But it is more than just a man sleeping in this passage of scripture. This man named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill while Paul preached a very lengthy sermon, and he fell out the window and died.
• We ministers are indeed thankful for this passage of scripture, because when we see men and women sleeping in church, it makes us feel better to know they also slept when Paul preached.
• We ministers also are thankful for this passage because it took Paul five hours to put one man to sleep and today most ministers can put a half- dozen to sleep in a thirty minute sermon.
• I have never had that happen while I preached, but I have seen some that almost got whiplash when they were sleeping in church and woke up.
Sleeping in church seems to be an age old problem in church services.
Illus: A minister decided he was going to do something about a man that often slept during his sermons.
While the man was sleeping, the pastor said, “All who want to go to heaven, please rise.” Everyone stood up except the sleeper.
Then, he walked over to where the man was sleeping and SCREAMED OUT, “All who wish to go to hell, STAND UP NOW!”
Only the sleeper stood up. The sleeper looked around and saw he was the only one standing, he said “I don’t know what we’re voting on, Reverend, but it looks like you and me are the only ones for it’.”
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was preaching one night and a man went to sleep during his sermon. His Nephew was sitting beside him, and when he went into a deep sleep, he poked him in the side to get him to quit snoring. The man thought the preacher had called on him to pray, so he stood up and closed the service in prayer. He was embarrassed when he discovered he had prayed in the middle of the sermon.
Paul also had to deal with sleepers during his sermons.
Look at Acts 20:7-12, we read, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.”
What happened in this passage of scripture is something that most of us have never experienced in a church service.
WHAT HAPPENED?
• They did not have electric lights as we have today in our evening service, they used lanterns to be able to see.
• The church building was packed and some had to sit on the window sills.
• Paul was going to leave them the next day, so he decided he would share everything he wanted to tell them.
Paul probably set a record for the Guinness book of records that evening. He preached from around 6 0’clock until midnight. That’s a five hour sermon, and you think my sermons are long! After he raised Eutychus from the dead, they had a communion service, and the Bible tells us he preached until the crack of dawn and he departed.
Illus: A pastor, known for his lengthy sermons, noticed a man get up and leave during the middle of his message. The man returned just before the conclusion of the service. Afterwards the pastor asked the man where he had gone. "I went to get a haircut," was the reply. "But," said the pastor, "why didn't you do that before the service?" He said, “I didn’t need one before service!”
Eutychus fell out of a three story building during a church service and it killed him, but God used Paul to bring him back to life.
It would have been interesting to see what was placed on his tombstone when he died later. Why would it be interesting? Because sometimes a man’s whole life can be written on his tombstone.
Illus: These things were actually found written on tombstones:
• A man had written on his tombstone, "I made a lot of good deals in my lifetime, but I sure went in the hole on this one."
• Another man had written, "On the twenty-second of June, Jonathan Fiddle went out of tune."
• Another man had written, "Here lies William Yeast. Pardon me for not rising."
• Another man wrote, "He died at a public gathering when the platform suddenly gave way."
But what about Eutyhcus, what could be placed on this man’s tombstone when he died? Maybe something like, “Going once, Going twice….”
I want to ask you a personal question. What could be placed on your tombstone that would appropriately represent your life?
Illus: Men that have served their term in the high office of President of the United States, leave a LEGACY BEHIND!
• Isenhower was known for his love of golf.
• Nixon was known for Watergate
• Kennedy was known for his steadfastness in dealing with Russia
• Ford was known for being a former football player who played to much with his helmet off
• Jimmy Carter is known for the American hostages held in Iran
• Ronald Reagan is known for ending the cold war
• George Herbert Bush is known for lying when he said “Read My Lips!”
• Bill Clinton is known for Monica Lewinski and impeachment
• It is yet to be told what George W. Bush’s legacy will be
However, it is not only Presidents who leave behind a legacy, SO DO WE! In the previous message, we saw that to leave a good legacy behind -
I. WE MUST LEARN
II. WE MUST LEAN
Also -
III. WE MUST LOOK
WHAT SHOULD WE LOOK FOR? We should look for the truth.
John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
The world in which we live is filled with lies and deceptions. Many are falling for these lies, hook, line, and sinker! They are building their lives on these lies and deceptions.
Illus: Because some have joined a church, they think they are going to heaven when they die. No wonder they are going to be surprised on the judgment day, when the Lord says to them, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”
People fail to LOOK FOR THE TRUTH, and instead, they place their faith in the LIES AND DECEPTIONS this world offers them. It is only the TRUTH THAT CAN SET THEM FREE!
WHAT KEEPS THEM FROM THE TRUTH?
Many folks today do not know the WHOLE TRUTH, nor do they really want to know it. Why? Because the whole truth can sometimes be very alarming!
Listen, people do not mind you making angels out of them, they will sit there and smile and agree with everything you say. But when you start telling the raw truth about their sins, they do not like it, IT IS EMBARASSING!
Illus: At school, Little Tommy was told by a classmate that most adults are hiding at least one dark secret, and that this makes it very easy to blackmail them by saying, "I know the whole truth."
Little Tommy decided to go home and try it out.
• He went home, and as he was greeted by his mother he said, "I know the whole truth." His mother quickly handed him $20 and said, "Just don’t tell your father."
• Quite pleased, the boy waited for his father to get home from work, and greeted him with, "I know the whole truth." Tommy’s father promptly handed him $50 and said, "Please don’t say a word to your mother!"
• Very pleased, the boy was on his way to school the next day when he saw the mailman at his front door. Little Tommy greeted him by saying, "I know the whole truth." The mailman immediately dropped the mail, opened his arms saying, "Then come give your daddy a big hug."
God knows the WHOLE TRUTH about mankind.
I do not know the whole truth about your lives, but let’s say I do. Let’s say that I have a “rap sheet” and it contains a list of every sin you’ve ever committed, and that list is now posted in the back of the church:
• Would you rush to the back of the church and destroy that list before anyone can see it?
• Would you run out of the church in shame?
One thing is certain, WE ALL WOULD BE ASHAMED!
Illus: A pastor (Dr. Odell Belger) tells that years ago a young lady that worked for the Shoney’s restaurant attended his church. She worked for them when the waitresses wore these green wraparound skirts. Shoney’s liked these skirts because they were made to fit all sizes of waitresses. One day the restaurant was full and she was going down the center aisle. She had a tray full of food, and she had to carry it with two hands. As she was walking down the center aisle, the green wraparound skirt came untied and hit the floor. There she was, standing in the middle of Shoney’s with a tray full of food in her hands, in her underclothes.
Dr. Belger asked her what she did. She said, “I just kept walking, I placed that tray full of food on a table by the front door, walked out the door and never went back, even for my paycheck.”
None of us like to be embarrassed, NONE OF US!
But many are in bondage to these secret sins, and the only thing they can do to be set free is to LOOK TO THE SON OF GOD AND HE WILL SET THEM FREE!
1 John 1:9, says we are to, “Confess our sins and he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteouness.”
When a person KNOWS THE TRUTH about themselves, then they can turn to Christ and He will SET THEM FREE!
When the preacher preaches your funeral, will he be able to say, “Here is a man that LOOKED FOR THE TRUTH and THE TRUTH SET HIM FREE?” When the Word of God showed them they were sinners, they repented and asked the Lord for forgiveness.
Will you leave a legacy behind that you spent your life LOOKING AT THE FAULTS AND SINS OF OTHERS, BUT YOU COULD NEVER SEE YOUR OWN?
WE MUST LOOK, but also-
IV. WE MUST LIVE
How must we live?
Illus: Someone said, “When you were born, everyone else was smiling and you were crying. Live so that when you die, everyone else is crying and you are smiling.”
Listen, as a pastor I have preached many funerals:
• Sometimes when the deceased was no longer in the church, it did not affect the church one iota
• Sometimes precious saints of God died, and left a vacuum in the church that was astounding
We must all learn to live for the Lord if we are going to leave a good legacy behind.
Illus: Sometimes you hear folks talk about their parents. They might say something like this; “I had good godly parents that loved the Lord. They did not just say they loved the Lord, they loved the Lord. And when the church doors were open they were there every time.”
ISN’T THAT A WONDERFUL LEGACY FOR PARENTS TO LEAVE BEHIND FOR THEIR CHILDREN?
When the preacher is preaching your funeral, what can he truthfully say good about the way you lived your life?
When they are piling the dirt on your casket after it has been lowered into the ground, what will people be thinking about you as they walk away from that graveside to get into their cars?
We all leave some kind of legacy behind, EVERY ONE OF US!
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger, was called upon to preach a funeral for a family that occasionally visited his church. He did not know the family that well, because they were not really church people.
They had a graveside service for the father, and the son walked up to him and said, “Preacher, make it short and sweet, there is not much good you can say about him!”
Isn’t it sad that a father would live his life in such a way that his only son would say, “…There is not much good you can say about him.”
Will you leave a LEGACY that you were a man of God that LIVED FOR THE LORD?
WE MUST LIVE each precious moment in such a way that when the man of God preaches our funeral, he can say, “Here is a man that lived for the Lord!”
• He did not live for the Lord for six months and then go back to living the way he lived before
• He did not live for the Lord just on Sunday, but seven days a week
God wants us to take the days he gives us and use them wisely, BECAUSE ONE DAY SOME PREACHER IS GOING TO PREACH YOUR FUNERAL, and you will want him to say, “HERE IS A MAN THAT LIVED FOR THE LORD.”
Conclusion:
We are all going to leave a LEGACY behind.
God wants to help us to live our life to our full potential. When this life is over, we want to say with Paul:
• I have fought a good fight
• I have kept the faith
• I am now going to be with the Lord and be rewarded with my eternal rewards
Some preacher will preach our funeral one day, but the fact is, we PREACH OUR OWN FUNERAL each day of our lives.
To live a godly life:
# 1
I. WE MUST LEARN
II. WE MUST LEAN
# 2
III. WE MUST LOOK
IV. WE MUST LIVE
