I said, man, I like this. So I asked them what their opinion was. And Alicia, first thing she said, can we keep them up here? So, I'm happy about that. So that will work out well. Acts chapter 20. And guys, if you guys get warm up here, just tell me or reach back and we'll flip that heater off. Because I know it's cold outside, but it gets warm up here. Acts 20. We're looking at the movement of the Apostle Paul. We see him. of the ministry in Ephesus here. And so what we're going to look at in Acts 20, we're looking at 6 verses, verses 1-6 this morning. I'm going to ask you to turn quite a bit today because, well, you'll see why. Because an entire year is wound up here in Paul's life and the ministry. in these first six verses. So let's read them together, if you will. Acts chapter 20, verse 1. The Bible says, And after the uproar was ceased, that's the difficulties, of course, that he faced there in Ephesus, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed forth to go into Macedonia. When he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece. There about three months, and when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. They accompanied him into Asia with Sopater of Berea, and of the Thessalonians Aristarchus and Syndarchus, and Gaius of Derbe and Timotheus, and of Asia Tychicus and Trofimus, these going before tarried for us at Troas. 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. Father in heaven, we pray a special blessing upon the reading of your word. Be with us during this Bible study this morning. Watch over us. Give us guidance and grace, dear God. But just I pray that you'd peel back the layers of the mighty apostle Paul's life. Reveal it unto our hearts today. Speak to us through your written and perfect word, dear God, allowing your truth to stand strong in our lives. Lord, we love you and we thank you. In Jesus Christ's name we do pray. A man and a man. So what we find here, we find written within these six verses, we find about one year's time, about one year's time of Paul's life. Three years after Paul had entered into Ephesus, Luke begins to record the movements of Paul rather quickly. Now what does that mean for us? That means for us that we're as We're studying out the book of Acts here. Now what we're going to begin to see is we're going to begin to learn from Paul's letters even more. So we're going to lean on them more than we have maybe in the time past. I understand when we were looking at Galatians, Galatians the commentary of Acts chapter 16, we were reviewing all that. But I want us to remember this. When we go all the way back to where we started nearly a year ago, believe it or not, it just blows my mind. When I got here, we picked up an Axe 13 and moved on, and then we paused in the front of the year, and we started going two sessions. So we went back to the start of Paul's life, right? As a matter of fact, if you're following this on Sermon Audio, I've made the mistake of people say, hey, well, today's lesson will be an online one. And I go, oh yeah, it will. It won't, because I've gone back to the previous lessons. So in other words, Acts 14 will be online this morning, whereas we're at Acts 20 now. And then we'll continue to put those online as we move ahead. But we went back into Paul's life. We begin to see the things that transpired. And we use his letters as a commentary on the acts of what's going on in his life. But this is the earmark that the first week here that I was teaching was that the acts of the apostles is where we see and we begin to know Paul's life. But it's the heart of Paul that we learn in his letters. So whereas we see his acts and all that he did in the letter that Luke wrote or in the record that Luke wrote, in Paul's letters, in his 14 epistles, we find that we see the heart of Paul. And today we're going to have to lean on that just a little bit more as we dissect these six verses. So even though Paul actually dies at the hands of the Romans in the Roman Empire, his work continues to live on here in Ephesus. Paul's greatest years of labor occurred when he was here in Ephesus where he spent these three years. Again, I mentioned this last week. Remember, there's an entire church age at his earmark. unto the angel of the church of the Ephesians, the Ephesus church age, that first century church age. So this was a mighty and tremendous work there, but it did not come without difficulties. We see that in verse 1 of chapter 20. It says, and after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples. So I want to give you five things. If you're taking notes this morning, this is what we're going to look at within these six verses. You say five things. How are you getting five things out of six verses? Well, it's amazing how you can get six months worth of teaching out of six verses in Psalm 23. Amen. We did that too, didn't we? And Carol said, yeah, we did. Amen. And so she remembers that one. But we see five areas in Paul's life now. Number one, and we're going to go over these individually, but I'll go ahead and give them to you now if you'd like to write them down. Number one, we see the exit from Ephesus, and we're just going to hit that point. We're going to hit it quick and move on. Number two, we see the expedition to Macedonia. The expedition to Macedonia. Number three, we see the ensemble in travel. Brother Russell, you'll find out that I alliterate everything. It's a blessing and a curse. It's good to have you here today, by the way. Man, I'm glad you're here this morning. The ensemble in travel, number three. Number four, something Paul's quite used to, the escaping of death. The escaping of death. And then of course, number five is the entrance to Troas, the entrance to Troas. Now, if I was to throw something out there just real quick, it's not a loaded question, and if you can answer it quickly, let's do so, otherwise we need to move on, because we will be getting into the scriptures, into Paul's letters, so we're going to be turning quite a bit, especially into 1 and 2 Corinthians. Did anyone notice some kind of change in these six verses here? What changed in our scripture reading today? If you think back to Acts chapter 16, Paul picked up a young man, and the writing went into the first person, and then toward the end of that it went back to the second person. Verse 5 there, we find the introduction back to Luke is back in the first person. What does that mean? That means that Luke is back with Paul, picks him up there in Macedonia or Troas somewhere, but as he picks him up, picks up Luke, Luke is with him for the rest of his life. God saw fit that a physician would be this mighty missionary here for the rest of his day. So in verse 5, he's going before Terry for us. That's your transition back into the first-person writing of Luke himself. And now he's with Paul and he remains with him until his dying day on the road to Ostia, known as the Salt Road in Rome. So number 1, the exit from Ephesus. The exit from Ephesus, we'll just go quickly over this. God's providence moves Paul from leaving his heart in the church. Guys, this is a wonderful church where Paul is. Things are just going greatly. A massive revival breaks out, but Paul, the providence of God said it was time for him to move. And his heart is left in the church, but Paul has to exit the city, move on to get the gospel throughout the rest of the world. And it's clearly seen upon his return in his final sermon in His final exhortation to the elders at Ephesus that we will look at here in the days to come. You know that His heart was there. You know that His heart was there. So He calls the disciples together, tells them that He will be departing. He embraces them. He will see them one more time. That will be the final time that they will see them. So let's get into the expedition to Macedonia, verses 1 and 2, Acts chapter 20. And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, departed for to go into Macedonia. And when he had gone over those parts, and given them much exhortation, he came into Greece." Paul enters into Macedonia in AD 57. You can cross-reference that together if you would like with 2 Corinthians chapter 7. 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 5 says, for when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side, without were fighting, within were fears. And you may as well go ahead and put a bookmark, a finger, a tooth, or anything that you have to spare right now in the book of 2 Corinthians and 1 Corinthians because we'll be turning there. I used to have a pastor in my church in Tennessee that when he had resigned his church, he had been in the ministry for 40 some odd years. As a matter of fact, I think he went into the ministry the year I was born. And he came in there, and when he would preach for me, I would get the CDs, and he said, this is going to be a five-finger sermon. I used to love this. A five-finger sermon. And he'd tell everybody to go to this book, this book, this book, and this book. And that was where you were going for the duration, amen? And this one here will probably be about a ten-finger sermon. We'll have to move on from that point. But there's fret. There's fretful. There's the fearful. We find the burdensome work that comes with the work of God. Guys, if I was to sit here and I was to say there wasn't fun in the work of God, I'd be lying because the work of God is fun. The ministry of the Lord is fun. It is enjoyable, but it does come with fighting. It does come with frets. It comes with fears. There's fears within. There's fears from without. There's a constant battle somewhere going on. Somewhere. be within, or be it outside, whatever it is, there is some type of battle. But guys, the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ, the blessings of God, the dwelling and indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God is so great, it is so full inside of our heart and our life, that nine times out of ten, it'll overshadow those things. That does, I didn't say a hundred percent of the times. I mean, the burden of the work of God sometimes, it honestly, it wears you down, it wears a person down. However, the blessings of the Lord and that which He gives us to allow us to move on and move forward. Really and truly, they are second to none. Amen? So even though written years later on, it is applicable to the situation that Paul is in. Turning over there, I want to give you just a topical idea in Philippians chapter 1 verse 20. Philippians chapter 1. It was written later on from what Paul is experiencing at the present moment, but we find here in Philippians chapter 1 It applies to the situation that he's in. Remember, Paul was the valedictorian, if you will, of the school of Gamaliel. He had excelled in the Jewish religion above his counterparts. Well on his way, more than likely to be the high priest there of Israel. He was the representative of the Cilician synagogue. But in Acts chapter 1 verse 20, the Bible says, According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. You know, he goes on in verse 21, he says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Guys, listen, we take that verse, and we put such a heavenly emphasis on it, and I believe that we should. The Lord touched my heart the other day coming across the mountain, Cephalia Mountain. to preach a message titled Getting Past the Temporal. And we really do. We need to get a heavenly mind. We need to get past the temporal of the life that we're living in right now and look past just establishing the foundation of where we are here. But we gotta be careful to not become so extendedly heavenly mindful that we lose the temporal effect in this world today, meaning this. Meaning that we need to look at what the Lord has, and we see these verses, for me to live is Christ and die is gain. You know, we read over that verse, because we see it on t-shirts, we see it on bumper stickers, we see it on Instagram, we see it, you know, slapped on everything known to man, and it becomes so familiar to us that we really don't even think about it. Paul's not just talking about dying and going on to heaven. That is something to gain. But for him to live down here is for Christ. The gain is all for him if he dies. That's why Paul writes in Romans chapter 12 in 80-58 when he says that we need to present our bodies a living sacrifice unto the Lord. A living sacrifice. I'm going to make a statement here. It may be a bit harsh. Any fool can die for a cause. Any fool can die for religion. You don't have to have an ounce of love in your heart to die for something. You just got to be committed. The Kamikazes of World War II, they were pantheists. They were pagans. They honestly believed in their life that if they would lose their life for their country and for their belief, for their emperor whom they worshipped as a god, if they would have died for him, they were going to be reincarnated into something greater and better. That's how you get a person that is so committed to a cause. But any fool can be committed to a cause. We need to be committed to Christ. And for us to live for Christ is a sacrificial living, a living for Him. Guys, here's the deal. Our rewards are not always here. I'll give you a thought, and I realize we're live right now and I'm recording. But Galatians 6, 7, we use that verse You know, we use it quite a bit, don't do not. You reap what you sow. You reap what you sow. You reap what you sow. Contextually speaking, I think sometimes we take that out of context. Almost to where it becomes fear-mongering to people. You know, you better pray three times a day because you reap what you sow. You better read your Bible every single day. You reap what you sow. Guys, I want to read my Bible because I want to hear God speak to me every day. Amen? I want my wife to talk to me, right? You know, she wants me to talk to her, right? Well, my God wants to speak to me. I'm part of the Bride of Christ. And so I want to pray so I can speak to Him in a relationship. I want to hear from Him His Word of God because I want to hear from Him for a relationship. Not because I'm fretful and fearful that He's going to drop the hammer on us. Man, we're not in the Millennial Kingdom right now. Amen? The Millennial Kingdom is not set up. I love the people who teach the Millennial Kingdom is set up. Just stick a lion in the cage of the lamb. See what happens. Hey man, that doesn't go over too well. I had the National Geographic Channel, I flipped on it the other day, and it had this lion on there. Oh, it's hilarious, because the pride runs out. You know, all six of the ladies, they go out and they kill the thing. And then here comes the man, right? He runs them all away and he eats his meal, then leaves the rest for the family. It sounds about right, doesn't it? Right? Amen? But what was funny about that is I got thinking, I'm thinking, here's a gazelle, which is fast, no match for the lion whatsoever. They wore the little gazelle down, made a good meal. And I'm thinking, you're watching on telly right now, Something that shows that we're not in that period. We're not in the Millennial Kingdom The other side of that is the Sermon on the Mount blessed are the meek that inherit the earth, right? That is the doctrine for the Millennial Kingdom. That's the way it is God's gonna rule according to the book of Revelation He's gonna rule with a rod of iron. That means he's gonna drop the hammer when somebody steps out of line That's not us. We're the bride of Christ. We're living and reigning with Christ according to the book of Revelation, right? Now having that thought this is the thought that I'm trying to make I think we need to be mighty careful not to fear-monger His verses. And I'll be honest with you, the Galatians 6-7 just hit me this morning in the shower. I got thinking about that. I just got thinking about, you know, we fear-monger this sometimes. You reap what you sow. I understand rewards are in heaven. We're going to be judged at the judgment seat of Christ for the rewards that we'll receive, whether it be gold, silver, precious stone, or wood, hay, and stubble. Wood, hay, and stubble is a picture of man's dead works. Gold, silver, precious stone is what's going to form those crowns, we understand, that we can lay at Jesus' feet. Gold being the picture of Christ's deity. Silver being the price of His redemption. And then stones are always relative to a soul, a precious soul. So I haven't said all that. Do I believe, yeah, there's judgment on the earth? I believe there is. I believe we're chastened of the Lord, the Bible says. But I do think we need to be careful, and I have no idea how I jumped off on this thing, but I was talking about Philippians 1, 20 and 21. that Paul is considering this situation here after the uproar, the burden, and the trouble. He said what's going on there in Macedonia. There's fears from within, fighting from without, and this and that. So I think sometimes, guys, we just need to be real careful to take his letters and apply them exactly where they go. And contextually speaking, he that soweth unto the Lord receiveth life everlasting. He that soweth unto the flesh you know, obviously does not, amen? And just to get that thought inside of your heart and your mind, just I think be careful, be careful where we are, not to fear monger the verses of the Word of God. Be not deceived, God is not mocked for whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption. Corruption is death, according to 1 Corinthians 15, we know that. But he that soweth to the Spirit, capital S, that's the Holy Spirit of God, shall of the Spirit, that's the Holy Spirit of God, reap life everlasting. I'll tell you, the greatest day in the face of the planet for me was when the Holy Spirit of God came inside of my heart and took control of me, amen? It's even better yet, when I render my life, say, hey listen, you know, it's your way, not my way. So, let's move on. So Paul, Paul cannot find Titus, We find that in Corinth he's a bit overwhelmed. He has not received a letter from Titus yet. And so that's how we get 2 Corinthians 7 verse 5. And hold your place there because we're going to stay in chapter 7 for a couple of relations in this expedition into Macedonia here. Sorry to jump around like I did, guys. I chased a rabbit. Hopefully we caught it. And no more rabbits will be released. Amen. So, however, when he receives the reply, he finds the blessings of God, even in the midst of the times of trouble. Paul was overwhelmed, we find according to verse 5 of 2 Corinthians chapter 7. We read that. For when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side, without were fighting, and within were fears. He had fears, he couldn't find Titus, but look there in verse 6, Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me, so that I rejoiced the more. So, we find that Paul is renewed in strength, he's renewed, he's revived, Look back in chapter 1 of 2 Corinthians here. We'll see another thought that Paul is writing when he writes to the Corinthian church. Verse 4, chapter 1 of 2 Corinthians. He says, Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble. By the comfort we are with, we ourselves are comforted of God. God helps us so that we can help others. So Paul's second letter to the Corinthians shows us how the work of God and working with people who are grateful and many times, many times, even when people can be unlovable, he shows us where the work of God will manifest itself in our life and how he will comfort us. Guys, sometimes it's at that last hour, it's at that last moment we feel we're going to break, but nevertheless, he does comfort us and that's a blessing. Look back here if you will, we want to say a friendly warning Acts chapter 20 back there. Look at verse 3 that we find here. Verse 3, Acts chapter 20. We're still looking at the expedition into Macedonia. Again, like I said, Luke records here in these six verses nearly an entire year of Paul's life in the ministry. And so we do need to lean on the letters of Paul. to dissect everything and put them in their proper place. Verse 3 says, And there about three months, speaking of Greece, when the Jews laid wait for him, he was about to sail to Syria. He purposed to return through Macedonia. That was his purpose. His purpose was to come back through Macedonia. So we find in the book of Galatians, we find what happens there. We find that there is a friendly warning of what happened. We know how he was made aware. of the issue, 1st and 2nd Corinthians is how Paul dealt with the issues of the church though. So he got a friendly warning of who was going to lay wait with him. Paul writes these letters back to 1st and 2nd Corinthians of how he's going to deal with the church. These are things that he wanted to do. These are things that he wanted to be able to teach even when he was yet there. Purposing though to sell to Assyria, when he was about to sell to Assyria, but he purposed to go back through Macedonia again, in order to teach. How does Paul deal with situations in the church? Turn with me, if you will, 1 Corinthians in chapter 5. You probably know where we're going. Paul begins to address issues here that is inside the church. And really and truly, at the very first, it seems very harsh, very, very harsh. But in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul is addressing a situation here that the church had not addressed. They refused to address it. And he says in verse 5, speaking of this young man here that had taken his father's wife as his own wife. That means that would have been his stepmother. He was living in sin. He was living in open sin. And in verse 5 says, "...to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." He turns this young man over to Satan. If he's not willing to repent, they have to put him forth. This is called church discipline. We understand that quite clearly. uh... if you look at verse thirteen we find uh... how he turns such wonders uh... overseas is but then there without god judges therefore put away from on yourself that wicked person which says without that is some of this outside of the body christ it's a lost person god's gonna judge them they're they're condemned already uh... but the wicked person that is that is within the church somebody is saved and born again the blood of christ yet has backslidden back into sin Which, you know guys, I don't want to get off on this topic because I don't want to chase any more rabbits this morning. All of us can fall into sin. We know that. None of us are without susceptibility to falling into sin. That we know. This flesh is not saved. Our soul is saved. The Holy Spirit of God is within us. But I'm a firm believer today My pastor used to teach us, it's like when a person gets saved, they got two dogs inside of them. One good one, one bad one. You've probably heard this before. He says, you know which one's gonna win? The one that you feed. And that's it. The one that you feed. Now the Holy Spirit of God is more powerful than anything in this world. There is no flesh, there is no satanic force that even matches the Holy Spirit of God. However, we can grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Holy Spirit of God is not going to force Himself on you when you say, listen, I want to go feed my flesh. He'll convict you. He'll make you feel sick. But you can push yourself into a form of sin. And obviously that's what this young man had done. And so Paul gives this illustration, verse 13. He says, listen, for without God judges those. But for you, we need to put away from among yourself that wicked person. But what is the purpose of it? You can go throughout the next chapter, we don't need to go over it. The purpose of him saying to turn such one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, okay? Again, it kind of goes back to what I was speaking of earlier a little bit. Reaping wants you to sow, but for a lost person to reap corruption is to reap, they're going to reap death, but to sow into the spirit is to reap life everlasting. Okay? For a saved person to sow into the flesh, They're going to reap the destruction of the flesh. They are going to reap that. But their soul is saved. Their spirit is saved. Now, having said that point, the purpose of removing the sinful or the wicked from the local church who is saved is to purge the church and the church be cleaned. Guys, it ain't happening today like it used to. I'm not one of those guys that thinks People need to come before the church and air out their dirty laundry. I'm not that guy. I never have been a fan of that. But on the other side of that coin there, there's too much going on in local churches today that is against God. All right? It's too much. You know, and men are not dealing with it. They're not dealing with it for obvious reasons. They're not dealing with it because of financial debt. Let's just go ahead and call it like it is, okay? They don't want to lose somebody that's maybe a good tither or support missions. It's just the way it is, guys. That's what they're doing. I'm not saying it's right, all right? They're not doing it because of their fear of the backlash. They're not doing it because, guys, a lot of men just don't enjoy confrontation. Listen, I don't enjoy confrontation. That sounded wrong. You know, I don't enjoy it. As a matter of fact, I can't stand it, and I will try to avoid confrontation as much as possible. But at the end of the day, Brother Russell and I were talking about this Monday in our meeting, truth will stand alone. So you put our faith and trust in the Word of God and put it where the truth is, let it stand by itself, and then with compassion try to help someone and win them back from the snare that they've been taken captive of by the devil at his will. When you look at purging the church of this wicked person, purging them of committing this type of sin, There has to be a purpose for purging. What is the purpose for it? Is it just to humiliate somebody? No, it's not. It has nothing to do with that. It has everything to do with the fact of bringing them to a point of repentance so that you can restore them back to full fellowship. Turn to the 2nd Corinthians over there real quick. And you'll see this quite quickly. 2 Corinthians and look in chapter 7 verse 8. Chapter 7 verse 8. Paul says, For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent. Though I did repent, for I perceived that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance. For ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh unto repentance to salvation not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh unto death. Now, you can continue reading down and finding out what the purpose was here, finding out there is comfort, finding out there is touch, but the reality of the whole thing is this, is that the whole purpose of cleansing, the whole purpose of purging the young man of the sin that he was committing, removing him from the church, was so that he would repent and be reconciled unto unto the church. And again, he didn't lose his salvation, but he did lose his fellowship there with the local church. The purpose was to bring him back in, and obviously we know that that happened. Amen? It is a blessing. So, I need to move on probably. I was going to give you a couple more verses there in that epistle, but I'm thinking I just need to go ahead and move on. Let's see. I tell you what, read here with me, watch this in verse 11. For behold this self, same thing, same chapter, verse chapter 7, that ye saw it after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge, in all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, speaking of the young man, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. Therefore we are comforted in your comfort, yea, and exceedingly more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. For I have boasted anything to him of you, I am not ashamed, but as we speak all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth." And he goes on talking about the inward perfection there. Come back to chapter 2 of the same letter, and I figured I'm going to go ahead and just tie this up together. Paul's addressing the same issue here. We know in the first letter, chapter 5, he's rebuking them for not dealing with the man in sin. He's rebuking this church at what they were doing. So in chapter 2, it says, But I determined with myself that I would not come again to you in heaviness. For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad? But the same which is made sorry by me. And I wrote this same unto you, lest when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice, having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears, not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part that I may not overcharge you. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many, so that contrarywise..." Watch this, verse 7. "...so that contrarywise ye ought rather to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him." Alright? Chapter 2. 2 Corinthians, same book. So, when we look at what he's saying now, so in chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians, he was saying, okay, this is the judgment that you have to enact, okay? We're doing it for a purpose, to purge the church, to cleanse the church of that particular sinful man. But the purpose was so this young man may repent. We find that he did, and Paul now is speaking unto the same church saying, Now, contrarwise, you ought to rather forgive him, comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you, verse 8, chapter 2, 2 Corinthians, wherefore I beseech you that you would confirm your love toward him. For to this end, what end? The confirmation of his love, the reconciliation, the repentance of his sin. For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether you be obedient in all things. To whom you forgive anything, watch this, I forgive also. Okay, of course we know he forgives as Christ forgave us. So we'll go back to the book of Acts after you finish up any notes that you may be taking from that point. His expedition into Macedonia is what brought about all these things that he's writing, that he's writing unto the church in Corinth. He handles many church issues. He handles the issues of that sin, which thankfully that wasn't going on in a rampant state in the church at that time. I guess it was only him. We call the church Corinth. We call it Carnal Corinth. That's kind of like a reference that everybody makes. But I'll tell you what, guys. There's more local church doctrine taught and established in 1 and 2 Corinthians than there is in any other book, singular speaking. So, just because we call it carnal Corinth, be careful not to give precedent to 1 and 2 Corinthians. As a matter of fact, when we get to the Lord's Table, where do we go? Well, we don't go to Matthew 26 very often, do we? We run right to 1 Corinthians 11. One of my favorite verses that I like to use in witnessing to people is I think in 2 Corinthians 11 where Paul says, But I fear less by any means as the serpent begot Eve through a subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. What's the simplicity that's in Christ? Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's that simple, amen? It's that simple. I didn't say it's easy, and I think we need to be careful with the one, two, three, repeat after me mentality, but we need to understand We don't have to make salvation difficult. We don't have to make salvation so hard that somebody has to jump through three and four and five hoops to be saved. We just need to know that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So we've seen the exit from Ephesus. We've seen the expedition to Macedonia. Let's go thirdly now back in Acts 20. Look at the ensemble and travel. The ensemble and travel. We've already mentioned verse 5 of course, but let's read verses 4 and 5. Paul names all these guys off. Man, I'm glad we have different names today. Amen? Sopater. Sopater. It's Sopater. Can you imagine yelling that from downstairs? Soprater, come here! Verse 4, And there accompanied him into Asia, Soprater of Berea, and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus, and Syndarchus, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus of Asia, Tychicus, and Trophimus, these going before Taryd for us, this is about going to the first mention again, and we'll touch on that for a second or two, at Troas. You remember Paul originally picked up Luke in Troas, Luke's a Gentile, and don't throw a shoe at me if you don't believe that today. Luke is a saved Gentile. I know some people have tried to tie Luke together with the 70 that was sent out by Jesus Christ. There's only one major problem with that thought, is that you don't find enough Scripture to viably support that, but you do to support his lineage as a Gentile. We need to understand that's the way, it's one of the reasons Luke's letter, his gospel is written more in a Gentile format. The word of God is inspired, we understand that this is God's word. God used the characteristics of men to portray it by their, I say their heritage or by their abilities at certain times. The book of Matthew is inherently written in a Jewish format. Book of Luke is written inherently into Luke. Luke runs the genealogy back to Adam, whereas Matthew does not. So, the Ensemble and Travel. It appears here that Paul picks up Luke again, verse 5. Picks him up somewhere in Macedonia. And now we find a collection that comes into view. Here are the years, guys. And we're going to look in Galatians chapter 2 at this, okay? So if you want to get a finger over there, that would be fine. The years is A.D. 50 through A.D. 57, and it's what we're looking at as we see this collection come into view of these people that were won to Christ throughout these period times. So throughout that time, all these guys that are mentioned were saved and born again. So if you look in Galatians chapter 2, we tie this together with it. Galatians chapter 2. Verse 9, the Bible says in Galatians chapter 2, it says, And when James, Cephas, and John, who sent me pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathens, and they unto the circumcision. We should remember the poor, only they would, that we should remember the poor, the same which I also was forward to do." So during that period of time here that we find, that we just mentioned, AD 50-57, this is what had happened. The apostleship was, of course, divided. We know that Paul is the minister unto the uncircumcised, Peter and James and John and all of them, unto the circumcised, or unto the Jews. And so this period, this Galatians chapter 2 here in verses 9 and 10, we find this occur, which ties directly into what we're looking at here in Acts chapter 20 in verse 1 through 6, that we find all of these men, these Gentile men, now that are with Paul, that he's surrounded himself with Paul, Luke of course is a, not Luke, Timothy of course is a, he is a half Jew, his father was a Greek, his mother was a Jewish, and his grandmother was as well. So we find these two things coming together, a collection of people finally taking them to Jerusalem. There was a collection that was stated in AD 50 during the council meeting. It was six to seven years in the making. So this collection that was taken up, we don't have to turn back to Acts 15, but if you remember that collection that was spoken of back there, let's just real quick see if we can throw it out. During the council meeting when the conclusion was given amongst the men that the Gentiles were saved, just as the Jews were, a collection was mentioned. And let's see if we look down in there if we can find it. It's not part of the lesson necessarily today, but it is a thought. But it took six to seven years to get this collection together. Of course, we understand there is the rift between Paul and Barnabas. Boy, I tell you, that's a side that divides people, doesn't it? I tell you, when we get Paul back into Ephesus when he gives his final sermon to the Ephesian elders, you'll find another divisive thought as well. I just, that was just a side thought. So anyway, there's a collection that the council had mentioned. That collection did take six to seven years to acquire in the making. So this ensemble of men who were accompanying Paul into Asia, these are delegates from the churches that they have established. They're chosen to carry this money. The Macedonian church wanted Paul to take their money, yet Paul did not want to touch it. Look over, if you will, in 1 Corinthians 16. 1 Corinthians 16. Paul was very wise about being careful in the matters of money. We always tell preachers when we ordain them, the two things that you have to be very, very careful of is money and women. Amen? Money and women. You've got to be very careful of those things. You've just got to be wise. It doesn't mean that either one of them are bad. The man of God needs to watch his P's and Q's. Amen? And I do believe that the man of God needs to be able to manage money. If he can't manage money, how in the world can he take the oversight thereof? But 1 Corinthians 16 verses 1 through 4 says, Now concerning the collection for the saints, this is your reference here, 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 had prospered him, that there 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. And if it be, and if it be meat that I go also, they shall go with me." There is a good picture of the order of authority there, but Paul has a strange manner about him when it comes to money. And remember, the two riots that came against Paul was over money. The purpose of the collection was to bring harmony to the church at Jerusalem and the churches that Paul had established. I'll give you another reference on that, Romans chapter 15. Romans chapter 15. I hope I'm not moving too fast for you guys this morning. I hope you're following along quite well. We started a bit late, so I want to make sure we get in enough today. I just looked down to that fifth point that enters to Troas, and I thought it said Texas for a minute there. I thought, whoa, Paul went to Texas. That's a typo in my notes, isn't it? Romans 15 verse 27. Of course, I've got some friends of mine that pastor in Texas. They believe Paul probably did come into Texas. They love Texas. Romans 15 verse 27 says, It hath pleased them verily, and debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty also is to minister unto them in carnal things. Guys, this ties in all the way back from the church in Antioch, Syria in Acts chapter 11 where Agabus came down. And remember, we looked at Ephesians chapter 4 and tying that together that some churches were giving prophets. Well, we find that many of the churches that Paul established We find that prophets came in there in those days. Agabus being one of them, he came down and he prophesied of a great dearth, a great famine that was going to be in the land. It was going to start in Jerusalem. This was under Augustus Caesar. There was five worldwide famines under Augustus Caesar. And God judged, I believe, the land in a great way under the wicked ruling and rulership that was occurring. So Paul purposed then to take a collection up to benefit the church at Jerusalem, to help the brethren. Josephus writes again that it wasn't just money that was taken in at that time from that first collection, but that it was food, clothing, water. It was a massive caravan of goods that was taken into Jerusalem to benefit the brethren there. Keep in mind the Jerusalem church, we say the church of Jerusalem, there was no single building. Many of those people were still meeting in the temple on the Sabbath day. So one of the reasons in A.D. 70 that God allowed Titus Flavius to come in, General Titus Flavius, the ruling of the Roman army, to destroy the temple. He saw to the ground and he destroyed the whole thing. And the reason being, guys, is we just looked at 1 Corinthians 16.2, what did that say? And upon what day of the week? First day of the week. When Paul was in Corinth and he ran out of the synagogue, he went right next door to the house, did he not? And they started meeting on the first day of the week. Same thing in Ephesus, the first day of the week. Things changed, okay? Paul brought that about to where we meet on the first day of the week. which is Sunday. Now, here's what happens there. The Jews were still holding on to a lot of things. Saved and born again of the blood of Christ just as we are today. They were still holding on to an old heritage. And guys, here's the deal. You can't fault them. That's all they had known their entire life. To come to them and ask them to turn around and change everything immediately, I believe would be what it was wrong. And God had grace on that. The Lord Jesus Christ told them, Terry, you're here until you're being due with power from on high. Okay? Then go and preach the gospel where? Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. Ten days later, that power fell at Pentecost, Acts chapter 2. Yet we find they don't leave until Acts chapter 8 and 9 because of the persecution that happened with the death of Stephen. The church, G. Campbell Morgan likens the church at Jerusalem to be about 30,000 to 40,000 people strong. Remember, they're adding daily 1,000 here, 1,000 there, and hundreds here, and it multiplied. I read another man who believed that there was roughly 60,000 people born again and saved in Jerusalem, but they're not in one church, guys. So there's a massive amount. They're not in one building, I should say. The Bible says the apostles met with them house to house. They met daily, breaking of bread and all this and that. And so it's different than our mindset today. It's when we say, well, the church, that must have been a mega church, my soul. Many of them were still taking the vows, they were still honoring the old Jewish traditions, saved and born again, going to temple on Saturday, on the seventh day, doing those things. And again, like I said, the Lord brought in, I believe Eli brought in Titus. You say, well, why would He bring in a wicked man? He called Nebuchadnezzar His servant in the Old Testament to bring judgment. 606 B.C. against Israel. Three waves of destruction for Jerusalem because the people of God turned their back against Him. So, you know, He'll use who He needs to. Cyrus. Cyrus was called His servant, alright? So, we have to understand that today. That is the biblical truth. And I believe that was exactly what happened there. The persecution was happening to get them out to obey what the Lord told them to do. Get out there and preach the gospel around the world. Having said all that, this collection had to be massive because it wasn't just, you're not talking about just a handful of people, but God was wanting to tie together, bring some harmony, to these Gentile churches that Paul had established with this massive church, this Jewish church in Jerusalem, bring them together. And that's one of the reasons Paul writes the things that we are debtors to them for carnal things, because we are debtors to them for the spiritual things that they have given us. I believe it's applicable today just as it is in Paul's day. We need to pray for Israel. I had somebody have a problem with the verse, pray for peace in Jerusalem. Why do we pray for peace in Jerusalem? Well, obviously, I would love to see peace there. There was 20, guys, I don't know if you read this, but there was 20, just in the past handful of days, 20 terrorist attacks by stabbing in Israel. Not on one drop of media, was it? Maybe one. I saw a picture of the guy that was stabbed in Israel. They said, minor wounds. It wasn't minor at all. I saw the picture of his left shoulder blade that was deep, wounded, gashes in there. Terrible, terrible. So we should pray for peace in Jerusalem, but ultimately the prayer for the peace in Jerusalem is praying for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because that's what is only going to bring peace, the Prince of Peace coming. So that's what that prayer doctrinally applies for the church today, is that we're praying to hasten the day of our return of our Savior. So I do believe we need to pray for Israel, we need to pray for the Jews, love them and try to win them to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a good thing to do. What happens if the church would reject this offering? What would happen if Paul and them took this massive offering up to the church at Jerusalem? Well, Paul prays about that. He asks the Lord. He says that in Romans 15, he prays that they will accept it. In Romans 15, the Bible says, Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea. and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints." He wants to bring this gift. He wants to be a blessing unto them. He wants them to be able to receive the wonderful and tremendous blessings. Now, there's a couple verses that I have where we're knocking on the door of running out of time. Last week, I only went about 47 minutes. Typically, I know we go an hour because if you guys are such a blessing to allow that to happen. Turn over to Hebrews chapter 10. Let me give you one, two more scriptures and then we'll get into the escape from death next week. There used to be a film out when I was a young boy called Escape from Some Mountain. It was a Disney film. Do you remember that? Witch Mountain or something? So Paul's escape from death is like escaping from You got that one? Really real? Alright, Hebrews chapter 10 verse 32, the Bible says, The call to remembrance of the former days in which after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of affliction. Partly, Willis, ye were made a gazing-stock both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly, Willis, ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye have compassion on me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and enduring substance. Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." Now, this letter is being written back to the poor Hebrews saying that you sent an offering in my bonds, Now He's wanting them to accept the offering that is going to come unto them, called back the former days. Solomon said, cast thy bread upon the waters, and thou shalt find it after many days. I believe that to be true. I believe that, guys, if we will do right, I believe there is rich and wonderful blessings that will come our way. Sometimes, guys, those things are just going to be heavenly rewards. And we need to be satisfied with that. We need to be fine with that. So, if you'll turn back to Romans 15, that would be the last verse we look at here. We'll close out this third point for this morning. Paul's heart's desire is that Israel would receive this offering, that they would receive this gift. There's an argument of Paul living from the collection that was taken. But we know that Paul worked night and day, worked with his hands and be in charge of no one. And we find further evidence that Paul never lets his Christianity become stagnant. Look here in verse 19 of Romans chapter 15. It says, "...through many signs and wonders by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about until Lycraeum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation." Lycraeum, the Roman world, is for Central Europe, so Lycraeum is. This is a place where Christ had never been named until Paul came. He spent six months to one year establishing the banner of God in places that have never in their life heard of Jesus. After he left Lycraeum, he wanted to see Spain. We understand that, which at this present time was considered the end of the world. Okay, it was considered to be the end of the world. Paul's greatest literary works were accomplished in the period that's recorded in Acts 20, verses 1-6, during this period of time where he writes these letters to everybody. And so to close out the Ensemble of Travels, we see that Paul basically has a traveling Bible college. He's 55 years of age. He's getting weaker physically by the day, but he's getting stronger mentally, emotionally, and spiritually by the hour. And he realizes that his days are coming to an end. He writes the book of Romans in A.D. 58. And just to give you an idea of where Paul is in his life, in the spring of A.D. 58, Paul writes Romans. He leaves Corinth and he goes by Philippi and Miletus. And in the summer of 58, Paul goes to Jerusalem, we'll get into that here in just a minute, and that's where he's arrested. Ten years, ten years, Paul has left in his life when he writes the book of Romans during this period of time. He dies at the age of roughly 66. He dies in the year 68 at the hands of the Romans. Many people say, well it was Paul's choice to go to the Romans, and it was. And I've said this from day one from the study, and we need to remember this. Paul knew all roads led to Rome, so if he knew all roads led to Rome, he knew all roads led from Rome. If he could get the gospel to Rome, he knew that it would filter throughout all of the world, whereas he still continued to preach in places where Christ had never, never, never been named. Father, we thank you, Lord, for the blessing of this Bible study this morning. We pray that you open up hearts and minds continually. Let our thoughts be focused on your Dear servant, the Apostle Paul, we've only looked at three to four verses this morning, but we pray, Father, as we had tied those together with his letters, Lord, that Your name would be exalted, that Your Holy Word would be lifted up, and we pray now that You would hear, that we would hear from Heaven, dear God, that we would look toward the North at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, let us, while we're still here, let us, dear God, look into Your Word draw closer unto Thee. We do love You now and we thank You for who and what You are in Jesus' name, Amen and Amen. Praise the Lord.