The discourse was long and they had not yet broken bread; the weather was hot and there were many lights. Such is human weakness that all this so affected Eutychus that he was overcome with sleep, as Paul was long preaching, and fell down from the third floor where he was sitting by the window. He was taken up dead by the men. (Acts 20:5-125These going before tarried for us at Troas. 6And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. 7And 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. 8And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. 9And 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. 10And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. 11When 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. 12And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted. (Acts 20:5‑12).)
Paul naturally interrupts his discourse, goes down and throws himself on him, declaring that life is still in him. The separation had not yet taken place; he was stunned by the fall and if the power of God had not interposed, he would have been caught in the clutches of death. Life, however, had not yet gone out of the body, and by the Spirit Paul so works on it that the functions of life are restored. The bonds between soul and body are reestablished.
In the case of the child restored to life by Elijah (1 Kings 17:21, 2221And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. 22And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. (1 Kings 17:21‑22)) the soul had already left the body and returned to it. From these cases, as always elsewhere, we see that the soul is entirely distinct from the body; though in our present state it works by means of the body, yet it is in its habitation. Life in this world is the activity of the soul by means of the functions of the body, the activity of which is restored by sleep, because we are feeble. When the soul leaves the body, the man is definitively dead, but the activity of the soul by the functions of the body may be interrupted, as is partly the case in sleep. This action is reestablished if the soul have not left the body, if God does so or permits it.
In its highest part—the spirit, the soul in relation to God is alas, at enmity against Him! It will not and does not submit to Him.
Spirit, Soul and Body
With its inferior part, it works in the body—marvelous creation! In relations with God above, and with nature below, it is a mixture of creature thoughts which seek to rise to God but cannot. It is responsible to God according to the nature it has originally received from Him. When born of God, it receives a totally new life in which it is in relation with God according to grace and redemption. It is a life animated by the Spirit which it receives from above and which makes of the body an instrument for the service of God. Possessing this life, we know that "if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." I have said this in reference to Eutychus because in these days the simplicity of the truth regarding the soul is lost sight of by many.
Paul then goes up again and having broken bread, talks even till daybreak, comforting much the souls he saw perhaps for the last time. He then departs, leaving Eutychus alive to the joy of the brethren. Paul sends on his companions by ship, and goes himself on foot, desiring to be alone.
For us, this is often a wise thing: to be alone, apart from men, but alone too, with God where we can think of Him. Also where we can think of ourselves before Him, of the work as He sees it, and where in His presence responsibility is felt instead of activity before men. No doubt this activity ought to appear in His presence, because it is holy, but at all events the activity of man is another thing than to place oneself before God, such as He is for us. It is not less true that this communion with Him as His servants, gives and sustains a blessed confidence in Him, an intimacy of soul with Him, full of goodness and of grace.
Paul had instructed his companions to take him in at Assos which they do. From thence they proceed to Mitylene, to Chios and finally to Miletus, half a day from Ephesus. Paul had determined not to stop there, desiring if possible to be at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. If he had stopped at Ephesus, he must have remained some time, as he had labored there for a long period and with great blessing. He passes on, therefore, sending from Miletus for the elders of the assembly at Ephesus, the center of the work in that region.
It is evident that the Apostle was preoccupied with the circumstances in which he was placed, with the apparent end of his career. This thought, it is probable, exercised an influence over him when he went alone on foot to Assos. Also it was the cause of his long speech at Troas.
J.N. Darby