Our text this morning comes from Acts chapter 17. We're going to be looking at verses one through 15. I encourage you, if you have a copy of the scriptures to turn with me to Acts chapter 17. If you didn't bring a Bible, you're in luck or in God's providence, there's a Bible right in front of you there in Acts, chapter 17, beginning in verse one, before we read it, let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Our heavenly Father, we thank you that you're a God that has not left us in our sin and misery, but that you speak, that you speak and you proclaim salvation, that you proclaim that the seed of the woman would come to crush the seed of the serpent. We thank you that that promise has been realized in our Lord Jesus Christ, that He is indeed the Messiah and the Savior of sinners. Lord, I thank you that you are not a God who is in a far distant land, but that you are here now by the power of Your Spirit working within us. And Lord, I do pray that your spirit would have its way in us now, that you would soften our hardened hearts, that you would open up our blinded eyes, that you would unstop our deaf ears, that we might hear of him crucified and risen for sinners like us would be merciful. We pray for Christ's sake, amen.
People of God, hear God's word for us this morning from Acts chapter 17, I'll be reading verses one through 15.
Now, when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying"This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ." And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting"These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another King, Jesus." And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.
He who has ears, let him hear the Word of God. Please be seated.
I hope you all had a very nice Christmas downtime time with family, and I had the opportunity to reflect on this passage as I was putting our Christmas Eve service together.
And if you were there at the Christmas Eve service, whether maybe you weren't there, but at the end, we had a candlelight where we each held our little candlelight and we passed it along, and we we sang Silent Night. And why do we do that? Is it nostalgic and pretty? Yes, I think that's part of it, some of it, but it's. Actually also, I think, a very vivid symbol of what the gospel is and what we have here in our text, the gospel being passed on and also received. And that's what happens at that little candlelight, right? Someone passes you the candle that's lit, and then it is your mission to then pass it down the aisle.
You want them to have the same joy that you have. You want to share it with others. As the Scripture says, a light is not lit to be put under a bushel. It is meant to be shared. And as we have been making our way through the book of Acts, you know that this is the very mission of the church, to be witnesses, to share the gospel. This is why we are here on this earth.
Remember, why didn't Christ just bring the apostles up with him?
Why hasn't he yet brought us up with Him? Because we are to be His witnesses. We are to share the gospel. We are to share the light of Christ with others, not just hide it, not just keep it to ourselves. It is meant to be shared. Now this text will also remind us that when we do that, when we step out to be witnesses and share the light of Christ, it is not often received so readily, readily and eagerly.
Gospel ministry doesn't often come with when you share, treats are then handed out or gifts exchanged to not anticipate sharing the gospel and having a red carpet rolled out with you.
Gospel ministry is about faithfulness, even when the ground is made red and it's not by a carpet, but that is sometimes the cost of standing and representing King Jesus. And We have certainly seen that in this book, in accident is certainly happening around this world right now, Christians shedding their blood that the gospel might go forth and that Christ might be made known. And we see that all there in Thessalonica. But we're also going to see it's not only about sending the word and sharing the word, it's also about receiving the word. And we see that in Berea, and you actually can't properly send the word and share the word unless you have received it yourself. And so how do we receive it? So we might better share it. We'll see that as well. We first, we come to this idea about sending it, and we see first, how do we send it?
Well, I think we send the scriptures. We pass the scriptures on unyieldingly persistently. Paul and Silas, if you have just remember they were in Philippi, and what happened in Philippi? They were beaten.
They were beaten several times.
There was injustice. They were lied against. They were put in prison. They were put in stocks.
They have had flesh ripped from their naked bodies as they were stripped down. They have blood splattered on the ground. And then how many times would you need to be beaten before you will stop preaching the gospel?
But Paul and Silas, they are let go, and they're right back at it. We see God blesses their time in Philippi. We see Lydia comes to hear the gospel. God opens up her heart. We're told, God sets that little slave girl free. God also works in that crusty Philippian jailer. What must I do to be saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved, you and your household. And we see the findings of a new baby church in Philippi with this crew of people that you would have never thought would have received the gospel, but have Luke remains in Philippi, but Paul Silas and Timothy, they continue westward through Macedonia, modern day Greece, and they are seeking to go to Thessalonica, which is the capital of the time of Macedonia, they pass through some smaller cities in order to get to the center of population there and influence in Thessalonica. Paul Silas and Timothy, they arrive in Thessalonica and they still have their fresh wounds from Philippi. Paul will even say this as he writes to the church in Thessalonica in chapter two of this first letter. For He says, For you yourselves, know brothers that are coming to you, was not in vain, but though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. Essentially, what Paul is saying to you is, we had every reason to be kind of timid, wouldn't you, after coming from Philippi, venturing into a new city, Paul has already been beat to death.
Essentially, people thought he was dead. They dragged him outside the city. And left them there. He's revived. He goes right back in and preaches the gospel and again, beat in Philippi. He had every reason to be timid, but he isn't. He's bold, he's unyielding. He is persistent to share the gospel because it is a life and death matter, life eternal. And unlike Philippi, Thessalonica, we're told, has a large Jewish population, and Paul has his custom. What did Paul do whenever he went to a town that has a synagogue? They he went there and he starts preaching there. We're told he goes there for three consecutive Sabbaths and he we're told that he reasons with them from the scriptures. This is second that we're to be reasonable in our gospel presentation. The word reason here means to open thoroughly, to completely explain. He's not just quoting verses here and there he's explaining. He's proving. He's opening up the scriptures. He's defending what he sees in the scriptures, what the Bible teaches. And I think that's one of the reasons why I think it's good that we preach through a book of the Bible, because you can make the Bible say whatever you want it to say. If you just take a verse here, a few words here, and you make it say whatever you want. But if you work through a Bible, work through a book, you can see that the real meaning of it, What's it saying. And I'm trying to prove it to trying to show it to you, this is what God says, not what man says. This is what God says. So Paul goes to the synagogue. There's some common ground there in the Old Testament Scriptures, and he's explaining it to them because they didn't understand it properly. And he shows it to them. He's proving to them what one he opens up the scriptures to direct them how the Messiah had to suffer. Now, why must the Messiah suffer and die? Why must Christ die? Because sin is not a light matter, and God is not a light God. The penalty of sin is death, and death is what Christ suffers for us on the cross, Justice must be paid. The Messiah suffers in the place of his people, dying our death that we deserve, bearing our curse. I wonder what Scriptures Paul took him to. Maybe Isaiah 53 maybe that is that common, familiar to us. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed. The Messiah had to die that we might have life. He had to die that we might live.
But also the Messiah had to rise from the dead. It had to why?
Because if there's no resurrection, there's only tragedy. Without the resurrection, there's no victory. Jesus would be a liar.
Jesus would be a fraud. But Christ has risen. What tax money look at? Maybe Psalm 16. I don't I'm not sure. Psalm 16 is that promise of God, for you will not abandon my soul to Sheol or let your Holy One see corruption, predicting he will rise from the dead. And then third that the Messiah is Jesus of all the Old Testament, as you know, is pointing us to Jesus, the one to be born in Bethlehem in Micah.
Who's that about? Well, Jesus, Psalm 22 the picture of the crucifixion. You have pierced hands and feet, garments divided even what is said all there in Psalm 22 and who's that about?
It's not about us. It's about Jesus, who's the snake Crusher in Genesis chapter three, who's the seed of the woman that will crush the head of the serpent.
Jesus, King David, who's out of directing us to King Jesus, the all the Old Testament is pointing us to Jesus, and this is what Paul is, is trying to prove and reason with them that Jesus came and He died, He rose from the dead. He is the Messiah. He is the Lord. He is the Christ. And He lovingly calls them to action, to believe in First Thessalonians, he says, but we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children, not just trying to win an argument, not trying to say, I'm just I'm smart. I know all these scriptures trying to persuade them to believe. To put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not just to say, Aren't these really neat facts? Isn't this fascinating? I'm really glad that we have this information now that we better understand the scriptures. No, the point of understanding the scriptures is that you might believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.
And some of them are persuaded.
We're told Jews devout Greeks, many of the women, and, as usual, the Gospel doesn't go unchallenged. We're told that the Jews are jealous. We're not told why, but it's not hard to guess why they might be jealous.
They show up to the Sabbath day, the next Sabbath day, and they realize that their synagogue is not so full anymore, but as they're making their way there, guess whose house is busting at the seams? Jason's everyone's going over to Jason's house because they want to hear from Paul and Silas. And they're losing their influence in the town. They're losing power. And so they go, as some have said, and they rent a mob. They go down to the marketplace, which is not only the place of commerce, but the place of crime. And they knew they could hire some rabble, some muscle to get them to get rid of these troublemakers. So they surround Jason's house, and they are seeking Paul and Silas. They attack the house. They don't find them, but they drag Jason out, along with some others and put them before the city council. The crime of hosting these disruptive Christians, and indeed, the gospel is disruptive. It is disruptive to the idols of our hearts. It is disruptive to the things that are not pleasing to the Lord.
But this is a very vivid picture, and even for some of us who at one point in time, we met at someone's house, and you can imagine the authorities gathering around that house, not the authorities, but a mob, rule, dragging out the owner of that house because the gospel is being proclaimed there. That's what's happening here, and that's what could, can, can happen to any of us if we are proclaiming the gospel, if we are standing with Christ. They said, These men have turned the world upside down and have come here also, and Jason has received them. They are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another King Jesus. This was also the charge that was put against Jesus Himself. Remember what was above him on the cross.
He's king of the Jews. Jesus is a king. He is the King of kings and the Lord of Lord. He's not the political King that many think he was coming to be. He is the Lord of all. And the irony of this is that the gospel actually turns things right side up, not upside down. It is the world that is abnormal. It is the world that is twisted and perverted, but the world doesn't think so. And the gospel actually exposes that. It exposes our hearts. It disrupts the kingdoms that we are trying to build, and that is what they hate. Do you remember at Philippi, when that little girl is set free, and all the people that they're rejoicing because she's set free, is that what they're doing? No, they are upset because the gospel was attacking their idol of their finances. It was letting them go, because she was a source of wealth for them, and the gospel that was saying, well, I might not have this wealth, and it makes them angry. The Gospel set things right. It makes our focus not on us or the fleeting things of this world, but sets it aright to the Lord. Sometimes and often. Following Jesus puts us outside the circles of influence. We might be excluded from events, from following Christ. You won't be welcomed here or there. You will be cast out because you do not bend your knee to the world, and you reject their king, and you follow King Jesus and His commands. We're told, Jason is released after taking money from they take money from him as a security this is probably the security is Paul and Silas have to leave. And so Paul and Silas, do they rather have Paul and Silas to get a letter from, rather than visit a grave of Paul and Silas? So they are sent. So Paul and Silas and Timothy they they leave. And it's interesting to think about when you read the letter to the church in First Thessalonians.
They were there less than a month, but already a little baby church has started in Thessalonica. They travel now about 50 miles to Berea, and our text is not only about. Out sending the word persistently and reasonably and lovingly, but it's also about how we receive the word. What do they do when they go to Berea again, they go to the synagogue and verse 11?
Now these Jews were more noble than those of Thessalonica. What does that mean? Well, it doesn't mean that they had a noble bloodline or social status, but it means that they were more noble in how they received the word. And how did they receive the Word? Will they receive it expectantly, discerningly and in faith, and that's how we are to receive it as well. How do you listen to the word? Even now, you know there are books about preaching. There's lots of books about preaching, but there aren't many books about how to actually listen to preaching, how to listen to the word, how to receive the Word. So how do you receive the word? They received it expectantly.
Received it with eagerness. They came hungry. Puritans called the Lord's day, the market day for the soul eager to receive the word like it's the best food that was ever put before you.
That's what God's word is. It's a feast for the soul. Have you ever been to a restaurant, or you are anticipating going to a restaurant that you are really excited to go to, like you've been really longing to go to this restaurant. You know that they have good food. And even before you get to the restaurant, you you like, you look at the menu beforehand and you're like, I'm so excited about what we're about to eat.
Even before we get to the restaurant, I'm scouring the menu like, I could get this and that there's an expectant like, we're gonna get good food now, in a similar way. That's how we should be seeing the Word of God, and that's one of the reasons why we send the bulletin out before the Lord's day. That you can look at the menu, you can see the text before you you can read it, what am I going to hear? What's God going to say?
How's my soul going to get fed?
There's this anticipation, a longing. You think about all the things we get excited about kids. I mean, we just had Christmas, right? Pretty exciting. Were you not excited to not only open up gifts and receive them and but then to what do you want to do with with your friends? You want to you want to share it. You want to look what I got. I want to talk about it. How often, though, do we get so disinterested in the word we're not excited about it?
We often think here, when we're in the service, when is this thing over? How much longer, Mom, what time is it? We're getting hungry during the service, we think about other things like football and sleeping. Now, I know at times my sermons might be dull. I know my sermons at times might be disorganized and not as prepared as they should be at times. But then how do you even listen to a bad sermon?
Are you praying? Lord, help me to see the truth in all this mess that this guy's Are you?
Are you speaking here, Lord, are you praying for your minister?
Are you praying for me that I would speak clearly and boldly the Word of God? Are you showing up week after week to hear the continuity of the scriptures, to prove it from beginning to end, to see Christ in all of scriptures. Are you just coming here and there every once in a while, but or are you daily seeking the Word of God? Like the Bereans were examining the Scriptures daily? That's what the what we're seeing here. Not only are they coming expectantly, they are discerning. This is the second.
They're not gullible, but discerning. Sometimes we're so gullible, aren't we, right?
Trump said it, that must be true, CNN or Fox, or they said it on TV. Wikipedia had this so that it's true. We're so gullible at times. Do not just listen to me. I'm wrong at times. I make mistakes. At times, if you just listen to me, You're being a fool. You're foolish. Listen to God's word.
Open up the Word of God. Has God said it? Not has? Have I said it why? Listen to me. I'm a nobody.
Listen to the Word of God. He's everything we can make the Bible say whatever we want. We've already talked about that taking things out of context, even as Paul writes to the church in Philippi, and you've heard people take this one out of context. I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me, right? We can think that, okay, well, I can, you know, go be, you know, a child actor.
Now, because Christ is, wait a second, that's not what it's talking about. It's talking about the enduring under persecution. For the Christians, I can endure persecution because of Christ who strengthens me. Or Psalm 118 is one. I often hear, this is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. It's like Lord, thank You for this Wednesday. Thank you for this Thursday. But the psalm is talking about the day of salvation, the day in which the that Christ was rejected by man.
The day of salvation is what is ours. And so often verses are just taken out of context. This is why we must be discerning about what the Bible actually says, right? What verse is it God helps those who helps themselves? Which one was that it's not in there, right? It's not there. We have to know the Word of God. Are you allowing yourself and and your family to digest what you hear each Sunday is a sermon being discussed? Are are questions being asked, or is it like the parable of the sower, where the seed is simply just sown and the birds just come in and take it away.
There's no opportunity for it to sink down into your heart. The service is over. What's for lunch? What's gonna happening?
Where are we going? What's going on? Allow your opportunity to the word to sink into your heart. What was the main point?
Where do I need to repent? Where is Christ? Here? Am I forgiven?
Am I saved? Has he wiped away all of my sin? And if so, and I know that all of my sin not in part, but the holes nailed to the cross, and I'm set free now in the Lord Jesus Christ. How does he want me to live? What do I do now? So what? What do I have? What do I how do I live?
How do I please my father? And that's how they respond in faith, again, not that they are just hearing really good information. And so What if The Old Testament is all about Jesus, and you don't believe it.
The demons know that, if God teaches it, will you follow it?
Even if it means that it will affect the way you spend your time right now, the way you spend your money right time right now. If God says it, will you do it, even if it means what you do with your bodies right now, or will you simply be a hearer, and no matter what it says, You're not going to change the way you live or to put your faith in Christ. I've heard this illustration before. Imagine you're standing at a trail head of a well marked path, and the signs are very clear. The map is accurate, and you know exactly where the trail goes, but knowing the trail is not the same as walking it, and reformed Christians are very good at standing at the trail head. We can know what the Scriptures teach about the Lord's Day and generosity, prayer, holiness being a witness, we can explain grace and effectual calling right now that you heard it and we profess it together. What is justification? But sometimes we often stop short of obedience, not because God's will is unclear, but because obedience costs us comfort, and we then see more resistance to the gospel, not only in our own hearts, but here in our text, there people travel from Thessalonica, over 50 miles to a city that they are related to, to try to stop the gospel. We also then see Paul's need for fellowship, of calling. I need, I need Silas and I, I need Timothy and fellowship, and he calls them to his side. Now acts 17 asks us this question really is, how will you respond to the message of Christ? No one remains neutral. The Gospel isn't something we just hear.
It's something we must respond to, and you will either respond like the Thessalonian mob with opposition and rejection and push it away because you don't want the gospel to change your life, or you will respond like the Bereans with eagerness, ready to receive the truth and and follow the Lord wherever He leads you. On Christmas Eve, someone handed you a flame and you you didn't analyze it, you didn't admire it from a. Since you received it and you passed it on, and that's the call of this text Christ, the crucified and risen King, has been set before you in the scriptures, and the light has reached your hand. Will you hide it? Or will you resist it? Or will you now receive it by faith and pass it on. Let's pray our Heavenly Father, we we thank you for giving us your word, and Lord, we confess. We are often resistant to Your Word. We often hear these things. We hear the scriptures, we hear the Gospel, and we we take maybe what is familiar with us, and we don't think about it. We don't analyze it, we we don't even receive it by faith, and we move on to what is next, Lord. But I pray that you would allow these things to sink deep into our heart, that you will help us to remember Christ, who had to die for us, who has been risen for us, that He is the Messiah, that He is the Christ. Lord, help us to love your word, even as David said that we would love it more than much fine gold, that it would be sweeter to us than honey from the honeycomb. Lord, let us not simply be hearers, but let us be doers. Let us be your witnesses, not only now to receive it, but also to go forth from this place, sharing it with others would be merciful. We pray in Jesus's name, Amen.