Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #33 - 20:1-16)
B. 20:1-16 COMPULSIONS IN THE LIFE OF PAUL
1. 20:1-6 COMPULSION TO EVANGELISM
a. 20:1 PAUL THEN LEFT FOR MACEDONIA
MeTA de to PAUsas-thai [3973] ton THOru-bon [3951],
And after the uproar ceased,
me-ta-pemPSAme-nos [3992] ho PAUlos tous ma-theTAS kai pa-ra-kaLEsas [3870],
:Paul having sent for the disciples and exhorted them,
a-spaSAme-nos [782], eXELthen poREUes-thai eis Ma-ke-doNIan.
took leave, and departed to go into Macedonia.
b. 20:2 FROM THERE TO GREECE
di-elTHON de ta MEre eKEIna,
And when he had gone through those :parts,
kai pa-ra-kaLEsas auTOUS LOgopolLO, ELthen eis ten HeLAda [1671].
and had given them much exhortation, he came into :Greece.
c. 20:3 THREATS LED PAUL TO RETURN TO MACEDONIA
poiEsas te MEnas treis, ge-noMEnes e-pi-bouLES [1917]auTO huPO ton IouDAIon
And when he had spent three months there, and a plot was laid against him by the Jews
MELlon-ti aNAges-thai [321] eis ten SuRIan, eGEne-to GNOmes tou hu-poSTREphein diA Ma-ke-doNIas.
as he was about to set sail for :Syria, he determined :to return through Macedonia.
d. 20:4 MEMBERS OF PAUL'S TEAM
suNEIpe-to [4902] de auTO SOpa-tros, PURrou, Be-roiAIos;
And Sopatrus of Berea, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him;
Thes-sa-lo-niKEon de, A-RIstar-chos kai SeKOUNdos;
and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus;
kai GAIos DerBAIos, kai TiMOthe-os; A-si-aNOI de, Tu-chiKOS kai TROphi-mos.
and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
e. 20:5 But these went on, and were awaiting us at Troas.
f. 20:6 FROM PHILIPPI TO TROAS
heMEIS de e-xePLEUsa-men [1602] meTA tas heMEras ton aZUmon [106] aPO PhiLIPpon,
And WE sailed away from Philippi after the days of the unleavened loaves,
kai ELtho-men pros auTOUS eis ten TroAda Achri he-meRON PENte; hou di-eTRIpsa-men heMEras hepTA.
and came unto them to :Troas in five days; where we tarried seven days.
2. 20:7-12 COMPULSION TO TEACH AND FELLOWSHIP
a. 20:7 PAUL'S SERMON AT TROAS
En de te miA ton sabBAton [4521],
And upon the first dayof the week,
su-negMEnon [4863] heMON KLAsai [2806] ARton, ho PAUlos di-eLEge-to [1256] auTOIS,
when we were gathered to break bread, :Paul discoursed with them,
MELlon e-xiEnai [1826] te ePAUri-on; peREteiNEN [3905] te ton LOgon MEchri me-so-nukTIou [3317].
intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his :speech until midnight.
b. 20:8 And many lights were in the upperchamber where we were gathered.
Esan de lamPAdes [2985]hi-kaNAI en tohu-peRO-o[5253]hou Emen su-negMEnoi.
c. 20:9 EUTYCHUS AND THE ACCIDENT
ka-theZOme-nos DE tis ne-aNIas oNOma-ti EUtu-chos ePI tes thuRIdos [2376],
And in the window sat a certain youth Eutychus by name,
ka-ta-pheROme-nos [2702] HUPno [5258] baTHEI [901]; di-a-le-goMEnou tou PAUlou ePI PLEIon,
borne down with :sleep; and as :Paul discoursed yet longer,
ka-te-nechTHEIS [2702] aPO tou HUPnou Epe-sen [4098] aPO tou triSTEgou KAto, kai ERthe [142] neKROS.
being borne down by hissleep he fell down from the third story, and was taken up dead.
d. 20:10 PAUL RAISES HIM FROM THE DEAD
ka-taBAS [2597] de ho PAUlos, ePEpe-sen [1968] auTO, kai sun-pe-ri-laBON [4843] EIpen,
And :Paul went down, andfell on him, and embracing him said,
Me tho-ruBEISthe [2350]; he gar psuCHE auTOU en auTO es-tin.
Make no ado; for his :life is in him.
e. 20:11 A LONG MEETING
a-naBAS de, kai KLAsas ton ARton, kai geuSAme-nos [1089],
And when he was gone up, and had broken the bread, and eaten,
eph' hi-kaNON te ho-miLEsas [3856], Achri auGES [827], HOUtos eXEthen.
and had long talked with them, even till break of day, so he departed.
f. 20:12 And they brought the lad alive, and were not a little comforted.
Ega-gon de ton PAIda [3816]ZONta, kai pa-reKLEthe-san [3870]ou meTRIos [3357].
3. 20:13-16 COMPULSION IN DENIAL FOR PRIVATE DEVOTIONS
a. 20:13 TEAM BY SHIP - PAUL BY FOOT
HeMEIS de, pro-elTHONtes [4281] ePI to PLOIon [4143], a-nechTHEmen [321] ePI ten ASson,
But we, going before to the ship, set sail for :Assos,
eKEIthen MELlon-tes a-na-lamBAnein ton PAUlon:
there intending to take in :Paul:
HOUtos gar di-a-te-tagMEnos [1299] en, MELlon auTOS peZEUein [3978].
for so had he appointed, intending himself to go on foot.
b. 20:14 And when he met us at :Assos, we took him in, andcame to Mitylene.
hos de suNEbal-len [4820] heMIN eis ten ASson, a-na-laBONtes auTON, ELtho-men eis Mi-tuLEnen.
c. 20:15 FROM THENCE TO MILETUS
ka' 'KEIthen a-poPLEUsan-tes [636], te e-piOUse ka-tenTEsa-men [2658]
And sailing thence, we came the following day
ANtik-pus [481] CHIou; te de heTEra pa-reBAlo-men eis SAmon; te de e-choMEne ELtho-men eis MIle-ton.
over against Chios; and the next we touched at Samos; and the day after we came to Miletus.
d. 20:16 PAUL'S HASTE: BY-PASS EPHESUS FOR JERUSALEM
keKRIkei [2919] gar ho PAUlos pa-raPLEUsai [3896] ten Ephe-son,
For :Paul had determined to sail past :Ephesus,
HOpos me GEne-tai auTO chro-no-triBEsai [5551] en te A-SIa; ESpeu-den [4692] gar, ei du-naTON EIe auTO,
so that he might not have to spend time in :Asia; for he was hastening, if it were possible for him,
ten heMEron tes Pen-te-kosTES [4005] geNESthai eis Ie-roSOlu-ma.
to be at Jerusalem the day of :Pentecost.
NOTE: Oftentimes public ministries say little about themselves, and those writing about them often say little also. This was true of Oswald Chambers of “My Utmost for His Highest” fame. It wasn't until his third biography was written by David McCasland, “Abandoned to God”, that we have a window into this man's private soul.
Luke here in the first part of Acts 20 gives us a 3-fold picture concerning the inner working of Paul's personal life and feelings. What compelledPaul in his various missions? Here Luke lets us see some of his motivations.
He had a strong compulsion - not just to make converts - but to disciplethem. This was the word Jesus gave to all of us in Matthew 28:18-20. The founder of the “Navigators”, Dawson Trotman, in his little booklet “Born to Reproduce”, brings out the tremendous importance of discipling our converts. Converts are sterile and soon disappear - disciples become virile reproducers. Paul thoroughly understood this, and Dawson Trotman learned this lesson in a most painful way.
Then in 20:7-12, see the compassionate heart of Paul for Eutychus and the congregation of Troas. Whether Eutychus was like Paul following the latter's stoning on his first missionary trip - is not absolutely clear. But whether both were resurrections from the dead, or a renewal of life - still we see the concern and compassion in the life of Paul in this instance.
Then in 10:13-16, apparently Paul walked this distance alone, so he could have a private time with God. Jesus did this often during his 3 year ministry on earth. Modern saints like Smith Wigglesworth took advantage whenever possible to be alone with God. It is good to be in corporate worship, but we should never neglect private individual devotions. It is not a case of either/or - but both/and.
There are other parallel lessons in this brief account - that are windows into Paul's soul. How muchhe was loved by our Lord! Daniel in the Old Covenant had commendations from God in similar manner. J.A.W.