(Suggested Reading: Chapter 20)
The first six verses of our chapter cover a period of great spiritual activity in the Apostle’s life, which Luke passes over with hardly a hint that this is the case. Men of the world who have examined the text critically are inclined, for this reason, to discredit Luke as an historian. Why should he say so little about the happenings in these first six verses and be so wordy on the minute details of Paul’s shipwreck, for example? One answer to this problem is that God rewards those who search the Scriptures and penalizes the slothful. For this entire period has been reconstructed from the epistles. But the larger answer is that Luke is a divine historian and so emphasizes things that seem irrelevant to men and de-emphasizes things that seem important to men.
The purpose of these first six verses is to serve as a general introduction to three subjects which are closely connected—the fall of Eutychus, Paul’s warning to the Ephesian elders, and Paul’s shipwreck.
Paul’s Labors After Ephesus
While at Ephesus Paul had already purposed in his spirit “when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem saying, after I have been there, I must also see Rome” —19:21. The work at Ephesus was now largely done and the riot there brought matters to a head. When the uproar ceased Paul embraced the disciples and departed for Macedonia.
To reach Macedonia he must first go to the seaport of Troas. This visit is described in 2 Cor. 2:12, 1312Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, 13I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia. (2 Corinthians 2:12‑13)— “when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them I went from there to Macedonia.” Paul is anxious for a report from Titus. He had sent him to Corinth from Ephesus and wanted to learn from him what effect his first epistle to the Corinthians had on them. As time passes and Titus fails to show up, Paul finally sails for Philippi, the chief city of Macedonia. Here Titus meets him. Of this he writes “nevertheless God, who comforts those who are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” He connects this comfort too with the news that Titus brought that the Corinthians had obeyed his first epistle— “and not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me: so that I rejoiced the more. For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent . . .” 2 Cor. 7:6-86Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; 7And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. 8For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. (2 Corinthians 7:6‑8). Paul then sends Titus back to Corinth to supervise the collection for the poor at Jerusalem. But with Titus Paul sends his second epistle to the Corinthians, written from Philippi. Paul himself continues in evangelical labors in Northern Greece waiting for news from Corinth of a response to his second epistle. “If I come again I will not spare” he had written—2 Cor. 13:22I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare: (2 Corinthians 13:2). On his return he may well have used his apostolic rod on the unruly Corinthians. Clement’s writings have been preserved to us—Paul’s ‘fellow laborer’—Phil 4:3. These testify to the personal purity that later characterized the lives of the Corinthians, but not to the removal of party spirit there.
While at Corinth Paul writes the Epistle to the Galatians. Tidings reach his ears of the Galatians becoming infected with Judaism. Thus, as one evil is corrected, another arises. Satan never leaves the Church of God alone, attacking it from both inside and outside. The conflict between law and grace rages without ceasing through the Acts.1
From 20:3 it seems that Paul stays three months in Corinth, or at least that Corinth is his center during this period in Achaia—which Luke calls ‘Greece.’ Here he can complete the collection which he sent Titus to oversee, and which by now is considerable—the sum total of many “first days of the week” —1 Cor. 16:22Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. (1 Corinthians 16:2). It is at Corinth too that Paul writes the Epistle to the Romans. This he entrusts to Phoebe, the deaconess at Cenchrae, one of Corinth’s seaports. Like Lydia she appears to be a woman of substance and is sailing to Rome to attend to a business matter. She carries with her Paul’s epistle—a document worth more than the ship and its cargo in pure gold. In this epistle Paul affirms his desire to visit the Roman brethren. He writes “I have been much hindered from coming to you—but now I go to Jerusalem to minister to the saints—when therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain” —Rom. 15:22-2822For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you. 23But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you; 24Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company. 25But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. 26For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. 27It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. 28When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain. (Romans 15:22‑28). This expectation is not realized although Paul’s visit to Spain at a later date has some historical support.
Paul does not sail from Corinth because the Jews plot against his life. Instead he goes back to Macedonia accompanied by faithful brethren, among whom are Tychicus and Trophimus, the Ephesians. By stages he returns to Philippi—the seaport linking Europe and Asia—V. 6. From here he sails to Troas.
Warning Signs
An interesting feature of the journey from Philippi to Troas is the length of time it takes—possibly due to unfavorable winds. Whatever the reason the voyage takes five days. When sailing to Europe with the gospel this voyage took two days—16:11, 12. Since the winds and seas obey the Lord’s will this may be another of the signs, now multiplying, that the direction the Apostle is taking is not fully in accordance with the will of God. As an isolated incident it means very little, but in combination with others it becomes significant. Let us look at some of these.
Long before Paul receives direct warnings not to go to Jerusalem the text in Acts starts to flash warning signals—indications that a backward move is being taken. For example, in the previous chapter, where Paul’s intention to go to Jerusalem is given us, we have the last mention of the synagogue in the text—for Paul, by taking that step, will no more enter the synagogue to preach. Then in this chapter we have the last reference to the church in Acts and also to the Lord Jesus, a title denoting the Lord’s authority—and in V. 24 in connection with Paul’s ministry. This verse also gives us the last mention of the gospel in Acts, and that too in connection with warnings Paul admits receiving from the Holy Spirit. Verse 25 gives us the last mention of the Kingdom of God, which Paul constantly preached, until the very end of Acts when he is a prisoner in Rome. “The Scriptures” are referred to last in 18:28— “Prophet” is absent from 21:10 to 28:25— “prophets” from 15:32 to 24:14. Thus the things that have constituted Paul’s public ministry are gradually disappearing from the inspired text as he prepares to go to Jerusalem.
Just as some things disappear, other things begin to show up. Eutychus falls and failure in the Church is predicted to the Ephesian elders. As we move on, the Temple comes before our vision, and Jerusalem—then the power of Rome which is to carry Paul away captive on a ship. Rome first appears in the text when Claudius ordered all Jews to leave Rome—18:2. Thereafter the Apostle must see Rome—19:21; must bear witness at Rome—23:11; goes to Rome—28:14 and arrives at Rome—28:16.
There are still further warning signals in the text. In the six verses at the beginning of our chapter which encompass some of Paul’s greatest work there is no mention of the assemblies he visited. His places of stay are generalized; provinces are mentioned rather than cities. Luke, under the Spirit’s direction, seems to be concentrating not so much on what has been accomplished, as in the developing trend—beginning with the backward step toward Jerusalem.
Another indication that some event of consequence is about to emerge is the beginning of another of the ‘we’ sections of Acts—in which Luke the historian accompanies Paul. Luke enters the narrative again at Troas. He was needed to record the history of the introduction of the gospel to Europe when Paul had had the night vision and Luke joined him—16:10-12—to go to Philippi. Now Luke is needed again as directions are reversed. This time they travel together from Philippi to Troas. Luke is to be the official historian of Paul’s bonds, shipwreck, and imprisonment. That is a separate section of Acts—Paul’s testimony before kings—quite distinct from his gospel witness. As well as being an historian Luke is also a physician, and the gracious Lord may well have made Luke’s medical services available to Paul at this juncture. Paul is aging and his sufferings in the body increasing.
Three Lessons From the Great Apostle’s Visit to Jerusalem
In view of the beloved Apostle’s stature in the Church and his greatness as a suffering and utterly devoted servant of Christ we are reticent about dwelling on the subject of his determination to go to Jerusalem. But there are lessons the Holy Spirit would teach us here which we should carefully and reverently consider:
. . . The first lesson is the old one that was brought before us when Paul and Barnabas parted—that is, that the greatest danger we face in Christian life is when we have been most successful in divine things. Why do we always ignore this lesson—that it is then that Satan lurks to rob us of our crown? Take Elijah, for example. The pinnacle of his career was on Mount Carmel when he called on the Lord, when fire consumed a water laden sacrifice, when he put to death the prophets of Baal. Then what did he do but run away from a woman—Jezebel. So with the beloved Apostle. Ephesus was the crown of his career, the jewel of early Christianity; he left it for Jerusalem and Judaism. The twelve disciples of John the Baptist were baptized at Ephesus to connect the beginning of God’s work—the Jordan—with its climax—Ephesus. When the Lord judges the responsible Church in the Revelation He begins with Ephesus—see especially Rev. 2:4, 54Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (Revelation 2:4‑5). It had the greatest truth, the most exalted spiritual position.
. . . The second lesson is the danger of allowing national feelings to intrude in the Lord’s work. Consider the difference between Paul at Ephesus and Paul at Jerusalem. Ephesus was given to Paul because he obeyed—16:6. He did not preach the word in Asia—the capital of which was Ephesus—though it must have torn his heart to keep silence. Because of his obedience God opened Europe to him and afterwards gave him Asia as a reward. From Ephesus the whole of Asia heard the Word of the Lord—19:10. The Ephesian epistle too is the crown of his written ministry. But in his visit to Jerusalem Paul fails to act on the warnings of the Spirit. He does not go so far as actual disobedience, but his actions terminate his recorded public ministry. At the end he is a prisoner, proving the truth of what he had once written “all things work together for good to those who love God” —Rom. 8:2828And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28). In his hour of need the Lord stands by him—23:11. Paul’s love for his own nation hindered his preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles at this time. He loved the Jewish people so much that he would gladly have gone to hell instead of them if this were possible—Rom. 9:33For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: (Romans 9:3).
. . . The third lesson is related to the overriding question of what was wrong with Paul’s last visit to Jerusalem. Had he not visited Jerusalem several times before? Why should it be different this time? The answer to this question is found in the life and writings of the Apostle. In his public ministry he had seen the Jew repudiate Christ and had separated the disciples from the Synagogue to the School of Tyrannus. In his epistle to the Romans he condemned the Jew as well as the Gentile, both needing the righteousness of God—Jesus Christ; in his epistle to the Galatians he refuted Judaism and law keeping. These things were gradual developments. In the initial stages when the Jews had not violently turned against Christianity, visits to Jerusalem were in order. But Paul’s life and letters condemn Judaism. How then can he return to the old center—Jerusalem? “If I build again the things which I destroy I make myself a transgressor” —Gal. 2:1818For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. (Galatians 2:18). Yet we believe his return was providentially allowed as a figure of the return of Christianity to Judaism after Paul’s work in the Church was over. The work of Peter and Paul comprises the first two sections of the Acts. In the third section, looking beyond the actual story, Paul symbolizes Christianity in the last days.
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Paul was probably the greatest man of God in the New Testament as Moses was in the old. Yet both failed—Paul by returning to Jerusalem; Moses by not sanctifying God in the eyes of the people when he smote the rock. The failures of great servants—Peter, David, Jacob, etc. are not concealed in God’s book as they are in man’s books. They are pointed out to us, partly so we may team lessons from their mistakes, but also to teach us that no matter how great the servant, he always falls short of Christ, the perfect Servant. Men of the world sometimes see the failures of God’s people more clearly than we do perhaps because they are looking for them. A secular writer once commented that Paul spent most of his life fighting Judaism and then succumbed to it at the end. It is clear that the visit to Jerusalem he purposed in his spirit in 19:21 was disastrous. His love for his people led him to Rome, not as a free man but as a prisoner in chains. But despite the difficulties we make, God always carries out His purposes.
The Fall of Eutychus
His name means “well off” and his fall is one of the favorite subjects of August Van Ryn as he delights to tell us in his book on Acts.2 Eutychus is a figure of a backslider exceedingly “well off” —blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ—but unaware of it. He belongs to a separated company—in the previous chapter Paul had separated the disciples from the Synagogue—but he is a figure of believers who are not clear about that.
The setting of Eutychus’ fall is a long address Paul gives to the believers at Troas previous to the Lord’s Supper. In the freshness of things at the beginning this was daily—here only weekly, on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week. While there is no rule as to how frequently we are to remember the Lord, Paul approved the practice of meeting together on the first day of the week by waiting seven days at Troas so he could break bread there. This in spite of the urgency indicated in verses 16 and 17 following. Troas being a pagan city with no provision for time off work on Sunday, the believers meet at night and Paul continues his speech until midnight. This does not mean that the Lord’s Supper should be at night as some think. At Troas there was no other time for believers to assemble and similar conditions may well apply in different countries in the world today.
The believers are gathered together in an upper chamber where there are many lights. The “upper chamber” is a figure of being morally elevated above the Christ-rejecting world outside; the “many lights” —our position as brought into the light—the world outside being in darkness (the children of Israel had light in their dwellings when Egypt was darkened)—and more specifically of the gifts—such as Paul, Apollos, Aquila and Priscilla—the Lord had raised up to teach and bring blessing to His Church.
Placing a low value on his blessings, Eutychus sits in a window opening. From that vantage point he can keep one eye on the Assembly and another on the world. Quite probably like many today, he had only come out because he heard there was to be a special speaker, but Paul’s message does not stir him from his lethargy. He is in the act of being overpowered by deep sleep, while Paul discourses. Then he is overpowered and falls from the third story down to the bottom and is carried up dead. We cannot be neutral in divine things. By keeping at a distance from his brethren and sitting at the window opening, the attraction of the world becomes more to him than Paul’s message. He has three steps downward. First, he is in the act of being overpowered, then he is overpowered, then he falls. When a believer falls, two steps precede his fall as here. First, he is in the act of being overpowered. He partly withdraws from his brethren but does not leave them yet. Instead he moves to some neutral spot where he can see something of the world as well. In this state of soul public ministry only puts such a one to sleep. In the next stage he is overcome with sleep, and it only needs some small incident and a public fall takes place. Then people say, how did this dreadful thing happen to so and so?
A backslider is not recovered by preaching at him—remember, that only put him to sleep—but by lowly pastoral work. And so, Paul assumes a different role. He goes down from the third story—in figure the elevated state of Christian blessings—to the world outside where such as Eutychus have fallen. Paul’s ministry not only gives us the height of Christian blessings but much practical instruction to keep us from sin or restore us if we fail. Paul falls on Eutychus. He embraces him. Then the brethren, whose company bored Eutychus, go down too, for Paul says “trouble not yourselves” to them. When one sheep goes astray all of us are to be concerned until he is restored. And to reach the lost sheep pastoral ministry is needed. The pastor must place himself in the stray sheep’s position, considering himself lest he also be tempted—Gal. 6:11Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. (Galatians 6:1). Years ago a young Christian came to the writer with spiritual problems. In the course of our conversation he remarked that he was upset because his tools were stolen from his car. Then he blurted out that he discovered this when he came out of the theatre. It is then that a believer needs love. Love and abundant prayer restored this dear sheep where a thousand harangues would have fallen on deaf ears. Paul did not thunder at Eutychus from the third story. No, he came down to where he was and embraced him. Only love for a stray sheep will cause you to do that. And only to true love will the sheep respond.
Well, Paul breaks the bread and the disciples eat the Lord’s Supper. Following this Paul addresses them until daybreak. The whole Assembly is comforted at Eutychus’ restoration just as they were troubled when he fell. This is the right spirit. If a backslider leaves the Lord’s people, we must not play the Pharisee and forget all about him. He is a sheep, though a stray one. The conduct of backsliders affects others, which is another reason for seeking restoration. “For none of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself” —Rom. 14:77For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. (Romans 14:7). Backsliding behavior, if it becomes widespread enough, affects the spiritual leaders of the Church who become discouraged. That is the next step downward and leads logically to Paul’s address to the Ephesian elders.
Paul’s Warning to the Ephesian Elders
It is from Miletus that Paul summons the Ephesian elders. They leave Ephesus and arrive at Miletus. This city’s name means “cared for.” What follows shows that Paul really cared for the Church of God. He had once written that the care of all the churches came upon him daily—see 2 Cor. 11:2828Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:28). Now he tells them that his public ministry is coming to an end. So their responsibility will be to assume that care. This prediction was fulfilled after Paul departed to be with Christ. Then not only at Ephesus but everywhere the spiritual burden the Apostle carried fell on the elders. To encourage them he recounts his own stewardship. From his first entrance into Asia he had served the Lord with all humility of mind, with many tears and trials from the persecutions of the Jews. He had taught them publicly and privately and held back nothing that was for their good. At the same time, he had preached to Jew and Greek the message of repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. But now he goes bound in the spirit to Jerusalem. Then he reveals something not known until now that the Holy Spirit is witnessing to him in every city that bonds and afflictions await him. This shows us that the warning signs we have observed in the text were intentionally built into it by the Spirit. The written Word of God always agrees with the spoken Word of God. A foreboding of death— “neither count I my life dear to myself” is strengthened when he says that they shall see his face no more. He is pure from the blood of all men. He has not shunned to declare unto them all the counsel of God. At this point the Apostle is ready to turn from his own example and open up what is on his heart. But before commencing this portion of his address we might anticipate somewhat. Our next chapter is to give us the last mention of the Holy Spirit in 21:11—until the very end, when Paul recognizes at last that the Jews have been given up to judicial blindness. But now back to Paul’s address.
Paul tells the elders to take heed to themselves first. If they do, they will truly feed the flock of God over which the Holy Spirit made them overseers. Then he reminds them what this flock is—the Church of God—and its purchase price— “the blood of His own.” The flock will be attacked from without and from within, Paul says. Grievous wolves would enter from without. Jude shows us that this happened— “for there are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into dissoluteness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” —Jude v. 4. Then from their own ranks should men arise, speaking perverse things. An examination of the false doctrines that originated in the early Church is simply astonishing, both for number and wickedness. Most of them attack the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul had warned every one night and day for three years about this.3 Now that he is going, he commends them “to God and to the Word of His grace” —the resource of believers now.
Paul closes as he starts—with his own testimony to the elders. At the beautiful gate of the Temple Peter said “silver and gold have I none”; Paul on his way to that same Temple says that he never coveted silver, gold, or apparel. He provided for his own needs and the needs of others. Here again we are brought back to the lesson of Paul’s work clothes—19:11—for he closes on this note. “Be ye imitators of me even as I also am of Christ” —1 Cor. 11:11Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)—is his exhortation. He reminds them of the words of the Lord Jesus— “it is more blessed to give than to receive” —words which Peter too put into practice at the beautiful gate of the Temple—3:6.
Paul’s Pattern Ministry
We will now pass from general comments on what Paul said to the elders to specific considerations of Paul’s pattern ministry as he outlined it. There are three characters to Paul’s ministry:
. . . The Kingdom of God—The moral obligations of the kingdom on the lives of believers— “among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God” —v. 25. The principles of the Kingdom of God are found in Romans, Chapters 12-15, the summation of which is Rom. 14:1717For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 14:17)— “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The great thought in the Kingdom of God is divine moral authority over the lives of those who have entered it by the new birth—John 3. We are brought into “the Kingdom of the Son of His love” —Col. 1:1313Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13). The foundation of the Kingdom is the gospel of the grace of God—the gospel concerning God’s Son of which the Epistle to the Romans is the orderly presentation. Paul wrote this epistle before his visit to Rome recorded at the end of Acts where he is seen personally teaching what he had previously written about. Thus Paul preached the Kingdom of God to the whole Gentile world of Romans and Greeks.
. . . All the Counsel of God—This is dispensational truth—the whole range of God’s counsels concerning both the Church and the world. Col. 1:2525Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; (Colossians 1:25) should read “the dispensation of God which is given me toward you to complete (not fulfill) the Word of God.” No other New Testament writer was given such a commission. If we turn to Revelation, we do indeed find details of things concerning the Church and the World—but details only. Every grand truth in the Revelation was previously given us by Paul, and John writes as though we understand this. For example, he pictures the Church under the figure of a holy city, coming down from God out of heaven—Rev. 21. He does not tell us how she got there, for Paul unfolded the doctrine of the second coming of Christ. He points to the city of the future in Heb. 11:1616But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16).
The Parting
As Paul’s words trail off into the air, we can picture the scene that follows. It is full of pathos. He has commended the elders to God and the Word of His grace and bows his knees in prayer with them all. They weep freely. And then, as Paul had embraced the disciples at Ephesus so now their elders fall on his neck and kiss him. It is a beautiful scene of Christian love, mingled with sorrow. Yet it is natural sorrow which predominates— “sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake that they should see his face no more.” Natural sorrow is right, and of God. But the Apostle had just finished telling them dire news of what was to befall the Church when he was gone. What sorrow then should have filled the elders’ hearts over this tragic prediction. But of this not a word.
But if man overlooks it God does not. With consummate skill the Spirit directed Luke to withhold all reference to a ship in Acts until the first signs of the coming shipwreck of the Church emerge. Paul had done much sailing before Chapter 20 but not until then does Luke mention a ship. The first mention is in 20:13 just after the fall of Eutychus; then in 20:38 after the warning to the Ephesian elders who accompany Paul to “the ship.” The next chapter finds us in Jerusalem, which is the departure point for Paul’s shipwreck.
The Appearance of the Ship
At this point we intend to acquaint our readers with the significance of the ship as a figure of the Church in Acts. Before doing so let us read Mark 4 and trace the genesis of the imagery. In that chapter we are given a picture of those who followed Christ in great outward peril but really secure because Christ was with them. After the formation of the Church in Acts the picture comes into focus. The ship was launched, so to speak, under Paul’s command. It sailed the seas—that is, was carried morally above the nations in gospel testimony to them. The seas in Scripture are often used as a figure of the Gentile nations as the land is of Israel. So the ship is never connected with Peter who was the Apostle to the Jews but always with Paul who preached the gospel to the Gentile nations. Later we will show how the Scriptures support this view but for the present we ask our readers to accept the ship as a figure of the primitive united Church—but alas—of a ship headed for break-up, although all in it should be saved just as those in the ship in Mark 4 were because the Lord is superior to the winds and waves. But we must emphasize the connection of the ship in Acts with the spiritual declension of the Church which preceded its break up. So the last remark in Chapter 20 is “and they went down with him to the ship.”
Now the observant reader will have noticed quite a gap between the first two references to the ship in Chapter 20—Eutychus and the Ephesian elders—and the ship in which Paul suffered shipwreck in Chapter 27. This is filled up with a special feature of Paul’s ministry—his testimony to kings. Following this he is taken prisoner to Rome. In this third division of the Book of Acts Paul is representative of the course of Christianity after he himself left the Church. For in point of fact the public testimony of the real Paul to Christianity reached its peak and ended at Ephesus, the third division of the Book of Acts being, as already noted, related to his own defense. Now note how this interpretation agrees with both the historical and moral breakdown of the primitive Church. First like Eutychus individual believers fell asleep at the preaching of Paul’s faithful Christianity. Then the spiritual leadership of the Church ignored Paul’s warning— “I know this, that there will come in among you after my departure grievous wolves not sparing the flock.” It was all to happen after Paul’s departure from the Church, a circumstance agreeing with his departure in 20:11, the beginning of it all.
Historically the early Church first turned away from Paul’s life and example—Chapter 20—and then from his doctrine—Chapter 27 in that order. For Paul’s example at the end of Acts is shown to follow the pattern of the Lord’s example at the beginning of Acts— “all that Jesus began to do and teach.” Paul lived Christ, then taught the doctrine. “If any man will do his will, he shall know the doctrine” John 7:1717If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. (John 7:17). But carnal conduct crept in to the early Church and worldliness dulled the blessed hope. Then the doctrine had to go, for God is a God of reality, and will always blow on high spiritual pretensions unaccompanied by godliness of life. The end result was that Christianity, like Paul, was carried away captive to Rome. In God’s eyes this was shipwreck. Indeed, we might summarize the Acts as the journey of the Church from Jerusalem to Rome—Chapter 2 to Chapter 28.
The two extremes in Christian life are the man in Corinth—1 Cor. 5:1-51It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. 2And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (1 Corinthians 5:1‑5) (and we cannot sink any lower) and the man in Christ—2 Cor. 12:2-42I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2 Corinthians 12:2‑4) (and we cannot rise any higher). Oh, that we could say like the man in Christ “for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain” —Phil 1:21. Christ would then become our object for time and our joy for eternity. Only He can satisfy the deep longing of the heart, lead us into the sweetness of the revealed Father’s love, and fill every bosom with the peace which He alone can give. “Peace I leave with you” He said, “My peace I give unto you . . . let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” —John 14:2727Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27).