And that's our topic for next week, Paul's farewell address. I want to talk to you tonight on our 30th study in this book on a shepherd's heart. A shepherd's heart. And we're reading in verse 1 of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 20. After the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples. You remember, the uproar was in the city of Ephesus. And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia." Richard, we haven't got the logo of the third missionary journey there. We have it in the back, I think. Can you flick it up on the screen? If you can, it's there somewhere. It is. Yeah. But maybe it's not. You haven't got it. Okay. It's good to see with the eye gate too. But anyhow, he embraced them and departed for to go into Macedonia. And when he had gone over those parts and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece. And there abode three months. And when the Jews had laid wait for him as he was about to sail into Syria, He purposed to return through Macedonia. The unbelieving Jews wanted to get Paul on a boat and then shove him off the boat so that he would drown. And having heard of this, he decided that he would go back to Asia by land. And there accompanied him into Asia, Sopater of Berea, and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus, and Secundus, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus, and of Asia, Tychicus, and Trophimus. These going before tarried for us at Troas. 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. 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." Most commentators think that Paul began at eight o'clock at night, and preach to midnight. That's four hours. I can assure you I'll not do that this evening. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, torches, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep. Do you ever fall asleep in church? Well, here's Eutychus. I have great sympathy for people who fall asleep in church. Here's Eutychus. I was telling some of them before the meeting tonight about this new minister who arrived in this church on one occasion as he was going round the parish. He noticed that John Mary's husband never came to the meetings. And one day he was with Mary, he challenged her and she said to him, well, your reverence, you know, John has a habit of going to sleep and snoring in church. And that's why he doesn't come out. And the minister said, oh, Mary, I've got the solution to your problem. Just take a little bit of cheese and keep it for a month or two and let it go off until it has a real strong smell of it. And then just put it in your handbag. And when John goes over to sleep, just waft it in front of his nose. Well, Mary got John out to the service that Sunday and sure as shooting, the minister had only got into the first point in his sermon when John nodded over to sleep and snorted the store. And the minister pointed down to Mary and she took the cheese out of her handbag and very discreetly wafted it in front of John's nose. And he awoke with a great shout and he said, Mary, for goodness sake, would you take your feet to the pillow? Well, don't fall asleep tonight. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus being fallen into a deep sleep. We know what it's like. The tense of the Greek verb means that it didn't come suddenly, it came gradually. You know what it's like to sit in a meeting and you're fighting against sleep? Well, that's what Eutychus was doing. 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 had eaten and talked a long while, even till the break of day, so Paul departed. And they brought the young man alive and were not a little comforted. And we went before the ship and sailed on to Assos, there intending to take him to Paul, for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. That simply means that Paul walked the journey from Troas to Assos. He had been ministering the Word of God. He had been giving out. And he wanted this twenty-mile walk so that he could take in, so that he could renew his spirit, so that he could commune with God. And when he met with us at Assas, we took him in and came to Melik, their sailing down the Mediterranean. And we sealed hands and came the next day over against Chios. And the next day we arrived at Samos and carried it through Liglum. And the next day we came to Melikas. For Paul had determined to seal by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia, for he hastened, if it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. a shepherd's heart. The application form of a certain college contained the question, Are you a leader? One student pondered the question for a very long time in light of her high school record. Her record contained no athletic or scholarly achievements and no student offices. And so she answered the question on the application form with an honest no. While she waited for her application to be accepted or rejected, she wondered in her mind if she should have answered the question differently. Much to her amazement, the letter arrived from the registration office with the following message, Welcome to our college. A study of our application forms for the next year shows that we have 1,452 leaders in the freshman class. And they will certainly need at least one follower. The apostle Paul was certainly not a follower. He was a great leader. Everywhere he went, people were drawn to the gospel through Paul. The way to tell if you are a leader or not is to look around and see if anyone is following you. And Paul was a great leader. He was a tremendous leader because he had a shepherd's heart. Of course, the figure of a shepherd is familiar to us when we read not only the Old Testament, but the New Testament. Our Lord Jesus Christ is referred to as the Good Shepherd who died. He's referred to as the Great Shepherd who lives. He's referred to as the Chief Shepherd who's coming again. And elders and pastors and overseers and bishops are described as shepherds. And their people are described as chiefs. Here in Acts chapter 20 we see a beautiful picture of Paul as the spiritual shepherd of God's sheep. Now keep in mind that in this final third section of the book of Acts, Dr. Luke records Paul's journey to Jerusalem his arrest there and his subsequent voyage to the city of Rome. Remember that it's Dr. Luke that writes the book of Acts. And of course, it's Luke that writes the Gospel of Luke. And it's interesting that there's a similar pattern in the Gospel of Luke. There Luke describes Christ's journey to Jerusalem to die. And in just the same way, that the Lord Jesus set His face as a flint to do the Father's will, so Paul, determined to finish his course with joy, no matter what the cost might be. My friends, there have always been dedicated pastors who have sacrificed in life and in death for the church. It was love for the Church that drove the busy Reformers, Martin Luther and John Calvin, to preach constantly and continually to their flocks, not merely on Sundays, but also throughout the week. Many Puritan pastors continued to preach the Word after forbidden to do so by the authorities. They knew that they risked being imprisoned and incarcerated for the sake of the Gospel, as John Bunyan was. But love for the church compelled them to take that risk. Love for the church consumed the godly 19th century Scottish pastor, Robert Murray MacShane. Ill health could not deter him from his loving service, and consequently he died at the age of 29 years of age. It was his love for the church that motivated Charles Haddon Spurgeon to speak out against the modernism that was creeping into the evangelical church of his day, especially the Baptist Union of Great Britain. And my dear friend, despite the resulting downgrade controversy, Spurgeon was sharply criticized by his fan. Some of those who were close to him deserted him, and yet he refused to back down. And although the stress of the controversy took its toll on Spurgeon, indeed it generated and hastened the hour of his death. These were men who had a shepherd's heart, those who sacrificially loved the church. And yet no man has ever loved the church more than the Apostle Paul. Do you remember what he wrote to the church at Philippi? I thank my God upon every remembrance of you all. always in every prayer of mine for you all, making request with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day on out. Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men, he told the Corinthians. To the Thessalonians he said, but we were gentle among you, even as a nurse, a mother cherishes her children. My dear friends, not only did Paul give his life for the church, but he endured much suffering for it. Not only physical suffering, but emotional suffering. You remember when he catalogues his suffering in 2 Corinthians, he says, Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Paul was unrelenting in his commitment to the church. He was willing to pour out his life to see healthy churches established. Now, at first glance, our passage tonight shows us a slice of Paul's life describing his travels. Some things are skimmed over. We can fill in many details from 1 and 2 Corinthians and from the book of Romans, which Paul wrote during this period of time. Other things, such as his meeting with the church in Troas, are described in more detail. We might at first read these first sixteen verses and think, those are interesting, but there's nothing here that relates to my life. But I think that just below the surface of Luke's description of Paul's travels lies Paul's unrelenting commitment to the Lord's church. Here we see a man with a shepherd's heart. Now, having divided our study into three parts, I want you to notice first of all what I'm calling a man with God's perspective. A man with God's perspective. I do not expect to visit this country again. Those were the words of D.L. Moody, spoken in the year 1867 when he made his first voyage to England. He was so seasick during the voyage from the United States of America to England that he vowed that he would never sail again, but he made five more visits to England despite the seasickness. Paul was ready for another journey. He wanted at least to make one other journey to the churches that God had enabled him to found and to establish. Because Paul was a man with a shepherd's heart. And so after he left Ephesus in Asia, he travels towards Macedonia and Achaia. He expected to meet Titus at Troas and get a report on the problems in the church at Corinth. But Titus didn't come. The men eventually met in Macedonia, and Paul rejoiced over the good news that Titus brought. Paul originally had planned to make two visits to Corinth, but instead he made one visit which, according to verse 3, lasted for three months. And during that visit he wrote the epistle to the Romans. Now, having given you that little bit of background, let's look at this man with God's perspective, God's viewpoint. I want to suggest to you tonight, according to your outline, that Paul had God's viewpoint and perspective affectionately. Look at verse 1. And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples and embraced them. You see, physically, he embraced them. Some scholars say that Paul was a hugger. You know what a hugger is. I'm not particularly a hugger, but Paul seems to be in a hugger. He embraced them. He embraced the brethren in Ephesus, and then he departed for Macedonia. You see, to the Apostle Paul, these people were not just acquaintances. These were not just members in the next town that he could chalk up and write about in his missionary letter. These were real people that he loved in the Lord, and he wanted to see them grow in the things of God. My friend, can you see his passion in verse 2? And when he had gone over those parts and had given them much exhortation, the words, encouragement, everywhere Paul went, he encouraged the saints. He built up the brethren and the freest. Why? Because he had a shepherd's heart. Can I ask the elders, and if you're an elder or an overseer this evening, as I ask myself, do you have a shepherd's heart? Do you really care for the people of God? Are you willing to put yourself out for them? Are you someone who just doesn't want to make the big decisions, but are you someone with a big heart? You see, Paul had God's perspective affectionately. Look at verse 2. Paul had God's perspective spiritually. And when he had gone over those parts and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, into Corinth. Now, geographically, this took in Macedonia and Achaia. You see, Paul had a tremendous burden to see these young converts grow spiritually. He just didn't win them. He just didn't count them and then ignore them like many pastors and evangelists. No, he wanted to see them growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so there was this exhortation with the Word. Is it not tragic? that Paul's commitment to proclaim the Word of God is not so much in vogue today? Preaching that exhorts from the Word no longer holds the central place as it did in the early church? You remember, later, Paul exhorts the young preacher, Timothy. He says to Liacombe, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. He says, Timothy, preach the Word! Preach the Word! Be instant in season and out of season. My dear friends, when we downplay strong biblical teaching, the results are tragic. When elders and pastors neglect the responsibility for the perfecting of the saints, then the saints cannot do the work of the ministry. And as a result, the building up of the body of Jesus Christ does not take place. The disastrous results include a lack of true unity, imperfect knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ, and a lack of spiritual maturity resulting in immature children who are tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. We live in a day when the preaching of the Word and teaching of the Word is being minimized. Why? Because of the rise of a market-driven philosophy of ministry. Have you ever heard the term user-friendly churches? Have you ever heard that term? These are churches, so-called, who have jettisoned preaching and teaching in favor of movies, in favor of drama, in favor of concerts. in favor of the testimony of Christian superstars and other forms of entertainment. My friends, there is only one way to grow spiritually, but we will give ourselves to prayer. and to the ministry of the Word. Can you see the great apostle? He is weary. He is busy. He is persecuted. He is harassed by these unbelieving Jews wherever he goes, and yet he devotes himself to teaching everywhere he went. His consuming passion, even at the risk of his life, was to see these believers whom he had seen saved brought to spiritual maturity. You remember how he expresses it to the church at Colossae, whom we preach, warning every man in all wisdom that we may present every man mature, perfect in Christ Jesus. And so here's a man who's got God's perspective. He's got God's perspective affectionately. He's got God's perspective spiritually. And then notice, he's got God's perspective materially. You see, the other great goal that Paul had in mind for visiting the churches and going around the churches again was to take up a collection for the needy saints who were in Jerusalem. He mentions this in three of his epistles that he wrote at this time. He wrote 1 Corinthians, he wrote 2 Corinthians, and he wrote the epistle to the Romans all at this time. He wrote 1 Corinthians shortly before he left Ephesus. You remember what he says. We'll turn over to 1 Corinthians 16. 1 Corinthians chapter 16. And look at verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 1. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there may be no gatherings when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem." He's talking about the collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem. He wrote two Corinthians from Macedonia. Do you recall what he says? Flick over to 2 Corinthians chapter 8. 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 1. He says, Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. He says, We want you to see the God's grace and the giving in the churches of Macedonia. You see, my dear friends, when you give, it's a grace. Stephen Alford has a little book entitled, The Grace of Giving. And notice verse 2, how that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves, praying us with much and greedy that we should receive the gift. What gift? The gift for the poor saints of Jerusalem, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did not, as we hoped, but first give their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God, insomuch that we desired, Titus, that as he had begun, so he would finish in you the same grace also. Therefore, says Paul, as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also." He's talking about the gift, the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem. He wrote the book of Romans from the city of Corinth. Do you remember what he says in Romans? Turn over to it. Romans chapter 15. Just bear with me for a moment. Romans chapter 15. I'm just trying to establish one thing through these passages. Romans chapter 15. All these books written at this time all make mention of the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem. Look at verse 25. Paul says, But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia, Nicaea, to make a contribution, a certain contribution, for the poor saints which are in Jerusalem. It hath pleased them truly, and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. When therefore I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain." Now, what was this collection for the poor saints of Jerusalem all about? Well, Paul had a love for the poor saints of Jerusalem. You see, they were impoverished because of famine. They were impoverished because of persecution. But there was another thing that Paul was concerned about. Paul was concerned about the unity of the church. He was concerned about the oneness of the church. He knew that the tensions between Jews and Gentiles posed an ever-present danger to that unity. And by meeting the needs of the Jewish believers at Jerusalem, the Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia and Galicia, they would be showing their love to them. Come back to Acts 20. Look at verse 4. Acts 20 and verse 4. Do you see why Paul was surrounded by a considerable escort? Look at verse 4. And they are accompanied into Asia, Sopater of Berea, and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus, and Secundus, and Gaius of Dermai, and Timotheus, and of Egypt, Tychicus, and Trophimus. Do you know why Paul was surrounded by these men? It was because of the collection of money that they had been accumulating from the various churches. These were men who were bringing their church's gift to the poor saints of Jerusalem. And notice, please, that Paul was a man who was so careful to be above suspicion in matters of money. There's another interesting fact here. Did you notice it? The general flow in our missionary program is from the home church to the mission field. There was none of that in the book of Acts. Money flowed in the opposite direction. In fact, it was the home church that received the money. It was the Jerusalem church that received the money. In fact, we have no record of the Jerusalem church ever supporting any missionary work. It was the Antioch church, a foreign mission church, that first sent out the missionaries. My friends, Paul planted indigenous churches. Churches that could stand on their own two feet. Churches that did not need to be propped up by massive infusions of money from elsewhere. Churches that soon became sending churches, investing as the Philippians did in Paul's missionary ventures elsewhere. Now, are you beginning to see this man with God's perspective? He's got God's perspective affectionately. He loves the saints. He's got God's perspective spiritually. He wants to build them up on their most holy faith. He's got God's perspective materially. He's concerned for the poor saints at Jerusalem, moreover. He's concerned for the tension between Jewish believers and Gentile believers. Ah, but look again. Come back to Acts 20. He's got God's perspective evangelistically. You see, we learn from the book of Romans, which Paul penned at this time, that he preached the gospel as far away as Elycrum. Now, he probably did this during his stay in Macedonia. Elycrum is that region that we refer to as Yugoslavia. Now, when Paul arrived in Macedonia, verse 1, he was in a state of depression. He was in a state of depression. How do we know? Well, he says in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 8, For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure above strength, even insomuch that we despaired even in life. So often depression is Satan's tool to keep our mind on ourselves and off the need of a perishing world. I want to tell you, my dear friends, that device didn't work with the Apostle Paul, for it didn't deter Paul from the task of winning souls for Christ. You see, in all of Paul's letters, it's clear that he wasn't strengthening the church so that they could be warm and cozy. in a holy huddle, isolated from the perishing world. He was strengthening the church for one reason, so that they could reach out with the gospel and send out workers to take the gospel where Christ had never been preached. He had God's mind set evangelistically. I wonder, dear friends, is this our desire tonight, to reach out? Are we going to fossilize or evangelize? to focus on self or to focus on sinners. I tell you, the church that turns in upon itself and loses its outward focus is a dying church. Look at verse 4 again. Paul had God's mindset affectionately, spiritually, materially, and evangelistically, and tutorially. I mean, did he not act as a tutor and as a teacher to these men who surrounded him? They were just the representatives of the various churches in verse 4. And they were entrusted by their churches to carry their money, their collection, to help the poor believers in Jerusalem. And many of these men were Gentiles who had come to saving faith in Christ through Paul's preaching, and now they are with him, and he is spending time with them, and he is teaching them, and he is grounding them in the Scriptures. Paul's strategy, as he explains to Timothy, was to entrust the things of God to faithful men who would be able to teach others also. This passage is a tremendous challenge to those of us in leadership. I wonder, as leaders, is that what we're doing? Are we discipling someone? Maybe you're here tonight and you're a believer and you've known the Lord for some time. Have you ever asked the Lord to bring some young believer into your life to whom you can entrust the things that God has taught you? Are you looking out for fat men? Those who are faithful, those who are available, those who are teachable. Now look at Paul tonight. No matter what angle you look at this man, he's got a shepherd's heart. He's a man with God's perspective. There's something else I want you to notice here. Look at verse 7. A meeting with God's people. A man with God's perspective, a meeting with God's people. Now, the year is 57 AD. The Jewish festival of one leavened bread lasted that year from the 7th to the 14th of April. And after it was over, Paul crossed the Aegean Sea to join the others at Troas. Look at verse 7. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached on them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight." Now, that's an important passage. That's an important verse. This passage is important because it records for us the earliest description of a Christian worship service. And there are several features that we need to take knowledge of tonight. The first one is, for example, the Lord's Day. Look at verse 7. and upon the first day of the week. This is the earliest reference to the practice of the church gathering on the first day of the week, rather than on the Jewish Sabbath, which was Saturday. You say to me tonight, well, sure, what difference? What difference does it make what day of the week the church meets upon? Recently, some churches in the United States of America met on Saturday because Christmas Day fell on Sunday, and so they closed up shop completely on the Lord's Day, and they met and worshipped the previous day. I mean, does it make any difference what day of the week we worship on? I think it does. I mean, why do these early Christians, mostly Jewish, changed from the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath, to the first day of the week, the Lord's Day. Why did they turn from a tradition about which they were more adamant than any other aspect of the religious faith? The only explanation is this. The Lord Jesus, whom they loved, whom they worshipped, whom they adored, rose from the dead on the first day of the week. Sunday worship, my dear friends, is an evidence to and a testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's why we worship on the first day of the week. That's why we worship on the Lord's Day. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians where he was writing to them about this collection for the poor saints of Jerusalem, he says, upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him and store, as God hath prospered him. And so the book of Acts and the subsequent writings of the early church fathers make it clear that the church met for worship on Sunday. For example, In the second century, Ignatius wrote this, Let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's Day as a festival, the resurrection day, the queen and chief of all days. Later in the second century, Justice Martyr described how Christians of his day worshipped. He says, On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writing of the prophets are read as long as time permits. Sunday is the day on which we hold our common assembly, because Jesus Christ, our Savior, on the same day rose from the dead. the Lord's Day. Now, did you notice where they met together on the Lord's Day? Verse 8 says, the upper chamber, the upper room. Some Bible scholars think they can identify this place in which they met that night, because Paul, when he writes to Timothy his final letter, when he was in Rome in the Maritime prison, You remember, he says to Timothy to stop at Troas and pick up the old cloak. He says, bring the cloak with you from the house of Carpus. And so, here's an early church service taking place in the upper room, possibly in the home of Carpus on the Lord's Day. The Lord's Day. Now, let me pause. How seriously do you take worship on the Lord's Day? I mean, are you present when the believers gather on the Lord's Day? Do we make Sunday worship a priority in our lives? Do we long to be here? Not necessary to get, certainly to get, but surely to give. Do we long to be here to bear witness to the fact that Jesus Christ our Lord, the once crucified Lord Jesus, is now risen and exalted in glory? Or, my dear friends, do we grieve the Holy Spirit by our absence from Sunday worship and by our presence on Monday walkabouts? I mean, is it not amazing how believers are absent on Sunday and present on Monday somewhere. What must the risen Lord think of it all? And upon the first day of the week, the Lord's Day, look very quickly at the Lord's people. and upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together. Now, it's obvious that they were breaking bread in the evening. It's called the Lord's Supper, you know. Do you know why they met in the evening? Do you know? Because Sunday was not a holiday. during which people were free from daily employment. You see, some of these believers would no doubt be slaves. Many of them would be slaves. And they would be unable to come to the assembly until their work for the day was done. And so here they were. They were a cosmopolitan group. Their social and national distinctions made no difference, for they were all one in Christ Jesus. There was the Lord's day. There was the Lord's people. Look at verse 7 again. There was the Lord's supper. For Dr. Luke indicates that one aspect of their coming together was to break bread. It's interesting that in the Gospels we have the institution of the Lord's Supper, that in the Acts we have the celebration of the Lord's Supper, that in the Epistles we have the explanation of the Lord's Supper. How simple it all is. In the Gospels we see the Lord's Supper instituted. In the Acts, we see the Lord's Supper celebrated, in the epistles we see the Lord's Supper explained. It was seen from Acts chapter 2 that the early church observed the Lord's Supper every day. Subsequently, it would seem from Acts chapter 20 that by this time it had become a weekly practice on the first day of the week. Look at verse 7 again. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, the first day of the week, not once a year, not once a quarter, not once a month, Their habit was to break bread on the first day of the week. Now, is that your habit? Is that your practice? I mean, brethren and sisters, how can we walk out when the table is set? How can we turn our back on this dying request of the Saviour, this due in remembrance of me? Now, are you beginning to see the different elements in this worship service? There was the Lord's Day, the first day of the week. There was the Lord's people, the disciples. There was the Lord's Supper. They came together to break bread. There's a meeting here with God's people. Look at how this paragraph ends. There's a miracle with God's power. And it all begins with a long sermon. Do you see verse 9? And there sat in a window a certain man named Eutychus. being fallen into it each leap. And as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep and fell down from the third loft and was taken up dead. By the way, that's another essential aspect of worship, the Lord's Word. The Lord's Word. You see, my dear friends, we meet together as a company of believers, the ecclesia, the called-out ones, to be instructed from the Lord's Word. Now, of course, in many of our churches, Paul would have been instructed as to what time he should finish. However, the great apostle was not to be governed by the clock on this occasion. He had much to say. They were never going to see his face again. This was a golden opportunity, Paul apparently preaching for four hours, beginning at eight o'clock in the evening and talking with them about the things of God to midnight. And then this tragedy occurring, and then Paul restoring this man's life, and then Paul talking and conversing with the saints of God about the things of God till break of day. Here's what I want you to see, the availability of the man of God. Here he is. He's about to take a strenuous journey. He's about to take a difficult journey. And yet his love for the church made him available as long as these saints needed him. Here's Paul and he's using every available minute to teach the believers a true us. You see, this early church devoted themselves to the apostles doctrine. They were immersed in the word of God. I mean, is it not sad to see how the Word of God is being neglected in many church services today? And yet the Word of God is fundamental to the teaching of God's people. Preach the Word! It's God's admonition to leaders. According to Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, the decadent eras and periods in the history of the church have always been those periods when preaching has declined. My friends, do we not need a return to the primacy of preaching? Of course, our passage doesn't require that every sermon be four hours. This was obviously a special occasion. This was the only time that they could hear the Apostle Paul. But they were willing to stay up all night to do it. My friends, there was a long sermon. But notice, there was a lifeless soul. Look at verse number nine. And Eutychus fell down from the third loft and was taken up dead. Why? Was it the lateness of the hour? Maybe it was. Was it the stuffiness of the upper room? There were many lights. There were torches in there. It would give the impression that it was stuffy, just like it is here on many occasions. Surely, my dear friends, it wasn't the dullness of Paul's preaching. Eutychus, whose name means fortunate, fell asleep fell out of the window and was killed by the fall. However, Paul went down, raised him from the dead, and he and the church were comforted. You see, Paul's life was so closely linked with the purpose of God that he became a channel for the power of God to work in the lives of others. Now, let's not be too hard on Eutychus. At least he was there for the service. And he did try to keep awake. He sat near ventilation. He was near the window on the third loft. And he tried to keep off that sleep that eventually conquered him. And my dear friends, as I have intimated already, the tense of the Greek verb is this. He was gradually overcome, not suddenly. I mean, have you no sympathy for Eureka? How many times have you battled sleep in the church? How many times have you fallen asleep in the church? My dear friends, I have great sympathy for those who have trouble staying awake in the church. Some work terrible schedules. And when they sit down, it's the first time that they relax all week. Others of you tonight are victims of meditation. Sometimes it's just the warmth of the building. The truth is that some of the best saints have fallen asleep in church. I remember many years ago when I was preaching in one of our churches way, way up the country, and I was very, very young and I had only started the Baptist College. And after the gospel service that evening, the pastor was away of that church and I brought his wife and little children home to the manse. We were just talking about the service, and I was driving along this country road, and the pastor's wife began to talk to me, and she explained to me. She said, you know, Dennis, that was a powerful word you preached this evening. It was powerful in the Gospel. But you know, weren't little children so honest, so innocent? From the back seat of my car there came a voice out of the darkness which said, I don't know how you know, Mom. I'm sure you slept the whole way through. Now listen, falling asleep in church doesn't really concern me. It doesn't really. What really concerns me is this. People who warm a pew every Lord's Day with their bodies awake and their souls asleep. Do you know what I mean? Those of you businessmen who use the church to complete the unfinished business of the week. You're thinking in your mind through the church service how you're going to clinch that business deal. Those of you in a backslidden state because sin has desensitized you. Those of you who have become familiar with holy things. Perhaps each of us need to ask the question, what really keeps me awake? Christians who slumber during a one-hour service, manage to stay awake during early morning fishing trips, lengthy sporting events, football, rugby, golf, late concerts, late TV night specials. Listen, let me ask you tonight, do you prepare yourself physically to make sure that you are at your very best for the Lord's Day. Remember, said Spurgeon, if we go to sleep during the sermon and die, there are no apostles to restore us. Diedrich Bonhoeffer ran a Bible seminary in Nazi Germany that was not approved by the state. He was a very critical man. He was a very academic man. He was a very intelligent man. But in his homiletics class, when he came to hear the students preach, he would take off his glasses and he would lay down his pen and his paper and his pencil and he would open his Bible and he listened to the students' sermon, no matter how poor, no matter how unskilled they were. And he felt that the preaching of God's Word ought to be received as though you were listening to God Himself. Is that how you listen? As though you were listening to the Lord Himself? Do you see how this incident concluded? It commenced with a long sermon, it continued with a lifeless soul, and it concluded with a lovely sequel. Paul and the believers talking until the break of day. You see, Paul preached until midnight. And then there was the incident of Eutychus falling down from the third loft dead. And then Paul raised him from the dead. And he talked with the believers to the break of day. That means that he was going from eight in the evening until at least six or seven in the morning. Now, a different word is used which indicates conversation. He preached to midnight, formal declaration, and then after the incident with Eunicus, he begins to converse with the believers about the things of God till the break of day. I want you to see what Dr. Luke is doing here. Luke de-emphasizes the miracle. By sandwiching it between Paul's sermon and his talking with the church on the night afterwards, Luke seems to be making the point that it is the teaching of God's Word, not amazing miracles, that will sustain and strengthen the church. The main task of a shepherd is to feed the flock. A shepherd's heart. Let me ask the elders, do you have a shepherd's heart? Do you feed the flock, protect the flock, nourish the flock, guide the flock, instruct the flock, care for the flock? Of course, brethren, if we're going to give out, we need time to take in. And that's why Paul walked the twenty miles from Troas to Assos. He wanted to be alone. He wanted to have fellowship with God. He wanted his spirit to be renewed and refreshed and restored. He wanted to take time to be holy and speak off with his Lord. What about you tonight? Not just an elder, but a believer. I wonder who represents you in the passage. Paul, the man who is alive to the things of God. Or Eutychus, the man who is asleep to the things of God. A photograph in the newspaper some years ago showed a demonstration by the Royal Air Force. The photograph was of the VIP viewing stand and the Queen was standing there looking into the sky and Prince Philip was standing by her side and his attention was focused on the aircraft that were flying overhead. But in the middle of the photograph was Britain's Secretary of State for Defence with his chin resting on his chest fast asleep. What a picture of many Christians today. All around us, God is at work exciting things that happen, opportunities for service abound. And yet many Christians in the middle of all these happenings are sound asleep. Is that you tonight? I wonder, do you need to wake up to the wonder of Christian worship? The wonder of Christian work? The wonder of Christian witness? Like Paul, Do you need to impact your world for Christ in your day as Paul did in his? Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the teaching of your Word to our hearts tonight. And Father, I pray tonight for all of us who are in leadership, that you'll give us a shepherd's heart. Help us, Lord, to realize tonight that this is the thing that should consume our time. This was the thing that consumed the apostles' time. guiding, guarding, feeding, protecting, nurturing, caring for the flock of God. Our Father, we pray that You'll make us faithful. We pray that we may take our responsibilities seriously, that we may do our work conscientiously, that we may live in the light of eternity. And Father, we pray for us all tonight that we might be alive to the things of God. And, our Father, that we might be channels of blessing, seeking to build up our fellow Christians, seeking to reach the lost for Christ, seeking to help the church in every way we can. We thank You, Lord, for Paul's unrelenting commitment to the local church. Father, we pray that You will give us such commitment Give us such concentration. Give us such consecration. And, Father, we pray that in our day and generation we may make a mark for God as Paul did in his. We ask it for Christ's sake. Amen. We're going to turn to our hymn books in closing. The four hundred and ninety-five. There are seven verses. We're not going to sing them all. We'll just sing the first three. And the last one, verses 1 through 3, and then verse 7, Lord, speak to me that I may speak in living echoes of thy tone.