_PUBLIC WORSHIP_ ‘And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them.’ Acts 20:7 In the present day there is a marked decline in the habit of people, generally, to attend public worship regularly, yet the present tendency is not peculiar t... [ Continue Reading ]
_EUTYCHUS_ ‘There sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep.’ Acts 20:9 The point of the story for us is not that Eutychus slept, but that Eutychus _ was there_. He had come to Christian worship early in the morning: he had done a hard day’s work: but he h... [ Continue Reading ]
_REPENTANCE AND FAITH_ ‘Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Acts 20:21 Repentance must have in it three things. It must have in it hope; it must have in it love; it must have in it God. I. IT MUST HAVE IN IT HOPE.—The sorrow which comes without hope, mere fear, is re... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE CHRISTIAN COURSE_ ‘And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto mys... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘NONE OF THESE THINGS MOVE ME’_ ‘But none of these things move me.’ Acts 20:24 When St. Paul and his companions had reached Miletus—it being the last occasion on which he should ever be in those parts, and, by the Spirit, having intimation of it—he, as the bishop, held a convocation of his clerg... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE MINISTRY_ ‘The ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus.’ Acts 20:24 These words from St. Paul’s charge to the Ephesian clergy who met him at Miletus tell of a ministry, and of Him Who commissioned men to exercise it in His Church. I. THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY.—‘The ministry which... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE PURCHASED CHURCH_ ‘The Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.’ Acts 20:28 Taking the Bible as our one sure light upon the Cross, standing at the point of sight where prophets, evangelists, and apostles stood, and where their Master stood Himself, we venture humbly but wit... [ Continue Reading ]
_RECEIVING AND GIVING_ ‘Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ Acts 20:35 In these words, not recorded in the Gospels, but rescued by St. Paul from the oblivion into which they might have fallen, our Lord has given us a telling portrait of... [ Continue Reading ]