Please take your Bibles with me and turn to Acts chapter 20. Acts 20, we continue through Paul's third missionary journey and we arrive at the first 12 verses of Acts 20. Verse 1, and after the uproar had ceased, that was the riot in the theater in Ephesus, Paul sent for the disciples and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he departed to go to Macedonia. And when he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortations, he came to Greece. And there he spent three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews, as he was about to set sail for Syria, he determined to return through Macedonia. And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy Antikycus, and Trophimus of Asia. But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, and we sailed from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came to them at Troas within five days, and there we stayed seven days. And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. And there were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. And there was a certain young man named Eutychus sitting on the windowsill, sinking into a deep sleep. And as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, Do not be troubled, for his life is in him. And when he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and so departed. And they took away the boy alive and were greatly comforted." Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we think of this week and we're reminded of Dan Filcix entering the Afghanistan theater and we pray that you would accompany him and protect him and be his front and rear guard. And then we think of even today the thunder and the rain awakening the winter grass in late March here. And we pray that the word read and preached would arouse our hearts as well so that we would be alive and alert and serve you with all of our might. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. There's a man named Hugh Latimer who in the 1550s ministered in Worcester, England. He tells of a woman afflicted with an unnerving case of insomnia. That means she couldn't sleep. And she'd been to physicians and tried everything, the whole range of medical prescriptions, but nothing availed. And in desperation, She finally shouted out, medicine, no more of it, but do take me to the parish church. I've slept soundly there for 40 years, and I think I could sleep there again. And sure enough, upon the pastor's beginning the sermon, she soundly fell asleep. What are you giggling at there? We may all giggle at this, but inwardly most preachers groan at the sight of such a thing as we're reminded of our own weak limitations in seeking to rouse up souls for God. But this passage does remind us of Christ's servants and how we, Christ's servants, aren't alone in our groaning. Because look, we see that the fall of Eutychus informs us that we can take courage. Even men of the competence level of the Apostle Paul had to deal with such things. And I can say that I can thank you as the people of Holland that rarely do I ever view a eutychus, and in this you don't make me feel Pauline very often. For that I thank you." But we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here as we want to start at the very beginning. We want to unpack this passage 1 through 12 under six main headings. You have your handout there, a map on the back, and the six headings on the front. The arrows of the map aren't accurate but the city and locations are. Consider first of our six headings, insomnia en route Macedonia in verse 1. Insomnia en route Macedonia. We see that Paul has weathered the stress of that amphitheater riot in Ephesus that was now in his rear view mirror, 19th chapter, We see the Lord wonderfully intervened in his behalf. And so, verse one of chapter 20, when the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, exhorted them, and then he departed to Macedonia. Notice the map there, as Macedonia is that area near Thessalonia, Berea, and Philippi. If we read between the lines here though, put together, turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 2 as we try to take what happens according to the epistles and fill in the gaps with what's happening in the book of Acts, we find 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 12 and 13 as Paul was on his way from Ephesus up to Troas where he would cross over into Macedonia, something was going on in Paul's heart. Paul says, Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, I had no rest for my spirit. It's kind of a keyhole look into Paul's emotional condition at this time. I had no rest for my spirit for not finding Titus my brother, but taking my leave of them, I went into Macedonia. And so we see he got there at Troas, and he was waiting, waiting for Titus. Why? Because in 2 Corinthians 7, 8, it seems he had sent ahead to Corinth what is called a sorrowful letter. And he was hoping for word, Titus was going to meet up with him at Troas. He had hoped that Titus would say, look, you wrote a stern letter to them, but they've warmly received you. But Titus never showed. there in Troas. F. F. Bruce says this, it is supposed that Paul took a coasting ship from Ephesus up to Troas, and at Troas he expected to meet Titus, whom he had sent to report on the disquieting situation of the Corinthian church, notice down there in Greece, And though there was ample opportunity for gospel witness there in Troas, Paul couldn't settle down to take full advantage of it because of anxiety in his heart about Corinth. In between the lines, it says there in 2 Corinthians 7, 5 through 7, for even when we came into Macedonia, because Paul eventually crossed over there toward Philippi, when we came into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side, conflicts without, fears within. He didn't know what the Corinthians thought of him. But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus. Eventually, Titus showed, once they crossed over into Macedonia, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even all the more. So we see that Paul wasn't sleeping well, was he? No rest in spirit, it says. It says his flesh had no rest. It says he has conflicts without and fears within. Lest we think Paul was an emotional igneous rock, he wasn't. There was a vulnerability. He probably had some post-traumatic stress he was dealing with. He'd had that life-threatening, harrowing experience there in Ephesus. He was emotionally frayed at the edges. Sound like anybody you know, by the way. How about you? How about me? In many ways, the apostle is a lot like us. Joseph Parker says this, I thank God for those words. and for that trouble, because it brings down Paul among us. Paul is a giant, but Paul is just like us. Parker says, there is a public life that the neighbors can see and read and comment on, but there is a life within, a life between the lines that fills up between those lines and broken places, and only God sees the interior and the solemn existence. And so, you may see somebody you know in the Christian church, somebody you know in the kingdom of God who is this giant, but what you see, you don't really know what's between the lines. Look at Paul here, as he read the epistles, filling in the gaps. Paul feared the worst regarding the Corinthians, and even hyperventilated emotionally as he was en route Corinth. But look how the Lord graciously intervened. 7.6 of 2 Corinthians, But O God, who comforts the depressed, Comforted us by the coming of Titus. You see, Paul tormented himself a long while for dread of what might happen. Something that never even materialized. What he feared. That's so much like us, isn't it? We often build these big heavy crosses and we carry them and we drag them long distances. You know what? God never even calls us to hang on them. But we've dragged them. So often we can be like those women. who were on the way to the tomb, and they were so anxious and concerned, who will move the stone for us? Who will budget? Our journey is a fool's errand. But when they got there, the Lord had already moved the stone, and it wasn't a problem. And so too it is for us. There's a river that you may have over the horizon. You've got to cross that river. And you don't know how in the world when you get to that river you're ever going to be able to cross it. But God is our logistics man. He is the one who transports us from conversion to the celestial city. And haven't you ever found it, when you got to that river you found there was a ford, meaning a very narrow place where you could walk through just by rolling up your pants? Or maybe there was a bridge that had been built. Or maybe there was a ferry boat there. Or maybe it had iced over. Somehow, someway, your greatest fears were taken care of by the Lord. But we often waste so much time about things that's really not our job. I had called Blake yesterday afternoon and said, Blake, Sunday school class, and I got two videos I want you to have prepared. And it's not my business. Once I tell Blake and he texts me back, I got it, I'll take care of you. He's my IT man. It's not for me to lose sleep. I could have last night, but he showed himself so reliable. I slept like a baby, never even thought that when I got there in the morning, it wouldn't be taken care of. Oh, Blake is reliable, but the Lord is so much more reliable for us. And so we should ponder these things and just consider how gracious the Lord is. He arranges all things for us beforehand. There's a little poem that says, oh, how happy we would be should we but cast our cares on thee. So there is that insomnia en route Macedonia. But secondly, consider with me, conspiracy amidst loyalty. Conspiracy amidst loyalty, and that's in verses 2 and 3. It says that when they got into Macedonia, look there in verse 2, they passed through those districts. Passed through, look, Philippi, and Thessalonica and Berea. Paul wanted to make sure that the flag of kingdom truth was still flying in those places where he had planted it. And he gave much exhortation. He's very faithful, Paul is, very loyal to his commission. In verse 2b it says, and he came to Greece, that is down to Corinth. and they're administered in Corinth for a time, but it says as they were about to depart from Corinth, Paul wanted to get to Jerusalem actually, probably by Passover, it says, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, that would be Palestine where he could get to the temple on the Passover, There was a plot aboard the ship for him. He sensed this. This was a Palestine-bound ship. Now, there were other Jews, because Corinth was full of Jews, and many would make pilgrimage for Passover, and this was the ship that was heading for Syria. By the way, did the Jews in Corinth love Paul? Oh, no. They were the ones who, 1812, brought Paul before Gallio. They hoped that Gallio would throw him into prison, if not even execute him. And so now he thinks if I'm gonna get on this ship and look at all these Jews on this ship, Jews who hate me, it's a long voyage. On a long voyage it's very easy to throw a man overboard and there's not a trace of evidence left. Remember how in 2008 there was a Royal Caribbean cruise liner and there was a man who threw his spouse overboard but there was no evidence? A ship can be a dangerous place when people don't like you. And Paul heard of this plot here. And so we see that Paul understood that spiritual loyalty gave him no immunity to a conspiracy that might be against him as sometimes faithfulness and loyalty exposes us to great danger and harm. And so it says in 3B, so he determined instead to return through Macedonia. I'm not going by ship. I'm going by land." And so there was a conflict, and Paul fled. And so we see that discretion is sometimes the better part of valor. Let's pull back the lesson here. The point is that this world is a dangerous place, even for faithful saints. It's ruled by the Prince of Darkness, who in John 8.44 is called a murderer. and a liar. And do you know that he hourly plots against the saints? Second Corinthians 2.11, Paul says, we're not to be unaware of his schemes. First Peter 5, he prowls about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour. Proverbs 27.12 says that the prudent man sees the evil He spies it out from a distance and he hides himself. He goes a different direction. But the fool continues on and suffers for it. Now this is true physically, Paul's situation. It's also true spiritually speaking. So we need to have an awareness that, beloved, you know conspiracy theories? You ever listen to Michael Medved on the radio and sometimes he'll have a conspiracy night and all the guys call in about conspiracies this, conspiracy that. But you realize there is a real conspiracy against us. The Prince of Darkness is pulling all the strings that he is able among his minions to do great harm to us. us the saints and so we should be cautiously prudent in our travels and wherever we go we should say is there a plot here against me don't don't think that we're in safe territory when we cross the river we're in safe territory and still then we are in enemy territory so we should ask all kinds of questions in our travels like should I should I board that ship Should I watch that movie? Should I enter into a romance with that person? Should I leap into that controversy? Should I run the risk of that temptation? Plots, dangers. Trumbull says this, it is a great thing to know when to run from evil and when to stand and meet it. Often more courage is needed to run than fight. A bulldog knows just enough to always be ready for a fight. It takes more than a bulldog and character to decide when not to fight and to stand by one's decision even if one has to run in order to stand. So just ponder different applications and different directions in your own life. Remember 1 Corinthians 6.18 says, flee immorality and any fool will quarrel and go on and on regarding the applications. about this conspiracy amidst loyalty. But now come with me thirdly, thirdly to the first day, Lord's Day. The first day, Lord's Day, and that's in 4 through 7a. So we see that Paul is there in Corinth. He's not going to take the ship back to Palestine. Instead, he's going to go the land route. So he heads northward. Look at there. He goes north, backtracking through Macedonia. He goes all the way up through Berea and Thessalonica and Philippi. He's not alone, though. He's accompanied by seven men, seven bodyguards, mentioned there in verse three, four, where it refers to Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timothy, Tychicus, and Trophimus of Asia. Now, these men are not chiefly there for the purpose of security, but instead they're there for the purpose of integrity and accountability. Because according to 1 Corinthians 16, 1-4, Paul had said, look, when I get to Corinth, I want you to start collecting. The first day of every week, the first day, that was the day when they would meet. The first day of every week, make a collection so that when you collect and people come from Macedonia, they'll find my boasting about you was legitimate and you'll have something to give. So these men were carrying money bags of silver and they were heading north. Why, Paul? you're a man of integrity, why not carry it yourself? Well, in 2 Corinthians 8, Paul says, for we labor to do what is right financially speaking, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men. These men are here as witnesses from the various churches to make sure that we conduct ourselves according to integrity. This is for accountability. So they're heading north with these seven men, and they arrive at Philippi. And the seven men cross over into Troas, as it says in verse 5, and they're looking at your map, crossing over. They have gone ahead. But now Paul stays behind in Philippi, and there's a reunion he has with a certain individual that we haven't heard from for a while. You know who that is? It's Dr. Luke. And we know it. How do you know Dr. Luke? That's right, because it says, we and us. Who's the author of the book of Acts? It's Luke. And so, now we're back first person. You see, the first time through, back in chapter 16 and verse 10, This is where Paul meets Luke in Philippi. Luke stayed in Philippi and pastored those people there for years. But now Paul coming through again Philippi, we see Paul is going to take Dr. Luke with him and they are then going to head back to Palestine eventually. And we're going to find that Luke is going to be Paul's new companion all the way through. to Acts chapter 28 to the end when he gets around Luke the physician is now at Paul's side and so look what it says in verse 26 and we whereas previously in verse 5 it said us again first person plural we sailed from Philippi after days of unleavened bread and by the way I think he was at Philippi for unleavened bread Passover he wanted to be in Jerusalem, but wasn't a good ship to be on. So he stayed in Philippi for unleavened bread. I think he probably gave a series on, as it says in 1 Corinthians 5-7, Christ our Passover having been sacrificed. It's reading between the lines, I realize. You just wonder how did Paul spend some time in Philippi and speak about the blood on the doorpost, the blood of Christ on the doorpost, Maybe he even referred to his own insomnia. He experienced how you sometimes can't sleep under the wrath of God because you fear the angel of death flaps around your home and is about to knock on the door and come in and whether it be take away your firstborn or take away your own life. Maybe he spoke about the blood of the Lord, the blood of the Passover lamb having been smeared on the doorpost. And if you've believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you can sleep easy because the angel of death, the second death, the eternal death will pass over and it is well, well with your soul. Even this week after Bob spoke about Gordon Stannis and his wife seeing soon death, I groped around for something to write and I found something in Psalm 23, the treasury of Spurgeon on treasury of David and Spurgeon talks about, where oh death is your victory, where oh death is your sting. And here's what is said by the commentator, it is said that when a bee has left its sting in anyone, It has no more power to hurt. Death has left its sting in the humanity of Christ and has no more power to harm a child of God who believes in Christ. See, the sword of God's justice was sheathed in the person of the Lord Jesus, and the sword was left there. There's no more justice for us. Justice smiles and asks no more. And we can sleep now. It's well with our souls because Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. But we're looking at this first day, Lord's Day, and we see that they actually arrive there in Troas after a five-day voyage. in verse 6. And apparently they arrived there in Troas on a Monday. Because it says that they stayed there seven days. Now why do you think they waited seven days there in Troas? Well I think it's because it says in verse 7, because on the first day of the week when they gathered together to break bread. See, Paul wanted to be there at the festival day for the church, which is what day? It's the first day of the week. That's when the body met, the church met for gathering together, Sunday. He got there Monday, and he wanted to be there for Sunday, so he stayed around because he wanted to meet, be with, spend time with the Bride of Christ. Just to pause here. Jews met on Saturday. Christians met on Sunday, Matthew 28, first day of the week, which was Resurrection Day, the day Jesus rose from the dead. Why was Sunday so special? Christ rose on that day. And Christ appeared to His people on that day in a special, powerful way. On the road to Emmaus, He opened their eyes. Their hearts burned within them. In the upper room, He visited and He said, Peace be with you. And He breathed on them. It's the same day, Revelation 1 and verse 10. That was the day in which John was on Patmos all alone. But the ascended Lord Jesus met with him on the Lord's Day, on the first day of the week, and gave him these stunning revelations. He gave him truth for the seven churches, so the seven churches might be nurtured, might be stirred. Christ breathes out wonderful things on the first day of the week. And we see this, this emphasis, this importance on the first day of the week. That's the way it was in the first century among the apostolic churches. Ketty says this, this is the Christian Sabbath, the New Testament publication of the one in seven day of rest established at creation, inscribed in the fourth commandment of the moral law and promised in the eternal glory yet to be revealed. This day is moved from the seventh day, Saturday, to the first day, Sunday, first day of the week, and I would suggest to you the first day is really the eighth day. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. The eighth day celebrates there's a new creation in the Lord Jesus Christ on account of the resurrection of Christ, but the Sabbath principle was preserved 1 and 6. 1 and 6. That's the cadence from creation. 1 and 6, a day of rest. Matthew Henry says, the Lord's Day is a sign between Christ and Christians. For by this it is known that they are his disciples, and it is to be observed in public assemblies." And this is the way in the first century apostolic church that Christ's people were recognized. They met on the first day of the week. And in Hebrews 10.24 when it says, What's he referring to? He's not referring to even a Wednesday night prayer meeting necessarily or a Friday night Bible study. He's referring to those Lord's Day meetings on that first day of the week. This is apostolic example which has the gravitas of a New Testament declaration of our holy obligation. So that is the first day, Lord's Day. But come with me now to the fourth main heading on your notes and that's Paul's sermonic prolonging. Seven B's, Paul's sermonic prolonging. Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until seven o'clock? No, it says he prolonged his message until midnight. You say, wow, wow. Well, look, surely this was a special occasion. This was Paul's swan song. His final words to them. He was going to leave at sunrise. And he had so much to say. Imagine the apostle. What a shepherd's heart. So much to say. So little time in which to say it. When did they start? Some say they started maybe 6 p.m. For various reasons. They couldn't all get together until later. Maybe it was earlier. We don't exactly know. But we see that Paul had a pregnant mind, no doubt. During this time of this missionary trip, he had written many letters, letters to the Romans. He had written about Judaizers. He was concerned about justification by faith. They talked about that. Christian liberty, weak and strong. I bet you he talked about that. Holiness, holiness in Corinth. Do you not know that you are a temple of the Spirit of God and God dwells in you? Maybe he'd just been in Corinth. The party spirit. I bet he had something to say there to them in Troas about that. About doing things decently in order. About the resurrection heresy. People say there's no resurrection. It goes on and on. All the things that Paul had to say. And besides that, one commentator says, surely then church meetings were not regulated by the clock and the opportunity of listening to Paul was not one to be cut short. So we pull back and we just ponder the implications. So we too, we should consider What a great privilege it is to hear God's Word explained and declared, especially since we're willing to focus a lot of even hours. I mean, there's the, it's March Madness now, and there's some really cool basketball games that take place, and some sitting here can invest hours, hours, hours, or even hockey games I've heard about some people. watching them hours and hours, or Facebooking hours and hours. And so for us to kind of reprioritize what's really important as we look at Paul's sermonic prolonging. But I must admit that surely there is a word of caution here for ministers too. It says in 9b, Paul just kept on talking. And what happened? Eutychus went on falling. In fact, I was at the pastor's fraternal in Mebane just a little while ago, a couple weeks ago, and Andy Dunkerton from the church in Mebane did a little biography on a man named Benjamin Bedome. He labored there at Gloucester in England, and it talked about his early days as a pastor. and how his father was a pastor as well. And he wrote to his young son, who had just become a pastor and a preacher. And dad wrote to that time of early ministry with wise counsel in 715-42. And listen to what dad Bedom said to son Bedom. I wish from my heart I could prevail with you son, not to strain your voice so much in your delivery of your sermons. Apparently dad thought his son was a yeller. And he says, and if you would make them shorter, it would be more acceptable and edifying to your hearers and more safe and easy for yourself. As later the same year, dad wrote again, I quote now, son, I cannot advise you and earnestly press you to strive with all your might to soften your voice. Probably you just heard him, a little visit there to Gloucester. and to shorten your sermons. It would be better both for you and your hearers. You would be more popular and more useful than ever you would likely be. Shorten your sermons, son, it will be better for all." There's an interesting footnote that Annie Dunkerton gave to us and we all laughed at this. It said, of one discourse, son, I beg you that you will make two sermons to take care of your health and comfort. Cut them in half. Then he says this, let two hours be the longest time you spend in the pulpit at any one time. In other words, figure that he was preaching maybe close to four hours at one time in the pulpit. So it's all relative what's a long sermon, I suppose. But I won't take that. But I think an old preacher focusing on this brought us as a very long sermon is an unpardonable sin in modern preaching. Another says it is a sin against human nature. There's an account given of a man, Mr. Vincent. He says, after a long time I had spent much strength in my labor and little purpose it seemed and I was one day lamenting before God as I was walking to church. on the little fruits of my exertion. And as I went along, I was overtaken by a farmer, a vine dresser, who was going the same way, and I took the opportunity to ask how my sermons were liked. And the peasant replied this way, and I quote now, listen carefully. Sir, we feel obliged to you for your kind intentions. We are all likewise sensible that everything you tell us is good, but sir, you preach too long. We ignorant brewers are just like the wine vats that we fill. And once our wine vats are filled to the brim, if you attempt to pour in more, even if it were the very best juice in the world, it will only be spilt on the ground and lost. And so it is with us. he said. And so I think Eutychus falling out the window is surely a not-so-subtle message and lesson sent to every preacher who reads this passage. And I'm listening. I'm listening, and may God help in this area. Paul's sermonic prolonging. But now come with me fifthly to Eutychus fleshly sleeping. Eutychus fleshly sleeping in verses 8 and 9a. But I think there's another message here, not only to preachers, I think there's also a message here to hearers. In other words, well this is something for the preacher. Yes, yes, but even as Peter asked about John and Jesus says, what is that to you? If you're on one side of the pulpit, there's a message, but there's something else on the other side of the pulpit, which is, what about me? And we ponder what a great privilege it was for those Troasians to hear Paul. What a wonderful opportunity to hear the word of God expounded, and they hung on every word, at least most of them probably. But poor Eutychus, his name means lucky. And he was probably a plebeian from the lower working class, probably a young teen, as it refers to a young man. Trying to piece this together, they probably had like a fellowship meal like we had downstairs, and then they would have the Lord's table. They would celebrate, so his belly was probably relatively full. You know what that's like. Then combine that with the stuffy air. Verse 8 says there are many lamps, many lamps in the upper room. There's a message here for deacons. I bless God for deacons. You ever see a deacon get up and maybe open a window or check the thermostat? This is a good thing. Spurgeon says this about this passage. In a church, the next most important thing to godliness is oxygen. There's a diaconal message here. And we see Eutychus began feeling drowsy, and so he went over where there was air. He sat there on the windowsill to no avail. It says, look, he was sinking into a deep sleep. We've all been there. We've all experienced this heaviness that begins to take over. The mind fogs and the eyelids droop. And we think to ourselves, okay, if I just close my eyes for two minutes, that's going to relieve the pressure, a little bit of rest, and I'll have brightened and tonic and ready to go. It doesn't work that way, does it? It gets worse. Pressure isn't relieved. We've got no gum to chew. I'll take notes. I'm going to work on the paper and the pen drops out of the hand. We've all been there. And I've been there. In fact, I can remember the last time this happened to me, I was at the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, Kentucky. It was the first morning message after a night, and Ligon Duncan was speaking. This guy's really, really good. But there I was, like a uterus. It wasn't Ligon Duncan's fault. It was my fault. I had spent too much time late last night talking to Jim Sevastio. He's a good talker. We went on and on, but there was a price to pay in the morning. And Eutychus probably had worked all day. And I'll just say this. Surely, I think, in many cases like this, the Lord understands. It's near midnight. Psalm 103. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. He knows how we're formed. He knows that we are but dust. That being said, we can't deny there's at least an admonishment, a little chiding present here in Eutychus falling down as we see that there are some with whom sleeping is not an exception to their behavior in church, but for some, and I can honestly say I know of no one here who has this, there are some for whom this is a dangerous rule. Kent Hughes writes how when he preached at a certain church there was a young man who week after week, month after month, year after year sat in the front row and he would fall asleep every Sunday just after his introduction. This happens. Like there's an account about Andrew Fuller when he preached centuries ago in Kettering and he observed his congregation. He was so grieved over the way his congregation would sleep And he started his sermon, and there they settled in. They just snuggled down in. And it says this, it says, Andrew Fuller took his Bible and banged it upon the pulpit three times, exclaiming, what? Asleep already? I often fear I preach you asleep, and I grieve over it. But the fault cannot be mine today, for I have not yet begun. And you are sleeping. And we tell this to our children. There's a text that we would have our children memorize, Ecclesiastes 5.1, guard your steps when you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools for they do not know that they are doing evil. The good stuff sacrifice is the paying attention sacrifice. And Jesus warned the three in the Garden of Gethsemane, watch and pray that you fall into temptation. The Spirit is willing, I know, I know. But the flesh is weak. And you just wonder how many, how many on that last day in outer darkness, how many there will be there who have slept through sermon after sermon after sermon in burgundy chairs or gray chairs or blue chairs. and how they would now respond if a gospel messenger came down to those dark places and began to announce the message of the gospel. Oh, their eyes would brighten up. Oh, thy heart would awaken for the opportunity. And this is that day. This is that day. So Hughes says this in Compassion as a Pastor. He says, occasional falling asleep, frankly, doesn't really bother me. It can happen to anybody for countless reasons. What concerns me though are the thousands who warm pews every Lord's Day with their bodies awake but their souls asleep. That can happen. There can be a soul who is sleeping in a Delilah's lap, whose conscience has been cauterized and anesthetized with the ambien of immorality. Or One can come on a Lord's Day and have a form of godliness, but be zoned out in apathy and boredom. Don't let that continue. or we can come and have a familiarity with spiritual things hypnotizing us. One commentator speaks of the man at the railway station who there is punches everybody's tickets. People are coming to the railway station from this exotic destination and that wonderful destination and they come through and he punches their tickets and he punches their tickets and after a few months and years the man begins to think that he himself has actually been to those places because he rubs shoulders with authentic travelers. But he himself has really never even been there. And could it be that there are people who sit next to you and fellowship with you, you rub against them, and they know they've been to wonderful destinations like repentance, and contrition, and mourning over sins, and justification, and regeneration, and the new birth, and the seventh heaven, and glories of the joy of the Lord that is our strength. And we punch tickets, and we know people who've been there, but we really haven't been stirred in such a way. May we not be content regarding these things. May we listen to the Word of God in such a way that it takes us to those places. That leads us in sixthly and finally, and that is Jesus' gracious raising. Jesus gracious raising, and that's just in 9b through 12. And it says in 9b that Eutychus fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. All kinds of debate. Was he really dead? Wouldn't it be great if there was a physician there to examine him? There was! Luke was there and death was Luke's diagnosis and his verdict. It seems clear he was dead. But verse 10, look it says, Paul fell upon him and embraced him. Does that remind you of anything? Go back to the Old Testament twice. Elijah did it. In 1 Kings, Elisha did it. In 2 Kings 4, Elisha fell upon the dead Shunammite's son. And look what Paul says, having fell upon him and embraced him. It says in 10b, don't be troubled for his life is in him. It reminds us of somebody as well, the Lord Jesus in Luke 8 regarding Jairus' daughter. Stop weeping. There was mourning. She was dead. There was the verdict. She's dead. Stop weeping for she has not died, but she is asleep. They laughed at Jesus. But she really did come alive. And in the same way, Eutychus was visited with a resurrection power. You just think of the dynamics of all that. Here you are, you're meeting. Two or three gather. There I am in your presence. This is a Lord's Day gathering of the church. How comforting it was for the brethren in Tetroas to know that he who had been with Jairus in Capernaum raised his daughter. was now with them in Troas. Jesus, the first day of the week. Look, in the upper room, He breathed upon them. Look, here He is in Troas from that third floor room down. He breathed upon Eutychus. He's here! He's here! He's visiting us in resurrection power. He's able and willing to visit us with that kind of resurrection power. This is a very encouraging thing for us to read. It's exhilarating to think that as those of us who often due to our own neglect, we fall into sin, we fall hard sometimes, we fall into spiritual indifference. And how often is it that you have been raised up? The proverb says, a righteous man falls seven times, but the Lord raises him up again. Is that in your biography? Aren't we all eutychous in so many ways? Because of our neglect, there we've fallen and left to ourselves, we're dead. But the Lord Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep. They hear my voice. No one can snatch them out of my hand. Philippians 1 verse 6, He who began a good work in us will complete it until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. He births us and then He shepherds us all the way through this wilderness. And it is such a dangerous wilderness. And sometimes it seems, do you ever feel like you're just left for dead? Just left for dead. I'm done. I can't recover. The Lord Jesus comes again and breathes on us. We're alive. Though we fall seven times, the Lord raises us up again. Look what it says in verse 12. And they took the boy away alive, and they were greatly comforted. And so should we be. We should be greatly comforted. as we meet together in His name. And we have such a shepherd who is so patient, who is so gracious. He's always hovering over us and caring for us. And even when we, by our own neglect, fall, He raises us up again. Let's ponder these things.