Acts 20:8-10 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. But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.”
Perhaps it was all the lamps that were burning or the people crowded together in the room or maybe he hoped that sitting in the window would keep him awake. Whatever the case, the window was three stories up and it was the second time Paul had said, “In closing” and being late at night, he fell asleep and then out the window. The boy’s name, Eutychus, means “well-fated” … yet it would not seem so, because upon finding him below, Eutychus is pronounced dead.
I’ve told a few jokes that have died in the room, but as of yet no person has died during service. Does that mean that I’m a more interesting a teacher than Paul? Of course not. I just don’t let anyone sit in open windows while I teach. As one might imagine, this young man’s death put a damper on the meeting. Paul rushed down to the young man, and he stretched himself out across him, embraced him and then by faith pronounced that God was going to raise the boy from the dead. Now, this is where things really get wild. Paul says, “Don’t worry.” Why? Because He knew what God could do.
There are five important elements of Christian Growth that we find in Acts 20. Those are Accountability, Encouragement, Companionship, Hope, and Comfort. Over the next few weeks, we’ll continue to take a look at these five things. We’ve already looked at Accountability, Encouragement, and Companionship. The fourth element of Christian Growth is Hope.
Paul had been in prison and he saw the doors opened. He had been in chains and had seen them fall away. He had been enslaved and he was made free. Sometimes we need to be reminded that through Christ we have gained access by faith into this grace, in which we now stand. We can thus rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. God is your Protector and your Provider. He is your comforter. He is Hope.
All people have hope … it’s a psychological necessity for man to keep going. In fact, even when there is no rational grounds for it, man still continues to hope. But the hope of the unsaved has no object, only wind and vapor, that which comes and goes and has no true basis, but survives on platitudes and temporary outcomes. The hope of the saved is founded on the bedrock of faith that is evidence of those things hoped for. In other words, it is hope founded on truth and we remind one another of that Hope.
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