He is Alive!
Acts 20:2-12

Good morning.

INTRO: Today I would like to spend a little time in the book of Acts. Let’s catch up with Paul’s journey in Acts 20:2-6 Luke tells us: “Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece and stayed three months. And when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. These men, going ahead, waited for us at Troas. But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days.”

Luke, especially, tells us that after encouraging the brethren in Ephesus, Paul went to Macedonia. Paul sailed to Macedonia and he built up the churches there before he went on to Greece where he stayed for some three months. Then, he planned to sail to Syria, until the Jews plotted to kill him which we’ve seen many times in the book of Acts already, haven’t we? They tried to take Paul’s life.

Paul was warned of the plot and when he found out, he went north to Macedonia. Paul was carrying a large contribution to give to the needy saints in Jerusalem. The money had been put together because there was a massive famine in Jerusalem. Paul’s been collecting all these funds. It looks like, from what Luke tells us that, he took along several men with him. The reason for this was probably to see to the proper handling and use of the money.

Folks, when it comes to giving, we should note that the early church gave for a purpose. They didn’t just give for the sake of giving. They gave to further the cause of Christ and they gave to bring glory to God through their giving. Giving was part of their worship which we are going to look at in a few moments.

Before we get there let me tell you a little story I heard about this pig. This pig was lamenting about his lack of popularity in the farmer’s barnyard. He was complained to the cow that the people were always talking about her gentle and kind eyes. He admitted that cows give milk and cream, but the pig maintained that he gave more. He got really angry and said; “after all I give bacon, I give ham and I give bristles”. “People even pickle my feet”. Then he said; “because of these reasons I want some appreciation from the other animals on this farm”. The cow thought for a while about it and said to him, "Maybe it's because I give while I'm still living."

I. Folks, all of us have a calling from God in this life. Our efforts and our giving should be to produce glory for God while we are still alive.
A. In Luke’s record is a whole list of names traveling with Paul. I thought that was interesting so I did a little research and found that someone once said that, “You need to observe that the Macedonian churches or congregations were represented by Sopater [Sopa-ter], Aristarchus [Aris-tar-cuss], and Secundus [say-cun-dus]. The Galatian congregations were represented by Gaius of Derbe and Timothy of Lystra. Then we see the ones located in Asia were represented by Tychicus [Ty-chi-cuss] and Trophimus [trophy-mus]. According to 2 Corinthians 8:6 and following the Corinthian’s contribution was entrusted to Titus and two other brethren who were sent by Paul to Corinth to receive it.”
B. What’s important about that? Well, if it’s not important it’s certainly interesting because if it tells us anything, it tells us that they went around collecting the funds. They were going to meet at a predetermined location, which in this case was Troas. My point is they didn’t have banks like we have today where they could just wire or transfer money in accounts.
C. They had to go from congregation to congregation to collect those funds. They collected funds on behalf of others. The people gave and the funds were collected for a reason. These funds were for the saints who were in massive need in Jerusalem.
D. Isn’t this an amazing way to encourage each other? The fact that these men who were sent on behalf of their home congregations, would have seen the gratitude in the eyes of those at Jerusalem as they gave on behalf of their congregation. The home congregations were involved.
E. The encouragement doesn’t stop there; can you imagine when they return to their home congregations? I would imagine that they would give a full report about how everyone in Jerusalem was doing and how their offerings had blessed so many other people. Folks, when you see the offering that you give each and every week through those eyes, you can truly see just how much more of blessing it is to give, as we’re going to look at in a few moments.
II. In fact, that’s exactly how Paul saw giving. He said to the Ephesians elders a few verses later in Acts 20:35 – “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”
A. There’s something else interesting in our text passage. Luke uses the word ‘we’ a couple of times in verse six. Acts 20:6 - “… we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days.” The reason he does this is simply to remind Theophilus (remember Theophilus is the person Luke is writing to, Acts 1:1) that Luke himself was present and rejoined Paul at Philippi. That’s why he uses the word “we”. They both stayed there and sailed for Troas after the Passover. Luke is a witness to the event that happens next.
B. Listen carefully to Luke’s report about what happened starting in the very next verse. In Acts 20:7-12 – “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, "Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.'' The NIV says “Don’t be alarmed, He’s alive! Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed. And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.” What an amazing scripture that is when you read to the whole thing in its context.
1. When Luke tells us that Paul and his company stayed seven days in Troas, this actually helps us in understanding the custom of worship in New Testament times. That little phrase helps us a lot. Luke says, “They came together on the first day of the week.”
2. I know there are religious groups who come together on Saturdays for worship. The reason some of them do that is basically because they don’t believe that Jesus was the messiah. That’s why they get together on Saturdays for worship. Ask yourself a question, if Paul and his companions were there in Troas on every other day of the week why did they partake of the Lord’s Supper on the Lord’s Day? Why did they do that?
3. This is a big lesson for the church right here and for every one of us. Even though they were busy doing other things for the Lord each and every day of the week, these guys knew that everything else takes a back seat in their lives when they came together on the Lord’s Day to remember His death. That’s important to this passage.
III. Let’s think about it. Think about the first day of the week. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on a Sunday according to Mark 16:9. Jesus’ disciples assembled after His death on the first day of the week according to John 20:19ff. The church was established on what day? Sunday, according to Acts 2:1. The church, the congregation in Troas, which we are looking at just now, met on the first day of the week according Acts 20:7. There were regular contributions taken into the church treasury. When? “Every first day of the week” according to 1 Corinthians 16:2.
A. For the first several centuries of the church’s existence, the written testimony is uniform that Christians met for worship on Sunday. One commentator suggests, “All Christians were unanimous in setting apart the first day of the week, on which the triumphant Savior arose from the dead, for the solemn celebration of public worship.”
B. You see, folks, although Sunday might have been a workday in the ancient world, the disciples set it apart as a day of worship and it became known as “the Lord’s day,” according to Revelation 1:10 as John tells us.
C. Way, way back in the Book of Leviticus Moses records in Leviticus 23:15-16 – “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 'Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.”
D. Ok, why am I telling you this? What relevance is this? God says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” according to Exodus 20:8. My point is this: the Jews understood that He meant every single Sabbath. Not just every now and again, but every single Sabbath. They were to keep that Holy. Go over to the New Testament where we’ll look at Paul’s account to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 11:18-26 – “For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'' In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'' For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.”
E. To put this another way… If a school teacher becomes frustrated with disruptive students and says to them while they are at school, “You did not come here to learn.” That very statement tells you that they were there to learn, doesn’t it? That’s what Paul is saying here. You didn’t come here to observe the Lord’s Supper, because you don’t act like it.
F. The reason these early Christians assembled, was to partake of the Lord’s Supper. We know they assembled every first day of the week, and Paul tells us they got together on the first day of the week to give as well. 1 Corinthians 16:2 – “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper…”
IV. I recall hearing about a congregation that loved good fellowship and they always served coffee after the sermon. The preacher asked a little boy one time, if he knew why they served the coffee. The little boy thought and said, "I think, it is to get the people wide awake before they drive home." Apart from Bible school when I teach, the longest sermon I have ever preached here was 37 minutes. Thankfully, as far as I could see from up front, everyone managed to stay awake. So I think we are safe not serving coffee after service.
A. Certainly, it is possible some people may think that I preach for a long time, but going back to our text in Acts 20 and in verse 7, Luke tells us that when the church assembled in that third story room, Paul’s lesson continued until midnight. It was there we find a young man who needed more than a cup of coffee to stay awake.
B. Scripture tells us there were many lamps where the people were gathered together. Quite warm I imagine. A young man, Eutychus, was sitting on a window ledge listening to Paul. He fell into a deep sleep and fell out of the window and died.

C. Look what happened next. Did Paul say, “Wait until I finish my sermon then we will deal with this? Did Paul say, “I’m getting to a really important point in my sermon, can you hold on and then we will go down and deal with the guy? No, he didn’t. They went down straight away which tells us sometimes there are some priorities more than preaching and teaching. They went down straight away to see the young man. After he was pronounced dead, Paul took him up in his arms and announced that his life was still in him. The Power of God was being used through the apostle Paul to bring him back to life.
V. To me this text is almost unbelievable. I’m not talking about the miracle. I’m talking about what they did next. Luke says that after the miraculous restoration of this young man’s life, the Christians again assembled in their upper room to eat a meal together. Hard for us to understand, isn’t it? It’s as though raising someone back to life was the most normal and everyday event in a person’s life. Then we are told the talking lasted until daybreak, which tells us just how highly the brethren thought of the apostle Paul and how interested they were in what the apostle was saying.
A. Let me ask you this question. How can we be sure that Eutychus was dead in the first place? There are a lot of people who don’t believe he was, you know. What we need to remember is that if anyone can tell whether a person is alive or dead, more than anyone else, it’s a doctor. Surly, a doctor knows if someone is dead or if they’re alive. Luke, the writer of Acts, present with Paul at this moment in time, is a doctor according to Colossians 4:14.
B. It’s Luke who tells us that Eutychus was “dead” there in verse 9. When Paul addressed the situation, he did not say, “His life is still in him,” or “His life is yet in him” as some translations have it. He simply said, “His life is in him.” Luke later comments that Eutychus was brought “in alive” at verse 12
1. One usage of this term alive is to describe “dead persons who return to life or become alive again”. If the young man had merely been injured, why would Luke stress the point that he was “brought in alive”? To merely mention that he was brought alive again to the assembly would have been entirely sufficient.
2. After all, weren’t they all alive who returned to the upper room? What was so special about this young man? Very simple, the fact that he had been dead! He was dead and now he’s alive. No wonder Luke says the saints in Troas were comforted.
VI. I would suggest the resurrection of Eutychus brought “comfort” to the saints in Troas, as Luke tells us, for two reasons. First of all, it let them know that their religion was genuine. They understood that only God can effect a resurrection.
A. Remember when Jesus raised Lazarus back to life, Jesus said in John 11:40-42 – “Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?'' Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. "And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.''”
B. Jesus is saying the miracle of raising Lazarus from the grave was performed so that the people around would believe that Jesus was the Christ. When the people believe that fact, they would trust that the message which Jesus delivered was true and genuinely from God Himself.
1. In a small country town the local doctor went to the home of a terminally ill man to check on him. The man said to his doctor, who was about to leave the house the visit: "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side." Very quietly the doctor turned and said, "I don't know." "You don't know the man said? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?" The doctor was holding the handle of the door and from the other side came sounds of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door a dog sprang into the room and leaped on the doctor with an eager show of gladness.
2. Turning to his patient, the doctor said, "Did you see this dog before? The man said, “no”. The doctor said; “this dog has never been in this house before. Never. He did not know what was inside this room. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing: I know my Master is there, and that is enough. When the door opens, I shall pass through with no fear, but with gladness."
C. That’s the second reason why the resurrection of Eutychus brought “comfort” to the saints in Troas and to us. It brought to them comfort because it showed them that the grave is not the end of human existence. The Creator of life is able to bring life out of death. In other words, death is not the end. It’s just the beginning in many, many ways. We can understand why the saints in Troas were comforted.
VII. Let’s bring this a little closer to home. Don’t we feel comforted in the fact that the religion we place our whole faith is genuine? Doesn’t that bring comfort? Have we ever questioned the Lord’s church? Have we ever questioned the church’s beliefs and its practices?
A. I know we have, at times. I am actually glad we question things about what we teach and preach and practice as a community of believers. Let me tell you why it brings me comfort. It brings me comfort because it forces me to study the Bible more often. It brings me comfort because it forces me to look at other religious group’s doctrines. It brings me comfort when I see that what we teach, preach and practice is according to God’s word, the Bible.
B. I come to the same conclusion of a very wise man who once said; ‘if there were another religious group that taught and practiced closer to the truth than the Lord’s church that is where I would be.’ Wise words from a wise man. It brings me comfort, to know that the Bible brings me everything I need to know about God and what God wants from me.
C. 2 Peter 1:3 – “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” Do the words ‘all things’ leave anything out? No, all things means everything.
D. Most importantly, it brings me comfort because if I knew I were going to die today, I would be filled with gladness, just like that dog, as I run towards my master for eternal salvation. Loved ones, I hope and pray that each and every one of us are feeling the same way.
VIII. A friend of mine asked one time if I had ever read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I said no but asked him what it was all about. He said to me, ‘if you read it you’ll discover one of the strangest imaginations ever put together, especially the part where the old mariner represents the corpses of all the dead men rising up to man the ship, dead men pulling the rope, dead men steering, dead men spreading sails.’ He went on and said to me that when he had finished reading it, he thought to himself, ‘what a strange idea that was’ for a book.
A. Do you know what, folks? I agree with him it is a very strange idea. Yet, I wonder if perhaps that idea describes what we find today in some congregations. I have personally gone into congregations, and I have seen a dead man in the pulpit, dead men as a deacons or elders. I’ve been to places where the men handling the Lord’s Table are dead and dead men sitting to listen.
B. Loved ones, we were all just as dead in our sins spiritually as Eutychus was dead physically. Just like Paul brought Eutychus back to life physically, Jesus Christ has brought us back to life spiritually. In Ephesians 2:1-5 – “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Listen to the next part But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),”. It’s an amazing passage, isn’t it? Think about dead people for a moment.
1. You know when we visit a cemetery; we expect to be among the remains of dead people and it’s just not the liveliest of places to visit. We know that dead people belong in the cemetery, because their spirit has left their bodies and is awaiting judgment, but their earthly remains belong in the cemetery.
2. Jesus Christ has proclaimed to the world that anyone who has died into Christ in the waters of baptism is very much alive in Christ Jesus today. That’s what people should see. Not only in our daily lives but in our worship services too. People should see that our worship to God is joyous and spirit filled because God’s people are very much alive and well in Christ Jesus.
IX. Luke carries on with his letter to Theophilus in Acts 20:13-17 and tells him, “Then we went ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, there intending to take Paul on board; for so he had given orders, intending himself to go on foot. And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. We sailed from there, and the next day came opposite Chios; the following day we arrived at Samos and stayed at Trogyllium; the next day we came to Miletus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost. From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.”
A. Luke tells us that after the resurrection of Eutychus the rest of the apostle’s company travelled by ship to Assos, while Paul went on foot. Then Paul joined them in the ship at Assos and went on with them to Mitylene, then by Chios, a brief stop at Samoa, staying for a time at Trogyllium and made a more extended stay at Miletus.
B. Folks, Eutychus is alive and the apostles are alive in Christ Jesus. The gospel is moving forward. It‘s my prayer that each of us will continue to do the same. It’s my prayer that we, too, will never forget that we also are alive in Christ Jesus. It’s my prayer that we will continue to find comfort from God through His word and His people. It’s also my prayer that we never get too comfortable staying in one place.
C. We should never get to the stage where we are totally relying on people just walking into our assemblies. May we never get to that stage. May each of us, as individual Christians, take the good news about Jesus to our friends and family, neighbors and neighborhoods.

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

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Taken from sermon by Mike Glover