Awake, O Sleeper
Acts 20:7-12 & 17-24 “On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper. Paul was preaching to them, and since he was leaving the next day, he kept talking until midnight. The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps. As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below. Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘he’s alive!’ Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left. Meanwhile, the young man was taken home alive and well, and everyone was greatly relieved…
But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him. When they arrived he declared, ‘You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.
‘And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” (NLT)
We need to
When God’s
even what looks dead can rise again.
3 Challenges I see in Acts 20:
I.
Acts 20:7b-9 “Paul was preaching to them, and…kept talking until midnight…As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus…became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below.” (NLT)
• Some of you aren’t bored today—You’re
Romans 13:11 “This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” (NLT)
Hebrews 2:1 “So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.” (NLT)
Matthew 26:41b “For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” (NLT)
II.
Acts 20:10-12 “Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘he’s alive!’ Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and…the young man was taken home alive and well…” (NLT)
Ephesians 5:14b “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” (NLT)
Romans 8:11a “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you…” (NLT)
III. Don’t
Acts 20:22,24a “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me… But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus…” (NLT)
2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.” (NLT)
Hebrews 12:1b “…let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” (NLT)
• Don’t
Romans 13:11 “This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” (NLT)
Conclusion: You might be
but I assure you, He’s not