Transcript

Wilbur and his wife, Leah, faithfully attended church every Sunday morning.

Wilbur was a farmer, and after a long day of getting up early and working hard all day, whenever he came into the house from the field and sat down, he would often fall asleep.

It was such a habit that when he came to church and sat in the pew, he would also fall asleep. The weekly routine of this caused some of the members of the church to take bets as to how long it would take before Wilbur nodded off on Sunday mornings.

Wilbur’s wife tried everything to keep her sleepy spouse awake. She would especially get embarrassed when he began to snore. She complained to him that her arm and elbow was getting sore from poking him in the ribs in her futile attempts to keep him alert.

One day, while shopping in the grocery store, Leah saw Limburger cheese. She bought it and put it in her purse. The next Sunday morning, the preacher started his sermon and after he finished the first point in his three-point sermon, Wilbur began to nod.

As the pastor started the third point, Wilbur began to snore. Quietly, Leah opened her purse, took out the Limburger cheese and held it under her husband’s nose.

It worked. It startled Wilbur. He sat up straight and, in a voice that could be heard all over the church, said, “Leah, will you please keep your feet on your own side of the bed!”

It can be dangerous and risky to fall asleep in church. The young man, Eutychus, in Acts 20 learned that the hard way too.

Acts 20:7-8: “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.”

The setting of the account with Eutychus is during the latter part of Paul’s third apostolic journey. Paul was on his way back to Jerusalem with a collection for the poor saints there.

Paul had intended to sail straight to Syria from Corinth, but because of the discovery of a plot by Paul’s enemies to harm him, Paul took a different route, and went the long way through Macedonia.

With a number of faithful men, Paul traveled to Philippi. Here Paul met up again with Luke. Most of Paul’s traveling companions then sailed ahead of him from Macedonia to Troas on the east coast of the Aegean Sea in northwest Asia Minor.

And later Paul and Luke also traveled there. Arriving at Troas, Paul spent a week ministering in the city.

Then, “upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them.”

In 1 Corinthians 16:2, it seems clear that the church in Corinth was meeting on “the first day of the week,” and then here in Acts 20 in Troas we again see believers gathering on Sunday, “the first day of the week.”

Instead of gathering for worship on Saturday, on the Sabbath, in a synagogue as had been done, the custom had now become for believers to assemble on Sundays.

The last reference in Acts to the practice of Paul meeting each sabbath day with the Jews in the synagogue is in Acts 19 in Ephesus. Now, as things continue to transition in Acts from the Jew to the Gentile and from law to grace, in Acts 20 we see Paul meeting with believers in the upper chamber of a house on a Sunday.

The keeping of the Sabbath had been a very important part of the law of Moses and was the fourth of the ten commandments: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” The Sabbath had its proper place under the law, but it is not to be observed by believers today.

Paul wrote in Romans 6:14 that believers in the Body of Christ are no longer under the law, but under grace.

And Paul challenged the church in Colossians 2:16-17: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”

The Sabbath is described as a shadow of Christ, and that shadow is no longer binding on us since the substance, the reality, or Christ, has come.

The Sabbath was a picture of the rest that God’s people, believing Israel, will have in Christ. And like Sabbath was at the end of the week it refers the rest Israel will have in the end, during Christ’s earthly, eternal kingdom.

But now, God has set Israel aside in unbelief, and turned to the nations. And the Sabbath does not apply to the Church under grace. Paul does not teach the Body of Christ to observe the Sabbath nor does He caution us against breaking it.

Instead, Paul wrote that, by His Cross, Christ has blotted out and wiped out all these requirements, decrees, and ordinances that were once required under the Mosaic Law, and set us free from the law.

As Colossians 2:14 states, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.”

And the Sabbath has not been transferred or moved under grace from the seventh day to the first; the Sabbath is not now Sunday for the Church.

Believers meet on the first day of the week in remembrance and worship of the One who rose again on the first day of the week.

Paul states that on this Sunday in Troas, “the disciples came together to break bread.” This does not necessarily mean that they came together to break bread in the Lord’s Supper. It just means that they dined together in what we might call today having a potluck dinner.

In Acts 2:46, we read of the kingdom church after Pentecost, “continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and BREAKING BREAD from house to house.”

It’s also like when the Lord broke bread in feeding the 5000 in Galilee and many ate together, or when the Lord sat down to eat and break bread with the two Emmaus followers after His resurrection (Luke 24:30,35).

So it was that here on a Sunday night in Troas, believers came together and broke bread, or ate together. Paul was departing the next day, and the believers’ breaking of bread was a time of fellowship and a farewell meal for the apostle and his companions.

The congregation at Troas had distinguished visitors present this night as they came together to break bread.

From verses 4-6 we learn that with the Apostle Paul, there was a friend from Berea, named Sopater, and two from Thessalonica, Aristarchus and Secundus; another from Derbe named Gaius, and two others from their own province of Asia Minor, Tychicus and Trophimus. Also, there was the beloved Timothy, along with the beloved physician, Luke.

Following the meal, “Paul preached unto them.” They were all fed physical bread, and then Paul gave them spiritual bread and nourishment from the Word of God.

This reminds us of the centerpiece that the Word is to be when believers gather together. The Word is of primary importance to the Church. It is to be faithfully opened, proclaimed and explained when believers assemble.

It is the Word of God that convicts the unbelieving of their need of Christ. It is the Word of God that equips and encourages the saints. And by the Word, the Spirit guides and teaches the Church, and leads us into greater maturity in Christ.

The purpose of preaching and teaching is wrapped up in Nehemiah 8:8, where it says that Ezra and the other scribes, “read in the book…and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” That is what preaching and teaching is to be all about. And that is what Paul did when he preached the Word.

When Paul began preaching at this Sunday evening service, he did so for a long time. Paul was about to leave on a long, difficult journey to Jerusalem, yet giving no thought to his own need for rest and out of his love for the believers in Troas, he taught them the Word and kept going and going.

Luke did not record when Paul began his address, but just that the apostle spoke long into the night.

But it was because Paul was leaving them the next day, possibly never to return to them, that he prolonged his discourse until midnight. Because he might not see them again, there was so much to say. There was much encouragement, exhortation, instruction and warning to be given.

The Greek word for “preached” in verse 7 is not the word used for preaching which speaks of heralding the truth of the Word. Instead, it’s a word from which we get our term dialogue. Thus, we learn Paul’s discourse was a mingling of preaching and discussion and answering their questions.

In verse 8, Luke provides the eyewitness detail of how “there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.”

The feast of Passover takes place in relation to a full moon. Thus, from the timing given to us in verse 6 about the seven days of unleavened bread, and the 5 days and seven days mentioned after that feast, we learn that the Passover took place about 3 weeks previous to this meeting in Troas. Therefore, it was very dark at night at this time.

Thus, there were “many lights” or lamps in this house as Paul preached and discussed the Scriptures. These lamps were likely filled with oil and had wicks that flickered and smoked. And many of these flamed in that crowded upper chamber.

The many lights speak to the boldness of this meeting. This gathering of believers was not held in secret. This home was lit up with many lights and it shone brightly. And those in Troas knew some important event was going on as this group met in that house.

And they were a passionate group that would stay up till midnight listening to the Word of God and discussing it.

But when you put many people together in a building with many lamps burning, heating the room, we find that the house would have been warm, stuffy, and smoky too. That’s important to remember as we consider the reasons Eutychus fell asleep.

Acts 20:9-10: “And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.”

Because that upper chamber was warm and stuffy, a young man present that night named, Eutychus, found his way to a window to stay cool. And with the house being smoky, he sat on the windowsill to breath the fresh, cool night air. And so he had a window seat for the meeting.

As Eutychus listened to the apostle Paul and his “long preaching,” he fell “into a deep sleep.” The tenses of the Greek words portray Eutychus as being GRADUALLY overcome by sleep in spite his best efforts to stay awake.

It’s easy to picture Eutychus getting drowsy, beginning to nod, shaking himself awake, trying to not sleep, nodding again and waking momentarily. But then unable to fend sleep off any longer, it got the best of him, eventually and gradually, sinking into a deep sleep.

But when you think about it, Eutychus had a full stomach, he was in a warm room with a cool breeze in his face, and the hour was late, it was midnight. That is a triple whammy and a tough combination to stay awake. It only takes one of these for me to go to sleep!

And so like Cain who “went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod,” Eutychus entered the land of Nod.

And then he dropped out of Paul’s class! Falling into that deep, sound sleep on that open windowsill, Eutychus slumped and then “fell down from the third loft.”

Eutychus plummeted out of the window to the ground below outside the house. It was a fall of three stories. The shocking event and the sound of Eutychus’s body hitting the ground suddenly stopped the meeting, and the stunned believers rushed down the stairs and gathered around Eutychus’s body.

Dr. Luke, the inspired medical doctor who wrote the account, and saw the event, pronounced him dead on the spot. We see that also by how Luke declared him “alive” in verse 12 after Paul raised him from the dead.

When Luke wrote that his body was “taken up” or picked up dead, this means when they picked up his body to carry him inside to help him or treat him, his body was a corpse. He was dead. The fall from the third-story window had been fatal for the young man.

But then Paul “went down” from the upper chamber and “fell on him,” falling on Eutychus’s dead body. Paul was full of tenderness toward the young man, and we see that by how he embraced his lifeless body.

Paul stretched himself over the body of the young man, as Elijah and Elisha, the prophets of old did when they also raised the dead (1 Kings 17:21; 2 Kings 4:34).

Then Paul stated to the group gathered around, “Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.” Paul calmed the troubled crowd, telling them, “Do not be alarmed.”

And then he said that “his life is in him.” When Paul fell on him and embraced him, God’s power, which is much stronger than death, restored Eutychus’s life, through the apostle. And Eutychus was at that moment alive again: raised from the dead and fully healed from his fall. And thus, the crowd did not need to be troubled any longer.

This miracle by Paul is one of very few resurrections recorded in all the Bible. The others were performed by Elijah, Elisha, Peter, and, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke recorded this account in order to show us the great, life-giving power of God and to further authenticate Paul’s apostleship, authority, and message. As Paul wrote the Corinthians, “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds” (2 Cor. 12:12).

The name Eutychus ironically means “fortunate.” And it was “fortunate” for him that Paul was the preacher that night, that he fell out a three-story high window in the presence of a man of God who, through the power and goodness of God, had the ability as a true apostle to bring him back to life!

Acts 20:11-12: “When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.”

Verse 11 is humorous to me. It speaks of how intent Paul was on teaching this group of believers. Little emphasis is put on this outstanding miracle. Right after raising Eutychus from the dead, Paul quickly went back upstairs to get something to eat.

He ate something because he needed strength to keep on teaching the Word. It was almost as though Paul looked at his watch and said to the group, “Oh man, we lost 20 minutes of teaching time. Let’s go upstairs and get something to eat quick, because I have some more things I need to teach you about Christ before I leave.”

Paul and Luke give this miracle second place status to the preaching of the Word. When the miraculous sign gifts of the Acts period were still being manifested, miracles did not sustain people’s faith. But the truth of the Word of God does sustain faith.

And thus, the preaching of the Word was Paul’s foremost priority, and a miracle, even one as remarkable as raising the dead, was secondary to the Word.

Therefore, Luke and Paul deal with the miracle briefly, but they deal emphatically and at length with the teaching of the Word. And this is seen by how after the young man was raised to life, Paul quickly hurried back upstairs so he could teach some more.

And Paul ended up teaching the rest of the night. Luke states that Paul “talked a long while, even till break of day.”

And we can imagine that Paul had their undivided attention and no one got sleepy after the miracle too!

After an all-night meeting, never to be forgotten, at the break of day, the apostle bade farewell to the believers in Troas and departed to continue his journey to Jerusalem.

And verse 12 tells us that Eutychus, the fortunate young man, departed as well and was brought home alive. The power of God had restored him to complete health.

And the group of believers and Eutychus’s friends and family were “not a little comforted.” They were all greatly comforted that he returned home that morning and that they did not need to be planning a funeral.

And if anyone doubted the authenticity of Paul as God’s spokesman and apostle of the Gentiles, they only needed to talk to the young man in Troas who fell asleep in church.

There is much symbolism to be found in this account.

We learn from Eutychus that a window is not a good place to be when hearing the preaching of the Word. Sitting in that window led to Eutychus slumbering and sleeping.

This window can portray a window of divided attention, a window of compromise, or a window of exploring and looking to the world. And all these things can lead a believer to becoming spiritually drowsy and slumbering and sleeping spiritually.

And thus, Eutychus is a good example of Ephesians 5:14: “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”

The believer can be lulled to sleep by the world and have a slumbering, dead Christian experience. But God would have us wake up, and yield our lives to Christ, being awake and sensitive to spiritual realities and to the importance of living for eternal things.

And as a result of being actively involved in the Lord’s service, Christ will give us light and He will direct our steps, and give us the light, power, and life we need as we serve Him.

We see these practical things in this passage, but there is even a further symbolic significance to this episode. Note the following important facts about this account:

1. Paul was the preacher. 2. Paul preached for a long time. 3. Eutychus fell asleep under his preaching. 4. The sleeper fell from the third story window to the ground below and died. 5. Paul restored him to life by the power of God. 6. The people were comforted.

Now, stop and think about Paul and his epistles and how those letters preach the truth to us the Church.

Then think about how long Paul and his epistles have been preaching truth to the Church. Paul has been preaching a long time, even longer than Moses.

Moses and the truths of the law preached to Israel for about 1500 years, whereas Paul and the truths of grace have been preaching for nearly 2000 years in the dispensation of grace.

Like in this account, Paul has been “long preaching” during the darkness of this evil age. And Paul is still preaching as this dispensation continues to this moment!

But when Paul preaches there are “many lights.” One thing you often hear from those who have come to see the message of Paul for us today, is how it explains so many difficult passages of Scripture, how it opens up their understanding, how it solves so many problems, and it’s often described that the light goes on when one sees it.

And Paul even prayed for the church in this regard in Ephesians 1, “The eyes of your understanding being ENLIGHTENED; that ye may know…”

Sitting under the preaching of Paul, and living it out, the church, which is “in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation,” results in us shining “as lights in the world.”

Each of us in the Body of Christ, each of us Gentiles under grace, and saved by grace, are like a Gentile named Eutychus. We are fortunate. We are blessed by God that He chose to have a program with the nations by which we have been saved and lifted up in Christ.

And like all those believers were in an upper chamber in the THIRD loft, so we have been seated in Christ in heavenly places, the THIRD heaven.

As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:2, “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago…such an one caught up to the THIRD heaven.” The Body of Christ has a heavenly calling and position in the third heaven, blessed with all spiritual blessings there.

But the Church being under Paul’s preaching, like Eutychus, the Church gradually became drowsy and fell asleep, into a deep sleep, and it stopped listening to Paul.

And gradually, not all at once, but one after another, the Church lost hold of the distinctive message and ministry of the Apostle Paul, then the pre-tribulational rapture of the church, then the difference between Israel and the Church, the Body of Christ, and then even justification by grace through faith alone.

And the Church fell from its enjoyment and understanding of all we have in Christ in heavenly places under grace, and as a result, the life of the Church was gone. And the church became a morgue for a long time in the dark ages.

But when the reformation came, it was Pauline truth that began getting recovered. “Grace alone,” “the just shall live by faith,” the “one body” for today, and the “blessed hope” of the Rapture were truths first revealed through Paul that were recovered.

And then the distinctive ministry and message of Paul was recovered.

It is Paul, the message of Paul, the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery, that gives life to the church. It is when Paul and His message embraces the church that it finds its life and power in Christ. The Church is restored to life and revived by the power of God through the message and ministry of Paul.

Like it was God who gave life to Eutychus through Paul, it is Christ that gives life to the church through Paul, through the preaching and truth found in his epistles.

And the result can be as verse 12 states, “And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.”

When the Church turns to the truth that Christ revealed to Paul for this dispensation, like Eutychus, the Church will be alive and it will result in not a little comfort.

There is great comfort to be found in that message, the comfort of salvation by grace through faith as a free gift, all spiritual blessings and a seated position in Christ in the heavenlies, and the hope of Christ’s return for the Church to catch us away to glory to forever be with the Lord before the Tribulation ever begins.

As Paul wrote of that blessed hope, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”