Well, again, good morning. Let me invite you to take your Bibles and turn to the book of Acts. Acts 20. Again, it's good to see you this morning. I've already heard even this morning from a few family members here who have those who are sick. I think we all know that stuff has been going around here in these last few weeks. So we're mindful of sickness and various pockets and various families and pray for those called Miss Alice. She's our senior member in her 90s and called her the other day and got a call back from her daughter a few days later saying that she had actually been in the hospital. She's OK. It wasn't anything overly serious, but something that did need to be checked on in the hospital. And so she's back home now, where she's now living in Kinston. And so just wanted to tell her, as I know we all agree, that she may be more out of sight, but she's definitely not out of our minds, out of our prayers. So we love our entire body, even if they have to be separated from us. Well, as we look at Acts chapter 20 here, I will certainly not apologize for praying one more time. I want to pray briefly as we move towards the message, towards the sermon this morning. So let's pray together. Lord, we say that four-letter word, help. We ask for your help now. I echo the prayer that my brother Ray has let us in already this morning. What a joy to worship you together. So Lord, would You help us now as we look into Your Word. Lord, that my preaching would be a demonstration of Your Spirit and power. That we would hear, that we would obey. Lord, that we would anticipate this meal that speaks to us of our Savior. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. We'll cross away. I've been looking forward to this. I'm very excited to look at you, to look with you, and to look at you, I guess, at one of the greatest passages in the book of Acts. So what I'm talking about is Acts chapter 20, verses 17 through 38. So my method this morning, my plan this morning is to is to do a very quick overview of this passage, to start looking at it a little bit, and then, even though it may be weird, may be out of sync, then actually I want to go back. Because I think Lord willing, we'll look at this passage again, but I do want to, especially as I thought about the Lord's Supper today, I want to start looking at it, then we'll go back this morning and see the background to this passage. And so, may God help us, and I pray and hope that it will prove a blessing to you this morning. So, first thing this morning, crossway. First heading, if you will. Crossway, consider the greatness of Acts 20, 13-38. Consider the greatness of this passage, and let's just read it. Let me begin at verse 17. Acts 20, 17. If you'll look at God's Word with me. Acts 20, 17, now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them, this is Paul, you yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews. how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. Notice verse 24, but I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself. If only I may finish my course and the ministry that I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all." Drawing, I think, there on Old Testament imagery of the watchman. Verse 27, Acts 20, 27. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood." What interesting language. I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in from among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, Paul says, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease, night or day, to admonish everyone with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands minister to my necessities and to those who are with me. In all things, I have shown you that by working hard in this way, we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship. This is the word of God. Thanks be to God. So I said, number one, crossway, consider the greatness of this passage, Acts 20, 13-38. Now, I don't say that after we've just read that, that I'm not trying to manipulate your emotions or your mind or anything and just say that you should be sitting there thinking, wow! Or that you should necessarily be blown away. In many ways, it is a subtle greatness. that we see in this passage. Nevertheless, consider the subtle greatness of this passage. It may not immediately knock you off your feet, but among other speeches that Paul gives in the book of Acts, this one is to believers. Now, as I said this morning, before we go back and spend a good bit of time in the background, let's look at just a few things here. because I do love this passage. It is so rich. I love it for one reason because it speaks to me as a leader in the church. It certainly speaks to leaders. It speaks to all believers in the church. Let's look at it for just a moment. And as I said, perhaps we will look at it more in depth later. Well, let me say this as we look there at the beginning of verse 17. Integrity and faithfulness in a person will be self-evident to those who are near them. Let me say that again. Integrity and faithfulness in a person will be self-evident to those near them and close to them. If what I just said there is true, then this would follow. A person doesn't have to explain really anything. much less tout themselves. If it's true that a person's integrity and faithfulness will be self-evident to those close to them, well, there's no need to explain things. And I get this from what Paul says here in this wonderful passage. As he says there in the middle of verse 18, you yourselves know. You yourselves know. And so some men ask the question, why does he go on to explain? He's not groveling. He's not seeking to prove anything to them. He doesn't explain in that sense. Paul actually has the God-centered confidence to press home things even though they really did already know. And that's some of the best stuff in life, to remind people of what they already know. Paul says, you yourselves know, integrity and faithfulness will be self-evident to those who are near the person with integrity. Well, another thing that we see here is that this is addressed to leaders. Look there again with me in verse 17, Acts 20. Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders. He didn't go to them. He called the elders of the church to come to him. The elders of the church. And when they came to him, he said to them, This is the only speech, at least so far, where he's speaking to believers. That makes it unique. And he's not only speaking to believers. This is applicable to every Christian, but he's speaking to leaders in particular. So I say this, leaders need to be challenged. Being in leadership doesn't equal immunity from encouragement. Let me say it like this. Being in leadership doesn't somehow equal that you are therefore immune from being encouraged to do better by God's grace, if I can say it that way. Obviously, he's not saying to them, do better, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, but by God's grace, I want you to lead well. And so leaders need to be challenged. Leaders need to be encouraged. What a wonderful passage. Acts 20, 17 through 38. Especially, as I said, so eager to at least look at a little bit of it as we come to the Lord's table a little bit later this morning, we'll we'll come back very briefly to see something from this passage about what this represents this morning. But I do want to go back and see the background because if what Paul is doing here, if what he's doing at the beginning of this rich passage that's chock full, if he's kind of holding himself up as an example, if he is rehearsing for them his life, if he's saying things to them like, you know, Well, they knew. We need to make sure that we know. So let's go back and let's make sure that we know about the trials and the persecutions that He endured from the hands of the Jews and from the hands of the Greeks. Let's see the background of some of this. And so, in some ways, very quickly, we go all the way back to the end of chapter 19. Verse 23 of Acts 19. About that time, there arose no little disturbance concerning the way. So these big headings aren't all that important for you to remember, but we've said, first of all, Crossway, consider the greatness of Acts 20, 17 through 38. Now consider the background to that passage. He's talking about a guy named Demetrius in here. We looked at this very briefly, but so briefly that I wanted us to hit it again. He says in 1923, about that time, there arose no little disturbance concerning the way for a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. So Demetrius is like a leader of the guild. He's kind of like a union leader. He gathers the people in the union, so to speak, in the guild. Verse 25, He gathered them together with the workmen in similar trades and said, Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see in here that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people saying that gods made with hands are not gods. So we're thinking here, beginning at verse 23, all the way into the chapter 19 of this guy named Demetrius. Demetrius and the silversmiths. Now again, notice the language in verse 23. About that time, there arose no little disturbance concerning the way. It says it in a negative language. At the end of verse 24, he was a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. So we have something here at Crossway called a PFI, boys and girls, called Praise Factory. It's something that we do to try to come alongside families on Wednesday nights. And we just pray that the Lord will continue to bless that as an outreach and as a ministry to our own families. And boys and girls, I wonder if you remember this story. In fact, I wonder if this sounds familiar. I shared this with you about a month ago. Big money, big parties, and beautiful things. Doesn't that sound like the lifestyle of the rich and famous today? Maybe so. But it also was life in Ephesus long ago, when it was once one of the richest, most important cities in the Roman Empire. What made Ephesus so important? One thing. The Temple of Artemis. Now maybe you've heard it as Diana. Same thing here. Temple of Diana in Latin. Temple of Artemis. One thing made Ephesus so important, the Temple of Artemis. Artemis was the most worshipped goddess in the Roman Empire. She was worshipped as Mother Creator, as the Mother Goddess Queen of Heaven, as the Goddess of Nature. Listen to this, the Ephesians built a massive temple to her. It was 450 feet long, 225 feet wide. And while the temples to other gods were made of wood or maybe limestone, Artemis' temple was made of expensive marble and gold on the outside and filled with artwork and statues from the world's finest artists on the inside. Boys and girls, you may remember from this story how later they're going to go on and say, great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Great is Artemis. One thing in particular I want to point out from this crossway, God's made with hands, they're not gods. You say, well, that's basic. We know that. You don't have to be a Christian to know that. It's just foolishness. No, listen. Gods made with hands are not gods. There is one true and living, only one true God. The God who made the world and everything in it. being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth." Oh, you thought God was like you. No. Gods made with hands are not gods, which is of course what Demetrius said here. Hey guys, let's gather together. You know this is the source of our wealth, making these little stinkin' trinkets. These little souvenirs that people can have when they come to what was considered one of the wonders of the ancient world. One of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This temple to Diana, to Artemis. He says this Paul, basically what's happened is the gospel is going out, people are being converted, and their sales are going way down. Because gods made with hands are not gods. Verse 28, when they heard this, they were enraged and were crying out, great is Artemis of the Ephesians. So the city was filled with the confusion. This is the type of stuff that Paul is telling the Ephesian elders later on in chapter 20. You know, this is the stuff I've gone through. Now they don't get to Paul in this passage, but they're certainly after Paul. The city was filled with confusion. They rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel. But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, and we acted this out in Praise Factory, the disciples would not let him. Even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. Bottom line, there's a riot. They go into the amphitheater. It's a 20,000 seat capacity even back then. And it takes the equivalent of the mayor to have to come in and say, guys, we've got to stop this. This is going to be reported to Rome. And so I say to you something else based on this story. It is not Christianity that causes societal problems or that disturbs the peace of society. It is not Christianity that causes societal problems or that disturbs the peace of society. What this passage is telling us is that Christianity is innocent under Roman law. The mayor's going to come in, he's going to say, we've got to quell this riot. Paul and his buddies are not doing anything illegal. And maybe we could say always, it is the opponents of Christianity who cause disturbances and problems in society. It is patently clear that Christians are not the ones who make waves and cause foolish, mob behavior. So what? So 1 Peter. I love what 1 Peter says as Peter talks about this. He talks about Jesus. and how Jesus suffered and died in our place. Jesus suffered and died in your place, sinner. Jesus suffered and died in your place. He rose again to give you eternal life if you will repent and believe. And in the book of 1 Peter, he talks about you should not shy away, if God allows, from suffering like Jesus. But he also says something interesting. He says, don't suffer for doing something wrong. Suffer like Christ. Don't suffer as a wrongdoer or don't suffer for doing something unlawful as a Christian. Don't suffer as a Christian for doing something stupid. Don't suffer as a Christian for something that you shouldn't be doing. Suffer like Christ. Listen, Crossway, live a quiet life. The Bible says to you, to us, support the society that you're in. Be active in the local community. Christianity is for the good of society, not the ill. Well, we move into chapter 20. And as we're making our way, and see in this background, as we're making our way back to the focal point this morning, as we think about chapter 20, verses 1-6, I say this to you, Encouragement, encouragement, encouragement. Said it before, say it again. Don't ever underestimate godly, Christ-centered encouragement. Acts chapter 20, notice this. After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples. What does it say there? And after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. Paul never just made converts and left them hanging out to dry. He was a pastor. He was a missionary. And so he would go back and he would encourage the disciples. Verse 2 as well. Look at it with me. Chapter 20, verse 2. When he had gone through those regions and had given them what? much encouragement. He came to Greece, so don't ever underestimate godly, Christ-centered encouragement. Verse 1, He sent for the disciples after encouraging them. Verse 2, when He had gone through those regions, He had given them much encouragement. Continue reading with me. Verse 3, there He spent three months. And when a plot was made against Him by the Jews, again, this is part of the, you know what I've been through, As he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. Now, don't judge me as I read these names. I'm doing my best. Sopater, the Berean son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him, and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius of Derbe and Timothy, and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus, These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. Something cool is about to happen at Troas. But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread. And in five days, we came to them at Troas where we stayed for seven days." So he's moving. By the way, we're going to see this in a minute, but he's moving towards Jerusalem. We don't know this from Acts, but we know this from places like Corinthians that probably what he's doing is he's gathering this money, he's gathering this offering for the poverty-stricken believers in Jerusalem, for poor believers. And so he's gathering momentum, he's gathering a team, Because he's a man of integrity. He's not handling the money bag alone. So we're going to look at that again in just a second, but I just want you to know that's... Look, and he's moving from all these place to place. The Jews are after him like a hound dog. They're on his tail. He's suffering. He's preaching. He's declaring. He's testifying. Next, verses 7-12. Here we're getting closer back to where we started. Verses 7-12, cross away, did you know that the God of the Bible has given you funny things in His Word? Did you know that? In one fairly little story, I say fairly little because it's only six verses, Acts 20, 7-12, in one fairly little story, we have something very serious, the raising of a man from the dead, and we have something that it is more than okay for us to just enjoy. What is that? A young man sinks into a deep sleep and is overcome by sleep during a really long sermon, so much so that he falls out the window. Acts 20 verse 7. On the first day of the week, are you looking at it with me? On the first day of the week when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them. intending to depart on the next day. And he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talks still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. And I do believe that he was dead. Verse 10, But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him. And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while until daybreak. It's a college all-nighter. And so departed. And they took the youth away alive, and here's another negative way of saying it, and were not a little comforted. That's an understatement, right? Understatement of the year. Which of course means they were very comforted. God of the Bible has given you funny things in His Word. He's the God of all. Now notice this, I do want to notice verse 7. Pay attention, on the first day of the week when we were gathered together to break bread, that probably means, gathered together to break bread, what we're doing this morning. to take the Lord's Supper. And what day is it today? Well, it happens to be the first day of the week. And so this is significant. And you might overlook it, but for so long, what had it been? It had been the Jewish Sabbath, which was what? Saturday. The Jewish Sabbath. And so here, in a very understated way, in a very subtle way, we see that the resurrection of Jesus changes everything. Jesus is alive. Jesus died on the cross for sinners. He ascended to heaven. He's coming again. You must repent and believe in the Gospel. And in between what I just said, Jesus rose from the dead by the power of God. And so, you might just miss this, but on the first day of the week, they gather. Sunday. Taking the Lord's Supper. Now get this, I think this is such fascinating background. Here is an important early reference to Christians no longer meeting on the Jewish Sabbath but on Sunday. Although in the Roman work week, they would not have had this day off. Some of you know that, right? In the Roman work week, they would not have had the first day of the week off. As would be the case until the 4th century, When Constantine would make Sundays a holiday for the sake of promoting Christianity, believers met either early on Sunday morning while it was still dark and before going to work or more commonly on Sunday evening after work and again after dark. The service included the breaking of bread, which may refer to communion. I thought that was pretty cool there from Blomberg. It wasn't a day off for them in the Roman work week, not until the fourth century with Constantine. Of course, there's a debate about Constantine. Was he a true Christian? All these things. We certainly promoted Christianity and gave Sunday as a holiday. So they had the option of meeting very early before work or, as we just said, more commonly after work into the evening. And it's not that crazy. Don't kill the preacher for going so long because Paul was about to leave them, and he had many things to say to them. And here they are on the day that they can gather after work, and what is the point of this whole book? I know it sounds like I'm just jetting into something else here, but what is the point of this whole book? You don't have to turn there, but I just remind you of this whole study in the book of Acts, the whole thing where he says in the very beginning of the book, in the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach. which I love so much because it means the book of Acts is what Jesus continues to do and teach. And so by the power of Jesus, by the power of the risen and ascended Jesus, Paul raises this guy from the dead. Eutychus, the room was stuffy, the preacher was going long, he's up on the third story, He is in a deep sleep, and then the text says he's overcome by sleep, and then he falls out of the window to his death. I got a book here, it's a preaching, one of the new preaching books called Saving Eutychus. They put it like this. It's crowded in the upstairs room and stuffy. So young Eutychus wedges himself onto a windowsill and sucks in the cool air outside. But fresh air isn't enough. The visiting preacher talks on and on. By midnight, Eutychus is asleep on his perch. His weight shifts. He tumbles. And moments later, his body lies broken on the pavement three stories below. The rest, as they say, is history. Though happily, thanks to some apostolic first aid, the young man's terminal velocity wasn't as terminal as it could have been. And kind of like Elijah and Elisha, Paul actually kind of puts his body over this young man. And in the same way that Peter has done, and in the same way that Jesus has done, he raises someone from the dead. They took the youth away alive and were not a little comforted. What are verses 13-16 all about? as now we're super close to the text where we started. What are verses 13-16 all about? Well, let me say this. Paul, like Jesus, set his face to Jerusalem. Paul, like Jesus, set his face to Jerusalem. He was a man on a mission. Like his master, he might die. but he willingly went." Notice this with me, verse 13. But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Asos, intending to take Paul aboard there. For so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. And when he met us at Asos, chapter 20, verse 14, we took him on board and went to Mytilene. And sailing from there, we came the following day opposite Chios. The next day we touched at Samos, and the day after that we went to Miletus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, notice this, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia for, why? for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost." So mark that. He was hastening to be at Jerusalem. And then you go back very quickly to chapter 19. Do that with me. Chapter 19, verse 21. Now, after these events, Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. He resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. Chapter 19, verse 21. Chapter 20. verse 16 that we just looked at. He's hastening to be at Jerusalem. Chapter 20, verse 22, And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there. And why is this important? Why does this matter? It matters because of the Lord's Supper. Listen to me, and better yet, listen to Luke 9, verse 51. somehow make maybe a note or a mental mark of Luke 9.51. Listen to this. When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem. Jesus. Jesus. You can be redeemed today because Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem. And like His Master, Paul knew he knew not what would come of him. He didn't know if he would die, but he willingly went. He was a man on a mission. He would not die in Jerusalem. He wanted to go to Rome as well. But he set his face to Jerusalem, which brings us back full circle to verse 17. Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them. He said, my personal integrity and my faithfulness. I'd certainly don't have to tout myself or in any way celebrate myself or focus on myself. He said, I don't have to really explain anything in one sense at all. He says, it's self-evident to you. You yourselves know. And now we know a little better what He says to them. And we know a little better upon what basis He, one more time, speaks of Jesus to them. And I close this morning, and I hope none of you have fallen out of the pew like Eutychus, which is funny. I close and just say maybe we can make verse 24 our own. Maybe Paul kind of expounds on verse 24 in the book of Philippians. But maybe you and I can make, by God's grace and by His grace alone, maybe we can make 2024 our own. But I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself. It's not about me. I'm just a servant. I'm a bondservant. If only I may finish my course and the ministry that I receive from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." There's that little phrase there, the gospel of the grace of God. The gospel of the grace of God. The good news about Jesus, which in a way has to start with the bad news, that because of your sin, and because of my sin, and because of our greed like Demetrius, and because greed is idolatry, And because of our pride, we're under the just and sure condemnation of God. But the Gospel of the grace of God, the good news about Jesus, that Jesus alone has fulfilled all righteousness. That Jesus died on the cross in your place. That Jesus has been raised from the dead. He ascended. He's coming again. He reigns now. This is everything to me, Paul says, the gospel of the grace of God. My life, I count it as nothing. Let's own that verse. Let's pray together.