DON’T FALL ASLEEP.
ACTS 20:7-12
For most Americans tomorrow is a holiday. It’s Labor Day &, in the opinion of some, it is the most hypocritical holiday of all. They say that if Labor Day is a celebration of the unique rights & freedoms that we, as workers, enjoy in our nation; & if we believe that work is a blessing; & if we’re sincerely thankful we have jobs while others don’t; then what we should do on Labor Day is to tell our boss, "I want to work today, & I’ll do it for free, just to celebrate the privilege of working." And we need to be able to say that with a smile on our face. But we won’t do that, will we? We’ll celebrate Labor Day by not working.
Well church when it comes to being a witness for Jesus Christ we are on the Job 24/7. There’s no holiday or days off. We are to be living for Him everyday of the week. This morning there are some things that I believe God would want us to continue to work on as Christians. Things that He has asked us to do as our boss that we will need to continue to work on till the day we die or He comes back for us.
Read Acts 20:7-12
1. TO HAVE A PASSION FOR HIM. (V. 7)
A. Passion for worship.
First of all, our worship is to be a celebration. Notice that it says that they met "on the first day of the week to break bread." Now we’re not told when or how the practice of Sunday worship was started in the church. But, this passage of scripture is the earliest clear reference to the Christian practice of observing Sunday as a day of worship. The O.T. Jews met on the Sabbath or 7th day of the week, which was Saturday to commemorate the fact that God created the universe & everything in it in 6 days, & then on the 7th day He rested. So to the Jews, Sunday was to be a day of rest & worship. So those Jews who became Christians they continued to observe the Sabbath as well as the first day of the week.
The question is why did it change? What brought about the change? Well, early Christians began to meet on the first day of the week as a weekly celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from the dead. That tradition has carried over to today’s society. Most Christians today meet on the first day of the week to celebrate Christ’s victory over sin & death. We celebrate our salvation, & the promise of everlasting life. And church that right there is enough reason for me to come to Sunday school, church on Sunday mornings, evenings and Wednesday nights to celebrate and worship my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So does that mean those churches who meet on Saturday wrong? No, because they have scripture to back them up just like we have scripture.
It doesn’t matter when you meet. The point is that we meet as Christians and that when we come to church we should be excited to be here. Because we are learning about our Creator and Savior, we are worshiping a Savior who has given us eternal life. When you come to church your face shouldn’t look like you just ate a big bad of sour lemons. Don’t treat it like a funeral. It’s a celebration. It’s an exciting time. You may not like my preaching style, you may not like our music, but it’s not about us it’s about Him. It’s about making God our audience. It’s about worshipping a God who sent His one and only son to suffer and die on a cross So that you and I can have eternal life.
B. Passion to share the Gospel.
There was an urgency to get the Gospel out. Paul was leaving the next day and he knew that he would not see the People of Troas again, so in his mind there was an urgency to share the gospel with the people of Troas. Church we have to have that same kind of urgency when it comes to sharing the gospel. We have people that we work with that we go to school, that we see in town or at the grocery store that don’t know Christ as their Lord and Savior and whether you want to believe it or not God has placed you at that point in time in that person’s life for a reason and that is to share the gospel. That is to tell them that there is a Savior who loves them and wants to give them eternal life.
I’ve made the statement several times before that when you go to work don’t go there to work go there to witness by while your there work. When you go to school don’t go there to learn go there to witness by while your there learn. When you go to the grocery store don’t go there to shop go there to witness by while your there shop and the list could go on and on. The point is to live out the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” It’s to do what Jude v. 23 says, “snatch others from the fire and save them.” Church there should be an urgency to get the gospel out because we don’t know when someone may die or when God may decide to come back.
C. Passion for His Word. V. 7 and 11
You thought I preached long. How would you like to hear someone preach for about 6-8 hours? But these people didn’t care they were hungry for God’s word. They couldn’t get enough of the words Paul was speaking. Are you passionate about God’s Word? Do you study God’s Word? We should be so passionate about God’s Word that not only should you read it everyday but we should want to be at the place where it’s being preached. When there’s a S.S class being offered you should want to be there. When there’s a Bible study you should want to be there. When there’s church you should want to be there. We should want to consume ourselves with the word of God rather than the things of this world. Instead of watching T.V., playing on the computer, playing video games or messing with stuff around the house all day and night. Why don’t you take some of that time and read God’s Word. I’ve had people ask me before how do you know all this stuff about the Bible? Well, it’s a new concept. It’s called studying. Now you might be saying why do I need to study the Bible? How about so you can withstand temptation, read Matthew 4:1-11 and read how Jesus withstood the temptations of Satan. How about so you can know the will of God for your life? Psalms 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” In Psalms 119:9-16 it says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you O Lord; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statues as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.”
2. NOT BE ASHAMED. (V. 8)
Why did Luke put this verse in there, why was it so important for you and I to know that there were many lamps. Well, I believe there were two reasons. One was because you’re in this room you have just eaten, you have a bunch of people and with the candles burning and the warmth coming from the body heat and the candles you start getting tired, which gives a good reason why Euthychus fell asleep. But the main reason why it was so important that you and I know that there were many lamps. It was to show that they were not ashamed of what they were doing. They were not ashamed of what they were meeting for. They were meeting to worship and learn about God and they were not ashamed to let the towns people know. How do I know? It goes back to what I said a little bit ago. I studied. I looked in commentaries and books (share what you found in the commentaries). You see in those days Christian groups a lot of times met in a dark room to worship. The main reason for this was persecution and since Christians were not liked by everyone in those days those that were against Christianity often accused the Christians of meeting in dark rooms to plan evil to try to make plans to take over.
So this was Paul’s and the other people’s way of saying “HEY! WE’RE UP HERE WORSHIPPING OUR SAVIOR, JESUS CHRSIT!” They weren’t ashamed about it they wanted people to know. Are you ashamed to let other people know that you’re a Christian? Are you ashamed to invite people to church? Are you ashamed to share Jesus with someone? Are you ashamed to stand up for what’s right and stand against what’s wrong? I want to be able to say what Paul said in Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” Why should we not be ashamed? Why should we be willing to take a stand for God? I believe it’s the least we can do for a man who allowed himself to be beaten, whipped with the cat of nine tails, made to carry his own cross, nailed to a cross, and who took my place so that I could enter into the gates of heaven to spend eternity with Him. That right there alone is reason enough to not be ashamed of my Savior. That is reason enough to take a stand for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is reason enough to share Christ with others.
3. STAY ALERT. (V.8-10)
Everybody knows that everybody’s name means something and some of you may have taken the time to find out what your name means. This past week while studying this passage, I became interested in what my name meant so I looked it up on the internet and my name derives from the French and it means “At the Crossroads.” This morning I want to share with you something very interesting about Eutychus’ name. Eutychus name means “fortunate.” The Latin name for Eutychus is Fortunatus. I think we all can say and agree that Eutychus was very fortunate that Paul was there that night.
So we see that Eutychus fell asleep. In the original text we are told that he was fighting sleep, but eventually it overpowered him, he fell asleep and he fell out of the third story window and died! Some say that he was picked up “as dead,” implying that he was only unconscious, but if you look at the original language the young boy was definitely dead. Also by the way the passage of scripture is written we know that he was dead. First of all we are told that he fell from the third story window. The emphasis placed upon the height of the fall leads us to believe that he could not have survived, especially while unconscious. He could not have prepared how he landed. But also Luke, who is the author of Acts, was a physician, and if he said that Eutychus was dead we can trust his professional opinion. So it is important for this story to make clear the fact that Eutychus was dead in order to emphasize a great display of faith that is about to follow.
Church there is a message here and it is that you and I need to stay alert we need to stay wake. We need to be looking over our shoulders at all times and keeping an eye out for Satan. Because Satan is prowling around like a lion, 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Satan wants to crush us, he wants to do everything in his power to make you and I fall flat on our face. He’ll use every dirty trick in the book to get you and me to stumble in our Christian walk. So stay awake because the fall never feels good, in fact it can do some major damage.
As we see in the story the boy is dead after his fall. We see here that Paul went down and grabbed the boy and said that he was alive! Was Paul crazy? The boy fell from a third story window and he was found dead. How could Paul have gone down and said that he was alive? It was because Paul realized that if we have faith in Jesus, miracles can happen. The boy was dead, but Paul believed that Jesus could do anything. He believed that Jesus could bring him back to life. Because Paul knew that Jesus came back to life, so why couldn’t he bring Eutychus back to life? And Paul was right Jesus was going to restore this young man’s life.
Now as I read v. 8-10 I realized that this boy falling asleep represents two sets of people in our churches today.
A. Backslidden Christians.
There are Christians here today and in churches all across the world who have fallen asleep. You see there are Christians who have fallen away from God. You’ve become comfortable in where you’re at in life and you have fallen away from God. You’re no longer listening to God, you’re no longer in the Word, and you don’t pray, you hardly come to church anymore, you’re not being a witness and you are wrapped up in sin. Whether it’s lying, stealing, cheating, adultery, sex outside of marriage, pornography, alcohol, drugs, gambling or worshiping the almighty dollar. Whatever it is that you are involved in that is keeping you away from God may be fun right now, but if you keep playing with fire you will eventually get burnt. Sin always carries consequences. And if you stay wrapped up in those sins eventually you will pay. You could lose your family, your friends, your reputation, your job, even your life over these things. And you need to ask yourself is it worth it? Are those sins you’re wrapped in worth losing your family, job, friends, reputation or your life over and the answer is no! This morning God is asking you to wake up and come back home. You might say God won’t take me back but I want you to know that God will and is waiting for you to come back home this morning. Won’t you come back home to Him this morning? Let Him restore your life like He did the young man that night.
B. Lost people.
There are some of you here this morning whose souls are still asleep. Your soul has never been awakened because you have never come to a point in you life where you have asked Jesus Christ into you heart. You are dieing a slow and eternal death because for whatever reason you have not asked Jesus Christ to save you and give you eternal life. And today God is telling you to rise and shine child. He is saying today is a new day. He is saying today is the day that you receive eternal life. Won’t you come to Him this morning? Won’t you ask Him to forgive you of your sins? Won’t you tell Him that you believe in your heart that He died on the cross for you? Won’t you ask Him to save you? Let Him breathe new life into you this morning like He did that young man that night. If you don’t your soul will one day wake up in eternity in Hell. Please don’t walk out of here this morning without asking Jesus into your heart. Walk out of here this morning as a child of God.
4. BE DILIGENT. (V. 11)
Paul didn’t let the events of the night keep him from what he went there to do that night. I look at this verse and everything Paul ever did in the Bible and realize that Paul was diligent as a Christian. He was always about doing God’s work. He realized that God’s work was never done. We see Eutychus falls asleep, falls out the window and dies. Paul goes down and with the faith he had in Jesus Christ brought Eutychus back to life. Then it’s like Paul turns to them and says ok the shows over lets go back upstairs and finish what we started. Paul went back up there and finished preaching the Word to these people. One little interruption wasn’t going to keep Paul from finishing strong. This is one of the many reasons Paul was able to say in 2 Timothy 4:6-8 when he came to the end of his life, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
Church, as Christians we have to be diligent in our walk. We have to finish the race that has been set before us and not give up. Not to quit when worries, trials, struggles, and temptations arise in our lives. We are to be diligent in sharing the gospel and just because someone shuts the door in our face or tells us they don’t want to here it doesn’t mean we stop sharing the gospel. We are to be diligent in ministering to people and just because someone might not show gratitude for something we’ve done for them doesn’t mean we stop ministering to people. You and I need to be diligent as Christians. When we come to the end of our lives we should want to be able to say what Paul said “That I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…” We should want to hear our Lord and Savior Jesus say “WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!” (MATT. 25:21)
5. IN THE END IT’S ALL WORTH IT. (V. 12)
In the KJV this verse says that “they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.” Before they parted that night they brought this young boy into the congregation and everyone one was rejoicing because he was dead but now he’s alive. It said they were not a little comforted. They just weren’t a little excited they were ecstatic; they were rejoicing and praising God. The NIV says they took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted. The heartache the friends and parent’s of Eutychus went through that night thinking he was dead was all worth it to see him come back to life again.
Church as I read both versions of that verse this passed week I came to realize that in the end living the Christian life is going to be all worth it. Going through the heartaches in life for Jesus will one day be all worth it. You see that day that we are in heaven with Jesus we will not be a little comforted, we’re just not going to be a little excited, we will be ecstatic. Yeah we may be considered crazy or we may be persecuted for having a passion for Christ. People may think that we are out of our minds when we say we are not ashamed of Jesus Christ. It’s going to be hard to stay alert in this world and not fall away from God. Life won’t always be fun and fair and because of that it will be hard to be diligent for the Lord it will be hard not to quit and give up. But church, listen to me this morning when I say that in the end it will all be worth it to hear Jesus Christ say “WELCOME HOME MY CHILD!” In the end we will be able to rejoice because we will be with our Savior for eternity. We will be able to praise God for eternity and what an awesome, glorious day that will be with Jesus.
In closing, if you’re here this morning and your Christian I want you to ask yourself these questions. When it comes to worship, sharing the gospel or studying His word are you passionate about it? Are you willing to take and stand against this world and say I am not ashamed of Jesus Christ? Are you doing everything to stay alert and awake for God? Are you being diligent when it comes to the kingdoms work? If you’re here this morning and struggling in any of these areas won’t you come and give them to Jesus this morning? Won’t you come and lay it at His altar? Won’t you come and pray to have the strength and courage to live the life for Christ. If you’re here this morning and you don’t know Jesus as your Savior let your soul be awakened this morning by asking Jesus into your heart. Don’t wait! Wake up and begin a new life in Christ this morning. Walk out of here this morning a new creation. Allow yourself to be washed in the blood of the Lamb this morning.
