The Word Made Plain

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Word Made Plain with Senior Pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching a study in the book of Acts. Please open your Bibles to Acts chapter 20, verses 1 through 12.

Tony Clark: All right, let’s dive into the Word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to the Book of Acts chapter 20. We’re going to be looking at verses 1 through 12. As we continue to go verse by verse and chapter by chapter through the book of Acts on Sunday mornings, on Wednesday nights, we’re going through 1 Samuel, the Old Testament. For those of you who don’t know, we go chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and book by book through the Bible.

Here we are in chapter 20 of the book of Acts. We’re going to look at verses 1 through 12, and God willing, next week we’ll pick up in verse 13 and the week after that, we’ll just keep it rolling. That is how we do it. Father, we are so grateful to have your word to lead us and to guide us into all truth. We pray that your Holy Spirit would teach us now. You will prepare hearts to receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save our souls. Thank you so much in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Acts chapter 20, looking at verses 1 through 12. The title of this message is "Wake Up! Wake Up!" When you hear the phrase wake up, it implies that someone is asleep. Someone is asleep physically, or someone can be asleep mentally and you want to shake them and say, "Wake up!" But did you know that you can fall asleep spiritually? That you can be drowsy spiritually?

These are the lessons that we will learn today from a young man named Eutychus, who falls asleep in church. Falling asleep in church is nothing new. People have been falling asleep for a long time. So we’re going to look at this. Look what it says there in verse 1. "After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia." I want to draw your attention to the first phrase, "After the uproar had ceased."

The Greek word for uproar is "thorubos," and it describes an uncontrollable hysterical mob, which describes what took place in the previous chapter when a man named Demetrius, who happened to be a silversmith, stirred up a mob to come against Paul because the idol business was drying up when the people were coming to Christ. They would make little miniature Dianas. Diana was the Roman name, and Artemis was her Greek name, the goddess of sensuality.

Demetrius would make little silver idols for the people to take home with them. When people were coming to Christ, they stopped worshipping those idols. They kicked those idols out. They put those idols away because now they’re worshipping the Lord. He got a little upset about it and gathered all his other buddies who were in a similar trade and said, "We’ve got to get this dude out of here because the people are coming to Christ at the preaching of Paul and they put away their idols."

I thought that was fascinating because this is what should happen in our lives as well when we come to Christ. The idols that once dominated our lives should dry up. Those things that we once put before God, we once put before the church, should be gone. I just want to know, is that true in your life? Are the old things passing away in your life like 2 Corinthians 5:17 says? This is what it means to be born again, to have the old things, the old desires, the old passions pass away, and Jesus replaces them with His desires and His passions.

It reminds me of the wise men in chapter 2 of Matthew. When they came to worship Jesus, they brought their gifts to Jesus—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What’s so amazing is that after they left, it says God spoke to them and told them to go back home another way. I bring this up because having an encounter with Jesus may mean your life may take a different direction. The things that you once did, the things you once had a desire and a passion to do, those things may pass away.

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things become new. I know you went to school for that. I know you went to trade school and got trained in that. I know you’ve been on this job for how many years, but following Jesus, having an encounter with Jesus, may mean your life may take a different direction. I know the Lord was laughing when I said this. You’ve heard me mention this before.

When I had an academic scholarship to college, I was going to get into electronic technology. I wanted to move into robotics. Also, I was a very good baseball player and had a baseball scholarship. I thought I was going to have a great Major League career, go into robotics, and that’s life. But I had an encounter with Jesus, and my life went in another way. When I look at my life now, even I have to smile. Even I have to laugh because I remember as a young teen when I was in high school, I was like, "Yeah, I’m going to go do this, and I’m going to go do that."

Following Jesus may mean your life takes a different direction. That is what happened with the wise men. God told them to go home another way. Following Jesus may mean your life may take a different direction. The desires and passions you once had, guess what? Those things will pass away, and the Lord begins to give you new passions and new desires to do what He’s called you to do. It may mean that what you’re doing now, you may totally be doing this over here.

God is speaking to some folks right now because you’ve been sensing a stirring. You’re like, "What’s that all about?" Well, your encounter with the Lord may take you in a different direction. "But I went to school for this and I still have the student loans to prove it." It may mean you may continue on your path, but I guarantee you that the idols that were once in your life, you will no longer want to worship those idols because when you come to Jesus, Jesus has a way of satisfying.

He has a way of completing us. He has a way of doing a work in us that we used to fill it with other things, but now we fill it with Him. He gives us new desires. It is God who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. God works in us to do what He has ultimately called us to do. Paul realized that it was time to leave Ephesus. So he gathers the believers together to say goodbye. The end of verse 1 says that he departed to go to Macedonia for the purpose of collecting some money from the churches there to take back to Jerusalem because there was a severe famine there and the church needed help.

Look what it says there in verses 2 and 3. "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." In these verses, we see Paul retracing some of his steps, revisiting some of the churches he established on his second missionary journey. The end of verse 2 says that he came to Greece, more specifically to the city of Corinth.

He was there for three months according to verse 3. From Corinth, Paul wrote the book of Romans. Even though he had not visited Rome yet, he sends this powerful letter to them telling them about salvation and God and how he desired to see them. As Paul was about to board a ship to cross the Mediterranean Sea, he heard about a plot of some of the unbelieving Jews who intended to throw him overboard once the ship set sail. So he returned to Macedonia like the end of verse 3 says. He ended up going south to Jerusalem.

Look what it says there in verses 4 and 5. "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." As Paul returned to Macedonia, he gathered an entourage to accompany him. Very likely each one of them listed in verse 4 were carrying money they raised in their own churches for the purpose of safety and accountability.

They traveled together to take this money to help out the suffering church in Jerusalem, which Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 8:1-21. Look at verse 6. "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." As Paul and his companions head towards Jerusalem, they sailed from Philippi to Troas. Luke, the author, gives us the time period this took place, which was after the Days of Unleavened Bread, around the time of the feast of Passover.

He tells us that it took them five days to arrive there. Wait a minute. In Acts 16:11, it said that this same trip only took them one day to arrive. What happened this time is what happens so often in our lives as we journey through life. Sometimes we will experience smooth sailing, and at other times it will be rough going. Some of you may be in rough waters right now. I talked to someone after the first service, and she was talking about how much she’s going through and she’s barely hanging on. I just told her what I’m about to tell you here.

You’ve got to keep sailing. So often what we want to do when we are going through rough waters is abandon ship, but it’s not time to abandon ship. It’s time to keep sailing. I was thinking about this during worship; it came into my mind. Some of you right now want to abandon ship. I don’t know whether that’s abandoning ship on your marriage, abandoning ship on some career, or whatever it is because it’s rough waters, it’s tough going, and you’re thinking about abandoning ship. I’m here to tell you to keep sailing.

Eventually, you will get to the Jerusalem, your Jerusalem, like Paul is going to eventually get to his. You’ll never get there if you abandon ship. If you abandon ship, you’re in the water. You’re not in the ship going toward your Jerusalem. If you abandon ship, you’re in the water. So here it is, they ended up taking five days to get to the same trip that normally takes one. Just keep in mind, no matter what, all of us are either going into a storm, in a storm, or just came out of one. In this life that we live, those are the three phases we’re going to find ourselves: going into a storm, in the midst of one, or just came out of one.

Keep sailing. Look at verses 7 through 9. "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."

In these verses, we see the incident centered around a young man named Eutychus. The first thing I would like to bring to your attention is the day the early church met: on the first day of the week, according to verse 7. Not the seventh day of the week, which is Saturday, but the first day of the week, which is Sunday. Why am I emphasizing this? I emphasize this because there will be people who will try to lead you to believe that we Christians should worship on Saturday, the Sabbath day.

They say that worshipping on Sunday, you’re worshipping the sun. I said, well, worshipping on Saturday, are you worshipping Saturn? Forgive me; my sarcasm comes out sometimes when people try to pull the wool over my eyes with foolishness. The keeping of the Sabbath was for the Jewish people to observe as a sign of the Mosaic covenant He made with them, according to Exodus 31:16-17 and Ezekiel chapter 20, verse 12.

Nowhere in the New Testament are we as believers called to observe the Sabbath. Just the opposite is the case. Please tuck these verses I’m about to tell you in your hip pocket. Colossians chapter 2, verses 16 and 17, says, "Let no one judge you"—let's stop right there. This thing called judging, Solomon said there’s nothing new under the sun. You know, people say, "Oh, you’re judging." Let me tell you something, there’s nothing new under the sun.

The Bible says, "Let no one judge you," watch this, "in food." Stop right there. "You know, brother, you shouldn’t be eating that pork, that swine. The Bible forbids that swine." Okay, let me help you with that. It says let no one judge you, the first thing it says is in food. Not eating pork will make you healthier, not holier. And I’m going to give you the verse to back it up. 1 Corinthians 8:8, for you note-takers: watch this, listen to what Paul said. "Food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse."

Food does not commend us to God. So if you go around saying, "I don’t eat that pork," great, you’re healthier. You’re not holier. You’re just healthier. As I sprinkled some bacon on my pizza I had Friday night, and I’ve got a couple of slices waiting for me when I get to the house, I’m going to enjoy that bacon and not have a problem. Not a problem at all. I had some ribs from Applebee’s the other day and enjoyed every bit of them. Now, it doesn’t make me healthier. I mean, you know, I’m not healthy eating that. I don’t go all overboard with it. Everything tastes better with bacon. Wrap it with some bacon; everything tastes better with bacon.

I don’t trip on that. The Bible says let no man judge you, notice, in food or in drink or regarding a festival. Stop right there. We have Christians today who are saying, "Hey, guess what? Christians should be observing the Jewish festivals like the Day of Pentecost, the Day of Atonement, and all that sort of stuff." No, Paul is telling us: let no one judge you in food or drink or regarding a festival, new moon, or Sabbaths. It goes on, "which are a shadow of things to come."

When you see a person’s shadow, it’s not that person. It’s just their shadow. It's a shadow of things to come, meaning that the feast days, the Sabbath, and all those food dietary laws, all that kind of stuff, those were just a shadow of things to come. The substance is Christ, meaning that Christ is the fulfillment of the festival; He’s the fulfillment of the Sabbath. Watch this. Remember I mentioned on New Year’s Eve in Matthew 11:28-30: "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," or I will give you Sabbath.

It is through Jesus Christ that we experience our rest. Rest in the Greek is "anapauo," and it’s an amazing Greek word. It means to give rest, give intermission from labor, and by implication, it means to refresh. I just have to pause and ask you today, are you at rest today? Or are you weary and heavy laden? Do what Jesus says; come to Him. He says and He will give you rest. The rest that you’re looking for, the rest that you’re longing for, He will give your soul Sabbath.

Put it at peace and put it at rest. Many of you are not at peace in your soul. Fanny Crosby wrote one of those famous hymns talking about "It is Well with My Soul." Is it well with your soul? I’ve just got to ask you, is it well with your soul? This is something that you need to ponder in your own heart because you can easily put on a show outwardly and go home and weep yourself to sleep. Is it well with your soul? Is your soul at rest? You can only find rest when you come to Him.

Jesus said, "Come to Me." He didn’t say come to the bottle. He didn’t say come to the couch. He didn’t say come to the drug. He said, "Come to Me, and I will give you the rest that you’re looking for that you’re trying to drown out, that you’re trying to smoke away." He said, "I will give you the rest that you’re looking for, the rest that you’re longing for that you’re trying to find in relationships and men and all kinds of stuff." He said, "I will give you rest. I will give your soul Sabbath." Oh, somebody needs a Sabbath rest in here today. I guarantee it. You can only find it when you come to Him.

This is what the word of God is teaching. Now, here’s another verse to put the rest this worship on Saturday issue. Romans 14:5 says, "One man esteems one day above another; another man esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind." Now, I am convinced that every day is the Lord’s day, and I worship Him every day. Someone else wants to make Saturday their day. That’s fine. You can do that. But don’t try to put some guilt trip on someone else because they don’t want to observe Saturday the way you do.

That’s the word of God. One man esteems one day above another. Saturday, the Sabbath. Okay, if you want to do that, I’m good with you doing that. Others want to esteem every day alike. That’s me. I wake up every day worshipping and praising God. I’m in my car worshipping, praising God. I’m thanking the Lord. I’m praying because y’all on the road and y’all can’t drive. So I’m worshipping, I’m praying. I worship God every day.

The Bible says let every man be fully convinced in his own mind. Some folks want to say Saturday is it. Okay, I’m good with you saying that, but don’t try to put some guilt trip on somebody else because they worship on another day or every day. The word is so plain on this. I just love how plain the word is. It’s very plain, simple, and I love it. So the early church worshipped on Sunday. They called it the Lord’s day. Why? Because it was the day the Lord was resurrected.

It was also the day that the Lord appeared to the disciples in John chapter 20 after His resurrection. The last reason why they gathered on Sunday was because it was on a Sunday that the church was born on the Day of Pentecost. We also have proof from the early church fathers—Justin Martyr, Ignatius, Tertullian, and Irenaeus. They all in their writings confirmed that the early church worshipped on Sunday, not Saturday. They worshipped on the first day of the week and not the seventh day of the week.

Now the question is, so what did they do? We know the day they worshipped on. What did they do? According to verse 7, they broke bread. This meant that they had a meal together and afterwards they had communion. They also listened to the word of God being taught. In this case, Paul continued his message until midnight. He did this because he knew that he was going to be leaving them and they would not see each other anymore, and he had a lot to teach them.

Also, because the Greek word for spoke is "dialegomai." It’s where we get our English word dialogue from. It doesn’t mean that he was just there preaching to them until midnight. No, it was a dialogue. There was a question and answer time. It’s just like every time New Year’s Eve comes or whenever we have a time of question and answers, I always have to cut it because we’d be there talking, having questions and answers all night long. Every time we run out of time, we could easily spend New Year’s Eve from 8 to 12 just dealing with questions and answers. And you'd still be there; you'd have one more.

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