached repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus Christ. Verse 22. And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem. Not knowing the things that will happen to me there. Now here Paul turns away from his introduction to these people, in which he has showed them that he has worked hard, and he has not withheld anything from them, and so he is turning now to the future. Now when he says he is bound. Oh. He is saying that There is a compulsion. There is a drive within him, a desire, a spirit, an attitude. That is making him motivated to make sure that he gets to Jerusalem. In chapter 21 and in verse 4. We find the other side of the coin. It says in finding disciples, We stayed there 7 days, and they told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. So on the one hand he feels a compulsion. See, there is another one here. Yeah, in chapter 19 in verse 21. And when these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaea to go to Jerusalem, saying, after I have been there, I must also see Rome. So you see, on the one hand. Paul feels a compulsion that he has to get there and on the other hand, we are going to find out there are numerous warnings that he should not go there. So on the one hand there is necessity, and on the other hand, there is uncertainty. Uh, He wants to go, but he keeps being warned, and the prophets apparently kept telling him all along the way as he began to go back there, do not go. They're suffering down there, but we are going to find that Paul was prepared to die if necessary. OK, back to 21 again. And seeing how I go bound in the spirit of Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy. And the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus. To testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Now to Paul, that's all that mattered. And that is that he Finish his court, his race. By faithfully performing his responsibility, and that was the faithful preaching of the gospel. So he wanted to finish the race with joy. He wanted to finish the ministry which he received from Christ. He wanted to finish testifying to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed, verse 25. Now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the gospel or preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. The Paul's work in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. was done. That's the way that he perceived it. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. Now this does not mean that Paul was being accused of murder. What it does mean is That from this point on, he is not responsible for these people's salvation. He has no responsibility and if they go to the 2nd death. Then it is not his fault. Their blood is not going to be on his hands. Do you remember what it says back in Ezekiel 33, that if the watchman does not watch. then the people who die, their blood is on his head. But if the blood, but if the watchman proclaims the warning. And the people decide not to take advantage of the warning, then the watchman is clear. The blood is on their own head. That's what he was talking about here. He said, I have been your watchman. I have been faithful to you. I have warned you what is coming. I have done that well, and now your blood is on your own heads. And so you see what he was doing here, he was transferring the responsibility for the congregation over to these elders, and he was in effect saying that now they are your responsibility. He was saying that to these guardians of the congregation. Verse 27. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole council of God. Therefore, Take heed to yourselves and do all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, guardians, there it is again. To shepherd the Church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. For I know this, here Paul is going to prophesy. For I know this that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock. Now what he is indicating here is persecution from the outside. The savage wolves coming from the outside. To try to rend the flock from the inside. Now a wolf does not come in to become part of the flock. Right Instead, a wolf ravages the flock and then leaves. After he has gotten what he wants. So, persecution from the outside. In verse 30, also from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. So apostasy from within. Now, I could show you places, maybe it would be good to, to go to a few of them. Where Paul's writings. Things done a little bit later show that indeed that is what occurred. One of the best known of course was In not Paul's writings, but in John's writing in the book of Ephesus, pardon me, in the book of Revelation. Chapter 2, we find there that the Ephesian church lost their first love. And it even mentions there that those people did battle with false prophets, false apostles. And they could not stand those people but eventually apparently they wearied at the battle and slowly succumbed to it. But in First Timothy. Chapter one. He is charging Timothy to fight the good fight. To wage a good warfare. Verse 19. First Timothy won having faith and a good conscience, which some, having rejected concerning the faith, have suffered shipwreck. Of whom are Hyeneus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. In chapter 4. He talks in the 1st 5 verses there about people speaking lies in hypocrisy. Go a little bit further in II Timothy chapter 1 and in verse 15 I want. This you know, that all those in Asia, that's the area we are talking about. In Ephesus, see there in Acts 21, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phyjeus and Hemogenes. I do not think that he means the whole church turned away. But I think that he does mean apparently people who were close friends of his, perhaps elders. They had turned away. In chapter 2, Verses 17 and 18. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetuss are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already passed, and they overthrow the faith of some. OK, you get the The idea. That Paul's prophecy came to pass, and there were savage wolves from outside. There was. Uh, false ministers on the inside. OK, verse 31. Therefore, watch. to the ministry He's telling them to take care of the church and always be on guard, on the alert. And remember that for 3 years. 53 through 56 I believe it was that he was there. I did not cease to warn everyone day, night and day with tears, and now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. That though Paul must leave them, God was with them, and God's word was there. That's what he's reminding them all. so they now have the responsibility that he had borne. And because we have borne that responsibility and been faithful, then God will share His kingdom with us. Verse 33 He goes back to his own personal example again, and he is telling them to follow him. I have coveted no one silver or gold or apparel. I was reading in a book by John Wesley. And he, you know, he was the founder of Presbyterianism. And of course the book is a couple 100 years old now by this time. Not my book, just his writing. But he said in that book that he believes that more people have been turned aside from Christianity because of a lust for money than any other single thing. May be true. I, I do not know. There is nothing wrong with money. It's a powerful responsibility, a great responsibility. And I know that God wants us to have it. But so many of us who do not feel as though we have enough. Lust after it so much that It consumes our time and energies. You know God will take care of us. He'll provide. I know that we have found through the years that he's taken care of us very well. But even though he's taken us very well care of us very well, it's still hard to keep down the desire for more. I mean, it just keeps popping up. Well, someday I'm going to win the Reader's Digest sweepstakes. And then I'll be on. Easy Street. No, you know, in, in, in my, in reality, I could not I could not hack it. I am sure. OK, verse 34. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands are provided for my necessities and for those who are with me. I do not know whether Paul supplied the needs for everybody. I think that he means that his companions also worked with their hands. And I have shown you in this in every way by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he said it is more blessed to give than to receive. He's urging them to serve without thought of reward. God will provide. Nobody knows what. Paul was quoting because apparently, I shouldn't say apparently, this saying of Jesus just was not recorded. It could be that Paul is paraphrasing. Rather than making a direct quote. Now I'll give you a verse. That comes pretty close. It's in Luke 6 and in verse 38. Where Jesus said, Give, and it will be given you. Good major pressed down, shaken together and running over will be put to your bosom, see. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you, more blessed to give. That's a pretty close paraphrase of what Paul said here in in Acts 2035. And then verse 36. And when he said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them, and then they all wept freely and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he had spoken that they would see his face no more, and they accompanied him to the ship. You see, there is a finality, and they understood that. And they must have all had a premonition that they would never see Paul again. And of course it came about that way. They, as far as we know, none of these people ever saw him again, so there was a deeply affectionate and sorrowful, saying of goodbye was concerned. So one more thing that I might add here before we dismissed is. This not only was Paul's last Uh, contact with these people. As far as the Book of Acts is concerned, it was his last evangelistic campaign. He never had another one. Because he goes back to Jerusalem and the whole rest of the book is occupied with what happened to Jerusalem and then going to Rome to Caesar and to be imprisoned and there is no record of him ever going anywhere else. Even though he wanted to go to Spain. Uh, And if he did, nobody knows. It was his last campaign. Now of course we know that he spoke in his house. He was under house arrest in Rome there for 2 years. And if you can call that an evangelistic campaign it was a strange one. Conducted from prison. Uh, God has many ways, doesn't it? But I guess what I mean, it was not a campaign of the kind that he conducted in. Uh, the other places. And maybe in God's view it was an act of mercy to do it that way, that Paul could not have stood to be beaten up again, you know, subjected to 39 stripes or whatever, and that this was just the best way to get the gospel across by going directly to Caesar, and he did get into Caesar's household because there were people converted from Caesar's household. It's kind of an interesting benchmark in the book of Acts.

JWR/aws/drm

 

 

Sermon Topics

False Gospels

Jesus Christ's Return

Life after Death

Repentance

Resurrection

The Gospel

The Kingdom of God