A transition point in the book of Acts, if you have your Bibles this morning, I hope you do, would you turn it to Acts chapter 20. It's found on page 929 of the chair Bible in front of you there. And let's keep this in mind. as we progress through these last few chapters of the book of Acts, that we have seen the Holy Spirit work. We are reminded that Acts 1-8 is our theme, our key verse, that we'll receive power. Not power in and of ourselves, but we'll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon us and will be His witnesses throughout all Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And Paul has labored, and other missionaries have labored, to continue to get this good news of Jesus Christ from city to city. And now we're reaching kind of a transition phase in the book of Acts, where he's been primarily a pioneer missionary, planting churches in big cities, discipling those as the Lord gives him time to do it, short amount of time, and now he's preparing to conclude his third missionary journey and revisit the churches that have already been planted again on the first and second missionary journeys and encourage them once again because this may be, in fact, the final time that he sees some of them. So this first part sounds kind of like a history lesson that Dr. Luke is sharing with us, but this is not boring. As we get in and see what God is doing in sovereignly taking, providentially taking these disciples, these apostles from place to place, they are carrying words of life with them. Let's never forget that. So let's read that with these lenses on that see God is at work doing so many things that Paul doesn't even know, he just wants to be obedient to take the gospel. Acts chapter 20 verses 1 through 12 today, broken down into two different stories, two different parts. Verse one, after the uproar ceased, pause, that was last week, remember the rioting in Ephesus? Okay, that's where Paul was and investing his life there and there was a riot trying to get him out of town and the followers and so they Back to verse one. After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. There he spent three months. And when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 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. 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. Verse 7. and he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we gathered and a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 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 and so departing. And they took the youth away alive and were not a little comforted. Praise be to God. Very interesting passage of Scripture here. As I mentioned, we're going to see in these last eight chapters or so a switch in focus. I'll go over some of those in just a few moments. But, you know, Dr. Luke here, we see in the book of Acts, has told us a lot of good history from what events have been happening. As he says here, he's with them on this journey because he speaks in the first person plural, the we and the us. And he also mentions some theological truths that I think we should glean. And Acts is a very theological book where we hear more about God and who he is and what he's doing through his people. Up to this point in the book of Acts, we've seen Paul just be obedient to God and his commands to go from city to city as the Spirit leads him to proclaim the gospel. And some, we know, would hear the good news of Jesus Christ, and some would repent and believe the gospel, and some would not. And Paul would later have to move on. And Paul wanted, while he was at each of these cities, to encourage the disciples. We heard a lot about encouragement in what we just read. He wanted to encourage them to remain faithful, teach them the promises of God, teach them to remain faithful under persecution. He knew something about that. And he had planted churches throughout Asia Minor. into across from Troas, into Philippi, into Macedonia, and then down into Achaia or Greece. So really the setting of this right now is kind of interesting. Actually, Will, would you put up the map of the third missionary journey and we'll kind of go over and see where he's at, where we find ourselves in the book right now. So last week in Ephesus, Acts 19, where the rioting was taking place, he has made it over there, spent a long time there, longer than any other city, two to three years. And so now, he is going to go back up to Troas, over, we find out he's going through Macedonia, encourages, we don't hear much about that right now, just encouraging the believers here in Macedonia, and it says on into Greece, actually the word there in Greek is Hellas, which also means Achaia, and it doesn't say Corinth, but we know from the reading that he did arrive in Achaia, in the area of Greece, and is gonna stay three months, that's where we're at in this chapter right now, in Corinth. So he's in Corinth here doing some writing, He's going to write 2 Corinthians here. He's going to write the book of Romans here. Pretty significant time in the life of Paul and the life of the church, I'd say. And then we hear a little bit in 20 as well as how he's going to depart, intending to sail for back over here. He wants to go to Jerusalem. He says he wants to go to Rome as well. That's going to be another missionary journey. But because of some things that are happening here in Corinth, he decides not to go back this way. And he retraces his step and goes back to encourage. the believers with him from these churches in Achaia and Macedonia, the believers, the churches in Berea, Thessalonica, and Philippi again. And you heard some of the names of some of his traveling companions that are with him, representatives of these churches in these areas he's going to take with him. for several reasons. One, they're going to be an encouragement to Paul. Another reason they're going to go with him is, well, he needs some protection. You know, Paul's life has been in danger a few times, right? And so these traveling companions, these new believers that he's discipling along with him, are going to go with him through the area that he knows. And also, he's going to be taking a collection for the church in Jerusalem. He wants to go back and encourage the believers in Jerusalem, so they kind of have a point of integrity, partnership in the gospel, that they're going to make sure all the monies that are collected are going to make it back, as said. So that kind of gives you kind of a visual idea about turning around and going back overland instead of sea at the beginning and revisiting. And then the incident in the second part in Troas again where the church is gathered and we hear the story of Eutychus and it is an amazing story. A miracle happens there. But we also are going to see that it's kind of an interesting New Testament pattern for the church. I mean the church is gathering, it says, on the first day of the week. Sunday worship. They're gathering there. They're actually gathering in the evening. And we're going to get into that in a minute. So there's more than just a young man falling asleep during Paul's sermon, which is kind of hard to believe. I know no one in here today is tired, I'm sure, after the extra night's sleep. Now, I can't guarantee if you fall off your chair that I'm going to be able to miraculously bring you back to life, like has happened here in the book of Acts. But let's pay attention today. I think God's got some things for us to glean from His Word as we dive into Acts chapter 20. All right, let's go ahead and begin in verses one and two. Good place to start. Acts 21 and two. After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. And that's going to be Corinth. All right. And so we remember the setting again. I've already said that he's after the riot in Ephesus. He was protected by God and some friends and brothers there from the rioters. And his goal, to get to Jerusalem. But the Lord led him, I think providentially, to go back through Achaia and Macedonia and encourage the churches there. It's kind of Paul's farewell tour to these areas, because he's not going to make it back there. Um... So this section, I think we need to really keep in mind, this is a section where we see believers encouraging believers. Paul not only writing letters to churches, but wanting to have that ministry of presence. He wants to go and be with them. We see that. He's just not some lone, weird apostle, incredibly gifted by God to write deeply theological works on the nature of God and how we should live out this gospel together and encourage one another. It's a message to the church. This is very good. So he wanted to love, support them, encourage them, and they'd be discipled in the faith, they'd be ready to carry on the work that he started there with them. And you know, that's our desire here at Monument Hill Church as well. We want to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and live out our faith together, both inside these walls and outside these walls as we have various ministries and times to get together. I think we're gonna see that as an application of this passage as well. So this chapter obviously began with Paul's intention to encourage believers. He said this when he wrote to the believers in Rome as well. If we'll remember in Romans chapter one, he said in verses 11 and 12, for I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you. That is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. So church, may we never forget that a ministry of presence, being in person, ministering to the needs of the body, is a very vital part of our Christian discipleship. And I want to tell you, church, many of you do this very well. When I hear about people volunteering to drive people to doctor's appointments time after time, or taking food to someone in need, or just gathering together with coffee with people to encourage them and disciple them and teach them how to live out the Christian faith in this pagan world in which we live, that's very encouraging, not only to the people that are being discipled, but encouraging to the pastors and the members of Monument Hill Church. These good works. We've seen Paul do a lot of good works. I've seen you do a lot of good works. Thankfully, our good works are grounded in the truth that the good works that we do are not the means of our salvation. I mean, if we learned anything from a brief study of the Reformation theology of the last month, we learned that we are saved by God's grace alone through faith alone. Sola Fide, right? Our good works that we do after our salvation, they are a product of our faith, not the means through which we are saved. And we always need to remind ourselves of that. We can get caught up into the worldly notion that all we need to do is be doers of nice things. Of course we want to do good work. I'm going to show you from Scripture now, just a reminder that we glean from all the good works that Paul is doing as he goes from place to place. And I think we see that here, that all these journeys that Paul did, all the things, he never taught that these works were a means of his salvation. Why? He knew that he was raised from the dead. He was spiritually dead and that God saved him. Remember that back earlier in the book of Acts on the road to Damascus? He didn't do anything to earn or deserve his salvation. It was a gift of his grace. God's unmerited favor for us. And when I think about the grace of God, I get excited because you and I both know that we were not saved by our works. Works cannot save us. And so we do realize that a person who's been genuinely born again, who has tasted of the grace of God, who's been drawn to faith and repentance from sin and belief in Jesus Christ, we can't help but now do good works, which are the byproduct, or they produce good works that bring glory to God and not some means of us trying to earn God's favor. So I think it's good to be reminded of that. Look at Ephesians 2, 8 and 10, just a few verses here. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of your own doing. Literally in the Greek, this is not from you. What is not from you? Your salvation. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you, not of your own doing. It is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast. No true Christian folks brags about saving themselves. I mean, it's just absurd, isn't it? Yeah, I finally did enough good works to earn God's favor. No, the Bible says we are His workmanship in Ephesians 2. We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So obviously we walk in good works now, not to prove our worth, but to demonstrate His worth and what He has done, right? So we are saved by God's grace through faith. Faith is what sets us right with God. Faith is not from us. Faith is not from works, it is a gift of God. Not from works, but for good works. We had a very interesting question and answer this past Wednesday night in the Reformation class about faith being a gift from God. We hear, I don't know, I've heard, perhaps you've heard some preachers over the years say, well, you just gotta, you gotta have more faith, you gotta increase your faith. You know? Test God. Go out and show Him you're increasing in your faith. Well, I don't think that's a good way to talk about faith, personally, because faith is a gift from God. And if faith is a gift from God, how are we out there trying to increase what He's already given to us? Now, we need to increase our trust in His promises that He has granted us faith. And those who have experienced His grace have been transformed. Some people in a more slowly sanctification process, some faster than others. But all Christians at some time or another begin to have the aroma of Christ in their lives. And now walk by faith. They live by faith, not by works. It's by faith. And their good works are now works that bring glory to God and not themselves. Because they realize, and we realize, we cannot merit our own salvation. The work, Christ tells us, has been finished. What work has been finished? His work. His work, not our work, that saving work. But then faith always, church, faith never remains dormant. Our faith is an active faith. We act on the faith that we received. Sorry about that. I don't know if I did that or not. Let's look at a couple more scriptures, and then we'll move on back into Acts. I just want to bring this home. I mean, look at these scriptures. Romans 3, 28. Short Scripture, Romans 3.28, For we hold that one is justified by faith, apart from works of the law. One is justified. What is justification? What is being justified? It's being declared innocent, being by God, being declared righteous, being declared just by God. not guilty of our sin. And how are we declared that? By faith, apart from works of the law. Faith in Christ. This happens by faith, not works. Look at Galatians 2, 16. I think we've got that as well. Yet we know that a person, it's pretty black and white right here, we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we have also believed in Jesus Christ in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law. Because by works of the law, no one will be justified. That seems very clear to me. So you all, that may sound very familiar to you and you all may be, yeah, I get that. 95% of the world does not get that. The people that you meet, I mean, they don't want anything to do with the righteousness of Christ and of God. And they say, well, I can earn my way to heaven, if they even mention heaven or God, to the big man upstairs, as some refer to him. He knows I'm a good person. I do a lot of good things. I'm sure it'll all weigh out in the end. And it's dealing with eternity and the wrong answer. So we need to know that we are saved by God's grace and have people tasted of the sweetness of this grace. And I like what Dr. Piper says about this verse. In Galatians 2.16, he says, the ungodly, like us, now could be justified by faith apart from works. So our just becoming better people is not the foundation of our justification. It's faith that receives Christ. Faith is a looking away from ourselves to something that God has done. Our works contribute nothing to our salvation. It is faith alone, sola fide. God looks at our faith embracing Christ, our faith embracing Christ, and counts that faith as righteousness. Works will not bring one salvation nor peace. Because we know the Bible goes on to teach us in Romans chapter 5 verse 1, Therefore, since we have been justified by what? Faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace with God, a holy, righteous God. Peace with Him comes through justification, being declared innocent, being declared not guilty, being declared righteous by faith in Christ alone. I think it's pretty clear from scripture. Let's get back to Acts. We were at the end of verse three where we learned that Paul decided to return through Macedonia and revisit those churches, as I said, in Berea, Thessalonica, and Philippi before he takes the boat back over to Troas later in this chapter. And again, in verse 4, we get a list of his traveling companions, fellow believers in Christ that are there to support him and encourage him and continue to grow in discipleship. But what I want to do to conclude this first little section of chapter 20, I want to conclude with a couple questions. And I found these questions summarized by an author who said this. Number one, how can we encourage fellow Christians? This week, it's a good application of this. And we're talking about encouragement. Even the last verse, where I'm going to talk about in the next section, is, and they took the youth away alive and were not a little comforted. That's the same word for encourage. There's a lot of encouragement here. So how can we, how can you and I, encourage other believers this week? And why don't Christians encourage other believers more often? Quickly, I think we should be first willing, as this author says, I agree with him, to give to others. We need to be a giving church, which we are to a great extent. I mean, Paul was collecting funds at all these Gentile churches that he had planted to encourage the church in Jerusalem. And he's going to have a lot of problems when he got back to Jerusalem. He wanted to encourage them both in word and in deed. So being generous. to those in need should be kind of a characteristic, very tangible, very visible characteristic of the body of Christ and the individual Christians within the body of Christ. And as I said, I think we are a very generous church. We always need to be. We don't need to look away from those in need around us, whether we're helping people behind the scenes privately, whether it's through our benevolent ministry. We have various ministries, whether it's Grief Share or Care Portal, where we pour in and help people in need. Secondly, Paul felt the need, not just to write letters, but to be present with the people. And it's good to have those times of fellowship and discipleship amongst each other. I mean, it's one of the driving factors behind the goals of establishing this Wednesday night fellowship and discipleship time at our church now on Wednesday nights, where we have adults and youth and children gathering together around the table, encouraging one another, and then going to Bible study classes together, teaching one another to Yeah, love and serve and disciple one another throughout the week. And thirdly, we serve one another in ministry. We see these delegates from the various churches who were selected to travel with Paul, who were with him or just went along with him. They were a great encouragement to him. And we We plan to do things together as the body of Christ. I mean, whether it's planning a church retreat, whether it's attending a small group, whether it's coming together on a weekly basis, a bi-weekly basis, we serve one another, sometimes very openly and publicly, sometimes behind the scenes, all the time knowing that we serve one another in the love and the name of Christ to bring glory to his name because he has done so much for us. The second major question, why don't believers encourage other believers more often? Well, I went through a bunch of reasons. I mean, talking about the busyness of our schedules. We have things hitting us for so many sides with social media and television that sometimes we just think we need more time to do that and be involved with the body. But I've seen a lot of good examples of encouragement here at Monument Hill Church. I know you greatly encouraged me and our other pastors and elders, particularly this last month, but you have, month after month, really, shown that you do encourage fellow believers on a regular basis. And one of the greatest encouragement is just seeing you here. faithfully coming to this building as the body of Christ. You are the church. And faithfully, your attendance here greatly encourages not only the staff, but each other, seeing that you come to hear more from the Word of God. And you're open to the Spirit's leadership in your life. On the flip side of that, on encouraging one another, I found this list of 10 things that we ought not to do because it's a great discouragement to one another in the body of Christ. I'm just going to throw those up there. We shouldn't be harsh toward or critical of one another. Be angry with one another. We shouldn't envy one another. Disrespect one another. Avoid one another. Being too busy for one another. Puffing ourselves up in front of one another. Squeezing the life out of one another. Showing no patience with one another. And then a deadly one there, gossiping about one another. So we, I think those are good encouragements so we won't discourage one another. from our walk of faith. Let's build each other up, church, as the scriptures tell us. We encourage one another. One of our old Family Ways that we have, I sent that link out to many people, the Family Ways book from Wholehearted Ministries, which is actually right around the corner from here. We got it 20 years ago in Annapolis, Maryland when we lived there. But we encourage one another. We seek, as a family, we seek as a family to encourage one another using only words that build up and bless others. So I pray that we'll be an encouragement to one another this week. Now we're to the shorter section, another short section in Acts 20 verses 7 through 12, where Paul and his traveling companions have made it to the port city of Troas, and they're going to worship there. Paul doesn't have a lot of time there. We know they spent seven days there, they spent a week there, but in this particular evening, Something very memorable happened, and Paul wanted to get a lot of teaching in, apparently. The meeting didn't start until the evening, anyway. And so they lit the lamps there. They got up on the third floor. And they're going to have, basically gathering on the first day of the week, they're going to have a worship service. And they're going to listen to the word taught. And they are going to pray. We don't hear about that. I'm sure they did. They observed the Lord's Supper. They broke bread together. So again, Paul obviously had a very long sermon and teaching time after the sermon on his mime. I find great joy in knowing that the Apostle Paul, who was probably somebody very, very interesting to listen to, even at times put people to sleep. But this was a long church meeting that they were having, but you know, yes, Pastor Gary agrees. But let's quickly move in to this story, which I think is both humorous and serious. It is the story of Eutychus, that young man who falls asleep and plunges three stories to his death. But that's debatable. We'll get to that. Scholars debate whether he actually died or not. But let's reread the story. It's been, oh, at least 20 minutes since I've read it. On the first day of the week, When we, so Luke is there, Luke is there with them at this time, we were gathered together to break bread. Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day. So he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we gathered, and a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. That's what Dr. Luke said. 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, and so departed. And they took the youth away alive and were not a little comforted. I promise we'll be done by tomorrow morning. But as I mentioned earlier, I'm glad to know that Paul sometimes was long-winded, but he wasn't boring. He wasn't irrelevant. His topics were interesting. I mean, he's talking about eternal matters. A crowd always gathered around him. I don't think Paul stood up and just said, well, let's just all sit around and talk about God. I mean, he had to be a very fascinating man. And he had seen Christ on the road to Damascus. These people knew that he used to be Saul who killed Christians, and now he's one of them willing to suffer and be persecuted for the cause of a risen Christ. And we're going to see throughout the rest of the book of Acts, Paul is going to start re-emphasizing the resurrection of Jesus Christ among many of these Gentile churches. It's going to add a lot of credibility as they speak about the resurrection of a person that many of them hadn't heard of before, but Jesus Christ died and he rose from the grave and that makes all this absolutely true. So this is exciting stuff he's talking about, but I guess he just droned on and on at some point and people got tired. But I'll tell you what, whether you've heard this once, whether you've heard this a hundred times, that Jesus Christ is Lord, that the gospel is true, that you need to repent and believe the gospel, you need to live for Christ in this world because life is short and eternity is long, That ought to get your wick going and flaming. Yeah, there's a meaning and purpose in this life. You don't want a pastor nor elders who get up here and really aren't passionate about what we believe. And so, when we get up here and say, who holds the power to forgive you and me of our sins? Only Jesus. Not us. Not you. Only Jesus. And that's why we stand on the shoulders of those who have said, really, do you know Christ? Christ is all. Do you really know Him? Does it matter what He thinks or what you're doing tomorrow? Do you have a mission and purpose in life? Or is it just to get to retirement and do a few things you hope you'll be able to do before the heart stops beating? Every day is a gift of His grace. And I don't compare myself to Martin Luther that much, because I didn't have too much in common with him. I did have an event that impacted me, young person, very much. And it was similar. Because you remember the story, we talked about him almost getting struck by lightning, and he cries out to Saint Anne, if you'd only save me from this storm, I'll commit my life to God and I'll become a monk. I did not say that back in about 1975 or 6. I was riding my bike home from a kid's house and a storm was coming and lightning did hit, I thought, right behind me. It was close. I felt it. And I was scared to death. And I was pedaling very, very fast. And I didn't cry out to St. Anne, but I cried out to God. God, help me get home. You know? I mean, it just kind of... But there were other things that happened in my life as a young man where I realized it was the grace of God, being at a certain place at a certain time and hearing about God's grace. And I was always amazed, truly, by His grace and gave me a passion for telling people about life and eternal life. I can't explain otherwise. I can't explain taking the old living Bible, you know that old green Bible back in the seventies and my mom gave me a living Bible and I sit in the back of church with a pen in hand and every time the preacher would say something I thought was interesting when I wasn't nodding off. You know, but I pretty much paid attention, wrote a lot of notes in there, and I just couldn't get out of my mind that God offered eternal life, that death is not it for those who believe in Christ. I could not shake that in my life. There's nothing more important. I mean, if that preacher up there really believes this, he's got to tell all people about this. This is real. This is real life. And there's nothing more important than being right with your Creator, who is against me right now as an unbeliever, because I daily sin, and there's got to be a payment for that sin. And Christ paid the price on the cross, and I was dealing with this as an 11-year-old in my brain, and going, well, to me, that sounds like a cure for cancer. There's a cure for dying. You believe in Christ, you give your life over to Him, and you can live forever in a place where there's no more pain and sickness and death and sorrow. Absent from the body, present with Christ. I like that. I said, there's nothing more important. Jesus. May we never lose the passion for the one whom we love more than anyone. And so I get a little passionate when I speak and teach and preach about the grace of God, because I, like Luther, knew I was a bad sinner at 10 or 11 years old. You're thinking, hmm, I remember my days when I was 10 or 11, and I didn't do too many bad things. Maybe you're 10 or 11 out there today, and you're wondering, well, I don't do too many bad things. Well, pride. Pride's the worst. It leads to a bunch of other things. So we ought not to remember our lostness when we're saved, meaning we were once lost. And there are going to be some people today, this week, that you're going to come across that have no clue. about their actions, their thoughts, are leading them on a path of utter destruction. Not just destruction on this planet, but eternal destruction. No clue. Don't ever think about it. And you are going to be the one selected by God to bear witness by the power of the Holy Spirit within you. You're going to have ears and radar up to see, hey, This person needs some spiritual truth. How can I do it in a loving way, full of your grace, Lord, of one who has tasted of that? And you're gonna be the one to open your mouth and share with them a miracle that's happened with you. Or maybe just say something nice to them that maybe that person's not gonna hear anything nice from anybody, and they may be open to listening to you more the next day. The passage is important. A miracle happened. Eutychus died, boom, from everybody there. Luke says he's dead. Scholars debate whether he just was knocked out or not. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Luke said he was dead, and Paul goes over there. I mean, we just heard about the miracles that Paul's been working, and it's Paul. I don't know how it happened. Paul reaches down to him. He wasn't dead anymore. That's amazing, being brought to life. And what's so interesting to me is Luke doesn't go into a lot more details there. I mean, right after Paul says, OK, there's still life in him, he goes back upstairs, and they have the Lord's Supper, and they're continuing with the service. I think Paul was keeping focus on what's really important. You know the picture of the Lord's Supper. We did it last week. I mean, Eutychus died. No, he's not dead. I don't know if Paul said, God brought him back to life. Look at his walking miracle. Everybody's in shock. And he goes on. Can't you imagine, Paul? who raises the dead spiritually and will raise us again. And let's remember Christ as He breaks the bread and pours the fruit of the vine. Let's remember what Christ has done and He teaches some more. His time is short. His time is going long and He's teaching on into the morning because He knows He has to depart the next day. Paul is keeping the focus, the church is keeping the focus on the focus of the gospel. God can do miracles any time. Bringing somebody from death to life spiritually is a miracle, is it not? So let's not get wrapped up into, well, did he really die or did he not die? Dr. Luke said he was dead, that's all I know. That he was brought to life. Let's encourage one another with these words that our God is a miracle-working God. So we encourage each other. I don't want to be endangering anybody falling asleep or to your death today, so I better wrap this up. This is really a farewell scene here in Troas. He's not going to see these believers again, most likely, but he's teaching them, I think, when he taught them about the Lord's Supper and they observed it, and teaching more about Jesus and the miracle-working power of the Lord. He's telling about Christ and about Christ's resurrection. He's going to continue to do that through the rest of the book of Acts, teaching the importance of the resurrection. And Paul, I mean, we know the end of Paul's story here. Paul's going to go to Jerusalem. Oh, I encourage you to read this week, Acts 20 through 28. Just read the rest of it. It's just an incredible, fascinating story about how God was protecting Paul and God just enabling him to have the courage to speak in front of a lot of big people and just bear witness very tactfully to them, but steadfast that he's going to obey God, not man. Do what you will. And Paul, we know, endured a very difficult journey to Jerusalem, and especially to Rome. Shipwrecked on the way, he's going to be imprisoned and beaten in Jerusalem. But Paul doesn't give up, does he? Paul continued to press on toward the goal for the prize. Have you ever thought of the Christian life that way? Things don't go our way. Chips are down. We're in the valley. It's going to come. What is going to sustain you at that time? Paul said, press on toward the goal. What's the goal? The prize. What's the prize? Jesus. The upward call of God in Jesus. We're going to be face to face with Jesus one day. Our Savior and our Lord. He's in control. No one has wrestled control of this universe from God. We can rest assured. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, not through us. And we rest on the promises of God. Who are you going to be a bear witness to this week? Are we gonna come to a place in our lives that when we gather together and hear the word proclaimed, that now our mission work begins as we go out into the world to share the good news? Somebody, I think you know, needs the Lord. Who's gonna tell him about it this week? Rest in his promises. Our God is able to make all grace abound to you, so you have sufficiency in all things at all times, so that you may abound in the work that he's prepared for you to do. Isn't that awesome? That's awesome. That's scripture. Let's pray. So Father, we bow before you today in thanksgiving thanking you for the miraculous work that we've read about today in your word. Your word is true. You are faithful. God, I pray now that the truth that you're a miracle working, resurrection enabling God, that you would help our hearts this week. to be satisfied in the reality that you have saved us by your grace and for your glory. And that knowledge propels us into a world where we walk by faith and not by sight. And we are open in our hearts to be led of your spirit to bear witness to people who desperately need to know you before they step into eternity. Our eternity is secure. So there's nothing that can happen to us apart from your will. Lord, and sometimes our growth and sanctification hurts and it's difficult, but that's your will for our lives that we would grow in the grace and knowledge and sanctification. We would grow in holiness, because we in and of ourselves are not holy, but Jesus is, and we want to be more like him, God, so help us this week. And Father, I don't know if Someone here today was here for a reason, to hear the news that they're in need of a Savior, because they can't work their way into your favor apart from your grace. Oh, to experience the grace, your grace, God, and I pray for them who don't know you, Lord, that you would draw them to repentance and faith. So, Lord, as we As we stand now to prepare to leave, I pray, Lord, you'll do the work in their hearts and in our heart. And we thank you. We thank you by obeying you as we walk out of here in Christ's name. Amen.