Chapter 34

Paul's Farewell Tour

Acts 20:1-17

 

 

A Farewell Journey, 2-:1-6.

 

After the riot, Paul left and Ephesus and headed toward Macedonia and Achaia, v. 1.  This had been the desire of Paul's heart for some time, see 19:21. 

 

Before leaving on the journey to Jerusalem, Paul wanted to visit all the churches which had been established on Missionary journeys 1 and 2.  When he wrote II Corinthians, he spoke of the "care of all the churches" and this was his way of providing it.  Paul had two goals in mind as he visited the various churches.  First and foremost, he wanted to encourage and strengthen the saints so that they might stand true to the Lord and be effective witnesses.  Second, he was taking an offering from the Gentile churches to take to the needy saints in Jerusalem.  The men who accompanied him (v. 4) were representatives of the churches, appointed to travel with Paul and help handle the funds.

 

When you harmonize this with the letters of Paul, you discover that he expected to meet Titus at Troas and get a report on the church at Corinth, how they had responded to his first blistering letter, but Titus did not show up in Troas.  The two men finally met in Macedonia and Paul rejoiced over the good news Titus brought him.  Paul had originally planned to make 2 visits to Corinth but instead made just one visit and stayed 3 months, during which he wrote Romans.

 

According to verse 3, a change of plans was forced when the brethren heard of a Jewish plot to kill Paul while at sea.  Instead of sailing, he traveled overland to Philippi and then by sea to Troas (v. 6) where he rendezvoused with the other men (v. 5).  Paul was in Philippi for the Passover, spent 5 days getting to Troas and another 7 days there, v. 6.

 

All of this demonstrates vividly Paul's love for the churches.  In fact, the text begins in verse 1 with a embracing of the disciples (a physical sign of affection) and in verse 2 with giving much exhortation (teaching and encouragement) showing Paul's love for the churches.  His enduring persistence is also here.  Paul is not a young man (probably late 50's or beyond) and yet he endured the physical rigors of travel, the mental anguish of threats on his life and changed plans.  What a commitment he made to the cause of Christ through the ministry of local churches!  Compare that with your commitment to the local church.

 

 

A Farewell Service, 20:6-16

 

In these verses we get a glimpse into the services of a first-century church.  Paul attended the church at Troas.  What do we learn about church?

 

The Lord's Day, vs. 7 - The disciples assembled on the first day of the week.  The early churches did not assemble on Saturday, the Sabbath which was in keeping with the Old Testament law, but on Sunday, the first day of the week, the day on which the Resurrection occurred, I Corinthians 16:1-2.  Hence, "the Lord's Day," Revelation 1:10.  The Old Testament Sabbath was a day of rest.  The New Testament Lord's Day is a day of worship.  They met in an "upper chamber", probably someone's home or a rented room.

 

The Lord's People - "the disciples came together to break bread."  As we read on, we realize that this service happened in the evening.  In the pagan world, Sunday was not considered a holy day and so workers would have had to labor during the day and assemble during the evening hours. 

 

The text says that when they were together, they broke bread, see also Acts 2:42.  Was this the Lord's Supper?  Not necessarily.  Although communion does involve unleavened bread that is broken, when we read about the churches breaking bread together, we need not assume that it means communion.  In fact, verse 11 indicates that it was a regular meal.  (Explain the breaking of bread).  Jude 1:12 speaks about "feasts of charity."  The church came together to eat, I Corinthians 11:21-22.  Fellowship almost always includes the sharing of food.  The problem at Corinth was that at the feasts of charity they were not sharing.  In the 1st century churches, the people got together and enjoyed fellowship, Hebrews 10:25.

 

The Lord's Message  - In the early church there was preaching.  V. 7 - "Paul preached unto them."  V. 9 - "Paul was long preaching."  V. 7 - "He continued his speech until midnight."  As long as there have been churches there have been long sermons!

 

In some churches there is little preaching and a lot of ritual.  In some there is little preaching and a lot of playing.  But in the churches of the New Testament era, there was great emphasis placed on the Word of God.  II Timothy 4:2 - "Preach the word."  It is still God's admonition to spiritual leaders. 

 

The Lord's Power - Whether it was the lateness of the hour or the stuffiness of the room (surely not the dullness of the sermon) Eutychus, described as a young man, fell asleep and fell out of the window to his death.  Paul raised him from the dead. 

 

We shouldn't be too hard on this young man.  He may have worked hard that day and try as he might, he was eventually conquered by sleep.  At least he was at church!  (Mark Eaton).

 

We shouldn't be too hard on Paul for preaching so long.  After all, this was a farewell message.

 

Perhaps we should ask ourselves, "What really keeps me awake?"  Some Christians who cannot stay awake at church, have no trouble getting up very early to go fishing or staying up very late to watch something on TV.  Surely the worship of God should be a higher priority than these things.  "Remember, if we go to sleep during the sermon and die, there are no apostles to resurrect us!" (C. H. Spurgeon).

 

The fellowship lasted all night and the next day they were scheduled to leave, v. 13.  The first day Paul chose to travel by foot (about a ten hour walk) while the others sailed.  Then Paul got on the same ship and traveled 3 days before arriving at Miletus, vv. 14-15. 

 

Verse 16 explains that Paul wanted to be in Jerusalem by Pentecost, 50 days after Passover.  If you count all of the days in this chapter, you discover that 16 of those 50 days had already past.  So Paul, would not take the time to go inland to Ephesus, but had arranged a meeting of the Ephesian elders in Miletus so as to conserve time.

 

Again, all of this illustrates for us the love that Paul has for the churches.  Here we see his availability and his concern.