Acts 20: No Holding Back

We read Acts 20 and follow Paul from hard travel decisions to a midnight gathering where Eutychus falls to his death and is brought back alive. We also sit with Paul’s tearful farewell to the Ephesian elders and ask whether we’re living with an eternity-first mindset that holds nothing back. 
• Paul encourages believers across Macedonia and Greece despite ongoing threats 
• The Troas gathering breaks bread as Paul teaches late 
• Eutychus falls from the window and Paul restores him 
• Paul hurries toward Jerusalem and calls Ephesian elders to Miletus 
• A leadership charge to shepherd the church and guard against false teachers 
• A personal example of humility, sacrifice, hard work, and generosity 
• A direct question about where we are holding back 

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Transcript

Recap Of Ephesus And The Riot

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hey, this is the Out Loud Bible Podcast, and this is Mike. Last time we were reading through the book of Acts, specifically Acts chapter 19, where we saw the Apostle Paul and his missionary companion Silas go through the city of Ephesus. And in Ephesus, it was the hub of goddess worship, idolatry, specifically the goddess Artemis. And his work in proclaiming the gospel caused quite a stir in the city. We even saw some of the local Jews try to cast out demons in the name of this Jesus that Paul was talking about, but the demons knew Jesus. They knew Paul, but they didn't know these guys. These guys were not speaking on behalf of Jesus. And so it was in a very public scene. These seven sons of a priest were going about doing this, and the demons attacked them and overcame them. And this actually blew up in the city, and people started to realize that, oh wow, Jesus must be real and he must be who we have to follow. And so a whole bunch of people turned their hearts to Jesus and repented. And they had a big book burning of all their new age witchcrafts, pagan idol worship, burned up all their books, and it they burned up a whole lot of costly materials and paraphernalia. And this started this church in Ephesus. Now there was also a riot. We talked about how the local silversmiths who were making idols and making a lot of money making idols to Artemis were threatened by Paul's message and the gospel. They tried to get them killed and thrown out. There's a whole big thing. And we can pick up the story here today in Acts chapter 20. So this is Acts chapter 20 in the New English Translation. After the disturbance had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them and saying farewell,

Paul’s Travels And Encouragement

SPEAKER_00 2:04

he left to go to Macedonia. And after he had gone through those regions and spoke many words of encouragement to the believers there, he came to Greece, where he stayed for three months. Because the Jews had made a plot against him as he was intending to sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. Paul was accompanied by Sopater, son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derby, and Timothy, as well as Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. And these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us in Troaz. We sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and within five days we came to the others in Troas, where we stayed for seven days. And on the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul began to speak to the people, and because he intended to leave the next day, he extended his message until midnight.

Eutychus Falls And Is Restored

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Now there were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, was sinking into a deep sleep while Paul continued to speak for a long time, and fast asleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead. But but Paul went down, threw himself on the young man, put his arms around him, and said, Don't be distressed, for he's still alive. And then Paul went back upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he talked with them a long time until dawn, and then he left, and they took the boy home alive, and were greatly comforted. We went on ahead to the ship and put out to sea for Aesos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for he had arranged it this way, and he himself was intending to go there by land. When he had met us in Aesos, we took him aboard and went to Mytilene, and we set sail from there, and on the following day we arrived off Chios. The next day we approached Samos, and the day after that we arrived in Miletus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so as to not spend time in the province of Asia, for he was hurrying to arrive in Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost. And from Miletus, he sent a message to Ephesus, telling the elders of the church to come to him. And when they arrived, he said to them, You yourselves know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia, serving

Paul’s Farewell Charge To Elders

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the Lord with all humility and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me because of the plots of the Jews. You know that I didn't hold back from proclaiming to you anything that would be helpful and from teaching you publicly and from house to house, testifying to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. And now, compelled by the Spirit, I'm going to Jerusalem without knowing what will happen to me there. Except the Holy Spirit warns me in town after town that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me. But I I I don't consider my life worth anything to myself, so that I may finish my task and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the good news of God's grace. And now I know that none of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom will see me again. Therefore I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of you all, for I didn't hold back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God. Watch out for yourselves, and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that He obtained with the blood of His own Son. I know that after I'm gone, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Even from among your own group, men will arise, teaching perversions of the truth to draw the disciples away after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each of you with tears. And now I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace. This message is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I've desired no one's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine provided for my needs and the needs of those who are with me. By all these things I have shown you that by working in this way we must help the weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, It's more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had said these things, he knelt down with them all and prayed, and they all began to weep loudly, and hugged Paul and kissed him,

Tears Prayer And Final Goodbye

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especially saddened by what he had said that they were not going to see him again. Then they accompanied him to the ship. Kind of a sad chapter here, but a a very compelling one. I don't think I can say what Paul said to any of my groups of friends. I don't think I

Living With Eternity In View

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can say I have given you everything I've got. I haven't asked anything from you, I've done everything I've can to make sure that you are equipped with the gospel. I've taught you everything I know to teach, I have served you fully in every way I know how. I haven't kept anything back. That's quite the claim of being all in on Paul's part. Can we say the same? I don't know if we're talking about a group of people that we're never going to see again, but are we living in such a way that this could be true? Paul continually has this mindset of eternity on his mind. He sees all of the situations he's in, the good and the bad, in light of the fact that it is a just a blip on the radar compared to eternity. He has his eyes on this long-term prize that's in heaven. And everything down here just, I mean, I can't say it doesn't matter, but it doesn't matter as much compared to what he's striving for. And because what he's striving for is so important, everything here desperately does matter when it comes to how much are we giving to help others reach the prize as well. If we're too focused on just trying to survive and trying to make things work here and trying to get as much as we can here, we're gonna lack the perspective that it is really necessary to be able to say these sort of things that Paul said and more importantly, live the sort of life Paul lived. Can you think of one area you've been holding back? Maybe among your friends, maybe among your family, maybe in the way that you're living for God. How does Paul laying it out all on the line here encourage you to go all in in the way that you share your faith, or live your life, or work wholeheartedly for the sake of the gospel? That's the Thinking Out Loud thought for the day. Thanks for joining me here on the Out Loud Bible Podcast. We'll see you next time.