Our passage today takes us to the end of Paul’s missionary journeys. Paul leaves Ephesus, returns to Macedonia and Achaia to encourage the believers, and then begins his journey back to Jerusalem. On this return trip, we are told about an all-nighter in Troas, Paul’s farewell speech to the Ephesian elders while in Miletus, and how Paul’s friends tried to persuade him—unsuccessfully—not to go on to Jerusalem because of what they feared would happen to him there.

Paul is a man on a mission, and here we see his resolve to finish the mission he has been on. He must get back to Jerusalem. He has a job to complete. And he is absolutely committed to the task at hand.

We admire people who show this kind of commitment, the determination to finish something important, especially when doing so is quite difficult. Paul is someone like that, and while the mission he is on is not something you and I must repeat ourselves, what drives his commitment is something that every follower of Jesus should share. Acts 20:24 sums up well what it was that Paul was committed to.

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

The gospel of the grace of God. That is what Paul was committed to, and that’s what you and I should be committed to. Like Paul, we must not be deterred from living out our core convictions about God’s grace in Jesus.

So, let’s think about what that means, see how that commitment manifested itself, as we begin the journey back to Jerusalem with Paul. In this passage, we see that Paul was committed to the message of the kingdom, the prosperity of the church, and the will of the Lord.

The Message of the Kingdom

First, we see Paul’s commitment to the message of the kingdom. Because the kingdom testifies to the gospel of the grace of God.

Kingdom Conversation

Paul and his companions arrive at Troas after a five-day voyage from Philippi. Seven companions are mentioned in verse 4, but it would appear that Luke is now also with them because of the first person plural pronoun which shows up again in verse 6. Verse 7 is the first mention of the believers gathering on a Sunday. They had gathered at least in part for a community meal, but Luke puts a spotlight on Paul’s speech. He “talked with them,” verse 7 says, using a verb which can refer to a conversation between people or to a one-sided lecture or sermon.[1] Either way it is probably Paul who did most of the talking, and “he prolonged his speech until midnight.”

What do you think he was talking about for so long? Some people are verbose, and they can go on and on about pretty much any subject. Paul may have been like that, but surely we cannot doubt that the subject Paul was talking about on this occasion was “the gospel of the grace of God.”

Although Luke doesn’t tell us anything about the letters Paul wrote to the various churches, scholars tend to agree that Paul had just written a couple of letters. After leaving Ephesus, he wrote 2 Corinthians while in Macedonia. And then, during the three months he spent in Corinth, he had written Romans.

Romans was fresh on Paul’s mind, and this point makes it easy enough to see how and why Paul could go on and on and on. “The underlying message of Romans . . . is of course the lordship of Jesus as Israel’s Messiah and hence the world’s rightful sovereign.”[2] The introduction to this great letter speaks of how Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power . . . by his resurrection from the dead,” and how it is through “Jesus Christ our Lord” that “we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ” (Rom 1:4–6). Far from being a letter about “how to go to heaven when you die,” the Romans’ Road is all about how to bring the whole world (“all the nations”) to faithful obedience to Jesus. In other words, it is all about the kingdom of God which has already taken root in this present age.

The Lucky Man

Belief in the kingdom raises all sorts of questions, requires all sorts of explanations about how the entire Scriptural story fits together. Paul had worked these things over in his mind time and time again. He had so many things to say. No doubt he wanted the other believers to see what he had seen. But this would take some time to unpack. You can say some things succinctly, and that is well and good. But you shouldn’t always settle for the SparkNotes. Sometimes, you need to try to see the whole picture, even if it takes some time to explain it.

Yes, this can be exhausting, as it was for a young man named Eutychus. The name means “good fortune,” although what happened to him first was quite the opposite. He “sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer,” and fell out of a window from the third story and was pronounced dead.

But Paul “wend down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” Eutychus lived.

Restoration of Life

This is a miracle story, with Paul being seen as one who brought Eutychus back to life. But the way Luke tells the story, he does not make much of the miracle itself. It is the topic of conversation that long night in Troas that is far more important, as Luke tells us in verse 11 that the conversation continued until daybreak, no doubt with everyone resisting any urge to fall asleep.

But Luke has told us this miracle story nonetheless, perhaps to get us to consider how it exemplifies the conversation that Paul and the other believers were having that night. What is the kingdom of God all about? It is not about disembodied life after death, the stuff that occupies so much religious conversation. Paul doesn’t comfort the believers in Troas by telling them that Eutychus may be dead but he is alive in a better place. No, he restores him back to life.

The Christian gospel is about the kingdom of God on earth. It is about fully-embodied resurrected life that overthrows death rather than offering some consolation prize while death still reigns.

Because the Christian gospel is about life, fully-embodied, real, down-to-earth life, the practical things that you and I are concerned about every single day, it is something we can talk about for a very long time.

The Prosperity of the Church

Next, we travel with Paul from Troas down the coast to Miletus where he summons the elders from Ephesus. In the rest of chapter 20, we read of Paul’s “farewell speech” to them. And in it we see that Paul was committed not only to the message of the kingdom but also to the prosperity of the church. Because the church, you see, is itself a testimony to the gospel of the grace of God.

The Testimony of the Church

This is the third major public speech of Paul that Luke records in Acts, and it is the only one delivered exclusively to a Christian audience. This fact carries significance on its own. This is what Paul (and Luke) would want us to see as the basic expectations for believers in Jesus, for the Christian church, especially in its local expressions, like us right here at Crosstown Church.

The first four verses (vv. 18-21) emphasize Paul’s commitment to the church as he persevered through all sorts of threats, never avoiding to speak whatever was profitable for the believers, whatever was in their best interests. He refrained from flattery which is never beneficial, but he also always sought to encourage, to build up, even if this required him to speak words of rebuke and correction. Every disciple of Jesus needs to learn to do that. It is not easy.

Paul sums up his teaching in verse 21 this way: “testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Repent and believe. That is what is beneficial to all people. No flattery, and with encouragement as the target. This is the testimony we must be committed to, urging everyone toward the new way of life found only in Jesus, by turning away from idols and their destructive ways and turning to the living God made known in Jesus.[3]

The Ministry of the Church

In verses 22-24, Paul tells his audience about his plan to go to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to him when he gets there, but also suspecting it will be dangerous. From his perspective, he has no choice. The Holy Spirit has “constrained” him (the verb means to be “bound” or “tied up” or even “imprisoned”). And it is the Holy Spirit who has also made it plain to him that everywhere he goes, he will face these kinds of dangers; after all, this is what has happened to Paul throughout his missionary journeys.

Paul says this in verse 24: “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself.” This does not mean Paul has low self-esteem. What he says here sounds like someone who is a first responder, the kind of people who run toward danger, putting their lives on the line in order to protect everyone else. Paul has a job to do, and keeping himself safe and comfortable is not more important than fulfilling his calling. He must complete the course, fulfill the ministry he had been given by Jesus himself. He must “testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Yes, Paul does seem himself as a first responder. He has life-saving news that he must share, that he must get to everyone, even if it costs him his life.

Now, we might want to thank Paul for putting his life on the line, glad that he does it so that we don’t have to. But coming as it does in this context, Paul is putting forth his own commitment as that which the church must also be committed to. This is the ministry that everyone in the church has been given—to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And it is so more important than preserving our own individual lives.

The Protection of the Church

That’s why, in verses 25-35, Paul turns to the representatives of the church in Ephesus and says to them, “I’m not going to see you all again. The church is in your hands. You have to keep this thing going, no matter what.”

The preciousness of God’s church comes out loud and clear in verse 28. Paul urges the elders “to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” Yes, every one of God’s churches exist only because a very high price was paid. Jesus gave his life so that we would live, so that we would exist. There would be no Christian churches if there were no cross of Calvary.

And precisely because the church is that precious to God, because he loves his church so very much, we must not treat it lightly. If you are a member of this church, this is not the church you go to, the church you attend. This is your church, your family. Treat it that way. Care for it that way. It is the particular task of church elders to care for God’s church, but it is everyone’s responsibility to do their part.

The church remains a dangerous place. In verses 29-30 Paul speaks of “fierce wolves” who will seek to devour the church. The metaphor of wolves is used because of the church being described as a “flock” of sheep.[4] It is, of course, a violent image, but the specific danger Paul speaks of is not the physical threat to members of the church. For those who believe in the resurrection, we need not fear those who can kill the body. The greater danger is that of being led away from the good news of the grace of God. That is a much more difficult threat to detect and to defend against. It can come from without; it can come from within.

We must stay vigilant. For three years, Paul reminds his audience in verse 31, he “did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.” Caring for God’s church is requires 24/7/365 alertness. The sinister threats come at us in all sorts of ways. But may we also not become “trigger-happy” in our vigilance against false teaching. It is not noble to shoot at our own family members.

The benediction Paul gives in verse 32 demonstrates his confidence that “the word of [God’s] grace” is strong enough to keep the believers safe in the love of God. And the words of Jesus he quotes in verse 35 is one way to help us all care for God’s church, to protect us all from the danger Paul knows all too well. “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” Jesus says.[5] If you will come to your church with an attitude of “How can I serve others? What can I contribute?” instead of “What will I get out of this?” you will both be blessed and you will help protect the church from those who would seek to plunder it for their own benefit.

The Will of the Lord

We’ve seen that Paul was committed to the message of the kingdom and to the prosperity of the church. Lastly, see his commitment to the will of the Lord.

In chapter 21, Paul begins his journey to Jerusalem, a journey that he knows is risky when it comes to his own physical safety, but one that he is also quite sure he must do, one that he is confident the Lord wants him to take. But other Christians are not so sure. Two times in this chapter, Paul is strongly urged to change his plans. How do we stay committed to the Lord’s will when it seems like others don’t see it the way we do?

Listen and Consider

In verse 4, some disciples at Tyre “were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem,” and Luke even says that they were telling him this “through the Spirit.” If Luke is claiming that what these disciples were telling Paul was precisely what the Holy Spirit was telling him, then Paul would be disobeying the Holy Spirit to go on to Jerusalem. But Paul had told the Ephesian elders in the previous chapter that he was constrained by the Spirit to go there (Acts 20:22).

When Paul arrives in Caesarea, the prophet Agabus took Paul’s belt and did what Old Testament prophets often did, performed an acted parable.[6] “This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.” According to verse 12, everyone knew what this must mean. Paul really should not go to Jerusalem. Surely that is what the Lord is saying, right?

I think Luke wants us to see that it is important that we listen and consider the advice and counsel of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Prophecy is in the air in these verses, because after all the Holy Spirit has been given to all those who are believers in Jesus. We should pay attention to what they say.

Know Your Calling

But this doesn’t mean we have to do what they say, that the will of the Lord is always determined by the opinions of others.

For Paul, he was on a mission, a mission he was convinced was given to him by the Lord, and he was not going to be deterred. How could he be so certain this was what the Lord wanted him to do? As he travels to Jerusalem, eager to get there by Pentecost, it seems he also wanted to get there on the very day of Pentecost, not a day late, but also not a day early. Why? Because, you see, he was carrying with him a great sum of money that he had collected from the various Gentile churches, and he hoped that his arrival in Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost, with the collection of money, would be seen as the fulfillment of Israel’s ancient prophecy.[7] Zechariah had spoken of the day when “the inhabitants of many cities” would “come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord” (Zech 8:20-22). He hoped this would be a sign to his fellow Jews that everything they had hoped for and were waiting for had come to pass in and through the Messiah, Jesus.

Paul’s response in verse 13 is instructive. He does not think his friends are wrong in what the Holy Spirit is saying, but he does think they have drawn the wrong conclusion. It is the nature of New Testament prophecy that we are not given there “a literal transcript of God’s words” but only information that we must be evaluated.[8] That’s what we are told in 1 Corinthians 14:29. We expect God to be speaking through his people who are indwelt by God’s Spirit. We take that seriously. But we have to “weigh what is said.”

Here’s what Paul says in verse 13. “Yes, the Holy Spirit is revealing what will happen to me in Jerusalem. No, this does not mean I shouldn’t go there.” And we take note that the will of the Lord is not always the thing that makes the most sense, certainly not always the thing that is easiest for us.

Be Confident in God’s Providence

And so, verse 14 says, that “since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, ‘Let the will of the Lord be done.’” After listening and considering the words of those we trust, and evaluating them against what we sense to be God’s calling, we must decide and then rest in the assurance that God is the one in control after all.

Some have called this moment “Paul’s Gethsemane” as Paul, like Jesus, had to wrestle with his calling and decide to go through with it, even though it would not be easy. Paul’s friends, like Jesus’s disciples, would need to learn that God is a Good Shepherd, even though he may lead us to (and through!) dark valleys. We can trust him and his will.

It is unclear if Paul, having arrived in Jerusalem, found that the collection he had brought with him accomplished the purpose he had for it. And he is indeed arrested. But there was no “I told you so” from his friends and companions. They would go on trusting in God’s providence, knowing that he, unlike us, can see all the way through.

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[1] C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, vol. 2, International Critical Commentary, ed. J. A. Emerton, C. E. B. Cranfield, and G. N. Stanton (London; New York: T&T Clark, 2004), 951.

[2] N. T. Wright, Paul: A Biography (New York: HarperOne, 2018), 324.

[3] N. T. Wright, The Challenge of Acts: Rediscovering What the Church Was and Is (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2024), 97.

[4] Barrett, Commentary on the Acts, 978.

[5] While these exact words are not found in the four Gospels, we do find there Jesus frequently emphasizing the importance of giving. See, e.g. Lk 6:30, 38; 11:41; 12:33; 18:22.

[6] Barrett, Commentary on the Acts, 995.

[7] Ben Witherington, III, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), 604 note 184.

[8] Witherington, III, Acts of the Apostles, 630–31.