Hurrying to Jerusalem With the Gospel

And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia. And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. These going before tarried for us at Troas. And 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. 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. 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. 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. And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene. And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios; and the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogyllium; and the next day we came to Miletus. For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. - Acts 20:1-16

    In the previous chapter we read about the uproar at Ephesus. The angry mob stood for more than two hours crying out, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians.' Finally, 'The town clerk ... appeased the people' and 'dismissed the assembly.' We pick up the story in the opening verses of chapter 20.

    Paul's determination to go to Jerusalem (20:1-16)

    Here we have another of Luke's rapid descriptions of Paul's ministry. He is leading up to the apostle's farewell message to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, but in these verses Luke very quickly tells us that after the uproar at Ephesus, Paul went right on doing what God had called him to do. He spent the next few months travelling, by land and by sea, through Asia, Macedonia and Greece, visiting the churches which had been established during his earlier ministry. Everywhere he went he did the same thing. In the synagogues, in the streets, in the churches and in the market-places, Paul preached Christ to the people. But all the while he was hurrying to Jerusalem (20:16).

    Why did Paul have this preoccupation with Jerusalem? God distinctly appointed him to be the apostle to the Gentiles. Yet, in reading through the book of Acts, we see him repeatedly determined to return to Jerusalem on the feast days. Was this, as some have suggested, because he had a hard time breaking with the past and shaking off the grave-clothes of dead Judaism? Not at all! The apostle Paul was forthright and constant in his declaration of the believer's freedom from legal, ceremonial, earthly ordinances (Rom. 6:14-15; 7:1; 10:4; Gal. 5:2, 4; Col. 2:8-23). Paul was determined, if at all possible, to be in Jerusalem on the feast days, not to observe those feasts, but because he knew that on those days he would be able to preach the gospel to more of his kinsmen than at any other time. And he was determined to do everything in his power to see them saved by the grace of God (Rom. 9:1-3; 10:1-4).

    The message of the Bible

    Wherever he went, the message Paul preached was Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). Sometimes he preached to Jews; some times to Gentiles. Sometimes he preached to large crowds of lost people; sometimes to small bands of believers. Sometimes he preached to learned philosophers; sometimes to a simple band of women. But his message was always the same. He preached Christ, the whole of Christ, and only Christ to all people. Sometimes he was a little long-winded, preaching until midnight. Sometimes people grew tired while he was preaching and fell asleep (20:9). Often he was persecuted for his message. But Paul never changed his mess age. It was always Jesus Christ and him crucified.

    The Bible, the Word of God, is in its entirety a book about the Lord Jesus Christ

    It is not a book about science, history, politics, morality, or even religious dogma. It is a book about Christ (Luke 24:27,44-47). Christ is the living Word of whom the written Word speaks. It is the business and responsibility of every gospel preacher to preach and teach nothing else but Jesus Christ and him crucified. To do so is to faithfully preach and teach 'all the counsel of God' (20:27; 1 Cor. 2:2). All the prophecies of the Old Testament are predictions of Christ. All the sacrifices and ceremonies of the law were pictures of Christ. All the temporal deliverances of individual believers and the nation of Israel were illustrations of the redemption of God's elect by Christ. The law was given by Moses to show man his need of Christ. The four Gospels record the history of Christ and his teachings, and the epistles explain the meaning of our Lord's teachings. Every book of the Bible, every chapter, every verse, every line, every word in Holy Scripture is designed by God the Holy Spirit to reveal Christ to his people. Stop studying the Bible to find out facts and buttress doctrine. Study the Word of God with the desire to know him of whom the Scriptures speak (John 5:39). If you find any text in God's book that does not immediately cause your heart to look to Christ, you do not yet understand that text. The doctrine of the Bible is Christ. The law of the Bible is Christ. The gospel of the Bible is Christ. Do you see that? Any doctrine divorced from Christ is heresy, a mere show of intellectualism. Any precept divorced from Christ is self-righteousness. Paul went everywhere preaching Christ. And any sermon that does not point men to Christ ought never to have been preached. Any doctrine that does not have Christ for its essence must not be believed. Any precept that is not motivated by love for, and faith in, Christ must not be obeyed. From Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, 'Christ is all, and in all!'

    A plot discovered (20:1-6)

    Wherever Paul went preaching the gospel of Christ he met with opposition. Proud flesh cannot tolerate the message of salvation by grace alone through the merits of Christ alone. Paul again discovered a plot against his life. While in Greece the enemies of the cross 'laid wait for him' (20:2-3). 'Over the centuries of the Christian church the lives of God's servants often have been in danger,' wrote Donald Grey Barnhouse. 'Many have been martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ. Others have suffered intensely. God has never promised a bed of roses. Remember what Paul himself wrote to the Philippians: "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake" (1:29)... As a matter of fact, the church has always been at its purest when it has had to face suffering and martyrdom for Jesus Christ.'

    Paul left Greece after three months. As he prepared to sail to Syria, he learned about the plot against him. So he took Sopater and Luke, his travelling companions, and went by land through Macedonia to Philippi, and sailed from Philippi to Troas. There they met up with their other co-workers and stayed for seven days.

    A communion service on the Lord's day (20:7-12)

    Notice that the disciples came together for worship on 'the first day of the week' rather than the seventh. Like many things in this transitional period, sabbath observance was terminated gradually.

    The new day of worship, the Lord's day (Rev. 1:10), was established by the resurrection of our Lord (Matt. 28:1). Sunday is not the 'Christian sabbath'. We are expressly forbidden to observe a legalistic sabbath day (Col. 2:16) in this day of grace. Christ is our Sabbath. We cease from our own works and rest in him by faith (Heb. 4:9-10). Yet it is clear that the established day of worship in the New Testament was Sunday (Acts 20:7; 1Cor. 16:2). On this day the church gathered to observe the Lord's Supper and listen to the preaching of the gospel. The communion service was a very simple part of public worship, not an elaborate ceremony. When the saints of God met for worship on the Lord's day, they passed around a loaf of unleavened bread and a cup of wine and every believer took a portion for him or herself.

    There was no restricted or closed communion in the New Testament! In this passage disciples from many different places observed the Lord's Table together because in Christ all true believers are truly one. They did not examine one another to see who was worthy to participate in the ordinance, but each believer examined him or herself before the Lord (1 Cor. 11:28).

    Paul was evidently a long-winded preacher. He preached until midnight. Eutychus dozed off and fell out of a third-floor window. Everyone presumed he was dead. Perhaps he was and Paul raised him from the dead. However, verse 10 seems to imply that he was not killed by the fall. Either way, God intervened. After that, Paul continued preaching until daybreak!

    Then (20:13-16), after just a short stay at Troas, Paul and his friends departed for Assos, because Paul was determined to make a brief stop near Ephesus on his way to Jerusalem.