that they may do it with joy.
I think this evening, as I was
sharing just a moment ago with Brother Neil, the seriousness
of ascending a pulpit and standing before those that Almighty God
has everlastingly loved and gave Himself for. made himself of no reputation,
took upon himself the form of sinful flesh, and the likeness
of that flesh, made of a woman, made under the law, felt just like we did, had all
of the characteristics of sinful flesh. He thirsted, he hungered, he
hurt. When they put the nails in his
hands and his feet, he felt it. He knew what that was. That was
nails. I think about the seriousness
of preaching the gospel. We're here just for a moment.
Scripture says, a vapor. And in this moment of time, that
which transpires in this moment of time is this vapor right here. Eternity will remember what happened
in this vapor. And standing before you this
evening, I truly think just a little bit. Not like odd, but just a
little bit of the seriousness of what I'm about to do. Commanded
to watch over your souls. That's a responsibility that
no man would eagerly take upon himself. I like what I heard one man say. A fellow came to him and said,
I want to be a preacher. He said, if you can do anything
else, do it. Don't do this. If you can do anything else.
God's preachers can't do anything else. That's what they want to
do. Acts chapter 20. Every time we look at a passage
of Scripture, if we don't see Christ, When
I say if you don't see Christ, I mean this, if you don't see
the gospel of free grace in it, then you've missed the message.
If it's only historical, the gospel is the power of God. I pray that the Lord would teach
us the message of this passage. The Apostle Paul had met with
some disciples in a city called Troas on the first day of the
week, on Sunday. Broke bread with them. Sunday,
we refer to Sunday, believers refer to Sunday as the Lord's
Day. This is the Lord's Day. This is the day that providentially
is set aside for the worship of Almighty God. We meet on Wednesday. I'm thankful. I'm glad we meet
here on Wednesday. Sunday to Sunday would be a long
time. There are times I know providentially
it snows around here. And I'm telling you, it's just
like a fish out of water. There's something wrong here. You know, there's great joy in
believers coming together. That's what they want to do.
I look forward to seeing you. I look forward to seeing you.
I'd hate to not see your face. I'd hate to go. Acts 2, 41 and
42, Then they that gladly received His Word pleasurably heard that salvation was by sovereign
grace. Those that gladly received His
Word, they were baptized. Let me say this again. Baptism,
number one, is an ordinance of God. The Lord left us two ordinances,
the Lord's Supper and baptism. Both of them are confessions.
We remember Him in the taking of the Lord's Supper. If the
Lord called you out of darkness, associate yourself with God's
people. Confess Him before men. in the ordinance of baptism.
Be baptized. It's not up for debate. It's
not a confession. Those that gladly received His
Word were baptized. And the same day there were added
unto them about 3,000 souls, and they continued steadfastly
devoted in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and breaking of
bread and prayers. The Scripture we stopped actually
in the first half of verse 7 last time. This is what we ended with
last time. So this evening I want to pick
up in the last half of the 7th verse. Paul preached unto them,
ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until
midnight. of all that they could have done. They got together and Paul preached
to them. You know, the preaching of Christ was Paul's desire. And it was theirs to hear the
preaching of Christ. The Scripture says he was getting
ready to leave tomorrow. He was departing on the morrow. He didn't know if it would be
the last time they'd ever see him again. I was thinking, if I knew that I was leaving
tomorrow, and this may be the last time I ever see you, if
I knew that tomorrow, Brother Scott was going to be gone, you
know midnight wouldn't be that late. Not really. If that would
be the last time, I want to hear what you've got to say. That's
the power of God unto salvation. And Paul's love for the brethren,
his love for Christ, was exhibited by telling them. That's what
he did. He continued his speech. What
did he preach? Well, he had said in another
passage, he said, I preach nothing but Christ. Him crucified. Preach the gospel. We just don't
have time for frivolous things. Life is too short. There's somebody, I've said before,
there's somebody in this congregation right now that's going to be
gone before anybody else. There's somebody. I don't know
who it is. Maybe the youngest person in here. I don't know. The Lord, last Wednesday, we
looked at this passage, John 21, 15, talking about Paul's
love for the brethren. He preached to them. He continued
his speech until midnight. Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon
son of Jonas, Lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto
him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto
him, Feed my sheep. Those that God calls to preach
the gospel. They love the Lord. And I know
with the confession of Peter, they phileo. They love the Lord
with a love that is the best that's going to emanate from
a man. But they love Him. And they love God's people. You
find fellowship. Paul's heart was with them. 1 Thessalonians 2. Paul says, so
being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have
imparted unto you, to share with you. Not only the Gospel of God,
but listen, this is what I thought about this in light of what the
Lord told Peter. Remember last Wednesday night,
He said, first of all, He said, you feed My lambs. You administer
food. The second time he said, feed
my sheep, that was a different word. Shepherd them. And this is what Paul is saying
in the verse that I'm reading right now. There is a difference
in just standing and preaching. A pastor is a pastor. And he's
a pastor on Monday and he's a pastor on Tuesday. He's a pastor. He's there. He cares. He's there
to pastor, to shepherd the people. Here's what Paul is saying, this
very thing. He says, so being affectionately desirous of you,
we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God
only. You mean there's more, Paul?
What do you mean you wouldn't? Not the gospel of God only, but
also our own souls, our lives, because you were dear unto us. You mean there's more to it than
just preaching? Yeah. Go into all the world and
preach the gospel. Teaching them to observe whatsoever.
God sends a pastor. And He loves the people. And
they love Him. 2 Corinthians 12, 15, And I will
very gladly spend and be spent for you. Paul said, I'll be glad
to give all I have and be exhausted for you." So Paul preached to
them. He was ready to go tomorrow.
He felt the constraint of God. He had to go. Where he was going
was where the Spirit of God was leading him to go. But it wasn't
that he could leave these people just without feeling. He loved
them. And the Scripture said he continued
his speech until midnight. Now that took grace. For a man
to preach until midnight and for them to listen until midnight. The flesh rebels against that
which causes it to tire. I wish he'd hush. I wish he'd be quiet. I wish
he'd listen. The Scripture says, redeeming
the time because the days are evil. Rescuing from waste. Redeeming. Rescuing from waste. Man, we get here tonight, we're
just going to be here for a few minutes. Let's redeem the time. Pray that God calls us to worship
in or in hearing, make wise use, that's what he said, of every
opportunity to do good. You know what the flesh wants
to do? Just pilfer away. What are you going to do? Just something. As my dad used to say, let's
do something if it's wrong. This was the most solemn reason
to meet. And the brethren took advantage
of it. Paul was there to tell them goodbye. He was going to
preach to them. And Scripture says in verse 8, and there were
many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together.
When I first read that verse of Scripture, I'll be honest
with you, I thought, isn't it amazing how some verses of Scripture
you just read them and they just appear as though it's almost
like an afterthought. There were many lights in the
upper chamber. But I thought to myself, well, they were there
at midnight. I'm sure it was dark. I'm sure
that's an obvious reason. But that's not the significance
of what was said. What it was, these believers
met without fear of being seen. sitting up in bed at night. They
may have been one of the only houses that had lights. There
were many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered
together. Acts 26, 26, when Paul was preaching
to Agrippa, he said, I'm persuaded, Paul was talking to him, he said,
I'm persuaded that none of these things were hidden from him.
This thing was not done in a corner. We are not ashamed of the Gospel.
Not ashamed of the Gospel of free grace. Not ashamed of Christ. Sovereign grace. I love the sound
of it. I love the taste of it. The ring
of it. The truth of it. Sovereign grace. Grace. The ministry of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Public. Miracles. His death, His appearance
after His resurrection, He wasn't ashamed. And His preachers are
not ashamed. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. A man that is ashamed of the
gospel of free grace is ashamed of Christ. Paul said, I'm not. Verse 9, 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 was therefore come up
again, had broken bread and eaten, talked a long while, even till
break of day, And so he departed. And he brought the young man
alive. And we're not a little comforted. Now, you know, let
me tell you the miracle of this incident right here. What happened
was Paul was preaching. He preached until midnight. A
fellow was sitting in a window. And he fell out of the window
from the third loft. Third story. Three stories he
fell. killed him. Now, if that's all
we know about that, that's just historical. It's just a historical
event. Paul came. The Lord raised him
from the dead. A historical event. But what
had happened was Paul had been preaching, talking about salvation
by grace, salvation by the purpose and will of Almighty God. telling men that they could do
nothing of themselves. And here in the indescribable
grace of Almighty God, God sent a perfect illustration, a picture
of salvation. There was a young man, Scripture
says in that ninth verse, there is a certain young man named
Eutychus being fallen into a deep sleep. Completely overcome. Fallen. You know, I was driving down
the road one night, coming home from someplace, and all of a
sudden, I mean, I was completely aware of what was going on. Completely aware. And all of
a sudden, somebody in the car said, Hey! I was already in the left lane
heading for the ditch. And I never knew it. I thought
I was wide awake. I didn't know I went to sleep. Here, this young man, he fell
into a deep sleep, completely overcome and borne down, powerless
to resist. Man, you've never been so sleepy,
you just, you know. When Adam, who was completely
overcome by sin and rebellion, fell in the garden, all mankind
fell in him. And men are born in this world
and they don't even know they're dead spiritually. I didn't know
I was asleep. Man by nature thinks he's awake
to God. This man right here, he was completely
overcome. Never knew he was asleep. Never
felt himself fall out of the window, I suppose. Maybe he did.
But I'll tell you this, the law of gravity took over. There is
a law too. The law of God will take over.
Scripture says, secondly, this man was sunk down. He fell and sunk down. As Paul was long preaching, sunk
down with sleep. Cast down. That is what it means.
Sunk down. He cast down. Fell from that
third law. He descended from a higher plane
to a lower plane. There was a time when Adam walked
with God in the cool of the day in fellowship with the Lord,
and the Lord spoke. Adam walked in fellowship. The Lord told Adam, He said,
in the day you eat, not if, but when. When you do, you are going
to die. When Adam ate of the fruit, all
mankind, believe me, went from a higher plane of fellowship
with God to an outcast. Put him out. This man right here,
he was overcome with sleep, didn't know, and fell. And the Scripture says, thirdly,
fell, and he was, last part of verse 9, taken up dead. He died. The man actually died. Surely as this young man hit
that ground and died physically, all mankind fell and died in
Adam spiritually in the Garden of Eden. He fell. Broken. But
in that beautiful picture of our Lord's mercy to His own,
now here's Paul A picture, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul
went down. Our Savior made Himself, as we
said a while ago, no reputation. Left the portals and the residency
of heaven. Truly, He never left. Became
a man. He's omnipresent. He came down. Paul went down, humbled himself,
and fell on Him. That's what it says. I like this. Fell on Him. Interpreted, seized
Him powerfully. Fell on Him. Whenever Almighty
God purposes to regenerate one, The Lord comes to him by His
Spirit. Comes to him in power. And listen
to this. It says, Paul went down and fell
on Him and embraced Him. Is that not the tenderest thing
you've ever seen in your life? You think of this. If all this
is is a picture, I mean, a historical remembrance, you'd say, The Lord
performed a miracle. You tell me how this right here
preaches to me the gospel of free grace. I'm the one that
was overtaken in sin. I'm the one that fell from fellowship
with God in Adam, born in sin, conceived in sin, liar from birth,
dead, trespassing sin. I'm already on the ground. And
the Lord Jesus Christ, who came down, made Himself a man, took
upon Himself the nature of a man, and fell on me in mercy and embraced
me, enclosed me in His compassion. And Scripture says that when
He was therefore, verse 11, come up again, No, I'm sorry, verse
10. "...Went down, he fell on him,
and embraced him. Trouble not yourselves, for his life's in
him." You know, there's great comfort
as Paul here, a picture of Christ, would declare, don't be afraid. He's alive. If Almighty God says
to one of His own, you're alive. You're alive. If God says you're
alive. And you know what? Not only did
this man know he was alive, the others that were there knew he
was too. Don't trouble yourselves. He's alive. Have you ever seen
or heard, we've said here before, a believer exhibit the characteristics
of life? You know, they just speak like
a believer. They speak consistently. Like
a believer. And it's just, you hear the sound
of Christ, you hear the sound of God's glory and God's honor,
and they don't bring anything to themselves. That's life. That's life speaking. Trouble
not yourselves. He's alive. That young man, Scripture
says, when he was come up again, verse 11, broken bread, eaten,
talked a long while, even until the break of day. So he departed.
And they brought the young man alive and were not a little comforted. You know what? He wanted to be
where they were. I want to be where you guys are.
The Lord did something for me. The Scripture says, verse 13
to 16, And we went before to ship. and sailed to Assos. They are intended to take in
Paul, for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.
Basically, what this says is we were going to go by ship.
Paul was going to go with us, but he decided to walk. I thought
about that. Don't you know that Paul the
Apostle saw the gospel? He saw the blessing of Almighty
God to allow that man. Isn't it a blessing when God
allows adversity to gloriously set forth His mercy and kindness
to us? What we learn from adversity. That man was dead. But look at
the joy. I mean, listen to what he preached
to them in type and picture. Paul preached to them until midnight. And boy, at midnight, they got
a message and an answer from God in the death of that young
man. And the Lord raised that man
up. And they saw a perfect example of Almighty God spiritually calling
one that had fallen dead Bringing him to life. Regeneration. Well, it says, when he met with
us at Assos, we took him in. Came to Medellin. We sailed thence. Came the next day over Chios. The next day arrived at Chamos
and tarried at Trogillium. 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. Not because he
was going there to keep the feast according to the law, but he
knew that there was going to be a lot of Jews there. He was
redeeming the time, what he was doing. He was taking every opportunity
he could, doing what he can. The Jews were going to be there
and he wanted to be there to preach to them. He knew that
salvation was by grace. He knew that he wasn't going
to convince anybody of anything if God wasn't pleased to do it.
Nothing is going to change the sovereign degree of Almighty
God to call out His own out of darkness. But you know, we know,
I'm convinced, I'm absolutely convinced, God is going to do that very
thing. I know He is. I know that the Lord is going
to call His own out of darkness. I know that. You think anything
is going to change that? No. No. No. But I want to be here on Wednesday
and I want to be here on Sunday to preach the Gospel. That's
what Paul was doing. He wanted to be there to preach. Every opportunity we have, who
knows? We've said before, perventure.
Perhaps the Lord may be pleased to call one of His own out tonight. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Wouldn't
it be great to see the mighty hand of Almighty God taking one
that was fallen? It's like this man fell out of
that window. Dead. Paul came down. Fell on him. Embraced him. And
God raised him up. That's the way the Lord does
it. Our Father, we thank You this
evening for another time that we can see the Gospel in this
glorious passage to behold salvation by grace. A man helplessly, helplessly
perished. He couldn't save himself. He
couldn't stop himself to realize You save us by Your grace how
thankful we are. Teach us this evening for Christ's
sake. Amen.