Acts of the Apostles + a History of Christ’s Church
Acts of the Apostles 1-28
Acts of the Apostles:
+ The first century Church SHARED Christ while suffering severe persecution.
+ Luke records a historic account of the Church which gives 21c Christians a context to SHARE the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.
Read more about the Early Church & add your COMMENT on Scripture.
ACT now.
+ SHARE the Gospel history witnessed in the CURRENT chronological SERIES from ACTS of the APOSTLES.
We have recently been reading some of Paul’s early letters to churches. Now the Apostle sends a brief Epistle to Ephesus to set up a parting embrace with the leaders of the Ephesian Church before the apostles sail toward home.
Previously we learned that an epistle is not simply a letter from Apostles but from any authority to others. In Acts 15 we examined one sent from the Council in Jerusalem to several churches.
The apostles send several epistles to churches throughout the MISSIONS of PAUL and others.
Ephesus to Assos – by land and by sea
But we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go by land [on foot].
Picture the Apostle Paul after having been personally involved in the resurrection of a young man in Troas. He journeys on foot no doubt considering this miracle and the Lord’s will for his next destination.
Their route on a Roman ship would have been ~42 nautical miles along the coastline while Paul's overland hike was about 28 miles.
Once arriving in Assos Paul probably sends a message to the leaders in Ephesus where the Apostle had been so instrumental in leading the Church. His messenger may have set sail separately to Ephesus with an Epistle.
14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene.
15 And sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios;
and the next day we crossed over to Samos;
and the day following we came to Miletus.
and the day following 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 in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.
Acts of the Apostles 20:15b-16 LSB – Luke records that the return of the apostles sent out on Paul’s third missionary journey will bypass Ephesus on their way home.
What’s the hurry to worship in Jerusalem?
Paul’s earlier hike to Assos following the time of the miraculous events at Troas would have given the Apostle time to consider his witness of the risen Christ twenty years ago.
In Jerusalem Paul would have met MANY witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection.
AND Paul would have met those present seven years before Christ appeared to him who along with the Apostles had received the Holy Spirit in an upper room on Pentecost.
Before we look at an extraordinary sign in Troas suggesting that Paul is also a Prophet of Almighty God, let’s look at other true Prophets of the past.
~A.D. 56 – Previously in an upper room at midnight in the port of Troas..
The gospel points to JESUS and not to the Apostle Paul or some other Old Testament prophet.
WHO does a prophet speak for and what does he say?
Is it the message and work of ALMIGHTY GOD or that of rebellion against the LORD?
The Lord Jesus Christ
~ A.D. 28 - the year being less important than the short time of two decades before this present miracle by Paul
Luke 7:
.. behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother..
And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”
And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
.. for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
About 860 Before Christ - the sign from GOD being more important than the year.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
God speaks to him and also commands the response of one (or more) to whom he is sent. Paul has already experienced this as have Peter and other Apostles sent out with the Gospel by the resurrected Jesus Christ.
14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.
1 Kings 17:14-15 ESV
All are obedient to God for an extended time. They continue to witness a miracle but a greater sign will soon prove the power of God and truth of his prophecy through Elijah.
After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him..
19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed.
.. Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord,
“O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”
.. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.”
24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
Resurrection of a body which has fallen from life into the valley of death is nothing new to the Apostles. To Peter another resurrection would be completely possible IF it is the will of the Lord.
And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.
41 Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.
WHAT FURTHER SIGN DO YOU NEED THAT THE HAND OF THE LORD IS ON A MAN THAN A RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD?
The Apostle Paul
Troas – important 1st C. A.D. Roman port
Returning now to the mid- A.D. 50's about a dozen years after the resurrection of Tabitha or Dorcas in Joppa by Peter, a couple of dozen years after many witnessed the signs of multiple resurrections by the Lord Jesus AND more than nine centuries since the sign of the Prophet Ezekiel for a widow in Zarephath.
after the 3-story fall of Eutychus from an upper room window to his death
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.”
11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed.
12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
Acts of the Apostles 20:12 ESV
WHAT THEN?
Paul’s preaching, worship and discussion with the believers in Troas had gone until midnight. (WHAT A LONG EVENING SERVICE!)
But then AFTER the SIGN of the Lord through PAUL raising the dead youth, the faithful returned to WORSHIP (and no doubt thankfulness) until the break of the very day. The Apostle would then continue to sail into the rest of the world with the Gospel of JESUS Christ.
JOY of the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues not only in Troas and back into Macedonia and Greece, but in other ports along the Apostle Paul’s third missionary journey.
12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land.
Prophets and Signs
A false prophet shows NO SIGNS other than deception and ambition against Almighty God.
Saul of Tarsus had been a great aggressor of Zion without regard for the mercy of God and ears to hear the warning of Israel’s Prophets predicting a servant Messiah who would not ‘break a bruised reed’.
YET the LORD had bruised Paul’s zeal near Damascus and confronted his heart with the Gospel of His Own RESURRECTION!
NO SIGN of a Prophet proves his message true more than a resurrection of a body and restoration of a soul.
THE LORD had provided proof of His Word through Moses and through Elijah who have now appeared to Jesus’ Apostles Peter, James and John. The Word provides a sign to Saul by once more appearing to the apostle then prophesying the most difficult journey ahead as JESUS would send Paul out to the Gentiles as His chosen instrument.
Our focus on this late-night incident in Troas is Paul’s midnight talk of JESUS and its impact on the Church. My secondary focus is a role of Paul we may not have considered as today’s TITLE suggests.
Acts 20:
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.
The following 2-part post from just six verses in Acts 20 and Paul's third missionary journey focuses on two topics:
1. An extra long sermon (not so unusual for ANY pastor so it would seem) AND
2. an extraordinary sign suggesting that Paul is also a Prophet of Almighty God.
a Sunday service before their Monday departure
Luke records in Acts 20 that the Apostle Paul is already on his way home.
And we sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days. – Acts of the Apostles 20:6
a weekly Sunday worship
Let's not miss the context and content of this day which was likely sometime in the year of our Lord 56.
Call it what you like:worship, a service, gathering or mass. These Christians of Troas welcomed Paul and his missionary companions into their weekly time together as a community in Christ.
And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread..
Holy Communion
About this same time [A.D. 55 or 56] in his first letter back to the church in Corinth Paul will also instruct worshipers to obediently partake in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus.
1 Corinthians 11:2 LSB For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was being betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,
“This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
The Sermon of a Church Father
Note that Paul is NOT the local day-to-day Pastor and Shepherd of this church. The Apostle speaks to a large group gathered in Troas for worship.
A crowded Christian gathering in an upper room anticipates Paul's Spirit-led exhortation [encouragement, both positive and cautionary].
AND Paul's 'talk' was not simply a one-man sermon to the flock without response but included extended additional dialogue.
Paul began speaking to them.. [began talking in the NASB & others]
διαλέγομαι– in the Greek – discuss (in argument or exhortation):—dispute, preach (unto), reason (with), speak.
The AV translates it “preached,” in Act 20:7, 9; this the RV corrects to “discoursed,” lit., “dialogue,” i.e., not by way of a sermon, but by a “discourse” of a more conversational character.
Luke opens ACTS using this same word referring to his Gospel as his 'first account' [prōtos logos].
Scene of this late service
(for dialogue between the men of the church)
Luke does not mention the time of their regular Sunday worship.
It could have been nine or eleven in the morning. Perhaps it was an evening service planned for after the saints typically ate their evening meal at home with their families.
SEE Paul's mention of this in 1 Corinthians 11:17-22 THE LORD'S SUPPER
Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the windowsill, sinking into a deep sleep.
Have you ever known someone to fall asleep ‘in church’ when their flesh could no longer bear another word of the pastor’s sermon or discussion of an unseen God and the Lord JESUS?
This young man, a boy likely brought by his father to the upper room of their evening service precariously perched himself in an open window where air circulated into the crowded place of worship.
BUT he just couldn’t last through all the long talk of JESUS by the Apostle Paul and others.
(Perhaps by midnight what little breeze had revived the boy had subsided into stillness.)
He FELL to his death!
DEATH! a sudden ending
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.
This sudden incident brought the church meeting and Paul’s talk to an abrupt end.
The boy’s father and worshipers listening to Paul’s talk must have been stunned as the young man suddenly fell to his death.
So these men rushed downstairs and then outside to witness the apparent tragedy of the young man Eutychus for themselves.
a Sign of Life and Power through Paul
But Paul went down and fell upon him..
Acts of the Apostles 20:10a
What Luke records NEXT in his account is both significant and perhaps largely ignored in 21st century C.E. preaching about the early history of the Church.
THEREFORE, we will leave the outcome of this evening for NEXT time and by way of comparison also look at Scripture concerning other Prophets (as I have suggested of the Apostle Paul).
ACTS of the Apostles – To Be Continued… in A.D. 1st c. Troas, God-willing
Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
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