DON’T FALL ASLEEP (WALANG TULUGAN)

ACTS 20:7-12
7 At nang unang araw ng sanglinggo, nang kami'y
nangagkakapisan upang pagputolputulin ang tinapay, si
Pablo ay nangaral sa kanila, na nagaakalang umalis sa
kinabukasan; at tumagal ang kaniyang pananalita hanggang
sa hatinggabi. 8 At may maraming mga ilaw sa silid sa itaas
na pangkatipunan namin. 9 At may nakaupo sa durungawan
na isang binatang nagngangalang Eutico, na mahimbing sa
pagtulog; at samantalang si Pablo ay nangangaral ng
mahaba, palibhasa'y natutulog ay nahulog buhat sa ikatlong
grado, at siya'y binuhat na patay. 10 At nanaog si Pablo, at
dumapa sa ibabaw niya, at siya'y niyakap na sinabi, Huwag
kayong magkagulo; sapagka't nasa kaniya ang kaniyang
buhay. 11 At nang siya'y makapanhik na, at mapagputolputol
na ang tinapay, at makakain na, at makapagsalita sa kanila ng
mahaba, hanggang sa sumikat ang araw, kaya't siya'y umalis.
12 At kanilang dinalang buhay ang binata, at hindi kakaunti
ang kanilang pagkaaliw.

INTRODUCTION:

Well church when it comes to being a witness for Jesus Christ, we

are on the Job 24/7. There’s no holiday or days off. We are to be
living for Him every day of the week. This morning there are some
things that I believe God would want us to continue to work on as
Christians. Things that He has asked us to do as our boss that we
will need to continue to work on till the day we die or He comes
back for us.

1. TO HAVE A CRAVING FOR HIM (v. 7)

7 At nang unang araw ng sanglinggo, nang kami'y
nangagkakapisan upang pagputolputulin ang tinapay, si
Pablo ay nangaral sa kanila, na nagaakalang umalis sa
kinabukasan; at tumagal ang kaniyang pananalita hanggang
sa hatinggabi.

A. Passion for worship

At nang unang araw ng sanglinggo, nang kami'y
nangagkakapisan upang pagputolputulin ang tinapay,
First of all, our worship is to be a celebration. Notice that it says
that they met "on the first day of the week to break bread." Now
we’re not told when or how the practice of Sunday worship was
started in the church.

But, this passage of scripture is the earliest clear reference to the

Christian practice of observing Sunday as a day of worship. The
O.T.

Jews met on the Sabbath or 7th day of the week, which was
Saturday to commemorate the fact that God created the universe
& everything in it in 6 days, & then on the 7th day He rested. So to
the Jews, Sunday was to be a day of rest & worship. So those
Jews who became Christians they continued to observe the
Sabbath as well as the first day of the week.

The question is why did it change? What brought about the

change? Well, early Christians began to meet on the first day of
the week as a weekly celebration of the resurrection of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ from the dead. That tradition has carried
over to today’s society. Most Christians today meet on the first day
of the week to celebrate Christ’s victory over sin & death. We
celebrate our salvation, & the promise of everlasting life. And
church that right there is enough reason for me to come to Sunday
school, church on Sunday mornings, evenings and Wednesday
nights to celebrate and worship my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It doesn’t matter when you meet. The point is that we meet as

Christians and that when we come to church we should be excited
to be here. Because we are learning about our Creator and Savior,
we are worshiping a Savior who has given us eternal life. When
you come to church your face shouldn’t look like you just ate a big
bad of sour lemons. Don’t treat it like a funeral. It’s a celebration.
It’s an exciting time. You may not like my preaching style, you may
not like our music, but it’s not about us it’s about Him. It’s about
making God our audience. It’s about worshipping a God who sent
His one and only son to suffer and die on a cross So that you and I
can have eternal life.

B. Passion to share the Gospel

si Pablo ay nangaral sa kanila, na nagaakalang umalis sa
kinabukasan
There was an urgency to get the Gospel out. Paul was leaving the
next day and he knew that he would not see the People of Troas
again, so in his mind there was an urgency to share the gospel
with the people of Troas.

Church we have to have that same kind of urgency when it comes

to sharing the gospel. We have people that we work with that we
go to school, that we see in town or at the grocery store that don’t
know Christ as their Lord and Savior and whether you want to
believe it or not God has placed you at that point in time in that
person’s life for a reason and that is to share the gospel. That is to
tell them that there is a Savior who loves them and wants to give
them eternal life.

The point is to live out the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” It’s
to do what Jude v. 23 says, “snatch others from the fire and save
them.” Church there should be an urgency to get the gospel out
because we don’t know when someone may die or when God may
decide to come back.

C. Passion for His Word (vv. 7, 11)

at tumagal ang kaniyang pananalita hanggang sa hatinggabi.
11 At nang siya'y makapanhik na, at mapagputolputol na ang
tinapay, at makakain na, at makapagsalita sa kanila ng
mahaba, hanggang sa sumikat ang araw, kaya't siya'y umalis.

We may suppose about the beginning of May, as Troas was

in about 40 degrees of north latitude, the sun set there at
seven P.M. and rose at five A.M., so that the night was about
eight hours long; and taking all the interruptions together,
and they could not have amounted to more than two hours,
and taking no account of the preceding day's work, Paul must
have preached a sermon not less than six hours long. But it
is likely that a good part of this time was employed in hearing
and answering questions; for διελεγετο, and διαλεγομενου,
may be thus understood.

You thought I preached long. How would you like to hear someone
preach for about 6-8 hours? But these people didn’t care they
were hungry for God’s word. They couldn’t get enough of the
words Paul was speaking.

Marami sa atin na kapag Word of God na ang pinaguusapn ay

boring na. Pero kapag panonood ng TV, hay naku kahit walang
tulugan pa. Kapag service na, nagiinitan na ang mga pwet sa
upuan, hikaban ng hikban, pero kapag tsisimis na kahit abutin pa
ng anung oras. Kahit magliyab pa ang mga pwet.

Sabi nga daw ang mga Christiano ay nakakahanap ng

kapahingahan sa kanilang simbahan. Totoo sa nakatutuwang
tingin. Dahil may mga Christianong walang ginawa kundi gawing
tulugan ang simbahan. Ginawang pahingahan. Tuwang tuwa sa
boses ng pastor dahil parang kinakantahan siya ng lullaby at
hinehele siya. Kaya nga merong mga pastor eh ang istilo
“Hallelujah” bakit para magising ung mga miyembro.

Are you passionate about God’s Word? Do you study God’s

Word? We should be so passionate about God’s Word that not
only should you read it every day but we should want to be at the
place where it’s being preached.

When there’s a S.S class being offered you should want to be

there. When there’s a Bible study you should want to be there.
When there’s church you should want to be there. We should want
to consume ourselves with the word of God rather than the things
of this world.

Why don’t you take some of that time and read God’s Word. Now
you might be saying why do I need to study the Bible? How about
so you can withstand temptation, read Matthew 4:1-11 and read
how Jesus withstood the temptations of Satan.

How about so you can know the will of God for your life? Psalms
119:105 says, “Ang salita mo'y ilawan sa aking mga paa, At
liwanag sa aking landas.”

In Psalms 119:9-16 it says, “9 Sa paano lilinisin ng isang

binata ang kaniyang daan? Sa pagdinig doon ayon sa iyong
salita. 10 Hinanap kita ng aking buong puso: Oh huwag nawa
akong malihis sa iyong mga utos. 11 Ang salita mo'y aking
iningatan sa aking puso: Upang huwag akong magkasala
laban sa iyo. 12 Mapalad ka, Oh Panginoon: Ituro mo sa akin
ang mga palatuntunan mo. 13 Aking ipinahayag ng aking mga
labi Ang lahat ng mga kahatulan ng iyong bibig. 14 Ako'y
nagalak sa daan ng iyong mga patotoo, Na gaya ng lahat na
kayamanan. 15 Ako'y magbubulay sa iyong mga tuntunin, At
gagalang sa iyong mga daan. 16 Ako'y magaaliw sa iyong
mga palatuntunan: Hindi ko kalilimutan ang iyong salita.”

2. NOT BE ASHAMED (v. 8)

8 At may maraming mga ilaw sa silid sa itaas na
pangkatipunan naming

Why did Luke put this verse in there, why was it so important for
you and I to know that there were many lamps.
Well, I believe there were two reasons.

One was because you’re in this room you have just eaten, you
have a bunch of people and with the candles burning and the
warmth coming from the body heat and the candles you start
getting tired, which gives a good reason why Euthychus fell
asleep.

But the main reason why it was so important that you and I know
that there were many lamps. It was to show that they were not
ashamed of what they were doing. They were not ashamed of
what they were meeting for. They were meeting to worship and
learn about God and they were not ashamed to let the towns
people know.

In those days Christian groups a lot of times met in a dark room to

worship. The main reason for this was persecution and since
Christians were not liked by everyone in those days those that
were against Christianity often accused the Christians of meeting
in dark rooms to plan evil to try to make plans to take over.

So this was Paul’s and the other people’s way of saying “HEY!
WE’RE UP HERE WORSHIPPING OUR SAVIOR, JESUS
CHRSIT!” They weren’t ashamed about it they wanted people to
know.

Are you ashamed to let other people know that you’re a Christian?
Are you ashamed to invite people to church? Are you ashamed to
share Jesus with someone? Are you ashamed to stand up for
what’s right and stand against what’s wrong? I want to be able to
say what Paul said in Romans 1:16 “Sapagka't hindi ko
ikinahihiya ang evangelio: sapagka't siyang kapangyarihan
ng Dios sa ikaliligtas ng bawa't sumasampalataya; una'y sa
Judio, at gayon din sa Griego.”

Why should we not be ashamed? Why should we be willing to take

a stand for God? I believe it’s the least we can do for a man who
allowed himself to be beaten, whipped with the cat of nine tails,
made to carry his own cross, nailed to a cross, and who took my
place so that I could enter into the gates of heaven to spend
eternity with Him. That right there alone is reason enough to not
be ashamed of my Savior. That is reason enough to take a stand
for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is reason enough to
share Christ with others.

3. STAY ALERT (vv.8- 10)

8 At may maraming mga ilaw sa silid sa itaas na
pangkatipunan namin. 9 At may nakaupo sa durungawan na
isang binatang nagngangalang Eutico, na mahimbing sa
pagtulog; at samantalang si Pablo ay nangangaral ng
mahaba, palibhasa'y natutulog ay nahulog buhat sa ikatlong
grado, at siya'y binuhat na patay. 10 At nanaog si Pablo, at
dumapa sa ibabaw niya, at siya'y niyakap na sinabi, Huwag
kayong magkagulo; sapagka't nasa kaniya ang kaniyang
buhay.

Everybody knows that everybody’s name means something and

some of you may have taken the time to find out what your name
means.

This morning I want to share with you something very interesting

about Eutychus’ name. Eutychus name means “fortunate.” The
Latin name for Eutychus is Fortunatus. I think we all can say and
agree that Eutychus was very fortunate that Paul was there that
night.

So we see that Eutychus fell asleep. In the original text we are told
that he was fighting sleep, but eventually it overpowered him, he
fell asleep and he fell out of the third story window and died
(Eutychus, no doubt, had done a hard day's work before ever
he came and his body was tired. He was sitting by a window
to get the cool night air. The windows were not made of
glass. They were either lattice or solid wood and opened like
doors, coming right down almost to the floor and projecting
over the courtyard below. The tired Eutychus, overpowered
by the stuffy atmosphere, succumbed to sleep and fell to the
courtyard below). Some say that he was picked up “as dead,”
implying that he was only unconscious, but if you look at the
original language the young boy was definitely dead. Also by the
way the passage of scripture is written we know that he was dead.

First of all we are told that he fell from the third story window. The
emphasis placed upon the height of the fall leads us to believe that
he could not have survived, especially while unconscious. He
could not have prepared how he landed. But also Luke, who is the
author of Acts, was a physician, and if he said that Eutychus was
dead we can trust his professional opinion. So it is important for
this story to make clear the fact that Eutychus was dead in order to
emphasize a great display of faith that is about to follow.

Church there is a message here and it is that you and I need to

stay alert we need to stay wake. We need to be looking over our
shoulders at all times and keeping an eye out for Satan. Because
Satan is prowling around like a lion, 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Kayo'y
maging mapagpigil, kayo'y maging mapagpuyat; ang inyong
kalaban na diablo, na gaya ng leong umuungal, ay gumagala
na humahanap ng masisila niya:” Satan wants to crush us, he
wants to do everything in his power to make you and I fall flat on
our face. He’ll use every dirty trick in the book to get you and me
to stumble in our Christian walk. So stay awake because the fall
never feels good, in fact it can do some major damage.

As we see in the story the boy is dead after his fall. We see here
that Paul went down and grabbed the boy and said that he was
alive!

Now as I read vv. 8- 10 I realized that this boy falling asleep

represents the BACKSLIDDEN CHRISTIANS in our churches
today.

SIGNS OF SPIRITUAL SLEEPING

1. Spiritual Neglect
Ang ibig sabihin walang interes sa mga espiritwal na gawain.
Tinatamad mag pray. Kung nagpe-pray man eh nagiging ritual
lang sa kanya. Hindi nagbabasa ng Biblia. Kontento na sa mga
bagay na kanyang nalalaman. Alam ko na yan!!! Kaya ayaw ng
magsipag atend sa mga ibang church activities tulad ng Sunday
school, Bible Study, prayer meeting at iba pa. Hmmm, matanda na
ako hindi ko na kailangan yan. Dapat ang mga bata na lang ang
gumagawa niyan. Kya tingnan mo ang kinakain pa rin eh puro
gatas, hindi pa rin makakain ng mga matitigas na pagkain. Kaya
kapag nakarinig ng medyo mabibigat na sermon. Hindi
maintindihan. Uuy pinatatamaan ako nito ha! Kaya ayun nagtampo
na. Hindi lumago-lago. Pano walang interest sa espiritual na
gawain.

O ang iba ganito ang rason, Hmmm, hindi naman kasalanan kung
hindi ako aatend sa ganyang gawain, bakit pa? Anong hindi, una
that’s disobedience!

May mga Kristiyano na bumabagsak ang kanilang espiritwal,

nanghihina, nanlulupaypay hindi dahil nakagawa sila ng kasalan.
Ngunit nalinlang sila ni Satanas na lumayo sa Salita ng Dios. Si
Satan ay gumagawa ng mga paraan upang magkaroon ka ng
spiritual neglect. Kaya tingnan mo dahil walang alam sa salita ng
Dios may lumapit at kakatok-katok sa pintuan ng bahay nyo at
nadoctrinahan ng maling aral. Dahil bago sa pandinig. Oo ngano!
Tama! Tinanggap ang maling aral. Nagpauto naman.

Ang unang senyales na natutulog na ang iyong espiritu eh spiritual

neglect. Walng interes sa mga bagay na makalangit.

2. Spiritual Insensitivity

Matigas ang puso. Nagkakalyo na! Kapag may mga christiano

kayong mariringgan na Wala akong pakialam. Insensitive na yun.

Uy sinabi na ngang love your brethren. Anong love your brethren.

Wala akong pakialam. Sabi ng Dios na dapat minamahal natin ang
ating kaaway. Neknek mo! Ano ako hilo? Hindi mo kasi alam kung
ano ang ginawa niyan sa akin. May mga kasalanan sa kanilang
mga puso ngunit hindi na nababagabag. Walang aspiration for
holiness.
Ang mga ganitong attitude ay nagpapakita ng katigasan ng puso.
Ang kanilang mga sarili ay pinatigas ng sitwasyon.

Ang mga bagay na nangyayari sa atin ay dalawa lang ang

pwedeng idulot nito sa atin. U can be a better person or a bitter
person. Maaari kang mas maging mabuti o mas maging masama.
Ang resulta ay nasa iyung pagdedesisiyon.

Isa pang spitual insensitivity eh kung yung mga maling bagay sa

paligid mo eh hinahayaan mo na lang.

May narinig kang dalawang tao na naguusap ng tsismis. Ikaw

naman dahil tsismis nakisali ka pa. O talaga kaya pala siya ganun.
Meron kang nakita jan sa compound na naninigarilyo. Hmmm
hayaan mo siya. Si pastor dapat ang nagbabawal jan. O kaya
naman nakakita ng mangongobra, uy pare pataya, ano ba ang
lumabas.

Ang nagiging motto pa na if you cannot beat them join them. Kaya
wala ng pakialam kung mali ba ang ginagawa. Kasi yun naman
ang ginagawa ng lahat. You should stand in the truth. Hindi
pupwedeng nagbubulag-bulagan ka at nagbibingihan ka. Ang mga
christianong gising uncomfortable yan kapag nakakaita o
nakakarinig ng masama. Hindi nakikiayon. May problema sa
inyong pagiging christiano kapag hindi niyo ito naramdaman.

3. Spiritual Refusal

Ang mga christiano ay hindi lumalago hindi dahil sa walang

opportunity o walang pagkakataon. Ang dahilan ng hindi paglago
ay dahil mismo sila ay ayaw lumago. Sabi nga natin mahirap
gisingin ang mga nagtutulug-tuluga. Kahit anong yugyug mo jan at
kahit anong sigaw mo jan eh hindi babangon yan. Dahil
tulugtulugan. Ang may mga ganyang attitude ay hindi lalago.

So pano mo malalaman kung ikaw ay hindi lumago. Pano mo

malalaman na christianong lumalago ka. Una kung yung
understanding mo sa Dios eh kaperho pa rin magmula ng
tinganggap mo siya. So kung tinanggap mo siya nung 1990, at
ganun pa rin ang understanding mo at hindi lumago o kung
minsan bumaba pa, ibig sabihiy hindi ka lumago. Naging Bonjing
ka… Ang laki-laking tao, gatas pa rin ang iniinum. At abnormal
yun.

Ang mga bagay na atin lamang naririnig at nalalaman na

pumapasok lamang sa ating mga utak at hindi inaaply is a spritual
refusal. Ang salita ng Dios ay dapat isinasapuso at hindi
isinasautak lamang. Kapag ang application ng Word of God sa
ating buhay ay nangangahulugan ng ating immaturity.
Kinakailangan na ang mga biblical knowledge na ating naa-
acquire should be applied inwardly.

We have all heard the statement, “If you cannot use it, you will
lose it. Ang ating kaalaman sa mga salita ng Dios ay dapat
madagdagan. Hindi lang dapat madagdagan kundi dapat ay
maiaapply sa ating buhay. Useless kapag walang application.
Para ka lamang isang lobo na puro hangin ang laman. Kaya
kapag dumating ang pagsubok at medyo nasundot. Putok na.
Nawala na ang lahat. Wala ng pakinabang. Apply in into your life
what you have known.

4. BE DILIGENT (v. 11)

11 At nang siya'y makapanhik na, at mapagputolputol na ang
tinapay, at makakain na, at makapagsalita sa kanila ng
mahaba, hanggang sa sumikat ang araw, kaya't siya'y umalis.

Paul didn’t let the events of the night keep him from what he went
there to do that night. I look at this verse and everything Paul ever
did in the Bible and realize that Paul was diligent as a Christian.
He was always about doing God’s work. He realized that God’s
work was never done.

We see Eutychus falls asleep, falls out the window and dies. Paul
goes down and with the faith he had in Jesus Christ brought
Eutychus back to life. Then it’s like Paul turns to them and says ok
the shows over lets go back upstairs and finish what we started.

Paul went back up there and finished preaching the Word to these
people. One little interruption wasn’t going to keep Paul from
finishing strong. This is one of the many reasons Paul was able to
say in 2 Timothy 4:6-8 when he came to the end of his life, “For I
am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has
come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me
the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will award to me on that day and not only to me, but also to all who
have longed for his appearing.”

Church, as Christians we have to be diligent in our walk. We have

to finish the race that has been set before us and not give up. Not
to quit when worries, trials, struggles, and temptations arise in our
lives. We are to be diligent in sharing the gospel and just because
someone shuts the door in our face or tells us they don’t want to
here it doesn’t mean we stop sharing the gospel. We are to be
diligent in ministering to people and just because someone might
not show gratitude for something we’ve done for them doesn’t
mean we stop ministering to people. You and I need to be diligent
as Christians. When we come to the end of our lives we should
want to be able to say what Paul said “That I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…” We should
want to hear our Lord and Savior Jesus say “WELL DONE, GOOD
AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!” (MATT. 25:21)

5. IN THE END IT’S ALL WORTH IT (v. 12)

12 At kanilang dinalang buhay ang binata, at hindi kakaunti
ang kanilang pagkaaliw.

In the KJV this verse says that “they brought the young man alive,
and were not a little comforted.” Before they parted that night they
brought this young boy into the congregation and everyone one
was rejoicing because he was dead but now he’s alive. It said they
were not a little comforted. They just weren’t a little excited they
were ecstatic; they were rejoicing and praising God. The
heartache the friends and parents of Eutychus went through that
night thinking he was dead was all worth it to see him come back
to life again.

Living the Christian life is going to be all worth it. Going through
the heartaches in life for Jesus will one day be all worth it. You see
that day that we are in heaven with Jesus we will not be a little
comforted, we’re just not going to be a little excited, we will be
ecstatic.

Yeah, we may be considered crazy or we may be persecuted for

having a passion for Christ. People may think that we are out of
our minds when we say we are not ashamed of Jesus Christ. It’s
going to be hard to stay alert in this world and not fall away from
God. Life won’t always be fun and fair and because of that it will
be hard to be diligent for the Lord it will be hard not to quit and
give up. But church, listen to me this morning when I say that in
the end it will all be worth it to hear Jesus Christ say “WELCOME
HOME MY CHILD!” In the end we will be able to rejoice because
we will be with our Savior for eternity. We will be able to praise
God for eternity and what an awesome, glorious day that will be
with Jesus.

Christians Wake up. Be alert. Sabi nga Walang tulugan. Sa muling

pagdating ba ni Jesus eh masasabi natin sa kanya na narito po
ako Panginoon at naging matapat na manggagawa po ako sa
inyong ubasan. Eh pano kapag nadatnan ka niya na natutulog ka
lang. Wala kang K na masasabi mo sa kanya na I’ve been a
faithful servant to you. Buong gawain ka lang natulog.

Church listen to this, ang ating aanihin ay hinog na. Ang

sanlibutan ay handa ng anihin. Ngunit kakaunti ang nag-aani. Ang
ibay natutulog pa.

Bilang mga christiano may malaking misyon tayo dito sa lupa at

iyan ang ilapit ang mga tao sa paanan ng ating Panginoong Dios.
Hindi lamang pastor ang dapat gumagawa niyan kundi ang bawat
isa sa atin ay misyon yan. Magkaroon tayo ng pakialam. Sapagkat
ang bawat tao na ating nakakasalamuha ay pananagutan natin sa
Dios.

Ang muling pagdating ni Jesus ay hindi kathang isip. Hindi ito

kwento-kwento lang. There is life after death. Ito ay totoo. Jesus is
coming again. Dahil soya mismo ang nagsabi niyan. Hindi
sinungaling ang ating Dios. He will come. At sa pagdating muli ni
Jesus, the whole world will see that. The universe will sing. At
tunay na sasabihin ng lahat ng sangkatauhan na siya ang Hari ng
mga hari at Dios ng mga diyos.

In closing, if you’re here this morning and your Christian I want you
to ask yourself these questions. When it comes to worship,
sharing the gospel or studying His word are you passionate about
it? Are you willing to take and stand against this world and say I
am not ashamed of Jesus Christ? Are you doing everything to stay
alert and awake for God? Are you being diligent when it comes to
the kingdoms work?