ACTS 20:1-25 TIME TO FINISH THE RACE2017 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 20:1-25 Time To Finish The Race

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2017. Well, this evening we're going to be looking at Acts chapter 20, and we won't cover the whole chapter, but we'll make some progress into it. And looking at the continuing journey of the Apostle Paul in his third missionary journey and

And really now it's the final leg of that journey as he's heading back to Jerusalem. And so we'll get to see some of those locations and things as he's going from place to place. But as we usually do, we want to begin by reading through some of the verses we'll be studying tonight. And so we'll begin in Acts chapter 20, verses 1 through 6. Here's what it says in verse 1.

After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia. 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.

Verse 5. Verse 6.

Here as we begin Acts chapter 20, like I said, we're continuing this missionary journey of the Apostle Paul and kind of following the final leg of his journey.

Last week, as we were looking at chapter 19, we saw Paul in verse 21 lay out his travel plans for us. And so as we looked at that, we kind of showed the map and talked about it a little bit. Paul was in Ephesus for about three years, and that was kind of the bulk of the time of this missionary journey. He was there in Ephesus, and the ministry was going out from Ephesus, but he was based there in Ephesus and reaching all of the surrounding area, which was known as Asia Minor.

And then he laid out his plans in verse 21. He was going to go up to Philippi and go see the churches that were planted there in the previous missionary trip. He was going to go down south to the region of Greece and go back to Corinth there and do some ministry there. And then his plan was to go from there to Jerusalem to...

to deliver the financial gift that the churches had gathered. And there was many saints in need in Jerusalem. And so he was gathering this gift from the churches in the area to take to them, as well as he wanted to celebrate the feast there in Jerusalem.

And then his plan after that was to go from Jerusalem to Rome. And so he was wanting to go, you know, to new territory. He's been over, you know, this area, this region in Asia Minor, in Achaia, in Macedonia. He's been through those several times by this point. And so he wants to go to Rome now and begin to share the gospel in that area as well. And so those were his plans. And

It kind of works out that way. He does end up getting to Jerusalem. He does end up getting to Rome, but not exactly the way that he thought and planned. And so we'll see that unfold here in our chapters this evening or in our passage this evening. And in the chapters to come, we'll see how the Lord eventually gets Paul to Rome as a prisoner, not as a missionary like he was originally thinking. But God used that work regardless.

And so as we look at this passage this evening, we're watching, you know, the plans unfold and this journey progress. And, you know, some passages of the book of Acts are jam-packed with incredible doctrine, you know, first-time monumental events for the church and very important teaching, you know, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and those kinds of things you see that's unfolding throughout the book of Acts. And so, you know,

But then there's other passages in the book of Acts which are more like what you might call a travel log. You know, we went here and we stayed four days and then we went there and stayed four days and these five guys were with us. And there's this kind of like detail of where we were, what we did and, you know, how long we were there and that kind of thing. And not

all of the ministry is discussed. There's a lot, of course, more that's happening than what is being written down, but Luke is just keeping record. And so some of it can be incredibly exciting and some of it can be like, you know, boring history lessons with lots of geography. And so we'll try not to do that too much this evening. But as we look at this passage and we see these different places that Paul went, we

I would ask you to consider the example of the Apostle Paul. And that is that he is not just traveling. He's not just sightseeing as he's going from place to place. You can see very clearly as he goes that

There's a mission that's on his mind, a mission that's on his heart, and it sets for us a really good example to follow. Because the Apostle Paul is wanting desperately to be faithful to what God has called him to do. And that's demonstrated in the way that he operates, but also in what he says in the verses we'll get into a little bit later this evening. But let's just jump down to get a sneak preview, if you would. Jump down with me to verse 22.

And here he's talking to the Ephesian elders and he tells them in verse 22, he says,

so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Here, the heart of the apostle Paul is, you know, there's trouble ahead. I know there's trouble ahead. God keeps telling me there's trouble ahead. And yet he's called me to Jerusalem. And so it doesn't matter how much trouble there is. I am seeking to be faithful to what God has called me to.

And that heart that he expresses here is demonstrated in all of the verses leading up to that. And so we'll look at that this evening. And in light of that, I've titled the message this evening, Time to Finish the Race.

As Paul is coming to the end of this third missionary journey, it's time for him to finish the race. It's time for him to finish this journey, to get to the end of it, and not just this trip, but to finish what God has called him to. And he has a very real word from the Lord that he is called to go to Jerusalem and then to Rome. And we talked about that a little bit last week.

And here Paul expresses this urgency. It's time for me to finish what God has called me to do. And again, it's expressed in the way that he moves from place to place and in the things that he says here in this passage. And similarly, as we look at these things, you know, you and I as believers are called to live with an expectation of eternity.

And there does need to be a little bit of an urgency for us in the way that we live and maybe even in the way that we travel and go from place to place. And I'm not talking about breaking speed limits. I'm talking about having an urgency in our hearts to finish and do the work that God has set before us. Paul desperately desired to be faithful. So he says, none of these things move me. The only thing that matters is that I finish my race with joy.

And I would ask you to consider if that's your heart this evening. Do you desperately desire to be faithful to what God has called you to do? Think about what Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24. He says, do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

Don't just participate in the race. Don't just, you know, hope to one day finish or, you know, I'll just walk it as long as I cross the finish line. I'm good with that. He says, run the race in a way where you would obtain the prize. Run in such a way, do your best. In other words, give it your all to do the best that you can to run the race that God has set before you.

It speaks about a seriousness in our walk with God. It speaks about a seriousness and an urgency in serving God. And again, it's a good example for us to consider for our own hearts this evening.

It's time to finish the race. And are you running to win? Are you kind of just casually wandering and meandering towards the finish line? It's time to run. It's time to really put these things into action and have a heart that's burdened and on fire for the things of God. And so there's five points that we'll walk through as we go through this travel log and see the places that Paul visited and see the example that he sets for us along the way.

The first thing that we find in verses 1 through 6 is that it's time to engage with people. As Paul goes on this, it's kind of like a farewell tour. He's connecting with a bunch of people, connecting with people of churches that he's established and spending time with them. He has this urgency. He has, you know, this burden upon him. He has to get to Jerusalem and

But he doesn't like tune out everybody and then, you know, just go. He, in this, these last times, and he's kind of like saying goodbye, you know, I only have a few minutes left with you guys. And so he's making sure to connect and to engage with the people that God has him connected with.

It's often been said nobody on their deathbed ever wished they spent more time at the office, right? It's the things, well, the relationships that you really find are the most valuable things in life. And Paul the Apostle, as he's in this final leg and has this urgency and senses that he

He's probably never going to see these people again. He's making sure to connect with them and spend some time with the people in his life. Verse 1 here of chapter 20, it says,

After the uproar had ceased, we talked about that last week in chapter 19, the great uproar that took place, the riot that took place in the city of Ephesus. And the mayor of the city kind of calmed it down and dispersed it and nobody ended up being hurt or attacked, you know, during that. But it was a serious situation, very serious threat. But after it was over, the mayor of the city of Ephesus,

Paul had already made plans to go. And so he says, okay, that's it. It's time to go. And so he, notice what he does. He calls the disciples to himself.

He calls a meeting. He calls all the believers and he says, hey guys, come here. And then he says he embraced them and then departed to go to Macedonia. And again, as we look at the Apostle Paul here, he is engaging with the people around him. He doesn't say, all right, it's dangerous here. I'm out of here. See ya. You know, I'll talk to you later. But he makes sure to bring them in.

And that's important. That's something that's important for us as believers to bring people in, to draw them close, to embrace them, even if it's only to say goodbye. But we have to bring them in. We have to, as it says here, he called the disciples to himself.

You know, I could imagine just Paul, you know, sitting there sulking and thinking about, well, why don't these people come and comfort me? You know, there's all this turmoil, there's all this uproar, and I have to leave, and I don't know what my future is, and I don't know what kind of... And so he could have just been sitting in a room all by himself, just kind of like...

you know, I have to go and nobody cares, you know, that kind of thing. And we know what that's like to have that kind of attitude and to, you know, think nobody cares or to kind of just have our own pity parties. But I would encourage you to consider the example of the Apostle Paul and call God

When you're making difficult decisions, when you're going through hard things, when you have to leave, when there's painful emotional things, call people to yourself. Don't sit there and try to handle it on your own, but call the brethren to you and don't be frustrated and hurt that way.

that they're not coming to you on their own, but just call them to you and embrace them and connect and engage with people, especially in these last days. And as there is this urgency that God places upon our hearts. Well, verse two, it says, now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece.

Now here in verse 2 and 3, we have a lot of territory being covered. And so let me just kind of show you a quick glimpse on the map here. We had Paul in Ephesus for about three years. And then in verse 2, when it says, And so here's the map.

He went up to Philippi. He went around there through Thessalonica, through Berea, and then all the way south down to Greece. So he covers this whole territory. He spends some time with the different churches. He's connecting with the believers. We don't have all the details of all of that, but it just says that he encouraged them with many words.

And so he's talking to the people of the churches and connecting with them. And then he goes down to Greece and he stays there for three months. Now, again, he

He's investing a significant amount of time, especially with this urgency that is upon his heart. He must get to Jerusalem. And he's been expressing that already and we'll see it some more. He has an urgency to get to Jerusalem, to celebrate the feast and to be part of, well, what God has called him to be a part of. And yet in the midst of that urgency, and even though there's a lot to do and there's that urgency to finish the race,

He devotes a significant portion of time here, probably primarily in Corinth, and spends some time with the people of Corinth. Now, there's a lot of insights that you can gather from the letters to the Corinthians. First and second Corinthians, there's a lot of

you know, drama that went down and false teachers that had risen up. And 2 Corinthians is a very personal letter where Paul is personally appealing to the Corinthian church. And it seems that he is visiting at this time after that has taken place, after 2 Corinthians. Now he shows up and he spends these several months

with them. And so there's a lot of personal things that have happened and hurts that have been had and, you know, things, but he makes sure to take some time to spend with them as he continues his way on the journey that God had called him to, on the race that God had called him to. And so he stays there for three months, but then as he's preparing to leave, again, his plan was to go straight from there, catch a boat and sail it down to Jerusalem.

But that's not what ended up happening because there was a threat against him. And there was a plot to take him out.

And it was common for those days for there to be around the feast times, kind of these pilgrim voyages where Jews from all over the world would catch a boat and take it to Jerusalem because the law required them to attend three feasts a year if they were nearby. But if they were far away, the general acceptance was you have to come one time a year back to Jerusalem.

And so they would come back during the feast of Passover or the feast of Pentecost or the feast of trumpets. They would try to make one of those feasts every year. And so it was almost the Passover at this time. And so there's a lot of people going back. And so Paul was planning to journey with them. But instead, what happens is because of this plot, it says in verse three, he decided to return through Macedonia. Now, again, I think this is interesting because

He is on his way to Jerusalem. He's made it clear. God's called me to Jerusalem. This is my mission. And yet, he's going to go through Macedonia. And he was just in Macedonia, right? So we got down to Greece. He spends three months in Greece.

He got to Greece by going through Macedonia. Now he's going to turn around and go back up again through Macedonia. And that's what he does. He goes back up through Macedonia and ends up back in Philippi. And so again, he's kind of doing this farewell tour and he's coming back through again, kind of like for an encore, you know, and connecting with the people once again. And he's going to celebrate the Passover there in Philippi.

And so as he heads back now, verse 4, it tells us he has these different guys with him. He has Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia. Also Aristarchus and Segundus. And I'm pronouncing all these names horribly, I'm sure, from the Thessalonians. He has Gaius of Derbe and Timothy and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. And so he has this group of guys with them. And we see that as the pattern for the Apostle Paul everywhere he went.

He had these guys with him. And so again, he's connecting and engaging with believers. And notice these guys are all from all over the place. This guy's from Berea. This guy's from Thessalonica. This guy's from Derby. This guy's from Asia. He's making these connections

connections and building these relationships and bringing them along with him, even as he goes from place to place and is connecting with the people of each place. And so again, just pointing out and highlighting the high value that Paul placed on relationships, even when there was an urgency to get somewhere and to do something that God had called him to do.

In verse five, we see something cool also. He's reunited with Luke. It says in verse five, these men going ahead, waited for us at Troas. So it talks about this group of guys that was with him and they kind of go ahead and they're gonna wait for Paul. But in verse five, it says, they waited for us

At Troas. And so the pronoun changes. It wasn't they did this and they did that and they did that. But now it's us. And we get the indication here that Luke had stayed in Philippi back in Acts chapter 16. And he was in Philippi.

But now as Paul comes back through this time, Luke says, you know what? It's time for me to join up again. And Paul, I'm going to be with you. And so again, you see these relationships and just how these connections were really important to the apostle Paul. And so he's reunited with Luke and Luke will stay with him now through the end of the book. And so you see this companionship and these relationships were very important.

And so Luke joins the group and then the rest of the guys go ahead to Troas. But verse six, it says, 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.

days. And so here again, just following along on the map, the travel log. So up at the top, he Passovered in Philippi. It was the feast of Passover and unleavened bread. They were back to back and so referred to at the same time. And so after that, then Paul and Luke and whoever else was with him crosses over to the rest of the guys who were at Troas where they were waiting for him. Now,

The rest of the guys were probably Gentiles, so they probably didn't actually celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but Paul probably stayed there in Philippi and celebrated that as a Jew. Just a little side note there. And so then he, that's why he didn't travel ahead immediately, but he stayed there, celebrated the feast, and then crossed over.

Again, as we look at verses one through six, the point I'm looking to highlight is that it's time to engage with people. Paul goes on this farewell tour. He has this great urgency. He has this commission, this call of God to get to Jerusalem. But as he does, he doesn't just, you know, ignore all the calls and drop everybody and just, I got to get to where I got to get to. He doesn't just, you know,

He's making sure to connect, to engage, to spend time with the believers along the way. And so he takes the time to go on this farewell tour, to say goodbye. He calls the Ephesians to himself, the disciples there, and says, hey, I'm leaving, you know, come say goodbye and come embrace me and I'll embrace you. And let's, you know, have that kind of exchange. And he spends the time in Corinth, three months in Greece, and has this group of guys traveling with him. And

reconnects with Luke also on the way. And so you can see the value of the relationships here that the apostle Paul had. And again, it sets a good example for us.

It is time for us to finish the race and to have an urgency, but that is not at the expense of the relationships with people that God has placed in our lives. Instead, it's incorporating those relationships into what God has called us to. And I would encourage you to consider what the author of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 10, 25.

He says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. As you see the finish line, see it's time to finish the race. There's that urgency more and more and more. That's an exhortation not to disconnect from

from the body of believers, from the body of Christ, but that's an exhortation to connect more and to engage more with the believers around you. And so there's a great example here in the apostle Paul, as he has this urgency and this call and he sees the day approaching and

He exhorts one another. He doesn't forsake the assembling of ourselves. He even doubles back and goes through Macedonia twice, even though there's this urgency as he's, you know, spending this time with the people that God has placed in his life.

And so it's time to engage with people. Now, as we go on to verses seven through 12, point number two is it's time to deliver the message. We see a pretty strong commitment on the apostle Paul here to deliver the message that God has given to him. Verse seven. 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.

And so, you know, we here, we really like to put the word of God into practice. And so I hope you're planning to stay till midnight tonight. I'm going to try to follow the sample of the Apostle Paul and put Dave Burton in the back there to sleep and teach till midnight. Now, here's a couple interesting elements of verse 7. It says, on the first day of the week.

And this is kind of significant. It's, you know, one of the major references in the book of Acts and in the scriptures that helps give us the understanding that the early church met on Sunday. That was the church, the day that the church met.

And sometimes people kind of get worked up and think that we try to change the Sabbath to Sunday, but we don't. Sabbath is always Saturday. That's, you know, that's not changed. But it was the practice of the church to meet on the first day of the week, perhaps for a couple reasons. Number one, that's the day that the Lord rose from the dead.

It was also the day that the Lord appeared first to the disciples. And remember, Thomas was missing. And then the next Sunday, they were gathered together again and Jesus appeared again. The day of Pentecost, when the church was gathered together, that would have been a Sunday. And so we see that pattern throughout the book of Acts. And so it's interesting here that it's specifically mentioned it was the first day of the week. So that's when they were having church. That's when the church gathered together specifically to break bread, which could be a reference to...

a Pasole fundraiser like we had on Sunday, or probably it's a reference to the partaking of communion. And so they would gather together on the first day of the week. And there was what was referred to in Corinthians as love feasts. And so there's a got a feast where they would have kind of the potlucks and fellowship together. But there was also the time where they would gather together for communion and partake of that together, you know, partaking of the body of Christ.

And so the first day of the week, they're gathered together. It's church service. Paul is there to speak and he doesn't tell us what time he begins the message. So we don't know really how long it was, but he continued his message until midnight. And then verse eight, 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 and

He was overcome by sleep, and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. That's some pretty hardcore teaching, right? Just out of curiosity, anybody ever fall asleep in church? I didn't mean for you to raise your hand. I was just asking you to think about it.

We've probably all done it, right? I remember I used to always have trouble staying awake when I was at Bible college. And certain teachers, man, it's just so difficult. And so I would take cold soda cans from the vending machine and like hold them against my eye to like kind of shock myself and try to keep awake during some of, you know, the difficult passages and difficult times in Bible college. But we've all had that experience, right? And here's the Apostle Paul. Now, I mean, it's the Apostle Paul. And some of us would be like,

How could you fall asleep, you know, while the apostle Paul is teaching? I mean, we kind of imagine, you know, this would have been awesome. And yet at the same time, we recognize he was a man. And so he, you know, probably wasn't much different than many of the teachers that we like or prefer or think about or maybe even don't like that much. I mean, Corinthians, it doesn't describe Paul as a crazy eloquent man. It

describes him as kind of pretty basic. And he just, you know, shared the word of God. And so he's there, he's speaking until midnight. He goes beyond midnight and there's a lot of lamps in this upper room where they're meeting. And so perhaps it's getting warm. Perhaps, you know, the oxygen is being burned out of the air. And, and so this guy's just kind of like kicking back in the window. There's like a cool breeze and it's like, nice here. And it says he's sinking into a deep sleep. And then all of a sudden, boom, he's out and he falls out of the window and

dies as a result because it's a third story window. J. Vernon McGee says that this is very comforting for him. He says, I confess that

Paul's experience has always been a comfort to me. When I look at the congregation, I see Josh Sung-Yao sleeping. He says, I say to myself, hey, it's all right. Just let him sleep. They slept through Paul's messages too. So there is some comfort for preachers here. And yet, we look at Eutychus and we can all kind of relate. It's hard to stay awake. But nobody looks at this and thinks about the Apostle Paul. And I'm joking around and being silly. But at the same time, let me just encourage you to think about the Apostle Paul in this.

Teaching till midnight is not an easy task. It requires some discipline for preparation. It requires some discipline in bringing forth the Word of God and being faithful to continue on. I mean, I know for some people, they could just talk, talk, talk, talk. It's really easy. They could talk, you know, all night for three days straight, and that's no big deal. But I know for some people,

But to bring forth the word of God, you know, this was a serious thing. This was not just, you know, it's not really a performance, but there's energy, there's preparation, there's an intensity to the apostle Paul that is going into this. And so not only is it difficult sometimes for you to stay awake in service, but it's

And sometimes, I know, I do go long. I confess that. I'm not ashamed of that even. And so maybe it's difficult for you to stay awake. But you know what? Many times it's difficult for me to be faithful to finish well and to make sure I finish communicating what God's put upon my heart. And the same thing would be true with the Apostle Paul.

And so he's being faithful. Again, he is seeking to be faithful to deliver the message that God has given to him. And even if it means he's going to teach till midnight, he's going to teach till midnight. And he's going to be faithful in that and deliver the message that God has set before him.

Well, this guy falls out the window. He is found to be dead. In verse 10, it says, but Paul went down, fell on him and embracing him said, do not trouble yourselves for his life is in him. Now, when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed. So a couple of amazing things happen here. First of all, there's a resurrection. He, this kid dies falling out of the window. Paul resurrects him. Now Paul,

I mean, I could imagine like that would just stop everything, you know, nothing else happens. Let's just glory in the fact that this resurrection took place. But they just go back up, finish the meal, and Paul keeps talking all the way till daybreak. So you thought talking and teaching till midnight was kind of tough, but then he continues teaching all through the rest of the night after this great miracle takes place. Someone has died. Someone is resurrected. Someone

And then let's continue in the word of God. Again, it highlights for us the importance of the message. Paul, the apostle was faithful to deliver the words that God had given to him. He was faithful to deliver the message and to bring forth the word of God to the people.

And if it took him all night, he was going to do it all night. And if he had to stop and resurrect someone from the dead so he could finish, he would do that. If he had to stop and finish the meal so he could finish the message, then he would do that. But you see the priority and the passion. Even if it's costly, even if it's difficult, even if it's hard, he's going to make sure that he's faithful to finish the message that God has given to him.

And so here again, we have this example. It's time to deliver the message. Paul knew he had limited time with these people. And so he takes advantage of every moment he can. He expends himself greatly to bring forth the word of God. Verse 12 says, and they brought the young man in alive and were not a little comforted. So they're comforted. They're encouraged by the message of the apostle Paul, but of course by this resurrection as well. But I think it's interesting. So

In verse 10, he's resurrected. Then they go up and finish the meal and he finished his teaching. And then, oh yeah, and by the way, they were comforted by the resurrection of the guy too. Like, it's kind of like, hey, the most important thing here was not so much the great miracle, but that was important and they were comforted by that. But again, the priority of this message that God had given the apostle Paul and it was time to deliver that and whatever costs that required, he was going to pay it.

And so again, we see this urgency upon the Apostle Paul. It's time to finish the race, to engage with people along the way, and to bring forth the message that God had given to him. Now, as we go on to verse 13 and 14, we have point number three, and that is get some alone time. Maybe this sounds a little bit contrary to what we've already been talking about. But again, we see a good example here, a good pattern for us in the Apostle Paul in verse 13.

Here's an interesting exchange that happens. So the guys go ahead. They're waiting at Troas. Paul's in Philippi. After the Passover, he crosses over. He teaches all night at

until it's time to board the ship. And so they all go to the dock. Okay, it's time to go. And everybody gets on board except the apostle Paul. And I think it's interesting here, the way that it words it. It says, they went to head to the ship and sailed to Assos. They're intending to take Paul on board for so he had given orders, intending himself to go on foot. So he kind of sends them off on the boat, but Paul doesn't get on. He

Instead, he takes a different route. What route did he take? Well, here's the geography again, looking at the travel log. So they're in Troas. That's where Eutychus dies. That's where they have this all night meeting. And then they go to the docks and the purple line is the course of the ship for the rest of the crew that Paul was traveling with. And they take this ship around this point and then dock again at Assos. Okay.

And then Paul goes by land. Now, it was actually a shorter distance because, you know, you could go straight there. And so it probably would not have taken much time difference, but it was a different way to get there. And it seems that Paul had this intention to spend some time alone. He puts everybody on the boat. You guys go this way. I kind of wonder, you know, it doesn't really say this. So I'm not trying to like, you know,

Be too blasphemous. But I kind of wonder in my own head, my own imagination, if Paul kind of maybe pulled a fast one and like, you know, just kind of went along like, yeah, we're going to go ahead and we're going to get on the boat here and we're going to go. And then at the last minute, Paul says, okay, you guys are on the boat. The doors are shut. You know, see you later. I'll meet you on the other side. Like, why are you ditching us, Paul? And I can kind of imagine that unfolding, you know, but Paul...

takes some time away from the crowd, away from the people, and he does this 20-mile walk by himself from Troas to Essos. And then they meet up there. But so it's not, you know, a crazy amount of time. He doesn't become a hermit or anything, you know, but it's just a few days he just takes to take this journey, to walk by himself from this place to that place and

And then when they all meet up on the other side, then they bring him on board. And here I see a good pattern for us. Again, it's important. The people are important and we need to engage with people and not forsake the assembling of ourselves. And all of that is important. And yet at the same time, there needs to be balance. We can't only spend time with people. There also needs to be some time where we get away and just have some time between us and the Lord.

And there's some parallels for us to kind of think about as well and consider here as Paul is on his way. He knows it's serious. He'll say in just a few verses, the Lord shows me in every city that trouble and chains await me. So he recognizes he's going into some very difficult and turbulent waters. And so he sees the need. I see some rough days ahead. I see some challenges ahead. I know there's some difficulties in this race that God has set before me.

And so I need to make sure I have some time alone. And I see some parallels there to the life of Christ. And as he was heading to the cross and heading, he knew what was about to happen. He gets away. He spends some time with his disciples, but he leaves them there and he goes off and he prays on his own. And he spends some time with the Lord by himself preparing himself

for the difficulties that lay ahead. And there needs to be that kind of relationship with God for every one of us. That we have our friendships and we have our exhorting one another and the connecting together and the fellowship. And that's so important and don't forsake that. But also you need to have that same kind of connection and relationship with God all by yourself.

where that you're not relying upon somebody else's relationship with God, but that you learn to connect with God on your own. And that's what we have by faith in Jesus Christ, that connection to God. And a lot of times as believers, it's kind of easy for us to ride on the coattails of other people and their relationship with God. But you know what? You need to have some time where you get alone and just learn to walk with God all by yourself, to hear his voice.

to be encouraged and instructed by him, to follow the example here of the apostle Paul. And he's not the only one who set this example. We also see this in the life of Jesus. Now, of course, we look at Jesus. We understand that he's the son of God, but it's important to understand that Jesus lived this life as a man with humanity like you and I have, except for the sinful nature part of it, but with the limitations that we have.

And so it tells us, Luke highlights this aspect of the ministry of Jesus, the humanity of Jesus in his gospel. And we'll see that as we work our way through the gospels on the Bible in three years. But Luke says in Luke chapter five, verse 16, that Jesus himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. That Jesus would have these purposeful disconnections. I'm gonna separate myself from

and just spend some time alone with the Father. And as Jesus was living out the race that God had set before him, he required and he needed those times of disconnecting to be by himself just to pray, to seek God and spend time with God. And again, we see that pattern demonstrated also in the Apostle Paul here. And so there's an urgency. It's time to finish the race and we need to run the race to win this.

But again, that doesn't mean that we drop all the connections, that we disregard people, that we stop spending time with people and stop attending church or stop engaging in different Bible studies and such. No, it's time to intensify those things because, well, we're running the race to win and we see the day approaching. It's also time to deliver the message, to make sure that we bring forth the

The word that God has given to us, that is, of course, you could consider the gospel to unbelievers, but even here, Paul is ministering to believers that we need to be faithful to bring the encouragement, the exhortation, and the instruction from the Lord to those that God has placed in our lives. We need to make disciples and bring forth that message. And even if it requires great expense and you have to stay up all night to do it,

But then also along with that and bringing balance to the picture thus far, we also need to have some times that are set aside that are just for us and the Lord. You're not invited and you're not invited and you're not invited. You guys get on a boat. I need to just spend some time with God.

And it's so important for each of us to have that alone time and to know how to walk with God on our own and not rely upon somebody else's relationship with God. And married couples, this can really easily happen, you know, as a married couple, as a spouse, you know, God's speaking to the spouse, your spouse, because he's, you know, wanting to manage your house and take care of your house and lead your house and guide your house and,

husbands, sometimes it could be easy for us to just kind of like kick back and like, hey, let God speak to the wife. I don't have to work so hard because it is work. It requires this investment of time. But listen, God wants you to have your own relationship with God. Don't just rely on your wife's relationship with God or your husband's relationship with God. Make sure that you have purposeful time that's set aside. Nobody else is included and

And you yourself know how to walk with God and hear from God and follow the instruction that he gives to you. Again, great example here from the Apostle Paul. Well, moving on to verse 15 through 17, we have point number four, and that is manage your time wisely.

It's time to finish the race. There is an urgency and there's a lot of people to connect with. There's time alone with God that you have to, you know, prepare for as well. And there's the message that God's given you to deliver. And so it's going to require some time management. You need to think about how you're spending your time and where your time is going. If you're going to finish this race well. Verse 15 says,

It says,

So here we see from the example of Paul, we need to manage our time wisely. Again, looking at the travel log, he's in Philippi for Passover. 50 days after Passover was the feast of Pentecost. So he's in Philippi for Passover and within 50 days, he wants to be at Jerusalem.

And today that probably wouldn't be such a tight timeline, but for his day and the method of travel, I mean, that was pushing it, that you could do it. But yeah, you had to be pretty diligent with your time in order to make that happen. And so again, he goes to Troas, he goes across to Assos where they meet up again. And now it records a couple of ports they hit. And then they sail around, notice they pass Ephesus and they port at Miletus.

And it's there that they're going to camp out for a little bit, a few minutes. And so Paul sends word to Ephesus to bring back the Ephesian elders. And then after this is going to be a very powerful passage where the apostle Paul gives his kind of farewell speech to

to the Ephesian elders where he's just spent, you know, a little over three years ministering to them and alongside of them. And so there's been these really strong relationships and now they're saying goodbyes, you know, and so we'll see that unfold next week as we pick it up and finish off chapter 20 of the book of Acts. But he's sending word to them and it says in verse 16,

Paul had decided, so there's intent that, you know, he's making purposeful decisions to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia. Now, Paul, of course, would have loved to be there in Asia and to spend time in Ephesus, but he had this race that has been set before him. And he knew, if I go to Ephesus, man, it's going to be really hard to keep that trip short.

It's going to be really hard. There's going to be, you know, lots of demands. There's going to be lots of opportunities. And so, you know, the most expedient thing, I need to get Jerusalem. That's the priority. So I'll just get as close as I can. And so he goes and parks at Miletus and then brings the Ephesian elders to him so that he can deliver this final message and this farewell address. And again, we'll look at that next week. But verse 16 tells us that he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem.

There was a burden. There was an urgency on the apostle Paul. He had to finish the race that God has set before him. And so it required him to make decisions and to decide, you know what? I'm not going to go there because if I go there, it's going to take too much time and keep me from what God has called me to do.

Instead, I'm going to go here. And so he's being strategic with his time. He's managing his time so that he can fulfill and be faithful to what God had called him to do. Meanwhile,

Still having a taste of the things that he would love to do, the things that he would want to do, and the ministry that he would want to pass on to the church of Ephesus. And so instead of, you know, going back to the church, he just meets with the elders. And so he spends some time with them and then sends them back to minister to the church of Ephesus. And so you see him making decisions. And again, this is so important for us.

You know, it's very easy for us in our lives. We're all busy, right? I don't think even the retired guys, right, guys? I mean, it's like nobody says, you know,

I just have so much time on my hands. I don't know what to do with myself. When's the last time you heard that, right? Everybody has stuff to do. There's things to do. And of course, we have 24 hours each day and it just goes by. And so even if you don't think that you have a lot to do and you're just sitting around on the couch, the time is gone. And unless we are purposeful and make decisions, we can very easily miss out on

on some of the parts of the race that God has set before us. And it's okay, you know, to miss out on things. And there's always going to be decisions we have to make and we can't do everything that we want to do and all of that good stuff. Important, good things to know. But here's the thing that I would ask you to consider. And that is just make sure that you're making those decisions on purpose. So for example,

On Wednesday nights, we have usually a time of worship at the end. And the amount of time, you know, in the worship depends on how long I go in the message. And if I go till midnight, you know, then we only get a couple hours of worship at the end. So, you know, it depends. But here's what I tell the worship leaders. It's okay. Service ends at 830. It's okay to go past that. And you're like, what? You tell them that? No wonder they go past that. Well, no, no. Here's what I say. It's okay to go past that.

Just do it on purpose. That is, make a conscious decision. You're ending that song. Okay, boom. Jesus, I love you. Okay, great. It's 829. Lord, do you want us to go into another song or to sing that chorus again? Or should I just end the service right now? And it's very easy for a worship leader to just finish their set, regardless of what time it is or what's happening in the room. Eyes are closed. I don't even know what's happening in the room. I can't see the clock. And so you just finish the worship set. But

But what I exhort them in and I, you know, encourage them in is, hey, make a decision and hear from the Lord. And it's okay if you go over, if the Lord is leading you, but don't just do it automatically because that's your routine and you're just kind of like, you know, following through the normal motions. And I would say that's a good practice for the rest of our lives as well. Your day's going to fill up and you're going to be busy every day, probably for the rest of your life.

But make sure that you're not just filling your days and it's not just getting caught up and filled up with just the normal things that just pile in because life is life and things pile in. Paul decided, I'm not going to go there because it's going to take too much time and it's going to mess up the race that God has called me to run. And we need to learn to think about things along those lines that...

There are things that God has called you to. And, you know, there's often been the saying, I haven't heard it for a long time, but, you know, we often sacrifice the important for the urgent. Right?

That is, there's very important things that God has called us to, but we don't do them because there's urgent things that happen. And so, you know, we're so focused on the urgent that we forget about the important. And we have to stop and reevaluate and consider and think. And maybe if you take some time, you know, to get away from everybody and take a walk for 20 miles like Paul did, you know, you can kind of have some of that perspective that

Sometimes that's what it requires, that break away, that reconnect with God and let God prioritize for you what's important and where are you going to spend your time and how are you going to make decisions that help you fulfill the race that God has called you to and not hinder the race that has been set before you. It's time to finish the race and we need to run the race to win, to have an urgency and a purposefulness to finish well.

Well, the final point, verse 18 through 25, we have point number five, and that is, now is the time to go forward. And I'm not going to get into a lot of details here because we'll pick it up and spend some more time in this part of the chapter next week. But here, Paul begins to talk with the Ephesian elders and he recounts what he has done. He talks about his faithfulness to the ministry and the fruitfulness of that ministry. In verse 18, it says, and when they had come to him, he said to them, you know,

From the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. How I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Here is Paul talks with these Ephesian elders. He begins with recounting

what he has done. He was faithful in his ministry there in Ephesus. But notice, as he says, you know how I've lived. He is going on to say, I'm not yet done. That this isn't the career. Okay. I finished my career in Ephesus. Now I'm retiring. I don't have to work so hard in ministry. I don't have to serve the Lord to that degree. I don't, I don't need to

Be running the race in the same way? That's not the attitude. That's not the heart of the apostle Paul. Verse 22, he says, and see, now I go. I've already done all this. I've got great accomplishments. I've got a great resume, a great track record. Great ministry has taken place, but I'm not done yet.

And now, right now, I go, he says, bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me. Here's the Apostle Paul, thus far having a successful, victorious, awesome ministry, but

But notice that his heart is not resting in, look at what I've already done. And so I don't need to do any more. But that he is maintaining this desire to finish the race. And so even though much has been accomplished, he says, now I go bound in the spirit.

There's still more that God has called me to. I'm not done yet. And I can't rest upon what I've already accomplished. You guys know how I've lived. You guys know what I've done, but the Holy Spirit has called me to Jerusalem. And along with the call, the Holy Spirit is warning me, testifying that chains and tribulation await me. I don't know exactly what lays ahead, but I know I'm called there and I know it's going to be difficult. And Paul is marching to

into this difficulty that God is calling him to. He's marching into it. He's not running away from the difficulty, from the chains and tribulations. And we'll see that more again next week and in a couple of weeks to come as he continues to travel towards Jerusalem. He says instead, verse 24, but none of these things move me,

Chains await me, but it doesn't move me. Tribulations await me, but I don't count my life dear to myself. I'm not the most important thing in my life. The most important thing in my life, Paul says, is that I would finish my race with joy.

That I would fulfill the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus. And so no matter how much I've accomplished already, no matter how faithful I've been in the past, no matter how many people I've ministered to, how many people have been saved, no matter how many churches have been implanted and established and people discipled, now I go forward to finish the race that God has set before me.

And Paul has this heart that he's not resting on the past. He's not resting on what has been done. He's not retiring at this point. He is now pushing forward and saying, now's the time to lean in and finish the race. And there's tribulation and there's chains and difficulties ahead, but now is the time for me to move forward. And again, he still has this urgency upon his heart to finish the race that God has set before him. Verse 25 says,

And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Not only is he going forward, knowing that tribulation and trials await him, but he says, and I know this is goodbye. We've had to experience that from time to time as a body here at Living Water, right? When we've sent out missionaries, and some of you have been part of that to a different degree than others, but

Man, that's hard. It's heartbreaking, you know, that, yeah, we want people to go. We want them to follow the Lord. But then there's also that, oh man, it's like so hard. It's difficult. And there's this powerful goodbye that's taking place. You're not going to see my face anymore, but I have to go.

You know, it kind of would have been real easy for Paul to just coast in Ephesus for a long time. Even though there was the riot and all that, he could have just coasted for a long time. Just kind of coasted on the foundation that had been laid and just, yeah, just kind of kick back and take it easy now and just hang out in Ephesus. And they had these relationships and he would have been taken care of and he would have still been able to serve the Lord and be involved in the church and be involved in the ministry to Asia. You know, like he could have just like cruised, right?

It would have been so much easier. But what was most important to him was that he would finish the race that was set before him. It wasn't that life was necessarily easy or comfortable or that he had the friends that he wanted to have or that, you know, he just coasted on the accomplishments and achievements, but that he pressed forward to do what God had called him to do. And again, as we see the example of the apostle Paul here, it's a great example for us guys. We've been called into a race, right?

And as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9, you need to make sure that you run, not just aimlessly, not just kind of wandering, meandering, but you need to approach this in a way that you're running to win the prize, that you're doing the best you can in your walk with God. Are you doing the best that you can in your walk with God?

like the Olympics, you know what I mean? Are you straining at your walk with God to accomplish what God has set before you and to walk with him to that degree? That's the kind of intensity that we're called to have in our pursuit of God. It's time to finish the race.

And if you've been on the sidelines or just kind of like messing around in a wheelchair, just having fun, like get up and it's time to get back in it and to engage and to run the race that God has set before you. And even if it's not that you've, you know, not been engaged in the race because of bad things, even when there's great accomplishments in your life, it's easy for us to kind of reach a plateau as believers, right?

We get so far and it's like, cool, my life has changed thus far. God has delivered me from these things. And then I just kind of cruise from there. But what kind of growth are you seeing take place in your life? As we have this time to finish the race, as we have this urgency to finish the race, it's going to stir up within us growth in our walk with God.

Think about what Paul said to the Philippians in Philippians chapter three. He says,

Again, the heart that's demonstrated here in this travelogue is expressed clearly in Ephesians chapter or Philippians chapter three. I'm not thinking about, I'm not holding on to what I've already accomplished. I don't count myself as apprehended. I haven't arrived. My ministry isn't done. My life isn't over. But now it's time to forget those things and press on to do what God has set before me.

the upward call of God, the prize. I'm still wanting to be faithful to finish well, to stand before God for him to say, well done, good and faithful servant. And again, I would ask, do you desperately desire to be faithful to what God has called you to do? There needs to be an urgency upon our hearts and intensity. Not that we're frantic and always in a panic or anything like that, but there's this drive, right?

Because our mission, what's most important to us is, I don't count my life dear to myself, but what I count dear is faithfulness to God in the race that he's called me to run. Don't you know? Everybody runs in a race who's running, but only one receives a prize. And the one who receives a prize is the one who takes it seriously and gives it their all. And Paul says, that's the kind of approach that you're to have to this race of

to the Christian life, to the walk with God and to the ministry that he's called you to. Run it in a way that you're going to win, that you're serious, that you're committed, that you're faithful, that you're diligent, that it's the most important thing to you. Don't hold on to the past things. Don't kind of like kick back and just cruise. There's been great victories in your life and great accomplishments, I'm sure. Awesome. But it's time to finish the race.

Not to just get to the last lap and just cruise the last lap. Hey, you can cruise the victory lap. After the race is over, there's going to be time to cruise. There's going to be lots of time to cruise and lots of time to rejoice and celebrate. But now is not that time. Now's the time to finish the race, to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of you. He's called you.

to be part of his work. He's called you to have a relationship with him. He's called you to walk with him and you need to lay hold of that. And that needs to be the most important thing in your life. One final verse in closing is Javier comes up to close us out in worship. I don't know how much time he's going to spend in worship, but however the Lord leads, okay. Might be here till midnight if the Lord says so. Romans 13, 11. And do this, knowing the time that it is now high time to awake out of sleep.

for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. There in Romans chapter 13, Paul is talking about love and loving one another and the call that we have to be loving one another in the way that Christ has loved us. And he says, now do this knowing what time it is. And what he's expressing here is, guys, we need to have an urgency. Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. We leave this building this evening that much closer to eternity.

And we need to have that grasp of eternity and to be awake. It's time to wake up and not be asleep, Paul says, because there's a race to run and you're near the end. And I'm not trying to prophesy doom and gloom on you or anything, but just eternity is right at the door. And we could be there tonight. We could be there tomorrow. We don't know when it is, but we need to live every day knowing that we're on the edge of eternity and that it's nearer than when we first believed.

And let that urgency stir up within us a persistence and a faithfulness and a passion to pursue God and to finish the race that he set before us. Amen. We're going to spend some time in worship. And as we always do, we want to give you the opportunity and the freedom to spend some time with the Lord, just you and the Lord worshiping. Maybe like Paul, you kind of need that time alone.

Also, maybe like Paul, you need to connect with some of the people around you and maybe pray together or share with one another something that God has on your heart or been ministering to you. So we want to give you that freedom as he leads us in worship. Spend some time with the Lord. Feel free to go and hang out together, to minister to one another, pray for one another, encourage each other, however the Lord leads. But let's spend this time allowing God to kind of relight the fire within

And remind us that it's time to finish the race. Let's worship the Lord together.