WEBVTT 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:23.760 Good morning. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:34.000 You're all here this morning for one of two, maybe three reasons. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:40.240 Number one, you feel a little guilty if you're not here. 00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:48.560 Number two, because you're devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:52.320 Either way, I'm glad you're here. 00:00:54.320 --> 00:01:00.159 But as we open up to Acts chapter 17 this morning, I want to ask you to do something very difficult. 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:05.120 What is the thing? 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:13.599 Maybe it's an activity, maybe it's a desire of your heart, maybe it's a person. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:23.280 What is the thing that you hold dearest in your heart in this world? 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:24.879 In this life? 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:34.480 What is the thing that that is elevated above all other things? 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:43.359 A job, a family, retirement, fun activity. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:49.680 Maybe it's a sin that you harbor in your heart. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:54.480 Take a minute and think about that. 00:01:54.640 --> 00:02:03.200 What is something in your life, in your heart, that holds the greatest value? 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:12.479 I won't look at you so you don't feel guilty. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:34.800 Now, can you give that thing over to Jesus because of your allegiance to him and him alone? 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:50.319 Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, yes, that's his full name. 00:02:51.199 --> 00:03:02.159 Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was born a few years before the Lord Jesus in what is now Lyon, France. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:14.560 He was the nephew of Emperor Tiberius and the grandson of Livia Drusilla, who was one of Caesar Augustus' wives. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:22.319 Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was an intellectual. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:31.919 He also specialized in history, having written at least eight volumes. 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:42.319 But he also had some speech difficulties, and he walked with a limp, which resulted in much ridicule all throughout his life. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:51.039 He wasn't quite what we would call a recluse, but public life definitely didn't suit him. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:04:04.400 He was appointed emperor only after the imperial guard assassinated Emperor Caligula and found Tiberius Claudius hiding behind a curtain. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:10.879 Claudius, as he is most commonly known, was married four times. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:32.639 And it was his fourth wife, who happened to be his niece, who is believed to have killed him, supposedly with poison mushrooms, all so that her son from another marriage, Nero, could become emperor instead of Claudius' son from another marriage. 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:37.120 Claudius was a very capable ruler. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:42.399 Like many Roman emperors, however, he could be quite suspicious. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:46.639 He had soldiers around him at most banquets. 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:52.560 He had visitors searched before he would entertain them and see them. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:05:02.480 He had multiple numbers of people, including members of the Roman Senate, executed whenever he felt threatened by them. 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:11.199 That's why Claudius is known to richly reward those who were especially loyal to him. 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:15.040 Claudius was an excellent administrator. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:19.360 He expanded the Roman Empire all the way to Britain. 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:26.480 But along with his successes came suspicions of potential rivals. 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:39.519 Claudius was the Roman ruler when Paul, Silas, and Timothy visited the Macedonian city of Thessalonica in Acts chapter 17. 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:52.639 Thessalonica was an important city because it sat at the crossroads of a north-south and east-west trade route that kept the city of Rome connected with the rest of its empire. 00:05:52.879 --> 00:06:00.639 But Thessalonica also held the special status of a free Roman city. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:18.319 As a free city, they possessed peace and security with the city of Rome and with the Roman Empire, which meant there were no Roman soldiers stationed in Thessalonica, and they owed no taxes to the Roman Empire. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:22.240 They were free and secure. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:29.439 Claudius also had a questionable relationship with the Jews. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:40.240 If you look over in your Bible at chapter 18 and verse 2, you will see that Claudius removed all of the Jews from Rome at one point. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:50.480 Some Roman sources suggest that Claudius expelled the Jews around the beginning of his rule, sometime around 41 A.D. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:07:01.360 But it's much more likely, according to other Roman sources, that it was closer to AD 48 or AD 49. 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:07.839 The Roman writer Suetonius in his biography of Claudius says that it was 49 A.D. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:16.240 And our best reckoning says that Paul was in Thessalonica one or at most two years later. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:21.040 Do you understand what that means? 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:30.639 The Roman Empire expels all Jews from his capital city, and two years later a Jew enters Thessalonica. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:45.279 You can imagine how community leaders in Thessalonica might react to a Jewish foreigner in their city announcing the presence and the rule of another king, Jesus. 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:59.439 So Paul, Silas, and Timothy, and the city leaders could very likely be charged with sedition and opposing Caesar and be justly executed. 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:04.079 And Thessalonica could lose its privileged status just like that. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:06.720 It's a big deal. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:08.639 It's a big deal. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:17.279 That historical context is the key element of the next section in our study of the book of Acts. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:22.639 The king of kings is encroaching on Caesar's rule. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:33.279 Not through bribery, not through reward or threats or force, but by faith in the king's death, burial, and resurrection. 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:39.759 We've already seen hints of this all throughout the gospel record and through the book of Acts. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:46.639 You remember when the Jews brought Jesus before Pilate on that Passover week, right? 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:53.519 They brought Jesus before Pilate with the claim that he was a threat to Caesar. 00:08:55.679 --> 00:09:02.240 Pilate interrogated Jesus to see if he was a threat to Caesar, and Pilate found him innocent. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:12.320 But in that dialogue between Pilate and Jesus, Jesus said that yes, he was a king, but his kingdom is not of this world. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:17.759 In other words, he's not a typical king like Caesar. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:20.720 But Jesus is a king. 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:23.600 He is the true king. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:26.080 He rules over all. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:28.960 He sets all the world's rulers in place. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:30.639 He gives them their territory. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:32.320 He gives them their subjects. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:36.559 But at the same time, Jesus is no threat to Caesar. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:41.759 At least not in the way that Caesar perceives. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:49.519 The irony isn't, the irony is that Jesus isn't after Caesar's throne. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:55.120 Jesus isn't after Caesar's power, after his wealth. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:02.480 No, he is after the hearts, minds, and souls of Caesar's people. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:18.399 Jesus is the king who will subvert Rome and every other kingdom that has ever existed on this planet by turning the hearts of Caesar's people away from Caesar and to himself? 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:29.120 Jesus is no political threat, but Jesus will impact everything that Caesar holds dearly. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:38.879 And the question for us is: does Jesus impact everything that we hold dearly? 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:47.120 This true king sent his messengers into the heart of the Roman Empire. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:57.679 Paul travels here in Acts chapter 17 to Thessalonica, to Berea, to Athens, chapter 18, and to Corinth, and ultimately to Rome itself. 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:10.000 And he would begin the true king's work of building his kingdom within the world's kingdoms from among the world's peoples. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:24.240 That's what we begin seeing in chapter 17, is with the crossing of a sea from Asia Minor into what we now know as Europe, a transition begins to take place. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:38.080 Where Rome itself would be undone by Jesus turning the hearts of people to himself. 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:46.559 Let's look first at Acts chapter 17, verses 1 through 9, in Thessalonica, where this theme opens. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:12:02.000 We see here in these first nine verses the truth that the true king provides ultimate peace, while at the same time upsetting those who possess peace and security. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:09.679 And this map here on the screen, you can see in the top right-hand corner, kind of cut off there, is the city of Philippi. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:15.919 That was the passage that we talked about last time. 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:26.720 It's only a short distance from Philippi to Thessalonica, maybe about a hundred miles, some by foot, some by sea. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:36.320 It's about another 50 miles from Thessalonica down in the left third to the very left-hand side to the community of Berea. 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:41.360 Then the red line going south takes us down to Athens. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:50.080 Paul follows his very same pattern that Luke has already presented to us. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:57.360 We aren't told why some communities like Amphipolis and Apollonia are passed by. 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:00.559 Maybe it's because there was no gospel reception there. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:02.399 Maybe they weren't welcomed into the community. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:04.559 Maybe there wasn't a synagogue there. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:08.960 Maybe Paul knew there was a synagogue in Thessalonica, let's go there. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:13.279 And so Luke reports that Paul followed a typical pattern. 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:18.240 The gospel went to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:33.759 The presence of a synagogue made that pattern pretty wise because a Jewish Pharisee, or former Jewish Pharisee, would have an open door, an open reception to a Jewish synagogue. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:45.279 So Paul goes into these synagogues and he shows them how their Hebrew Bibles, our Old Testament, reveals that the Messiah had to suffer, die, and rise again. 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:52.159 Therefore, if your Bible shows that and Jesus did that, he must be the Messiah. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:54.480 Pretty simple message. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:59.200 But take that to heart, folks. 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:04.879 You can lead someone to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with only your Old Testament. 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:08.559 You don't need your New Testament. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:16.320 Leading someone to Christ is possible with just the first portion of your Bible. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:22.159 Now, the New Testament book of Galatians may have been written by the time of Acts 17. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:28.080 But the only other scriptures available were the Old Testament books. 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:35.200 So those first Christians were led to faith in Christ through the Old Testament itself. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:50.399 Every Christian should grow in their knowledge of the Old Testament to the point that they can show someone how the promised Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead to conquer sin and death. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:54.639 If you can do that, you can share the gospel with anybody. 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:58.559 So Paul reasoned with the Jews. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:08.159 He went back and forth, question and answer, teaching, maybe reading from the synagogue scrolls, quoting certainly from the synagogue scrolls. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:10.159 He did this for at least three weeks. 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:12.799 The text says three Sabbath days. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:14.399 That's his pattern. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:18.240 Then notice the people's response. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:21.360 Some Jews were persuaded. 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:25.759 They listened to this back and forth and they were convinced. 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:33.200 An unknown but significant number of God-fearing Greeks and leading women of the city believed. 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:44.240 So Luke paints a picture here in which the ratio of Gentile converts to Jewish converts favored the Gentiles by a wide margin. 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:49.759 Some of the Jews believed, but a good number of the Gentile Greeks believed. 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:53.759 That's all good. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:55.679 That's all positive. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:00.639 But that's where Paul's time in Thessalonica worsened. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:07.120 Because the unbelieving Jews were jealous of Paul and his ministry. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:14.159 So they stirred up a dangerous, rabble-rousing mob who went looking for Paul and his team. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:23.200 It seems as though they were staying at Jason's house, but they weren't there when they went looking for Paul at Jason's front door. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:29.519 So the mob considers Jason to be complicit with harboring these so-called criminals. 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:32.639 And so they take him and a few other unnamed believers. 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:42.879 They drag him down to the city council where they are presented before them as problem makers. 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:45.840 Dr. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:54.879 Daniel Brown has shown that the legal route taken by the mob wasn't exactly just vigilante justice. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:59.279 It's very consistent with the Roman law at the time. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:08.880 In fact, these laws were designed to protect people, and they were designed and established by none other than Claudius Caesar himself. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:15.599 All the way down to the bail that Jason had to pay before being let go. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:24.480 The fingerprints of Claudius are all throughout this passage. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.279 What led to all the trouble? 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:42.640 These are men who have turned the world upside down and violated Caesar's laws by opposing Claudius Caesar. 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:47.279 Because these Christians are saying that there is another king. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:49.119 Jesus. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:54.960 Of course that's going to disturb the city leaders. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:18:07.839 Jason, being a citizen of Thessalonica, maybe even a Roman citizen, is the one who pays the financial price for harboring some missionaries. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:18.640 Now, why would a why would a simple message about a crucified and risen man be so troublesome to Thessalonica? 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:26.400 The answer seems to be found in Paul's first letter back to Thessalonica. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:37.279 Last Sunday we we looked in a lot of detail of how Paul's time in Philippi helps us understand his letter to the Philippians. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:41.920 The same thing is true about Paul's two letters to Thessalonica. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:51.440 When we look at what happened in verses 1 through 9 of Acts chapter 17, it helps us understand 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:59.200 In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, Paul wrote about the coming day of the Lord. 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:06.079 That's a time of God's judgment that will come upon the world and take people by surprise. 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:25.440 Then in chapter 5, verse 3, we read that Paul says, While the people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:32.480 That phrase, peace and security, is significant. 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:43.279 If you remember your world history classes, you've probably heard that phrase, Pax Romana, the Roman peace. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:47.839 Security was another part of that. 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:52.240 The Roman peace brought Roman security. 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:58.720 And it was a costly peace because it came through the Roman military force. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:12.559 But it wasn't just peace that Rome provided, they also provided security, the ability to be free and to do whatever you wanted to do in life because they made you secure. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:19.359 Thessalonica, of course, possessed even more than peace and security. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:34.079 They possessed ultimate freedom, no taxes, no Roman legions in their community, no obligation between them and Claudius. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:46.880 Paul, Silas, and Timothy. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:21:00.079 Proclaiming that eternal peace and eternal security can be found in another king of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:06.880 You can imagine the unrest that might generate in a pagan city. 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:16.880 Now we might expect the Jews to receive the message of a Jewish Messiah well, especially one who fulfilled God's expectations of the promised one. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:24.000 But most chose Caesar's peace and security, which they were already experiencing. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:32.720 They chose the present peace and security over eternal peace and security in Jesus Christ. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:43.039 They showed that their allegiance was to Caesar, not to Jesus. 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:52.160 Those non Jews had no interest in Paul's message because they were protective of their status with Rome. 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:59.680 They're unwilling to jeopardize their sense of freedom in exchange for a crucified and risen Messiah. 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:05.599 That's the reality of genuine faith, friends. 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:11.839 Jesus doesn't want to rule your country as president or king. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:15.440 He is no political threat. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:22.480 But he ought to be a threat to everything that we hold dear besides him. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:29.359 Especially those things that are worldly, that are sinful, and that are opposed to God. 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:36.480 And that threat comes through an allegiance that he demands from all who follow him. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:46.400 He is the true king who demands our hearts and our lives, and the world run by Satan sees that as a threat. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:50.079 So don't be surprised by that. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:56.319 At the same time, there's a challenge there for us as we live in this world. 00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:04.240 Do we live out our faith such that the world around us feels threatened by our king? 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:10.559 And feels threatened by his command of our hearts, minds, emotions, and will? 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:23.039 Do we live out our faith such that the world feels threatened by our king's hold on our morality, on our work ethic, on our time? 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:27.200 Do I need to be more specific? 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:28.480 Let me try. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:43.519 Are our employers caught off guard by our loyalty to Jesus in the way we labor, in the ethics of our business dealings, in our commitment to truth? 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:56.079 Are our friends and our families surprised and turned off by the things we will not participate in because they oppose our loyalty to Christ? 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:03.839 Is the world disturbed because the life of Christ is lived out in us? 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:12.000 The situation was so intense in Thessalonica that Paul and Silas were whisked away in the middle of the night. 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:16.559 In the middle of the night, they had to walk 50 miles or so to the community of Berea. 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:24.720 It's the modern city of Varea, northern Greece. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:31.599 It's a little off the main road, so theoretically it was a safe place for Paul and Silas to go in the middle of the night. 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:39.200 And it's there in Berea that we see that the true king can be found by those who seek him. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:52.960 Most Christians know of Berea because of verse 11, where Luke says that the Bereans were nobler than those in Thessalonica because they searched the scriptures to verify what Paul said. 00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:08.960 If you've been around churches long enough, you will know that that spirit has become a mantra of sorts among evangelical Christians and churches. 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:14.160 Be like the Bereans, we sometimes hear. 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:21.519 If something sounds amiss to you, search your Bible and see if it's true. 00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:37.680 I want to challenge that mindset because I think we've taken something that Luke recorded, and we've run with it so far that we've forgotten what Luke meant. 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:44.079 Paul followed the same pattern in verse 10. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:46.799 They arrived and they went into the Jewish synagogue. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:55.680 He went first to the Jews to tell them of Jesus' death and resurrection and to prove that he is God's Messiah. 00:25:55.839 --> 00:25:56.640 Nothing new there. 00:25:56.880 --> 00:25:57.920 Same pattern. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:04.799 Those Jews, Luke said, recognized Paul's use of scripture. 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:09.440 And they eagerly received the proclamation of the Word of God. 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:13.440 And that's where Luke's comment enters in. 00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:17.519 Luke describes how they received the Word of God. 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:26.880 He says they received it with all eagerness, so much so that they examined the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:30.319 Now notice verse 12. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:34.960 Many of them believed. 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:51.279 The results of Paul's ministry of the Word of God, which was received eagerly and checked with Scripture, resulted in many Jews and Greeks believing in Jesus. 00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:57.680 Now that we've reviewed that, we have enough information to ask some critical questions. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:08.000 Were the people in Berea, in the synagogue in Berea, were they believers or unbelievers when they received the word with all eagerness? 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:16.640 It says they were unbelievers. 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:27.200 If you look carefully in verse 12, it says, many of them therefore, as a result of this, believed. 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:32.559 As a result of their eagerness and their attitude, they believed. 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:40.720 Another question: Were the people in Berea believers or unbelievers when they examined the scriptures daily to see if these things were so? 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:44.720 They were unbelievers. 00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:53.119 So there is the first clarification we desperately need about Berea. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:28:04.799 The attitude and actions displayed here were evident first in unbelievers, not believers. 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:13.119 The eagerness and the searching were part of their processing of the gospel message from the Old Testament. 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:20.000 These are people hearing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time, and they're thinking, wait, what? 00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:20.720 Really? 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:21.920 Is that what it says? 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:23.119 Are you sure about that? 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:24.319 What about this? 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:30.640 They're eager and they're trying to make it all make sense. 00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:40.880 Now, is it good and righteous and healthy for Christians to examine what we hear? 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:41.759 Yes. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:43.680 Absolutely. 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:49.359 We need to strengthen our discernment and our search of the scriptures. 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:54.640 But Luke doesn't imply that Christians should do that. 00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:06.799 Luke is describing the excellent character those unbelieving Jews possessed in contrast to those in Thessalonica. 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:15.519 In Berea, the Jews at least considered what Paul had to say about the scriptures. 00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:21.440 There's another element, though, that we need to clarify. 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:33.680 Most of our translations say that these Bereans in verse 11 examined, or maybe your Bible says, searched the scriptures daily as Paul spoke. 00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:38.480 It's probably not the best understanding of what Luke wrote. 00:29:39.599 --> 00:29:53.279 Scholar Roy Champa has shown pretty conclusively that this word that we have in our Bibles translated, examined or searched, doesn't mean that they opened their Bibles and they flipped through the pages to find if this was actually true. 00:29:54.640 --> 00:30:01.599 Given the very low literacy rates in the Roman Empire, very few people would have been able to read. 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:10.559 And an even lower percentage of that would have any, any portion of the scriptures as their own possession. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:21.519 Instead, Champa has shown that the word here, translated examining or searching, always means in Greek literature to ask questions. 00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:27.200 It's a word that is about dialogue. 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:37.519 It's going back and forth, it's thinking and processing and asking questions to clarify and to search and to make sense in your own heart and mind what's going on here. 00:30:39.119 --> 00:30:57.279 So in this context, it means that their nobility, their high character, was displayed in that they asked questions with eagerness in order to determine what is real, what is true in this good news about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:30:58.160 --> 00:31:01.839 Do our Bible, does our Old Testament really say that? 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:03.200 Is Paul really right? 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:07.359 Is this stranger who's come into our synagogue, is he saying the right thing? 00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:22.880 So rather than dismissing his arguments, they went back and forth in dialogue asking questions to see if his teaching aligned with their understanding of their synagogue teaching. 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:26.160 So imagine this image. 00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:59.759 Paul, Silas, and Timothy flee from Thessalonica in the middle of the night from Jews who refuse to listen and instead stir up mobs, and they flee to Berea, and they go to the synagogue where the unbelieving Jews are such high character that they not only listen, but they engage in Paul every day to evaluate whether what he said was true and complied with what they heard in the synagogue. 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:06.319 That kind of character led them to believe Paul's message. 00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:13.440 Contrast that with what occurs next. 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:25.839 The rascals from Thessalonica, I think I'm okay saying that right, the rascals from Thessalonica learn that Paul and his team showed up in Berea. 00:32:26.640 --> 00:32:31.680 So they travel the 50 miles to stir up the rabble crowds there too. 00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:47.119 So this whole idea of being noble and asking questions is all there to point to the difference of character between two communities. 00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:50.240 Is one open to the gospel? 00:32:50.640 --> 00:32:50.960 No. 00:32:51.519 --> 00:32:53.359 Is another open to the gospel? 00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:54.240 Yes. 00:32:56.799 --> 00:33:02.079 So we see now how Luke's account of Thessalonica and Berea go hand in hand. 00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:17.519 If your heart and mind are not open to considering the truth of Scripture, then the peace and security of the true King that He offers will merely upset and irritate you. 00:33:18.480 --> 00:33:20.799 It will be rubbish to you. 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:32.319 But if your heart and mind are open to hearing and genuinely considering the good news of Christ, you can find the true King. 00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:36.559 It's a study and contrast. 00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:41.519 But we're not surprised if we know the gospel accounts. 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:47.359 The Lord Himself, as did the apostles, encountered the same thing. 00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:55.359 As will you and I, if our allegiance is to the true King. 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:11.519 But openness and eagerness can lead to Christ. 00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:13.920 Friends, it's not our duty to open the ears. 00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:15.360 Only God can do that. 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:20.639 But we must make sure that other people hear about the true King. 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:24.719 Yeah, you may have to run away in the middle of the night. 00:34:26.079 --> 00:34:32.159 But that may lead to discovering an eagerness in someone else. 00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:38.639 And we could spend three weeks just on the next section. 00:34:38.800 --> 00:34:41.599 We're going to condense it to a few minutes. 00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:46.079 We move from Berea to Athens. 00:34:47.360 --> 00:35:00.960 Because of the rabble-rousing crowds from Thessalonica coming to Berea, verse 14 tells us the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained. 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:16.159 And so Paul gets on a boat and he goes as far as Athens, where we see the true king gives the ultimate wisdom, all while making the wise appear foolish. 00:35:23.199 --> 00:35:27.199 All the way down to a region known as Achaea. 00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:37.760 Verse 14 tells us that the situation in Berea became so dangerous that Paul was immediately sent off. 00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:46.159 We see him end up in Athens while Silas and Timothy remain up north in Berea for a while. 00:35:46.320 --> 00:35:48.000 And the pattern continues. 00:35:48.400 --> 00:35:58.239 Paul goes to the synagogue and then to the public forums daily, reasoning, talking with whoever happened to be present. 00:35:59.760 --> 00:36:06.480 Athens, though, is unique because it's the heart of Greek philosophy. 00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:13.519 It's been the home of Socrates and Plato, of Aristotle and Xenophon and others. 00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:25.599 Athens largely birthed the elements of learning, like logic and rhetoric, history and politics, metaphysics and philosophy and ethics. 00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:29.920 Everything sort of comes to a head here in Athens. 00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:36.960 Luke describes Athens as where people would spend all their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. 00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:39.760 What a way to waste your time. 00:36:41.760 --> 00:36:43.039 But guess what? 00:36:44.239 --> 00:36:48.960 The gospel is new for Athens. 00:36:50.880 --> 00:36:55.440 The section is heavy with echoes. 00:36:56.639 --> 00:37:03.280 On one side, scholars think that this section has many echoes of the life of Socrates. 00:37:04.159 --> 00:37:06.320 If you have questions about that, you can see Webb. 00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:09.519 He'll help be happy to help you see those connections. 00:37:12.559 --> 00:37:17.119 The other side of the echo is it's full of echoes to the Old Testament. 00:37:19.679 --> 00:37:30.800 Paul enters this place of wisdom and philosophy and says, Let me tell you where you get the true wisdom. 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:36.239 Let me tell you where true learning is discovered. 00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:42.320 These echoes become the basis for Paul's reasoning in Athens. 00:37:42.559 --> 00:37:50.320 He feels God's hatred, excuse me, hatred for idols, and he's zealous for God as the creator of all things. 00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:07.679 And Paul then employs the style of speaking and arguing and debate. 00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:15.840 He employs the patterns and the methods of Athenian argumentation to preach Christ crucified and risen. 00:38:16.880 --> 00:38:20.320 He proclaims the true king as the ultimate wisdom. 00:38:20.639 --> 00:38:29.440 But that wisdom isn't displayed through empire administration, through legal codes or worldly philosophy. 00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:40.880 Paul says to this place of learning and education and wisdom that true wisdom is not found in those things you'll find in the world. 00:38:41.039 --> 00:38:50.559 Instead, it's found in the perceived foolishness of a crucified and risen king. 00:38:52.800 --> 00:39:12.559 And that king is working to rescue the hearts, minds, and souls of men, women, and children who have been captivated by the world's philosophy and under the rule, not of Caesar, but of Satan. 00:39:15.360 --> 00:39:20.400 Paul says the God who made the world and everything in it is Lord of all. 00:39:22.320 --> 00:39:27.920 And we are now in an age where he commands everyone to repent. 00:39:29.519 --> 00:39:31.199 Because judgment is coming. 00:39:34.159 --> 00:39:34.480 Oh. 00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:40.320 You enjoy the peace and security of Rome. 00:39:44.159 --> 00:39:49.599 In a day when you least expect it, the judge will come. 00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:57.440 Judgment is coming for those who refuse to listen to the word of the true King. 00:39:58.880 --> 00:40:04.320 Judgment is coming for those who refuse to seek Him out of their own ignorance. 00:40:05.199 --> 00:40:10.880 Judgment is coming for those who rest in their own knowledge and the wisdom that the world has given them. 00:40:11.119 --> 00:40:15.920 Judgment is coming for those hoping in the world's thinking and philosophy. 00:40:16.079 --> 00:40:21.760 Judgment is assured because God the Father raised the true king from the dead. 00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:28.880 And all that happens to the Caesars is they get knocked off one after the other. 00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:37.440 You can dismiss the true king as a real, as no real threat, like Pilate did. 00:40:37.760 --> 00:40:40.320 Yeah, he's just an upstart. 00:40:41.360 --> 00:40:42.400 Big deal. 00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:48.880 You can dismiss the true king as just foolish talk. 00:40:49.599 --> 00:40:50.639 Crucified? 00:40:50.960 --> 00:40:51.920 The king? 00:40:54.480 --> 00:41:00.960 You can dismiss the true king out of fear of some earthly retribution like the wrath of Caesar. 00:41:03.760 --> 00:41:06.719 But you will still face the judge of all the earth. 00:41:06.880 --> 00:41:17.920 And it would be wiser, in his own words, to trust in him who can destroy both soul and body and hell than merely somebody who can take your earthly life. 00:41:21.440 --> 00:41:24.880 No, Jesus is not a threat to Caesar's throne. 00:41:26.719 --> 00:41:28.239 But he is a real threat. 00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:32.159 He's a threat to you, too. 00:41:33.840 --> 00:41:36.960 He's a threat to your self-centered lifestyle. 00:41:38.159 --> 00:41:41.119 He's a threat to your me first attitude. 00:41:42.719 --> 00:41:44.800 He's a threat to your covetousness. 00:41:45.840 --> 00:41:49.679 He's a threat to whatever idols you put up in your life ahead of him. 00:41:50.400 --> 00:41:56.320 He's a threat to every pet sin you hide within the deep dark recesses of your soul. 00:41:58.320 --> 00:41:59.679 He's a threat. 00:42:02.239 --> 00:42:05.519 And if you refuse him, he is your ultimate judge. 00:42:08.880 --> 00:42:17.519 But the profound wisdom of this king, crucified, buried, and risen. 00:42:18.880 --> 00:42:37.679 The profound wisdom of this king that is beyond the awareness of this world, that lies in the power of the evil one, is that he will give to you everlasting peace and eternal security through his payment of your guilt and your sin if you will repent of your sin and trust in him. 00:42:40.239 --> 00:42:44.079 And he will consume all of your allegiance. 00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:53.360 And you will become a threat to everything that rules this world. 00:42:54.800 --> 00:42:59.760 So come, my friends, and find your true king. 00:43:01.039 --> 00:43:03.119 For he's not far from you. 00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:07.760 He made you to seek him and to find him. 00:43:09.360 --> 00:43:41.360 So see all other kings, all other rulers, all other things, all other people that demand your allegiance, see them as the falsehoods that they are, see the temporariness of their promises that they give, and look only to the true King, the one who is the ancient of days, who entered time and space to garner your heart and your soul and your mind forever and ever. 00:43:41.840 --> 00:43:42.480 Amen. 00:43:42.800 --> 00:44:04.559 Lord Jesus, may we exalt you as the true King, not just of this universe, not just in a knowledge kind of way, where, yeah, we know that, but where you hold our hearts and our minds and our souls and all that is precious to us. 00:44:06.079 --> 00:44:13.199 May you be exalted, not just now, but forever and ever. 00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:14.639 Amen. 00:44:16.639 --> 00:44:20.480 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:44:20.639 --> 00:44:27.519 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:44:27.760 --> 00:44:31.760 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.