The church has been and will be under attack, both from the outside and even from within. Protect yourself by putting God's Word into your mind.
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Acts 20 Summary
Luke, the author of Acts, gives a detailed itinerary of the missionary team's trip back to Macedonia.
Their week in Troas is capped off by a meeting together on the Lord's Day (one of the first references to Sunday worship for the early church) in a very warm upper room in which Paul preached for hours. Poor Eutychus can't hack it and falls asleep, which is bad enough (speaking as a preacher), but made even worse by the fact that he was sitting in an open widow three stories up.
After being killed by the fall, Paul miraculously raises him from death. After a brief snack, it was right back to preaching till dawn. Excellent.
As they continued to travel, Paul meets with elders from the Ephesian church. Knowing this will be their last time together, Paul gives an impassioned farewell speech.
Dig Deeper
In speaking to these elders, Paul gives an ominous warning that fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things (v29-30).
To defend against this Paul gives these men a simple command:
Be alert.
He then charges them to use the one and only weapon available to the church. I think both the ESV & NIV miss the emphasis of this word when they translate what Paul did and is commanding to be done: admonish / warn the people.
The Greek word is a compound of to place in / mind. So the best way to defend the church from deadly attack is to put the truth of God's Word in the minds of Christians.
That's what motivated Paul to preach past midnight that fateful night for young Eutychus.
This is why every Lord's Day we come together twice to read the Bible, sing the Bible and pray the Bible.
And this is why you're reading the Bible five days a week.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who has given you word of His grace;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will faithfully put the Word of God into your mind.
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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