Let's please open our Bible, this meeting, to the Book of Acts. And this time, we are going to read Acts chapter 20. In Hebrew, we call it Maasei Shlichim, the Acts of the Holy Spirit of God through the Apostles. Acts chapter 20. And let me read for this session, at least to see how the Lord will lead us, the first 16 verses of this chapter. Paul is on his third missionary journey. And we are reading right now from verse 1 in Acts chapter 20. And we read: And after the uproar was seized, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia. And when he had gone over those parts, and when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, and there abhorred three months.

And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, He purposed to return through Macedonia, and there accompanied him into Asia, Sopater of Borea, and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus, and Secundus, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and of Asia, Tychicus, and Tropimius. These going before, tarried for us at Troas. And we sailed away from Philippi, after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days, where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the moor, and continued his speech until midnight.

And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together, and there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep. And as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him, said, Trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young men alive, and were not a little comforted.

And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul. For so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitalin, And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios. And the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogilium. And the next day we came to Miltus. For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia. For he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem, the day of Pentecost. Or the day of Shavuot.

And I'll stop here with verse 16. There are so many names here, of the cities that he was traveling through, that were very difficult names to pronounce. As well as many of the names of his companions that traveled with Shaul, with Paul, as he was traveling on his third missionary journey. Now, as we are studying the Book of Acts, beloved brothers and sisters, we learned that the progress in which the Apostle Paul, being led by the Spirit of God, in serving and ministering among the local assemblies, that the Lord used him to establish in many towns, in many cities, in various areas around Europe, and in Asia Minor, as the Lord used this amazing man of God, Shaul, the Apostle Paul.

Now, in our last ministry meeting, we just finished, in chapter 19, the whole ministry of the Apostle Paul at Ephesus. It was amazing how much he had served the people, the Ephesians. He was there two years and three months, and even longer, up to three years, in the city of Ephesus. And he, number one, preached to our own brethren, the Jewish people in the synagogue, and told them concerning the Messiah. But in addition to that, he spoke to the Greeks, to the Gentiles, and led them to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. And every day, he was teaching, and he was ministering the Word of God.

And if you remember, there was this man who was really making idols at Ephesus, and he was not appreciative of the fact that the Apostle Paul was ministering, that there are no idols, and that there is only one and living God. And the person of Yeshua, the Messiah, is the answer for sins. So there was this man who was actually a maker of all sorts of idols. He opposed the Apostle Paul. He spoke against him. And if you remember, he says, "This Paul, chapter 19 and verse 26, has persuaded and turned away much people, saying that there be no gods which are made with hands." And he was so offended because Paul preached the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua, and the resurrection of the Messiah, that he had stirred up all the craftsmen, those who were building little gods, making idols, and they all had a riot in the city of Ephesus.

And we read about this in the last verses of the book of Acts chapter 19. The man's name was Demetrius, and he was the one that was a craftsman. He was the one that was making little idols for the people of Ephesus. Well, look how we begin now in chapter 20. And remember, we are on the third missionary journey of the Apostle Paul. He is now going to finalize his third missionary journey before he's going to be captured. And then he's going to be taken to Rome. And ultimately, he will lose his life for the name of Yeshua, the Messiah. And you can see now in verse 1 that Paul now is departing from Ephesus.

We are told in verse 1, After the uproar was seized, chapter 19, verse 23, Paul called unto him the disciples, and he embraced them, and he departed for to go into Macedonia. Look at the beautiful attitude of this man. He has to leave. He did not enter into the theater because he would have lost his life there in Ephesus, but he had to leave. But when he leaves, he leaves with his heart yearning for his brethren. So he gathered them together. And we find that he called unto him the disciples. Apparently, there was now a growing assembly, congregation, church in the local city of Ephesus. There were disciples there.

He gathered them all together. And look at the affection that he had. And he began to embrace them. You know, it is amazing how much affection the Apostle Paul had. He was not merely a man that had an intellect in his head, but he was a man that served the Lord from his heart. His knowledge had been connected to his heart. His affection for people was so great that whatever he did, he always did things from his heart, not merely from his head. And so he gathered the disciples together in verse 1, and he's showing them affection. He embraced them. He hugged them. And I'm sure he had been so heavy because he was going to leave the believers at Ephesus, where he spent such a long time in ministering the Word of God.

And so he's embracing them. And then he departed to go to Macedonia. Now, you remember, Macedonia is where we have the city of Philippi. And actually, we read of Macedonia in chapter 16, where the Apostle Paul already had the Macedonian call. And Paul saw a vision about a man in Macedonia that prayed and says, come over to Macedonia and help us. And you remember, the first city in Macedonia was the city of Philippi, the city, the Roman colony there. And so we now see that the Apostle Paul is intending in his third missionary journey to continue to come to Macedonia, to visit again Philippi, and then continuing on.

Because after Philippi, we have chapter 17, we have Corinth. And those are cities that he had already ministered the Word and established a local assembly there. So he is intending to go to Macedonia. And notice that the second thing that we find out is he's traveling. Now, in verse 2, Paul exhorting the believers in Macedonia. When he had gone over those parts and had given them much exhortation, he came into the country of Greece. So as he was traveling, he was exhorting the believers. And exhorting does not mean always telling people how wrong they are. But exhortation speaks of the necessity of building the believers up. Helping them in their most holy faith.

Establishing them in the truth of the Word of God. So exhortation is brothers and sisters, as he was probably speaking to them. Listen, you have to be focused on the person of the Lord. You carry on in your walk with Yeshua the Messiah. He was exhorting them to continue on in their faith and their walk with the Lord. And who of us can say that we can do without exhortation? We all need others that have gone before us to exhort us, to challenge us, to encourage us in our walk with the Lord. Because there's many pitfalls. There are much opposition. Those who reject the Messiah, who seek to oppose our walk with our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah.

So exhortation was very important. So as the Apostle Paul was going through this Macedonia, he exhorted the brothers and sisters in Macedonia until finally he arrived into Greece. At the end of verse 2, we find the Apostle now arriving to Greece. And we remember Greece because in Greece, he was already there when he went to Athens. If you remember, he already had a visit to Greece in Acts chapter 17 and Acts chapter 18, Athens and Corinth. This was in Greece. So here we find him now arriving to Greece in the end of verse 2. And apparently, brothers and sisters, he remained there for three whole months. Most likely, he was in the city of Corinth for three months.

Again, ministering the Word of God. And I want you to notice something that he had experienced as a Hebrew man, as a Jewish man, as an Israeli man. He wanted to go to the city of Jerusalem for the Passover. But apparently, he experienced danger on the way. And so in verse 3, we read that he abode there for three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. Now, apparently, his Jewish brethren, those who have not yet accepted the Messiah, they were already planning to oppose him. They were plotting against him. And remember, he was the very same one who was plotting against other Jewish believers who have come to trust in the Messiah long before he became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah.

Remember, he took from the priest's letters and he went to Damascus and he brought those from the synagogue to Jerusalem because he wanted to oppose the people who follow that way of Yeshua the Messiah. Now, he himself experiencing the very same thing that he had imposed upon others before he became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah. Now, you can see, brothers and sisters, in verse 3, that for three months he ministered in Corinth, we find out there was a plot to kill him. Imagine that people were going to such length as it says here, they laid in wait for him as he was about to sail into Syria.

Now, Syria is really in the region where Israel is. And why did he want to go to Syria? Meaning he wanted to go to Israel, to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover. Now, you remember that in Deuteronomy chapter 16, God said to our forefathers, the Jewish people, that they would go three times a year to the city of Jerusalem for the celebration of, number one, the feast of Passover. Number two, the feast of Pentecost. And number three, the feast of Booth. So it was a custom by the Jewish people to come every year to the city of Jerusalem, to the land of Israel for the celebration of the Passover.

And Paul, Jewish believer, he wanted to come to celebrate Pesach in the city of Jerusalem. But the plan was eventually to stop it because they knew that he was a believer in a Messiah. And I'm just mentioning verse three again. There he abode for three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him as he was about to sail to Syria. What do you mean to sail? Because there were many of our Jewish people who were taking ships and sailing to Israel in order to celebrate the feasts. And they knew that he would be there. And they were plotting, who knows, maybe right when he is at sea, to throw him over sea.

Because he had faith in Yeshua the Messiah and proclaimed that he was Israel Messiah. And many of our own people rejected that message. And they began to oppose even their own Jewish people, such as the Apostle Paul. And so we can see that he is experiencing what he himself, prior to his faith in the Messiah, have done by rejecting those that believed that Yeshua was the Messiah. Well, he now changed his plan. He planned to go to Jerusalem to celebrate Pesach. But he changed his plan because he heard of the plot that was against him. So what does he do? He purposed to return through Macedonia.

So he was now going back through Macedonia instead of going to the city of Jerusalem. In verse 4 and 5, brothers and sisters, we learn about the companions of the Apostle Paul in the ministry. Beautiful to see a person become part of the body of Christ, the body of Messiah. And here you see a companion that had fellowship with Shaul, with Paul. They ministered with him. Notice that we read about them in verse 4. They accompanied him into Asia, Sopater from Berea. And there was Aristarchus and Secundus, two other individuals from the city of Thessalonica. Then we have Gaius that came from Derby. And then we have Timothy as well.

And you remember Timothy was Jewish. He had to be circumcised. So you can see Jews and Gentiles, part of the body of Messiah, united together in a ministry of the Lord. And then we find out of Asia, we have Tychicus and Tropimius, another two who came. So you have various individuals and Shaul, Paul, all together serving our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. And the reason, beloved brothers and sisters, that they accompanied him is because many of the Gentile believers in Asia Minor have seen the Jewish believers in Jerusalem that they became poor because of their faith in the Messiah. They have lost so much and they were providing perhaps money and ministry for the saints in the city of Jerusalem.

I want you to go to Romans chapter 15 for a moment to read verse 25. The Apostle Paul writing to the Romans. And he said to them, but now I go to Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it has pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. You see, they were going together to bring with them their provision or the contribution for the poor saints which were in Jerusalem. So it's so nice to see that the Gentile believers saw the need of the Jewish believers and they have collected the contribution for the saints. And together they were traveling to bring these funds in the city of Jerusalem.

It says in verse 27 of Romans chapter 15. And it has pleased them verily and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duties also to minister unto them in carnal things. In other words, the Apostle Paul have taught the Gentile saints to recognize that they have a responsibility towards the nation of Israel and the Jewish saints. And they really fulfilled their responsibility when they were bringing the ministry to the Jewish believers in the city of Jerusalem. And so here we have the names of all of those who were intending to travel with him to the city of Jerusalem.

And then notice now verse 5. These going before tarried for us at Troas. Now I want you to notice the word us here in verse 5. We read again the word us here. Why? Because Luke, the doctor, some believe that he was not Hebrew. Others believe that he was a Hebrew, was a Jewish believer. But now the word us is mentioned again because Luke is joining the believers in their traveling towards the city of Jerusalem. And now he's no longer writing they, he, he's writing us and we. From here on you will notice the word us and we mention quite a lot. Because now Luke, the doctor, the physician, is joining Paul, Shaul and the rest of those companions of his for the ministry.

And so you notice, and I think the next verses are extremely interesting verses. In verses 6 to 12, after we see Paul visit Macedonia and Greece, verses 1 to 5. Now verses 6 to 12, Paul is visiting in Troas. And now, brothers and sisters, listen to what we learn here in these verses. First of all, in verse 6, we see Paul arrival to Troas. Again, we read the word we, and we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread. This is Chag HaMatzot. This is the feast of Passover. Because Paul did not arrive to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, so he had to forbear, to wait a bit longer. He's going to get there a little bit later.

So we read that after the days of unleavened bread, he came unto them to Troas. In five days where we abode for seven days. So now he left Philippi, and now he arrived to the place that is called Troas. And there something very interesting has happened. The story about Troas is very intriguing, because we learned a few lessons here about the events that happened in the local assembly. The local church in the city is called Troas. First of all, you notice now in the first part of verse 7, there was the local gathering of the assembly at Troas. It says, "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread." Now, I want to pause here for a moment.

Over the church age, we are now 2,000 years of church history, since the Messiah died, was buried, rose again, and the Holy Spirit came in Acts chapter 2, to establish what is known to be the Ekklesia, the church. In the earlier part of the church age, we are talking about 57, 58 A.D. This is very early in the church history. We notice the time in which the assembly, the believers, were gathering together. Notice that this is the first time that we find it in the book of Acts, when the believers were gathered together upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread.

We learn here a very important principle, here when the church, the body of Messiah was built. We learn from the early apostles that now the believers would gather together on what is known to be as the resurrection day. Why the first day of the week? Because the first day of the week is the day in which Yeshua, Jesus, our Lord and our Messiah, rose from among the dead. You remember, He was placed in the tomb. He was for three days and three nights in the grave. And on the third day, He rose from among the dead. And this suggests a new beginning, a new start.

Now, why it is so important to understand it? Because the years in which we part of the church for a little time, some of us are say five years, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years. If you notice, believers over the years maybe argue or debate or don't have necessarily the same view about when the church, the assembly, the congregation, the body of Messiah as a collective gathering should gather together. And some say we should meet on Shabbat on Saturday. Others say we should meet on Sunday. And all these things and these conflicts over the years. And really, that brought a lot of divisions among the people of God.

Now, right or wrong or how one feel or other feel is one thing. But it's always, beloved brothers and sisters, good to be basing what we do on the principles that are taught for us in the Word of God. We don't want to have our feeling placed into it, even not our desire placed into it. But we want to always take the principle that we have in the Word of God. And this is important because you remember, and I want you for a moment to turn with me to Exodus chapter 31, please. I want you to notice about the Shabbat day that God had given our people Israel.

And I want you to see that when God gave our forefathers and the nation of Israel the seventh day to keep as a day that belonged to God. And that they are there to live and to use that day to rest, but also to use that day for God. He gave it specifically as a sign to our people Israel. And I'm reading verse 12. Verse 12. And the Lord speak unto Moses, speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily, my Shabbat ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generation, that ye may know that I am the Lord that does sanctify you.

Ye shall keep the Shabbat, therefore, for it is holy unto you. Every one that defiles it shall surely be put to death. For whosoever does any work therein, that soul shall be, notice that, cut off from among his people. It was serious to keep the Shabbat day as God had given it to our people Israel. Notice what it says in verse 15. He says six days any work shall be done, but on the seventh day, notice that the Shabbat is the seventh day. It's not the fifth, fourth, sixth day. It's not the first day. It is the seventh day. And the seventh day is a Shabbat day of rest, holy to the Lord.

Whosoever doth any work in the Shabbat day, he shall surely be put to death. Then he adds to it in verse 16. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Shabbat to observe throughout their generation. Notice for a perpetual covenant. The Shabbat was given to our nation Israel as a covenant between God and the people of Israel. Notice in verse 17. It is a sign between me, that is God, and the children of Israel, not for six months, not for 60 or 600 years. It is forever a sign with God and the people of Israel. For in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, and on the seventh day the Lord rested and was refreshed.

And he gave to Moses and he wrote those two tablets and so on as a testimony to the people of Israel. Now what I wanted to emphasize here that the Shabbat day, the Sabbath is the seventh day, it's not the first day. And secondly, it is given to our people Israel, the nation, as a sign of the covenant between God and Israel. But now Israel, the nation, have not accepted Yeshua the Messiah. They are still awaiting a restoration that is going to be in a future day when the church age will come to a conclusion. We must understand that there are principles that are given to us in the word of God on how the believers are to meet together in this present day of the church age.

Israel, as a nation, is still in unbelief, is still waiting the time of restoration. So notice, he says, upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread. This is in Troas. We learn that believers already in the early part of the church age gathered together already on the first day of the week. Now, I'm calling it the first day. In Hebrew, we call it Yom Rishon. I mean the first day. Not so much the word Sunday, because you know, the word Sunday came from the sun day and then Monday came from the moon day. But we are talking about biblical first day.

Biblically speaking, days do not begin after midnight. We have to realize that, brothers and sisters, I know we are living here in a gentle world with a calendar that is not Bible calendar. But from a biblical calendar and accounting, already in the book of Genesis, we learn that the day began in the evening. We read it in Genesis, in the beginning of the book of Genesis. And it was evening, Erev, the Boker, Yom, or day, and it was the first day. Everything began from the evening. Actually, Leviticus chapter 23, verse 32 says, "From even to even ye shall celebrate your Shabbats." In other words, the actual day does not begin after midnight.

It always began when the sun came down on a Shabbat day and then the new day began. And so you notice here that we find these believers gathered together on the first day of the week. Now, where did they learn that from? Now here, please bear with me. Go back to John chapter 20. Here we have a real Bible lesson that will help us to understand the principles that first century believers in the church age had to learn as they were developing and growing and maturing. Where does the first day of the week really begin to be taught to believers to gather together? Well, we find out that after Yeshua died, bore our sins in his body on the tree.

Then he was buried and placed in the tomb. And on the first day of the week, he rose, if you notice in verse one, the first day of the week. Come as Miriam Magdalene early when it was yet dark unto the sepulcher and see as that the stone was taken away from the sepulcher. Then notice that the Messiah rose in the later verses of chapter 20 where in verse 13, they said unto her woman, why weepest thou? She said unto them, because they have taken away my Lord. And if you remember, he called her in verse 16, Yeshua, Jesus said unto her, Miriam. And she turned herself and she said unto him, Rabboni or Rabbi, which is master.

And he told her, touch me not and so on. He revealed himself to Miriam. And now notice in verse 19, a week later, the Jewish disciples, who have trusted that Yeshua was the Messiah, were meeting already together after his resurrection. They met as well in Yerushalayim on the first day of the week. Look at this, verse 19. Then the same day at evening, notice it was an evening meeting, being the first day of the week. When the doors were shut, when the disciples were assembled for the fear of the Jews. This is the Jewish leaders. All the disciples were Jewish believers, but they were afraid of the Jewish brethren.

The leaders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees who did not believe that Yeshua was the Messiah. And then notice, came Yeshua and he stood in the midst. And he said unto them, Shalom Aleichem, peace be unto you. Here we find now that the early Jewish believers in the city of Yerushalayim understood the time in which they would gather together because it speaks to us about the resurrection of the Messiah. It does not say that there is a problem with the Shabbat. No. But what it does teaches us that there is a new beginning. The Messiah rose from among the dead. And a new beginning. It was establishing now what is known to be the Ekklesia, the church age.

And here we find that the early first century believers, even before the Holy Spirit of God came, they were already meeting on the first day of the week. And it was an evening meeting. Today, when you would go to many church groups today, they would normally come together at about nine o'clock, nine thirty, ten o'clock, eleven o'clock on the first day on Sunday morning. But actually, biblical speaking, the gathering of the saints were already when the Shabbat ended after sundown. And then the first day of the week had began. It was an evening meeting where the saints were gathering together. But it was the first day of the week.

And why it is, brothers and sisters, because it speaks of the resurrection of the Messiah. Had Yeshua remained in the tomb and haven't risen from among the dead, we would be without hope. We would be lost in our sin and sins because he would not be resurrected and finished the work that God had given him to do. But the Lord not only died on the cross and buried, but he rose on the first day of the week. And if you will read all the four Gospels without exception, speaking about the fact that it was the first day of the week that the Messiah had risen from among the dead.

Matthew 28 and verse 1, Mark 16 and verse 2, also verse 9, Luke 24 and verse 1, and John 20 and verse 1. All are speaking about the resurrection of the Messiah on the first day of the week. And this is important for us to understand. So here the believers at Troas were gathering together on the first day of the week. And we can see how important it is. It's not a binding law because we don't have any command from the Lord. Thou shalt keep the first day of the week. We don't have that. We do have that about the Shabbat. The Shabbat, you didn't have any choice under the law. If Israel could say to God, I don't feel like keeping the Shabbat.

Well, God said, if you are going to violate my seventh day, the Shabbat, you notice it. We read in Exodus chapter 31, his soul shall be cut off from among his people. God will judge the Israeli who failed to keep the Shabbat. The first day of the week was not given to us as a law in the Brit HaChadasha, in the new covenant. But it is a guideline to help us understand that it speaks to us of the resurrection of Yeshua, the Messiah, who rose on the first day of the week. It's a new beginning. It's a new creation in the resurrection of the Messiah. I got to show you one more verse.

If you turn with me to first Corinthians chapter 16 as well. Now, Paul is writing to believers and he give them instruction. And notice what he tells them because they already understood the principles of when the early saints were gathered together. The apostle Paul said in verses one and two, they were raising funds for the saints in Jerusalem. It says concerning the collection for the saints as I have given order to the churches in Galatia. Even so do ye upon the first day of the week. Let every one of you lay by him in store as God has prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come.

Remember where Paul says, listen, when you come together on the first day of the week, then it is a time that you can collect the funds in order to bring it for the poor saints in Jerusalem. But again, brothers and sisters, he used this first day of the week, Yom Rishon, the new beginning, the resurrection of the Messiah is seen by the gathering of the saints on the first day of the week. But I want to remind you, it's not necessarily applied to 9.30, 10, 11 o'clock in the morning on Sunday or the first day of the week. But the first day of the week Bible is already when the Shabbat ended right after sundown.

The first day of the week had begun. This is just for your thoughts. Now, I got to make a couple more remarks here before I'm going to move on. So what do we do? How do we handle such a situation? Let me tell you. For example, there are believers who believe that the first day of the week is a good and a healthy time to gather together. But they can't do it because they live in countries that they don't have the ability to meet on the first day of the week on Sunday. So you know what they do? They meet on other days that it is allowed them by the government.

For example, in Muslim countries, there are many Christians who gather there because Friday is usually the day that they have off. It's a day when everybody is resting and don't go to work. And then the believers gather at that time. They are not bound by any law to meet on the first day of the week, but it's healthy to take principle. What about Israel? Most of our own people in Israel meet on Shabbat on Saturday. Why it is? Because Shabbat is a day when people don't work and then people can meet together. It is also just like we meet here on Shabbat, it is a great opportunity to open the door for other Jewish people who are not yet believers in Yeshua the Messiah to come to hear the message of the gospel of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

But it does not change the principles that we have in the Bible that help us to understand why and what and when we do. So some people are struggling with this situation. So look what Apostle Paul continues to teach. Turn again to the book of Romans, this time chapter 14. And I want to emphasize this as well today because it is important to take it in light of what we are speaking about. There were those who were arguing, like many of us often do, over which day we are to keep. In a sense, which day we are to meet on. Look what Paul is saying in verse one.

Him that is weak in the faith receive, yet not to doubtful disputation. For one believe that he may eat all things, another who is weak eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not. Let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him. Here he is talking about food. But then notice in verse five. One man esteemeth one day above another, and another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord. And he that regardeth not a day, to the Lord does he not regard it.

He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, and he that giveth to God thanks. Now, he teaching the Romans believers, listen, he says to the brethren, let's not go to the extent that we argue and we actually cause divisions among the people of God, when we go to the extent that we focus on the day instead of on the person of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. That's what he's really saying here. So some one person, like we, most of us who are coming from a Jewish background, know very well how difficult it is for us to violate what we understood the Shabbat is all about. When we grew up in our circles, at least in our family, some of us when we were younger, Shabbat was Shabbat.

You don't walk, you don't hold money on Shabbat, you don't drive on Shabbat, you don't light fire on Shabbat, you don't cook on Shabbat, you don't work on Shabbat. You don't do anything on Shabbat because what we have been taught by the rabbis and also what God have instructed our people, Shabbat was Shabbat. And oh, if you dare to violate the Shabbat, and so the Apostle Paul says now that we are in the Messiah, the binding of the Shabbat was in the Messiah, Jew and Gentile, Israel is still in unbelief. We are no longer under this obligation that God has given to the nation of Israel biblically.

And we have liberties today. What about food? When we grew up, they would never dare to eat in a plate that is painted blue underneath for milk. You will never dare to put meat inside there because we are to keep cautious, separated dishes, separated sinks. You are separating, you never dare to eat pork. You will never even mention the name pork or hazir. You can't do it because God had given instruction to our people not to eat certain things and to keep the Shabbat day. But under the present day dispensation of the ecclesia, the church age, where Jewish people and Gentiles who believe in the Messiah are united in the body of Messiah, this obligation no longer apply to the believers because we are in this present day dispensation of the church age of grace.

And this is important to understand. And the meeting of the saints on the first day of the week is not because there is something wrong with the Shabbat, but it is because it's representing to us a new beginning, the resurrection of Yeshua, the Messiah. But it was in the evening meeting, it was immediately after the Shabbat day over. There is one more or less verse in connection with this to Colossians chapter 2. And our pastor Paul is saying to the believers at Colossae, there he is telling to them, notice in verse 16. And this was very hard for me, I remember when I first read these verses by people who are not Jewish, and for them it's very easy to read those verses.

And they say in verse 16, Let no man therefore judge you in meat, this is food, or in drink, or in respect of a holiday, or of the new moon, or of the Shabbat days. And then he said in verse 17, which are a shadow of things to come. You see, even the things which God had given our people Israel to maintain and to keep faithfully, they were a shadow of things to come. And that's why he said in verse 17b, but the essence, the reality is the Messiah, is Christ. If I'm going to show you a picture of mine, and you're going to say, boy, this is brother Gideon, here is a picture of Gideon.

What are you going to do? Are you going to take the picture and talk to the picture and speak to the picture? Well, what if I'm here? Wouldn't you want to speak with me? Wouldn't you want to have fellowship with me? Well, that's the truth that we learn about the thing that God has given our forefathers. Everything is culminating in the person of Yeshua, the Messiah. He is the object. He is the purpose. He is the goal. He is the center. He is the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of this world. So all our sacrifices, the feasts, the Shabbats of all, all are pointing to the person of our Lord, Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah.

When he came, we have the real gem. We not need to be occupied with that which is shadow. But you want to be occupied with that which is real. And I can tell you from what I can see, we can be occupied with religion and keep days and eat this way and keep all kinds of things. If the heart is not focused on the person of Yeshua, the Messiah, it becomes empty and shallow. And all the mundane of keeping things without the beauty of the person of Yeshua, the Messiah, do not avail us at all. It becomes a religion without reality. And that's why, beloved brothers and sisters, the Lord and all the early Hebrew apostles have emphasized on the person of Yeshua, the Messiah.

So when the saints come together on the first day of the week, Acts chapter 20 and verse 7, that is where we see that they have gathered together as an evening meeting. It was not Sunday evening. It was already Saturday evening. After sundown, they were gathering together in the beginning of the week, the resurrection day. So in chapter 20 of the book of Acts and verse 7, the saints gather together on the first day of the week. And notice they were breaking bread. Now, again, this is another issue that our hearts are grieved over this, that if there is anything that the church has been so divided over is the issue of the breaking of the bread.

In the beginning, in the first century, the breaking of the bread, the remembrance of the Lord, in the eating of the bread and the drinking of the cup, which speaks to us of the body of the Messiah and the blood of the Messiah, it was celebrated by the believers. The church was united. They had one purpose. They were in harmony. They were in one goal. The unity. They were sound doctrine. They were sound teaching. In fact, if you remember, when we started the book of Acts and we began in chapter 2, and we said in chapter 2 and verse 42, they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of the bread and in prayer.

So they were continuing, the believers, in Jerusalem. And you know what happened? There were only a few. They were persecuted. They trusted that Yeshua was the Messiah. And they remembered him in his death. But the time passes by. And the church has grown. And more people came in. But at the same time, when people got saved, when God was working, also the enemy was working. And then you start to have false teaching creep in. And then when false teaching came in, you had to separate from false teaching. And when those who sought to maintain the truth of the word of God had to separate. Of course, they themselves had their own weakness.

And that's how the church, the assembly, started to separate. You have one group here and another group there. And all of a sudden, everybody is a church. Everybody is claiming to be, oh yeah, we belong to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. And no wonder, brothers and sisters, you just drive around here. And you see how many groups are here. And everyone is part of the body of the Messiah. But they cannot be together. Sometimes they are not together because of pride. But other times they are not together because of teaching and doctrine. You have some who don't believe that Jesus is God. They are all Christians, at least they claim.

And they have many other groups that I don't need to mention. And everybody belongs to the Lord. So who are you going to break bread with? We are ready to blame. But at the same time, we see the failure in us, in the body of Christ, in the believers. And so, at that time, there was a small group. The church at Corinth, there was one church. There was not 200 groups in the same little town. You just drive around the city here and you see how many. It is amazing and it's so confusing. And so you need wisdom. And you sometimes need to bear with things and just wait on the Lord and trust the Lord that the Lord will help.

There are certain things we cannot change. We are already in a late period of time in the church age. But in the beginning, it was so precious. They gathered together and they were breaking bread together. They were remembering the Lord together. Having an enjoyable time together in a remembrance of what Yeshua the Messiah has done. And what we mentioned here in verse 7, beloved brothers and sisters, it is a lesson or a principle that had been practiced in early church age. And it should be practiced in our life too, as well in this present day. But the condition is so much of the Laodicean age in which we find ourselves failing and we are all part of it.

We don't point to somebody and say they are bad and I am good and they are wrong and I am right. No, we are part of a failing, professing church of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And so, look at this now. Here are some things that we can learn that happen here at Troas. We find out, first of all in verse 7a, that it was a principle that the believers gathered on the first day of the week to remember the Lord in his death, in the breaking of the bread. But then notice in verse 7b, that it was an evening meeting and the preaching of the word of God was there along with the breaking of bread.

It says in verse 7b, Paul preached unto them ready to depart unto more. Now remember, he was not preaching from 9 o'clock, like what we would call today, first day of the week, 9 o'clock in the morning, all the way 9, 10, 11, 12, all the way until midnight, like 15, 16 hours. No, it was an evening meeting, Shabbat after sundown, which is the first day of the week, biblical. And there was an evening meeting, they were gathering together and the Apostle Paul, in addition to the remembrance of the Messiah, he was preaching the word of God, edification. He was teaching the scripture and notice it says that he preached unto them, he was ready to depart tomorrow, on the next day, in the morning.

And he continued his speech until midnight. So we learned that it was an evening meeting. He continued to speak, and apparently, if they met after sundown, after 6 o'clock, let's say 7 o'clock meeting on Saturday evening, which is the first day of the week, Sunday. So maybe he spoke for about two or three or four hours. You know, sometime I'm long-winded and I apologize for that. But can you imagine if you will have to stay here until midnight? For a person like Apostle Paul, we stand here and speak the word and teach the word. And you know, it tells us the very fact that he was teaching and preaching that people at that time in this local assembly through us had an exercise of heart to learn from the word of God.

And it is really commendable to see that they really had a desire to learn the word of God. Then you notice, brothers and sisters, in verse 8, we also find out, it gives us an additional reason to see that this is an evening meeting. Because in verse 8, it says that there were many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together. You notice twice the word gathered together. It says in verse 7, they came together. In verse 8, they gathered together. That was an assembly meeting, a church meeting, congregational meeting. So they were gathering together. It was an evening meeting. They need to have many lights there to be able to see what they read and to see each other.

They were not like we have today, a lot of electricity. There they have torches. And they had many lights because the saints came together to meet around the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. But now we find out something in verses 9 to 12, something very interesting that we can make an application to us today. There was a man by the name of Eutychus, a young man that fell asleep. I don't know if you feel like this. Sometimes I go to a meeting, I'm so tired that a preacher speaks and I nod my head that I'm actually really dozing slowly, slowly and closing my eyes because I'm very tired and I'm falling asleep.

It happened to me many times. It's not an excuse. I mean, we better come to the meeting awake and ready to listen to the word of God. But that's how we feel sometimes. So it says here, and I'm reading now from verse 9 to 12. First of all, in verse 9, this young man was sitting on the window. It says in verse 9, there sat in a window, on the windowsill perhaps, a certain young man by the name of Eutychus, being fallen into deep sleep as Paul was long preaching. He sank down with sleep and he fell down from the third loft and he was taken up dead. Now, apparently you might ask, well, Eutychus, what in the world are you sitting by the window?

Now, one might say, you know what, there were so many people who came together to hear the Apostle Paul preaching, there was no room. So I sat on the window. But you know, brothers and sisters, this is a great lesson for us. Sometimes, if we can learn a lesson from Eutychus, sometimes we can be like Eutychus. We are in the body here, but our mind and our heart is somewhere far away. Don't you feel like that sometimes? I can come to a meeting and I can listen to the preacher, but I'm figuring out, wait a minute, what I have to do tomorrow and I have to do this and I got to go there.

And my mind and my heart is really not there. It can also apply to a person that is merely keep religion and saying, you know what, to be a good church man or church woman, I go to church meeting. But really, my heart is not there. I'm not really interested. I'm just going to sit in the pew, give the half an hour to the person who preached his time, and then I'm gone. I have my whole week for myself. I got to do my duty. In Eutychus, we may learn various things. We need to have our heart, not outside, but inside. We don't do God a favor when our body is at a meeting hall.

Believe me, God can do without us. We don't do God a favor when we go to a church meeting. It's only we benefit. When we go where the saints are gathered together, we are blessed. Because the Spirit of God is there. Because the Lord Yeshua is there. Because the Bible is being read. Because we are learning and growing in the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. God does not want us to have a seat on the windowsill. And our attention is really probably mostly out and in. We need to pay attention. I'm not saying it to criticize. I'm saying it for all of us.

I'm speaking for myself. God wants our hearts in when the word is being opened and the Lord is being present. Then notice, brothers and sisters. We find out about Eutychus. By the way, his name means fortunate. We find that this young man was sitting on the windowsill. But then you see, notice what happened. That he fell into deep sleep. In other words, he's sitting there. I don't know if those can sleep with their eyes open. But most of us sleep with our eyes shut. And he's sitting on the window and his eyes is closing and he's falling into sleep. And this is also maybe would represent to us sometime in our lives as believers.

We are not spiritually awakened. Yes, we are saved. But we are not awakened. Our hearts are not connected with the Lord in our day-by-day life. We are like dead men. You know, before we became believers, we are called in Ephesians 2, we were dead in trespasses and sins. But also Ephesians teaches the importance that believers will be awakened from sleep. Even believers. The Apostle Paul said this in Ephesians. He challenged those Ephesians in chapter 5. If you please, for a moment, turn to Ephesians chapter 5, where he said to them in verse 14, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and the Messiah will give you light." Now, he doesn't speak to unbelievers here.

He speaks to believers, such as you and I, who have a time in our life when we are kind of sleepy in our spiritual growth. We don't mature and grow, and we don't serve the Lord and live for him. Didn't it happen to us? We know that, and the Lord stirs us up, and Eutychus sitting on a windowsill. The body is in, the mind perhaps is out, the heart is out. He ends up falling asleep. And then, because Paul was ending up long preaching, verse 9 of Acts chapter 20, he sunk down with sleep, and he fell from the third loft. Now, they were meeting apparently on the third loft, and Eutychus sitting on the windows there, and he ended up kind of slowly, slowly falling asleep, and ended up falling down from the third floor.

And again, here we also learn, when we are not awakened, when we are not on guard in our lives as believers, we end up to stumble and to fall. Isn't it true? We know it from experience. How many mistakes we have done because we were not alert and awakened. We end up falling in our walk with the Lord. Remember what the apostle said to our Hebrew brethren of old. He says, "And the sin which does so easily beset us." Because we have sin nature. Sin creeps into our lives so easy. You don't have to strive to look for sin. It comes your way. It comes from within you because of your, my sin nature, our sin nature.

The sin which does so easily beset us. Eutychus. Not only that he was sitting on the window. Not only that he fell asleep. He ended up sinking and falling down. Like we fall when we are away from the Lord. And then look at fourthly in that same verse. He was taken up dead. And again, the lesson for us is that we might be believers and we're never going to lose our eternal salvation because of the finished work of the Messiah. But we can be without any life in a sense of fruit for the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Only the flesh and its activity instead of the Spirit of God guiding us in our life.

So verse 9 is a very interesting verse that we can make many applications. I don't want to blame Eutychus. Maybe he was sincerely tired. Young man. And he was really tired. And Paul carried on, carried on. I wonder some of you are sleeping when I speak. Because you're tired. We're all tired. And I was sleeping when others are speaking. We're getting tired. So we're not to blame somebody. But there is a spiritual lesson. Beloved brothers and sisters. So here we have in verse 10 now. Look what happened to Eutychus. Paul went down. Apparently Paul stopped his preaching in the middle of the meeting. He went down and he fell on him.

Where did Paul learn that falling on him? Well, this is something that has already occurred more than once in the history of our people Israel. In both experiences of Eliyahu and Elisha. 1 Kings Elijah and 2 Kings Elisha. These two men of God have also been used by God to resurrect those boys whom they actually laid on them. Prayed to God and God raised them from among the dead. Really, God used the early apostles for these great miracles. To raise the dead. He gave it to many others. You remember like Peter, whom the Lord used as well. And others that the Lord used in the history of first century of the church age.

And then what happened in verse 11. He took him up. They both came up again. They had broken bread. Now this time the breaking of bread does not speak about the Lord's table. This time the word applied to eating food. Because again, in first century they were eating bread from house to house. Act chapter 2. And therefore now they were eating food. They gave him food to eat. After they have eaten and talked for a long time. Even until the break of the day. Then he, this is the apostle Paul, departed. And you know by the resurrection of this young man by the name of Eutychus. We read that everybody else was really comforted.

It says in verse 12. They brought the young man alive. And they were not a little comforted. One brother said this like this. He said, you know, the resurrection to bring back to life the young man. It was not for the benefit of the young man necessarily. But it was for the benefit of his family and his brothers and sisters. Now believe me. If we believe. And we know according to the Bible. That absent from the body. Is present with our Lord Yeshua. Which is far better. It would have been far better for Eutychus. If he died. And he did. To remain in the presence of the Lord.

But apparently. It was for the benefit of the believers. And that's why it says. And they brought the young man. Alive. And were. That this is they. The believers. They were not a little comforted. In other words. They were comforted very much. Because they loved him. And they wanted him to be still with them. So for them it was a benefit. But for the believer who dies. To be absent from the body. And present with the Lord. According to the word of God. It is far better. No more sorrows. No more trials. No more suffering. Here in this world. Now let me conclude with the last verses.

13, 14, 15, and 16. That we read as well. Those verses 13 to 16. Shows us Paul's trip from Troas to Miltus. Paul's journey from Troas to Miltus. And you notice that. And you notice that. Verse 13. We went before to ship. And sail unto Assos. There intending to take in Paul. For so had he appointed minding himself to go afoot. Now he now decided to get to Assos. Instead of taking a ship. He would go by foot. So there is about 20 mile journey from Troas to Assos. And Paul decided to take it by foot. Instead of taking a ship. But he sent the others to go with the ship. Then it says in verse 14.

From Assos. They went to Mitalin. It says here. And when he met us at Assos. We took him here in a ship now. And we came to Mitalin. Then for verse 15. We continue from Mitalin on now. All the way to Miltus. Because it says. We sailed. Thence and came. The next day. One day journey. Over against Chius. And the next day. We arrived at Samos. And tarried at Trogilium. And the next day. We came to Miltus. Now Miltus. Was about 28 miles from Ephesus. From which the Apostle Paul. Wanted to speak to the elders. Of the Ephesians. Church from Ephesus. And so we read in verse 16.

For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus. Because he would not spend time in Asia. For he hasted. If it were possible for him. To be at Jerusalem. For the day of Shavuot. Pentecost. So Paul had in mind. Again to continue to Jerusalem. To Jerusalem. He did not make it for Pesach. But he wanted to make it for Shavuot. And you know that. The word Shavuot means weeks. And it's 50 days. From the Passover time. And so the Apostle Paul. Wanted to continue to Jerusalem. To go for the Feast of Pentecost. For the Feast of Shavuot. So he did not go to Ephesus. And then we find out.

That he called the elders. Of the city of Ephesus. To come to him. To Miltus. From where he would share with them. His own heart. Before he would depart. To the city of Jerusalem. And with this. We are going to conclude. And we are going to speak about. His appeal. His speech. His concern. For the believers at Ephesus. From verse 17. To the end of the chapter. Verse 38. And in the will of the Lord. We are going to share this. In our next ministry meeting. May the Lord bless us. May the Lord help us. To learn. From this passage. And not to be like Eutychus. Don't sit on the window.

That's why we closed it. And keep your heart and mind inside. Focus on the Lord. Lord help us. To stay close to you. That our hearts and our mind. Will enjoy. Fellowship with the Lord. And fellowship. With one another.