The Danger Of Falling Asleep During A Sermon Series

Introduction

Henry T. Mahan, former pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church in Ashland, KY, said:

“Persecution and opposition ought to encourage rather than discourage us, for we are faithfully warned by our Lord that the natural man and the religionist will not receive the gospel of the grace of God” (John Blanchard, The Complete Gathered Gold: A Treasury of Quotations for Christians [Webster, New York; Darlington, England: Evangelical Press, 2006], 445).

This was the Apostle Paul’s experience.

Consider Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, in which he recounts his sufferings. He said he had:

“…far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:23b-28).

Paul’s most recent run-in with trouble took place in Ephesus.

A riot broke out because idol-worshippers were becoming Christians. Consequently, they were no longer buying silver shrines, and the silversmith guild was furious about their loss of income.

Paul's third missionary journey started in Acts 18:23.

Paul initially revisited churches in Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening the disciples there.

Paul arrived in Ephesus, a major city in the province of Asia and a significant commercial hub.

Paul spent approximately three years in Ephesus, using it as a strategic base to spread the gospel throughout the region.

During this time, he ministered to both Jews and Greeks, and he or his converts likely established many of the churches in the Asian cities mentioned in Revelation 2-3.

Paul's preaching in Ephesus challenged the worship of the goddess Artemis, resulting in a significant decline in the associated business and leading to a riot incited by Demetrius, a silversmith.

It is at this point in Paul’s third missionary journey that we pick up our text for today, Acts 20:1-12.

A feature of our text for today is the use of the word “encourage.”

It occurs twice in verses 1-2 (as “encouraging” in verse 1 and as “encouragement” in verse 2).

The same word also appears in verse 12, where it is translated as “comforted.”

Sometimes in literature, when a passage begins and ends with the same word or phrase, we call that an “inclusio.”

It is a clue to the reader that everything in between relates to the keyword or phrase, in this case, the word “encourage.”

Therefore, it is a passage that illustrates how God encourages his people.

Let’s read about the danger of falling asleep during a sermon. I admit that does not sound very encouraging, but let us see how it is!

Scripture

Let’s read Acts 20:1-12:

1 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.