Don’t Fall Asleep In Church

Now, Paul is still on his third missionary journey. By way of reminder, he is in the city of Ephesus on missionary journey number three, and there are basically three journeys. This is the last journey, and he’s in Ephesus. I want to back up to Acts 19:17. Follow with me in your Bible. Luke tells us, “And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.”

Last week we talked about the power of the Word to bring conversion and conviction. The Word was preached and Ephesus saw a revival. People were turning to Christ and being saved. What happened here, beginning in verse 17, was many of the believers, when they saw this demon-possessed man take over the seven sons of Sceva, jump on them and drove them out, many were convicted by the power of God’s Word and by Jesus; so they brought their magic art books and had a bonfire of wicked, evil New-age books there in the city of Ephesus. It was a symbol of how the name of the Lord was magnified (verse 17), and we want Jesus to be magnified in our lives, in our homes, in our church, in our community, in our nation, and in our world; and we can pray to that end.

Verse 18, “And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. 19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.” At the end of verse 17, you have, “the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified,” and at the end of verse 20, “…mightily grew the word of God and prevailed,” so God’s victory in this pagan city of Ephesus.

Beginning in verse 21 to the end of the chapter (verse 41), we continue to see the power of God’s Word against corrupt culture. When God’s Word permeates a culture, and the name of the Lord is glorified, evil is pushed back. Verse 21, “After these things were ended,” what things? The burning of the books, the revival in turning and confessing their sins, “Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” Just a little footnote (and I’m going to go back over these verses), the first time the city of Rome is mentioned in the book of Acts is mentioned here in Acts 19:21. It’s interesting because the book of Acts is actually the gospel starting in Jerusalem and ending in Rome. It goes from Jerusalem to Rome, and that’s where the book will end with Paul under arrest, taking the gospel to Rome.

Verse 22, “So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.” Paul is on, as I said, his third missionary journey. Paul has been in Ephesus and is going to stay here in Ephesus as the text continues, but tonight we’re going to see that Paul is going to travel up again to Troas, where he got the Macedonian call. He’s going to sail across the Aegean Sea to Philippi. He’s going to go to Thessalonica and to Berea, and then makes his way down to the city of Corinth. This area that’s labeled Macedonia is northern Greece. Down here is what’s called southern Greece, which is also known as the district of Achaia. Tonight, we’re going to see that Paul is here in Ephesus.

This missionary journey that we have on the map is unlike his other missionary journeys. On his other missionary journeys, he was going where he’d never been before and was preaching the gospel, winning people to Christ, and establishing churches. This time he’s actually going to the churches that he’s already established and is discipling, encouraging, mentoring, building them up, and teaching them the Word. You see, it’s not enough just to win people to Christ. It’s not enough just to form a church, but we also have to mentor, disciple, nurture, and build up. Churches need pastors. The pastor’s number one responsibility is to shepherd the flock of God. The number one responsibility of a shepherd is to feed the sheep. You know, you’re not going to do very well as a shepherd if your sheep are dead, right? They’re going to die if they’re not fed, so the first thing you need to do is feed them, protect them, lead them, and take care of them. All those concepts are conveyed in the idea of a shepherd. By the way, the word “pastor” means shepherd.

Jesus is the Shepherd of the Church. He’s the real pastor of the Church. Men who pastor churches, individual churches, are undershepherds. This local church belongs to Jesus Christ, and He is the Shepherd of this flock; but He has commissioned myself and other pastors as we are also elders to oversee, to lead, to guide, to feed, to teach, to if need be even discipline and help direct the people of God. That’s what a shepherd is supposed to do.

It says there that he was going to pass through Macedonia. Remember, I pointed on the map that he was in Ephesus. You go up to Troas, across the Aegean Sea, and they would land and go into Macedonia. Macedonia involved the church in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, so that’s the area where he would go. This is just a mention of it. He hasn’t actually gone there yet, so when you read these verses, they’re a little bit challenging because you conclude that Paul is on the move, but it’s not. It’s just the narrative explaining where he’s going to go, and we’ll see that in just a moment. He’s saying, “I must also see Rome. 22 So he sent,” ahead of him, “into Macedonia,” northern Greece, “two of them that ministered unto him,” what does that mean? It means that he had other men serving along with him, and they encouraged him, prayed for him, served him, and the phrase, “ministered unto him.” The two men were Timothy, it has the enlongated, “Timotheus,” which is actually the name “one who honors God.” We have two letters Paul wrote to Timothy, 1 and 2 Timothy, which are also known as pastoral epistles, “and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.” Asia is the area where, of course, Ephesus was.

Just another little footnote for you Bible students. At this time, when Paul was in Ephesus (he was there for three years), the church at Colossae was born, not directly by Paul the Apostle, but by some of his workers, some of the men who ministered with him. They went over to Colossae and the church was born. We have a letter that Paul wrote to the Colossians, one of my favorite New Testament epistles.

Notice verse 23, “And the same time there arose no small stir about that way,” that’s an expression used for the Christian life or those who follow Jesus Christ. They were known as those of the way. “For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana,” by the way, Diana is also known as Artemis. It was this goddess of fertility. There was the temple of Diana there in Ephesus, not only in Ephesus but all of Asia worshipped this god, Diana, which was also a false god made by man’s hands. “…brought no small gain unto the craftsmen,” let me explain what that means. That means that Demetrius had a silversmiths guild of workers. What they did was made little statues (and forgive me. I wish I would’ve brought one of the pictures of Diana), a kind of a grotesque little statue that archaeologists have actually uncovered. It was a multi-breasted Diana with all this weird stuff going on because she was the goddess of fertility. If you get a Bible dictionary or encyclopedia you can look it up and you’ll get an image of these little silver shrines that they made. They were making money off this.

It’s not a new thing. It’s been going on a long time. Have you ever watched Christian television? They make money off trinkets, gadgets, and you know, “This cross you can buy is made out of genuine wood from the Cross that Jesus died on,” or “You can get Jerusalem oil,” and all kinds of stuff. They’re making these little shrines, but I wanted to draw your attention to, “brought no small gain unto the craftsmen,” why? Because we’re going to see (verse 25) that they got their wealth by doing this. What’s going to happen was, through the power of the preaching of the gospel, people were turning away from the false worship of Diana and were no longer buying these little images of Diana. They were turning away from paganism, so it was putting them out of business. How cool is that? Would to God that the gospel went out in such power that all of these porn theaters and x-rated magazines, movies, all of the garbage, drugs and alcohol, and crime that’s destroying our culture were completely eliminated because of the gospel going out and men’s hearts and lives are being changed by the power of the gospel.

In verse 25, he says that we get no small gain, “Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said,” listen to his little speech, “Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.” You see, he’s hinting at the fact that, “Hey, you know, we’re losing money, you guys!” Do you want to get the world upset? When they start losing money, that’s when they get upset. “Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands,” I want to chuckle when I read that. It’s like, “Dude, are you serious?” Think about it. He says, “Paul’s going all around actually telling everybody that these little gods that we’re making out of our hands, that they’re not really gods!” Duh! As I mentioned the other day, they have little eyes, but they can’t see; they have ears, but they cannot hear; they have a mouth, but they cannot speak. He’s saying, “Gee, just think about that! Paul’s actually telling people that this is not a real god!” “…that they be no gods, which are made with hands: 27 So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.”

Do you see how ignorant this idolatry is? I mean, this is not a true and living god. Again, the point I want to make is that society, the culture, was being impacted by the gospel, and it has happened even in America. When there has been revivals, crime has decreased, divorce has decreased. One of the things that breaks my heart is to watch all of these school shootings that are going on in our nation and almost no one talking about the spiritual problem of our land. We want to talk about guns, laws, and we want to get political; but we don’t want to get on our knees and repent and turn back to God for Him to forgive our sins and to heal our land. Amen?

I think of every day how many babies are murdered in the womb by legal abortion, and we freak out because we have a shooting in a school, and rightfully so, but when do we say, “God, help us! God, heal us! God, forgive us!” When do we bring God back into the public arena? When do we put prayer back in the public schools? I think one of the best defense against public shooting would be prayer in the public schools. You take the Ten Commandments out (which by the way, one of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not murder,” right?) but “We can’t have that in our schools.” Why? I mean, another one of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not lie,” and we tell kids not to lie and not to cheat on their tests, but we pull the Ten Commandments and we take God out of the schools and out of every facet of our public lives and think it’s a gun problem. I’m not in any way mentioning that politically, and you can take any stand you want on gun control—I’m not into guns—but that’s not the problem. The problem is the heart of man—the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart—and when God changes a man’s heart and a woman’s heart and a teenager’s heart, I mean, these young people, they need Jesus. That’s why, again, we need to pray for the youth of our church. We need to reach out to youth in our community. I pray that God will send revival among them because when God changes the heart, then there’s going to be a change in our culture.

This silversmith was saying, “Man, we’re really gonna be in a mess. They’re not going to buy our gods anymore. We’re in danger of Diana being defamed and despised; and we worship her, so this is a real dangerous thing.” Notice now in verse 28 it says, “And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath,” it means they just freaked out! If I were doing a free paraphrase, it would say they got really, really mad and started freaking out, “and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. 29 And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.” Again, a little footnote, notice verse 28. It says, “they were full of wrath.” This is one of the illustrations of the usage in the New Testament where you have the word “full” meaning controlled by. When I teach on Ephesians 5:18 and it says, “be filled with the Spirit,” that’s a command to be filled with the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? It means the Holy Spirit controls you. He controls and empowers you, and that’s the same concept here, that they’re being filled with wrath or that wrath has taken control of them. They just go ballistic is what they were going. They were just freaking out! They blow their top, and they all start screaming and crying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” They all run together into this theatre in verse 29, “and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel,” they grabbed them and pulled them into this theatre.

Again, another really quick couple of pictures of my first trip to Ephesus. Some of the most magnificent ruins in all the ancient world are in the city of Ephesus. When you read your Bible, and people think it’s all fairytale and there’s nothing historic about it, the truth is you can go to these places. They still exist and they’ve unearthed them. That right there (referring to pictures) is the original main street of Ephesus that Paul the Apostle walked down. It’s absolutely mind-blowing, and they’ve taken some of the ruins that were kind of all over and re-assembled them, but that street was intact. Down at the bottom of the street you can see, and I’ll have a picture of it, is the picture of the library that was in the city of Ephesus. I can’t give you a whole tour. Let me have the next photo. That’s a closeup picture of the face of this building that actually housed just a library full of books in the city of Ephesus when Paul wrote to the Ephesians and talked about Christ being the wisdom of God. They had this big library there, and you can go inside there and check it all out—all these magnificent ruins. By the way, this is in modern Turkey. It’s on the west coast of modern Turkey. When you do the Greek islands and Greece, then you go over and visit the city of Ephesus. (Give me my next picture.)

This is what I wanted to get to. This is the theatre that we read about mentioned here in verse 29 and again in verse 31. This whole story, closing Acts 19, happens in this theatre. This is the other direction, and I’ve been twice to this theatre and got to teach. This is in the city of Ephesus. This theatre is believed to have held 25,000 people. It’s bigger than any theatre that we saw when we were in the land of Israel. It’s just magnificent, this amazing theatre in the city of Ephesus. Go back to our text, verse 29.

The scene is the silversmiths have started a riot in the city of Ephesus in this great theatre. Now, remember, wherever Paul went there was either a revival or a riot. Paul would’ve been a riot to hang out with, but in Ephesus, he gets a double dose—a revival and a riot both. It starts with a revival, and the revival led to a riot when people said, “Hey, we’re losing money because of this gospel Paul’s preaching. Nobody’s buying our little Diana statues anymore,” so they all rushed into the theatre and started screaming. Verse 30, “And when Paul would have entered in unto,” the theatre, “the people, the disciples suffered him not.” Thousands of people, no doubt, gathered in this theatre (you just saw the pictures of the ruins somewhat restored) and they’re yelling, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians,” and they’re probably, “Away with the Christians!” and “Kill Paul!” Paul’s like, “I’ve gotta go down there. They’ve taken Gaius and they’re going to hurt him, so I’m going to venture into this theatre.”

Now, to me, again, I love Paul the Apostle because he was such a man of courage. He seemed to have no fear. If you knew there were thousands of people in a theatre chanting, “Kill you!” would you walk in there and say, “Hi! How’re you doing? I heard you guys are looking for me.” Normally, you would go running the other direction. Paul’s like, “I need to go in there.” Paul wasn’t worried about his own life. Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” “Hey, I’ll go in there. If you kill me, I go to heaven.” It’s a win-win situation. So, Paul starts to go in, and the believers, the disciples, say, “No! It’s too dangerous!” and they hold him back (verse 31). “And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.” This is going on long enough that he starts getting some letters of, “Paul, you should not go in there. It’s far too dangerous.” “Some therefore cried one thing,” now there’s this riot going on, “and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.”

Whenever you get a big crowd like this, do you know that a crowd begats a crowd? If there’s a big crowd and people are looking up, people pull over their cars, get out, “What’s up there? What’s up there?” You know, the crowd just brings a crowd. Remember when you were in high school and there would be a fight break out on campus and a crowd would gather. People would just go running, you know, everyone goes running to the crowd. It’s like, “What did we do that for?” “Well, we wanna see somebody get beat up,” or something. This crowd just starts growing and growing, and they’re yelling and screaming. They’re like, “Hey, why are we here anyway? What’s going on?” “I don’t know.” It’s like the rioting that goes on today. They’re throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, “What are we rioting for?” “I don’t know, just keep throwing!” They’re just screaming and yelling and freaking out.

In verse 33 it says, “And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. 34 But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Can you imagine that? Thousands of people in this theatre yelling and chanting, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” “And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell from Jupiter?” Now, take note of that. They actually had this superstitious idea that Diana fell from Jupiter. The common explanation is that it was probably a meteorite, and they just deified it and said it was a god falling from Jupiter.

Verse 36, “Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against,” this town clerk, this politician, this city civic leader, gets up and tries to calm the confusion and the craziness. He says, “Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.” God actually was going to spare Paul and preserve the Christians there in Ephesus through this pagan individual. There’s no indication that he was a Christian, yet God sometimes will even use a heathen to protect His people; and He uses the laws that were intact, “You know, this is an illegal gathering. We’re going to be called in question by Rome, so you guys need to cool your jets!” Verse 37, “For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches,” assemblies, “nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. 38 Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open,” in other words, the courts are open, “and there are deputies: let them implead one another. 39 But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. 40 For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. 41 And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.”

By way of application, I would just say look at the courage that Paul had, being willing to run into this riot, and look at the peace that he seems to demonstrate. I call this peace in the place of panic—Paul’s peace in the storm of life. Sometimes our world turns topsy turvey. Sometimes our world goes crazy in confusion, and people seem to oppose us or all life gets crazy and confusing around us. Do you know what gave Paul peace in the midst of the panic? The same thing that will give you and me peace in the midst of panic, one simple thing: Faith in God. The Bible says have faith in God, not faith in faith but faith in God. The best way for you to live your life, not trouble-free but having God’s peace (and I’m preaching to my own heart because I sometimes start to panic or freak or worry and I need to remind myself), God is in control. I believe that God is in control, don’t you? I believe that God sits on the Throne, and He’s got a plan. God wants us to participate in that, but God’s not biting His fingernails. God is not freaking out right now. I don’t know what problems you’re facing right now, but God’s not wringing His hands thinking, Man, that’s a bummer! I wish you wouldn’t have lost your job because I don’t know what I’m going to do now! God’s not freaking out about your chaos or your confusion or your problems, and I think that we can have peace in the midst of the panic, that we can live by faith, and we can learn to trust in God.

The disciples were out on the sea in a boat. The storm came and they freak out! What did Jesus say to them? “Oh ye of little faith! Why don’t you learn to just trust and rest?” Maybe God wants to speak to your own heart right now, right here, right this moment; and in the midst of the panic and confusion and chaos, maybe the place where you work there’s a riot going on (maybe not to this scale) and God wants to say to you tonight, “Trust Me. Rest in Me. Put your faith in Me.” God won’t let you down. Those that trust in the Lord will not be confused, not be left hanging or ashamed.

This riot takes place but God uses this town clerk (verse 35) to speak some sense to them, and so the riot is dismissed. You’ve got all these people, (it’s interesting, verse 41) screaming and yelling for two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” and the town clerk tells them to cool down, this is crazy, and they go, “Okay,” and all walk away. They’re freaking out of their minds and then all of the sudden it’s like, “Oh, okay. Let’s go home it’s time to eat, you know.” They go home and turn the tv on or something like that. One minute you’re in a riot, the next minute everything’s cool. What I see, (I wrote in the margin of my Bible right there) the hand of God! Don’t you love that? They want to kill Paul. If Paul left Ephesus with this riot still raging and them killing Christians, then the church would’ve been persecuted ongoingly, and there would’ve been trouble; so Paul wanted to stay there. God actually sent this authority, this town clerk, in to talk some sense into them to bring some calm and quiet there so the church could continue to meet and preach. He says, “Look, they haven’t done anything wrong. They haven’t spoken against your god. They haven’t robbed any of your assemblies, so just calm down. We’re going to be in trouble with Rome if we have a riot like this. If you have an issue, take it to the courts.” Paul, no doubt, and the believers saw the hand of God, that God intervened, stepped in, and saved the situation.

There’s really no break between chapters 19 and 20, and as you continue on this third missionary journey it says, “And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.” Remember earlier, when I said that Paul would go to Macedonia but hadn’t gone yet? Now he’s going. Earlier, in chapter 19, it talks about Paul wanting to go, now he’s starting his journey. So, “…the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them,” this is where in the book of Acts, too, by the way, and you don’t want to miss next Wednesday night. I really am excited about spending a couple of weeks in closing chapter 20 where Paul meets with the elders, the pastors, on the beach of Miletus and pours out his heart, which is one of the most autobiographical sections of the whole New Testament about his life, ministry, and the church. It’s a pastor meeting with pastors, so it’s very dear to my heart. They’re crying, weeping, and hugging because they’re never going to see each other anymore.

Now, remember I told you that on this journey Paul was not going primarily to new territory but the old churches that were established and strengthening and encouraging them? Well, on the way back as he meets with them, it’s their final goodbye. They know that they’ll never see his face this side of heaven again and all that they owe to Paul, and the ministry that he had in their life. I think about how deep are the bonds of Christian love. How deep are the bonds of Christian fellowship. You know, sometimes it’s deeper than even our biological family—the love that we have for brothers and sisters in Christ. This becomes a very emotional section, especially the latter half of it, verse 13 to the end of the chapter and Paul is going to visit the old churches. The sections from here to the end of the book of Acts contain more of the speeches of Paul and his talks and teaching. It is more autobiographical and there’s a renewed emphasis on the preaching of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Paul starts on his way back to Macedonia, northern Greece, and would go through Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. A little footnote, at the end of Acts 20:1, for you Bible students, it was during this time that Paul was collecting money, not for himself but for the poor saints of Jerusalem—Jewish Christians who were going through a time of famine and needed help. Read 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. This is the background for it where Paul is traveling through on his third journey, and he’s taking up a collection. Paul never went to preach and took an offering for himself. He gathered a collection by the Gentile believers in Macedonia. They were poor, but they were giving out of their poverty generously. This is where Paul says, “The Lord loves a cheerful giver.” It’s on all his teaching on giving as he encourages the Corinthians to be generous.

Paul's coming to Corinth there at the end of verse 2, “And when he had gone over to those parts, and had given them much exhortation,” notice that. That’s his ministry now. Exhorting means comforting, encouraging, and strengthening them, “he came into Greece,” that’s a reference to Corinth or the southern part of Greece known as Achaia, “And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him,” so it doesn’t take very long. There’s going to be opposition,”as he was about to sail into Syria,” that was on his way home, “he purposed to return through Macedonia,” he goes down to Corinth, now he’s going to go back up and around again to meet with the elders at Ephesus. Verse 4, “And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea,” this is kind of his group or gang, “and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius,” one of the two that Paul said, “I baptized Crispus and Gaius,” “of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.” These were the guys in the group, and I want you to notice verse 6, “And we sailed away,” now you have again what are called the “we” sections of the book of Acts which indicate that Luke, the author, has now joined the group; so you have all these guys, Paul, and Dr. Luke.

“And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.” I don’t want to go to the map again, but get a good map of the journeys of Paul. He’s come back across the Aegean to Troas. He’s on his way back at the end of his third missionary journey and stays there for seven days. Paul then begins to preach and teach late into the night this last evening that he was there with them in Troas, verse 7. This is the story that we love in the book of Acts.

“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.” You think I get long winded—it’s biblical, by the way, Paul went until midnight. Now go back with me to verse 7. “…the first day of the week,” make a note, that’s Sunday. They were congregating and fellowshipping on Sunday, no doubt, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; but this gathering, when they would have a meal and communion or what we would call the Lord’s Supper, was on Sunday, the first day of the week. It’s possible that they worked that day and met into the night, one of the reasons why as we’re going to see that they were probably tired. Eutychus gets tired and falls asleep.

It says, “And there were many lights in the upper chamber,” the lights there in my King James is actually a reference to torches, not just little candles. They didn’t have wax candles in those days, they actually had lamps. This isn’t even a lamp. This is a full torch, “in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.” We’re going to see that it’s a three-story structure, someone’s large house. It’s believed that this was the house of Carpus. We can’t be sure because in 2 Timothy 4, Paul writing to Timothy, says, “The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee.” So there were lights as they were gathered (verse 8) in this upper chamber. Many were gathered there because it was Paul the Apostle, and it’s his last evening with them.

“And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep.” The Greek indicates that he was fighting sleep. He hadn’t fallen asleep yet but was just fighting sleep the whole time, and Paul just kept going and going. He was probably praying, “Lord, let him stop, please. Let him stop.” I take that back. He was probably thinking, Lord, wake me up because this is Paul the Apostle. This is good stuff! I don’t think anyone was really complaining. “…and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.” I told you, don’t fall asleep in church. God looks very sternly upon this. The word “sleep” we get our word hypnosis from. He just went out and fell out the window! I love it! Verse 10, “And Paul went down, and fell on him,” if he wasn’t dead, he is now, right? A guy falls out of the window and POOF! you fall on the dude, “and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. 11 When he therefore was come up again,” he brings the guy back upstairs, “and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day,” he wasn’t done yet. He goes until the sun comes up, “so he departed. 12 And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.”

Wow! This is a miracle! There is all indication that the guy actually died—he fell out of a third-story window and crashed below. He fell asleep in church. Dr. Luke is the one recording it. If he knew that the guy wasn’t dead, he might’ve mentioned it, but he was “taken up dead,” it says at the end of verse 9. Now, this was the first and the last time that Paul was going to be with them. Paul goes down and throws himself on this young man who was dead much like Elijah and Elisha had done in the Old Testament, and he prayed over him and God brought his life back into him. I believe that he prayed for him and saw him raised from the dead.

When Paul goes back up and begins to preach again in verses 11-12, no one is falling asleep. Everyone is slapping themselves, you know, “I gotta stay awake here! Don’t fall asleep.” You just saw what happened to Eutychus, you know. The ushers probably got everybody out of the windows, too, “No sitting in the windows anymore." Think about this story. This is amazing. By the way, Paul’s long-windedness reminds me of the statement: The mind cannot retain what the seat cannot endure. Some of you are going, “Yes, Pastor Miller, put it into practice right now.” John Newton, the man who wrote “Amazing Grace,” said, “When weariness begins, edification ends.” I like that.

Think about that. He fell asleep on Paul, so I’m kind of encouraged by that. If the great Paul the Apostle while preaching had people fall asleep, I don’t feel too bad. You can’t believe how frequent people will come to me, “Pastor Miller, I’m sorry I fell asleep this morning at church.” It’s like, “Listen, I didn’t even see you, so don’t confess your sin to me. If I had seen you, I would’ve called you out!” R. Kent Hughes said he’d seen people fall asleep in church and their heads fall forward BOOM! hit the pew—a big red lump on your head as you’re walking out of church, you know. “There’s another sleeper going home today.” I do quite often have people, “You know, I’m sorry. I really like you’re preaching, but I had to work late and I’m tired.” I would say it’s commendable that you’re in church even though it’s difficult to stay awake. God understands. At least you’re giving it your best.

Think about that. How would you like to be Eutychus? When you get to heaven, I mean there’s David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Joshua, and there’s Eutychus—the dude that fell asleep! You’re sitting at the banqueting table, “Hi. What’s your name? Oh! You’re the guy that fell asleep and fell out the window! Oh! I read about you, Acts 20. Man! That must’ve been crazy!”

How interesting that is that some people fall asleep today in church. This is an historical narrative, but it does have a spiritual application—don’t fall asleep spiritually. Do you know there’s a danger that you can actually fall asleep while coming to church? That you can actually fall asleep spiritually, morally. Why do people fall asleep in church? Let me give you three reasons why people fall asleep in church. First, because they have never been awakened spiritually. They are not even born again. Maybe you’re in church but you’re not saved, so you’re spiritually asleep.

Secondly, they are backslidden. There are a lot of Christians that have been born again but they’re sleeping. They’re like Samson lying on Delilah’s lap. Remember when Samson was sleeping with his head on Delilah? Dude! What are you doing! I mean, just her name ought to warn you—Delilah, you know. Run for your life! Samson wakes up and she says, “Samson, the Philistines are on you,” and he wakes up. What did Samson say? He said, “I will throw them off like I have before,” but he didn’t realize that his power had gone because his head had been shaved. A lot of Christians are sleeping, and they’re in the enemy’s camp. They’ve drifted away from God and think that they can resist temptation but fall prey.

Thirdly, Christians fall asleep in church because of familiarity with holy things. You get overly familiar, “Oh, I’ve heard that song before. I’ve heard that sermon before. I know this Bible study. I was raised in the church. I’ve been there.” They kind of become professional Christians. This is one of the big dangers of people who’ve walked with God for years. They’re kind of proud of their knowledge and what they know. There’s nothing more dangerous than lightly dealing with holy things. This is why pastors fall away from God. This is why ministers drift away from God because they’re reading the Bible, praying, preaching, they’re doing the work of the Lord, but their hearts are far from God or are growing colder and colder and colder and they drift away. It’s possible to fall asleep spiritually in church.

You say, “Well, what do we need to do to wake up?” First, if you’re not saved, get saved. Repent of your sins and trust in Jesus Christ. Secondly, I think of the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2 where it says, “I know your works, and I know your labor and you have all those things, but I am somewhat against you because you have left your first love.” This is what causes Christians to grow cold, to drift away, to backslide, and to fall asleep. You come to church on Sunday, the songs are sung but you’re sleeping—you don’t really hear them or enter into worship. The offering is taken but you don’t participate because you’re a professional Christian. You don’t need to give to God. You don’t pray anymore, or you pray and your lips are moving, but your heart and your mind are somewhere else. You listen to the sermons, but you don’t really hear them. You’re thinking about a business deal or some other issue. You’re thinking about what you gotta do that week, and you’ve heard so many sermons that you just tune it out. You become professional, and you don’t really listen to the Word anymore.

Let me challenge you, because I have to challenge my own heart. When you come to church or listen to a preacher on the radio, or you hear the gospel being presented, do you actually say, “Oh, Lord, speak; thy servant is listening?” Do you actually say, “Lord, help me today or tonight to hear what You have to say even though it’s a story I’m familiar with. The preacher is saying things I’ve heard before, Lord, would You speak to my heart? Would You let me hear Your voice?” Because if you don’t stay connected in hearing God’s voice, you’re going to fall asleep, and that’s a dangerous thing. John, writing to this church at Ephesus says, “Remember from whence thou art fallen.”

The second step to getting back is to repent, turn back to God, and then resume your first works or else God says, “I will remove that candlestick from its place." God’s presence would be removed from that church at Ephesus. The church falls asleep, and God just goes somewhere else. Has God removed His presence from your heart? Then you need to turn back to Him, repent, and do your first works again. If you’ve been a Christian a long time, do you still read your Bible? “Oh, I’ve read it.” I’ve met people who say, “Oh, I’ve read the Bible. Yeah, I’ve read it.” “Well, why’d you stop?” “Because I’ve already read it.” You can read the Bible every day your entire life and never plumb its depths. Besides that, God speaks to us in His Word. Do you want to stay close to God? Do you want to stay awake? Read the Bible every day with an expectation in your heart, “God, speak to me,” and ask God to revive your heart. In Ephesians 5:14 Paul says, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” I love that verse. Let’s pray.