Invest & Invite - Finishing Our Race Faithfully

It's in Christ's only name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Such an appropriate song to lead into the message this morning.

And I think you'll see that here shortly.

Turn with me in your copy of God's Word to Acts chapter 20.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

If you do not have a copy of God's word, there's one in front of you in the PureC.

I would encourage you to use that.

And you can find today's passage on 958.

By way of introduction, I find it interesting that the scriptures refer to our relationship with Christ as a journey.

And more times than not, it is more specific than that.

It refers to our relationship with Christ as a race.

Now, what's interesting is it doesn't refer to that race as a sprint, but a long distance run, a marathon, if you will.

And if you know anything about long distance running, long distance running incorporates all sorts of challenges that short sprints do not.

Uphills, downhills, curves, and in our dynamic and our culture intersections and cars and trucks and all sorts of things, right?

One of the challenges that long distance runners are familiar with is something that they refer to as the wall.

And I'll explain that here.

If you are a long distance runner, if you're close to someone who is, a husband, a wife, a brother, a sister, a best friend, whatever it might be, you know there's a particular kind of exhaustion that comes near the end of a long run.

It's not the burning legs of those middle miles, but it's the deep fatigue of those last two or three miles.

Long distance refer runners refer to it in many cases as, again, the wall.

It's the point where everything in your mind and body says, stop.

I can't go a step further.

Everything hurts.

You're exhausted.

You're you're physically fatigued, you're emotionally fatigued.

But the problem is the finish line is still ahead.

And the only way to make it to that finish line is to keep going, is to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

You ignore the physical pain, you ignore the mental exhaustion, and you keep going.

Well, the apostle Paul knew that kind of exhaustion and that kind of pain.

In Acts chapter 20, we'll see in just a few minutes, he finds his way along with his team to the city of Miletus.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

And in that city, he's going to say goodbye to the leadership of the church in Ephesus.

And he says to us that this is a church that he's poured three years of his life into, weeping over night and day.

Paul knows what's coming.

He tells them in verses 22 and 23 that he's headed to Jerusalem.

And he says, and I quote, not knowing what I will encounter there, except the Holy Spirit keeps warning me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me in every city.

Paul knows where he's headed, and he knows what's around the corner.

Paul could see that wall, that wall of absolute exhaustion.

And yet in verse 24, listen to what he says next.

But I consider my life of no value to myself.

My purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of God's grace.

Paul's mindset as he's nearing the end of this race was not, how can I finish and avoid suffering?

It wasn't how can I finish comfortably.

Paul's mindset was, I must finish.

All he wanted to do was finish faithfully.

All he wanted to do was finish strong.

All he wanted to do was finish the race that God had called him to.

And we're going to see that admonition in this text, not only as it applies to Paul's life, but I would argue it applies to your life and my life.

And so let's dive in to Acts chapter 20.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

In verses 1 through 6, we we see that after the uproar in Ephesus ended, remember there was the riot in that city.

We're told in verse 16 that Paul was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, for the day of Pentecost.

Paul's third missionary journey is nearing its end.

And if you're familiar with the book of Acts, Paul's next journey, you know, will be as a prisoner to Rome.

And so, in one way, Paul's mission endeavors are coming to an end.

Because again, on that last journey, yes, he will have mission opportunities, but he is headed to Rome as a prisoner.

Now, verse 4 names some of the individuals that are accompanying Paul at this point in the journey.

Just look with me there.

We see these names: Sopater from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derby, Timothy, Tychicus, and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

And if we look back, we know more specifically the cities of Lystra, Derby, and or Iconium.

And then verse 5 and 6, we see the first person pronoun, and so Luke is a part of this same team.

Now, why is it important that these men are listed?

Well, I won't pretend to know all the reasons God wanted this included in the text, but one thing does stand out.

Each of these men are from cities where Paul first carried the gospel, where he led people to Christ, where he discipled new believers, where he planted churches, where he appointed pastors for those churches, in cities where Paul found significant support and encouragement while experiencing the many challenges and difficulties he endured.

And we've chronicled some of those challenges.

Each of these men are very close friends.

And together they're faithful to support and encourage one another in this journey of faith, in this race of faith.

And church, this text should remind us of the importance of community.

We need one another.

We need each other.

God did not create us to do life on our own.

God created us for relationships.

Now, first and most importantly, he created us for a relationship with himself through faith in his son Jesus Christ.

And I hope all of you here today have that relationship.

I hope that you know God personally through faith in his son Jesus Christ.

But he also created us for relationships with one another.

We need community.

And I want to spend just a few minutes diving into some text where we see the importance of these, what I'm going to call horizontal relationships.

You're familiar with this verse from Proverbs 27.

Iron sharpens iron and one person sharpens another.

In other words, together we make each other better.

Together we are stronger as opposed to being apart.

Look with me here on the screen from Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Look what the writer of Hebrews says to us and how he encourages us.

He says, Let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together.

And then he says, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other and all the more as you see the day, the day of Christ approaching.

The writer of Hebrews says, Let's be faithful to get together.

Why?

So that we might encourage one another, that we might lift one another up, that we might hold one another accountable.

Let's go one step further.

Look with me in Romans chapter 12, beginning in verse 4.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Now, as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

Scripture likens the church of Christ to the human body, our physical bodies.

And we're told just like we have many different parts on our physical bodies, right?

We have fingers and toes and elbows and tendons and ligaments and muscles and bones and we have eyes and we have ears and all the above, right?

We have many parts, and when they work together, it functions correctly, it's healthy.

He says it's the same way with the body of Christ.

We're all different parts, but together, when we function correctly, it's it's healthy, it's prosperous, it's good for all of us.

On the negative side of this, listen to what Proverbs 18:1 says, and the warning against uh not being a part of community.

Proverbs 18:1

The Bible says, one who isolates himself pursues selfish desires, he rebels against all sound wisdom.

In other words, if we're trying to do life on our own, the Bible says that's that's unwise.

You're setting yourself up for disaster.

And so we need community.

We need, obviously, first and foremost, we need that vertical relationship with the God who created us through faith in his son, Jesus Christ.

But we also need these horizontal relationships.

We need one another in our life, we need one another in our walk with Christ.

Paul had his team of close friends.

And together they would support and encourage one another in their relationship with Christ.

So that begs this question for all of us this morning.

Do you have those individuals in your life?

Who are those three or four or five people in your life that you can call when help is needed, whatever that help is?

Who are those three or four or five people in your life that that surround you and encourage you and help you in this journey with Christ?

Who are your quote-unquote ride or die friends?

Who are those in your life that are loyal and supportive and helpful no matter what the situation might be?

These were Paul's ride or die friends.

And Paul needed them, and you need them, and I need them.

So that leads me to the first takeaway.

If you're looking with me on the back of your bullet, and here's the first just takeaway from this morning's text.

God created us for community.

And we, all of us, need the support and encouragement of one another in the context of the local body of Christ.

First of all, no one in this room is unimportant.

Everyone in this room is needed, and we need each other.

Don't forget that.

Let's keep going.

So Paul and his team, they're making their way to Jerusalem.

They're going to stop and spend most of their time in two cities, Troas and Miletus.

In verses 7 through 12, we see them in the city of Troas.

And look in verse, look with me at verse 7 what we read to begin with.

On the first day of the week, we assembled to break bread.

And so the church in Troas gathered on the first day of the week, Sunday, for worship and celebration.

The early church shifted their day of worship from the Sabbath, Saturday, to Sunday.

And they did so in honor and in recognition of the resurrection of Christ.

And so by virtue, we meet on Sundays as a public demonstration, if you will, of our celebration, of our rejoicing in the resurrection of Christ.

And that's why we meet here.

We also read that the church gathered to break bread.

Now in Acts, the phrase breaking bread always refers to the Lord's Supper that's accompanied with a fellowship meal.

And so it appears, at least on this occasion, the church and Troas gathered together in the evening around dinner time.

That's going to become important.

Just watch what happens next.

Verse 7 says Paul is, it shows us that Paul is seen preaching the word of God.

And look what it says there.

He does so until midnight.

And so let's just think about our time frame.

We eat dinner, let's just say on average, around 6 o'clock, right?

So here we have Paul who's preaching and teaching for six hours until midnight.

Well, in verses eight and nine, we're introduced to a man named Eudicus, and something interesting happens.

Look with me in those verses.

Here's what we read: There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were assembled, and a young man named Eudychus was sitting on a windowsill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on talking.

When he was overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.

Think about that.

It makes me feel better when I look out there and see your heads falling.

Right?

It happens every week.

I'm just gonna be honest with you.

I look out here and I see some folks doing this, and I'm like, I lost them.

That's all right.

If it happened to Paul, it's not, I'm not too good that it won't happen to me.

So here we go.

Eudychus is seen falling asleep on a windowsill.

He eventually falls three stories to the ground below and is picked up dead.

And look what the text says.

Paul pauses his preaching and teaching.

He goes down three flights of stairs, he embraces Eudychus, and he raises him from the dead.

Now, interestingly, this is the seventh and the last time we see someone being raised from the dead in Scripture.

Both Elijah and Elisha raised one person from the dead.

Jesus raised three people from the dead.

Peter saw Dorcas raised from the dead, and now Paul here raises Eutychus from the dead.

After this miracle, we're told Paul climbs back up those three flights of stairs and he continues preaching and teaching.

Look what it says there, until dawn.

So I want you to think about this.

We're talking about close to, if not 12 hours of preaching and teaching, and worship and celebration.

Now, as tempting as it may be for us to emphasize the miracle involving Eudicus, that is not the main point of this text.

The main point of this text is the faithful preaching and teaching and study of God's Word.

Listen carefully.

This was not a miracle service interrupted by preaching.

This was a preaching service interrupted by a miracle.

And these verses remind us of the early church's hunger and devotion for God's word.

Think about this.

They were willing to sit and listen and engage and discuss biblical truth for up to 12 hours.

Think about that for just a moment.

And here's the reality.

Are you ready?

The same should be true for us.

We should hunger and long for God's word in the same way the early church did.

Look with me to a few verses here.

In Matthew chapter 4, look what Jesus says to us.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

It is written, man must not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Think about that.

Jesus says, listen, don't just hunger for that physical food that nourishes your physical body.

He says, hunger for God's word.

Let God's word fill you.

Let God's word satisfy you.

In Job chapter 23, Job, in the midst of this back and forth discussion with his friends there, he makes this statement in verse 12.

Job 23 · chapter mention

Listen carefully.

I have not departed from the commands from his lips.

I have treasured the words from his mouth.

Listen to this, more than my daily food.

Job says, I so long to be in God's word that it's more important to me than breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then snacks in between.

Wow.

I want to encourage you from this.

I just I want you to be encouraged, just in the beauty and the majesty and the glory of God's word.

Look with me here from Psalm 19, beginning in verse 7.

We've looked at this text before, but I just want to continue to encourage you in it.

The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one's life.

The testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise.

The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad.

The command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up.

The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.

The ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous.

They are more desirable than gold, than an abundance of pure gold, and sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb.

Look what the psalmist says again.

God's word renews your life.

Are you down?

Are you depressed?

Are you empty?

Are you exhausted?

Find hope in God's word.

It says it makes the inexperience wise.

Are you in need of wisdom and guidance and direction and discernment?

God's word gives it.

It says it makes the heart glad, it makes the eyes light up.

God's word just transforms every part of our being: body, soul, and spirit.

That leads me to the second takeaway this morning.

A regular diet of God's word will empower us, equip us, and encourage us in our relationship with the Lord and in our relationships with one another.

This was a gathered church that found encouragement studying and worshiping God's word together.

But it also encouraged them in their walk with the Lord.

Now we get down to verses 17 through 38.

Paul and his team, they've made their way to the city of Miletus.

It's their last stop before they'll get to Jerusalem.

Paul summons the elders of the church at Ephesus who come to him, and in doing so, he wants to admonish them and he wants to encourage them as the leadership of that church.

Now, it's interesting.

Paul uses three different words in these verses in reference to the same responsibility.

And those words are elders, overseers, and shepherds.

Now, I just want to touch on this because I think it's important to understand.

Each of those designations offers us a glimpse into the responsibilities of the local church pastor.

First, as an elder, the pastor is responsible for the spiritual direction and spiritual climate of the church.

As an overseer, the pastor is responsible for the oversight and management of the ministry of the church.

And as a shepherd, the pastor is responsible for the spiritual care of the church and primarily through preaching and teaching and admonishing and helping.

Now, I want you to look closely with me, just in our the rest of our time together, at several key verses in this text that reveal the heart of Paul as a pastor, as an elder, as an overseer, as a shepherd.

And he offers these words of admonition and encouragement to these other pastors.

But listen closely to me.

These are not words of encouragement only for pastors, they apply to anyone who would call Jesus Lord and Savior.

And so I want all of us to be encouraged with Paul's own parts of Paul's own testimony that he is hoping to encourage others with.

Look first with me at verse 24.

Look what he says there.

We read this or I referred to this earlier.

He says, but I consider my life.

Think about the magnitude of this statement.

I consider my life of no value to myself.

My purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I receive from the Lord Jesus.

Look what he says: to testify to the gospel of God's grace.

Paul's motivation in his life and his ministry was really very simple.

He wanted to be found faithful to God's call on his life.

A call that was to take the good news of Christ to the ends of the earth.

Paul lived and Paul worked for the glory of God and the advancement of the gospel.

That was his singular focus in his life.

He would later write these words of.

To the church at Philippi.

He says to the church at Philippi in chapter 1, just one thing, just one thing.

As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Can you imagine that?

Paul says, okay, church, if you hear, if there's only one thing that you hear from me, hear this.

As a follower of Christ, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ.

And I would say 2,000 years later that it's as simple as that.

In John chapter 4, look with me here what Jesus says to us.

John 4 · chapter mention

And I have to believe Paul found encouragement from this text.

In John chapter 4, Jesus says, My food, think about this, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

John 4 · chapter mention

My aim, my ambition, my hunger, my desire, Jesus says, is to do the will of him.

That is the Father who sent me and to finish his work.

Paul would later say it like this.

Look with me here from Galatians 2, verse 20.

Galatians 2:20

Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Now, interestingly, Paul is physically alive.

So he says, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live.

What's Paul saying?

Paul's saying, listen, I have died to my dreams and my goals and my ambitions and my passions, and now I'm living solely for Christ.

And Christian, listen carefully to me.

That should be the same aim of your life and my life.

It wasn't exclusive for the Apostle Paul.

Remember the words that Luke recorded for us in chapter 9 of his gospel.

Jesus says, if anyone wants to follow after me, let him what?

Deny himself.

Let him die to himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

That wasn't written to someone specific.

That was Jesus' admonition to all of us who know him as Lord and Savior.

Twice in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus is teaching on the parables of the talent.

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

And twice in that parable, in commendation to those who are faithful in their gifting and their calling, Jesus says this.

That should be your aim and my aim.

That should be our motivation as well to stand before our Savior, the one who bled and died to redeem us.

It ought to be our aim to hear him say, Well done, my good and faithful servant.

Not, hey, you got in here by the hair of your chinny chin chin.

No.

We ought to live in such a way that our Savior can say that.

Going a step further, Paul was keenly aware, and I hope we are also, that the central focus of his ministry, look what he says there, was quote, to testify to the gospel of God's grace.

Paul was unashamed to just emphasize the unmerited favor of God, the unmerited favor of God by which he forgives our sin and gifts us eternal life.

Just a reminder, church, we are saved by grace and we are kept by grace, and we will enjoy Christ for eternity as a result of God's grace.

That's our testimony.

Now look with me in verse 26 and 27.

Paul goes on to say, Therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan or the whole counsel of God.

Paul has fulfilled his role of shepherd faithfully.

No one sitting under Paul's ministry could rightly argue, well, I didn't know that.

No, they knew it.

They heard it, they were taught it.

Paul is faithfully and boldly and unapologetically taught the whole counsel of God's word.

I'm reminded of his encouragement to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 15.

2 Timothy 2:15

Look with me on the screen here.

Timothy's a young pastor in the city of Ephesus on this occasion when he wrote this letter, and look what Paul says.

Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed.

Look what he goes on to say.

Correctly teaching the word of truth.

Paul has been faithful to preach and to teach the whole counsel of God's word, and so should we.

Whether it's on a Sunday morning environment like this, a life group, a midweek Bible study, whatever the occasion, let's be faithful church family to teach the whole counsel of God's word, boldly and unashamedly and unapologetically.

Now look with me at verses 28 through 31.

Look what he says to this church and the leadership of this church in Ephesus.

He says, Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.

Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each of you with tears.

Paul has worked tirelessly to protect the church from false teachers and from false doctrine.

Not only the church at Ephesus, but the church at Philippi, and the church at Colossae, and the church at Corinth, and the church at Thessalonica, and the church of Rome.

Paul has worked tirelessly, and you and I must do the same.

Scripture has warned us not of the days to come, but Scripture's warned us of the days we're living in right now.

Listen to these words from Amos chapter 8 and verse 11.

Amos 8 · chapter mention

The Lord is speaking.

Listen to what he says to us.

Look, the days are coming, this is the declaration of the Lord God, when I will send a famine through the land.

Not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.

God's told us that there is coming a day when people don't want to hear, thus saith the Lord.

They don't want to hear, this is God's word, this is truth.

And those days are here.

Look with me on the screen from 2 Timothy chapter 4.

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

Again, Paul encouraging young Timothy as a leader in that church.

Look at what he says to him.

For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, they will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear.

They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Why do entire denominations walk away from God's word?

Because we want to hear what makes us feel good, not what God's word says.

And so we begin to compromise in little areas, and those little areas become big areas, and all of a sudden, entire denominations have just turned their back on God's word, and now they meet.

I guess they just meet as a social club.

I don't know why they meet.

But we turn away from the truth of God's word.

God forbid that would ever happen at Briarwood Baptist Church.

Look with me next at verse 35, and we're almost done.

He finishes, he concludes, and he says, In every way I've shown you that by laboring like this, that's an important word, laboring like this, it is necessary to help the weak and to keep the minds of the Lord Jesus.

For he keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, for he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Paul uses two words in his first letter to the Timothy in reference to a servant follower of Christ, and he uses the words that we are to labor and strive.

That we are to labor and strive.

Those are two words that involve hard work, perseverance, patience, dedication.

And here's the reality, often without appropriate recognition.

Here's the reality, church family.

More times than not, our faithful service to Christ will go unnoticed, or at a minimum unrecognized in this life.

But be encouraged.

Listen carefully.

God sees and God knows and God rewards.

We serve Christ not to store up treasures in this life, but to store up treasures in heaven.

We labor and we strive.

From Philippians 2, verse 17.

Philippians 2:17

Look what Paul says.

But even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrificial service of your faith.

And then in 2 Timothy chapter 4, look what he says again.

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Now, what does Paul mean by the language being poured out as a drink offering?

Well, that was something that was familiar that would have been familiar to those who knew the Old Testament, who were familiar with Hebrew culture.

Let me try to explain.

In ancient Israel, a drink offering meant pouring out a large amount, a large measure of wine on top of an animal sacrifice.

Now remember, they didn't have water to drink, and so wine was that common drink.

The wine wasn't saved, and the wine wasn't drunk by anyone.

It was completely lost to human use and fully given to God.

And so what does that comparison mean in the context of Paul's life and ministry?

Here's the first thing.

Number one, a total surrender.

Paul held nothing back from God, giving up his comfort.

I mean, listen, he lived a posh life as a Pharisee.

He gave up his status, he gave up his safety.

Eventually, he would give his life for the cause of Christ and the church.

This idea of being poured out as a drink offering was this absolutely total surrender to the cause of Christ, but it was also a joyful sacrifice.

You see, Paul didn't view his ministry or his labors as a waste.

Maybe you're thinking, man, that's a waste of good wine.

That's a waste of our only drink we have.

No.

Paul didn't view his life and ministry as a waste.

It was a meaningful act of worship and service to Christ and the church.

It was a total surrender, but it was also a joyful sacrifice.

Remember what Paul would say to us in Philippians chapter 1?

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

He says, For me, to live is Christ in what?

To die is gain.

In other words, Paul, as long as there's life and breath in my body, I'm living for Christ.

I'm living for him.

100% full throttle, no regrets.

And if I die, that's better for me anyway, right?

That was his mindset.

That leads me to the third and the final takeaway this morning.

What do we find in these verses 17 through 38?

Here it is.

Paul encourages us to die to self, to die to self, stay true to Scripture, and serve Christ in the church with joy and sacrifice.

Those are the words of admonition from verses 17 through 38.

Like Paul, let's serve, let's live in such a way that we finish our race faithfully, that we might hear our Savior say to us, Well done, good and faithful servant.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, thank you for this day.

Thank you for another opportunity to gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ to sing your praises, to fellowship and encourage one another and to study your word together.

Lord, I hope and pray.

I ask you that that you would draw each of us closer to Christ today.

And Lord, I I rejoice in how you're working and how you're moving in individuals, in families, and marriages, but also how you're working in the life of this church.

And Heavenly Father, I just humbly pray that if there's any individual here who does not know Christ as their personal Savior, anyone who does not have that vertical relationship that you created us for.

I ask and pray that in these moments, Lord, you would grab hold of their heart and mind and bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Thank you, Father God.

Be glorified, be magnified, and be exalted in this place.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

I want to invite you to stand, the team's going to.