STANDING ON THE PROMISES OR SITTING ON THE PREMISES

Acts 20:7-10

On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his [1] message until midnight.

8There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together.

9And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead.

10But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, “ Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.”

  1. Christians have not been reluctant to sing about Standing on the Promises of God.
  1. Nothing stirs the soul more than to know that we are recipients and beneficiaries of the Promises of God.
  2. Nothing provides more assurance than knowing that God’s thoughts for us are good and not evil.
  3. Nothing is more assuring than knowing that God will supply all of our need according to His riches in glory.
  4. Nothing gives more confidence to a Believer than knowing that there is nothing too hard for God.
  1. Yet, while we sing of “standing on the promises,” many of us are guilty of just sitting on the premises.
  1. How many folk, who sing the song, don’t show the full commitment to being a Christian or a good church member?
  2. How many view the church as a place that you ought to go on Sunday because it looks good to be seen there?
  3. How many of us have never taken it upon ourselves to attend one Bible Study or Sunday School class this year?
  4. How many of us have reneged on our promise of discipleship and have contributed little to expanding the Kingdom?
  5. How many of us are sitting on the premises rather than standing on the promises?
  1. It is interesting that the New Testament Christian Church recognized that the first day of the week was reserved to worship God.
  1. Unlike the worship of the Jews, the Christians used the Roman calendar and considered Sunday, from midnight to midnight as the Sabbath.
  2. On the first day of the week, it was routine and expected that they would gather collectively for worship.
  3. There were no stained-glass cathedrals, so they gathered in the large rooms in houses owned by the members in order to have their services.
  4. The entire day was dedicated to worshipping and praising God.
  1. In this setting, each member committed to breaking bread and hearing the preached word in its entirety.
  1. Paul was giving his last sermon before leaving Troas the next day.*
  2. The church had gathered on the third floor of a home and was lit by numerous candles because the service lasted until midnight.*
  3. A young man, positioned himself in a window so that he could both hear the sermon and perhaps avoid the heat that was being generated by the many lamps that had been lit for the service.
  4. The text says that the young man fell asleep and fell from the window to the ground and died.
  5. The Bible says that bad things can happen when you fall asleep in church:

• Adam fell asleep and woke up married and missing a rib!
• Samson fell asleep and woke up bald and beaten!
• Jonah fell asleep in the boat and woke up wet!

  1. Many of us are merely sitting in the premises and our commitments to God have died in the midst of the many sermons we have heard and songs that we’ve sung.
  1. We have become comfortable in the pews.
  2. We have become accepting of the popularity of belonging to a “large ministry” but we have failed to engage in ministry.
  3. We have become so consumed with the order of worship that we have died to community outreach.
  4. We can find few volunteers and we are compelled to draft members into Kingdom Service.
  5. How many of us can see things going on in the lives of people around us and never give an encouraging word?
  1. Thanks be to God because He has given us new life to start all over again.

[1]1 Lit word, speech