COME UP AGAIN

To those who follow me, my apologies for not writing in several weeks. I have been heavily involved in curriculum development for a Bible Institute that I will be very excited to share information about in the very near future.

Acts chapter 20, beginning in verse 7, the Breathe of God says, “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 morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. ⁸ And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. ¹¹ 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. ¹² And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.”

I find this story about Euthychus to be quite interesting (and in certain points, humorous). Let me explain. We find in this story that this man Euthycus fell asleep and fell 3 stories to his death. There are a number of reasons this could have happened:

1. He could have fallen asleep because of the lengthy sermon. In fact, one translation said that Paul preached on and on and on. Sounds like many of our church folk today complaining about long winded sermons.
2. He could have fallen asleep because there were lot’s of lights. Just imagine you are sitting in church, the heat is at that right temperature, the sun is shining through the stain glassed windows and your eyes are getting heavier and heavier.
3. Maybe this young man had a long day. Maybe he either worked the sheep or worked the farm, or worked in the carpenter shop. Now he is at the assembly of God’s people and the preacher is preaching on and on and on.

Though I don’t know exactly what caused this young man drift off to sleep and fall, what I do know is that he fell and he died. That word “dead” in verse 9 is translated to mean “corpse.” In other words, he was stone cold, graveyard dead.

I’m afraid there are many people in our churches today that have fallen asleep for whatever reason – but that is a message for another time – just throwing that out there as food-for-thought.

I would like to focus on these words in verse 11 “. . . come up again. . .” The truth is, as we are all humans, I don’t know anyone that hasn’t fallen. I know plenty of people that believe they haven’t fallen, but the Bible says, “For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” But I am thankful today that God has a Plan for Recovery, for Revival, and for Redemption. God has made a way that we can “come up again.”

History is full of people that have fallen, yet were able to get back up:

1. Do you know that Albert Einstein was four years old before he ever spoke his first words. He also failed his first college entrance exam – yet got back up and became one of the greatest scientist in the world.
2. Henry Ford’s first company bankrupted, yet he got back up and his vehicles are probably some of the best in the world.
3. Milton Hershey had three candy company’s that were a complete failure, yet he got back up and now his chocolate bars arguably some of the best in the world.
4. Harlan Sanders, at the age of 62, with only $105 dollars social security check to his name, and after being turned down hundreds of times, but he got back up and every preacher says, “Thank God for Kentucky Fried Chicken.”

What I know about everyone of us, is that at times, we feel like we’ve fallen and can’t get back up. But, with the grace and power of God, we can “come up again.”

Euthycus fell asleep, and because he fell asleep, he fell to his death. Interestingly enough, Euthycus was able to “come up again” under the power of God. So that brings up this thought – why did God allow him to “come up again?” I don’t think God does anything without a reason. So I think there are two reasons God allowed Euthycus to get back up:

1. He allowed him to “come up again” to Authenticate His Divinity. God can use anyone, or anything, at anytime or anywhere. Anytime He wants to, He can show His Divinity and accomplish His will. He used a Burning Bush to Communicate His will to Moses; He used fire from Heaven for Elijah on Mt. Carmel; He used a stone and a slingshot for David; He used an earthquake to communicate His Divinity to Paul and Silas in a Roman prison; He used a donkey for Balaam; So I’m glad that if God can use a burning bush, or a fire, or a slingshot, and earthquake and even a donkey – God can use me – and He can use you to communicate the authenticity of His Divinity.
2. He allowed him to “come up again” to Abolish the Doubters. Verse 10 says, “Paul went down and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.” Now, there were spectators there that had been there the entire time. Some of them saw that this young man was dead and so as far as they were concerned – that was it for him, that was the end of the road. The world’s view is this – after you observe something for a certain period of time – you can take it as fact. For instance, the world sees someone that was born on the “wrong side of the tracks,” and as far as the world is concerned, that person will always be from the wrong side of the tracks. The world will see someone who has had an addiction, and as far as they are concerned, that person will always be an addict. The world may see someone who once lived a vibrant life for Christ fall into sin, and as far as they are concerned, you will always be “that fallen Christian.” So the world may look at you and accept your predicament as fact.

Here are some facts for you out of this Scripture: This young man fell and he died. That is a fact. But aren’t you glad that when it comes to God, facts are not final? The world would say that Abraham and Sara couldn’t have a child. The world would say that you couldn’t cross the Red Sea on dry ground, or eat manna from heaven, or get water out of a rock. The world would say that once you’ve been dead and buried for three days, you couldn’t get back up again, but aren’t you glad that God can abolish the doubters? I don’t care where you are, or how far you think you’ve fallen, brothers and sisters in Christ you can always “come up again.”